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Hosting Options for an Ecommerce Web Site
Deciding how to host your ecommerce Web site and what
approach to take can be daunting. There are several approaches
available, each with different advantages and disadvantages.
Storefronts
If you have a small business, you may want to consider
a storefront or an online mall. For a fee, these services
help you build a small Web site to sell your products. These
"site in a box" Web site services include everything
you need to sell online.
Features and support vary by program and can include options
such as search engine placement, credit card processing,
and advertising. These tend to be template services, however,
with less flexibility than a custom site. Familiarize yourself
with the current offerings in this area before making a
final decision.
Custom Sites
If you have a business that is too large for or has outgrown
the smaller storefront services, you may want to consider
the more costly - but also more flexible - custom site.
For the added cost you can have a unique site, receive greater
support, and handle more traffic. You have the options of
hiring the same company to design and host your site or
using separate design and hosting services.
Hiring the same company to design and host your site.
This option involves the fewest logistics, but may come
with trade-offs in design quality or host reliability. Be
aware that designing and hosting require different sets
of skills and expertise. When choosing a service, evaluate
their experience and ask for references in both areas. Go
to sites the company has designed and navigate them. Note
how the sites look, how easy they are to understand, and
how quickly they load into your browser.
To evaluate the company's hosting service, contact current
customers and ask how pleased they are with the service.
Find out how often the server is down and ask about help
desk responsiveness. Also, consider how your site will be
updated. Can you upload changes directly or do you have
to wait for someone at the hosting company to get to it?
If it is the latter, ask current customers about their experience
with this process.
If you are still considering the design/hosting service
after studying their design capabilities and talking to
their current customers, you may also want to find out if
there has been recent turnover in key personnel. An individual
designer, coordinator, or account manager can make a large
difference in support or design quality.
Using a separate design and hosting service.
By separating the design and hosting, you have more choices.
Thus, you can have more control over both your budget and
your site. Technical incompatibilities are a risk when taking
this approach, however. Be sure your designer is familiar
with your hosting service and it's technical capabilities.
To help facilitate information flow and minimize technical
problems:
Choose a short list of hosts with both the ecommerce capabilities
you require and that pass "reliability" tests.
Read "Don't Make These Hosting Mistakes", http://www.take-payments-online.com/ECommerceWebHosting.html
, for questions to ask and other mistakes to avoid.
Find a Web designer experienced in ecommerce applications.
Together, decide on the hosting service and ecommerce systems
you will use.
Making the Decision
Deciding upon the right combination will take some research.
One way to gather a list of hosting options is to first
find ecommerce sites that you like and/or have ecommerce
abilities similar to your needs, then ask about the sites'
hosting and ecommerce providers.
Asking for referrals from business acquaintances is another.
Many times, people are more than happy to share their positive
experiences. For example, I use five different hosts and
am generally pleased with all of them. When asked about
hosting, however, I always recommend Lexiconn.com (my WebSiteMarketingPlan.com
site host) because of the exceptional help desk service
and support documentation.
Another way to develop hosting options is to look for online
advertisements. The sponsored search engine ads and advertisements
directly on Web sites are two places you can find these.
While there's no guarantee all of the companies you find
will be high quality, the willingness to pay for ads can
be an indication of commitment.
Diligently decide upon ecommerce features and choose a
host with those features in mind. By doing so, you are creating
a smoother path to ecommerce success.
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