Web Stores

Setting up an electronic retail (e-tail) Web site—especially one that will let you interact with customers—is a juggling act, with a lot of balls in the air at any given time. Drop one and the act may come to a screeching halt. While it's not exactly a true step-by-step process, this 31-day checklist will help you come to grips with the items that you need to be aware of when launching an online store, from the initial design and site building all the way to the often-overlooked extras that will have customers knocking down your virtual door.

Day 1. Have a Great Idea
We can't really help you with this one. Suffice it to say, if you make things people like to buy—be it art, music, furniture, whatever—then there's a good chance you could sell even more online.

Your great idea should have a written e-commerce business plan to back it up. This online outline has guidelines.

Day 2. Pick a Domain Name
Most likely you've already got a name for your business. Make sure it's available as a domain name (the name.com part of a Web address) by visiting a Whois service like www.whoisweb.org .

Try to avoid using the name searches at domain registrars—at least one, Network Solutions, does what is called domain name front running. This means that when you find an available domain name, the service instantly reserves it for a period of time, forcing you to get the domain name through that company or jump through extra hoops to register it elsewhere if you can't wait. As of January 2008, this is not much of an issue, as a registrar can be charged by ICANN if they delete a large number of domain names from the available pool during the initial registration five-day grace period. The fee is small, about 20 cents per domain name, but with millions of domain names checked each day, it adds up. Front running is no longer worthwhile for most domain registrars—especially big ones like Network Solutions.

Make your domain name (or names) decision long before you register. A "dot-com" (.com) top-level domain (TLD) remains the norm for a business, but you have many options depending on the registrar you use, including .info, .biz, and of course .net and .org. You could even use a country-specific TLD: For example, the URL-shortening service is.gd, pronounced "is good," uses the .gd that technically belongs to Grenada. (Many countries allow use of their TLDs to make extra money—consider the famed island country of Tuvalu, which lets anyone register using its .tv TLD. That makes many television related businesses happy.) Keep the main name short, preferably one word or two mashed together (like "coonskincaps"). And if you're really shooting high, register the name with more than one TLD (coonskincaps.biz, coonskincaps.com, coonskincaps.net, etc.) to control all the options.

Day 3. Choose a Web Host
This is one of the most important decisions you will make this month: Who gets to host your Web site? The sky is usually the limit on the extras you can get—if you're willing to pay for them—and the decisions are endless: Windows- or Linux-based hosting? How much space do you need? How much traffic do you expect? How many e-mail addresses will you need? Should your store have back-end databases? Are you planning to blog? It's different for everyone.

If you can, host the site with the same company you'll use to register the domain (which happens tomorrow). Otherwise, you will have some extra steps to go through, such as knowing the DNS server addresses for your host to provide to the domain registrar. If it's not provided, the domain registrar won't be able to forward requests for the domain to the host, and your potential customers won't be able to find your site.

Day 4. Register Your Domain
There are lots of registrars that are also hosts—Network Solutions, GoDaddy, 1&1, eNom, Tucows, Yahoo!, and many more. Prices will vary depending on the TLD and how long you register it for. Try to register the domain name for a couple of years or more—you don't want to have to think about reregistering in a year if things are taking off with the new business. Better yet, set it to renew automatically, then give the registrar some money.

If you haven't decided on a Web host, another option at this point is to "park" the domain. That means you register it, but don't put it into use. Yet. If the registrar does double duty as your new Web host, give it even more money.

Day 5. Gather/Set Connection Details
You'll soon be ready to upload the pages that will make your site. Write down the file transfer protocol (FTP) info you need—the host address (like ftp.catsitting.com), username, and password. You can use a third-party FTP program, like SmartFTP, or the FTP tool built into a Web editor, such as Adobe's Dreamweaver CS3 or the free KompoZer.

Set up a temporary page on the site—yes, the dreaded "under construction" page—preferably with your logo. Better that than letting early customers stumble upon the site and find nothing.

