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Ecommerce Hosting Considerations |
by:
Eric Lester |
Website hosting can becomplex undertaking. Determining how much space you need, how much transfer, findingreliable host, and getting everything online is no simple task. Add ecommerce tomix and things become even more complex. This article will deal with some of those additional complications to findinghost foronline store. All ofsame considerations to finding general hosting can be applied to ecommerce hosting, there are simplyfew additional ones that need some attention.
Basics- Disk Space and Transfer
The core states of any kind of hosting, ecommerce or not, remain space and transfer, or traffic. Generally measured in monthly increments, your space and transfer will placecrucial role in determining just what size plan you need. Ecommerce sites will, generally speaking, require more space and transfer thanequivilant sized site without ecommerce. This is due topresence ofshopping cart upon whichonline storefront is based. Shopping cart programs are installed toaccount on which they operate, requiring space, and their scripts for runningstore will require additional transfer to handle customers as they browse, add items to their cart, and check out. Will there betremendous amount of extra transfer required bycart? That depends on how many usecart and oncart itself. This is why its best to start small and havingclear upgrade path to handle future popularity.
Prospective online merchants will generally havegood idea how many products they'll be selling initially. This will vary wildly from merchant to merchant, and many merchants do not put their entire stocks online. It is wise to start withconsidered selection of products first, especially if you wish to initially keep your hosting plan small and upgrade asstore prospers. Those withgreat deal of products need to be aware they will probably be facingbigger monthly fee forlarger hosting plan. Oncedecision is made regardingproducts, attention can be turned to findingsuitable shopping cart program to contain them.
Shopping Cart
The choice of shopping cart can bepersonal one. Those entirely new to ecommerce will probably not have any experience with any kind of shopping cart software. There arenumber of popular choices, and most hosting companies will provide one, if notvariety, from which you can choose. It is important to findshopping cart that suitsindividual user, as attempting to change your shopping downroad can belong process that will, most likely, bring your store down duringtransitional period. Don't immediately jump atfirst carthost offers. Ask if they have demos and try them out. Be sure it'sprogram you can learn and use, as it isprimary way you'll be doing your online business. Even if you havelarge business and havedesign firm setting upcart,rudimentary knowledge ofcart's processes is highly recommended.
Learn as much about your prospective shopping cart software as possible. Make sure it supports SSL,common site security protocol that will help keep your customer's credit card numbers safe when ordering online. It will need to support your merchant account and payment gateway. In many caseshost might bundle these services, so compatibility is notissue. If you secured your merchant services separately from hosting, be sure they are compatible. Find out ifcart hasrecommended maximum product limit and, of course, try not to exceed it. The store may slow down and perform poorly if there are too many products in it.
Finally, make sure it will do everything you want it to do. Some merchants sell services and downloadable items that do not conform exactly toorder-product-ship-product flow. If your cart doesn't support these features by default, there may be threerd party add-ons that will provide this functionality. Miva Merchant is one such shopping cart withvery active threerd party developer community providingwide range of add-ons, or "modules" to extendfeature set oforiginal program. The merchant will have to buy these add-ons and have them installed on their own initiative, though, andhosting company will not be able to support them.
Reliability and Support
Perhaps of greatest importance is reliability in your chosen host. Think in terms of"brick and mortar" storefront. If someone locksfront door during business hours, then no customers can come in and nothing is sold. Similarly, ifonline store is down at any hour, no customers can come in and nothing is sold. You wantmost reliable hosting for suchmission-critical site. Never just takeword ofhosting company's site in regards to their uptime. Do research and look for customer reviews of your prospective host. Online merchants should always be willing to pay more forreliable hosting company with good uptime and support. A good rule of thumb is to stay away from free or "bargain basement" hosts, since support and uptime are usuallyfirst things to suffer with this kind of hosting.
Conclusions
Findingright ecommerce hosting company requiresfew additional considerations. Decide on your products, your shopping cart, and then shop for your hosting company. You will need more space and transfer thanequivalent site, but start small with your product selection and you can still save money on your hosting. Findshopping cart that's easy for you to use and understand, as switching atlater date can result in downtime andlot of work transferring your products. Finally, make sure your host has solid uptime, asonline store that's down is not generating any sales.
Aboutauthor:
Mr. Lester has served for four years aswebmaster for http://www.apollohosting.comand previously worked inIT industryadditional five years, acquiring knowledge of hosting, design, and search engine optimization. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services towide range of customers.
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