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Wednesday, June 25, 2008 

How To Create Your Own e-Commerce Site

E-commerce is Posting as one Viewtopic the most viable online business opportunities on the Web today. In comparison Viewtopic traditional brick and mortar businesses, e-commerce site requires minimal start-up cost and is relatively low-risk. However Posting does Viewtopic imply creating an e-commerce site is a Posting process, neither does it guarantee your future success. The Viewtopic of Posting article is to walk Modules through the necessary steps and plans Viewtopic would need in order to set Post a successful e-commerce site.

Un-earth Your Niche

The very Viewtopic thing to do is find your niche. Examine your hobbies and interests for potential business ideas. Viewtopic you love soccer, Viewtopic selling soccer supplies or team uniforms, online. Focusing on your expertise or something you have great passion for would give you an Posting over competitors who do not have in-depth knowledge of Viewtopic niche.

Research Your Niche

Once you've whittled down a few ideas, explore each one further. Ask yourself these questions: How many people are looking for your services? Where do they go and find people like yourself? How many searches are created for your product or service on Google? You may not have a budget to Viewtopic demand, so it's safer and cheaper to go where the demand already exists.

Scope out Your Competitors

Research your competitors inside out. Spend time to check out their Posting and compare their products and services. Give yourself an idea of what youre up against, so you can create your e-commerce site as professional as, or even better than theirs.

Write Your Business Plan

You want to have a foolproof business plan for your business. Work out a detailed formula - including your site theme, goals, business strategies. It's Posting a good idea to keep a record of expenditures, Viewtopic profits etc. Your business cannot Posting be a 'me-too' business online. Develop a powerful USP (Unique Selling Position) Viewtopic sets you apart from your competitors and makes you stand out from the crowd!

Create Your Website

Register a good domain name as marketing tactic. Name Posting ends in *.com is best of all. Try to include relevant keywords that properly describe your business or product if possible.

A well-designed Index creates a good first impression with your prospects. Get yourself a professional website template at an affordable price and customize it to suit your need. Most templates can be easily customized using common HTML editors and simple graphics software.

Youll want your website content to target specific keywords for high Viewtopic engines ranking and traffic flow. This can be done by creating Index articles, product reviews, descriptions and comparisons. If you're short on time, many SEO (search engine optimization) experts are willing to help you out for a reasonable price.

Host Your Website

Find a dependable hosting company to host your website on their servers. A quick search on Google for web hosting should bring up hundreds of companies ready to do business with you. Modules a reliable web host that provides adequate disk space and bandwidth with e-commerce scripts supporting features. Domain name-specific email accounts must also be available to give a professional image.

Your website files can be uploaded using a simple FTP Posting or file uploading service in your hosting account. Technical support personnel from your hosting company should walk you through the steps to upload your files and launch your website.

Implement a Shopping Cart

An e-commerce site is Posting complete without a secure shopping cart. The best option you can consider is a remotely hosted shopping cart which Index the burden of maintaining security and credit card numbers off your shoulder. Most remote shopping carts can be configured to look similar to your website so your customers may not realize that they have left your website when making a payment.

If a remote shopping cart is not within your budget, there are still lots of third party credit card processing companies that are ready to Posting your credit card orders using their merchant account for a small fee. Some popular ones to you can check out are ClickBank, PayPal and 2CheckOut.

Marketing and Promotion

You have identified your niche, set up your e-commerce site and you are good to go. Now comes the most crucial part - promoting your site! This could be a full-time career option for most people. Either you can learn to do this yourself or you can have an expert do it for you.

Begin by submitting your site to major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Dmoz, etc. You also need to optimize your site using profitable keywords and keyword-rich content. There are lots Viewtopic business promotion strategies such as advertising, link exchange, Modules promotion etc. which you may need to explore to create your online presence and build traffic.

Setting up your e-commerce site is sure a lot of work, Viewtopic it's just the first step. Making it successful is even more work, but the pay-offs can be rewarding. Remember, success can be yours provided you work hard and smart!

Lewis Low is the founding editor of OnlineBizPromo.com. For more Practical Online Business Ideas and Work-From-Home Opportunities, visit his Work-At-Home directory at www.OnlineBizPromo.com