Ecommerce hosting considerations

E commerce hosting considerations

Website hosting can be a complex task. Determining how much space you need, how much transfer, finding a reliable host and putting everything online is not a simple task. Add e-commerce to the mix and things get even more complex. This article will discuss some of those additional complications to find a host for an online store. The same considerations for finding general hosting can be applied to e-commerce hosting, there are simply a few more that need attention.

Basics: disk space and transfer

The central states of any type of accommodation, electronic commerce or not, remain space and transfer, or traffic. Generally measured in monthly increments, your space and transfer will have a crucial role in determining what size plan you need. In general, e-commerce sites will require more space and transfer than a site of equivalent size without e-commerce. This is due to the presence of the shopping cart on which the online storefront is based. Shopping cart programs are installed in the account in which they operate, which requires space, and their scripts to manage the store will require an additional transfer to handle customers while they browse, add items to their cart and finalize the purchase. Will there be a large amount of additional transfer required by the cart? That depends on how many use the car and the car itself. That is why it is better to start small and have a clear update path to handle future popularity.

Prospective online merchants will generally have a good idea of   how many products they will initially sell. This will vary greatly from merchant to merchant, and many merchants do not put their entire stocks online. It is advisable to start first with a considered selection of products, especially if you initially want to keep your hosting plan small and update as the store thrives. Those with a large number of products should be aware that they will probably face a higher monthly rate for a larger hosting plan. Once the decision is made regarding the products, attention can be paid to finding a suitable shopping cart program to contain them.

Shopping cart

The choice of shopping cart can be personal. Those completely new to e-commerce will probably not have any experience with any type of shopping cart software. There are a number of popular options, and most hosting companies will provide one, if not a variety, from which you can choose. It is important to find a shopping cart that suits the individual user, since trying to change your purchases in the future can be a long process that will most likely tear down your store during a transition period. Do not jump immediately to the first cart offered by a host. Make sure it is a program that you can learn and use, as it is the main way you will do your business online. Even if you have a large company and a design company that configures the cart, a rudimentary knowledge of the cart processes is recommended.

Learn as much as possible about your possible shopping cart software. Make sure it is compatible with SSL, a common site security protocol that will help you keep your customers' credit card numbers secure when ordering online. You must admit your merchant account and payment gateway. In many cases, a host can group these services, so compatibility is not a problem. If you insured your commercial services separately from the accommodation, make sure they are compatible. Find out if the cart has a maximum recommended product limit and, of course, try not to exceed it. The store may slow down and malfunction if there are too many products in it.

Finally, make sure you do everything you want to do. Some merchants sell downloadable services and items that do not exactly match the order-product-shipment-product flow. If your cart does not support these features by default, there may be third-party add-ons that will provide this functionality. Miva Merchant is one of those shopping carts with a very active third-party developer community that provides a wide range of add-ons or "modules" to expand the feature set of the original program. However, the merchant will have to buy these accessories and install them on their own initiative, and the hosting company will not be able to support them.

Reliability and support

Perhaps of greater importance is the reliability of your chosen host.  If someone closes the door during business hours, then customers cannot enter and nothing is sold. Similarly, if an online store is closed at any time, customers cannot enter and nothing is sold. You want the most reliable hosting for a mission critical site. Never take the word of the site of a hosting company in relation to its uptime. Research and search customer reviews of your potential host.. A good rule of thumb is to stay away from free hosts or from the "negotiation basement", since support and uptime are usually the first thing they suffer with this type of hosting.

Conclusions

Finding the right e-commerce hosting company requires some additional considerations. Decide your products, your shopping cart and then buy your hosting company. You will need more space and transfer than an equivalent site, but start small with your product selection and you can still save money on your accommodation. Find a shopping cart that is easy to use and understand, since changing at a later date can cause downtime and a lot of work to transfer your products. Finally, make sure your host has a solid uptime, since an online store that does not work does not generate sales.