Day 6. Set Up E-Mail Accounts
It should go without saying: Set up e-mail addresses with the new domain name first thing. Put an e-mail link on that temp page mentioned above; you want to get leads on customers as soon as possible, right? So start now.

Also write down the SMTP/POP3 or IMAP info for your e-mail address to put into an e-mail client like Thunderbird, Outlook, or even a webmail client like Gmail.

Day 7. Design for the Future
Whether you're creating the site by yourself or working with a pro, it behooves you to make decisions about the look and feel of the site immediately. Sit down with a piece of paper and sketch it. Include all the elements you think the site needs (we'll cover some more below). Even better, if you're well schooled in software like Photoshop and InDesign, mock up exactly what the site should look like. The file you create may be the perfect template.

At this point, you may want to hand off things to the pro doing the actual coding, but it would be smart for you to consider all the elements here, from start to finish. Just because you hired a pro doesn't mean he or she knows everything. Be sure to note all the pages you'll need that person to build, including the home page, product pages, how to contact you, and so on.

Day 8. Create Consistent Navigation
The true sign of a nonprofessional site is that each page looks completely different from the others. It might seem creative and artistic, but for visitors who want to buy something and find their way around easily, it's confusing, and it's likely to send a potential customer running. Keep this in mind as you enter the second day of design work. Items to incorporate: search and subscription forms (see below). Because of search engines and links, interior pages of your site will probably be the first page a visitor sees. Not everyone comes into an online store via the front door (aka the home page). Make sure each page has the information customers need to navigate your site.

Day 9. Sample Site Statistics
Keep an eye on the traffic for your site. The natural choice these days for measuring traffic is Google Analytics, which provides all sorts of graphs and charts about your visitors and what they do when at your site. Woopra is another up-and-comer. Both are free.

Day 10. Optimize for Search
SEO is the art and science of search engine optimization. You need to plan for this early on to ensure your site is at the top of results for any searches related to your products. For example, if you sell only coonskin caps, but a search on that term doesn't yield your store, you've got problems. Carefully consider the metadata for your site—keywords, descriptions, headers, and so on. The more specific the terms used, the better. Although Flash content is now searchable, don't get into the habit of doing in Flash or graphics what you can do in nice, searchable text. The ALT attribute in HTML image tags is your friend.

SEO is too big a topic to cover here, but our PCMag.com White Paper area (registration required) has some great research on the topic including "12 SEO Campaign Killers" and "SEO 101."

Day 11. Ensure SSL Is Applied
Not S-O-L—that's bad. SSL is short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol for secure Internet transactions. When a Web address starts with https:// instead of http://, that's SSL. No one should ever give out credit card info to a Web site that lacks it—even yours. Some Web hosts may charge a little extra for SSL.

Day 12. Set up Payment Methods
You can't take cash under the table online. There is no table. You have to accept credit cards. Pros set up a merchant account so that money from secure online transactions is funneled straight to them. A payment gateway is a service that makes this work online; think of it as a virtual point-of-sale credit card swiper.

PayPal can function as your payment gateway, and the site offers other merchant services as well. Or you can put Pay with PayPal buttons next to items on your site instead, and simply have funds go to your account—no merchant account required. Google Checkout is similar. Each takes its cut, but neither is that expensive. (See more on Day 13.)

Of course, you could let customers buy now and pay later. Bill Me Later lets any e-tailer with a merchant account do this. At checkout the customer clicks the Bill Me Later link, and provides his or her birthday and partial Social Security Number. Bill Me Later pays for the goods, then later bills the customer. The customer doesn't have to give out a credit card number to a new site, and everyone is happy.

Day 13. Choose Shopping Cart Software
You could set up a store with a site such as eBay, but you will be giving up some control by not having your own site with one umbrella brand name. eBay is an excellent option for the less tech-savvy entrepreneur, the equivalent of renting your store, not owning. And for simple sites, Yahoo! Small Business—a PC Mag Editors' Choice—provides a lot more, including domains and site building tools.

