Sell Your Products Online With Your Own Ecommerce Website

If you want to Sell Your Products Online, you have more choices than ever.

You can sell through marketplaces, social media platforms or third-party selling apps. But you can also have your own ecommerce website where customers browse your products, add items to their cart and purchase directly from your business.

For many small businesses, having your own online store gives you something particularly valuable: a central online home for your products and your brand.

FAST CHEAP WEBSITES builds WordPress websites for Australian small businesses, including ecommerce websites for businesses that want to sell products online.

We use WordPress with WooCommerce for online stores, giving businesses the ability to display products, organise them into categories, accept orders and manage an ecommerce website from one place.

But before you start building an online shop, there are a few decisions worth making.

You don’t need to know all the technical details.

You do need to understand how you want your online business to work.

You can explore our ecommerce website options if you’re ready to start planning an online store.

Sell Your Products Online: Start With the Products, Not the Website

It’s tempting to begin by thinking about what your online store should look like.

That’s important, but start somewhere else.

Start with your products.

Ask yourself:

What am I selling?
How many products do I have?
Do they belong in different categories?
Does each product have different sizes, colours or options?
Do I have good photographs?
Do I know my product descriptions?
How much stock do I have?
Where am I willing to ship?

These answers influence how the ecommerce website should be structured.

An online store selling six handmade products has very different requirements from one carrying hundreds of items across multiple categories.

The website should be designed around the products rather than forcing your products into a structure that doesn’t suit them.

Do You Need Your Own Online Store?

Not every business needs a complete ecommerce website.

If you only sell occasionally, you may decide that another selling platform is enough.

But if online sales are becoming an important part of your business, your own website can give customers a dedicated place to find you.

Instead of sending people to several different platforms, you can direct them to your business website.

There they can learn about the business, browse your range and purchase products.

Your website can combine:

your brand + your products + your information + your online store

in one place.

That can be particularly useful if you’re building a business for the long term.

What Is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is an ecommerce platform built for WordPress.

It adds online store functionality to a WordPress website.

With WooCommerce, an online store can include things such as:

products
product categories
product variations
shopping cart
checkout
customer orders
payment options
shipping settings
stock management

FAST CHEAP WEBSITES uses WordPress and WooCommerce when building ecommerce websites for small businesses.

One advantage is that your shop doesn’t need to exist separately from the rest of your website.

Your homepage, About page, information pages, blog, contact page and online store can all form part of the same WordPress website.

Think About How Customers Will Find Your Products

Imagine walking into a physical shop where every product has been placed in one enormous pile.

You’d probably walk back out.

Online stores need organisation too.

If you have more than a small number of products, categories can help customers browse.

For example, a clothing store might use:

Women’s
Men’s
Accessories
New Arrivals

A homewares business might use:

Kitchen
Living
Bedroom
Gifts

Your categories should reflect how customers naturally think about the products.

Don’t create complicated category structures simply because you can.

The aim is to help somebody reach the right product quickly.

Your Product Pages Do a Lot of the Selling

When somebody visits a physical shop, they can pick up a product.

They can feel it.

They can inspect it.

They can ask a salesperson a question.

Online customers can’t do that.

Your product page needs to fill some of that gap.

A useful product page may include:

product name
clear photographs
price
useful description
available options
sizes or dimensions
materials
stock information
delivery information where relevant
clear Add to Cart button

The exact information depends on what you’re selling.

Think about the questions somebody would ask if they were standing in front of you holding the product.

Answer the important ones on the page.

Product Photographs Matter

Customers can’t physically examine an online product, so photography becomes particularly important.

Whenever possible, use clear photographs that accurately represent what you’re selling.

Depending on the product, you may need:

front view
side view
close-up
detail photographs
packaging
product shown in use
scale or size reference

Consistency also helps.

If one product photograph has a white background, another is photographed on a kitchen table and another is a tiny image taken from social media, the store can feel disjointed.

You don’t necessarily need expensive studio photography.

You do need photographs that make it easy for customers to understand what they’re buying.

Good Product Descriptions Answer Questions

Avoid copying a manufacturer’s description without thinking about the customer.

Your description should provide useful information.

For example, instead of simply saying:

“Premium quality handmade bag.”

tell the customer something they can actually use.

What is it made from?

How large is it?

What fits inside?

How does it close?

Are there internal pockets?

How should it be cared for?

Who might it suit?

