When you are setting up an ecommerce website it is vital that you find ecommerce web host for your online presence that will supply you with the tools and support that you need to succeed. It is possible to have an online presence for your business without the capabilities of allowing your customers to buy products online but we all know that in this day and age people love the convenience of shopping online. The easier your website makes this for people, the more your customers will keep coming back.
Some key things to look for when shopping for ecommerce web hosting are:
- Reliability – you need consistent uptime to serve your customers
- Email – you want email addresses that reflect your business, it’s free advertising
- Database – to keep track of inventory and to streamline your business
- Shopping cart – this is not even optional if you are selling things online
- FTP
- A good content management system
- Blog capabilities
- Forums if needed
- Live chat options for customer service
- Online banking and payment system
Depending on your type of business you may want any number of the following features:
- Google Checkout and PayPal payment options (people feels safe using these)
- SSL certificate for security – make sure your site is secure so you don’t run into problems
- Accounting program integration – download data into Quicken or QuickBooks
- Offer an affiliate program to increase your traffic and sales
- Ability to offer coupons, discounts and gift cards
- Shipping integration with USPS, UPS and FedEx
- Web statistics
- Ability to upload your current product information instead of manually entering each item
- Good idea to look for unlimited disk space and unlimited data transfer
These are just a few of the bases you will want to cover when shopping around for an ecommerce web host. There are many great deals out there. Our top picks are the following:
