9 Steps to Start an Online Store that Actually Makes Money

Ecommerce sales accounted for14.1% of all retail sales worldwide in 2019- 预计到2023年将达到22％。

As ecommerce sales continue to rise, you may want to start your own online store. Thanks to the availability of电子商务网站建设者和other website building platforms, creating one has never been easier. But choosing a platform is just one step of the process.

在这篇文章中，我们将详细介绍如何逐步开设在线商店。然后，我们将分解启动费用的成本，以便您知道需要投资多少钱。让我们开始吧。

Step 1: Select your ecommerce niche.

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Before you start an online store, you need to decide what you’re selling and who you’re selling to. In other words, you need to identify your ecommerce niche. Having a niche will require you to narrow down what you sell to either one type of product or a single category of products, which can help reduce your marketing and advertising costs, limit your competition, and inspire brand loyalty more easily, among other benefits.

这best ecommerce niches target a highly specific buyer and represent anuntapped market。意思是，现有产品或品牌尚未满足市场需求。技术和家庭办公设备，娱乐以及家庭健身房和健身装备是其中的一些2021年最有利可图的电子商务利基市场。

您可以使用在线工具（例如Google购物见解。This tool will identify increasingly popular retail categories in Google Search, the locations where they’re growing, and the queries associated with them.

步骤2：购买域。

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建造在线商店的第一步是购买和注册域名。这re are hundreds of域注册商for you to choose from. Some of the cheapest and most secure options are Domain.com, Namecheap, HostGator, and Bluehost.

在购买之前，您想选择一个简短，独特且易于记忆和拼写的名称。它还应该暗示您的商店销售额。Jungalow，，，，for example, is a home decor company that aims to help customers make their homes more colorful, patternful, and “jungalicious.” That’s why its domain name aptly combines the words “jungle” and “bungalow.”

确定名称后，很容易注册。只需访问域注册服务商，搜索所需的名称，选择您的注册任期，然后输入您的付款信息。

To walk through the domain registration process in depth, check outEverything You Need to Know about Custom Domains。

Step 3: Choose your platform.

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这re are many platforms that can help you start an online store without building it from scratch. Two of the most popular options are购物和WooCommerce。

比较Shopify vs. WooCommerce，您会看到他们提供了两种截然不同的方法来建立和管理在线商店。

Shopify是一种托管的电子商务解决方案，这意味着您将购买一项计划，该计划每月以每月费用提供托管和电子商务工具和功能。

另一方面，WooCommerce是免费的插入您可以添加到您的WordPress网站快速建立在线商店。但是，虽然WooCommerce插件可以免费下载，但确实需要您购买虚拟主机separately. You’ll also have to take on more responsibility over the performance, security, and day-to-day management of your online store.

一旦选择了满足您需求和目标的平台（并选择了一个hosting providerif necessary), you can connect your domain name and start setting up your store.

Step 4: Pick a theme and customize it.

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您需要选择一个满足在线商店的需求，目标和品牌标识的主题。除了能够显示商品外，您还需要一个主题：

• 为移动客户提供出色的用户体验。
• 提供特定于电子商务的预先设计的模板。
• 为您的网站上的每个页面，尤其是产品页面提供自定义选项。
• Makes product searching easier for the audience.
• 通过有组织的类别和搜索框更轻松地导航。

安装或激活后，您可以开始自定义主题，以反映品牌的独特外观和感觉。这可能需要更改徽标，配色方案，图像，标题，，，，页脚，，，，navigation menu，以及您希望的任何其他功能。

步骤5：添加产品。

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It’s time to add merchandise to your site. You’ll add each product one by one, providing a title, description, image, and category for each. Categorizing your products will enable your customers to sort and browse them more easily.

You’ll also have to provide additional information like pricing, inventory, and shipping for each product.CTA buttons例如“购买”或“添加到购物车”，客户评论和推荐，以及相关产品的展示是您可以添加到产品页面的其他功能，以帮助说服客户进行购买或销售其他产品。

添加了产品页面的所有必要信息后，您可以将其发布并重复其余库存的过程。

步骤6：创建一个结帐渠道。

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接下来，您需要为人们从您的在线商店购买产品。这被称为“结帐渠道”，包括三个主要步骤：购物车，结帐页面和确认页面。

• 购物车: This is where customers can put products they want to buy, look at the total cost of all these items, and move forward with the checkout process.
• Checkout page：这是客户找到所有付款选项以及运输和交付信息的地方，并能够下订单。
• 确认页: This is where customers will see confirmation that their order was placed and processed successfully.

