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Welcome to the E-Commerce & Web Design Guide: We walk you through the purchasing process to help you get what you need.
Need to build a business web site? Want to launch an e-commerce feature? We can help!
Web Design/E-commerce Guide is your source for straight talk on managing a web site design project. Can't tell HTML from SSL? Not sure if online sales are right for your business? We'll walk you through all the basics and help you decide what features are must-haves and what bells and whistles are probably just a waste of time and money.
Running a web project efficiently
Making sure your web site stays on track and on budget is easier if you avoid a few common pitfalls up-front.
Choosing the right agency or designer can make a big difference for your new site. Figuring out which one is right for your specific needs can be tricky.
Selling products directly through your web site requires additional planning – here's what you need to know.
Whether you need a robust e-commerce site or just a basic informational one, it helps to know the price points for your specific needs.
Take a look through our site and learn all about the process of building a web site. When you're ready to start interviewing prospective designers, developers, and agencies, we can connect you with the right web site designers for your business – free!
Then you can choose to speak with one of our Purchasing Advisors who can walk you through the process and handle any issues or questions that arise. Our Advisors provide these services and more:
- Verify your information and give an overview of the purchasing process
- Provide purchasing tips and send buyerÂ’s guides
- Provide supplier profiles and ratings
- Mediate issues with suppliers
Basic components of web site creation
Depending on the skill sets you have in-house, you may need to outsource some or all of these pieces of web site creation. Whatever combination of internal and external resources you wind up with, make sure they're all communicating consistently.
Hosting – Your web site needs a home: a dedicated computer (a server) and a high-bandwidth connection that ensure that site visitors can quickly and reliably access your pages. Most small businesses turn to third-party hosting services, who maintain the servers in a dedicated data center. You can run your own web server if you want, but you'll need qualified IT staff to manage it.
Front end – The front end of your web site is everything people see: the text, the pictures, the layout. Designing the front end is a graphic design and formatting task, not a technical one.
Content – The content is a subset of the front end: just the text and supporting images that make up the 'message' of your web site. It doesn't include graphics or design elements that make the pages look good, and it doesn't include any of the supporting code.
Back end – The inner workings of your web site: the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other technologies that make it display in visitors' browsers. Once your site is designed, web developers will write the code to make it work.
E-commerce or not?
One of the biggest decisions you should make early in the process is whether or not your web site will be an e-commerce site or not. E-commerce in this case means that people will be able to conduct transactions right through your site. For most businesses, that means they can buy your products with a couple of clicks, although it may include making some kind of service appointment, too.