Useful descriptions help customers make buying decisions.

They can also give search engines more information about the product.

How Will Customers Pay?

To Sell Your Products Online, you need a way to accept payment.

Your payment setup determines how money moves from the customer to your business.

Depending on your ecommerce setup, payment options may include services that allow customers to pay using credit or debit cards and other supported payment methods.

The important thing is making checkout straightforward.

Customers should know:

what they’re buying
how much they’re paying
what delivery costs apply
how they can pay
whether the order has been successful

Avoid adding unnecessary steps between the shopping cart and completed order.

The more confusing checkout becomes, the more opportunities there are for a customer to abandon the purchase.

Work Out Shipping Before You Launch

Shipping is one of the areas that can cause problems when businesses start selling online.

It’s much easier to think about it before the store launches.

Ask:

Where will I ship?

Only locally?

Throughout Australia?

Internationally?

Then consider how you’ll charge.

Depending on the business, you might use:

flat-rate shipping
different shipping rates
free shipping under certain conditions
local delivery
local pickup

The right approach depends on your products.

A business shipping lightweight jewellery has very different requirements from one shipping large furniture.

Your ecommerce website needs to reflect the way your business actually handles delivery.

Local Pickup Can Be Useful for Small Businesses

If you have a physical location or another suitable collection arrangement, you may want customers to order online and collect locally.

This can be useful for businesses that have both local and interstate customers.

A customer nearby may prefer:

Buy online → Pay → Collect

while another customer needs the product shipped.

Think about these options while planning the website rather than trying to retrofit them after launch.

Decide Who Will Manage the Products

An ecommerce website isn’t something that only your web designer interacts with.

Somebody needs to manage the store.

Products may need to be:

added
edited
removed
marked out of stock
updated
recategorised

Orders also need attention.

Before launching, decide who will be responsible.

If you’re managing the store yourself, keep your product information organised.

Having product names, descriptions, prices, photographs and other information prepared makes setting up and maintaining an online shop considerably easier.

Don’t Launch With Half-Finished Product Information

There’s often pressure to get an online store live as quickly as possible.

But incomplete products can make the entire business look unfinished.

Before launch, check:

Are the product names correct?
Are prices correct?
Are descriptions complete?
Are photographs clear?
Are variations working?
Are categories logical?
Is stock information correct?
Are shipping settings ready?

Then place a test order.

Go through the website exactly as a customer would.

The checkout is one of the most important parts of your online store, so don’t assume everything works simply because the homepage looks good.

Your Online Store Still Needs to Work on Mobile

Someone sees one of your products on social media.

They tap the link.

Where do they land?

Probably on your website using their phone.

Now imagine the product page is difficult to read, the photographs don’t fit properly and the Add to Cart button is hard to find.

You’ve created unnecessary friction at exactly the moment somebody was interested in buying.

An ecommerce website needs to work comfortably on mobile devices.

Customers should be able to:

browse categories
view products
inspect photographs
select options
add products to their cart
view the cart
complete checkout

without needing a desktop computer.

Can Your Products Be Found on Google?

Having an online store doesn’t automatically mean people will find your products.

Your website still needs useful content and sensible structure.

Product pages should clearly describe what is being sold.

Categories should make sense.

Page titles and headings should be descriptive.

Internal links should help customers navigate related products and information.

Avoid creating product pages containing nothing more than a photograph, product name and price when customers genuinely need more information.

Useful product content can help both people and search engines understand what you’re selling.

FAST CHEAP WEBSITES also provides SEO services for businesses that want additional help improving their search visibility.

AI Search Is Changing Product Discovery Too

People aren’t only searching by typing short product names into Google.

They can increasingly ask detailed questions.

For example:

Where can I buy handmade Australian gifts online?

Which Australian businesses sell personalised products online?

Where can I buy a particular product and have it delivered in Australia?

Clear product information gives search engines and AI systems more context.

That doesn’t guarantee your product will be recommended.

But vague product pages make understanding your store much harder.

Describe what the product actually is, who it may be suitable for, important specifications and relevant purchasing information.

Useful information remains useful whether the visitor is human or a search system trying to understand the page.

Your Ecommerce Website Can Also Tell Your Story

Not every visitor will go directly from Google to a product and immediately buy.

Some people want to know who they’re buying from.

This can be especially important for smaller brands.

An About page can explain:

who you are
why the business exists
what you make or sell
what matters about your products
where the business operates

You don’t need to pretend to be a giant company.