There are better tools for power users, though. If your host doesn't have catalog software, set up something with a third party like Volusion. The service doubles as a Web host that, naturally, specializes in e-commerce. For selling stuff that can be sent electronically, via e-mail or download, there are several options, including Zipidee. If you've got the technical acumen, install some cart software yourself, like the open-source Ubercart. Whatever you pick, it must handle sales tax if needed in your home state (or states if you actually have multiple locations).

Day 14. Populate the Store
My explanation of what you need to do here may sound obvious, but here it is anyway: Write some enticing descriptions ("copy" in trade terms) for every item you sell. Read some catalogs for ideas. These could be make-or-break words, helping you sell enough to stay afloat, so choose your verbiage carefully. Other data to include for each item: sizes and a size chart, if applicable, and the availability of the item. If an item is not in stock, list a date when it will be.

Day 15. Photograph Your Products
eBay proved a long time ago that people like to see what they're buying. Don't consider putting up a catalog that doesn't feature good photos. Don't limit yourself to one picture per item. Offer multiple shots, from every angle, so people can get as close to a 3D feeling as possible. It doesn't hurt to have art to go along with digital products, as well—mock up an album cover to go with that MP3 you're peddling.

Day 16. Consider Shooting Video
Multiple images of a product are nice, but nothing beats a hands-on demonstration. Even Amazon has video on its site for customers to supply video reviews of products. You'll retain tighter control by making your own video to show the selling points. Host it at YouTube, Vimeo, or any number of sites, and embed it.

Day 17. Auctions Mean Bid-ness
It's not the heyday of eBay anymore, but that doesn't mean an auction of your wares isn't a good way to drum up bid-ness (get it? Seriously? I said it twice). The lust to win a bidding war could mean you make a little more profit, and even if something sells below its worth, you've probably got a customer for life. After all, giving something away free until the customer is hooked works for a lot of businesses. Even legitimate ones.

Day 18. Fulfilling Fulfillment
Your small e-tail biz may not be ready for drop-shipping, where someone else warehouses the goods you sell (your "virtual inventory"). But you can still bolster what you offer through a drop-ship service like Doba, with its 1.2 million products available to new online retailers. Even an Amazon Affiliate membership can make a site some money by helping Amazon sell books.

That doesn't solve the problem of order fulfillment for your own goods, of course. At the start, you're likely to be on your own, with stacks of boxes and lots of packing tape.

Selling digital products like MP3s or PDFs is simple: Offer them for download or send them via e-mail. Of course, downloading takes some of the onus off you, but your site needs a good back end to password-protect the link. If it becomes public knowledge, you'll be giving it all away.

Day 19. Think About Shipping
Anything that has to go out the door is going to cost you money to ship. If the customer is not paying for it, make sure your prices offset your costs. You don't want to go broke because you make a lot of trips to FedEx. If you ship a lot—an awful lot—you can negotiate some rates with your carrier. Check out third-party shipping services like SureShip, too. In short, shop around.

Free shipping—for the consumer, that is, with you eating the cost—is a great incentive for customers. Offering it may be realistic for Amazon or L.L. Bean but not for your sole proprietorship. Try it for a limited time, a year, or perhaps around the holidays when it may be a priority for last-minute gift purchasers. But the extra volume you gain may not be worth a possible hit to your bottom line.

Whatever you decide, explain your shipping costs and policies up front. Tell visitors when you'll ship. Spell out if you have same-day shipping and when that's possible (before 5 p.m., for example). After all, two-day shipping means different things to different people on different days of the week.

Day 20. Read Visitor Comments
Selling items online is not a one-way street—at the very least, you should provide an e-mail link or comments function for anyone who might want to contact you.
Give customers a chance to rate your products—it may give you an idea of what to sell, what not to sell, and how to make what you've got more appealing.

Day 21. Search the Site
In this case, the search is for the customer. Unless you sell only a handful of products, all found on your top page, your site must have internal search so customers can find the products they want. Get it through Google AdSense—really, why would you get it from anyone else? Especially since Google will pay you a few cents for specific searches. It won't make you rich, but the extra dough might pay some Web-hosting expenses. Again, incorporate the search box into your design.

