Building an online auto parts store can seem like a daunting project. Even if you’re great at selling auto parts, website design and development may not be your strong point.
The good news is that you don’t need to be a developer to create an automotive website. With new technology and great e-commerce platforms (like Volusion) available, it’s easier than ever to run your online auto parts store.
Create a strategy for your site
Before you start building your website, you need to determine its purpose and how you want your customers to interact with it.
First, determine if you want customers to be able to order directly from the website or if it is more of a brochure just showing the products you have. If you plan to sell products through the website, you should also consider how often you will update parts and whether you will integrate a shipping partner to send purchased parts.
Once you’ve determined your goal, you can get to the nitty-gritty of building it.
Collect information and assets
The next step is to gather the essential information and resources you’ll need to get started on your website.
Some assets you will need are:
- A digital version of your logo
- Fonts and colors you use on your other materials
- Product photos and videos
- Links to your social media profiles
- Reviews or testimonials
- Information for an About Us page
![](https://www.volusion.com/blog/content/images/2024/04/Blog_Image-1_Gather-Information-and-Assets.png)
Choose an ecommerce platform
One of your most important decisions is which ecommerce platform you want to partner with. This choice is crucial because it determines how easy it will be to create your website. Of course, it is essential to find the simplest and least burdensome solution on your part!
Volusion is one of the easiest to use and most robust ecommerce platforms. Its professional and responsive designs will make your website stand out to customers.
Start building your website
After selecting your ecommerce platform, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start building your auto parts websites online.
Choose a theme
The first step is to select your theme. You want to choose a theme that reflects your brand, looks good, and will attract customers. Volusion offers three themes designed specifically for automakers:
![](https://www.volusion.com/blog/content/images/2024/04/Blog_Image-2_Pick-a-Theme.png)
Build main pages
Once you have a theme in place, you need to determine which pages you want on your online auto parts store. Typically, you’ll want a home page, an About Us page, a Contact page, and a Product page. You should also consider adding a testimonials or reviews page and a blog.
Determine what types of content you want on each page and start creating them. Ideally, your ecommerce platform has easy-to-use modules to make adding and creating content easy. Volusion offers easy-to-use blocks for creating website sections. There is no limit to the number of blocks you can use, allowing you to customize the site to suit your needs.
Create product pages
The majority of your site will be made up of product pages. Having these pages set up correctly and with the right tools is essential to making shopping easy and accurate.
![](https://www.volusion.com/blog/content/images/2024/04/Blog_Image-3_Create-Product-Pages.png)
Key elements
Many elements need to be added to each page. Some recommended items – all of which are available on Volusion’s e-commerce platform – include:
- Product Reviews
- Product descriptions
- Product Features
- Technical specifications
- Detailed details on each product
- Related Products
- Latest products viewed
The Volusion platform also provides custom fields and custom filters that you can use to make your automotive products stand out.
Essential functionality
In addition to adding essential elements to product pages, you also need to ensure that essential features are in place. Some features your pages should have are:
- A product search block. This allows customers to sort your products by brand, model, and year.
- Multiple product images. You want to show customers different angles of your products.
- Related product components. When a customer purchases an item, you want to be able to show them related products. For example, let’s say they’re looking for a component needed for an oil change. In this case, you can show them the associated parts for everything you know they need to do the oil change.
- Image zoom options. Allow customers to take a close look at your auto parts by allowing them to zoom in on the product as they hover over it.
- Foldable product details. You want to provide customers with detailed information about each part, but you don’t want to overwhelm them. The ability to collapse features, technical specifications, descriptions, extended information and other fields will make pages more accessible to customers.
- Product organization tools. You need to make it easy for customers to find products on your site. Adding subcategories can help. This makes your products more organized and easier to find.
Purchasing tools
The purpose of your online auto parts store is to sell products. You need to make it easy for them to complete a purchase.
Volusion offers a “Sticky Add to Cart” feature. This keeps the “Add to Cart” button right in front of users as they scroll down and learn more about the product. This reduces the risk of them getting distracted and forgetting to add the product to their cart.
When creating these pages, you also need to consider purchasing and shipping capabilities to ensure you can complete a sale and deliver the products.
Attract visitors
Once your site is up and running, you need to make sure that potential customers can find your auto parts store online. A key way to do this is to make sure your website follows search engine optimization (SEO) best practices, which will help it appear in online searches.
One of the best ways to do this is to use keywords on your site and product pages. You should also ensure that keywords are used in your site’s page metadata, headers, page titles, etc.
Getting customer reviews and writing blogs on your website are also ways to boost your SEO. At Volusion, our blocks are built on a modern technology stack, making it easy to add integrations like WordPress blog, MailChimp, TrustSpot, Yotpo, and SearchSprings to your website.
Volusion’s templates include SEO best practices. We take this very seriously and follow industry best practices to help you attract more customers to your automotive website.
Let us help you build an online auto store
When building an online auto parts store, let Volusion help you. We offer free, easy-to-use themes and blocks. These themes integrate well with professional designs and are responsive so they are easily accessible on desktop, mobile or tablet. These pages can be easily customized to make the site reflect your brand. Start your 14-day free trial today to see how easy it is to run your auto parts store.