Small Business Ecommerce Solutions – Selecting a Web Host

There are many factors involved in setting up a small business ecommerce website. You must select your website design, shopping cart and payment methods. In this three part series you will learn how to make each of these important decisions a success.

One of the first decisions you will need to make when launching an ecommerce site is to select a webhost. A webhost is a company that stores all the data for your website. They also connect your site to the internet so the world can see it. Selecting the right webhost can be difficult and making a bad decision can be costly.

When making your decision you should consider many factors including the following:

·         Reliability – Ensuring your website will be available to your customers when they are on the internet should be a primary concern.  Look for a guaranteed uptime of at least 95%, although the best webhosts will offer a 99% guarantee.

·         Disk Space/Bandwidth – Make sure you pick a plan that either provides unlimited disk space or one that gives you enough space to grow.  Some webhosts limit the space you use on their servers then charge you a fee if you go over.  Make sure you read the terms of service and resource usage policies before signing up with a host.

·         Customer Support – Especially when you’re first starting out, quality support is extremely important. The webhost you choose should be able to be contacted by either live chat or phone 24/7/365.   Call or chat with the support team before you sign up and test their abilities.

·         Security – Find out how they secure their datacenter and if they have secure servers and SSL certificates. Security Socket Layer (SSL) is a protocol that allows the secure communications to take place over the internet. This is important for doing business transactions over the internet.

·         Server Backup – Ensuring your webhost backs up the data on your servers will prevent you from losing data critical to your business if something happens.  You will be able to recover your small business ecommerce website quickly.

·         Cost – Web hosting costs can vary dramatically.  Beware of going with the cheapest host as you often get what you pay for but also be cautious not to spend more than you need to.  Your hosting should not cost more than $20 a month.

Additional Features – Many webhosts will enable customers to use a variety of background applications like PHP, PERL and CGI scripts.  These types of applications all you to truly create forms and a website that are tailored to your business.

When comparing host options, if all things are essentially equal you can look at the added perks that may be offered.  Many hosting companies offer perks to entice people to sign up such as credits for Google Adwords or Yahoo! Search Marketing.  
 
There are many things you have to do when creating a small business ecommerce website. Selecting a dependable web host is only the first step.  Look for part II of the series to learn how to design a successful ecommerce website.