How to Create a Website for a Drop Servicing Business?

What is Drop Servicing?

You may have heard about dropshipping but you probably ask yourself the question, what is drop servicing? On the contrary to dropshipping business model that is about selling physical goods, drop servicing is the process of acquiring tasks from potential clients and then outsourcing them to a third party. When you receive the task back from the freelancer, you check its quality and performance, then send it to your client as a service provider. And that’s how drop servicing works!

You may also find drop servicing being called service arbitrage. Both terms can be used interchangeably to describe the same thing. Additionally, if you wonder if drop servicing is legal, then fear no more. The answer to that question is simple — yes it is, but you should have some knowledge about local invoice and tax laws.

Drop Servicing Website Options

There are various possibilities for creating a drop servicing website, ranging from the popular WordPress or Shopify to Kartra or Wix. Each of these websites allows you to create a drop servicing store, but they also come with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Choosing one without diving into details wouldn’t be a wise thing to do. So which one should you pick? Let’s find out the answer to that burning question.

Shopify

Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce websites for creating your online business. The numbers tell it all as Shopify’s revenue for the first quarter of 2021 reached $988.6 million USD.

Though it’s mostly used for hosting the dropshipping stores, you can still customize it to your needs and use it to run your business and sell services. Luckily, it’s not a complicated process so let us show you how to do it.

How to Create a Drop Servicing Website on Shopify

Register on Shopify

The first step to start a drop servicing store is pretty simple as it requires you to register on the Shopify website. When you visit the website, you will be met by the following screen.

As you can see on the screen above, you can start your 14-day free trial without even providing your credit card information! You can either provide your email address in the box on the left side of the screen or you can click on the “Start free trial” button in the top right corner of the screen.

When you do so, you will be met by a page where you would need to provide your email address, password, and the store name of your choosing.

Fill out the information

After the registration, you’ll be asked to fill out information like the URL and other essentials along with your name, contact information, address, and more, all of which are required to run the shop.

After doing so, you can proceed to browsing the available themes and installing the one that suits your needs (you can customize it later on). Bear in mind that some of them are free but the majority will require a payment that can cost up to $180 USD.

Choose payment methods

Before you proceed any further, take a break and think about your potential customers. Will they mostly come from one country or will you have an international customer base? How are they most likely going to pay for the services you would provide?

Think about the answer and select the most appropriate payment method that can suit the needs of the largest number of your potential customers. If you’re having trouble choosing the right payment method, take a look at the video from the help section of Shopify.

Shopify accepts various payment methods, among them would be:

• Credit card;
• Apple Pay;
• Google Pay;
• Amazon Pay;
• PayPal account.

Shopify Payments

Shopify Payments is a payment option available only for limited countries. If you are eligible to use it, it can lower your transaction fees based on the subscription plan that you have chosen.

Selecting and naming the services

It’s time to select the services you’d like to sell. To do so, go to the “Products” section and click on the “Add Product” button. Think carefully about how you want to name them. If you find it troubling, you can get in touch with your trusted freelancer to agree on the same name which can make the process easier and smoother.

Now comes the tricky part, i.e. you have to set a price on your services. If you’ve no idea what price to set on your service, look for similar services that are being offered on other websites. That can give you an insight into the prices in the same niche.

Also, what’s really important, remember to uncheck the “This is a physical product” box in the “Shipping” tab.

Adjust your shop

Since Shopify by default is a website for a dropshipping business model, it features something called “Order Confirmation”. It’s an email that’s being sent immediately after a client makes a purchase. We don’t want that to happen with your drop servicing business since you wouldn’t sell a product, but a service.

Instead, you need to change the content of that order confirmation email. You can do it by going into “Settings”, then “Notifications”, then “Order Confirmation”. There you can change the content, link a form, etc.

Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Refund Policy

In order for your drop servicing store to be fully functional and operate legally, you have to set your Refund Policy, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Luckily for you, as much as I’d like to tell you that you’d Better Call Saul, there’s no need for it. You can generate the templates directly on the website. All you have to do is adjust them to your needs!

Shopify — Pros and Cons

WordPress

WordPress is ranking #1 on the list of the most popular ways to create your own website. It’s responsible for 40% of all websites and for 64% of all CMS websites! Judging by that fact alone, it’s easy to tell that WordPress is the undisputed champion. It’s simple to set up and features plenty of different options. How do you create a good service website though? Let’s find out!

How to Create a Drop Servicing Website on WordPress

Register a domain name

Right off the bat, the first step already differs compared to Shopify. The next move is to register a domain name for your online business. Depending on the domain provider the price for it can vary. Usually, it should be set between $9 — $14.99 per year.

Here’s a shortlist of the most popular websites where you can have your domain name registered:

• Bluehost;
• GoDaddy;
• HostGator.

