A Complete Guide to Building an Ecommerce Website

You’ve perfected your product, hit some impressive sales numbers and perhaps you are looking for guidance on building your own ecommerce website where you can take sales even further. 

Chances are if you are on this page, you are already thinking about ecommerce websites, but just to reassure you, Ecommerce is predicted to hit $1.26 trillion in sales in 2024 and up to $1.72 trillion by 2027.

That is a big money pie to be part of. Perhaps you are keen to keep your supply chain local to the U.S. but want to expand to wider audiences? 

Gone are the days where having a website was nice to have. In today’s retail climate, having a well-performing, smooth Ecommerce website is an essential aspect to running a successful business. In the U.S., 74% of consumers prefer online shopping over buying in-store. 

So to help you get started, we have compiled a step by step guide to building an Ecommerce website that will help you grab a slice of that mega money pie. 

In this guide we will look at:

• Choosing a CMS

• Domain name & hosting

• Design/theme templates

• Setting up product listings 

• Implementing payment gateways 

• Security and compliance

• SEO

• Website content

• Setting up analytics and tracking 

• Launching the website

• Any other considerations 

Why create an Ecommerce website? 

Creating an Ecommerce website carries a number of benefits spanning greater brand control and representation to acquiring new customers, and many more. 

Generating new leads 

If your business is U.S. based and focused on serving more people in local markets, great! An Ecommerce website can help you with that. Equally, if you are looking to expand into new markets or scale globally, having a website can help open the door to that too. 

Not only can you have a solid place for your existing customers to buy from in future, you have more chance of being found by new audiences and customers who may not have bought from you before.  

Strengthen your brand presence 

Having an established website helps position your business with greater authority and credibility to customers. Not only is it a cost-effective solution to selling products online, you have more control over the content and what you say about your brand on your website. 

Let’s look at building an Ecommerce website in the following steps: 

Step 1: Choosing a CMS

The first step in the process is to choose the right CMS for you and your business. Everyone has their own preference with the CMS platforms available and some of the most popular ones include: 

• Wordpress

• Shopify

• Wix 

• Squarespace 

Regardless of which provider you choose, all are designed to be user-friendly and allow you to get started without being an expert in coding. 

Before selecting the provider for your business, it is worth considering the scalability and performance - e.g. what is the loading speed of the pages built on these platforms? Conversions depend on fast loading pages.

What are the customer reviews for each platform? Do they speak of ease and functionality? While every platform cannot be perfect, looking for common pain points or celebrated features is a good place to start when narrowing down your options. 

Wordpress

One of the most well-known platforms, in 2024 it was reported that WordPress is used by 45.8% of all websites on the internet. With customizable templates and an easy interface to get started with, WordPress is known for its ease of use. 

It also works with Shopify plugins and WooCommerce - which is free to install, flexible and customizable. 

Shopify 

Another well-known CMS is Shopify. Its quick and easy-to-use interface means business owners with the least digital design knowledge can get up and running. It can integrate with other providers such as Veeqo, comes with lots of apps and plugins and can cope with large traffic spikes. 

Check out our other guides on how to get started on Shopify and some of the biggest brands using Shopify Plus. 

Further reading: Shopify Plus Pricing & Shopify Plus Demystified 

Wix 

Super customizable and easy to use, Wix is another popular CMS option. Its intuitive site editor enables freedom of design and tweaks without compromising on page loading speed as well as offering built-in SEO features. 

Squarespace 

Squarespace is known for being a good option for selling online products as well as in-person. You can choose between their plans to suit your business and personal preference, and is best for businesses that do not need advanced Ecommerce functionality.

Whichever CMS you choose, be sure to find one that is responsive, has its own built-in content management system (e.g. for blogs), can integrate with other apps and plugins and can support your business as it scales. 

Step 2: Choose domain name & web hosting 

Once you’ve decided on a CMS the next step is creating an account (unless you are choosing Wordpress - where you will have already done this part).

If you are on WordPress, your next step will be choosing a web hosting plan. If you are on Shopify, SquareSpace, or Wix, you will need to go through to the website and sign up for an account. 

A lot of CMS platforms allow you to register your domain name through them, so you do not need to go through a manual domain configuration process with an external platform or third party. 

When it comes to choosing a great domain name, brainstorm ideas that are short, snappy, memorable, and reflect your business and brand. It’s always recommended to do a search of what is out there already for any brand names or domains you have in mind to check it is not super competitive or done before. 

Top tip: Try and find a branded domain name that is not too generic and does not infringe any existing copyrights. 

This is also the stage where you can choose from the Top Level Domains (TLDs) available. They typically are:

.com - for “commercial”

.net - for “network”

.co - for “company”

.us - for US-based businesses 

.biz - for “business”

.org - for “non profit” organizations - charities etc.

Step 3: Choose your design template 

You’ve got your CMS sorted and you’ve snapped up your dream domain name. Awesome! Now it’s time to choose your theme and design.

Themes are ready made templates available on your chosen CMS and there are always a range of designs and templates to choose from whether you are a coaching business, selling a digital product or subscription or selling physical product. 

