How to Create an Ecommerce Website in 2024 – Step by Step Guide

Are you planning to create an eCommerce website for your business?

But, you don’t have any idea how to build an eCommerce store.

To make an eCommerce website you don’t need to be a technical person. Because we’ve many drag and drop web design software tools on the market that will work for us.

In this article, we’ll show you step by step how to create an eCommerce website without writing a single line of code.

Nowadays, the eCommerce industry is growing at a higher rate than before. The main reason behind it is today,  sixty out of every hundred people prefer online shopping over offline stores.

Today, almost everyone has a smartphone and internet connection. It’s a better opportunity for you to reach to your customer directly from the internet and sell your product or services to them.

If you want to make more sales and earn more profit from your product then I’ll suggest you to start selling online. So, I think today is the right time to start an eCommerce website and launch your business online.

How to Build Your Own eCommerce Website

In this section, we are going to learn how to build and set up an eCommerce website, how to customize and add products to your website, and more in following easy steps.

What do we need to start an eCommerce site?

Basically, we need three things to launch a beautiful eCommerce Website within 20 minutes. These are:

  1. A Computer or Laptop
  2. An eCommerce Website Builder or Platform
  3. A domain name and hosting account

So, let’s head over to our topic and explore how to start an eCommerce store for our business and increase our sales rate.

Step #1: Best Platform for eCommerce Website

There are several eCommerce website builders or platforms are available in the market which enable you to set up and manage your online store quickly and easily.

But, how you’ll find which platform is best for beginners to build an eCommerce website easily.

Some of the most recommended eCommerce platforms are BigCommerce, Shopify, and WordPress + WooCommerce.

In this tutorial, we are going to use WordPress + WooCommerce to create an eCommerce Website. Then we’ll give our website an attractive look using a drag and drop website builder.

WordPress is a widely used blogging platform or Content Management System (CMS) which powers over 75 million websites on the internet world.

Whether you’re a beginner or expert WordPress is the best platform to make a website in less time without learning how to code.

WooCommerce - eCommerce Website Builder

WooCommerce is an open-source platform that is available as a WordPress eCommerce plugin. It is one of the best free eCommerce platforms for beginners to start an eCommerce website and it is used by almost 30% of all online stores.

With WooCommerce, you’ll get full control over your website and easily create and manage your eCommerce website without having technical skills or coding knowledge.

It also comes with advanced features like a payment system, shipping management, designer-made templates, and many more that makes your eCommerce store more professional.

That’s why we think WordPress + WooCommerce is the perfect choice to start an eCommerce store.

Now, we are going to create an eCommerce website on WordPress using WooCommerce.

Step #2: Select a Domain Name and Hosting Plan

To create an eCommerce website with WordPress, we need to have a domain name, hosting account, and an SSL certificate.

Don’t worry you don’t need to pay for all these things because we’re going to grab our domain name and SSL certificate for free with our hosting plan (for our readers only).

But before that take a quick look at what is a domain name, SSL certificate, and web hosting and why we need them to create a website?

  • Domain name: A domain name is your website address, which your visitors need to type in their web browser to go to your website (for example – earnerstreet.com, amazon.com).
  • Web Hosting: A web hosting account like a storage space of your website, where all your website’s media files will get stored.
  • SSL Certificate: An SSL (secure socket layer) certificate makes your site secure for browsing and receiving payments. It converts your site from http:// to https://.

Generally, a domain name costs around $8.99/year and an SSL certificate costs nearly $68.99/year.

Here, we’re going to use Nexcess Managed WooCommerce hosting for better performance and speed of our store. With the Nexcess WooCommerce plan you’ll get many SEO plugins for free.

Why choose Nexcess WooCommerce hosting?

Nexcess is one of the high-performance delivering and officially recommended web hosting companies. Its servers are highly secured, fast, and hassle-free that keeps your website stable and hacker-proof.

With Nexcess’s managed WooCommerce hosting, you don’t have to worry about the technical setups, security, and backups because it automatically manages all your store setups and keeps your it up to date and secure.

Even when you’re in bed Nexcess keeps your website active to receive orders. Nexcess is also known for its best-managed WordPress hosting services which are used by many popular companies such as Audi, RedBull, and ESPN.

That’s why we think Nexcess is the right choice to create an eCommerce website.

Before, heading over to the next step, first, find a simple and unique domain name for your website. You can use various domain name generator tools for your business-related name suggestions.

Then, go to Namecheap domain registrar and search for your domain name if available purchase it. You can follow our guide on how to buy a domain name for your website.

If your selected domain name isn’t available then select another domain name that is easy to spell and relevant to your business and register it immediately.

Get Started with Nexcess WooCommerce »

Now, let’s head over to Nexcess’s website and grab our WooCommerce hosting plan that comes with a 1-click website install feature, super fast speed, a highly secured server, and great support.

