A Guide to eCommerce Hosting for Small and Medium Online Businesses
With more than half of the American population turning to shopping online, building a strong presence online has become a necessity. However, it is not as simple as putting up a website, there are a lot of factors to consider when building an eCommerce store – and it starts with your eCommerce hosting. Whether you own a small, medium, or large online store, you want to ensure you have checked all the boxes when it comes to your host provider and check out process, which includes offering your clients a seamless online experience and affordable payment solutions when purchasing your products.
What is eCommerce Hosting?
Before setting up an online store, you need to ensure that you have a reliable host provider for your eCommerce site. The host will enable you to store your valuable data and secure personal and payment data. In addition to security features, eCommerce hosting also aids in managing sales traffic, data breach attempts, and collecting analytics based on customer behaviors. An eCommerce hosting provider also includes features such as streamlining the checkout process, improving site performance, and enabling large volumes of traffic to your site.
Factors to Consider Before Choosing an Ecommerce Hosting Provider
1. Reliability
Your host should ensure you remain online all the time despite spikes in traffic. If you hire services with no consistency, you will end up losing business. There is nothing worse than landing on a site that is slow or doesn’t load at all. Downtime will not only cost you sales but could also affect your brand’s ability to connect with your audience in the future due to the sluggish first impression.
2. Speed
The speed of your eCommerce hosting will determine the outcome of everything you do. Your SEO ranking, the bounce rate, and customer satisfaction all depend on the way your page loads. Slow load speeds could also affect your lead conversion rate, which may cost you more in the long run.
3. eCommerce Tools and Support
Consider the support you are getting from your hosting service provider. Your eCommerce hosting service provider should have the best tools in the market. It gives confidence that your domains are well protected.
When choosing an eCommerce hosting service provider, consider one with SSL certificates. It will protect both your site and your customers. Also, confirm that your web hosting plan is compatible with your e-commerce software.
4. Customer Service
An excellent hosting service provider is the one who is available 24/7. That way, you will have support available to you round the clock. So, before making your choice, it is wise to determine the company’s working hours and availability.
Other Factors To Consider When Starting An Online Business
After setting up your online store and choosing a reliable eCommerce host, you should invest in secure flexible payment methods that benefit both you and the customer. While credit cards have been the most sought after choice, the demand for more affordable solutions has increased, which means merchants need to look into alternative options like Point Of Sale Financing from reputable partners like ChargeAfter.com.
Point Of Sale Consumer financing allows online shoppers to purchase items without having to fork out the total cost in full. This is built on the premise of buy now, pay later. Consumers are able to apply for an instant loan on the checkout page and once approved, they have the option of selecting an affordable payback plan based on their budget and are still able to get their goods upfront. The payback plan can be paid over a few months without any hefty APRs or interest and service fees. But it is not just the consumer who benefits, merchants also benefit in a number of ways including:
- Increased sales
- Increased basket size
- Fewer abandoned carts
- More return customers
As you operate your online business, it is paramount to think about your clients. By offering your clients a seamless and secure browsing experience along with affordable payment plans, they will be more inclined to buy your goods and spread the word to their friends and family about your online store.
