When setting up an Online Store, there are two pieces to set up: the E-Commerce and the Website Builder. The ECommerce control panel is where you will set up the items you're selling and their inventory, as well as payment options and other settings. Think of the ECommerce as your warehouse or storage room. The Website Builder is where you'll design the look and feel of the pages for your online store.
Below are recommended steps on setting up both the ECommerce settings and products and then building your website to make your products available online to purchase.
SETTING UP YOUR ECOMMERCE
STEP ONE
Add Your Logo and Branding
We recommend using the branding section to add a logo to your receipts. This makes the email receipt your customers receive look more professional.
STEP TWO
Set up payment method, shipping option, & sales tax
In order to get paid properly for all these items you've just set up, you'll need to set up a merchant to process payment, as well as shipping and taxes. All of these settings can be found if you hover over the payment tab,
- Merchant: Adding a payment method allows your clients to pay via credit/debit card or an offline payment such as cash or Venmo. You can set up multiple merchants if you want to offer different ways for your clients to pay.
Setting Up Your Merchant Guide
- Shipping Method: You can set up shipping based on a flat rate or a percentage rate. You can also create multiple shipping methods if you have different ways clients can choose to receive their order from you.
Setting up Shipping Methods Guide
- Taxes: If necessary, sales tax is collected at check out based on what you have configured. Because tax requirements vary from location to location, we recommend seeking advice from a tax professional if you're not sure what you should be charging for tax.
Setting Up Sales Tax Guide
STEP THREE
Create Your Products
The next step in setting up your PhotoBiz ECommerce for retail is to create the products that you intend to sell through your online store.
STEP FOUR
Set up stock tracking for inventory management
If you have products that you have a limited quantity off and don't want to oversell, you can use the stock tracking.
STEP FIVE
Settings
The settings tab in your ecommerce different settings that apply to your online store:
ECommerce General Settings Guide
BUILDING YOUR RETAIL WEBSITE
1. Set up your Pages
You'll need to set up a page to correspond with what you're selling.
2. Try on templates and pick your favorite
After you've added some content to your pages, you'll be able to better see what your website will look like when different templates are applied to your site, so go ahead and start "test driving" some templates! When choosing a template, keep in mind that you can change the colors, fonts, and background in Step 4.
To access the template collection, click on the Builder icon, then hover over design and click on templates. Click the links below to lean how to change templates.
3. Customize your design
After you've selected your template, there are default settings for your design, but all these can be changed under the design tab in your Builder control panel.
- Click here for help with changing your colors.
- Click here for help with changing your font selections.
- Click here to learn how to choose a background pattern.
- Click here to learn how to upload a custom background.
- Click here for information on adding a header background.
- Click here for help with uploading a favicon.
4. Add domain name and allow it to propagate (24-48 hours)
A custom domain name is recommended because it brands your site and makes it appear much more professional than having a shared domain like example.photobiz.com.
- If you plan to buy domain from PhotoBiz, click here for instructions on how to do so.
- If you plan on using a domain name you already own, click here for instructions on how to set it up.
5. Site Analytics/Metas
After all the major pages and content have been added to your account, we recommend adding meta information and setting up Google Analytics and Webmaster tools to make sure your website is in the best possible position for search engine optimization. Some helpful links for SEO can be found below:
6. Publish Sitemap
Your website's sitemap is like a roadmap for search engine bots to make it easier for your website to be crawled. This is the last thing you should do once the rest of your website is completed. You'll want to republish your sitemap anytime you make major changes to your website. This alerts the search engines that you've made changes and your website should be crawled again to make sure they have the most up to date information.
For instructions on how to publish your sitemap, click here.