web hosting

Assessing Storage Needs for Your E-commerce Domain

The practice of E-commerce involves much more than simply selling products and services online. Developing a good e-commerce website involves maintaining the security and administrative aspects of your website as well. Many people overlook the importance of storage when it comes to choosing a web hosting service provider. Many people make the mistake of relying solely on their hard drive, which eventually will become unable to hold your website’s data.  Aside from running out of space, using a personal hard drive is risky because a crash can occur at any time resulting in data loss. When it involves your business, reliability and security is the most important factor. With all of the possible selections available in today’s market, it can be difficult to choose a single solution.  There are certain things one must consider when selecting a proper web hosting service for their business.

How Much Space Do You Need

Purchasing a new storage device requires the assessment of your storage needs. If you only need to backup a few things, then a simple USB drive will suffice. Even though USB drives do not consume a lot of space, they are capable of holding vast amounts of data and are seen as a good way to backup your data.  If you need to store more then you may want to consider an external hard drive.

Outsourcing Storage Space

If you do not want to store your data on a physical device at your home or office, then you can always opt for virtual storage with a third-party provider.  With a good data hosting service, you will receive the benefit of an online interface that will allow you to easily transfer your files,  and you’ll also receive plenty of bandwidth. Before selecting a third-party data hosting service, make sure they are reputable and take plenty of security measures to help protect your website’s data. The data must be secure during the entire time it is stored on their server to prevent data loss.

Speed Necessity

If you need to transfer a lot of data at one point in time, then speed should most definitely be a determining factor. It is important to consider all of the aspects of the storage provider, including speed, memory and disk space. Normally the best speeds are provided by interfaces such as  IDE, Firewire, SCSI, parallel, and USB. These storage devices are of the plug and play variety and are very easy to use and maintain.

Making the Right Decision

There are plenty of options available concerning storage for your e-commerce website. It is not hard to find  a service that will accommodate your needs, however it is best to make sure you make the right decision initially.

Tips for Increasing Profits in E-commerce

Most customers will not even considering purchasing a product or service unless the shopping process is simple. You have to remember that you are trying to sell them something, not the other way around. Therefore the experience leading up to the sale has to be flawless, because customers will not hesitate to visit another website that is easier to use if they encounter any turbulence whatsoever.  Thus the enjoyment of their shopping experience will be directly decided by the design of your website. If your website is easy to navigate, then you will see success.

Make Shopping Simple

Asking too much of your customers can and will discourage them from shopping with you. Sometimes something as simple as asking for too much information at checkout can drive your customers right into the your competitor’s hands. This problem not only occurs at checkout, but also in the user registration process. In fact, it may be helpful to let shoppers buy products without registering at all! The problem is, most people don’t like providing the same information twice, and most of the time the information required at checkout is the same information required during registration. Obviously this kind of situation can become a nuisance to your customers rather quickly.

Make Your Products Visible

Making your products easy to browse through and find is a great way to increase your sales. One of the ways you can increase product visibility and site functionality is by adding a search function to your site.  If you do decide to add a search function, make sure it is a comprehensive one that gives the customer the ability to search based on several criteria such as price. The goal is to make any product in your online store accessible within a few short clicks.

Be Flexible

Make sure you are not limiting yourself to a few exclusive payment options. Offering payment platforms such as PayPal or AlertPay will noticeably increase your sales quickly. Another way to give your customers more options is to add a wish list option to the shopping cart. Providing a wish list function gives your customers the opportunity to return to your site at a later date and make the purchase then.

Describe Your Products Thoroughly

Many customers rightfully shy away from websites that do not do a thorough job of describing their products. An in-depth product description conveys an image of professionalism. Make sure your description of the product is very detailed and include at least one picture on the product page. You should also make sure you denote the quantity you have in stock on the product page, this way customers do not attempt to buy an out-of-stock product unknowingly.

Make the Experience Fast and Easy

Although you have an ever-expanding amount of fancy options that you can add to your website, sometimes it is best to keep the interface simple yet effective. Many times customers can become overwhelmed by flashy designs and unnecessary functions.  Remember that most of your customers are shopping online for convenience.

Three Steps to Choose an Ecommerce Hosting Plan

Due to the rapid growth in popularity the internet has received over the past decade, most business owners are expanding the sale of their products and service into the online marketplace. The practice of selling goods or services online is called ecommerce, or electronic commerce. Although running an online business is often easier than running a brick and mortar shop, there are some things you’ll need to know to get started. The most important aspect of your business website will be it’s hosting account. There are many ecommerce solutions available, however choosing the right one can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for. The following three steps will guide you through the process of picking an ecommerce web hosting solution.

1. Assess Your Needs

Finding the right ecommerce plan will depend largely upon your needs as an online business owner. What is right for another company may not necessarily be right for you. If you’re planning on running a smaller operation then you could get by with the bare minimum, however it is important to consider scalability. Choosing the cheapest service will almost always end in disaster, especially if you plan on expanding your business in the near future. A general rule would be to consider reliability over affordability. If you have a lot of products to sell then you’ll want to purchase a plan that comes with unlimited disk space and high bandwidth. Many times the best option for large business owners is a dedicated server.

