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Follow these steps.........1Decide What You're Selling. You should consider narrowing your scope to capture a niche market, however, not so narrow that it's hard to find customers. For example, if you are thinking of selling books, selling vintage books might be a better option. On the other hand, only selling 17th century Mongolian ghost stories probably won't take you very far. If you are serious about your online store, you will probably spend a lot of time constructing and tweaking your website and especially marketing it, so choose something you have some interest in.2Select a shopping cart. The shopping cart software allows you to set up your products and services for sale on the Internet. There are many commercially available shopping carts available to choose from. You will want to select the cart that offers the functionality you are looking for.You will want to look for a cart that offers merchant tools, supports many payment options, offers configuration for shipping and taxes, offers real-time statistics and reporting, and has the appropriate security.You will also want to select a shopping cart that is compatible with your payment gateway. This will illuminate the cost associated with integrating your shopping cart and merchant account.3Choose your Ecommerce platform. There are a ton of options out there, so before you choose you should sit down and decide exactly what features you do and do not want in an online store. There are 3 main types of sites you can choose from:If you're looking for something more low maintenance and don't want to deal with the hassle of supplying and shipping your own inventory there are numerous large websites (such as Amazon .com) that will let you set up a more specialized store selling their products for a commission.If you want to supply your own inventory and you're willing to pay a monthly fee Yahoo! Merchant Solutions is the most popular route. It has a ton of features and starts at about $40 a month plus a set up fee of $50 and transaction fees at around 1.5%.If you are going to pay a monthly fee, make sure to do a lot of research first. Make sure the site is easy to use and organize, because if you decide you want to switch sites later, you'll have wasted that money. Also, when choosing a site with a transaction fee, consider your profit margins, as they are based of total price of the item, not your net profit.If you want to supply your own inventory and don't want to pay a monthly fee, or you want to get your feet wet before committing so a monthly program, you should look for a site that 100% free (no monthly fees, transactions fees or hidden charges), and has an upgrade option.This way, you can get your store up and running, earn some profits, and get used to the site before deciding if you want to pay for extra features. It's win-win because if you decide you never want to pay for it, you don't have to, and if you decide you need the extra features you don't have to go through the giant headache of moving stores.An example of this kind of site is MiiDuu.com, which is completely free for a standard store and about $30 a month for a pro store. The standard store is already feature rich and very user friendly, so it's a great entryway into eCommerce.4Set Up Your Store. This is where the work comes in. You'll need to get all of your details together and sit down and fill out all of the necessary information. All of the above mentioned sites are easy to use and don't require much tech savvy.Enter all your products, payment options, shipping options, applicable taxes, etc first. Check and double check them; it doesn't matter how good your site looks if the customers can't use it. That being said, it is extremely important how your site looks. Obviously, you need to make sure it is professional and aesthetically pleasing, however, you also want to make sure it is easy to navigate and find products.You should organize all of your products into intuitive categories and sub categories. If your hosting site has "featured products" or "best selling products" options, you should set those up as well. You should visit your store front often and try to navigate yourself frequently during the set up process.Having friends and family test it out can also be quite helpful in figuring out any problems with your layout or checkout process.5Set up your payment gateway. The payment gateway is the application that connects your website shopping cart to your merchant account. The job of the payment gateway is to collect the credit card information from the customer, encrypt it and sent it to the merchant account for processing.When selecting a payment gateway you want to select one that is compatible with your shopping cart, offers good pricing, has the ability to facilitates all payment functions (payments, voids, refunds, etc), offers robust fraud protection, is PCI compliant and has an interface for you to run reports on your sales.6Select a merchant account. The merchant account’s job is to authorize the card that is being used for payment and then deposit those authorized transactions into your bank account. It’s important to choose a merchant account that offers good rates on processing, has 24 hour turn around on settled transactions, offers live customer support, has high approval rates and low merchant attrition. You want a processor that stands behind your account and consults you as to the very best way to set up your eCommerce website.7Market Your Store. There are a lot of stores out there, so make sure to