The very latest in women’s fashion is big profitable business for many online companies. But big business means lots of strong competition. So how do you start a women’s fashion website and succeed in today’s crowded marketplace?

Here’s a step by step guide to creating your own fashion website, how I did it and how you can learn from the ideas and mistakes I’ve made along the way.

Step One - Establish A Niche.

The first thing you need to do is to establish your niche – something that little bit different that nobody else is currently doing (or doing well) to make you stand out as unique and interesting to prospective buyers. This is the hardest aspect of getting started, because as you search, you’ll find a successful website already filling the niche you think that you’ve just created.

But don’t despair, niches come in all shapes and sizes from women’s plus sized clothing to letting the customer decide on what gets cut (or bought) by you. Your niche is out there – go and find it!

Step Two - Decide On A Name.

Once your niche is decided then it’s time to find a business name and in turn a strong domain name to complement and enhance your online offering.

When thinking of a business name it’s important that your chosen name can be easily spelt and remembered, or at the very least, a name that has a relevance to the fashion business you are establishing. This will give your customers the feeling of authenticity of your brand and will help them to make a trusted decision.

Often short snappy names are the easiest to remember, but rhyming names, taglines and phrases can work and remain in the memory of potential buyers for weeks after they first visit your site.

Don’t panic if the perfect domain name for your business is already taken (as nearly all the best domain names have all been bought). Sometimes it’s better to have a keyword friendly domain that will help you rank in the search engines quicker than a specific business domain name that will require extra search engine optimization. Try to buy a .com if at all possible, but .net or a local domain option such as .co.uk should still help you rank well for your targeted or local audience.

Step Three – Get The Branding Right.

Branding. Spend as much as you can on the best designer possible and ask for a number of simple designs which you can choose from. Try and have a tagline incorporated into the design or a feature of the design which differentiates you from the crowd.

Under no circumstances (unless you’re a qualified brand designer) should you try to do this yourself. It will almost definitely look cheap and will reduce potential sales.

Step Four – Style and Speed Is Important

Choosing a style for your fashion website and sticking to it is crucial to getting your online business off the ground.

Most people like to chop and change little features on their websites before it’s even live to improve the customer experience and this is absolutely fine, yet it’s crucial to see the bigger picture and find a designer who you can work with long term and get the site started to help gain crucial online ranking positions.

A good designer will help you develop a website that has longevity and importantly return short term cash flow to help keep your stock fresh and ever-changing. Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint – get started and tweak as you go.

Next Marketing, Promotion and Finding New Ways For People To Find You!