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.

The internet is a very valuable business platform. Every business needs to have an internet presence so that they can stay ahead of the competition. If your business offers good or services which may be marketed on the internet then you will need to set up an ecommerce website. An ecommerce website is simply another name for an online store front.

Ecommerce

Building an ecommerce website from scratch can be quite difficult and expensive. The shopping cart and payment modules are very difficult to implement. This type of software is very flexible as it’s possible to make the ecommerce website behave exactly as required. However, coding your own website from the bottom up will be very time consuming and could also be expensive if you outsource the development.

Ecommerce Systems

Instead of building a website yourself, it is possible to use a pre-made ecommerce system. Ecommerce software packages include all of the modules that you need and can easily be integrated into your website.

There are many different ecommerce packages available. Some of them are quite expensive and can be difficult to customise.

Freeware Ecommerce Systems

There are also freeware, open source ecommerce packages which are available. One of the most popular is OSCommerce. There are also other examples of open source ecommerce packages including CREreloaded and ZenCart, both of which are based on oscommerce.

Magento and Joomla also have their own ecommerce modules which makes it possible to use them as online stores.

Installing OsCommerce

OsCommerce is very easy to install. The easiest way is to install it through Fantastico which can be found in the cPanel hosting control panel. Other hosts will also have their own automated installers for ecommerce software.

If this isn’t possible then it’s also an option to download the installation files from the internet. These files will need to be unzipped to a folder on your computer. Then using an FTP client the files can be uploaded. It’s then simply a matter of following the installation instructions in your browser.

Setting up OsCommerce

Once OsComerce is installed on your web hosting account, you then need to customize the software. It’s possible to use template systems such as the Simple Template System to adjust colors, buttons, and background images.

There are a number of different add ons which can be installed to your Oscommerce installation. These will add extra features and customizations.

Security

If you are running an ecommerce website then you will need to collect sensitive information from your customers. To give them confidence in your site it is important that you use SSL security certificates. This will ensure that all the information is encrypted so that the data is not at risk.

Promotion

Ecommerce sites are very popular because they provide a convenient way to buy anything. This means that if your business is run properly then it can make a lot of money. However, with so much competition you will need to work hard to promote your business properly.

Ecommerce hosting includes many features that help webmasters run their online storefronts more efficiently, including robust shopping cart applications, site building utilities and of course payment processing capabilities. One of the features that is commonly mentioned in advertisements for eCommerce hosting plans is ‘PCI Compliance’. Unfortunately, as important as this feature is, most people are not fully aware of what exactly it means and why it is important to their eCommerce hosting plan. The following information describes what PCI compliance is and how it can affect the success of your online storefront.

What is PCI Compliance?

PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance is a term used to describe hosting plans that are in compliance with  the Payment Card Industry Security Standards, which are a type of security protocols that protect your site visitors and your business for credit card theft, fraud and other nefarious cyber crimes. These standards ensure safety whenever a credit or debit card is used to make an online purchase, which is why it is imperative to make sure your eCommerce hosting plan is compliant with the Payment Card Industry standards at all times. In fact, any company that processes or stores financial information online should have access to an eCommerce account that includes an SSL certificate and PCI Compliance.

Consequences of Not Using PCI Compliant Hosting

Surprisingly, PCI compliance is so important in the Internet industry that credit card companies and banks actually have the authority to fine business owners that are not in compliance with PCI standards. In fact, they can even disable the card that is being processed temporarily to keep you from processing any payments through your site with that card. A lot of online shoppers will also be deterred from shopping on your site if you do not have these fundamental security precautions in place.

PCI Standards

Now that you’re aware of the importance of PCI Compliance and its role in eCommerce hosting, you may want to familiarize yourself with the following standards of PCI compliance. Regular PCI audits are conducted to ensure that hosting companies are complying with these PCI standards at all times. IP addresses that are assigned to hosting customers must be regularly scanned for any vulnerabilities. Hosting companies have to take all of the necessary steps to protect customer data, and must maintain a set of standards for server setup and administration. When  PCI audit is conducted, a set of tools are used to ensure that every aspect of the hosting company’s operating meets PCI standards.

There are internet security specialist that offer complete PCI compliance services which include the installation and setup of firewalls and other required security precautions. If you are planning on starting your own hosting company it is necessary to ensure compliance with PCI standards in order to avoid being blocked by banks and credit card companies. Likewise, if you;re planning on purchasing a hosting plan with a certain hosting company it is important to make sure they’re PCI compliant so that yo do not run the risk of having your online store blocked as well.

