Web Hosting Box

E-commerce hosting is perhaps one of the most popular types of hosting plans, and is specifically designed to accommodate the requirements of online business owners. Online shops have unique needs that must be met by robust hosting plans that include a plethora of necessary components. Perhaps the most important component of an e-commerce hosting plan, which sets it apart from other types of hosting, is the site builder application included within the control panel. E-commerce hosting plans are all-inclusive solutions that include shopping carts, payment processing capabilities, product catalog creators, and comprehensive site builders. Even the most experienced and novice webmaster can successfully build a professional web store with very little effort using the site building applications included with an e-commerce hosting plan.

Creative Convenience

In years past, one would have to have significant programming skills to create a professional looking website that would be successful in soliciting new clients and marketing products and services. However, with the advent of content management systems and template-based site builders, online business owners can now take every aspect of site creation into their own hands using drag-and-drop/ point-and-click interfaces that are specifically designed to be user-friendly. With this creative convenience it is possible to continuously establish new online storefronts, with each website taking only a couple of minutes to complete.

Portraying Professionalism

The templates included within an e-commerce hosting plan have been proven to increase conversion rates and portray professionalism. In fact, it is possible to build a website less than 5 minutes, make a couple of changes to the CSS/style sheet, and have a completely unique online storefront up and running by the end of the day. Perhaps even more important than the pricing and features of your products or services are the way they are marketed. The website can have the cheapest prices online and provide the best service, but to prospective customers this means nothing if the appearance does not portray professionalism. Online shoppers are especially skeptical and are very reluctant to spend their money on websites that look like they were created by amateurs. The site building tools within an e-commerce hosting plan give you the ability to create professional product catalogs and site navigation menus that are capable of impressing any customer.

Additional Site Building Methods

Aside from the included site builder applications within the e-commerce plan, there are also simple script installation utilities that allow you to easily install content management systems on your domain. These content management systems (i.e. – WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal) are specifically designed to simplify the process of creating a website within a template-based system. After mastering the conventional site builder in your control panel, it may be beneficial to graduate to one of these more comprehensive solutions that can be enhanced and expanded upon using open source plug-ins. Content management systems like WordPress not only simplify site creation, they also enhance the capabilities of your site by adding widgets, sidebars, and other features to the site navigational menus. Content management systems also facilitate search engine optimization tasks like link building and pinging.

E-commerce has reshaped the face of every industry on the planet, connecting prospective customers to retailers and service providers around the world. With the advent of the Internet the marketing potential of every business has skyrocketed, and it is now possible for an aspiring online entrepreneur to go from zero to hero in less than a year. The advantages of marketing products and services online are obvious, and include a diversified client base and simplified/cheaper business promotion. One of the main aspects of any e-commerce website is the shopping cart, which is a server-side application that allows the online shopper to purchase more than one item at a time and perform a variety of other tasks. If you’ve ever shopped online before, then you have probably used a shopping cart. Fortunately, you don’t have to pay a lot of money to have a good shopping cart for your e-commerce website – consider the following free e-commerce shopping carts.

OsCommerce

OsCommerce has consistently been one of the most popular shopping cart applications available, primarily because it is user-friendly yet provides robust functionality. OsCommerce is particularly effective in providing an enjoyable and convenient shopping experience for the customer, which thereby increases conversion rates and improves customer satisfaction. The shopping cart has integrated shipping and processing, pre-order, product review, and automatic e-mail components that simplify the job of the webmaster by automating redundant tasks related to customer follow-ups and billing. OsCommerce is also compatible with a variety of payment processors (including PayPal), which allow you to accept credit card payments securely.

CubeCart

CubeCart is one of the most customizable, yet user-friendly free shopping carts. The application utilizes theme-based design allows you to quickly adjust the appearance of the shopping interface on-the-fly. CubeCart is also one of the few shopping carts that automatically generates product catalog page URLs that are optimized for the search engines. CubeCart lets your customers use coupon codes and certificates for discounts. To simplify the check out process for site visitors, CubeCart has an integrated shipping and tax calculator, and is compatible with a variety of world currencies. If you plan on selling digital items online, you’ll be pleased to learn that CubeCart has secure download delivery features, and also has integrated e-mail marketing functionality.

ZenCart

Although not quite as popular as the two aforementioned free shopping carts, ZenCart is extremely suitable for novice webmasters. ZenCart is more than just a shopping cart, it is a shopping cart/content management system hybrid that allows you to create custom checkout pages using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor with a basic user interface. ZenCart is also equipped with product catalog creators the let you easily upload product details and images, and then organize this content into specific categories to create a convenient shopping experience for your site visitors. ZenCart is extremely easy to install, and includes a developer’s toolkit that can be used by novice webmasters to find specific code strings for editing.

A large client base is the key to becoming a successful web hosting reseller, and is usually the most difficult step in establishing a successful web hosting business. Every other aspect of reselling is covered within the control panel of your reseller hosting account, including site/hosting plan creation. To solicit a significant amount of clients you’ll need to put in some hard work and creative thinking. The best way to increase profit margins and ensure continual residual income is to target demographics and audiences that are relatively unsaturated and inexperienced in the Internet industry. Thus, targeting store owners and service providers that operate local businesses is the best way to bridge the gap between your online services and the real world.

The Advantage of Targeting Physical Business Owners

By targeting people that already own businesses, you can guarantee that your target audience already has an interest in expanding their marketing outreach. As a self established hosting provider you can meet this need by offering comprehensive website creation/promotion/hosting packages that will streamline the process of placing their business on the World Wide Web. Business owners also have a lot more money to invest than the typical audience, and many of them are inexperienced when it comes to online operations. Since your target audience will not be familiar with typical hosting prices and protocol you’ll be able to demand a higher price than you would if you were to target online customers instead.