market, market, market. An online store is not like physical store where people will just pass by on their way to other things even if you aren't advertising.You will need to make sure to use a lot of keywords in your store text and create many back links (links to your store from other sites) in order to drum up traffic and move your way up the search engine results.First you should research keywords by searching for them in Google or Yahoo! or your search engine of choice and gauging the popularity of the keyword. If it gets millions of hits in .25 seconds, it's going to be very hard to climb up the results and get your store seen. At the same time, if it gets 4 hits, odds are you aren't going to drum up much business that way either, so be sure to choose a happy medium.Once you choose your keywords, be sure to use them! Blogging is a great way to do this, especially if you are posting relevant, interesting posts and not just advertisements. For example, if you have a vintage book store, you might have a blog where you discuss interesting passages or tidbits or articles about vintage books with links back to your store. #*Make sure to use your target keywords in your blog frequently. You'll also want to get as many subscribers as possible and try to get as many people as possible to link back to you.8Maintain Your Site. Now that you have your store all set up and a steady stream of customers, make sure to keep it maintained! You want your customers to keep coming back, so update your inventory and featured products regularly. You'll also want to update your keywords to make them more effective.To do this, sign up for a service such as Google Analytics so you can see what people searched to get to your site. From there you can see which keywords are working and which ones aren't and tweak your keywords accordingly!

Simple as that nowadays.....Decide What You're Selling.You should consider narrowing your scope to capture a niche market, however, not so narrow that it's hard to find customers. For example, if you are thinking of selling books, selling vintage books might be a better option. On the other hand, only selling 17th century Mongolian ghost stories probably won't take you very far. If you are serious about your online store, you will probably spend a lot of time constructing and tweaking your website and especially marketing it, so choose something you have some interest in.Select a shopping cart.The shopping cart software allows you to set up your products and services for sale on the Internet. There are many commercially available shopping carts available to choose from. You will want to select the cart that offers the functionality you are looking for.You will want to look for a cart that offers merchant tools, supports many payment options, offers configuration for shipping and taxes, offers real-time statistics and reporting, and has the appropriate security.You will also want to select a shopping cart that is compatible with your payment gateway. This will illuminate the cost associated with integrating your shopping cart and merchant account.Choose your Ecommerce platform.There are a ton of options out there, so before you choose you should sit down and decide exactly what features you do and do not want in an online store. There are 3 main types of sites you can choose from:If you're looking for something more low maintenance and don't want to deal with the hassle of supplying and shipping your own inventory there are numerous large websites (such as Amazon .com) that will let you set up a more specialized store selling their products for a commission.If you want to supply your own inventory and you're willing to pay a monthly fee Yahoo! Merchant Solutions is the most popular route. It has a ton of features and starts at about $40 a month plus a set up fee of $50 and transaction fees at around 1.5%.If you are going to pay a monthly fee, make sure to do a lot of research first. Make sure the site is easy to use and organize, because if you decide you want to switch sites later, you'll have wasted that money. Also, when choosing a site with a transaction fee, consider your profit margins, as they are based of total price of the item, not your net profit.If you want to supply your own inventory and don't want to pay a monthly fee, or you want to get your feet wet before committing so a monthly program, you should look for a site that 100% free (no monthly fees, transactions fees or hidden charges), and has an upgrade option.This way, you can get your store up and running, earn some profits, and get used to the site before deciding if you want to pay for extra features. It's win-win because if you decide you never want to pay for it, you don't have to, and if you decide you need the extra features you don't have to go through the giant headache of moving stores.Set Up Your Store.This is where the work comes in. You'll need to get all of your details together and sit down and fill out all of the necessary information. All of the above mentioned sites are easy to use and don't require much tech savvy.Enter all your products, payment options, shipping options, applicable taxes, etc first. Check and double check them; it doesn't matter how good your site looks if the customers can't use it. That being said, it is extremely important how your site looks. Obviously, you need to make sure it is professional and aesthetically pleasing, however, you also want to make sure it is easy to navigate and find products.You should organize all of your products into intuitive categories and sub categories. If