GUIDE TO GETTINGSTARTED WITH

ECOMMERCE

The

Internet shopping is here to stay. In the 1990s, manypeople were skeptical that Amazon, a fledglingstartup trying to sell books online, would ever makea profit. Now it’s one of the largest, most successfulcompanies in the world, and growing every year.

The simple fact is that consumers love to shoponline. The simple convenience of shopping from thecomfort of your home means that ecommerce isgoing to be a huge force in retail for the foreseeablefuture. But how do you get started if you want to sellyour products online? Do you just create an eBayaccount and sell things there, or is it better to createyour own website? Read on!

eBay might be the ideal venue for any business thatwants to dip its toes into the online retail market. It’srelatively low risk, requires very little initialinvestment, and has the potential to be an additionalsource of income and sales for any business.

The Online Auction Option

The barrier to entry when it comes to selling on eBay isbasically nonexistent – if you sign up for eBay and PayPalaccounts, you’re essentially ready to start selling. If youwork with eBay (or similar sites, like Amazon and Etsy) youget the benefit of piggybacking on the site’s popularity andpotentially exposing your product to millions of people.The trade-off is that you lose the opportunity to customizeyour store and, more importantly, eBay and PayPal bothtake a substantial cut of each and every sale you make.

For this reason, many ecommerce experts recommendagainst trying to build a primarily online business solely oneBay – the percentage they take from each sale will reallycut into your bottom line as your business grows. However,as an additional source of sales for a brick-and-mortarbusiness or as a venue for someone testing the onlinewaters, eBay (or Amazon, or Etsy) definitely has its place.

A custom ecommerce website is superior in almostevery way to selling through eBay or another similarsite. With your own website, you have total controlover the look and presentation. No matter what typeof consumer or demographic you’re trying to appealto, you can customize the entire experience to matchtheir expectations.

The Custom Site Option

Additionally, with your own site you’ll have your owndomain name. www.yourbusiness.com looks muchmore professional that the URL for an eBay store.And in addition to having control over thepresentation of your online store, owning your ownwebsite means you also have control over the SEO.It’s unlikely that your eBay store will ever rank wellon Google, but consumers finding your custom sitewhile searching on Google is a real possibility.

The drawback with owning your own site is thestartup cost. A high quality ecommerce site cansometimes cost tens of thousands of dollars (althoughthere are high quality ecommerce sites available formuch less). But if you can afford it, it’s well-worth theinvestment. The cost of the site design is a one-timefee, while eBay will keep taking a percentage of yoursales as long as you stay with them.

The drawback with owning your own site is thestartup cost. A high quality ecommerce site cansometimes cost tens of thousands of dollars (althoughthere are high quality ecommerce sites available formuch less). But if you can afford it, it’s well-worth theinvestment. The cost of the site design is a one-timefee, while eBay will keep taking a percentage of yoursales as long as you stay with them.

So you have your store set up, you have your stockready to be shipped, and you’re just waiting fororders. How do you get people to actually find yourstore and buy stuff? Many of the tactics that workfor other online marketing campaigns also apply toecommerce sites.

Promote your newecommerce store

Blogging is a fundamental part of any online marketingeffort, and is especially important for ecommerce siteswhen they’re starting out. Blogs are great for SEO, andthey also give you some content to share in order topromote your site. Speaking of which…

Start a blog:

Social media sites can be a huge asset in establishingyourself online. Social media gives you free access tomillions and millions of potential customers. All youhave to do is get noticed, and that’s where your blogposts come in. They give you something to share thatpoints back to your website, where people can thenbrowse whatever you’re selling.

Get on social media:

Offering a discount when your store opens is a classictactic from brick and mortar businesses, and it worksjust as well online. Everyone loves a deal. Promote thisdeal everywhere you can find. Promote your posts onsocial media, and purchase PPC ads.

Run launch promotions or special sales:

Make sure that customers can find your business bysearching for keywords that are relevant to yourbusiness. You want your customers to be able todiscover your website when searching for the kinds ofthings you sell. With your business depending on it,you may want to invest in professional SEO services.

Focus on SEO:

Pay-per-click advertising gives you the opportunity topay to be the first search result for whatever searchterms you choose. How much you should be willing tospend on PPC depends on how much you can afford topay to make a sale and still be profitable.

Invest in PPC:

The Internet can be a gold mine for entrepreneurs, ifthey approach it the right way. However, themarketplace is getting more crowded every day, so thebetter you can stake out your claim online, the better.

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