E-commerce website design solutions for all types of industries

E-commerce means ‘electronic commerce’ or, in other words, monetary transactions that take place on the internet. E-commerce web design refers to a website designed to sell products or services. An art form in creating a layout works best for selling products.

Firstly, understanding what a client wants to sell and how they want to sell can mean all the difference in creating a design that works. It should be immediately apparent on the site’s homepage what you are selling, jargon should be kept to a minimum, and the site’s structure should work across multiple devices, including desktops, tablets and smartphones. The design should incorporate a top, side and footer menu, and links should be visible above the fold on the top and side menus. Thinking about the category and product layout is also essential. Click-throughs to the purchase page should also be very few. Therefore, the structure of the site needs careful consideration.

We don’t think that there is a ‘best’ platform. There are a lot of platforms with different price points, including WordPress (WooCommerce), Magento, Shopify, OpenCart, Umbraco, Presta Shop and bespoke e-commerce sites that are built using custom HTML and PHP using a proprietary CMS. It all depends on a client’s budget and what they feel comfortable operating.

Ultimately, do you want to make easy money online? If yes, then, in a nutshell, you need an e-commerce website! Do you have a product to sell? Do you have lots of products to sell? You may not necessarily need an e-commerce shop to sell your products. Depending on the type of product you want to sell, you could sign-up to an online digital platform like Amazon, Etsy or Wayfair. You can pay for a mico-site on their platform. However, these types of sites charge a premium and then commission but at the same time have millions of visitors browsing their stores which means you can hit the ground running if your products are what people are looking to purchase.

Many of these answers are listed above under our ‘8 reasons to have an e-commerce shop‘.

• • Your site can stay online 24/7
  • you can create a database of customers to market to
  • Your site can stay online 24/7
  • you can add as many products to your website as you want
  • be in complete control over the design of your site
  • integrate your site with third-party apps
  • make an extra revenue stream online
  • sell products cheaper than your competitors
  • try out different products line at minimal investment costs

• • • Choose the type of product or service you want to sell
    • Set aside a reasonable budget for stock
    • Set up a sole trader or limited company
    • Purchase a domain name, include your keyword and buy the .co.uk and .com versions
    • Start the branding process; choose colours, a slogan and a logo if necessary
    • Create terms and conditions, GDPR and a privacy policy
    • Put together delivery terms and costs
    • Have a decent budget for a website
    • Find a reputable agency (like Mediatopia) to work with you, check out their portfolio, do a background check and see how long they have been in business
    • Build the website and take the time to write credible product descriptions
    • Start doing the on-page SEO for the home page and categories so that your site gets found organically on search
    • Spend time doing some offline marketing, registering on directories and social media platforms; the more mentions of your website online, the better; you want as many people to find it as possible
    • Start a paid marketing campaign; this could be doing content marketing, Google Adwords or sponsored ads on Facebook and Instagram
    • And finally, work hard at it; the harder you work, the more successful it will be!