your hosting site has "featured products" or "best selling products" options, you should set those up as well. You should visit your store front often and try to navigate yourself frequently during the set up process.Having friends and family test it out can also be quite helpful in figuring out any problems with your layout or checkout process.Set up your payment gateway.The payment gateway is the application that connects your website shopping cart to your merchant account. The job of the payment gateway is to collect the credit card information from the customer, encrypt it and sent it to the merchant account for processing.When selecting a payment gateway you want to select one that is compatible with your shopping cart, offers good pricing, has the ability to facilitates all payment functions (payments, voids, refunds, etc), offers robust fraud protection, is PCI compliant and has an interface for you to run reports on your sales.Select a merchant account.The merchant account’s job is to authorize the card that is being used for payment and then deposit those authorized transactions into your bank account. It’s important to choose a merchant account that offers good rates on processing, has 24 hour turn around on settled transactions, offers live customer support, has high approval rates and low merchant attrition. You want a processor that stands behind your account and consults you as to the very best way to set up your eCommerce website.Market Your Store.There are a lot of stores out there, so make sure to market, market, market. An online store is not like physical store where people will just pass by on their way to other things even if you aren't advertising.You will need to make sure to use a lot of keywords in your store text and create many back links (links to your store from other sites) in order to drum up traffic and move your way up the search engine results.First you should research keywords by searching for them in Google or Yahoo! or your search engine of choice and gauging the popularity of the keyword. If it gets millions of hits in .25 seconds, it's going to be very hard to climb up the results and get your store seen. At the same time, if it gets 4 hits, odds are you aren't going to drum up much business that way either, so be sure to choose a happy medium.Once you choose your keywords, be sure to use them! Blogging is a great way to do this, especially if you are posting relevant, interesting posts and not just advertisements. For example, if you have a vintage book store, you might have a blog where you discuss interesting passages or tidbits or articles about vintage books with links back to your store. #*Make sure to use your target keywords in your blog frequently. You'll also want to get as many subscribers as possible and try to get as many people as possible to link back to you.Maintain Your Site. Now that you have your store all set up and a steady stream of customers, make sure to keep it maintained! You want your customers to keep coming back, so update your inventory and featured products regularly. You'll also want to update your keywords to make them more effective.To do this, sign up for a service such as Google Analytics so you can see what people searched to get to your site. From there you can see which keywords are working and which ones aren't and tweak your keywords accordingly!

Find the right CMS platform for your brandJust because more websites are hosted on Wordpress than any other CMS, doesn't mean it's right for everyone. Luckily, no matter what niche market you are in, there are plenty of alternatives to Wordpress floating around. Some of them you've probably heard of and others are just waiting to be discovered.Whether you are a small business, enterprise team, blogger, e-commerce store, or someone looking to express some digital creativity, there are Wordpress alternatives for you. Don't settle with a CMS that doesn't fit your requirements. These 51 CMS competitors are just the tip of the iceberg to get your web design juices flowing. There are an endless supply of website providers. So, do your research, and pick a platform that doesn't hold your site back.Dive through the list of Wordpress alternatives:1. DrupalThis wouldn't be a real Wordpress competitor list without Drupal. They are one of the most flexible CMS options available. Since it's an open source platform there is support for just about any need and you can find modules that can adapt to any situation. You'll typically find enterprise websites that need advanced security and custom solutions using Drupal.2. SitecoreSitecore combines a marketing platform and CMS. It offers incredible flexibility, although in return is very complex and lacks user friendliness. If you decide to run with Sitecore be prepared to pay heavy development costs or hire an in-house technologist.3. HubSpot COSHubSpot is by far the most popular marketing automation tool on the market. What a lot of people don't know, however, is they've recently released a CMS platform that has amazing performance options. Average websites are static, yet HubSpot has developed a way to create an omni-channel personalization environment based on gathered contact information. That means you can custom tailor your website to show different users different content. Let's not forget, when HubSpot's marketing automation, CRM, and COS software are all being utilized you've got one powerhouse technology stack.4. ShopifyNew e-commerce owners flock to Shopify for it's simple, yet extremely effective interface. Even the greenest users