If you plan to start your venture online, you need an eCommerce website development checklist to not forget any of the key elements to implement. This article includes all the majors that you require. So let us have a look.
It would help create eCommerce websites that follow all the current trends and offer a satisfying experience to your audience. But, in the same way, it involves all the website requirements like web hosting, page speed, formulating website design, and much more. For example, a top and popular e-business website always focus on customization like Amazon, Flipkart does.
Many retailers and young individuals are looking for online platforms to start their journey. There are reasons why they are looking for it, have a look at the advantages of online business.
You can only achieve the last two advantages if you apply some strategies towards them that require your efforts, time, and of course, money.
Ecommerce Website Development Checklist
Here, I have mentioned 50 points that I believe will help you strategize your e-business framework that is simple to understand but sometimes tricky to implement. Check these points while investing your time and efforts.
1. The Homepage
The homepage is the very first thing your audience will see when they visit your website. So you need to make sure everything is top-notch and the customer does not bounce back to another site.
- Include an appealing logo that catches the user’s attention.
- Your homepage must have the link to popular brands’ products.
- Similarly, add the search option at the top of the homepage to search for what the user wants.
- At last, keep your design simple and minimize the use of CSS because it may not work with other browsers.
2. Keep a check on the design
- First, Update outdated design (if any).
- Next, High-quality images and remove poor ones, if any. (write about lazy load images)
- Infrequent pop-ups. No one likes notifications popping up each time while loading other pages.
3. Add valuable content
Your site represents your brand and startup, so add valuable content with features and properties like plagiarism-free content that focuses on quality content over quantity.
4. Educate your audience
Do you want someone to sell your product without telling you much about the product? No, right? Likewise, educating the audience helps in sales and making your existing user a customer one day.
Add educational blogs to your website to let the audience know what the current trends are.
This practice attracts the potential audience and increases your customer/user base. High traffic means more leads, meaning possibilities of high sales.
5. Customer Support
Supportive customer support help users with the issues they face.
- Contact page with clear information and accessibility.
- Give 24* 7 support to customers.
- Mention your return, replace policy, privacy policy, and shipping details.
- Having the chatbot feature on your site like WeCodeFuture is attractive and helpful for the user.
6. A dedicated support page
Customers love the best user experience. So, add content that solves their queries.
For example, FAQs include regularly asked questions by the users. They may be regarding product, payment, delivery, return policy, or anything.
7. Website Infrastructure
This eCommerce website development checklist gives you a solution to all your doubts regarding web page development. Here site infrastructure means;
- Maintain page load speed.
- Remove broken links and empty products page, if any.
8. Load Balancer
Similar to the above point, load balancer helps in;
- Distribute incoming traffic to various servers for increasing efficiency, reliability, and availability of your website.
- Different servers help when any other server fails to crash; hence traffic is automatically redirected to them.
9. Internal Linking
When a user engages with your page, he clicks on several tabs redirecting them to the linked page.
- Make links to your career page, the home page, legal policy, return policy, social pages, supplier information page (if required).
10. Categories your products
Categorization will be a silly mistake if you fail to do so.
- Make a category of your products. Initially, having fewer products is not a problem, but users face difficulties searching for products without categories.
11. Content
Content represents your business details; the content must be relevant to them.
- Easily readable sentences and format must be top-notch.
- No grammatical errors.
- No plagiarized content.
12. Craft your service page
They need complete information on every page, tool, and guide to push them to purchase.
- Include CTA.
- Give complete details about products, including cloth type, price, or seller.
- Show a clear picture of the product.
13. Create customer checkout
The main point to add to your eCommerce website development checklist.
- Add the checkout button to both at the top and bottom of the page.
- Also, Secure the checkout process.
14. Create a shopping cart
- Customers prefer adding their favorite items to the cart. So, make it available and let their item save in it, in case he doesn’t purchase it at the moment, like this:-
Then “Add to cart,” or “wishlist” must be available on each page; it becomes easy for users to use it right there and not go back to add something.
15. Email Automation
- It helps you engage with your audience.
- Whenever they make a purchase, update them with the order tracking and shipment.
16. SEO for your site
SEO optimization is done, to make good ranking and traffic, therefore;
- Do proper keyword research.
- Prefer rich snippets to increase visual schema markup.
- Generate sitemaps for the platform for search engine crawling.
17. Web Analytics
It helps you get real-time data, monthly reports, insights of customer information, sales and revenue data. It has many tools and ways to apply web analytics.
- You can use Facebook pixel and analytics to analyze the traffic coming from social media.
- Register your website to search engine tracking tools i.e. google search console and Webmaster tools.
- Utilize shortened URLs and QR codes.
18. Data Backup
There are many cases where developers tell you that automated backup is included, but it turns out that you have to set them up. So choose wisely among these.
- Relying on a web host may not always be clear what’s backed up.
- Taking paid service of a web host which solves your above problem.
