If you run an online business, your webstore design is one of the first impressions you can make on potential customers. This is why there are so many options when it comes to webstore design. You can find many online store builders that can take a template of a web store and add custom elements to make it all your own.

If you want a little more flexibility, web store design software can give you that. You can even hire a professional to create a design that will work for your business. The pricing and costs of web store design will vary depending on the type of assistance you need to create an online store design. Theses types can include:

1. Web store design software that allows you to design your own pages.

2. Professional web store designers that can create a completely custom look.

3. Online store makers that make it easy to design and build any type of store.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose a simple web store builder for easy use and affordability

Easy to use web store builders are most commonly found online through companies that supply hosting solutions to web stores. This can be an affordable choice for many startup companies, or for companies that want to test an online store before buying their own domain. These services can be free or cost up to $10 to 50 a month, depending on the amount of disk space your site needs.

I recommend: Companies such as eCRATER will provide a free web store builder tool if you sign up to host your web store on their domain. CybermedSites offers many options so you can decide which type of web store you want to run.

Buy web store design software for a more custom look

If you have a little more time and money on your hands to create a custom look for your web store, then web store design software is the way to go. This type of software will let you create custom store fronts, product pages and checkout services. It costs about $300, and you can also receive discounts on upgrades.

I recommend: SMC WebStore is a a program that makes designing webstores simple, without tech-heavy computer skills. For more inspiration to help your design, read "10 Tips for Web Store Design" from BizLand.

Explore web store design services for a professional web store

While web builders and software can be affordable for your business, it may take a professional with a lot of design skills to give you a webstore that stands out from the rest. If you want a sleek, unique design, hire a professional design service to get the most attention. A service can cost $800 to $1,000 for a full website design, complete with web store capabilities.

I recommend: Gproxy Design provides a customized web design for any type of corporate business that wants to have an online store presence. You can also find custom design packages from Amazon Webstores.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you want to use a service to create your webstore design, collect two to four quotes before deciding on the right firm for the job.

Everyone's got a website. If you intend to take the ecommerce plunge, however, you'll actually need two websites, one of which should be a distinct online store with a distinct online store design. That's because webstore design has fundamentally different goals, requires fundamentally different features and uses fundamentally different functions than typical website design.

Indeed, online store builders must learn an entirely different philosophy of web design that's optimized not only for driving traffic, but also for making sales. After all, a successful webstore design isn't just pretty; more than anything else, it's convenient and easy to use. For the builder, webstore construction is therefore about balancing search engine optimization with usability; it's about making sure products are both easy to find and easy to buy.

To serve both search engines and shoppers, keep the following pointers top-of-mind when you're building a webstore:

1. The goal of smart webstore design is to entirely automate the online shopping experience.
2. Simple navigation and logical categorization are crucial within successful webstore design.
3. Because search is so important to ecommerce, webstore builder products should include search tools for consumers as well as SEO functions with which to attract search engines.
4. Most essential to an online store builder is strong, versatile shopping cart software.
5. The best online store builders can join your ecommerce storefront with your existing website; store builder solutions can even integrate your accounting and CRM software.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Customize your online store design according to your business type

Retailers, wholesalers and auction-based businesses have different webstore design requirements. Before you begin building a web store, then, be sure to define both your needs and your customers' desires.

I recommend: If you'll be building a webstore of the retail variety, consider vendors such as MonsterCommerce, which offers webstore design services especially for online retailers. If you're a wholesaler, look for vendors like Nexternal, which have solutions designed with BtoB companies in mind. Finally, if you're building a webstore that's auction based, look for vendors such as Proimpulse, which specialize in eBay Stores design.

Elevate your webstore design with a user-friendly homepage

While category pages and product pages are most important within online store design, the homepage is an equally important piece of every ecommerce website, store builder pros suggest. Make sure your homepage effectively communicates your brand, therefore -- that it doesn't communicate 'luxury,' for instance, to a thrifty target audience-and that it includes simple navigation to help visitors find easily and immediately the products they want.

I recommend: The best way to produce both an effective homepage in particular and a successful ecommerce site in general is to hire an all-in-one, turnkey ecommerce webstore builder that can handle everything from your website hosting to your online store design and subsequent analytics. Such providers include Yahoo!, Affinity, NetSuite and Volusion.

Choose a webstore builder that's capable of designing effective category pages

Categories are king in webstore design. As such, make sure your webstore builder, whether it's a hired web designer, a third-party vendor or a full-time staff member, understands your products well enough to organize them within a system of pages that makes sense to your customers. After all, if they don't know where to look for a product, they'll never find it.

I recommend: Credible online store builders like MarketLive, Venda and MainStreet Commerce charge expensive monthly fees, but are a good solution for companies that need a dynamic, successful webstore design via a reliable builder. Webstore solutions that are more affordable include eBay's ProStores, NetworkSolutions' E-Commerce and LaGarde's Storefront.

Consider only online store builders with which you can build perfect product pages

Because successful product pages are integral to strong webstore design, every online store builder should look for an online store design solution that allows online retailers to create information rich pages that include everything from product descriptions and prices to shipping and sales tax calculators. The more data you can include, the better.

I recommend: Crucial to effective product page design are solutions with which to expedite purchases. For every ecommerce webstore builder, webstore design therefore mandates purchasing strong shopping cart software. Consider ShopSite and 1ShoppingCart, which offer simple shopping cart setup complete with merchant account creation.

Improve online store design, sales with a robust search tool

An important part of any webstore design is the search function. Make sure your search tool can return relevant results to consumers, even if they misspell or incorrectly classify their search target.

