How to build an online store from scratch (without knowing how to code)

If you sell through WhatsApp and you’re already tired of sending the same price list twenty times a day, this one’s for you. Let’s look at how to build an online store from scratch — a site of your own where people see your catalog, your prices, and buy without you answering one by one — without coding and without hiring anyone, by solving the things that actually matter: getting paid, shipping, and making sure people find you.

A heads-up right away: building the page is the easy part. What’s going to trip you up is everything behind it. So let’s start there.

What do I need before building my online store?

You need four things, and none of them is the website: your catalog, your photos, how you’ll get paid, and how you’ll deliver. Most people sit down to “build their store” and get stuck ten minutes in because they don’t have the material ready. Gather this first and the rest becomes an afternoon of work:

Your catalog. Name, price, and a short description for each product. Even if it’s just in your phone’s notes app. If you sell 40 things, start with the 10 best sellers — you can add the rest later.
Photos. Your phone’s camera is enough, but they should all look alike: same background, same lighting, daylight next to a window. A store with mismatched photos looks cheaper than one with simple but consistent photos.
How you’ll get paid. Bank transfer, card, cash on delivery. You need to decide this beforehand, because it changes what goes on the page.
How you’ll deliver. Nationwide shipping via courier, local delivery, or pickup. With their real costs.

If you don’t have all four, you’re not missing a website. You’re missing half an hour of sitting down to define your business.

Do I need to buy a domain before I start?

No — buy it after you publish, not before. A domain is your address on the internet, like mystore.com.mx, and it costs between 150 and 400 pesos a year depending on the ending and where you buy it.

Unpopular advice: don’t buy it on day one. Publish first with a temporary address, show it to five customers, fix whatever didn’t land, and then buy the domain. I’ve seen people pay for three years upfront on a name that changed the following week.

When you do buy it, make it short, easy to say over the phone, and without hyphens or numbers. If your business is called “Dulcería La Esquina,” dulcerialaesquina.mx works; dulceria-la-esquina-2026.com doesn’t.

What pages does an online store need?

You don’t need fifteen pages — you need five, done well: home, catalog, product page, shipping and payments, and contact.

Home. What you sell, who it’s for, and where you ship from. On the first screen, without anyone having to scroll.
Catalog. With photo, price, and a button to buy or order. If you have categories (t-shirts, caps, accessories), split it up; if you have 12 products, keep it as one single list.
Each product’s page. Description, sizes or variants if applicable, and what’s included. This is where most sales fall through: if it doesn’t say whether the t-shirt is unisex, people won’t ask, they’ll just leave.
Shipping and payments. How much it costs, how many days it takes, where you deliver to. Say it in plain text, no fine print.
Contact. A visible WhatsApp button. In Mexico, the WhatsApp button sells better than the cart, especially the first time someone buys from you.

How do I get paid on an online store?

You have three paths, from least to most effort: bank transfer, card, and cash on delivery — and the order you add them in matters more than which one you pick first.

Bank transfer (SPEI). The customer places the order, you send them the details, they transfer, and you confirm. Zero commission, zero paperwork. It’s more manual, but for your first sales it’s perfectly fine and you’re not paying anyone a cut.

Card payment. You need a payment gateway (the well-known ones in Mexico charge around 3.5% plus VAT per transaction). It’s worth it once you have volume, or when you’re selling to people who don’t know you and won’t transfer money to a stranger.

Cash on delivery. Only if you deliver yourself within your city. Works great locally and is a headache with courier services.

Start with bank transfer and WhatsApp. Once you get tired of confirming payments by hand, that’s when you add card payments. In that order, not the other way around.

How much should I charge for shipping on an online store?

Two decisions are enough: how much you charge and how many days it takes. Don’t get tangled up in zone tables.

A flat nationwide rate (say, $150 anywhere in the country) or free shipping above a certain amount. Simple to understand and simple to charge.
How many days. Tell the truth: “2 to 5 business days.” A customer you deliver to in 5 days ends up happy; one you promised 2 and it arrived in 4 does not.

Weigh and measure a typical box before you announce the price. It’s the most expensive mistake of the first few weeks: charging $120 for shipping and having the shipping label cost you $210.

How do I publish my online store without knowing how to code?

The fastest way is to describe your store in words, not build it by hand. This used to be where the real problem started: picking a template, fighting with blocks, fixing the photo that won’t sit right, and eventually abandoning the tab.

The shortcut is describing your store instead of building it. In Proyecta you type something like “an online store for my printed t-shirt business, with a catalog organized by category, sizes, a flat shipping cost of $150, payment by bank transfer, and a WhatsApp button” and out comes a real site, published with its own link — not a mockup, not a PDF. You change whatever you didn’t like by just asking for it in words, and republish.

That turns the task of “building an online store from scratch” into what it should have been all along: turning your catalog and your shipping rules into something people can open on their phone.

How do I get found on Google?

With three things, today: a title that says what you sell and where, your business listed on Google Maps, and the link everywhere you currently send your price list.

Make your page title say what you sell and where: “Printed t-shirts in Monterrey” beats “Welcome to our store.”
List your business on Google Maps and put your store’s link there.
Paste the link in your Instagram bio, your WhatsApp status, and every reply where you currently send the price list.

Your first ten sales almost never come from Google. They come from your contacts, with the link in hand instead of a voice note explaining prices.

Start with what you already sell

Don’t build the perfect store with 60 products. Build the store for your 10 best sellers, send it to five customers, and see what they ask you. Whatever they ask is exactly what’s missing from your page.

If you already have your catalog and prices on hand, describe it in Proyecta and publish your store. It takes less time than the price list you’re about to send today over WhatsApp.