How to Find Prospective Clients

The first step in finding a group of prospective clients is to browse through business directories, as these databases are full of business owners that are already trying to market their services. Ideally, you’ll want to target business owners that do not already have a website or hosting plan. You can do this by searching for the business name in Google; usually any business that does not have an online presence will not appear within the search results. After conducting these simple steps you’ll have a two-tier prospective client base to target – one group of business owners that are trying to market their services online and already own website, and another group that are trying to market their services online and do not own website. Although you’ll probably receive higher conversion rates from the latter group, both will bring sales if your services are promoted properly.

Properly Promoting Your Hosting Services

Most business owners are more susceptible to custom sales pitches than predesigned sales pages. This is because they like to feel as if they are important and valued before spending their hard-earned money on your services. Thus, while it is ideal to create a web hosting site that advertises all of the main features of your web hosting packages, it is also wise to approach each business owner with individual selling points that are based on their specific industry. For example, you could approach an owner of a bicycle shop and tell them how beneficial it would be for their shop to be listed in various online directories and to have their own professional website that can effectively target tourists and generate additional income.

Every online business owner and entrepreneur knows that you can have as much web traffic as you’d like, but it doesn’t amount to anything without a high conversion rate. Converting web traffic into customers is a difficult process that requires several stages – pre-selling, establishing professionalism, and providing a detailed overview of your product or services. To do this effectively you will need a properly designed website that is both easy to navigate and robust with features and functionality. To maximize e-commerce conversions you’ll want to utilize a combination of on page keyword related content, off page search engine optimization, and targeted traffic sources. The following information teaches you how to maximize e-commerce conversions by optimizing website design.

Optimizing Landing Pages

Since landing pages are the first web pages that your visitors will see when they arrive at your website, it is imperative to ensure that these pages are designed most efficient. Every landing page should contain what is known as “sticky”  content, which is basically content that gives the visitor incentive to remain on the page for more than 30 seconds. Many marketers decide to use videos for such purposes, as the majority of web surfers will stop and watch a video if one is loaded on the page. Another way to grab the interest of a site visitor is to utilize flash animations, on page interactive games, music, and even integration with social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

Establishing Professionalism

Once you’ve captured the attention of your visitor with landing page, they may be sent directly to a checkout page, or they may decide to browse around the rest of your website before purchasing your product or service. You need to ensure that, when they arrive on the other page on your site it appears to be just as professional and is just as captivating as your previously designed landing page. Ideally, you want the theme of the rest of your website to match the landing page, in order to provide a visually enjoyable experience for your visitors. Be sure to use many categories, tags, and submenus to simplify user navigation for your website visitors. You can also use stamps from organizations such as the Better Business Bureau, and other website certificates like SSL certificates (which are security certificates issued by web hosting providers).

Maximizing Potential through Advertising

Once your website is professionally designed and you have a landing page that is bringing decent conversion rates, you want to maximize your income potential by placing contextual advertising on all of your webpages. Not only will this boost your residual monthly income, it will also add further professionalism to your site, as many novice web surfers will hold the perspective that you are somehow affiliated with many of the large name brands that are advertised through pay per click advertising networks such as Google AdSense. In fact, placing advertises on your webpage can actually bring you a significant full-time income if if the proper keywords are targeted effectively.

The web hosting industry is at the heart of all e-commerce and online business opportunities, as every website online needs a web server to function. Not only does web hosting provide the tools and resources needed to build online businesses in nearly any industry, it also provides business opportunities in and of itself. By utilizing reseller hosting plans you can start a web hosting business from scratch with minimal effort and investment, and absolutely no expertise or experience. While not all hosting resellers will be successful, by following the tips below you may be able to build a web hosting business from scratch.

Choosing a Reseller Hosting Plan

Your reseller hosting plan will be the service that gives you access to wholesale server resources, which can be split up into plans and allocated amongst your customers as you see fit. Thus, it is important to consider the features and attributes of each plan carefully before purchasing one. As a general rule of thumb, the more comprehensive the hosting plan, the cheaper the server resources will be overall. Just as in any other industry, if you purchase server resources in bulk you receive the greatest discounts and will be able to earn the highest profit margins from your clients. It is also imperative to choose a hosting provider that is known for being reliable, as their reliability will reflect on the reputation of your own hosting business.

Creating Effective Hosting Plans and Building a Professional Website

Fortunately, during the process of selecting a good reseller hosting plan you’ll get a good idea of what hosting clients are looking for when they shop for a web hosting service. Put yourself in the shoes of your clients and begin creating hosting plans that could realistically compete with other web hosts. One of the best ways to do this is to distinguish your plans from other hosts’  by offering additional web-based services, and sizing your plans differently than other hosts. For example, if you are a web developer, programmer, or Internet marketer, you can bundle your site creation and promotion services with your hosting plans to solicit more clients. You can also use the robust site builder tools provided within your reseller hosting account to create professional web hosting websites that advertise your services.

Branding and Advertising Your Hosting Services

Reseller hosting plans also allow you to customize the control panel of your customers’ hosting accounts with the logo of your business. This will help you effectively establish your company’s brand and portray professionalism to your clients by distinguishing yourself from the competition. Reseller hosting plans also include free advertising credits for search engines and social networking sites such as Yahoo, Google, Bing, and Facebook. You can utilize these advertising credits to immediately begin promoting your hosting services to targeted audiences via pay per click advertising, which appears on the sides and above search engine results when related keywords are searched for.