Building your business website doesn’t have to be daunting or overwhelming! It has come to our attention from a recent survey that less than two-thirds, roughly 64 percent, of small businesses have a website for their business. This is surprising to say the least, especially with the other recent data reporting that the regular internet user count has now reached upwards and beyond 3.14 billion!
For us at Rave Retailer, we can only assume that the reason behind this staggering statistic is that those small business owners don’t know where to start in achieving their perfect website and digital business hub, as that is what it will serve. Today, we’ll discuss the basic steps in getting your perfect e-commerce site started and the site architecture you’ll want to implement to best convey your business to prospective clients and customers. Let’s get into it!
Architect
So, to any of the small businesses out there that have been overwhelmed with the task of creating a business website, enough so to the point of putting it off entirely, we can safely make one another assumption. That assumption is that it would most definitely be in your best interest to opt to have a third-party company handle your website design needs.
If the mere thought of undertaking a website build seemed daunting, getting into the web design tools may be enough to make you faint. We say this lovingly, and as a company that wants so badly to relieve you of this burden that we take ourselves take it on for clients all the time. To dive more deeply into all the reasons outsourcing your website building will benefit you, check out another blog of ours covering that exact topic.
Architecture
Once you have brought your design team on board, the design process can begin! But that design will start with some brainstorming on your part. What does your business do? What is your business all about? How will you logically, efficiently, and effectively lay out all of this information onsite for optimal navigation and user experience?
Below, we’ll outline a straight-forward, no-fuss navigation for your website. While you can always scale to have more sections and menu items in your business site, this will serve as a great foundation!
Home
Your home page has two main purposes. The first purpose is to engage the shopper. We’ve all heard and know of the statistics suggesting we need to capture audience attention in less than 10 or so seconds, and these figures are not to be ignored! While your website architects will come prepared with the tools and means to create a functional website, it will benefit you to come prepared with any visual and written content to encourage people to stay on your site. Your home page will feature the most eye-catching to achieve exactly that!
The second role of this page is to act as a table of contents of sorts. It will provide blurbs of each subsequent and menu-navigable page, a preview so-to-speak. This will show shoppers what they can expect to as they venture further into your site and entice such activity.
Store, Products, Services
You are here to sell, after all! So one of the most focal menu items on your site will be your store or products page(s). This will throw prospective buyers right into the thick of your provisions, let them see all of your products, services, descriptions of each, prices of each, and any additional pertinent information.
If you sell one-time purchase products, this alone will suffice. However, if you create a subscription type product, you will also want to setup an additional Membership type portal through which your customers can enter and utilize your products and services.
Subsequent product pages themselves will need additional configuration, but in terms of site architecture and knowing what navigable items you will need onsite, just know that your store, products, and/or services section will be key!
Current Offer
Provide a little added value, especially to potentially new clients. Having a Current Offer page will act as a friction-reduced gateway between you and new business. This page will serve a couple important purposes. For one, it will help encourage new buyers to buy through promotions, deals, and the like, which you provide to them through their email submission. Second due to that email submission, you earn email subscribers, to whom you can later send emails with even more great value to them! Considering all of this, this page will be very beneficial for you to have onsite!
Blog
You’re going to want a blog on your site as well, and there are a couple reasons why. First reason is in line with the previously discussed notion of value. When you have an onsite blog, you provide added value through industry-forward information that will be useful and enlightening to people interested in your business, and provide you with a perception of being the expert in your field.
Furthermore, but incorporating a blog, you provide more doors and entryways into your site, from places all over the web. While writing a blog, be mindful of the keywords you are utilizing in your text, as Google will highlight you in search returns if you execute this properly. So this will help onsite and off!
About
Consumers are more likely to be patrons of your business if they have a sense for who you and your team are as PEOPLE! Give them an About page, so they can feel more connected and comfortable with you.
Contact
Lastly, you’ll want a Contact page so that shoppers can know how to reach out to you. What should be included on this page are location details, phone number, email address, and any other pertinent information you feel will be useful in reaching you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our goal at Rave Retailer is to provide the means and information to help small business owners get recognition online and propel their business onward and upward! The first step is building that e-commerce site, and as your navigating that initial step, look to this article to demystify all that you’ll need to have prepared to execute on your site build! To get started with your own e-commerce site today, contact the pros at Rave Retailer!