How to Create a Website to Sell Products

Creating a website to sell your products is one of the fastest ways to build an independent income stream. If you’re wondering how to create a website to sell products without relying on third-party marketplaces, building your own store gives you full control over the look, feel, and functionality of your business. Whether you’re selling handmade items, digital downloads, or dropshipped products, having your own website puts you in charge of your customer relationships, pricing, and future growth. However, you don’t need to be a developer to make it happen. This guide is designed to walk you through how to create a website for selling products, even if you’re starting from scratch.

Choose the Right Platform

The first step in building your store is deciding where you’ll build it. When considering how to create a website to sell products, your first major decision is choosing the right platform.

There are two main types of platforms:

Hosted platforms

Shopify and BigCommerce are built specifically for eCommerce, while Squarespace is a general website builder with optional eCommerce features. All three include hosting, security, updates, and support. These are ideal for beginners who want to avoid technical maintenance and launch quickly, though they come with monthly fees and limited backend control.

Self-hosted platforms

WordPress with WooCommerce, OpenCart, or PrestaShop give you full flexibility. You’ll manage hosting and updates yourself, but this gives you full ownership of your store, no transaction fees, and unlimited customization options.

If you’re comfortable with a bit more setup and want to avoid growing costs, self-hosted options are often the smarter long-term choice.

Get a Domain and Hosting

Once you’ve chosen your platform, you’ll need a domain name and a hosting plan. Your domain is your online identity, so think of it as your store’s street address. It should be:

• Short and memorable – Customers should be able to type and recall it without hesitation. The shorter the domain, the easier it is to share and promote.
• Easy to spell and type – Avoid confusing spellings, hyphens, or numbers that could be misheard or mistyped. Clarity reduces friction during discovery.
• Closely related to your brand or product line – Use keywords that reflect what you sell or your business name. This helps with branding and SEO.

If the perfect .com isn’t available, try using .shop, .store, or something region-specific. Whether you want to launch a full eCommerce brand or just create a website to sell stuff on the side, your domain name still matters.

For self-hosted platforms, choose hosting that supports your store’s growth. VPS hosting is ideal because it offers:

• Dedicated resources for faster performance – Unlike shared hosting, VPS gives your site allocated CPU and RAM, which typically results in more consistent performance, even during traffic spikes.
• Better uptime and stability than shared hosting – Your site won’t suffer from slowdowns or downtime caused by other users on the same server.
• More control over software and configurations – You can install exactly what your platform needs and tweak settings to fit your store’s requirements.

Look for providers that support eCommerce tools like WooCommerce out of the box.

Set Up Your Store

With your domain and hosting ready, it’s time to dive into how to create a website to sell products using the platform you’ve chosen.

Hosted users

Create an account and follow the onboarding wizard to set up your theme, products, and checkout. Most platforms guide you step by step, so you don’t need technical skills to get started.

Self-hosted users

Install WordPress (many hosts offer one-click installers), then add WooCommerce or another store plugin. WooCommerce is free and integrates directly into WordPress, though you may want to add premium extensions later for advanced functionality. This combination transforms your site into a full-featured online store that’s completely under your control.

Pick a theme designed for online stores. Customize the following to match your branding:

Logo and favicon

These are the first visual elements customers see. Your logo defines your brand identity, and a matching favicon gives your site a polished, professional feel in browser tabs.

Color scheme and font choices

Use consistent colors and fonts that reflect your brand’s personality. Avoid overuse of bright or clashing combinations.

Header, footer, and homepage layout 

Design a clean, intuitive layout that makes navigation easy. Highlight your top products or categories on the homepage.

Navigation menu structure

Organize your menu so customers can find products and key pages quickly. Avoid overloading it with too many links.

Make sure your theme is mobile-friendly as most visitors will shop from their phones, and a poor mobile layout can cost you sales.

Add Products

Your product pages are the core of your store. Each one should clearly communicate value and make buying easy. For each product, include:

• A descriptive title – Keep it short and clear, ideally including key terms like size, material, or type. This helps with both search and conversions.
• A detailed but scannable description – Use bullet points, short paragraphs, and headings. Make sure it explains the product’s features, benefits, and possible use cases.
• High-quality, well-lit images – Use consistent backgrounds and multiple angles. Professional-looking images help build trust and boost conversions.
• Pricing, inventory, and SKU details – Clearly show how much the item costs, how many are in stock, and assign an SKU for tracking. Transparency reduces hesitation during checkout.
• Options for variations (size, color, etc.) – If your product comes in multiple forms, make it easy to choose the right one. Use dropdowns or swatches to display choices.
  

