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      9 Steps to Build an Online Store and Become Your Own Boss in 2019


      While traditional careers have their benefits, there’s something very appealing about being your own boss. You can work whenever, however, and wherever you want to while still pursuing your passion. The tricky part is knowing how to get started.

      With accessible and easy-to-use tools such as WordPress and WooCommerce, setting up shop online is relatively simple. By launching an e-commerce store, you can take your product ideas to the web and access the vast pool of customers available there.

      This article will walk you through the steps to build your online store with WordPress and WooCommerce and become your own boss in no time. Let’s go!

      Your Store Deserves WooCommerce Hosting

      Sell anything, anywhere, anytime on the world’s biggest eCommerce platform.

      9 Steps to Build an Online Store and Become Your Own Boss

      The very first thing you’ll need to start an online store is a product customers will want to buy. We can’t help you with that, unfortunately — your idea has to be all your own! You’ll also need a way to manufacture your product, either by doing it yourself, hiring a company to do it, or some combination of the two.

      Once you’re done, you’ll be ready to set up your online store and start selling your merchandise, which is where the steps below will come in handy.

      Step 1: Secure Your Web Hosting and Domain Name

      The first two things you need to start any kind of website are a hosting provider and a domain name. Your hosting provider will store your website’s files, while your domain name provides an address where customers can find your store.

      If you’re building a WordPress site (which we recommend), you might also want to consider WordPress hosting. These types of plans are explicitly geared towards the platform, and the servers they run on will be optimized.

      Our shared WordPress hosting plans, for example, are ideal for new WordPress sites. You’ll have access to our 24/7 tech support team, and plans are cost-effective, starting at just $2.59 per month for a single site.

      DreamHost’s Shared WordPress Hosting page.

      What’s more, we can also help you register your domain name. You can quickly check the availability of your desired web address, then register it once you’ve found the perfect fit.

      DreamHost’s domain name search.

      Simply fill in some information to complete the process. Domains usually start at $11.99, but if you’re also hosting your site with a shared WordPress plan, you’ll get yours for free.

      Step 2: Set Up WordPress and WooCommerce

      Regardless of your current host, a WordPress hosting plan likely comes with the platform pre-installed or with a one-click installation option. In some cases, you may need to install WordPress manually.

      Next, you’ll need to set up WooCommerce — a premiere e-commerce solution for WordPress (we’ve compared it to other competitors and think it’s the best ecommerce platform available).

      The first step is to install and activate the WooCommerce plugin.

      The WooCommerce plugin.

      Once this is complete, you’ll be prompted to configure your store using the onboarding wizard — fill in the fields as best you can now, or come back to this step later.

      Step 3: Identify Your ‘Value Proposition’

      Before you begin creating content for your e-commerce business, consider identifying and writing out your value proposition. This is simply a statement explaining the mission and value of your business and products.

      Two of the most important questions your value proposition should answer are:

      1. What problem does my product solve for customers?
      2. What makes my approach to this problem unique compared to other similar businesses?

      Establishing your value proposition now should help you create content later. Also, any copy, product, or long-form content (such as a blog post) should reflect the values you identified in your proposition.

      We’d also suggest sharing your value proposition with customers on your website. Most companies do this on an About page or as a ‘Mission Statement.’ Here’s ours as an example:

      The DreamHost About page.

      Sharing your values with customers can help demonstrate why your product is relevant to them. Plus, you might win over customers who might have otherwise purchased from your competition.

      Step 4: Create Your Product Pages

      Now you’re ready to go back to setting up your online store. Navigate to Products > Add New within WordPress to start adding your first item. There are a lot of settings to consider here, but your priority should be your product photos and description.

      Taking Quality Product Photos

      Showcasing your products in their (literal) best light is crucial. Unprofessional, low-quality photos make your site seem untrustworthy, which will discourage customers from opening their wallet.

      As such, make sure your product photos are well-lit and taken in front of a clean background. If you can, take pictures from a variety of angles, and include some close-ups of unique details to help catch customers’ eyes.

      A product photo of a throw pillow from Wayfair.

      Once you have your product photos, make sure to optimize them with a plugin such as ShortPixel or Optimole before uploading them to your site. This will help prevent large media files from slowing your site down.

      Writing Captivating Product Descriptions

      You’ll also want to craft your product descriptions carefully, to help convince site visitors to become paying customers. Keep your value proposition in mind when you’re writing, and make sure to point out information about how the product will benefit customers.

      A product description for a throw pillow from Wayfair.

      It’s vital to make your description easy to scan, as ‘skimming’ content has become more popular over the years. Keeping paragraphs short, while using formatting techniques such as bullet points and subheadings, can convey more information than a brutal wall of text.

      Specifying Product Data

      Finally, for this section, you’ll want to configure the settings in the Product Data section of the product editor. Here you’ll set your product’s price, add a SKU number and shipping information, specify if it comes in any variations (e.g., other colors or sizes), and more.