Day 22. Live Chat with Visitors
You've probably encountered this: You're surfing a retail site and an offer—or even a chat window—pops up, inviting you to talk to a customer-service representative. It might be obtrusive to some—not everyone likes a Wal-Mart greeter—but it's a quick and inexpensive way to provide info to customers, as well as gather some info for your business.

It doesn't have to be annoying. Add a button so the customer can start the chat if they want. It helps if your chat service is manned 24/7, but at the very least create an instant messaging handle that you leave on when you are available. When you get big enough, move up to a service like eStara Click to Chat or LivePerson. E-commerce hosting site Volusion (from Day 13, remember?) offers live chat to customers for free. You have to staff it, however.

Day 23. Promise Privacy
You'll soon be awash in credit card numbers, personal addresses, and phone numbers, and of course, e-mail addresses. Before you collect even one bit of personal data, make public the privacy policy for your site, so customers know exactly what they can expect: contact from you, contact from spammers, or to be left completely alone to enjoy their purchase. Sign up with TRUSTe to get your site audited and earn its seal of approval to show customers they can trust you. TRUSTe also offers a Trusted Downloads program.

Day 24. Prepare for Returns
Write a clear returns policy and post it on the site. Include it with every shipment as part of the invoice, spelling out whether you or the customer is responsible for return shipping costs, any restocking fees, and so on.

Day 25. Market via E-Mail
Not everyone reads blogs or RSS readers (see below), but everyone has e-mail. Create an opt-in e-mail newsletter with a service like emma. Put the form for it (or at least a link to the form) on every page of the site. You can start out with something simple and manage it with e-mail software like Outlook or even Gmail, but once the list gets big use a service so you don't get identified as a spammer when you're not.

Notice we said opt-in—don't assume all e-mails you get mean those people want to be in your list. Ask first.

Day 26. Blog Your Heart Out
Yes, you're a retailer. That doesn't mean you have nothing to say to your customers. If your comments are insightful or interesting, they could be enough to bring people to your site under their own steam… and maybe they'll buy something. Many Web hosts offer blog tools like WordPress or Movable Type, but you can always set up your own with Blogger.com and add a blog page to your own site. For that, you'll need some HTML skills and that FTP info we mentioned before.

Day 27. Syndicate Your Content
RSS and Atom are used to provide a "feed" that others can subscribe to. The feeds usually include updates on what's new at a site. If you're blogging, your feeds are probably created automatically. If your shopping-cart software supports RSS, turn it on. Then set up an account at FeedBurner so you can use it to track the traffic on your feeds in the future and see how much they're helping drive new customers to your site.

Day 28. Beta-Test the Site
If you don't test your new site thoroughly, we can guarantee that something, if not everything, will be broken on opening day. (Actually, that could happen even with testing—from the crush of customers, if you're lucky.)

Day 29. Send Out a Press Release
You're nearly open, so tell the world! A professional press release to the right places can make all the difference. Hit the blogs that love your kind of product—if you can, give them incentive to share by giving something to the blog readers, perhaps a code for some money off if their visitors are among your first 100 (or 1,000) customers. Keep the hype in your release to a minimum—you're only starting out and thus you're probably not the "leading coonskin cap dealer on the entire planet." Yet.

Remember, the best way to get customers is word of mouth. By the same token, the best way for Google to find your site and rank it high in search results is for there to be lots of links to it. The more the better. Quality counts too, however: If CNN links to your site, it ranks higher than a link from your local paper.

Day 30. Pay for Placement
It's time to think about advertising. You can actually pay to get decent placement on a search engine. Google AdWords may cost you only a few bucks a month. Do some research on the best combination of keywords to drive the most searches to your ads.

Day 31. Survey Says!
If you've started this project in a longer month like August or October, consider a survey. Once you have established customers, set up a survey to ask them what they like or dislike about your products and the experience of using your site. Survey Monkey will let you design one and tabulate all the data you receive. If you want a survey hosted on your site, check out WuFoo for its free, easy-to-build surveys.

Future Reading for E-Tailers
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