Key aspects of creating and developing an effective e-commerce website: from business model to launch
Let’s consider the stage of development of a site for E-commerce from choosing a business model to development after launch. Factors to consider when choosing a platform.
According to Forbes, more than 70% of companies worldwide had their own website in 2023. It is obvious that this percentage will continue to grow in 2024. This is quite logical, as a website is an important sales channel or a means of attracting new customers. For the e-commerce sector, it is the main channel. At the same time, twenty-one percent of business owners face the problem of insufficient website traffic, which is a significant barrier to their visibility online. Therefore, it is very important to understand the significance of a professional approach when creating a website, as well as the ongoing support and improvement of the existing resource.
In the following article, I will outline the main steps in the development of online resources and provide my assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of various approaches.
So, the main stages of creating a website:
- Project Discovery
- Prototyping
- Design Development
- Coding
- Functionality Testing
- Website Launch and Subsequent Technical Support
Let’s take a closer look at each stage of website creation.
Project Discovery
This phase involves the formation of the Business Model Canvas, which details the entire structure of the future business and outlines the technical tasks that need to be implemented. The tasks are transferred to the Technical Specification, which details the work to be done, defining the goals, scope, and budget of the project.
When planning the future website, it is always important to remember the project management triangle. Its main value lies in explaining the importance of maintaining a balance between budget, project scope, and time for implementation, in order to complete tasks effectively. Disruption of the balance among these three components will lead to a decline in quality.
Considering this, let’s examine the subsequent actions at each stage of website creation.
Prototyping
This stage includes the formation of an information model. The most informative and understandable representation of it is in graphic form. For example, the client side of the website can be represented by a User Flow. User Flow visualizes, in a simplified manner, the user’s path from entering the site to completing the desired action, such as placing an order.
Design Development
Creating layouts for the graphical display of information on the website and working on the usability of the site. The visual component is handled by UI (User Interface) – colors, shapes (buttons, blocks), animation. Usability is developed on the side of UX (User Experience). This part is responsible for how easy or difficult it will be for the user to do this or that on the site, and what emotions they will feel during the process. I should clarify that for the site, you can either create a design from scratch or use one of the ready-made templates, which are widely available on marketplaces like Envato.com or Templatemonster.
Advantages and disadvantages of developing custom design:
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Unique design that meets your requirements | Requires time for development |
| Includes only necessary screens | Higher cost |
| Can be built for optimal user flow | Requires layout and testing after creation |
With small budgets, or when the business does not require the development of a unique design, one can use a set of developed templates. This consists of already ready pages, separate blocks, and elements. That is, the entire UI/UX of the future site is already thought out. The main thing when choosing is to select a template that will best match the functionality of the site.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Ready-made design and layout | Lack of uniqueness |
| Time and cost savings | Sometimes hard to find a template for the desired topic |
| Tested functionality | Excess functionality is added. Additional plugins are needed when using CMS |
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Development
In order for the website to start functioning, everything conceived must be described in a programming language. The design must be coded, that is, translated into HTML and CSS markup format, understandable to computers. Dynamic elements can also be implemented using JavaScript. This part is called Front End programming. For the website to start processing input data and producing the desired result, Back End programming must be performed. The most common web programming language is PHP. When forming the technology stack on which the website will be developed, it is important to ensure that it is modern and widely used.
Often, frameworks are used in development, which are a set of many libraries, that is, fragments of code that have already been written and optimized. They are specifically written to perform certain tasks.
The most popular modern PHP frameworks:
Advantages and disadvantages of custom development:
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Good optimization | Developed by specialists |
| Good security | Higher cost compared to CMS |
| Scalability | Longer development time |
One of the options for quickly launching a website is to use a CMS (Content Management System) or a cloud Ecommerce platform. Such systems include a basic set of tools for quickly launching a website.
The most popular CMS for Ecommerce sites are shown in the image
Advantages and disadvantages of using CMS:
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| You have more control over your site | You are responsible for maintaining your own site |
| Ready-made set of features | Scaling requires more effort on your part or consulting specialists |
| You can choose your own hosting provider and the company that services the site | You need to be more tech-savvy |
| You can scale your site more easily |
Functionality Testing
To ensure that the website is functioning properly, testing is conducted. In case of deficiencies in operation, modules are sent for refinement.
If we are talking about an already launched resource, it is very important to monitor its operability and the ability for users to perform desired actions on it.
Therefore, the website should primarily be monitored for the following indicators:
- Website uptime
To monitor the website, you can use the following tools that periodically check the site for availability – StatusCake, UptimeRobot
- Load monitoring
Hosting control panel utilities that monitor the number of requests, CPU load, memory, etc. For example, this could be Plesk 360
- Form submission control
Automated tests for checking form submissions and order processing – Bugbug.io Ghostinspector
Website launch and subsequent technical support
After development, the website is hosted on a server with a domain name assigned to it. To ensure the website functions reliably, it is necessary to continuously monitor its performance, update it, and make necessary corrections. This will help guarantee the website’s security against hacker attacks, maintain high loading speed, and attractiveness for users.
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It’s a good article – short and to the point, just what’s needed for those who don’t understand the issue but are going to order a website.
The article is informative and well-structured? HOW often should a new website be monitored, are there any important criteria?
Hello, Olga, this is a broad question. I would single out several types of monitoring: 1. Monitoring of the website in general. To do this, you can connect the StatusCake service, which polls the site every few minutes. If the site stops responding, it sends notifications. You can configure notifications to come to the messenger; 2. Monitoring user flow – transition to pages, submission of forms, ordering. The site can be visually displayed and work, but certain buttons will not work and the client, for example, will not place an order. For such monitoring, you can connect a service like Bugbug.io. And set up a daily passage through the checkout chain – from choosing a product to clicking the Pay button. The service will send the status of the chain to your email every day. 3. Analyze the performance of the Google PageSpeed website. An important indicator that Google pays attention to when analyzing a website. It is important to monitor and review it at least once every few months. 4. Server monitoring. It is more important for high-load projects. Such services are usually included in the server control panel, for example, Plesk 360. They can provide insights into server load, which will indicate the need to optimize the site’s performance. It is also important to monitor, preferably on a monthly basis. 5. If the site is developed on a CMS, it is important to update it to new versions, which will have a good impact on the site’s performance and security.