Key Elements to Adding Ecommerce to Your Website

E-commerce is the booming new trend your business cannot afford to ignore.

E-commerce is the purchasing and selling of products or services over the internet. New tools make it easier than ever to add an e-commerce site to your existing business web pages or build a business from the ground up that is focused on onsite e-commerce.

How you add an online store to your existing website depends on several factors, including who hosts your webpage. We’ll explain how to add an online store to your existing website and why doing so is no longer something you can put off.

This task is where a capable e-commerce SEO agency like Digital Authority Partners can help, stepping in to set up an e-commerce page for your business while you focus on core operations.

Want to learn more about the Digital Authority Partners approach to SEO? Watch this video!

What Is E-Commerce?

E-commerce, short for electronic commerce, covers all online purchases and sales. E-commerce is made possible by combining many established and burgeoning technologies, including internet marketing, online transaction processing, supply chain management, electronic funds transfer, and mobile commerce.

E-commerce does not simply mean having a shopping page on your website, though it can. The many components of E-commerce includes:

• Online shopping using a direct-to-consumer website
• Facilitated shopping by chatbots, live chat, and voice assistants
• Online marketplaces
• Email marketing tied to website sales platforms

While e-commerce has been growing steadily for the past decade, it indeed took off during the pandemic, when COVID-19 lockdowns kept people from conducting their regular in-person shopping. Combined with that, the growth of social selling and an explosion of third-party plug-ins meant that almost any business could launch an e-commerce platform with just a few clicks.

E-Commerce Websites: A Growing Trend Businesses Can't Ignore

Just how big is e-commerce today? Well, it’s big. In the U.S., e-commerce sales are forecast to cross the $930 billion threshold, with sales expected to grow. 

Growth will be prominent across nearly all sectors, with computers and consumer electronics leading the way, followed by apparel and accessories, music and video, books, furniture, and home furnishings.

5 Ways To Add an Online Store to Your Website

Tech has made it easy to add e-commerce functionality to your website. Many tools are easy to integrate, and many SEO agencies are willing to make it happen.

Here are five ways to add e-commerce to your website:

1. Create a Custom But Separate Store To Direct Traffic

The solution that comes to mind for most people when thinking of e-commerce is a site with the same look and feel as your existing website that is optimized to enhance the user experience and encourage buying. Several third-party vendors offer to create online stores tied to an existing website. The one you choose and how you move forward will depend in part on your strategy and platform. 

The store design is critical in this step. The imagery, logos for branding and recognition, trust marks, and payment logos should reflect what products you offer and help people feel comfortable shopping with you.

A great shopping and checkout experience is a must for any online store. Retailers will want to avoid cart abandonment by being clear about shipping costs (or offering free shipping). Additionally, optimize your checkout experience for mobile devices and enable customers to buy multiple items at once.

2. Link To a Social Media Shop

Social media marketplaces have exploded in popularity in just the past two years, with Facebook leading the way. Many of the same parties that offer the ability to create an online store can also help set up Facebook sales platform integration. Syncing features helps streamline updates between your e-commerce page and Facebook’s e-commerce platform.

3. Add an E-Commerce Plugin to Your Existing Site

If your website uses WordPress, Wix, or any other popular site-building tools, there are a variety of plug-ins that you can easily add through the site. On WordPress, for example, leading e-commerce plugins include WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, MemberPress, BigCommerce, and Shopify.

However, not all e-commerce plugins are the same and may not have the right set of features for you. For example, some are best suited for digital goods like music and photos. 

In contrast, others are better suited for selling physical products that must be shipped. Factors to look for include payment solutions, design and customization options, apps and integration, and support options.

4. Add Buy Buttons to Your Website

Probably the easiest way to add e-commerce to your website is to embed a button or widget that says “buy.” These tools will send website visitors directly to your product page. As a result, you can paste them almost anywhere, from emails you are about to send to written blogs.

5. Embed Your Online Store into Your Existing Website

Nothing beats embedding your online store into your existing website for smooth functionality. You can build your store offsite with the right host and push the live button to start selling. Plenty of website hosts, like GoDaddy, make it easy to build your website, set up an online store, and integrate a shopping cart into the website in just a few clicks.

Ensure a Smooth E-commerce Site Launch With Help from Pros

It’s true – many sites seem to make it super easy to launch an e-commerce page. But they will not ensure a successful page or campaign with a high conversion rate, many qualified leads, and limited cart abandonment. That is where pros like those at Digital Authority Partners come in. We can create custom e-commerce pages to grow your customer engagement and boost sales. Ask us about how you can improve your e-commerce game when you set up your free consultation.