How to Build Your Ecommerce Website From Scratch (3 Easy Steps)

10 min read

Congratulations are in order! Seriously. Your goal of starting your ecommerce business has likely been weighed down by the stress that comes with learning everything you need to know to get started. But now, here you are. One step closer to taking the leap into the landscape of your dreams, reaching for that business empire with all you have. So let’s get you going headed in the right direction.

By now, depending on how much coffee you consume at night and how many nights you have been making lists in your head of how to build out your ecommerce idea, it’s probably becoming clear that information overload is a real thing. Our job is to help you understand the crucial parts (and give you some insider tips) of quickly creating a powerfully engaging, customer-making machine. We’ll show you how to create an online store, getting it set up and running smoothly.

We have created a list that’s above all, simple to implement. It’s just 3 easy steps. So, let’s get started with step 1: decide on a web builder.

Take the Guesswork Out Of Choosing A Web Builder

When the thought of creating your very own successful online business first crept into your mind, you knew right away that you would need a, um…website.

But, if you are like most of us, you don’t know the first thing about coding or programming. So how can you possibly make a website build happen? Maybe you’ve heard of something called a “website builder” which is supposed to do the work for you. But then, how do you choose a website builder that isn’t too bulky, complicated, or out of your budget? Questions like these can leave you stuck, taking the momentum out of your pursuit like letting the air out of a balloon.

As you may have noticed, questions surrounding website features like: do I want an extensive blog section? An enhanced photo gallery for products? Social media features such as Facebook and Instagram, etc? can overwhelm the just-starting-out entrepreneur.

Therefore, first, you must decide what you want your website to do, Then you can start picking a builder. If it confuses you to think about what features are standard, that’s also not your fault. There are thousands of choices out there. So, look around at a few sites of potential competitors in your industry, and audit their site for what potential “must-haves” for your own site.

Write those items down and you have your cheat sheet to help guide you forward. Use this cheat sheet to narrow down the website builders that fit the bill. Now, different builders require different skill levels and are priced at different tiers.

I know, I know…

But, before you start the painful task of searching out each web builder individually, to attempt to decide if their learning curves are worth it, just know…we’ve made it super easy. We’ve already built a barrier-breaking website builder with virtually no learning curve to understand—chock full of features that are satisfying to even the most robust ecommerce needs.

Not to mention, it comes with a cost that doesn’t make any sense (in a good way!). But more about all of this in a bit.

After you decide on a website builder, you must choose either a template or a designer to create your online store. Stay with us. You’re getting closer and closer to selling products online.

To Template or Not to Template: That is the Question.

That is the ONLY question you need to answer at this point. So don’t let this part of your journey become muddy with competing ideas. We are here not to let it. Choose an option and then move ahead with your plan. For your online store design, choose a template design or pay a pro to customize your design. That’s it.

Templates work great! You want to make sure the products you wish to sell fit the overall feel of the design. Otherwise known as the theme. Also, ensure the theme functions in a way that works, showcasing product photos.

Either way, a large amount of money doesn’t need to be spent to be successful here. As a business owner, do not fall into the trap of thinking custom is always better. Many times, adding specialized applications to your templated ecommerce site does more to add a function than you expected. Often, these applications act in a customizable way making your website look, feel, and function as well as the best site builder that money can buy.

Ecwid has got you covered with this too. When it comes to templates, an app store with hundreds of applications, and the ability to customize, we have your back. But, before I give you the details of just how, let me explain your third step.

Learn How to Choose and Connect Your Domain

Your website built from scratch is almost complete. Hopefully, you are beginning to understand that it’s NOT too late for you to join the ranks of successful ecommerce companies. There is no time like the present, and since you are very close to starting, let’s put off not put this off until tomorrow and instead, plow ahead.

You are at your last step of this part of your eCommerce journey. Now, it’s time to choose a domain name.

This is the name people will type into search engines to find your site. A couple of tips in selecting a domain name are these:

Simplicity (think about what you want to sell)
Double-Check Spelling
Avoid Numbers or Hyphens
Add Keywords only if they make sense

Next, you’ll need to register your domain through a hosting service. Some website builders come with this function built inside of their platform.

Now you’re ready to make sure you’re connected to the internet. After a few minutes have passed from the time you registered your domain, type in your website.

Do you see it in your search engine? Boom! Congrats! Now you’re almost ready to start selling.

Stay tuned for future articles that will highlight how to set up your inventory, ship, work with 3rd party logistics (3PL), add products to your functional (!) ecommerce website, set up a shopping cart, offer credit card payment processing, and more.

Knock-Out All 3 Steps in 1 Move (For Free)

Ecwid lends its helping hand to the entrepreneur longing to create a platform to sell that is easy and efficient. Using a single control panel, you can build an ecommerce website, name it, and launch it across all social media and ecommerce platforms. Plus, you can also monitor your sales and marketing efforts online from…you guessed it, the very same control panel.

Now, what do you think is a fair price for a customizable ecommerce platform. One that has hundreds of add-on applications available. (for analytics, payment processing, marketing strategy, etc.)

We ask because Ecwid offers a Free plan to get started.

This means there is no barrier from starting to build your website from scratch, RIGHT NOW. So what are you waiting for? You deserve to chase your ambitions. Start now! You can combine all three steps to building an ecommerce store from scratch into a single action.

Completing your setup can be done in one setting. So again, let’s stop waiting and get started right now.

Sell online

With Ecwid Ecommerce, you can easily sell anywhere, to anyone — across the internet and around the world.

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Apr 27, 2021

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.