Click this link to go to the Nexcess website and explore their hosting plans.

After opening the website, click on the Get Started button or simply scroll down to the hosting plans section.

Nexcess Managed WooCommerce Hosting

Now select your hosting plan, if you want to create only one eCommerce website then choose the Starter plan or if you’ve planned to create two or more websites then go with the Creator plan.

As you’re a beginner we’ll recommend you to select the Starter Plan which comes with 30GB of storage space and 3TB bandwidth. You can always upgrade your hosting plan as your business grows.

Their every plan comes with pre-installed WordPress + WooCommerce along with a free SSL certificate.

To select the Starter plan click on the Get Started button given on the respective box.

Nexcess WooCommerce Hosting Plans

On the next page, you’ll be asked to enter your domain name (enter the domain name that we’ve purchased from Namecheap or you can use your custom domain).

Also, select the data server location (if you want) and give a nickname to your plan. Then, click the Next button.

Hosting package deatails

Now add some basic information like your name and email address and set up a password for your profile.

Note: Always give a working email address and remember your profile password. Because you’re going to receive all your hosting information in your given email.

After adding the required details press the Next button.

Create Your Profile

Then, add your billing information that includes your mobile number, city name, country, etc. Give all the contact details correctly and click the Next button.

Billing Information

Now, come to the last page i.e. payments page, put your card details and complete your payment. Now you’ve successfully subscribed to your hosting plan.

Payments Page

After completing your payment, you’ll receive an email from Nexcess with the login details for your hosting control panel where you can manage all your website files.

Just go ahead with the given link and log in to your cPanel to customize your eCommerce store.

Step #3: Set Up Your eCommerce Website

With Nexcess hosting plans, you don’t need to install WordPress manually for your website because it automatically installed WordPress for your website along with WooCommerce.

You just need to log in to your hosting cPanel using the login details provided in your email. After entering your control panel you’ll get a link to go to your WordPress dashboard.

When you open your WordPress dashboard it’ll show you a welcome message skip it. Go to the Settings > General page available on the left side of your laptop screen and add your website title and description.

How to Configure WooCommerce?

Next, you need to set up your WooCommerce account. To do that, click the Run the Setup Wizard button for WooCommerce which is available on your dashboard.

Then, add your store information, shipping process, and payment address step by step to set up your eCommerce store with WooCommerce.

How to Install a WordPress Theme?

Now, you’ve successfully created your eCommerce website with WooCommerce but your site not looking like an online shopping platform.

So, you’ve to install a beautiful eCommerce theme on your website to make it more professional eCommerce websites like Amazon and Flipkart.

To do that, go to the Appearance section from the left side menu then select Themes > Add New. Now, on the search box type eCommerce and click search.

Installing a WordPress eCommerce Theme

It will show the free WordPress eCommerce themes that you can use on your site. Select the one you like and click Install then Activate. You can also customize the theme according to your need.

That’s it you’ve successfully configured your online store on WordPress using WooCommerce.

Step #4: Launch Your Website Online

When you successfully installed WordPress + WooCommerce on your site, it gets live on the internet. Anyone can browse your site using your domain name.

Look how easy it is to create an eCommerce website and take your business online. Now, it’s time to bring customers to your website.

In order to bring customers to your site, you’ve to add products to your store which you want to sell on your site.

How to Add Product to Your eCommerce store?

To add products to your site, go to the products section from the left sidebar and choose Add New. It’ll take you to another page where you have to add a product which you want to sell.

Add Product to Your Website

Set your product title, image, price, and give a short description of your product. Also, add your shipment options and other necessary details asked by WooCommerce.

When you have done re-check it and make sure you’ve added all details of your product then click Publish button.

Now your eCommerce store is ready to receive customers online and sell products globally.

You can always change the price and other details of your product. To edit your product follow: Product > All Products then open the product you want to edit.

To add more features to your website you can install the necessary free WordPress plugins on your site.

How to Install a WordPress Plugin?

To install a plugin on your eCommerce store visit Plugins > Add New. Then use the search box to get the plugin you want and click Install then Activate it.

We’ll recommend you install a free cache plugin on your site to increase the speed of your website and also install a contact plugin so that, your customers can easily reach you.

You also need to add pages to your eCommerce website such as About us, Contact us, and Privacy Policy page because it makes your site more trustable.

How to Add Pages on Your Website?

In order to, add pages to your website go to Pages > Add New. Now give your page a title and content to it then click the Publish button.

It’s done you’ve successfully created your beautiful eCommerce website from scratch. You’re now ready to sell your products online even while sleeping.

Now, you can visit your website by typing your domain name on your browser and test how it works.

We hope this article will help create an eCommerce website by yourself without writing a single line of code.

If you’ve any queries regarding this topic then leave a comment below we’ll definitely try to answer you.

You may also like our step-by-step guide on how to create a WordPress website.

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