Before you hire any eCommerce web developer to build your online store, you must check his/her eCommerce package and make sure it has all the necessary items that are required to run a successful eCommerce business. In other words, you must make sure that the eCommerce website cost must be worth your business.
In this blog post, I am going to share some of the important features that an eCommerce website package must include:
#1 Domain Registration/Web Hosting
It must be clearly stated in the package whether you will get a free domain and web hosting or you need to pay for them.
Most newbie webmasters assume that an eCommerce web development package includes domain and web hosting even if it’s not specified in the package. So, eCommerce website packages must have this point clearly mentioned avoiding any possible confusion & conflicts.
#2 Logo Design
The logo is another element that most business owners assume, is a part of eCommerce web development. Therefore, you must check with your web developer or web design company whether they have included the logo design as a part of your eCommerce website proposal or not.
Recommended post: 12 Essential services or items that you can expect from your website designer
#3 Basic On-Site SEO
In my personal experience as a web consultant, I’ve noticed most web developers would not integrate basic SEO plugins/modules in the website that they develop.
Therefore, every webmaster/business owner must make sure that their website has at least basic On-Site SEO is done which may include (but is not limited to) meta tags, canonical tags, robots files, XML sitemap, SEO-friendly URLs, proper 301/404 redirection and interlinking between pages.
#4 Mobile Responsive
I don’t want to emphasize much the importance of mobile responsiveness for an eCommerce website, especially in the year 2016 when most internet users use their smartphones to access online information.
But at the same time, I do know that there are still many web developers who really don’t develop mobile-responsive websites for their clients. And when their clients ask them to do so, they insist on paying an additional amount for that (this fact is based on my personal experience).
So, do make sure that mobile responsiveness should be a part of the eCommerce web design package, and if it’s not, better find another designer.
Recommended post: 5 Web design tips to ensure responsiveness of your website
#5 Blog
You must also check out whether your eCommerce designer is going to develop a blog for your online store or not. Blog plays an important role in not only interacting with your existing/new customers but also achieving ranking on search engines.
Blog development is not a huge task especially when it comes to building websites using open sources because most of these CMS platforms provide plugins/modules to build a blog. However, it’s always better to check if this feature is available in your web design package or not.
Recommended post: 5 Ways in which a blog can help you to grow your eCommerce sales
#6 Analytics
The analytical tool is another item that most web developers would not include in their website development packages.
At the same, you must know that integrating a 3rd party analytics software takes just a few minutes. With this small task and update, you get the power to measure the performance of your eCommerce website. So why not include this as a mandatory item for your web development?
#7 Payment Methods
Before you finalize an eCommerce web developer to build your store, you must check with them about the payment methods that they will integrate for you.
By default, most web developers would integrate PayPal with your eCommerce store to accept payments online however you may want to use local payment gateways too. For eg., many small businesses in Singapore prefer to have local payment methods like eNets, Smoovpay, etc.
Therefore, you must define your preference in advance and insist your web developer include them in their proposal.
Recommended post: 4 Best payment methods to integrate with a WooCommerce website
#8 Shipping & Discounts
Depending upon the nature & strategies of your business, you may require a flexible system for shipping and discounted prices for your products.
You must clearly mention your plans and then ask your web developer to include these features in their proposal. For eg., you may wish to have different shipping costs per item, per order, or according to the location of the shipment.
Also, you may want to provide your customers with discounts on a specific product, all products, a specific category, or a specific order value. Whatever the case is, just make sure to mention it clearly in the eCommerce package.
Have a look at our eCommerce web design package
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