How to create PrestaShop ecommerce websites
Do you want to sell your products and services directly online? Build a high-performance online store at a low cost, using the features provided by the PrestaShop CMS. You can use it to launch and manage a modern, customised online sales platform. PrestaShop quickly established itself internationally as a popular open-source solution. Whether you are launching an e-commerce company or a web agency, you can choose from a wide range of configuration options.
PrestaShop is easy to access, and does not require any technical expertise in website building. With the theme configurator included in the solution, you can define a graphic charter to fit your brand and business.
Create a PrestaShop website in 3 steps
1. Order a web hosting plan
Before you can set up your online store, you need to choose a domain name and web hosting plan. We offer a wide range of extensions for your domains, depending on your business objectives.
If you choose a web hosting package from a cloud hosting provider like OVHcloud, you will not be dependent on an e-commerce platform that allows a limited number of product pages, or takes a commission on each sale. For a fixed price per month, you can launch your online store and customise it to suit your needs.
There are no limits, except for your hosting plan’s resources (storage, power). We also have solutions to help you scale your project, regardless of size: from web hosting to dedicated servers, and beyond. If you are interested in ordering a web hosting plan and want to compare OVHcloud web hosting packages, please refer to our full list of options.
To get PrestaShop and explore all of its advantages, sign up to the Performance Hosting plan. This way, you can manage traffic spikes in the future.
2. Install PrestaShop
When you order a PrestaShop solution, it will be automatically installed on your Web Hosting plan. Simply log in to start building your website. You will have the most recent version of the CMS, optimised for your web hosting plan.
You can also access PrestaShop’s automatic installation at any time via the OVHcloud Control Panel, using 1-click modules.
3. Build your online store
The credentials for accessing the module’s admin panel are sent to you via email. Now, you are ready to set up your e-commerce website. With PrestaShop, you have a lot of freedom of choice when it comes to organising your online store.
- Get started by defining a look for your online store. PrestaShop offers a free theme, which you can customise with your logo and your own images. You can also browse PrestaShop website templates and optional themes, to make your website stand out.
- Visitors will often visit your product pages, so we recommend adding as much information as possible for each item in your catalogue — prices, description, images, different versions, and stock availability. By including as much detail as possible, visitors will be reassured by your expertise, and it will improve their buying experience. To further work on your content, create a WordPress blog and link it to your e-commerce website.
- Offer the most popular and secure payment methods to your customers: credit card, cheque, bank transfer and PayPal.
- Install modules for the shipping companies you are working with to deliver products. You can define the delivery costs for each item, and track your deliveries.
- You can also download multiple marketing tools and modules via the admin panel. These will help improve your website and conversion rates: promo codes, SMS and email sending, price comparisons, social networks.
- Once you have installed all the modules you need, your store will be ready to receive its first orders.
Included with your OVHcloud web hosting plan
- Free domain name for the 1st year: Your website domain is free for the first year.
- Let's Encrypt SSL certificate: The Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate is included with your web hosting plan. By encrypting your e-commerce website transactions, customers will be assured that the data passing through your store comes from a secure source, and remains confidential.
- Anti-DDoS protection: We defend your web hosting plan against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. This protection is active on all OVHcloud services, 24/7.
- SQL databases: A database is included with your hosting plan. You will need to create it when you use PrestaShop.
- Multidomain management: With multi-domain management, you can attach several websites to the same web hosting plan.
- PHP 8 + FPM: Your webpages are displayed up to 7 times faster. This solution is included in your hosting plan, and it is kept up-to-date 24/7.
The advantages of PrestaShop
- Customisation: PrestaShop is a tool for creating e-commerce websites, and it offers a very high level of customisation options. Choose from over 2,000 PrestaShop website templates, and responsive themes that are specially adapted for mobile phones and tablets. These will help you launch your platform online without any web development knowledge required. You have access to a wide range of tools to create your visual identity.
- E-commerce: PrestaShop addresses all e-commerce website issues. Whether you want to manage your product catalogue, track your stock, secure your transaction procedures, launch promotions or set up web marketing operations, you can use it to build your image online.
- Community: Many PrestaShop users provide help and contributions at all levels (documentation, support, themes, etc.). Join a very active community, offering a multitude of solutions to businesses that want to start creating e-commerce websites.
- Natural SEO: PrestaShop is an e-commerce solution you can use to improve your content management. Boost your organic SEO ranking to get traffic from search engines. With the options available in the "SEO" section of the admin panel, you can easily optimise the structure of each webpage on your site.
Discover the hosting plan adapted to your CMS
Each CMS is pre-installed on each of our web hosting solutions. We recommend taking time to consider which plan is best suited to your project’s needs.
Performance Hosting
Guaranteed resources
1 domain name*
CDN, SSL, Web Cloud Databases service
FAQ
Which web hosting package is best for a PrestaShop store?
If you receive high volumes of traffic and need to manage several websites for your store, we recommend the Performance Hosting plan.
How do I manage a PrestaShop store?
Simply log in to your PrestaShop solution’s back-office. You can manage every aspect of your e-commerce store there: your product pages, promotions, stock, and much more. You can also use plugins to track the order process. Finally, you can also use this space to optimise all your content, boost your SEO ranking, and deliver the best user experience on web browsers.
How do I secure a PrestaShop store?
We recommend setting up a complex administrator password, to avoid any hacking attempts. Please also ensure that you update all of your PrestaShop elements as regularly as possible.
How do I publish a PrestaShop store online?
There are two ways of doing this. The first method involves using our 1-click CMS tool, and doing it automatically. The second method involves going to the official PrestaShop website. Once you have installed the software, put your files directly on the official OVHcloud server.
How do I optimise the speed of my PrestaShop store?
You can ensure optimal loading speed by choosing a web hosting plan that is sufficiently robust, such as the Performance Hosting plan. Using a CDN will also help you lighten the load on the main server.