Choosing Host for Your Ecommerce Website

One the internet there are countless articles, blogs, and blurbs about what not to do when starting an ecommerce website. While almost all of them hold some useful tidbits of information, what about the things you should do and look for in ecommerce? If one was to believe all the “what not to do” tips and suggestions, it’s a wonder any ecommerce sites ever get started in the first place. You have to take some risks to become successful. It’s just a matter of taking fewer when starting.

With that in mind, it’s time to move on.

Once you have a solid business plan for your ecommerce website, you should then get into the actual logistics of startup. Mainly, whether you’ll find a company to design and host the site, you’ll hire a different company for each aspect, or if you’ll buy the webspace and do it all yourself.

Unless you’re experiences with scripts, cgi, html, encryption and all the other particulars of the host you choose, it’s not a good idea to do it yourself.

So, what to look for in a host and web design company?

You’ll want a site which offers an online shopping cart, high bandwidth, large ftp space for images and add-ons, 128-bit encryption, shipping calculator, and the ability to accept many forms of payment which will be linked directly to your business bank account. If the hosting site you’re looking at doesn’t offer these, you’ll need to find a web design company to do it for you, and upload it to the host you do choose.

If you choose to go with separate host and designer, be sure to do a lot of research first. Ask the design company if they’ve ever dealt with the hosting company before. If they have, ask for references.

There are also several ecommerce website designer programs on the market. If you do purchase one of these programs, make absolutely sure the host you choose will support that software.

Also, look for ecommerce hosting companies within your budget, but also beware of companies who charge too little. The old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” absolutely applies here. Usually, an ecommerce hosting company who charges too little will wind up charging more after the first month or two, or it’ll have maxed out servers which will cause your site to be slow or shut down half the time.

Finally, don’t go overboard on design, options, and content. If you’re only selling a few items to begin with it makes no sense to develop a site set up for thousands of items, customer accounts, email, forums, and dozens of other options. In other words, build what you need now, and add on as you grow.

All of this, and more, should be done with caution. There will be plenty of risks on the design and implementation side of your ecommerce site, so do your homework.

Look for that startup package which isn’t too small for your initial needs, but definitely not too large. Minimize the risks so that you can afford, in more ways than one, to take risks where they’ll count.

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