Organize products using:

• Categories – Group similar products together to simplify browsing. This also improves navigation and helps customers find what they need faster.
• Tags or filters – These let customers narrow down results based on specific features or preferences. Great for larger stores with many items.

Consistency in formatting, image style, and tone makes your store look more professional, which is essential if you’re learning how to create a website for selling products that builds trust.

Set Up Checkout and Payments

Your checkout flow needs to be fast, clear, and trustworthy. Start by enabling one or more secure payment options:

PayPal

Easy to set up and widely recognized, especially for international buyers. Offers fast and secure checkout, often without requiring the buyer to create an account, though this can depend on the country or device.

Stripe

Handles credit and debit card payments directly on your site. It integrates well with most platforms and offers a clean checkout experience.

Local gateways

Use regional payment providers if your target market prefers them. This increases trust and completion rates in specific countries.

For shipping, consider:

• Flat-rate shipping for simplicity: Charge a standard fee per order regardless of contents. It’s predictable and easy to manage.
• Free shipping above a certain amount: Encourage larger purchases by offering free shipping when the cart reaches a set value.
• Carrier-based rates for accuracy (if you ship a lot): Integrate with USPS, FedEx, or DHL for live shipping calculations. This ensures fairness and accuracy at checkout.

These shipping and payment setups work whether you’re building a large online store or just want to create a website to sell stuff casually. If you sell digital products, set up automatic file delivery. Minimize the number of steps at checkout, as less friction means more completed purchases.

Add Key Pages

To establish trust and meet legal requirements, your site should include several non-product pages. These help inform visitors and protect your business.

Add the following:

1. About Page – Share your backstory, mission, or what makes your products special. A good About page helps humanize your brand.
2. Contact Page – Offer a contact form, email address, or even live chat. This shows customers you’re accessible and care about support.
3. Privacy Policy – Let visitors know how you collect and use their data. It’s legally required in many regions and builds trust.
4. Terms and Conditions – Cover the rules of using your site, including payments, shipping, and returns. These help protect you in disputes.
5. Return/Refund Policy – Set clear expectations about how returns work. A transparent policy can reduce friction and build confidence.

Place links to these pages in your site’s footer or menu so customers can easily find them when needed.

Final Checks and Launch

Before you finish creating a website to sell products and make it live, make sure your store works as expected across all devices and browsers. Run through this checklist:

• Add a product to the cart and complete a test purchase – Go through the entire checkout process to ensure everything works smoothly from selection to confirmation. If possible, place a real order and refund it afterward, as some platforms don’t fully simulate payments in test mode.
• Confirm that confirmation emails and receipts are working – Make sure customers receive an order confirmation immediately after payment.
• Review your shipping rules and tax settings – Double-check that rates and taxes apply correctly to different locations or order types.
• Check for broken links and typos – Crawl your site manually or with tools to fix any errors that could harm trust or usability.
• View your site on mobile to ensure readability and usability – Test responsiveness and make sure buttons, menus, and text display properly on small screens.
• Test load speed using a tool like GTmetrix or PageSpeed Insights – Identify and fix any slow-loading elements that could drive visitors away.

Once everything checks out, publish your site and share it with your first customers.

Conclusion

Building a website to sell products isn’t something reserved for tech pros or big businesses. With today’s tools, anyone can learn how to create a website to sell products with just a bit of planning and effort. The key is to start with the basics: choose a platform, get hosting, design your store, add products, and launch. Don’t wait until everything is perfect. The sooner you publish, the sooner you can learn from real customers and start refining your site for growth. It’s your store, run it your way. That’s it for our guide on creating a website to sell products.

Ready to Launch Your Store?

If you’re building your eCommerce website on WordPress, PrestaShop, or OpenCart, you don’t need a VPS to get started. Our Shared Hosting plans are optimized for small to medium online stores.

With one-click installers for WooCommerce and other platforms, free SSL certificates, daily backups, and email accounts included, you can set up your shop in minutes—without touching a single line of code.

You’ll also get a free domain on annual billing, 24/7 support, and hosting on SSD servers that keep your store fast and reliable, even as traffic grows.

Launch your store today with hosting that’s affordable, simple, and built for eCommerce.