Ask David
I want to build an e-commerce website. What are the best tools I should use?
David’s Answer:
If by “tools” you mean the software you should actually use to build your online store, I’d keep it simple: choose a website builder that already has e-commerce built in.
You can certainly put together an e-commerce website using a website builder, a separate e-commerce platform, plugins, apps, payment services, and other add-ons.
But then you’re managing a collection of different pieces instead of one website.
That’s why I’d use UltimateWB.
UltimateWB gives you the website builder and e-commerce functionality in the same platform. You can build your online store, but you’re not limited to building a store. You can build the rest of your website there too.
What Are Your Options?
Let’s look at the different ways you can approach building an e-commerce website.
Use a General Website Builder
Some website builders are designed primarily for creating regular websites and then offer e-commerce as an additional feature.
I’d be cautious with this approach. If e-commerce is going to be an important part of your website, you don’t want to find out later that the platform’s store functionality is limited or that something you need requires another service, plugin, or completely different platform.
Before committing to a platform, look at what it actually includes and how much control you have over the website. It’s much easier to start with a platform that can handle what you need than to rebuild your website later because you’ve outgrown the original setup.
Use a Dedicated E-Commerce Platform
Another option is to use a platform that is primarily built around online stores.
The downside is that you’re starting with a platform designed around the store rather than the website as a whole. If you later want to add a blog, photo galleries, forms, memberships, a forum, a community, or other functionality, you may find yourself adding more services or moving to another platform.
I’d rather start with a website builder that can handle both the store and the rest of the website from the beginning.
Piece Everything Together
You can start with a website platform and then add plugins, apps, and third-party services for everything else you need.
I wouldn’t recommend that approach if you can avoid it.
Every additional plugin or service becomes another thing that can introduce security vulnerabilities, compatibility problems, updates, maintenance, and potential points of failure.
A plugin can conflict with another plugin. An update can break something that was working perfectly before. A third-party service can change its API or pricing, shut down, or stop supporting the integration you rely on.
And when something does break, figuring out which piece caused the problem can become a project of its own.
Why relying on third-party plugins can backfire is something I’d think about before building a website around them.
That’s one of the reasons I prefer an all-in-one platform for an e-commerce website. If basic functionality is already built into the website builder, why turn it into a collection of separate components that all have to keep working together?
Use an All-in-One Website Builder
This is the approach I prefer.
With UltimateWB, the website builder and e-commerce functionality are part of the same platform. You can build your store and the rest of your website together instead of building a basic website first and then adding an e-commerce system around it.
UltimateWB also has many other built-in website features, so adding functionality doesn’t automatically mean adding another plugin.
What About Payments?
You’ll still need a payment processor if you want to accept payments online.
UltimateWB supports payment options including PayPal and credit card processing, so you can set up the payment methods that make sense for your store.
Your payment processor doesn’t have to be the same company as your website builder. What matters is that the payment system you want to use works with your website.
What About Hosting?
You also need somewhere to host the website.
This is one area where UltimateWB gives you a choice that I think is important.
You can buy and download UltimateWB and host it yourself with the hosting provider of your choice, that meets the server requirements.
You can also host your website with UltimateWB and use our managed hosting services.
Or you can use UltimateWB Cloud, which combines the website builder and hosting in a cloud-based service.
So you can choose the setup that works for you instead of being locked into one hosting arrangement.
What About SEO?
Your e-commerce website also needs basic SEO capabilities so search engines can crawl, understand, and index your pages.
UltimateWB has built-in SEO tools and a Sitemap Generator, so you don’t need to install a separate SEO plugin just to handle those basics.
If you’re looking for a more detailed discussion of e-commerce SEO, see What Are the Steps to Do an E-Commerce Website SEO?.
So Which Approach Would I Choose?
I’d use an all-in-one website builder with e-commerce built in.
You may still use other services when they make sense for your business — a particular payment processor, analytics service, email marketing service, or something else. But I wouldn’t want the basic functionality of my website to depend on a long chain of separate plugins and services.
UltimateWB gives you the website builder and e-commerce functionality in one platform.
You can build your online store and the rest of your website together, and you can choose where and how you host it.
Start with one solid website platform instead of starting with a bunch of separate tools and trying to make them all work together.
Ready to design & build your own website that grows with you? Learn more about UltimateWB! We also offer web design packages if you would like your website designed and built for you.
Got a techy/website question? Whether it’s about UltimateWB or another website builder, web hosting, or other aspects of websites, just send in your question in the “Ask David!” form. We will email you when the answer is posted on the UltimateWB “Ask David!” section.