Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Ecommerce Web Hosting Tips

By Brady Koputh

If you want your business to thrive and survive in today's market, you'll need a good web page and a strong Internet connection. Modern consumers use the Internet as a primary tool for comparing products and services. With a good e-commerce web host provider, you can be at the top of their search results.

An e-commerce web host provider allows you to publish web pages and web sites on the Internet. Evaluating your particular service needs is your first step in choosing an e-commerce web host provider.

Here are a few points to consider when shopping for an e-commerce web host provider:

* Most Uptime Guaranteed

Your provider should offer 99.5% or greater uptime, and must have a guarantee to back it. As an entrepreneur, your business is your livelihood. An active website keeps you open and accessible twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

* Connectivity

The level of connectivity is another crucial factor to consider. Look for fast servers that provide server backup. The e-commerce web host provider you choose should have a T3 connection to a major internet backbone. Find out how often the Internet provider backs up the date (i.e.: daily or weekly). Your website needs to be secure for your safety, and the safety of your customers. Choose a provider that has a power backup system and backs up data to an external device in order to prevent data loss due to failure.

* Disk Space

A good e-commerce web host provider must meet or exceed your disk space requirements. Most provide 1GB to 3GB of disk space, which should be enough to get your website up and running. Check to be sure that will have the opportunity to expand it your disk space as your business grows in the future.

* Get Enough Bandwidth

Try to get as much bandwidth as possible, right from the start. Assume that you'll experience heavy traffic on your website, and anticipate the need for more data transfer. The bandwidth must be able to handle the traffic flow today, and in the near future.

* User-Friendly Control Panel

Good web host providers offer control panels, which allow website owners to access and manage their own site features. Through this control panel you can directly access your e-mail, customer database, e-commerce elements and functions that are crucial to effectively managing your website. You must be in control of your online business at all times, and your e-commerce web host provider must offer this type of service.

* Customer Service

Every successful company is built on reliable service. The service you give today will be directly reflected in the business you get in the future. Your happy customers will tell their friends, and your business will boom through word-of-mouth advertising. Make sure that your customers can reach you anytime, day or night. Answer their questions and concerns immediately. It's also important that your provider offer great service. When problems arise with your website, you can't afford to be put on hold until someone fixes the issue.

Your prompt customer service will save you time and money in the long run. Your provider's service directly affects the degree of service you'll in turn provide for your customers. Most providers have a FAQ page, but get the contact information for an actual person in case of emergency.

All types of businesses use web pages and websites to offer enhanced customer service, open the lines of communication, and attract the global market. A good e-commerce web host provider will help you to be part of this growing trend, and be "open for business" at any time of day or night. - 16890

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