Look for one that reflects your brand and feel of the company you want to be and service you want to offer. Some companies such as Shopify offer deals such as free trials - to help give you a taster before you commit to anything.

Once you’ve got the design in mind, set up your navigation along the top in the header and the footer to include key information across: 

• Homepage

• About Us

• Contact Page

• Returns Policy

• Refund and Returns

Depending on what stage your business is at, this might be where you look to enlist the help of a professional designer, to point you in the right direction. 

Step 4: Set up your product listings  

Now your website is starting to take shape, it’s time to add your product! This is arguably the most important part for Ecommerce websites. When writing excellent product listings include:

• Individual product listings, descriptions and any key information 

• Who is the product for? Where could it be used? When could it be used?

• Product catalog 

• Organization of the products for easy navigation 

• Shipping and return information

• Reviews

• Related products “people also bought”, or “looks good with” etc. 

When it comes to uploading images that will encourage customers to click “purchase”, be sure to choose images that are:

• High quality 

• The same size - keep it consistent so your listings do not become misaligned 

• Shown from different angles - one static image is not always useful 

• Any video clips of the product where it is useful (e.g. for clothing or using a product) 

We have written a few guides to help you decide whether you go for white label or private labels and creating success with private labels. 

Step 5: Implement payment gateways 

Before even thinking of the sales that could be made on your website, finding a secure and trusted payment gateway is essential. 

Between PayPal, Stripe, and Square to name a few, there are a range of providers to choose from when it comes to finding a trusted partner that will look after encrypted customer data. 

When choosing the provider, consider: 

• How secure is the payment provider? What happens with the customers’ data?

• Other customer and business reviews of the providers 

• Is the tool Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant?

• What are the fees your business and the customer have to pay?

• How easy is it to integrate with the platform? 

Further reading: Toy retailer eChapps saves $15,000 a year with Veeqo  

Step 6: Ensure you are Security and Data compliant 

Similarly to being financially compliant, you need to ensure your website is security and data compliant too. 

There are a couple of acts to be aware of when trading in the U.S., such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

As a general rule, you will need to ensure you are compliant if your website:

• Asks for names and email addresses to send a newsletter

• Ask for full names, physical addresses, payment information to complete a sale

• Deploys internet cookies on browsers for retargeting, advertising or analytics and tracking

• Assesses the online behaviors of the visitors 

You must meet the requirements of any applicable privacy laws to avoid penalization.

To ensure you are covered against non-compliance, most businesses present users with a privacy policy which explains what data is being collected, how it is being used, whether it is shared with any third parties and what rights your users have over their information. 

If you are not sure what you need to comply with, privacy policy generators such as Termly can help create a policy for what your website needs to be aware of. 

Step 7: Optimize your website (SEO)

Setting up the structure of your website is the first step to website success, and once you have added optimized product pages with strong imagery, that is even closer.

Optimizing your website opens up opportunities to generate organic traffic to your site - and with more visits, there can come more sales, and might even help lower other business costs. 

But to keep up with Google’s changing landscape and requirements, there needs to be some SEO focus on the website both before and after launch.

Looking at what customers are searching in relevant markets is a great way to know what you want to target on your website with your product pages or other pages as well as how to structure your website in a user-friendly way. 

If you wanted more support, there are a number of SEO consultants you could speak to for pointers. Or, if you fancy getting stuck into some of the tools instead Moz, SemRush, and Ahref all offer a mix of tools. They also run free trials so you can do digging in the data before committing any budget to it. 

Step 8: Finish the website content

In addition to your product pages, once you complete step 3 with the general set up of your website, it is time to add any further content you want visitors and customers to be able to see. 

If you have a blog, start by creating 5-10 blog posts on relevant themes and topics to your business. Look for longer search queries such as “How To” key words from the SEO research you did in step 7.

This is where you might talk about the benefits of an inventory management software system or where you might add FAQs on your shipping timings, or what to do about any delays. Anything that might be useful to your customers - existing and new. 

Step 9: Set up analytics and tracking 

Setting up a website takes time and money so it would be a real shame to launch without proper analytics, tracking and KPIs in place. 

Similar to business accounts on social media, some CMS platforms have their own analytics dashboard for you to track your customers’ behavior. But it is always worth looking into setting this up so you can track what is most valuable to your business.

Most metrics include visits, page views, conversion rate, any other information such as how many pages are customers looking at. 

Once you know what works, you can do more of that. When you see what needs a bit of work, that can move you in your next direction too. 

Step 10: Test and Launch your website! 

You’re nearly there! Before pressing “publish” and launching your new website into the digital realm, there are a few final things to do on your checklist to ensure it runs smoothly (better you find any bugs or issues than a potential customer): 

• Check all the images and copy is right and accurate

• Preview what the website looks like on mobile, tablet and desktop

• Check all links in the head and footer

• Do all the menus and buttons work?

• Test the buying process - does it work how it should? 

• Check the entire user journey

A lot of time and effort goes into building an ecommerce website, but the benefits of doing so are boundless. Once you are published and live, we wish you all the luck in getting moving and receiving traction!

Sign-up to Veeqo today, for free, to manage your mulitchannel ecommerce inventory and shipping.