Shopping Cart Tutorials

Designing an online store- Designing an online store entails thought and creativity. A well designed online store can generate extra revenue. In this designing an online store tutorial we are going to give you the tools to create an online store.

Designing an online store typically occurs after you have signed up for cheap web hosting and after you have secured all the necessary eCommerce tools that you need. Without going into a lot of detail, those tools include a shopping cart, payment gateway, internet merchant account, and SSL certificate. The reason that you want to have all these in place before you start designing an online store is because you will need certain information from each aspect to enter into the back end of your online store.

Once you are ready to begin designing an online store there are some things that can make your website building experience better and faster. Website Shopping Cart has designed and built several online stores so we know a little about it. We have put together our top five tips for designing an online store to make your job easier!

1. Use an eCommerce template or online store builder program

Think of this as taking a major shortcut while still creating a custom eCommerce website. A lot of the best web hosting plans will include website templates that can be utilized by eCommerce websites. Should you not find any eCommerce website templates that you like from your host you can always find cheap online store builder software. These programs allow you to create virtually any type of website you desire. They do require more work out of you so be prepared. Website Shopping Cart really likes using eCommerce site templates. They are easy to use and look great. Let’s face, unless you are a large business with tons of money to waste on a custom website template, these are going to be perfect for you.

2. Fonts

It is best to use no more than two font sizes for your website. Having multiple font sizes will distract people from the products you are selling. Make sure that you use a font size that everybody can read. Typically a font 10 or 12 is good. There are expectations but those should be far and few between. In addition to font size, you also have to consider the actual font. Now days there are so many different types of fonts to choose from. Everybody has their personal favorite. When it comes to font, keep it simple. While cursive font might look good on your header, it is hard to read in the body of text. Use a simple font like Tacoma, Times New Roman, or Arial.

3. Colors

Colors can be applied towards both font and backgrounds. For font, use black unless you are promoting a specific item or wanting it to stand out. Even then, a colored font should be used in a limited fashion. With regards to the color of the background and graphics, keep it simple and clean. While your favorite color might be hot pink, hot pink doesn’t settle to well with readers. Off the wall and bright colors will only distract your customers. Look at all the custom website templates and you will see that they keep the colors simple. This allows your products to be the showcase, not the background.

4. Quality versus Quantity

This really depends on what type of website you are designing and who it is for. If you have a company that sells police uniforms, then concentrate only on police uniforms. While a lot of police officers might be interested in finding the best police guns, if they come to your police uniform site they are looking for police uniforms! There is no need to flood your online store with miscellaneous products only to confuse your customers and to clutter your website. If you are running an online store that mainly acts as a middle person (affiliate programs) then you are probably going to have a wider variety of products on your site. Even though you still want to only sell the most popular products and products that you know can sell.

5. Search engine optimization

Search engine optimization is very important. While it has nothing to with the products that you sell, it has a lot to do with the content that you write on your website. Search engine optimization or SEO is what drives traffic to your website. There are a few ways to generate traffic via SEO. The main ways are fresh content, relative keywords, inward links, and search engine submissions. All of this can easily be done by a person or obtained from a SEO company for a small price.

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