要设置此漏斗，您将必须在仪表板中配置一般设置，以启用优惠券，税收，运输地点，货币选择等。

步骤7：创建密钥页面。

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We’ve already discussed some essential pages for an online store, including product pages and the cart, checkout, and confirmation pages. After you’ve created these, you’re not done quite yet. Online stores would benefit from having some (or all) of the following pages as well:

• About
• Shipping
• Returns and Exchanges
• FAQ
• Contact

TakeKinkyCurlyYaki，例如，它具有我们的故事，常见问题解答，运输和处理，交流和退货以及联系页面。这些页面提供了潜在客户和现有客户正在寻找的重要信息，例如公司的使命，运输和退货政策，对客户最常见的问题的答案以及联系信息。bob全站app它们是关键获得消费者的信任和信心。

步骤8：添加博客。

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添加博客到您的电子商务网站可以帮助您吸引访问者并将其变成潜在客户，并提高您对SERP的可见性。

例如，frank body是一家护肤公司，其网站上有一bob全站app个博客，它写了有关身体阳性，卫生，敏感皮肤等的内容。一些访客可能会通过搜索这些主题并降落在博客上来找到坦率的身体。如果他们喜欢他们阅读的内容，那么他​​们更有可能查看产品并进行购买。

定期创建内容,解决的挑战of your target audience like frank body will help you attract visitors and make your business appear credible and trustworthy, which boosts the chances of those visitors becoming leads.

除了帮助您产生潜在客户外，博客还可以帮助改善电子商务网站SEO。博客将帮助您增加网站上的索引页面数量。由于搜索引擎认为与索引页面更少的网站相比，索引页面更多的站点可以帮助您提高SERP上的排名并吸引持续的自然流量到您的在线商店。

步骤9：安装附加组件。

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此时，您可以直播网站，也可以安装一些附加组件来扩展网站的功能。使用Shopify和WooCommerce等灵活平台的优点在于，您可以立即安装扩展名或等到出现需求。

也许您已经增加了库存，想添加图像或视频库to your homepage to showcase your new products. Maybe you want to与CRM集成以更好地管理您的客户及其订单。这些只是您可以通过附加组件增强商店功能的几个示例。

Like the建立网站的成本，，，，the cost of starting an online store depends on a range of factors, including what hosting service you choose, what templates and extensions you add, and more.

Below we’ll limit our focus to the basic requirements of starting an online store. At the bare minimum, you will need a domain name, hosting, and inventory. Here’s a quick breakdown of those costs.

域名

平均费用：每年$ 10-15

Generally, registering and renewing a domain name costs around $10-15 per year. However, the price can vary depending on a range of factors, including:

• 您选择的域名注册服务商以及他们提供的可用域名，隐私，声誉和到期费用。
• 这domain extension您想要以及它多么受欢迎
• Whether you domain privacy and protection is included in the domain name price or if it’s an additional cost
• 您选择的注册期限

虚拟主机

Average cost: $7 - 30 per month

Web托管的成本取决于您使用专有或开源软件。bob电竞官方下载

如果你选择像Shopify专有软件,bob电竞官方下载then you’ll select a premium plan that includes web hosting as well as other features and tools to help you secure, update, and maintain your store. Shopify offers three plans, which cost $29, $79, and $299 per month respectively. The basic plan at $29 per month is perfect for new online businesses.

如果您使用WordPress的开源软件和Worbob电竞官方下载press使用WooCommerce插件，则该软件和插件都可以免费下载和安装。但是，您必须从第三方提供商那里购买网络托管。

电子商务托管往往比为非电子商务网站托管的托管更昂贵，但并非总是如此。Siteground，例如，以相同的价格提供WordPress和WooCommerce托管计划，分别为6.99美元，9.99美元和每月14.99美元。WPEngine另一方面，提供网络托管计划的起价为每月25美元，电子商务托管计划的起价为每月30美元。

存货

平均费用：$ 0- $ 1000

这cost of buying inventory can range drastically, depending on how and what you’re selling. You have two ways of selling products: dropshipping or selling wholesale products.

If you’d like to avoid inventory cost, then opt for dropshipping. With this business model, you don’t store, pack, and ship your own inventory. Instead, when a customer purchases an item from your online store, you forward the order to your supplier, and they ship the item directly to the customer. There’s no upfront costs with dropshipping but most suppliers will charge a fee for processing and shipping an order. That means your profit margins will be smaller.

如果您想要一种更传统的方法，那么您可以使用自己的库存开设在线商店。但是，这意味着您必须购买库存才能开始在线商店。根据您购买的商品以及供应商所需的最低订单数量，此费用可能从数百到数千美元不等。平均而言，本地购买批发产品的费用约为每订单100美元。从其他国家购买批发产品的平均价格接近每订单$ 1000。

Starting Your Own Online Store

Offering more control and convenience for buyers and sellers alike,电子商务正在继续增长并占全球零售额的更大比例。如果您有一个好主意，您想获利，那么您可以开设自己的在线商店。

Starting one has never been easier thanks to platforms like WordPress andWordPress alternatives像Shopify。只需少于100美元，您就可以创建一个电子商务网站，并开始吸引客户并产生销售。