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Choosing the right plan - Advanced
Establishing an online presence requires much thought and advance planning. This is especially true for companies starting an E-Commerce website. A company should assess the needs of its business and check if the web host is able to provide for those needs or will be able to accommodate any special request of the company. An E-Commerce website requires so much more than other commercially hosted sites. The ideal provider for such a site is one that can give guarantees, will be able to respond quickly to concerns and is flexible. Below are several advanced considerations an E-Commerce company should look into before subscribing to a web host.
CGI Needs
Because an E-Commerce company will most probably share a server with other clients, it is imperative that the company has its own CGI directory. This is operating on the assumption that the plan the company will subscribe to is provided with a basic CGI-bin, CGI support and CGI programs. CGI or Common Gateway Interface allows HTML pages to pass information to other programming applications such as scripts on the server. The more common use of CGI programs is the online feedback form. The use of CGI programs is the most common way users can interact with web servers.
Website Features
The use of a feedback form is not the only thing an E-Commerce company needs in order to run a smooth business. When choosing a provider, an E-Commerce company needs to consider and inquire from the host if they can provide custom forms, shopping carts, email access, database access and manage of mailing lists. Growing E-Commerce companies may want to use a mailing list management program or a list server. This way, a subscriber database can be maintained to distribute messages to subscribers simultaneously. This is better than having to employ someone to receive and forward messages to groups. For instance, a list server can notify the customers of updates and new policies. The server will also be able to receive inquiries and the company will be able to send mass replies quickly and easily.
A company also needs to check if the host provides email addresses, POP3 capability and Mail Forwarding. The company also needs to check the size allocation given per email address. The trend is between 5MB to 10MB. POP3, which translates to Post Office Protocol, is a standard way for users to access their mailboxes off of servers and download emails into their email programs.
Anonymous FTP
The anonymous FTP feature is important because it will allow users to access and download public files off of the server without having to identify themselves. For instance, An E-Commerce company may want to give its customers means to view the terms and conditions of certain transactions. With the anonymous FTP feature, the company would no longer need to post all the information on the website, rather, just provide their privileged customers anonymous login so that they can download the document from the FTP server directly.
SSL
Secure Socket Layer or SSL is a critical feature for E-commerce websites. SSL encrypts data sent over the internet allowing for credit card transactions in particular, but also for other types of secure data transmission. SSL ensures that the transmitted data will not be tampered with or intercepted by malicious parties.
While many news stories of hacking and credit card theft may sometimes be exaggerated, nevertheless, it does happen and it is important to re-assure customers that their information is safe, and that every effort is made to ensure security.
Credit Card Processing
An E-Commerce company requires the services of a payment processor. The payment processing service will handle verifying credit card transactions between the E-Commerce Company and merchant accounts in real-time. Most providers include a built-in payment-processing component. The company needs to check if this will suffice or if it needs to use other processors like Cybercash.
Design
One way companies can retain their online customers is improving how customers assess the website. With this in mind, an E-Commerce company needs to consider if it will get a hosting package that includes tools and support for website design. Some providers have developed their own tools for building websites. A company needs to work with the provider to ensure that consumers can easily navigate the website while making sure the display of the products is well positioned, the necessary information clearly presented and that purchasing is made easy. Keeping the storefront enticing is a must since E-Commerce sites are no different from actual physical stores. Marketing is a very important component in business and E-Commerce is not an exemption to that.
Most hosting providers offer several plans that include a few or all of these features. Though it may be more costly to get an all in one package rather than the basic service, it will definitely make the difference for your online presence.
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