I recommend: Use tools from PicoSearch, Nextopia and Dieselpoint to build a custom, hosted search engine within your online store. Meanwhile, browse Business.com's directory of Search Engine Optimization Services for a partner who can help you optimize your webstore design for marketing via search engines outside your site.

Embrace one-click shopping, the future of online store design

Because successful webstore design exploits the convenience factor, one-click shopping is an attractive tool for progressive online store builders. One-click purchasing technology allows consumers to store their data online, and therefore makes it possible for them to charge their credit cards with a single click of their mouse.

I recommend: Google Checkout is emerging as the new standard in one-click purchasing among online store builders; consider signing up so that your customers can make more purchases from you more quickly.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Every online store builder should take webstore design solutions for a test drive; ask for a free trial before you buy online store design software and ask for references before you recruit webstore design vendors.
• •  A prominent feature in every webstore design should be the online retailer's guarantee, return and privacy policies. Be sure to link to each at every opportunity in order to build trust and credibility with your customers.
• •  Keep in mind that perhaps the simplest element within an online store design is also the most effective: a big, bold, bright 'Buy' button.
• •  Strong webstore design makes shopping both easy and efficient. In order to make more sales, then, consider the number of steps your online store design includes between point A and point B in the purchase process; the fewer the steps the better.
• •  Like typical website design, webstore design must consider technology as well as commerce. Make sure images are loading quickly, for instance, and that your online store is functional on all operating systems and within most web browsers.
• •  As both an art and a science, webstore design is rapidly evolving; setup prices can therefore vary from a few hundred bucks to several thousand dollars.
• •  A successful webstore design will drive massive growth for your company; when you're building a web store, therefore, make sure your solutions can grow with you.
• •  Essential to smart online store design is smart copywriting; every webstore builder should partner with a copywriter who can write informative yet persuasive product descriptions.

Because online shopping is a popular trend, many people who run web stores look for a better web store design than the templates offered by online hosts. Now there are more resources than ever for business owners who want to get a great web store designed to their specifications, whether they come up with their own design or hire someone to help create their vision.

When you look at web store design news and trends, you will find that a web store owner has many options for creating a unique store design. Some of the most popular options include:

1. Using online store builders that make designing easy for anyone.

2. Purchasing web store design software.

3. Hiring web store design services for a more professional look.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Check out the latest trends in online store design and products

There are many ways to learn about the latest trends in online store design. You can check out many web stores that are well designed. You can also read about some of the most popular trends. You should think about the style yo use to present your store, and also what type of content your site should include.

I recommend: AllMerchants provides information and advice on setting up an online store, from what you need to where it should go in the design. If you decide a software program would best meet your needs, check out the software product reviews from Download 32.

Explore trends that will bring in more customers to your webstore

There are certain elements of any web store that will get the attention of customers. Obviously the most important element of any webstore design is the way you present the products and services you sell, though there are other elements of design that you can take or leave. Depending on how you want to attract customers, you can choose which are right for your design.

I recommend: Home Office Weekly provides articles on trends in webstores and websites, including an article on how customer testimonials for your products or services can boost your exposure to customers. 1 Choice 4 Your Store provides comprehensive guides on web page design that include articles specific to web stores.

Use forums to get news and trends on how to best build online store presence

A web store builder can easily put together a new web store for you in less than an hour. But if you are looking to move past a cookie-cutter type design, you should explore forums where you can grab advice from expert designers, see examples of trendy design and ask for opinions on your own design ideas.

I recommend: For those who are already elbow deep in their web store design, you can find tips, tricks and other advice on your design process from the Killer Sites forum. Site Reference provides articles on web store design, plus a forum where readers can continue the conversation.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Web store designers can be much more expensive than using a template or design program. However, if you want your online presence to have style and professionalism, web store designers can accomplish this.

Web store design focuses on the creation of a website that attracts buyers and facilitates online buying and selling in a user-friendly way. The type of web store design that you decide on for your business will either make or break your customers’ experience. You want an attractive store that appeals to your customers and entices them to buy. You also want to offer a purchasing experience that is simple, safe and efficient.

Both of these elements can be found in the best web store design. There is an excessive list of web stores online. With so much competition, it is imperative to learn web store design key terms so that you can pick from the best there is to offer in this industry.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

E-commerce

The process of online sales and purchase. The better the e-commerce solutions you add to your site, the better the web store you can offer your customer.

I recommend: SEO Cart presents its product management e-commerce solution that includes store structure and inventory features.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

A system that aims at increasing traffic to your website by making it search-engine friendly. The more customers you attract to your web store, the more sales you generate and the more profit you make.

I recommend: Web Design SEO offers additional information on how to successfully incorporate SEO.

Shopping cart

The shopping cart allows customers to pick items and stores them while the customer continues to shop. Additionally it automatically totals the items and should let customers delete items and change quantities. This is an important aspect of any web store.

I recommend: Website Tips offers suggestions for choosing the right shopping cart for your e-commerce solutions.

Checkout

Checkout is the point of the customer's shopping experience where their items are processed, and taxes and shipping are added. Payment options are also processed here. Web stores need to offer a positive web store experience in order for the customer to see the sale through and return another day to purchase more of your product.

I recommend: Trialpay offers tips for optimizing your e-commerce Checkout, which includes discussions on shipping costs and payment options.

PayPal integration

Incorporation of the merchant payment service, PayPal, into your online storefront. This is the most used merchant software available and offers a safe shopping experience for your customer.

I recommend: PayPal offers further information on the features of its payment services.

Drop shipping

When a warehouse or similar entity facilitates the selling and shipping of a product, alleviating any associated concerns for the web store owner. A customer orders the product from the web store, but it ships from a warehouse that is not owned by the web store operator.

I recommend: Multi Channel Merchant features an article on drop shipping, including what it entails and why it is beneficial to web store owners.