How to build a successful e-commerce website?
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- A secured hosting server gives you confidence! -
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No matter how little you know about the internet I'll bet that you've
all heard horror stories about hosting companies. They probably cause 90% of all problems
with eCommerce web sites - even though the services they offer should be simple and
straightforward. After all, the basic job of a web site hosting company is to host your
site so that people can see it on the internet. Most hosting companies also provide other
services such as domain names and email. So, with a carefully selected web site hosting provider,
you can have all your online service needs managed by just one company. The problem is picking
a reliable one! Let's take a look at some key points you should consider:
Web hosting companies normally offer 3 different kinds of options for your website:
- A dedicated server:
In this instance your website is the ONLY site using the server.
- A co-location server:
Here you buy or rent the server from the hosting company and have full control of it remotely.
- A shared server:
You share the same server with other companies. For small businesses looking to start up online this is the best way to go. It's the cheapest option of the 3 and requires minimal maintenance.
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Important!
If you're setting up an eCommerce web site, remember to get a web hosting company that offers
secured server service. A secured server is a "must-have" for online payment transactions.
When you shop online, you have probably noticed that the web site address will change
from http://... to https://... when you get to the payment stage. This means you are
shopping in a secured environment.
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There are 2 major web server platforms - Linux and Windows. I personally prefer Linux because,
in my experience, it offers better stability and database features. In addition,
it's cheaper than Windows.
I can't emphasize enough how important it is to pick the right web hosting company.
Get it wrong and chances are your site will not be accessible to your customers when they want it.
Get it right and it'll be there 24/7, 365 days a year. I don't need to tell you how that can impact
on your business! All too often people overlook VERY important factors when choosing a hosting company.
Take time to check out these factors and you'll be well on the way to picking the right provider.
Let's see what they are:
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- Up time
Up time is the time that your site is 'on' the Internet (i.e. when it's available to users).
You should choose those who promise at least 99.9% up time. Anything less just isn't acceptable!
- Technical support
Email support may be cheaper than live phone support but don't be tempted by it. You'll lose
any savings you make as soon as something goes wrong! Email support takes an average of 24-48
hours to get a response. How would you feel if you were an unhappy customer in a shop with a
complaint and the manager told you to go away for a couple of days before he could sort out a
solution? We want problem resolution NOW! You won't get it with email support….
- Daily backup service
I can't emphasize strongly enough how important this feature is. All of your
database and web site information will be stored on the web server of your chosen
hosting company. It's absolutely essential therefore that they do a daily backup.
If they don't you could be walking into a complete nightmare. If they have technical
problems the bottom line is that you may lose ALL of your current data. If they back
up daily you can get most of it back. If they don't, you may as well wave goodbye to
your order information, customer databases, product catalogs......this should make you
very afraid!
Ask the hosting company how they do their backups and how much it will
cost to get a backup BEFORE you make final decisions.
I know someone who runs a day trading business. One day his web hosting company
disappeared overnight without any notice. He lost every single bit of client information
simply because he never backed up on his local computer. You can imagine how destroyed he
must have felt. Don't let it happen to you too!
- Upgradeability
You might be planning on starting small with your eCommerce site but that's no reason not to think big for the future. When your business starts to take off, you need to be confident that the hosting company has the server capacity to handle it! Trust me, when you get too much traffic, they'll notice and will contact you to switch to a higher level of server service. Now that's a good problem to have!
- Access to log file or site traffic statistic reports
This is extremely important for your internet marketing. If your hosting company offers this then you'll be able to see valuable information such as where your traffic comes from, who are your top referrals, which page gets the most page-view rate, etc. Not essential? How else are you going to know what works and what doesn't, who buys and who doesn't?
- No contract terms
Hosting companies can all talk big - but can they deliver? Make sure you don't get stuck in a one-year or two-year contract with an inadequate supplier. Ask for a 30-day free guarantee and refund policy before you sign up with any hosting service. This gives you some time to try them out before committing long-term.
- Dedicated IP address
If you are going to do business online you want to turn your online channel into one big fat revenue generator. To do this you definitely need a dedicated IP address for yourself rather than a dynamic one that you have to share with others. This will guarantee the speed and stability of your e-commerce site. It makes you look like a professional business rather than a tinpot operation.
- Secured server services
Many people are still scared of buying on the internet. It's the thought of seeing their credit card details disappear into the ether to be picked by who knows what hacker that worries them. But, most now know how to spot a secure site and they are comfortable with that. Make sure your hosting company offers secured server for your online transactions.
- Webmail service
This is a very important feature if you need to check email out of the office. With webmail, you can check your emails anywhere in the world as long as you have internet access.
- Database ability
Your online store needs a database to store and process your order and customer information. The web server must have the ability to transport and process the requests between the relevant web page and your database. You need to find out what kind of database you will use and make sure that the hosting company's server can support it.
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The most important feature for a hosting server:
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The key thing to remember is that the performance of your hosting company will always determine the performance of your web site. Stability is the most important feature of a good hosting company. Forget about dynamic IP addresses and forget about free hosting services, choose a company with the kind of good reputation that can do a good job for you!
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What's behind the FREE hosting service:
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I'm sure you've all heard about free hosting services. Wouldn't you just love one? The answer is NO! They should NEVER be used for eCommerce web sites. On the internet, as with everything else, there is no such thing as a free lunch! There is always a price to pay. Free hosting services have limited features, will generally only offer dynamic IP addresses and will want to place advertising on your web site in exchange for the hosting.
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If you are looking for a hosting server, I highly recommend award-winning hosting service provider: Apollo Hosting - I've been using them ever since! They offer great products and services at a very competitive price. What I like the most about them is their friendly and responsive technical support - just what you need if you have problems! If you click here and you can get more information about this company and their hosting plan.
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"How to build a successful e-commerce website" Course Index:
- Preface
- Course overview
- Find your domain name before it's too late!
- You need a web site that sells itself!
- A secured hosting server gives you confidence! (You are here!)
- Guard your privacy with a SSL Certificate!
- Find a shopping cart that works for you!
- Manage your online funds with an internet merchant account!
- Put the pieces together with a payment gateway!
- Last Few Words
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Online Course written by Maggie Pearce
About the Author: Maggie Pearce is the founder of Online Image, a web development firm specializing in high quality innovative web site production that takes your business further on the internet! At online image, we deliver more than top quality online presence; we develop online infrastructure that makes your website sell itself!
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