A small number of businesses can get away with any old host as long as they have a website that works reasonably well. If you are running an online store, however, issues such as level of security, the problem of downtime and the facility for fast downloads become much more important.
Choosing the right ecommerce web hosting service is not only good for your customers but is vital in developing an online store with a solid reputation. Choose the wrong one,which, for instance, has security issues on a regular basis, and it can be very difficult to rebuild your brand standing in the online community. Customers are fickle creatures at the best of times and technical issues can have them turning to your competitors quicker than you may like to think.
According to ShopSafe.co.uk, ecommerce is continuing to grow in the UK and 2016 is already looking as though it is going to outpace 2015 by a significant margin. This growth has no doubt been largely facilitated by many of us now having smartphones, allowing us to shop on the move, anytime and anyway.
If you are setting up an ecommerce business, then you need a web host that is responsive to this trend and up to date with the latest software.
Secure Payments
We want to pay in different ways nowadays and the ecommerce sites that provide a good mix of different payment methods are more likely to succeed than ones which only except debit or credit cards. There’s PayPal and other online banks that need to be taken into account as well as currencies such as bitcoins. Check out how your hosting company delivers this service through its software but don’t forget to make sure they have a good reputation for keeping customer details safe.
The Right Hosting Package
The volume of traffic that is going to come to your site is important and something you need to have a good idea of. Shared hosting might not be the best option because you can end up with the site being unavailable or at best slow at important busy times. Opt for a VPS, Dedicated or Cloud server if you want the kind of responsiveness a busy ecommerce site needs. They may cost more but they’ll pack the punch you need.
Uptime
Your store is going to be open 24/7 which means you want to catch customers when they arrive and that also means having as much uptime as possible. Not being able to access your site because of maintenance or some other issue has prevented loading is going to encourage customers to buy elsewhere. It can also make them think twice about giving their financial details if your site doesn’t appear up to the expected grade.
Security in General
Security in general is a big issue with hosting services, obviously more so if you are involved in ecommerce. You want to be able to keep customer details safe and properly encrypted. You need to look for maximum security here and shouldn’t take the hosting company at their word. Check sites that have used their services and contact them direct to see if they have had any problems. It’s also imperative that you choose a hosting service that has a good track record of providing customer support – it’s something many profess to do but few actually deliver to the level that you may be expecting.