Archive for November, 2011

What is Ecommerce Hosting and Why You Need it

Friday, November 18th, 2011
Ecommerce hosting is used when you want to display your products or services on your website, while providing a way to accept payments for the services or products.
Ecommerce web hosts, offer the ability to design and employ a fully-featured, fully-functional website for selling these products and services. Therefore, when you select an eminent ecommerce web hosting provider you do not need to worry about any of the technical details of web hosting, the software, etc.
Ecommerce hosting providers offer plans with preset bandwidth limitations and storage limits.
Everyday more people perform business on the Internet. Consumers are opting to avoid going out; choosing to save money on gas; and wanting to reduce the paper generated by mailings. They are using the internet for their shopping and bill paying.
Your business must afford this solution to consumers.  The only way to accomplish this is by having a resource that accepts payments, and guarantees the consumer’s information is secure and private. Ecommerce web hosting is the answer.
When deciding on an ecommerce hosting provider you should consider all the requirements you will need. Here are some significant necessities regarding ecommerce:
Security— Your customer’s personal information has to be protected. Credit card numbers, addresses, usernames, and passwords are customarily the types of information you deal with on an ecommerce website. Since you can risk the identity theft of your customers, it is imperative the maximum security options are available.
Uptime— If your website is slow or unavailable your customers will leave because they are aggravated. They will view you as unreliable. Your ecommerce web hosting account should have an uptime guarantee. 99.9% uptime is the standard and you should look for this range.
Email Addresses and Sub-Domains— Each ecommerce hosting package will offer you email and additional sub-domains. Make sure they are providing enough to meet the needs of your business.
Ecommerce Tools — Ask your potential provider which languages their platforms support. Will there be an auto-responder on your email accounts? Do they use a reliable shopping cart?
SSL and Encryption — Which security solutions are offered?
Technical Support — Reputable ecommerce hosts provide 24/7 technical support.
Shopping carts –These allow your customers to choose your products or services and then provide a checkout when they are finished. If you already use a shopping cart make sure your new host is compatible with the one you have. If you do not yet have one, see which shopping carts are available.
Payment systems– Make sure to verify your payment gateway is compatible with the payment means you accept. As an example, American Express is not always compatible with certain ecommerce packages. Your chosen ecommerce hosting company must be compatible with the major payment gateways so you can accept PayPal and all major credit cards.
Purchasing an ecommerce hosting plan is a fantastic way to become more visible. Remember, professional web hosting providers allow many customers to save money by providing the tools you need – hardware, software licenses, bandwidth, backup systems, and more – GET STARTED TODAY!
*Did You Know— The term “ecommerce” was first coined in approximately 1996, shortly after the internet opened for public use. In the pre-historic days (pre 1996), the internet was mainly used by universities and other non-profit organizations to share research, general information, and for email.  It is believed IBM’s marketing department coined – (or at least popularized) the term.

Best Business Hosting for your Company

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Before you choose a hosting company for your business hosting needs it is imperative you do your research. There are numerous companies who provide exemplary business hosting options, but you must determine what is best for your company.

A website business hosting service is not just storage or bandwidth. There are many factors that determine a quality hosting company. Review the tips below to get on the right track.

·         A top-notch service is useless without customer support. Your hosting provider needs to be there for you 24/7 and give you the instant support you need to solve your problem, so you do not lose customers and money.

·         There is no host which is safe against different types of technical failures, so make sure the hosting company runs scheduled backups.

·         There is no unlimited bandwidth, nor unlimited web space. Host’s pay for each GB of bandwidth themselves. Hard drives also are not free. When a hosting company says unlimited it is false advertising in order to allure potential clients. The average website does not use more than 1GB of bandwidth per month. However, if you have a website using more bandwidth than an average site does, and you signed up with a business hosting company offering unlimited traffic, your host could suspend your account and inform you your site was using too much bandwidth.  For example, there are hosting companies who offer unlimited bandwidth and have a statement on their terms of service explaining that unlimited bandwidth means 40GB.

·         You should check if there is an uptime guarantee offered. A quality provider will give a money-back guarantee, offering a discount or free service as compensation for downtime. Do not select a business hosting solution promoting 100% uptime. There is no server with 100% uptime.

·         Do not sign up for a free business hosting plan because it does not provide the required features and security options necessary to operate your online business.

·         Finding a reputable hosting company is crucial. You can discover the reputation of hosting companies by searching for reviews on the internet. In addition, hosting forums are available where users discuss business hosting companies, their plans, etc.

·         Website hosting companies can have hundreds of clients per server; therefore you should check your business hosting company’s acceptable use policy. You do not want to put your business at risk and have your website hosted on the same server with illegal pornography and software websites. Hosting your site on a neglected server can result in low speed. Also, if someone on the same server sends SPAM the server’s IP address can be blacklisted and you can have problems as recipients stop receiving your emails.

·         Cost is important and you should compare different business hosting provider plans, but features and reliability should be given priority.

·         Remember for an ecommerce business, security is essential because you have your clients’ personal information – credit card numbers, social security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, etc. This means the business hosting company you select must provide superior security to protect the data from theft.

*Did You Know— A network is only as powerful as its weakest link. Running a low-end server for network management may slow your entire system. Think of a server like an extension cord, it has to be able to pass enough electricity (or allow enough data through) to run everything.