Great Web Hosting - What to Look For!

Written by Keith Thompson


Great Web Hosting - What to Look For!

by Keith Thompson

Web hosting can best be described as a modern-day marriage: none of this till death do us part stuff, it's more like I'll stick around as long as your uptime is 100%, you answer my frantic queries instantly, and you charge me less than a decent latte at Starbucks. What follows is a few tips to help makerepparttar relationship less rocky and possibly prosperous!

First of all, we all need to take a little responsibility and at least figure out what we think we need from a web host up front. This isn't always as easy as you might imagine. You don't always know your exact needs ahead of time, and sometimes these things are difficult to forsee. Your site may become hugely popular, requiring more bandwidth or storage than previously thought. You may decide to have data feeds hosted on your site, which will gobble up resources. On online store can dorepparttar 149669 same. One way I've found myself inrepparttar 149670 position of having to change web hosts is when a technology you want to use or implement on your site isn't supported by your host. This will (and did!)prompt a move.

Building Customer Trust with Secure E-Commerce by VIP PowerNet Web Hosting

Written by Paras Shah


Whether your e-commerce operation involves selling an entire catalogue of items, a small collection of goods, or even just one product,repparttar simple reality is that unless people buyrepparttar 149164 items for sale on your Web site, you won’t make any money. And whilerepparttar 149165 last few years have done a lot to make consumers more comfortable withrepparttar 149166 idea of shopping online, a significant effort is still necessary, on your part, to convince a potential consumer that they will be doing business with a secure and trustworthy operation.

And because you’ll have to employ some form of remote payment, you’ll have to do business with some type of transaction processing business. And even more than your customers, your billing solution partners will demand some assurance that your operation is secure before they involve themselves in your transactions.

To put it simply: inrepparttar 149167 e-commerce business, securing trust in your company is essential to your success. Trust is as important to a potential customer’s purchasing decision asrepparttar 149168 products you offer him. And an essential element of building that trust, with both customers and partners, isrepparttar 149169 assurance that your e-commerce operation meetsrepparttar 149170 demanding security standards required of organizations handling sensitive financial information.

Setting up a Storefront

A big part of building trust with your customers is your presentation. The very fact that they’re browsing your online store is a good indicator that they’re familiar withrepparttar 149171 possibilities of online shopping, and are prepared to consider buying. What you do to convince them, andrepparttar 149172 effectiveness of your efforts, may berepparttar 149173 deciding factor in a possible sale.

The shopping interface you introduce to customers is arguablyrepparttar 149174 most important piece of your e-commerce site’s presentation. A familiar, easy-to-navigate interface can go a long way toward establishingrepparttar 149175 trust you’re after. Seasoned online shoppers will know what to expect from an e-commerce site, and meeting those expectations is a good way to gain their confidence. And novice surfers will probably be more comfortable if your online store closely resemblesrepparttar 149176 major e-commerce interfaces they might have encountered.

Building a storefront compatible with your customers’ expectations is one ofrepparttar 149177 more obviously beneficial features of using an e-commerce software product such as those provided by Miva (www.Miva.com), BizCrafter (www.BizCrafterCorp.com) or eCartSoft (www.eCartSoft.com) to build your site. Most of these programs will help you to build a simple, effective and familiar shopping interface that can include pictures, shopping cart functions and a number of useful security features.

In addition to helping you build an attractive online shop, most e-commerce software has features allowing it to help manage your inventory, interact with your payment processing systems, simplify your relationships with suppliers and affiliates and even promote your site.

E-commerce software can usually be purchased online fromrepparttar 149178 maker, but is also quite often included as part of a specialized e-commerce package from any ofrepparttar 149179 many Web hosts that support such operations.

Finding a Commerce-Friendly Web Host

Assuming that this is one of your first efforts at building an e-commerce Web site, it’s a safe bet that you’ll be outsourcing most, or at least some ofrepparttar 149180 site’s technical operations to a Web hosting company. This is by no means a bad thing, and in fact can free up your time and IT resources, allowing you to focus onrepparttar 149181 operations ofrepparttar 149182 business itself.

More than simply freeing your time, however, many Web hosting companies have plans tailored specifically torepparttar 149183 needs of customers developing or operating e-commerce Web sites. A few hosting companies offering enhanced e-commerce features include VIP PowerNet Web Hosting (www.VIPWH.com), ValueWeb (www.ValueWeb.com) and Global Internet Solutions (www.GISol.com). These commerce-friendly hosting plans often include a software license for one ofrepparttar 149184 storefront building programs with your monthly fees, as well as a number of other support services, designed to provide you with a secure platform from which to do business.

And while software and services may be convenient, there are other reasons why a host that understands e-commerce is critical to your business. A good e-commerce host will already haverepparttar 149185 means in place to secure your online transactions with protocols such as SSL. It may be able to process transactions for you, or help you set up a merchant account. And most importantly, it will haverepparttar 149186 service level guarantees suitable torepparttar 149187 high demands of your e-commerce operation.

Of course, in addition torepparttar 149188 products and services they provide, it’s hard to argue againstrepparttar 149189 value of experience. And a Web host well versed in e-commerce should be able to help you by answering whatever questions you may have.

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