can get a site up and running with a day on Shopify. To top it off, there is a built-in blogging platform, 24/7 support department, and automatic submissions to social buying networks.5. BigCommerceBigCommerce specializes in e-commerce scalability, allowing all business sizes to thrive. The dashboard has advanced customization modules so that people working in different positions can focus on the most critical tasks for their role. BigCommerce is considered to be more of an all in one system and relies less on 3rd party add-ons than the competition.6. Miva MerchantMiva has the ability to handle large product lines and for that reason is the top go to for larger enterprises looking for an e-commerce solution. They strive to improve business processes so that you can focus on generating sales and not boring backend administration headaches. You'll find that a lot of Miva users have stuck with this Wordpress alternative for close to a decade. Now that's customer retention!7. WebGUIThis is another open source option that is written in Perl. They provide a standard CMS, although the features lie within their extensive database of add-ons. These include shopping carts, point of sale systems, and file distribution. WebGUI is perfect for a team with a technical administrator who wants to control the user interface. The IT team can limit or grant additional access where they see fit.8. MagentoWith the ability to manage multiple e-commerce storefronts, Magento appeals to large scale operations. Sometimes, the sheer amount of options, apps, and extensions can prove to be too much for a small team to handle. There is a long setup time with an even longer learning curve, but when you get the hang of it, Magento is well worth the effort. I strongly suggest having a dedicated developer in-house.9. eZ PlatformeZ Platform is the opposite of Wordpress, great backend, hard to use frontend. The name says it all though; it's easy to use. Additionally, users aren't limited to web development on eZ. With a quick API setup you can start developing basic mobile apps. Symfony - the PHP framework is used as eZ Platform's backbone.10. MODXMODX attempts to maintain a high level of security while still allowing users to be creative with their design. It's certainly a lesser known Wordpress alternative, so if you haven't heard of it that's okay. MODX is often compared to Drupal. Their biggest upside is the well documented help sections of videos, books, and forums. The biggest difference between MODX and other competitors is it's basic nature. This CMS is meant to be used with hard code and less drag'n'drop widgets.11. Concrete5Concrete5 is known for their ease of use, but they shouldn't be compared to Wix. It is easy to use like Wix, however much more comparable to Wordpress in extendability. You'll typically find small organizations and client related businesses using Concrete5. There are much less users on this platform, so the market place for themes and extensions is somewhat light.12. ComposrComposr serves a slightly different market in the CMS space. They've created an environment for users creating portfolios, galleries, or catalogs. Composr has created a truly unique product. If the typical CMS models aren't working for you take a closer look at Composr.13. SquarespaceA quick and easy option, Squarespace can create an aesthetically pleasing website in less than a day. Just understand that your options are rather rigid. There won't be a ton of wiggle room when it comes to creating specific customized options. Squarespace works best with basic, unsophisticated, and sleek sites.14. TextPatternTextPattern uses Textile Syntax which may come as a surprise to people who are used to standard HTML. There are add-ons to create a Wysiwyg interface, but if you are going to go that route there are most definitely easier alternatives. TextPattern is without a doubt for minimalists and writers who are looking for the most basic of interfaces.15. Refinery CMSRefinery is another open source Ruby CMS platform, and currently the most popular. Typically, users pick Refinery over Wordpress when there is a large amount of content that needs to be managed in a not so customized way. It will meet basic needs. Think of Refinery as your next size up after you've outgrown a pair of pants as a kid.16. DotNetNukeDNN has received multiple awards as the choice CMS for small businesses. Their ease of use and well organized backend make DotNetNuke a favorite for users looking to get their website up and running quickly. This platform is known for flexibility and can also function as an application builder.17. UmbracoConsidered to be intuitive to must developers, Umbraco is often called easy to use. Don't be fooled though, that is only the case for users ready to write code from scratch. This is no drag and drop Wordpress replacement. It scales nicely with large sites and easy to keep up to date.18. TinyCMSTinyCMS is small, fast, and all around reliable. An average page on TinyCMS can be loaded in half the time as those on Wordpress. They boast about not using a database as their point of differentiation between competitors, which makes instillation quick and simple. TinyCMS is meant to be used with smaller websites as it doesn't scale well with large amounts of data.19. OpenTextOpenText has created a nice niche for themselves in the multi-lingual department. They are one of the few CMS providers that offer data transfer between different languages on the same website. That's pretty powerful for an international organization. They also offer an entire enterprise