How do I build a webshop without technical expertise?
Whether you are starting a website for your business, or you want to start selling your products online, in the modern day landscape you can’t escape having a good working website or webshop. But how do you create a good webshop in WordPress, for example, or how do you create a website without having much technical knowledge or experience? That is actually the first matter you should think about when you start doing this.
First of all, it is important to read up on all the possibilities. You probably want to find the best option that suits your business without incurring unnecessary costs. You can go in a number of directions when creating a website or web shop. For example, there are companies where you can get a job done for a one-time fee, or you can go with a subscription and thus pay monthly for the use of your website, for example. We’ve broken down a few options to make your choice easier.
You can create a website in many different variations, from very complicated to very simple. The one with the largest market share in recent years is without a doubt WordPress. That is an open source program that you can use with relatively little knowledge, and can certainly be a good choice for a website without too many complicated functionalities. Because millions and millions of websites have already been created in in WordPress, you can benefit from a wealth of information should you run into a problem. There are already many websites and forums filled with help articles and instructions from other people who have experience with WordPress and would like to help you, if your question has not already been answered in one of these places.
Should you want to create a website where you also want to sell products, you might end up with the commercial shell built around WordPress called Woocommerce. This is also used by millions of web shops worldwide and therefore has many of the same advantages described above. In addition, very many parties, such as payment providers and hosting companies, work well with this type of webshops. Large parties such as Shopify also have the advantage that almost all major service providers can be connected to it.
Is it getting too technical or complicated for you, or do you not have time to explore all the functionalities? Then you can also choose to hire a company. Here again, there are several possibilities. For example, you can choose a party with a design department. Here the entire process from design to maintenance of your website can be outsourced. You pay once for the creation of your website and then monthly for its maintenance, so you don’t have to worry about it.
You can also choose an alternative option such as companies that have developed a platform that allows you to create a website or webshop yourself without any knowledge of code or programming. They do this by building a visual skin around the programming language. For example, you can drag an image into your website while it is programmed correctly in the background. So you still have to create and design your website yourself, but you don’t have to worry about the technical background and maintenance. This usually means that you don’t have to pay a start-up fee, but you do have to take out a subscription.
Be careful not to decide too quickly whether a particular option is more expensive or cheaper. For example, it may seem that a monthly subscription is more expensive than creating your own website from scratch. However, keep in mind that after creating the Web site, you are not done. For example, you also want to use a mail address, and your Web site must be hosted so that visitors can come. You also still need to pay for plug-ins to offer shipping processes or payment, for example. Often these are several small amounts that can still add up considerably. Then an all-in-one subscription with a fixed monthly fee can turn out to be more advantageous than doing everything yourself.
Also, outsourcing the design of your webshop can sometimes feel like an expensive affair. However, you cannot ignore the fact that your own time is also very valuable. Designing your site is easily going to take dozens of hours, which when converted into a usual hourly wage may prove to be a lot more expensive than paying a one-time fee to a professional. Also, the end result might be a lot better if you let someone with a lot of experience and expertise do this for you.
Finally, remember that one webshop or website is not enough. You need several (sometimes dozens!) partners and service providers to make everything work perfectly. These companies often have partnerships with large platforms, so they offer discounts if you are a customer here. This can even mean that you more than recoup your webshop subscription with the discounts you are entitled to. For example, look at the offers from major shipping companies or payment providers. They all offer a discount for customers of different professionals on webshop services and maintenance.
Don’t make a hasty decision; after all, it’s probably a choice you’ll be stuck with for several years. Read reviews about the different companies you want to go with. Also, you can often look on the websites of providers to see a Portfolio of companies that have already created a website or webshop. If the look of these appeals to you, or not, it is important to seriously consider them. This way you can do business with your new website with a good feeling and a lot of confidence!
