In the modern era, it seems like the only way to stay in business is to engage in eCommerce. More and more brick-and-mortar businesses are turning to the internet in order to stay afloat, as fewer and fewer are able to compete with huge retailers like Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart.
Unfortunately, there is so much involved in building a successful eCommerce platform that it quickly becomes overwhelming, especially for those who have spent the last generation or more with a storefront-based inventory or service. There are so many steps required, often in areas that are unfamiliar, that it can become overwhelming. But this guide will walk you through what you will need to start, then provide a potential solution to it all.
The first thing you need when preparing to take your business online is to ensure that you’re happy with your current “brand.” Your logo, slogan, and anything else associated with your business should be reviewed. After all, this is what people from around the world will be seeing first when they open your webpage. Consult with a graphic designer if you have any doubts.
The next thing to do is prepare for the eventual website. You will have to find a domain name that fits your business, confirm that it is available, and register it so nobody else can claim it while your site is being built. The last thing you want to do is have an entire website built around wikipencils.com, only to find out someone else owns that domain.
Upon completion, the next step is designing the website itself. Working closely with a graphic designer, you will create what the page should look like, with particular attention paid to the “home” page. After all, this is where your potential customers will develop their first opinions of you and decide whether to stay and spend or not. You may also work with a writer and/or editor to clean up your message and make it more appealing.
After you have the design in hand, a web developer will turn the copy and design into web code that will make it appear exactly as it did in concept, right down to the exact colors you chose.
But you’re not done once the site is fully developed and operational. You will need someone to maintain your inventory (if any), site content, and customer base in order to keep the business solvent and growing.
As the owner of the business, you will be closely involved in all these processes, and at times it can get overwhelming. It is a lot to look at and a lot of decisions to make, both before and after the site is built. But there is help available that can make the seemingly impossible look easy.
A Web2Print (W2P) service through a printer can facilitate all of these operations for you, taking the guesswork out of what you need and who to hire for the jobs. Look at the service as the “general contractor” for your business, hiring the people you need to pour the slab, build the framework, put on the roof, and lay the carpet so all you have to do is move in.
The W2P service will streamline the process, managing the details that can become maddening, encapsulating what used to be endless in-person meetings into a few simple emails and review of concepts via online .pdf files and imagery. You never have to leave your place of business, freeing you to concentrate on the whole point of having a website… revenue!
W2P has changed the face of eCommerce development forever, so now even the most tech-phobic businessperson can appear tech-savvy. Now that you know you can virtually effortlessly start at the deep end, dive in!
Accent Printing Solutions has the ability via a third-party to build web to print storefronts for your company and your brand. We can help you sell your services online or manage the print orders that you send to us. Contact us for more detail.