      The product data section of the WooCommerce Product Editor.

      Take your time with these, as they’re an essential aspect of your store and business. Once you have the basics down, you may want to consider setting up Linked Products to help cross-sell other store items and enable reviews to add some social proof to your site.

      Step 5: Configure Your Tax Settings

      In the U.S., each state has laws regarding sales tax for internet-based retailers. It’s not a bad idea to talk with a tax attorney before your business gets up and running, but at the very least, you should familiarize yourself with the laws in your area.

      To set up sales tax for your products in WooCommerce, navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > General within WordPress. Make sure the Enable taxes setting is checked, then save your changes.

      The Enable taxes setting in WooCommerce.

      If there wasn’t one before, you should now see a Tax setting tab at the top of your WooCommerce Settings page. Click on it, then configure the settings on the page.

      You can determine whether your prices will automatically include tax at checkout and what information WooCommerce should use to calculate tax for each product. It’s also possible to add Standard, Reduced, and Zero tax rates if needed.

      Step 6: Specify Your Shipping Methods

      Shipping is a make-or-break aspect of running a store. As such, in the Shipping settings tab, you can add practically as many options as you want to implement a delivery strategy.

      If you’re going to make your products available in a wide range of locations, you might want to create ‘shipping zones.’

      They essentially let you offer different rates to customers depending on where they’re located. If you also want to charge extra for international shipping, you can do so here.

      Step 7: Decide Which Payment Gateway to Offer

      In the Payments settings tab, you can specify how customers can pay for their products. By default, WooCommerce will set up Stripe and PayPal vendors for you.

      The Payment Methods settings in WooCommerce.

      However, you can add additional gateways — including popular solutions such as Square and Amazon Pay — with WooCommerce extensions. In addition, you can enable your customers to pay with a check, cash, or by bank transfer.

      The gateways you decide to offer are ultimately up to you, based on familiarity, ease of use, and transaction fees. However, it’s also important to consider your customers, as these criteria are also their primary concerns. As such, gateways such as PayPal are usually a given.

      Step 8: Run Through Your WooCommerce Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Checklist

      You’re almost ready to welcome customers to your store, but first, they need to be able to find it. SEO is the answer. By optimizing your content for search engines, you’ll make it more likely customers can find you while searching for products online.

      As with many site aspects, WordPress plugins can help. Yoast SEO is a highly rated and effective plugin that can help manage on-page SEO factors such as keyword usage, permalinks, and readability.

      The Yoast SEO plugin from the WordPress Plugin Directory.

      If you want something a little more specialized, you can also look into the Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin.

      The Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin.

      It’s better suited to WooCommerce than the free version, and can also help promote your products on social media. At $49 per year, it’s cost-effective and may be a solid investment, especially if it helps to bring in a few more organic customers via search engine.

      Step 9: Publish and Promote Your E-Commerce Website

      While you can keep refining your site, you’ll want to publish at this point — think of it as laying down a ‘marker.’ You’ll also want to make sure customers know who you are and what you do. Promoting your site on social media and through email marketing campaigns can help get you started.

      Fortunately, there are a variety of WooCommerce extensions available to help. You can choose popular services such as Drip, MailChimp, and even Instagram to promote your products to followers and subscribers.

      The WooCommerce Instagram extension.

      Marketing will be an ongoing responsibility, so investing in some tools to help you streamline your efforts will be worth it in the long run. The extensions mentioned above range from free to $79 per year. You can also search the WordPress Plugin Directory for more free solutions, although you may find functionality lacks depending on the plugin.

      Building an Online Store

      No one said becoming your own boss was easy, and there’s a lot of work that goes into starting a brand new business. However, WordPress and WooCommerce can simplify many of the tasks required to get your e-commerce site up and running.

      Ready to set up an online shop? Our WooCommerce hosting packages make it easy to sell anything, anywhere, anytime on the world’s biggest eCommerce platform.



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      Infrastructure for Online Gaming: Bare Metal and Colocation Reference Architecture


      Bare Metal is powerful, fast and, most importantly, easily scalable—all qualities that make it perfect for resource-intensive, dynamic applications like massive online games. It’s a single-tenant environment, meaning you can harness all the computing power of the hardware for yourself (and without the need for virtualization).

      And beyond that, it offers all that performance and functionality at a competitive price, even when fully customized to your performance needs and unique requirements.

      Given all this, it’s easy to see why Bare Metal has quickly become the infrastructure solution of choice for gaming applications. So what does a comprehensive gaming deployment look like?

      Bare Metal for Gaming: Reference Architecture

      Here’s an example of what a Bare Metal deployment for gaming might look like.

      bare metal gaming reference architecture
      Download this Bare Metal reference architecture [PDF].

      1. Purpose-Built Configurations: Standard configurations are available, but one strength of Bare Metal is its customizability for specific performance needs or unique requirements.