A website lacking these server features can suffer downtime, and ultimately loss of business. The appearance of your website is important no matter how big or small your business is. The goal of a small business owner is to be able to compete with the big corporations that often consume all of the business within a particular niche. Doing this would be nearly impossible without the programming tools included in a good ecommerce hosting solution.

2. Review Payment Methods

Once you know what you need in terms of server space and features, it’s time to consider how you’ll be paid for your efforts as an online business owner. Once your customers have decided to purchase a product or service from you, you’ll want to make it easy for them to checkout and pay you. Therefore a shopping cart solution is crucial to your website. In fact, most customers will leave your website if you do not have a secure shopping cart feature. It is best to have a merchant account, however you can also accept credit card payments with a simple PayPal account.

3. Make Your Decision

Now that you’ve rounded up a few prospects base on the above attribute, it’s time to make your decision. While price should not be a deciding factor, it should be noted that most web hosting plans are very affordable due to the competitive nature of the market. Therefore, it should be easy to find a plan that fits your needs in terms of finances and server requirements.

Establish Credibility and Trust with Private SSL

E-commerce has become an integral part of today’s business economy.  To no surprise, a number of web hosting companies have emerged to cater to the demand.  These firms specialize in services that are specially designed for people who want to sell goods and services online.  They generally offer features such as shopping carts, merchant accounts and payment gateways.  However, those looking to indulge in e-commerce need to be far more selective when it comes to choosing a web hosting provider.  With credit card numbers and personal data involved, the consequences of a security breach can be far more catastrophic than someone running a personal website.  For this reason, the use of security features such as SSL is a must.

SSL is one of the most widely used tools for website security.  Short for Secure Sockets Layer, SSL is a protocol that protects transactions between the buyer and seller with a cryptographic technology known as encryption.  Anyone who sells products or services online is required to implement SSL or higher for security.  This is why you see online services such as PayPal and various e-commerce sites with security seals representing that they are protected by SSL encryption.

Shared vs. Private

Most e-commerce hosting companies provide their customers with shared SSL certificates.  This basically means that a company purchases their own private SSL certificate, and shares it with all customers residing on its server.  While this does not mean that your site is lacking in security, it can be make potential customers very suspicious.  When someone visits your site and checks for an SSL certificate, they will see that the certificate is owned by the web hosting company.  This could either cause the visitor to question your credibility, or conclude that your site has been compromised by a hacker.  You have to keep in mind that many consumers have no idea about web hosting, what company provides you with service, or the difference between shared and private SSL.

Although a private SSL certificate isn’t exactly cheap, it can be very advantageous for your online store and web presence.  Once you purchase it from a CA (Certificate Authority), the certificate is yours and yours alone.  Now when potential customers visit your site, they will see that you own the certificate, giving them reassurance and the confidence they need to feel safe when shopping on your site.  There are fewer questions about whether your website is secure and no questions about who owns the certificate.  And because it requires a dedicated IP address, you can ensure that you do not endure penalties as a result of sharing a server with spammers that cause trouble for the shared IP.

Summary

Almost all web hosting companies that specialize in e-commerce solutions offer support for private SSL certificates.  As we mentioned above, there is nothing wrong with the shared variety, but having your own certificate can work wonders for your credibility.  It could be considered a small investment that shows your audience that you are a serious business owner who can be depended on.  Rewards for this investment could be customer loyalty and long-term profits.

Five Steps to Owning a Thriving E-business

If you want to have your very own e-business, take note that there are several things that must be done in order to get up and running online.  Not to worry,  we have listed the five simple steps you can take to do just that.

Register a Domain Name

A domain name is simply a URL that acts as the name for your website.  You can register one with registrars such as Dotster, GoDaddy or Yahoo.  Registration is good for a year, but you typically have the option to register for up five years depending on the registrar.  A domain name doesn’t cost much these days as you can easily find them for under $10 per year.  When registering the name, think of something that will be easy for people to remember and one that perfectly suits your business.

Find a Web Host

If you intend to run your e-business through a website, then you will need to sign up with a web host.  Web hosting companies offer the service you need to create and maintain a website.  They offer the server that will serve your content and the connectivity that allows your site to be accessible by internet users.  There are thousands of companies that can provide you with this type of service.  What you have to do is perform the necessary reach to ensure you land a reliable service provider.

Site Design

Once you have registered a domain name and signed up with a web host, the next step is to create your website.  For this step, you essentially have two choices: hire a professional web designer, or build the site yourself.  Hiring a professional designer can be very expensive depending on the requirements of your website.  And while creating a website can be difficult for someone with no experience, many tools exist to simply the process.  There are a number of special programs that make it easy to create a website through a variety of templates and pre-built components.

Payment Method

If you plan to sell products or services from your website, then you will need to find a way to accept payments from your customers.  In order to accomplish this, three key components are required: a shopping cart, merchant account and payment gateway.  These components may be obtained separately or together in a bundled service.  For example, PayPal is a service that can provide you with a shopping cart, merchant account and payment gateway, everything you need to accept and process payments in a secure, and efficient manner.

Promote Your Site

Once your site has been created and integrated with the necessary features, it’s time to promote it to drum up some business. There are many ways you can go about promoting your site, including online advertising, PPC campaigning, and search engine optimization.  Everyone has their own preferred method, so it is up to you to find out what works best for your site.  Just remember that site promotion is critical, because without traffic, your e-business can’t survive.