Few business owners know how to build a retail website and find the process a bit daunting. Fortunately, nobody has to build a retail website on their own. Many business owners choose to hire web developers for retail industry clients.

Web developers and web designers are not the same thing. Web designers take care of the design elements of a website while a retail web development company handles the back end details, such as allowing customers to make purchases and storing customer data. Some professionals can do both, but it's best to make sure you are hiring the right person for the job.

Before you interview developers about building a retail website:

1. Decide what you want the site to look like. This helps your developer and designer to build retail website.

2. Plan your budget. You should know how much money you have to spend on retail web development and find a company that can work within those restraints.

3. Develop a plan to get traffic to the site. A site design is useless without customers. Try to work with retail web design developers to build search engine optimization into your site.

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

Choose a company that has experience building a retail website

Most business owners prefer to work with someone that has experience in their industry. When you do this, you are less likely to have any issues with your site due to miscommunication.

I recommend: Look at the portfolio for Retail Web Designs. They have created retail websites in a wide variety of styles. Surely, they can create something that meets your needs. Elliance also works with retail customers, creating not only a website, but a marketing plan as well.

Work with ecommerce developers for retail clients

If you own a retail business, chances are you want to be able to sell your products directly from your website. This is a great way to enhance your business. Seek out developers that have experience in building ecommerce sites to get the results you are looking for.

I recommend: JCO Hosting has experience creating retail web sites and can design a site according to your specifications. Magiclamp Networks also specializes in creating ecommerce sites.

Save money when freelancers bid on your retail website building project

If you have a tight budget, you need to find a designer that can work within your price range. Fortunately, you can have developers and designers approach you with a bid that they feel is fair.

I recommend: Post your project on RentACoder or Elance. Both of these sites have a feedback system that allows former clients to rate the work that each freelancer does. Be sure to look at feedback as well as bids. The lowest bid is not always the best deal.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Save even more money by learning how to build a retail website by yourself. Many programs exist to help you with this task.