In recent years, online retail websites have attracted attention. This is crucial because common people now have access to mobile phones and laptops at such ease. Only the comfort that smartphones offer can explain why the trend has grown. These bring with them the addiction to shopping. It is unimaginable how relaxing it would be to relax at home with our favorite beverage and order the dress we want with just a few clicks. Some people prefer online shopping to physical shopping because it allows them to test out many options without having to exert themselves physically. It has proven to be a great location for business, according to some. People have begun to wonder about the cost of creating an online store website as a result of this scenario.
With the development of technologies, online shopping has seen a significant increase. The e-commerce owners are going crazy trying to maintain their strong position in the online race given the unheard of rate of growth. Every online business needs to be developed and modified to succeed.
This article offers a method for assisting someone who wants to create an online store. The things to consider, the difficulties, and the expense of developing any eCommerce websites.
5 Factors You Need to Know Before Launching an E-commerce Website
Prior to searching for an eCommerce website, it is crucial to develop a strategy. Finding out where to start, what to think about, and where to cut costs is very difficult without a clear plan. Therefore, reflecting on strategy for a while is highly advised in order to gain a deeper understanding.
Let’s look at the main stages of developing an e-commerce website.
1. Your Goals
Identifying the goals of any development is the first step. How precisely the plan is laid out will determine how effective the development process is. As a business owner, you must know exactly what you want to accomplish, what to anticipate, and how it should appear.
Answering the following questions will help you get there:
- What types of eCommerce websites can one anticipate?
- What shipping options are available?
- What will the projects’ sizes be? How much can be scaled up?
- Is it required to only have an online store? Or is it just a means of boosting sales at a real store that already exists?
- What is the cost of developing an online store?
Any project that needs to be completed at a high level will obviously only be successful if we are clear on the desired outcomes. To avoid disappointing the developers, this needs to be explained clearly.
2. Domain and Web Hosting
A domain name and website hosting are two important but frequently ignored factors. Let’s examine these elements in more detail.
The name of your business should ideally be the domain name because it needs to be memorable and simple to pronounce. This is very important because it represents the company brand. The name must not already be in use, as this causes problems with registration. Hosting guarantees that the eCommerce website is programmed correctly.
3. SSL Certificate
With the help of the SSL protocol, your server can communicate with the visitor’s browser without even the slightest risk of a cyberattack. The transition of the coded data through HTTPS is made possible by the SSL browser. With the secret digital key, it returns data in the decoded format. SSL certificates come in three different varieties.
- Domain validation, which calls for domain verification, is very popular today.
- Business validation: The decision is important for those businessmen who take their reputation into consideration. In this situation, more in-depth investigation is required, which includes a review of your company’s operational procedures.
- Extended validation
4. Payment Gateway
It takes a lot of time and effort to obtain permission to use this technology, so setting up a secure payment system is by no means simple. However, there is no way around this kind of challenging procedure. Finding out how to create a successful eCommerce website is the best risk.
5. Your Marketing Plan
Search engine optimization, affiliate programs, banner and context advertising, Google Shopping Campaign, and many other strategies exist to promote your service and draw in new clients.
Don’t forget about social networks and the opportunities they offer, either. Integration with Facebook, Instagram, and other sources of a similar nature is insufficient. It’s crucial to establish an organization’s specific web page on each major social network, which would serve as your brand, display your product catalog, and make your eCommerce website available for purchase.
How Much does it Cost to Develop a Website for an Online Store?
One must ascertain the components of a successful eCommerce business project in order to calculate the costs to build one. We’ve listed a few key website features below, and we’ll look at each one in terms of how long it takes to implement it. The average price of an eCommerce website ranges from $6000 to $28000 depending on features, technology, products, and other factors. These features have an impact on the overall cost of developing an eCommerce website.
(Sign-in page) authentication
A consumer registration page must be created so that users can register and enter their personal information. However, one shouldn’t make authorization a requirement because doing so puts one in danger of losing many customers.
Product Page
At first glance, it appears to be a simple step and fairly obvious. But if someone wants to know how to make an online store successful, they should focus on this issue the most. The goods catalog should be as simple to use as possible:
- Divide the catalog into sections according to various product categories to make it easier to find the desired position.
- Make a chart with sorting and filtering.
- give customers the option to compare various catalog items that are similar.
- Don’t overlook the catalog search.
- All catalog components, including filters and the search bar, should be very user-friendly. The likelihood of future excessive conversions rises as a result.
Product Information Page
When discussing what is included in the cost of developing an e-commerce website, one must take into account features like a product info page, which is essentially a product card. It should contain all the pertinent information about a particular product, such as the image, the description, the features, the measurements, etc.
It won’t be unnecessary either to provide a video showing the products in action. And lastly, we advise including a feedback section. Users would be happy to read reviews from people who have already bought the product in question.
Storefront page
The phase of developing a shopping cart is a prerequisite for e-commerce website development. It’s very easy: when a customer clicks the “Add to Cart” button, the item automatically appears on this page.
Payment page
We discussed how to secure an e-commerce website while talking about the SSL protocol. Payment is always a delicate time, and the customer should be able to put their trust in the website. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the checkout page.