Being a genuine small business can itself be part of your identity.

Clear, specific information can help customers understand the business behind the products.

Social Media and Your Website Can Work Together

You don’t necessarily need to choose between selling through social media and having your own website.

They can support each other.

Social media can introduce people to:

new products
promotions
behind-the-scenes content
product demonstrations
your brand

Your website then gives interested customers somewhere to browse properly and purchase.

Instead of trying to squeeze all of your product information into a social post, you can direct customers to the relevant page on your own website.

Can You Start Small and Add More Products Later?

Yes.

You don’t necessarily need hundreds of products before launching an ecommerce website.

Some businesses begin with a relatively small range and expand over time.

The important thing is making sure the initial structure allows sensible growth.

If you’re likely to add many more products, think about your categories from the beginning.

A little planning can prevent the store becoming disorganised later.

WordPress and WooCommerce give small businesses flexibility to add products and expand their online store as the business develops.

What Else Does an Ecommerce Website Need?

Your products are obviously important, but an online store consists of more than product pages.

Depending on your business, customers may also need access to information about:

your business
contact details
delivery
returns
privacy
terms and conditions
frequently asked questions

The appropriate information depends on your business and how you sell.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission provides information about consumer rights and guarantees, which is worth understanding when selling products to Australian consumers.

Website Hosting Matters for an Online Store

An ecommerce website needs hosting just like any other website.

However, an online store is doing more than displaying pages.

Customers are browsing products, interacting with the cart and completing transactions.

That makes reliable website operation particularly important.

FAST CHEAP WEBSITES provides website hosting for businesses that want their website and hosting handled together.

We can also assist with domain names if you need a domain for your online business.

What FAST CHEAP WEBSITES Builds for Online Sellers

FAST CHEAP WEBSITES builds WordPress and WooCommerce ecommerce websites for Australian small businesses.

An ecommerce website can provide a business with its own online storefront where customers can discover products, browse categories, view product information and place orders.

We also provide related website services including hosting, domains, SEO and content writing where required.

Not every ecommerce project is identical.

A small handmade-product business doesn’t need the same store as a retailer with a large catalogue.

Our approach is to build around the actual requirements of the business rather than adding functionality simply because it’s available.

You can learn more about FAST CHEAP WEBSITES and the website services we provide.

Frequently Asked Questions About Selling Products Online

What do I need to sell products online?

You’ll need products, product information, photographs, prices and a way for customers to order and pay. You’ll also need to decide how you’ll handle shipping, delivery or pickup. An ecommerce website can bring these elements together into an online store.

Does FAST CHEAP WEBSITES build online stores?

Yes. FAST CHEAP WEBSITES builds ecommerce websites using WordPress and WooCommerce for Australian small businesses that want to sell products online.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is an ecommerce platform for WordPress. It provides functionality for products, categories, carts, checkout, orders and other online store requirements.

Can I sell throughout Australia?

An ecommerce website can be configured to sell beyond your local area. Before launching, decide where you’re prepared to ship and how delivery charges will work.

Can customers collect products instead of having them shipped?

Local pickup can be an option for businesses that have an appropriate collection arrangement. Whether it suits your store depends on how your business operates.

Can I add more products after my website is built?

Yes. One of the advantages of an ecommerce system such as WooCommerce is the ability to add and manage products as your range changes.

Ready to Sell Your Products Online?

If you want to Sell Your Products Online, don’t begin with complicated ecommerce terminology.

Begin with the basics.

What are you selling?

How should customers find it?

What information do they need before buying?

How will they pay?

How will they receive their order?

Once those decisions are clear, the website can be built around the way your business actually works.

FAST CHEAP WEBSITES builds WordPress and WooCommerce ecommerce websites for Australian small businesses, giving businesses their own place online to showcase and sell their products.

You can explore our ecommerce website options, view our website services or contact FAST CHEAP WEBSITES to discuss your online store.

Our Sell Your Products Online 24/7 Contact Details

Preferred contact is via email angie@fastcheapwebsites.com and I will respond within 24 hours.

USA Clients can contact me on Whatsapp using the icon below.

Please Note: As I commute from Melbourne to Boston regularly, I may not answer between 9am to 4pm GMT-4 when I am in Melbourne, Australia. Please try contacting me out of these hours.

0402 072 194

Get in touch via Whatsapp

angie@fastcheapwebsites.com