- Pull periodic backups yourself.
19. Accept all payment modes
Do not limit yourself to only a few payment gateways. You need to accept payment from all the methods available or at least the popular ones.
All the above-mentioned points in the checklist are a must for you to implement. But the below-mentioned are sometimes left behind to follow, thus add them too.
20. Show stock availability
Let the buyers know if the stock of a particular product is available or not.
21. Build customer confidence
Make complete transparency in your business and provide them with your best services without hiding any policies.
22. Contact Information on each page
Make it clear on each page and must ensure the information provided is correct and working.
Moreover, it becomes crucial that you follow the complete steps of an e-commerce website development becomes it shows what you should prefer and at what chronology!
23. Include the “recommended for you” feature
Helps customers in searching for the product, and most importantly attracts them to spend more time on your site.
24. Clear Visibility
Buttons that you have added must be visible like the checkout button, add to cart feature.
25. Add the “filters” option
The filters option lets buyers search for their expected product with some conditions they want to implement. It involves pricing, brands, and more.
26. Include customer review section
This section lets buyers check for the products’ reviews and also to write one, as per their satisfaction after they make a purchase.
27. Error reduction
Make sure your website has minimal “404 errors” while loading, or reduce if there are any.
28. Navigation option
It helps users to visit various pages and information about your platform. For example, they may look for blogs, products, or any of your services. So make it accessible.
29. Responsiveness
Like I have mentioned about the page load speed in the above points. Sit responsiveness is also essential; it must be accessible on any browser and gadget.
30. Link Analysis
Correct linking of a specific page is analyzed to know whether the link directs you to the same page or not.
31. Show estimated delivery time
The tracking option does not create chaos between you and your customer. They can have a track on their order.
32. Always entertain your customer
Email marketing tools can send personalized emails to the buyers, thank them for selecting your platform and services.
33. Keep checking third-party tools
Third-party tools involve services of different platforms like WeCodeFuture for web development services. It offers various services, and many of them are already included in this eCommerce website development checklist.
34. Add real-time feeds on social media
It will increase your customer engagement, keep your website fresh and updated, and most importantly, your brand awareness will increase. You can use the WordPress plugin to enable this feature on your platform.
35. Market Yourself
Let the audience know that you have what they want. Use digital marketing tactics like google and Facebook ads, or hire a digital marketing agency.
Watch Digital Deepak’s to learn Facebook tutorials.
36. Security Checklist
Check security majors for meeting the essential security requirements i.e SSL certification (helps in putting “s” in the HTTP making your site secure), using Robust Log-in framework, and keeping third-party controls like payment gateways, user contact information secure.
37. Develop competitive advantage
Find or develop a competitive advantage; it can be any practice like top-notch privacy policy, service USP, or even promotional activity.
Look at what Mr. Francis Waithaka talks about competitive advantage.
38. Specify your working hours
Clarifying your working hours for your services helps them know when and what time to contact you. It saves their time as well.
39. Use infographics
Infographics educate your audience about your product or industry, moreover, convey your message in a precise manner that customers prefer.
40. Reduce formalities
Let them search what they require and prefer the sign-in process in the end, or when they make a purchase or add an item to the cart.
41. Alternate language
Top eCommerce website Amazon has more than 1 language. To market yourself, make them feel comfortable, hence help them to search in their local language by adding more than 1 language.
42. Install essential apps
For promotion, you can use ProductHunt. Provides you the platform to present your ebusiness and let customers engage with you—similarly Ahrefs for SEO, Zendesk for customer support, etc.
43. Develop a marketing plan
Include a holiday marketing calendar; it will help then when you have work-off. Also, Analyze their purchasing power and behavior.
44. Run eCommerce testing
A/B test, test multiple CTAs per page over one CTA per page.
Check SEO performance and all the mentioned key points in this checklist.
45. Content strategy
Do not let irrelevant spamming with no fundamental structure show your professionalism.
46. Check on the skills of web developers
If you hire a developer for your web building, make sure he has technical skills, programming skills, communication skills, decision-making skills, and learning skills.
47. Use voice search
Voice search is in trend due to its easy accessibility. In addition, you can hire a developer to implement this tool in your site using AI and machine learning.
48. Upload the required document files
You would need to upload the files at the right place on your website; also, make sure you can place an aligned pdf document to let them know your guidelines.
49. Upselling
Remember the “you may also like” feature? It is a part of upselling, where you can retarget your existing customer for impulse buying. It helps in customer retention as well.
50. Storytelling
Introduce yourself to the audience and users. Also, apart from blogs, you can tell what your brand is about? How was your journey in building the startup? It will help you connect with your existing and potential users for the long term. But on the other hand, make sure you do not play double standards by creating a false story of yours and your brand.
In conclusion, this checklist will help you achieve the result you expect, provided you give your complete body and soul in developing your eCommerce brand. For more guidance, you can read our blogs related to eCommerce business startups.
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