suite of software, so this is clearly a top contender for the larger companies out there.20. JoomlaJoomla is ideal for mid-sized businesses that lack a dedicated technical team. The backend interface is designed for people without a technical background. Changing content is quick and, for the most part, easy. Joomla's large developer community offers endless 3rd party add-ons.21. Microsoft SharePointMore typically known as a team collaboration software - not too different from Google Drive - SharePoint has slight potential as a CMS option. This won't be used as more than an intranet or publishing site, but it still deserves a spot on the list. A blogger who has experience with Microsoft products can feel more at home on SharePoint than other blogging channels. It can even come in handy if you have a virtual team working on multiple pieces of content at once.22. WeeblyIncredibly simple websites, no coding knowledge needed, and multiple use cases. That is how you sum up Weebly in a sentence. This platform is for small businesses or consultants looking to put up their first website. You can bounce between a regular site, a blog, or an e-commerce store. Weebly is all over the place for first time web users.23. WixAnother no coding needed, drag and drop option. Wix is a direct competitor with Weebly as they are both targeting users that aren't quite in need of a fully flexible website quite yet. This is a great place to start, although when you want to move past a basic web presence you'll need to upgrade.24. SilverStripeYou know you're doing something right when you can promote Forbes as a satisfied customer. Silverstripe doesn't try to box users in with over-developed features. They practice straightforward development and customization. Once a site is developed it can simply be passed on to someone with less technical know-how to manage.25. TYPO3TYPO3 can do just about whatever you want to accomplish. That being said, it's not in the slightest bit intuitive and you better be ready to dump a lot of time into creating your site. Need a module? Not a problem, if you can design and implement it yourself. Incredibly difficult to get started, however once going this guy is a monster.26. ZenfolioZenfolio gives freelance photographers a way to display, and sell their images in a professional setting. They've combined portfolio page, gallery, shopping cart, blog, and regular web pages to keep you all in one place. Zenfolio is the Shopify of photography. Create a high-quality image gallery with little web experience.27. PhotoShelterPhotoShelter is another photographer based CMS platform, but they have carved out a niche that attracts more professionals than part-timers. You'll find many more options on PhotoShelter than Zenfolio. They have everything from marketing tools, point-of-sale system, delivery, rights management, and more.28. MagnoliaMagnolia has focused on creating great web content for mobile devices. They make it as easy as possible to optimize content on all screen sizes and traffic channels. Any business that sees a heavy flow of mobile traffic to their website should check out Magnolia.29. JimdoJimdo has quietly creeped up in popularity, and I say quietly because they've done it without making so much as a splash around the web. They claim to power over 20 million websites and their market revolves around boutique or local shops. They've established an atmosphere where new features don't necessarily mean greater complexity and small businesses seem to be eating that up!30. GoDaddyWho hasn't seen those Danica Patrick Superbowl commercials? Most of us think of them as just a domain registrar, but they do just about everything digital. GoDaddy will set you up with a domain, hosting, CMS, and create the website, all for a fee, of course. If you want to keep everything within one portal and love a drag'n'drop CMS, then GoDaddy is the place to start.31. IM CreatorIM Creator is not about bells and whistles. It's a get in, get out kind of website builder. There is no need to hire an expensive designer, just sit down and crank out a basic site in a few hours. If you aren't sure about IM Creator, they offer a free version where you can get your feet wet before making an investment.32. WebsWebs is all in on small businesses and ease of use. You can put this platform in the same category as Wix and Weebly, with drag and drop builders. They've been around since 2001 and 55 million sites have been created using their software, so don't worry about them going anywhere anytime soon. If you are a solopeneur or consultant these guys have got your virtual back.33. VolusionVolusion is an e-commerce CMS that wraps it's web management tools around additional business services. Out of all the e-commerce solutions they are the most customer-centric. Other than that, Volusion has fallen behind it's niche competitors in the digital selling space. New features are few and far between.34. DudaFlexibility to move elements into the perfect location, and custom widgets for every need, makes Duda a top choice for do it yourself users. If you need a jump start the theme marketplace goes above and beyond most competitors. Duda's best features allows you to develop a mobile website that differs from your desktop site.35. BloggerBlogger is one of the best known blogging CMS platforms on the market. The best part? Blogger is completely free to use. You'll start out with a blogspot domain which has become synonymous with beginner, so you'll want to purchase your own from a registrar. This is a blogging only CMS, don't expect to