      2. Access the Edge: Solution flexibility and wide reach across a global network puts gaming platforms closer to end users for better performance.

      3. Critical Services: Infrastructure designed for the needs of your application, combined with environment monitoring and support, enables the consistent performance your players expect from any high-quality gaming experience.

      4. Content Delivery Networks: CDNs are perfect for executing software downloads and patch updates or for delivering cut scenes and other static embedded content quickly, while reducing loads on main servers. Read our recent blog about CDN to learn more.

      5. Automated Route Optimization: Your infrastructure is nothing without a solid network to connect it to your players. Ours is powered by our proprietary Performance IP service, which ensures outbound traffic takes the lowest-latency path, reducing lag and packet loss. For more on this technology, read below.

      6. Cloud Connect: On-ramp to hyperscale cloud providers—ideal for test deployments and traffic bursting. If you’re not sure what kind of cloud is right for you, our cloud experts can help you craft a flexible multicloud deployment that meets the needs of your applications and integrates seamlessly into your other infrastructure solutions.

      7. Enterprise SAN Storage: Connect to a high-speed storage area network (SAN) for reliable, secure storage.

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      The Need for Ultra-Low Latency

      In online games, latency plays a huge role in the overall gaming experience. Just a few milliseconds of lag can mean the difference between winning and losing—between an immersive experience and something that people stop playing after a few frustrated minutes.

      Minimizing latency is always an ongoing battle, which is why INAP is proud of our automated route optimization engine Performance IP and its proven ability to put outbound traffic on the lowest-latency route possible.

      • Enhances default Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) by automatically routing outbound traffic along the lowest-latency path
      • Millions of optimizations made per location every hour
      • Carrier-diverse IP blend creates network redundancy (up to 7 carriers per location)
      • Supported by complex network security to protect client data and purchases

      Learn more about how it works by watching the video below or jump into a demo to see for yourself the difference that it makes.

      Colocation

      If a hosted model isn’t right for you—maybe you want or need to bring your own hardware—Colocation might be a good way to bring the power, resiliency and availability of modern data centers to your gaming application.

      colocation gaming reference architecture
      Download this Colocation reference architecture [PDF].

      1. Purpose-Built Configurations: Secure cabinets, cages and private suites can be configured to your needs.

      High-Density Colocation: High power density means more bang for your footprint. INAP environments support 20+ kW per rack for efficiency and ease of scalability.

      Designed for Concurrent Maintainability: Tier 3-design data centers provide component redundancy and superior availability.

      2. Automated Route Optimization: Your infrastructure is nothing without a solid network to connect it to your players. Ours is powered by our proprietary Performance IP service, which ensures outbound traffic takes the lowest-latency path, reducing lag and packet loss.

      3. Cloud Connect: On-ramp to hyperscale cloud providers—ideal for test deployments and traffic bursting. If you’re not sure what kind of cloud is right for you, our cloud experts can help you craft a flexible multicloud deployment that meets the needs of your applications and integrates seamlessly into your other infrastructure solutions.

      4. Integrated With Private Cloud & Bare Metal: Run auxiliary or back-office applications in right-sized Private Cloud and/or Bare Metal environments engineered to meet your needs. Get onboarding and support from experts.

      5. Enterprise SAN Storage: Connect to a high-speed storage area network (SAN) for reliable, secure storage.

      Interested in learning more about INAP Bare Metal?

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      Josh Williams


      Josh Williams is Vice President of Solutions Engineering. His team enables enterprises and service providers in the design, deployment and management of a wide range of data center and cloud IT solutions. READ MORE



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      INAP Customer Story: See How Hi-Rez Studios Provides Seamless Online Gaming Experiences to Millions Worldwide


      To the eSports and online gaming community, Hi-Rez Studios needs no introduction. The company’s massively popular titles—which include the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game SMITE and objective-based team first-person shooter Paladins—have been played by more than 70 million people worldwide, putting the company at the forefront of the free-to-play, games-as-a-service industry.

      Since 2008, Hi-Rez has powered its games via INAP Bare Metal, custom managed hosting and the patented, latency-busting network optimization technology: Performance IP®. Today, 100 percent of Hi-Rez’s ever-increasing gaming traffic is routed through INAP data centers.

      “In online games, lag kills,” said Todd Harris, Chief Operating Officer at Hi-Rez. “To deliver the best experience, we have to make sure that gamers are able to play on the best network while using the most efficient route. INAP delivers all of that.”

      Our latest customer story with Hi-Rez, debuting this week at Game Developers Conference 2019, frames the partnership through the lens of a multiplayer match interface—from the party select and weapon loadout menus through the stage results and achievements.

      Read “Titans of Performance” below and download or share the eBook via Slideshare.













      Interested in learning more about INAP Bare Metal?

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      Ryan Hunt
      • Sr. Communications Manager


      Ryan Hunt is Senior Communications Manager. READ MORE



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