How to build a

boutique website.

Overview on how to build a boutique

website.

Learn how to build a boutique website. Chances are you have come across this
website because you have a boutique business and are looking for a way to
expand online. Or you have an online boutique but want more traffic.

My name is Sam. I’ve spent the better part of the last decade helping businesses
market themselves online. Last year we put the finishing touches on the branding
for our wholesale boutique jewelry company and started selling directly to small
boutique stores. Along the way, in my conversations with boutique owners, I have
realized that most owners, even successful ones are at a loss when it comes to
online sales. Your success is WHITL’s success. That’s why today I am going to
teach you the very basics of starting an online eCommerce business.

Find your boutique customer.

Who is your customer? I ask boutiques this

every time I go into a new store. The majority of
the time owners have little to no idea. They
generally assume that the local community is
their customer. They are not wrong but not
being able to answer this question means that
you are leaving money on the table.
E-commerce and in fact, most new businesses have become niche. This means
that people online, your competitors, already know who their customer is working
to reach them how they want to be reached. It is your job to be better. Defining
who your customer is is the first, basic step to creating a successful eCommerce
website that generates the revenue required to make it worth it.

Choose a platform to build a boutique

website on.

This website, yes the website you are currently reading this on is built on the
WordPress platform. Shopify, WIX, Squarespace & Joomla are a few others. Every
major domain provider now has some kind of platform to build websites on. I tend
to steer people clear of platforms like WIX and Squarespace because their builder
interfaces tend to make SEO more difficult and are limiting. But we will talk about
SEO later. I use WordPress because there is an unending amount of resources,
tutorials and plugins available that can help make you a successful eCommerce
owner.

If you choose to use WordPress I will recommend a basic set of plugins to help in
your success.

● Yoast SEO
● Rocket WP
● Woocommerce
● WP-Optimize
● Mailchimp
● Smush
● Defender Security

This is by no means a list of everything you will need to be successful. But it is a

good starting point to ​build a boutique website​.

Develop your boutique brand.

Now it is time for the fun stuff. Another great thing about WordPress is the
literally thousands upon thousands of themes available. Pick one that fits your
brand and get started.

Build your site pages including your homepage, product category pages, and
setup woocommerce or another eCommerce plugin. Make sure you install and set
up Yoast SEO too. Now add your product catalog.

Start thinking about how you want to advertise now. Develop some creative ideas
for advertising and develop some ​landing pages​. These are pages based around a
specific ‘call to action’ or ask of your customer.

SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of making your website

appealing to search engines such as Google. A few basic things to remember:

● Don’t try to trick search engines. They do a good job figuring out what your
web page is about. You are primarily concerned with having enough
content to make sure your pages are relevant across the spectrum of what
you do.
● Don’t focus on one type of content. You may be a good photographer, you
may be a good writer. Work at developing those skills you don’t necessarily
have. Vary how you get your point across to make the content interesting
for different types of users.
● Be descriptive. A good product page has 300-1500 words. A good goal to
have is at least 1000 words. Make sure to add an FAQ area to your product
page as well. This can help you to overcome objections or answer
questions before they ever happen.
● Take more than one photo. A good rule of thumb is to have at least 1
technical photo and 1 in-use photo. I usually do not post a product with at
least four photos.

Remember that people on your eCommerce site don’t have the luxury of holding
your object in their hand. They need help to visualize owning it. The more ways
you can describe it to them the better opportunity you will have to make a sale.
Keep in mind when you are writing to pay close attention to your writer’s
personality. Keeping a consistent experience is important to your users and will
help to keep people coming back.

Advertise your boutique.

When you are first starting out a good rule of thumb is to ​do one thing well​. I
help business owners all the time who are trying to do email marketing, Facebook
ads, Instagram, Twitter, Google Ads, and even Content Marketing and doing none
of them well. Generally, unless you are a multi-million dollar company, you do not
have the revenue to justify having a paid staff to handle marketing. If you are an
established business and do not know which to pick a good rule is to look at which
one already works best and focus your energy there. Hopefully, if you are at the
advertising point you have finished developing your website.

Conclusion

This is by no means a complete list on how to build a successful boutique business

but it should give you the basics to put together a basic website and begin to do
your own research.

We have committed to writing about internet branding because we value the

relationships we have with our boutique partners and want them to grow as
businesses. If you find value in our advice and our products please consider
becoming a ​wholesale partner​.