create an entire website here.36. GhostAnother blogging only CMS, Ghost was developed to be a back to the basics Wordpress alternative. Ironically, it was also developed by a prior Wordpress developer that was upset with the direction the CMS had headed. Ghost is a great publishing platform with a small, yet unique following.37. MediumEveryone has heard of Medium. This blogging platform was created by the same company that founded Blogger and partnered with the co-founders of Twitter. Because of their background, Medium heavily incorporates social subscribing aspects. You'll need to sign up with an account from one of your social networks if you want to use Medium.38. TumblrTumblr is most often associated with teens and micro blogging. It's hard to take Tumblr seriously as they lack any insight into analytics and SEO additions. You can count Tumblr as a social network more than a blogging platform. Though, the upside to that is your content can go viral much more quickly when it gets noticed.39. StrikinglyStrikingly exclusively builds one page websites. These single page sites have grown in popularity in the past couple of years as design tastes shifted toward panel sections. Sometimes all you need is a simple walk through, and that is exactly what Strikingly accomplishes.40. uKituKit is relatively knew to the market, although it has picked up steam fast. They only collaborate in four different languages - English, Portuguese, Romanian, and Russian - which is a little light compared to some of the other options. My favorite uKit service is their offer to create a fully functioning website within two weeks for only $50! If that isn't a bargain I don't know what is.41. YolaYola is one of the few CMS providers that offers a telephone support line. However, growth is limited as menus can only go two levels deep on premium templates. It seems like Yola is targeting startups and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, there is no blogging option, though, a Tumblr add-on is available.42. SiteBuilderA basic website is free on SiteBuilder and most features are separate paid add-ons. This is a nice solution because as you need new qualities you can pay as you go. SiteBuilder is a fast and easy CMS that matches up fairly similarly to the other drag'n'drop platforms. It's basic enough to get the job done without a headache.43. RainmakerOne of my personal favorites, Rainmaker combines CMS and marketing automation platforms into a great all-in-one system. Not only is Rainmaker a Wordpress alternative, they have taken the open source code and turned it into a well oiled machine. It's everything Wordpress has to offer plus greater security, no need for additional plugins, and no continuous updates.44. SitefinityAfter significant performance improvements, Sitefinity has become a powerful CMS contender. They are clearly priced for the mid-market business as they are noticeably more expensive than the likes of Wix. Content is easy to scale as your business grows and it won't take the tech team to implement simple HTML changes.45. OdooOne of the few enterprise open source website creators available. They have some serious integration options ranging from purchase tracking, project management, supply chain management, accounting, and demand forecasting. If you don't need those integrations you can easily keep the core system intact and avoid paying for any unnecessary fees.46. WebsiteBuilderWith over 10,000 themes to choose from, WebsiteBuilder has one of the most comprehensive marketplaces for users. WebsiteBuilder puts an emphasis on digital marketing benefits. It's only natural that they include advertising, social media, SEO, and email features to keep visitors coming back.47. Zoho SitesZoho has a plethora of digital products and services. They have created an all in one environment for everything from CRM to CMS software. No plugins, just a fully synced Zoho network. With Zoho you'll get everything from dynamic content management to sales outreach. The biggest downside is if you need a variety of payment options for customers then you'll need to find an advanced developer. Zoho deals mostly in Paypal payments.48. EZGeneratorFor experienced web designers EZGenerator does a great job chunking up the different steps to website creation. For anyone new to the game it can come across as counter intuitive and somewhat clunky. For anyone with basic HTML/CSS experience EZGenerator can be a powerful CMS option.49. ucraftucraft is one of the newer options in the CMS space and they have a very inexpensive pricing plan to boast about. They want website development to be painless and easy. ucraft put extensive effort into their user interface functionality which makes it incredibly simple without sacrificing design elements.50. TOWebTOWeb is definitely for beginners looking for a basic site. The customization options are limited, however that's what you should expect out of a web editor. You can throw this product into the small business or personal use category. TOWeb allows you to get a website up and running within a short time and there's no coding necessary.51. PixpaPixpa has artists and photographers everywhere drooling. Their creative showcases help any creative type draw attention to their work. If you are only selling digital or physical prints then Pixpa is a great e-commerce alternative, although additional products don't play nicely in this sandbox.Talk about a ton of Wordpress alternatives, right? The funny thing is, that's only scratching the surface, the CMS competitive landscape is a tough nut to crack.