Released on: March 12, 2008, 5:46 am

Press Release Author: gurpreet singh/technoflicker

Industry: Internet & Online

Press Release Summary: Website hosting can be a complex undertaking. Determining how
much space you need, how much transfer, finding a reliable host, and getting
everything online is no simple task.

Press Release Body: Website hosting can be a complex undertaking. Determining how
much space you need, how much transfer, finding a reliable host, and getting
everything online is no simple task. Add ecommerce to the mix and things become even
more complex. This article will deal with some of those additional complications to
finding a host for an online store. All of the same considerations to finding
general hosting can be applied to ecommerce hosting, there are simply a few
additional ones that need some attention.

Basics- Disk Space and Transfer
The core states of any kind of hosting, ecommerce or not, remain space and transfer,
or traffic. Generally measured in monthly increments, your space and transfer will
place a crucial role in determining just what size plan you need. Ecommerce sites
will, generally speaking, require more space and transfer than an equivalent sized
site without ecommerce. This is due to the presence of the shopping cart upon which
the online storefront is based. Shopping cart programs are installed to the account
on which they operate, requiring space, and their scripts for running the store will
require additional transfer to handle customers as they browse, add items to their
cart, and check out. Will there be a tremendous amount of extra transfer required by
the cart? That depends on how many use the cart and on the cart itself. This is why
it's best to start small and having a clear upgrade path to handle future
popularity.

Prospective online merchants will generally have a good idea how many products
they\'ll be selling initially. This will vary wildly from merchant to merchant, and
many merchants don\'t put their entire stocks online. It is wise to start with a
considered selection of products first, especially if you wish to initially keep
your hosting plan small and upgrade as the store prospers. Those with a great deal
of products need to be aware they will probably be facing a bigger monthly fee for a
larger hosting plan. Once the decision is made regarding the products, attention can
be turned to finding a suitable shopping cart program to contain them.

Shopping Cart
The choice of shopping cart can be a personal one. Those entirely new to ecommerce
will probably not have any experience with any kind of shopping cart software. There
are a number of popular choices, and most hosting companies will provide one, if not
a variety, from which you can choose. It is important to find a shopping cart that
suits the individual user, as attempting to change your shopping down the road can
be a long process that will, most likely, bring your store down during a
transitional period. Don\'t immediately jump at the first cart a host offers. Ask if
they have demos and try them out. Be sure it\'s a program you can learn and use, as
it is the primary way you\'ll be doing your online business. Even if you have a large
business and have a design firm setting up the cart, a rudimentary knowledge of the
cart\'s processes is highly recommended.

Learn as much about your prospective shopping cart software as possible. Make sure
it supports SSL, a common site security protocol that will help keep your customer\'s
credit card numbers safe when ordering online. It will need to support your merchant
account and payment gateway. In many cases a host might bundle these services, so
compatibility isn\'t an issue. If you secured your merchant services separately from
hosting, be sure they are compatible. Find out if the cart has a recommended maximum
product limit and, of course, try not to exceed it. The store may slow down and
perform poorly if there are too many products in it.

Finally, make sure it will do everything you want it to do. Some merchants sell
services and downloadable items that don\'t conform exactly to the
order-product-ship-product flow. If your cart doesn\'t support these features by
default, there may be 3rd party add-ons that will provide this functionality. Miva
Merchant is one such shopping cart with a very active 3rd party developer community
providing a wide range of add-ons, or \"modules\" to extend the feature set of the
original program. The merchant will have to buy these add-ons and have them
installed on their own initiative, though, and the hosting company will not be able
to support them.

Reliability and Support
Perhaps of greatest importance is reliability in your chosen host. Think in terms of
a \"brick and mortar\" storefront. If someone locks the front door during business
hours, then no customers can come in and nothing is sold. Similarly, if an online
store is down at any hour, no customers can come in and nothing is sold. You want
the most reliable hosting for such a mission-critical site. Never just take the word
of a hosting company\'s site in regards to their uptime. Do research and look for
customer reviews of your prospective host. Online merchants should always be willing
to pay more for a reliable hosting company with good uptime and support. A good rule
of thumb is to stay away from free or \"bargain basement\" hosts, since support and
uptime are usually the first things to suffer with this kind of hosting.

Conclusions
Finding the right ecommerce hosting company requires a few additional
considerations. Decide on your products, your shopping cart, and then shop for your
hosting company. You will need more space and transfer than an equivalent site, but
start small with your product selection and you can still save money on your
hosting. Find a shopping cart that\'s easy for you to use and understand, as
switching at a later date can result in downtime and a lot of work transferring your
products. Finally, make sure your host has solid uptime, as an online store that\'s
down isn\'t generating any sales.


Web Site: http://www.greatpromotionsite.com

Contact Details: For More Free Resources visit www.greatpromotionsite.com