Getting your website hosted

In order for your website to function properly, you need to have it hosted. There’s a variety of different web hosting options that can cost from $2.49 up to high three-digit numbers. It all depends on the hosting provider and the option you choose.

Let’s take a quick look at the most popular web hosting websites:

• Bluehost;
• HostGator;
• DreamHost;
• WP Engine.

Install WordPress on your hosting website

At this point, you should already have a registered domain name and hosting website. The next step in establishing your drop servicing store is to install WordPress on the hosting website.

Once it is installed on your hosting website, take a look around WordPress and get to know it a bit. You can also check out the settings where you can edit permalinks, check or uncheck the visibility of your website in Google, enable or disable comments, and more.

Choose a theme

Now’s the time to choose a theme for your drop servicing website, one that will suit your needs and satisfy your future clients. You can choose from a plethora of free themes or you can buy the premium one, it’s all up to you.

Not everything may seem perfect at a first glance, but fortunately, the themes can be customized. If you’re having trouble customizing your theme, you can take a look at this quick tutorial.

Install plugins

This one is an important step as it can make your website look more professional and better equipped. It can result in more entries. How can you do that? Well, you simply need to install plugins that you think may benefit the store.

Here are some of the most useful plugins:

• YoastSEO — the number 1 plugin for Search Engine Optimization;
• Google Analytics for WordPress — allows you to check how your website performs in terms of entries, visitor behavior, etc.;
• WooCommerce — designed for changing your WordPress site into an online store;
• Elementor — made for creating layouts; replaces the WordPress editor;
• Wordfence Security — provides your website with security solutions.

WordPress — Pros and Cons

Other Possibilities

Though WordPress and Shopify are the most famous websites for creating your own drop servicing business, there are others that can also be taken into consideration. Let’s take a closer look at two more websites that you can run this business model on.

Kartra

Kartra is a platform that you can use to start a drop servicing business. It’s a great alternative to WordPress or Shopify if you don’t want to use either of them for this particular service. It has all the features necessary to create and maintain a website oriented in selling services.

The platform already features pre-made templates for various pages on your website, ranging from landing page, all the way to error pages, and so on. And they’re customizable too! Kartra also incorporates a checkout tool, helpdesk, calendars, video hosting, and more.

When it comes to payments, Kartra accepts the following gateways:

• PayPal;
• Stripe;
• Authorize.net;
• Braintree.

Though bear in mind that different fees apply to different gateways.

The Pros

• Uses one single platform to incorporate all tools, instead of having them separated;
• Easy to use;
• Ideal for use as a sales funnel;
• Kartra Academy — where you can learn about different strategies on how to run your business.

The Cons

• Can be buggy and glitchy;
• Priced for more experienced businesses;
• Some elements of the website may run a little slower.

Wix

Wix is yet another website-building platform where you can create your online drop servicing store. It can be used as one of the alternatives to the giants that are WordPress and Shopify.

It’s easy to use with over 500 customizable design templates to choose from. Wix also works with SEO, so that means it could potentially increase the visibility of your website in the Google search results.

You should also take into consideration the transaction fees. Wix charges each country or region differently. The same rule applies to different methods of payment. The company accepts different payment methods, such as PayPal, credit card, and more.

There is no general fee. Instead, each payment provider charges different fees, so if you would like to know the exact percentage, you should contact the chosen provider.

The Pros

• A bunch of customizable designs;
• Easy to use and intuitive layout;
• Usage of AI;
• Helpful support.

The Cons

• Slower loading speeds compared to other website builders;
• You can’t entirely change the already chosen template;
• Paid tracking and statistics.

Key Takeaways

Drop servicing business model is certainly an interesting one, though by deciding on it, you’d need to create a user-friendly website. If you’re still feeling confused about which platform to choose, take a look at these important bits that we’ve gathered from the article:

• You can be a drop servicer of anything from writing services, through data entry, social media management, to managing Google ads and other services. However, you need to adjust the website accordingly to each niche;
• Shopify is a great platform but requires a fee from every transaction unless you’re from one of the countries that can use Shopify Payments;
• WordPress is an ideal platform to run the business based on the drop servicing model but can be quite confusing for people without SEO knowledge;
• If you want to start a drop servicing store, look for the most profitable niches with high demand;
• In order to find a good niche, you can take a look at Google trends as it may give you an inside about what’s popular right now;
• You can run as many services as you want, but know your limitations, as too many of them may impact your quality of service.

Conclusions

A well-made website and a profitable niche — the drop servicing duo that can potentially be a recipe for success! Choosing web development, social media marketing, or other digital services combined with a good website should make you all set.

If you choose the Shopify ecommerce platform or WordPress, or even one of the other solutions for creating your drop servicing business, be sure to remember the tips and guidelines that we’ve provided in this article. The mentioned factors along with a good marketing strategy can go a long way. And remember, only the sky’s the limit!