Take care of the following in order to make the checkout page credible:
- The “rule of three clicks” states that a website should be constructed so that it takes a user no more than three clicks to arrive at the desired outcome. It also holds true for the checkout page. Even though three clicks might not be sufficient, try to keep them to a minimum. Only e-commerce website solutions always adhere to this principle.
- Process transparency: The checkout and purchasing procedures should be as user-friendly as possible.
- The Chance to Go Shopping Again: The Possibility Consider giving the customer the option to continue shopping from any page.
- Links to your Private Policy: To assist the user in becoming familiar with safety precautions, the page should always include a link to the Private Policy page.
- Complete details regarding the purchased item: The order’s total cost provides insufficient detail. The checkout page should have a more detailed description because the user wants to know exactly what he’s paying for. Alternatives for specific shipping may be available as well.
About Us
Users should be informed about your business. Inform users about your business; don’t remain silent. One should be able to demonstrate that the company is reliable! In other words, develop your company’s brand. Traditional resources frequently provide information for the entirety of the organization’s records (a story of its formation with all of the highs and lows), but they are no longer required. Nobody really cares why you decided to start improving your eCommerce website; instead, customers are more likely to look into things like:
- Years in business
- Accomplishments, honors, and certificates that the company is particularly proud of?
- The nature of the goods provided.
- Suppliers
- Quality Control to inform everyone of the steps you are taking to guarantee the high caliber of the products.
Choose Best ASP.NET Ecommerce Hosting for Your Business
In our extensive ecommerce hosting research, ASPHostPortal received a score of 4.7 out of 5, making it the best overall ecommerce hosting provider. It provides exceptional stability, premium features, and exceptional value for the money. With a score of 4.6 out of 5, HostForLIFE.eu is a close second place finisher due to its excellent help and support services and top-notch security features.
You will be helped by our thorough research, which covers everything you need to know about ecommerce hosting providers, as you make your decision until you’re ready to go!
1. ASPHostPortal
In terms of ecommerce platforms, ASPHostPortal is one of the best that I can recommend for hosting your ASP.NET ecommerce website. For good reason, it powers the stores of more than one in four online businesses.
The hosting provided by ASPHostPortal has a 99.99% uptime rating, which is the best in the business. In addition, it makes use of a content delivery network (CDN) with numerous servers to ensure that, regardless of how quickly you expand, global website visitors can access your e-commerce store as quickly as possible.
Take advantage of ASPHostPortal’s ecommerce platform’s robust and scalable features, which include:
- FREE SSL certificate
- Big size bandwidth
- Unlimited hosted domains, PCI compliance, and email forwarding
- shopping cart software that is simple to use
Even better, ASPHostPortal hosting enables you to concentrate on what you do best: run an online business. There will be no need to deal with downtime, fix bugs, or spend hours on the phone with support because any hosting updates will be carried out automatically.
2. HostForLIFE.eu
HostForLIFE.eu provides a selection of hosting plans. For business owners looking to host an online store, it suggests the Economy plan, which includes features like:
- Unlimited disk space and bandwidth
- One click nopCommerce installation
- 99.99% availability across two data centers
- Online tracking
- Powerful CPU resources
- The most impressive aspect of HostForLIFE.eu is its quick loading times. It claims to have quicker loading times than other hosts like Godaddy or Hostgator.
3. UKWindowsHostASP.NET
For e-commerce websites that use nopCommerce, UKWindowsHostASP.NET is a good choice. From its shared hosting plan to a VPS for expanding ecommerce businesses, there is a choice for every budget.
Each of its hosting packages gives customers access to a variety of features, including:
- Unlimited products
- Payment processing
- Free 20 GB SSD storage for domains
- It’s important to note that some UKWindowsHostASP.NET features, such as domain name privacy and unmetered bandwidth, are only available with Enterprise plans. Packages may also increase in price after the initial discounts end.
4. DiscountASP
DiscountASP is a huge player in the ASP.NET hosting space and they have been in ASP.NET hosting industry for almost 2 decades.
Mostly working with sites using ASP.NET, DiscountASP is pretty simple, they only offer 1 shared hosting plan which cost you $10/month. This has includes:
- 24/7 network security
- Access to 150 free apps
- Global data centers for fast loading times
- Free one-click nopCommerce installation
5. Accuwebhosting
Another choice to take into account when looking for ASP.NET ecommerce hosting is Accuwebhosting. Its hosting plans are used by more than two million websites, but in order to access features like:
- Guaranteed uptime of 99.9%
- 24/7/365 assistance through phone or live chat
- weekly automatic backups off-site
- unlimited email addresses
Similar to other self-hosting packages, you can anticipate that your monthly fee will increase as your e-commerce business expands. Be aware that introductory prices are frequently much lower than regular ones. When the deal’s term ends, be prepared to pay exorbitant renewal fees.
Final Verdict – Don’t Choose Wrong Hosting Provider
Making the right choice for your online store’s ecommerce host is important. Potential customers must be able to access your website whenever and wherever they want to shop, according to your provider.
Investigate the ecommerce hosting options we’ve suggested here for a while, but don’t commit right away. Many suppliers provide free trials and 30-day money-back guarantees so that customers can test each package.
