Set up an Ecommerce Shopping Cart
Creating a Web Site Catalog
You have two basic options when it comes to designing your web site: simple and basic or intricate and complicated. If you are a novice at web site design, you might want to consider using a hosting service that will help you to set up your site with little technical input from you.
If you want to save money, you can use a website builder that allows you to create everything on your own. Website builders work simply with text and image input. This is the best option for a novice web site designer. For those who are either more ambitious or skilled with some web site design background, website design software will allow for the creation of more sophisticated web sites. Adobe Dreamweaver or ColdFusion are two of these more sophisticated programs that can be used to design a web site.
In particular, web site design software for eCommerce sites will be your best bet to assist you with creating the catalog. Before you purchase any software, make a list of all of the features that you want for your web site and look for software that offers all of this.
Creating a Shopping Cart
Designing a shopping cart for a web site is necessary when you aren’t using a hosting plan that features shopping cart program. Several software packages are available for purchase to help you with this task. Additionally, several tutorials are available at the following link that will show you how to build your cart: Shopping Cart Tutorials.
Creating a Shopping Cart with PayPal
If you do not want to go about setting up a merchant account, you can use PayPal’s shopping cart software. With a merchant account, you need to set up a business license so that you can accept credit cards. PayPal’s service processes the customer’s credit card for billing and deposits the money into your PayPal account. A small percentage of each order is charged by PayPal. The checkout for your web site will be set up on PayPal’s servers and you won’t need to install any software. Set up is minimal and involves a small amount of HTML.
Drawing Traffic to a Web Site through the Web Site
Increasing traffic to your web site can be accomplished in several ways. Incorporate strong Meta Tags for your website using keywords that have relevance to your web site. Meta Tags are used by search engines as well as people who are browsing the Internet.
Use SEO practices specific to the content of your web site. Important keywords can be used in your labels and descriptions of your products. Use a descriptive Title. Avoid overuse of keywords since this will go against you.
Register your web site with the major search engines: Google, AltaVista, Lycos, and Yahoo. The instructions to do so can be found on each search engine’s website.
Create links with other websites. This can be accomplished by trading ads, banners, and more.
Drawing Traffic to a Web Site outside the Web Site
Compose a newsletter to send to customers who sign up so that you can develop an ongoing interest in your products.
Advertise your website wherever you can, but in a legitimate way. Visit forums to see if anyone is looking to purchase any of the products that you sell. If they are, then you can point them in the direction of your web site.
Create a customized signature for your email and include the name and web address of your web site. Post business cards on public bulletin boards.
Susan Keenan | October 3rd, 2008
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i believe payment tech with chase is going to help me with a shopping cart for my web site. i think my supplier provides a disc at a cost to upload products to my site. i think you did a excellent job in explaining how to get traffic to the site once it is fully autimated or up and running.please pray with me for a positive cash flow of this business indeavor. i need to pay bills an buy a car and a better home i own with all new furnishings and to have new clothes , or a new building on the property to work out of for my business and future growth of my family. thank you for your help on the subject.