You've got your domain name secured now, good job! So uh, how do you get a shop on there now?
If you're considering building a self-hosted e-commerce site all by yourself, here's the low down on what you'll need to get started. Of course, there's no way I can help with the actual how-to's of creating an online shop here- there's entire blogs/books/forums dedicated to such things, but I hope to at least point you in some helpful directions so you'll have some starting ground and know what you're getting into!
Building your Own E-commerce Site
I started my first online shop, curio j (see it in the waaaayback machine- there's some graphics missing, the background's gone, but some of the links still work- cool! weird!) in Nov 2005, before sites like etsy existed and I created it all on my own with a will and way, armed with a book thicker than the Oxford English Dictionary called Dreamweaver demystified, the endlessly helpful Switchboards and many, many hours into the lonesome, quiet night.
Was the end result totally awesome, the best site I've ever seen? No, not so much.
Did it get sales? Yes! Did it look pretty good and function well too? Yes! Did it impress my mom, and friends? Heck yes! And yours can too!
- Web Hosting:
There are literally hundreds of web hosts to choose from, you'll have to do some research yourself and see which ones floats your boat and your budget the best. *Word to the wise: don't trust the "reviews" out there, as they're often falsified and paid for, unless they come from an unbiased and reputable source, like cnet, for instance. Here's an article on how to know the good hosts from the bad.
Things to consider: their customer service, degree of reliability (downtime sucks!), how much storage you need, ftp access (for you to be able upload files to it), php access (for you to be able to mess with your cart) what comes included (sometimes wordpress and shopping carts come included with an easy install), do you get a free domain name and how many, how many email accounts, etc. Here's a more thorough article on some of the things to consider when choosing a host. - A shopping cart system:
- osCommerce and ZenCart are free open source carts- you have to be pretty darn swift with the html/css knowledge to be able to make these progress beyond their yucky stock template shop looks
- CKGold is amazing, full featured, awesome back end. Costs $99 for a single lisence fee. Again, need to know what you're doing design wise to make it look pretty
- Paypal has a shopping cart that you can integrate in your design- would have to use paypal only for checkout tho, vs. accepting credit cards directly
- A Web-design Program:
Unless you're a professional programmer and can code a site from scratch, you'll probably want to purchase a web design program like Dreamweaver (and its friends) to help out:- Dreamweaver= $399
- Fireworks (its graphic design buddy)= $299
- The whole web design suite (with dreamweaver, fireworks, flash, photoshop and more)= $1699.
edited to add: If you don't need all the functionality of these programs, or can't quite afford them, there are many free design programs available too- Mlle. A was kind enough to point some your way in the comments below! :)
- A merchant account:
If you want to be able to accept credit cards through your site directly, you'll need to set up a merchant account. (You should also be able to use these accounts to accept credit cards at craft shows and what not)- Of course there's many merchant accounts to choose from- Paypal offers one, CCNow, Got Merchant, Authorize.net are some- find more here
- These usually charge a monthly fee plus a % of each sale processed.
- A Secure Certificate:
If you accept credit cards directly through your site, you'll need to get an SSL certificate to exchange payment information over a secure connection (you know, that reassuring little lock that pops up on your browser when you enter your credit card info in?)- Instant SSL and Rapid SSL have pretty inexpensive ones, from $65 - $80/year.
- You may also want to invest in some web and graphic design how-to books if you need them, even with a web design program, you'll need help figuring out how to use it! Visit your local bookstore and plan on $50+ for at least a couple helper outers.
- Last, but not least (and probably not really last either because I'm sure I'm forgetting something) you'll need endless amounts of patience, many bigs chunks of spare time, good graphic design skills, the ability to learn new things quickly and some awesome online research skills to rely on when you get stuck. But the good news is? All of that is free! :)
If all this talk of hosting and carts, php, SSL and html has you feeling giddy and excited to dig in and learn more, then you're probably a good candidate for building a site yourself!
If, on the other hand, it leaves you feeling like your brain is leaking out of your earholes, well there are easier roads to take.
Tomorrow, I'll point you towards some hosted shop sites where you can set up a shop quickly and easily, and also refer you to some capable and awesome professional web designers. See you then!
ps: If you've done this before, feel free to add other resources and must haves when it comes to building your own e-commerce site in the comments below. If I forgot something major, let me know and I can add it in! :)