Shared hosting is often the entrance point for inexperienced webmasters that need a cheap and simple solution to host their first web site. However, even though shared hosting is the cheapest form of web hosting, there are several types of shared hosting that need to be considered.

Most people don’t realize that they are using shared hosting because it operates under many names and is almost never referred to as shared hosting. Ecommerce and reseller hosting both operate under the shared hosting environment, however they are much more capable than a standard $10 per month shared hosting plan. The way the shared hosting environment behaves has a lot to do with what operating system is being used. If you are unsure whether to use Windows or Linux hosting then you may want to consider the following information.

Cost and Compatibility

When it comes to cost, Linux is the cheaper solution, primarily because Linux is an open source software that is inexpensive and easy to manage. However, with that being said, Linux is also much more compatible with third party applications than Windows because Microsoft’s software is not open source. Windows web hosting of all types usually costs more because of the service involved with repairing bugs in the operating system when they occur. With Linux bugs can be fixed quickly and easily by anyone with the development experience. Even though Linux is more easily compatible with new development, it is important to note that anyone planning on using a server side Microsoft application will need a Windows hosting plan.

Reliability and Resources

When it comes to server resources there is not a huge difference between Windows shared hosting and Linux shared hosting, as both of them seem to perform the same until a bug arises. However, once problems do occur, it seems as if Linux wins in terms of reliability because there is often a quicker fix available due to the open source nature of the operating system. As far as server resources are concerned, Windows shared hosting may be more limiting than Linux simply because Windows consumes more RAM to operate than Linux, which ultimately takes away from the amount of Ram you have allocated to your partition of the shared web server.

Popularity and Alternatives

In terms of popularity, Linux web hosting seems to have Windows beaten, even though there is a portion of webmasters that prefer a Windows web hosting account due to their need to operate Microsoft software. It should be noted however that Windows Cloud VPS hosting is currently becoming more popular than Linux VPS cloud hosting because it is a new addition to the hosting industry.

Some people like to use Linux dedicated hosting and then install a virtualization software in order to use Windows on a Linux hosting account. However, this option is not available for shared Linux hosting, which means you have to choose between the two. Overall, if you are looking for the most convenient form of shared web hosting then you should consider Linux shared hosting.

As eCommerce continues to expand around the global, ordinary people everywhere are trying to find their gold nugget in the internet gold rush. Some domain names are currently worth more than prime time real estate, and in today’s digital age, web sites are the cyber alternative for real estate properties. If you want to be successful it eCommerce, the first step is choosing the right domain name. However, the domain name has to pertain to the topic of your chosen niche, which makes the crux of the first step niche selection. The second step is finding the right web hosting plan, as your hosting account will directly determine the capabilities and functionality of your web site. The third and final step is using the right tools and resources to build and market the site. All of these steps and more are elaborated on in the following paragraphs.

{Note: If you already know what niche your site is going to be in, skip to step 2.}

Step 1 – Niche Selection

This is an extremely intricate topic, considering all of the factors that must be considered when selecting the right niche. Sadly, most of the valuable niches are undiscovered, which means it will take some creativity if you want to find a true golden nugget. However, there are a lot of tools available that will help you find the most popular keywords that have the lowest amount of competing web sites in the search engines. Thus, the majority of your focus during niche selection should be aimed towards keyword research. If you want to be successful quickly with your eCommerce web site then you will need to stay away from heavily saturated niches and do some real brainstorming to find the perfect niche.

Step 2 – Find the Right Web Hosting Plan

The web server that you lease from your hosting provider will play an integral role in the continuity and reliability of your eCommerce site. If you want your site to perform like a professional online store, then you’ll need access to comprehensive server resources and the necessary tools and resources. eCommerce web hosting is specifically designed to aid webmasters of all skill levels in the construction and promotion of online storefronts. eCommerce hosting includes store building utilities, product catalog managers, payment processing functionality, integrated shopping carts, and free advertising credits for Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Bing. If you need an all-inclusive package for your upcoming eCommerce project then you should strongly consider an eCommerce hosting plan from a reputable hosting provider.

Step 3 – Building and Promoting the Site

Building the site is perhaps the most difficult aspect of creating a prosperous online business for the novice webmaster. Fortunately, it’s not nearly as difficult as it was in previous years, when everything had to be built manually. eCommerce hosting plans provide robust site building tools that let you design your own site using pre-made templates that can be adjusted according to your own preferences. eCommerce hosting plans also give you the tools and resources needed to begin advertising immediately using free advertising credit, and some hosting providers even offer SEO assistance for an additional fee.