Cloud VPS Hosting for eCommerce Stores
Cloud VPS hosting is reshaping the way corporate and massive web sites operate on a daily basis, by allocating a seemingly infinite amount of server resources to a single website at any given point in time. This concept has revolutionized the way web sites interact with web severs, and how web site visitors experience the internet as a whole. Some of the biggest sites on the internet, including Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and eBay, utilize the cloud hosting concept to host their web sites.
What is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud hosting is different from any other type of hosting because it combines the power of dozens, or even hundreds of web servers within a datacenter, to power thousands of web sites simultaneously without compromising performance. Today, the cloud hosting concept is being expanded into the consumer market with cheap cloud VPS plans that start at about $20 per month. By offering unlimited access to multiple servers, cloud VPS hosting plans provide instant scalability. This concept works because cloud VPS hosting plans are billed on a per-usage basis. Which means you only have to pay for what you use on a daily basis. With cloud VPS hosting you’ll never have to worry about upgrading because you’ll already have instant access to all of the server resources you need.
How Can Cloud Hosting Help an eCommerce Store?
The cloud hosting environment is perfect for the eCommerce setting because sales and search engine traffic can both be very unpredictable. Since the amount of web site traffic cannot be accurately predicted it is helpful to have access to as much bandwidth needed. If you own a busy eCommerce site then you know just how inconsistent it can be. On some days there may be 1000 visitors, while others there may only be a hundred, and then there are days where the traffic spikes to more than 10,000. This is especially true if your site is currently growing and you are building a client base. Cloud Hosting is also perfect for eCommerce stores because you only pay for what you use, which means you can increase your profits by deceasing unnecessary web hosting costs.
Can I Build Stores with Cloud Hosting?
Most cloud hosting plans have a very flexible software configuration that allows you to install site builders and other applications that will enhance your web server and the functionality and design of your web site. Although with eCommerce hosting all of the site building and store management tools needed are included automatically, it is still possible to install these tools within the control panel of a cloud hosting plan. From a cost perspective, cloud hosting is actually more beneficial than eCommerce hosting because there is no risk of overestimating your server needs and paying an excessive amount for your monthly web hosting needs.
Conclusion
While eCommerce hosting makes it easier to setup an online store and provides all of the necessary tools to do so, cloud hosting provides an instantly scalable hosting environment that only charges on a per use basis. If both of these concepts united it would be the perfect hosting plan for online stores, but as it stands, consumers have to choose one or the other.
Using Ecommerce Web Hosting to Build Online Shops
A lot of money is poured into the web development industry every year, as new online business owners try to make their way into the online industry. However, it does not take a fortune to make money online and create an online storefront.
In fact, with an eCommerce web hosting plan you don’t even have to pay a web developer because you will have access to a comprehensive site building tool that lets you design a web site with a functional interface that is integrated into the control panel of the web hosting account. If you are intimidated by the prospect of having to pay web developers and other companies to help you launch your online business then you may want to consider the following advantages of eCommerce web hosting.
Integrated Site Builders
Integrated site building applications are perhaps the most important aspect of a good eCommerce hosting plan as they allow the user to build impressive professional web sites with little effort and/or experience. If you want your online shop to look great without having to employ a web designer, then you may be interested in the convenience and simplicity of an eCommerce site builder.
Ecommerce Site Builders vs. Conventional Site Builders
Ecommerce site builders differ from other site building utilities because they give you the option to create and manage massive product catalogs that simplify the organization of your web site. These catalog builders index all product information and store it in a database that can be searched by site visitors at any time. It is important to have a search function on any eCommerce site, as your ultimate goals should be to satisfy the customer.
Payment Processing
Processing payments with your eCommerce plan is much simpler than trying to combine merchant services and a conventional web hosting account. This is because eCommerce hosting plans offer payment processing capabilities, without any additional effort or payment on behalf of the user. The most important part of the online buying process is convenience of checking out. In order to convert visitors to sales you need to make sure the checkout process is simple and enjoyable. If the customer does not enjoy the shopping experience, then they can easily leave your online store and visit another without leaving their chair.
Web Hosting For Online Businesses – Dedicated vs. eCommerce
Establishing and operating an online business requires knowledge, skill and perseverance. However, even with the right mindset and skill set it is impossible to succeed without tools and resources. In order to ensure the optimal functionality of your website you’ll need access to a powerful web server that can transfer data to hundreds of computers simultaneously without sacrificing performance.
Although most webmasters start with a shared web hosting plan, it is important to note that 90% of successful online business owners will upgrade to a more powerful plan eventually. In order to prevent the unnecessary hassle of site relocation and data migration, it is best to consider the needs of your site and choose a competent plan initially. Dedicated and eCommerce hosting plans are perfect for online businesses, however each one presents unique advantages and disadvantages.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is a service in which you can lease a powerful web server that is dedicated exclusively to your web sites. This kind of private server environment is ideal for larger sites that are in need of extensive server resources. Dedicated web servers are synonymous with the most powerful kind of web hosting plans in the world. With a seemingly unlimited amount of disk space and bandwidth it is possible to host sites that have massive product catalogs and thousands of daily visitors. Although dedicated hosting plans provide powerful servers, it is important to note that they are not made for novice webmasters and many of the tools needed to operate an online store are not included.
eCommerce Hosting
Although eCommerce web servers are not as strong as dedicated servers, eCommerce hosting was designed specifically for online retail shops. Many prefer eCommerce plans because they are an “out-of-the-box” solution for online store owners that need a plethora of eCommerce tools in an inclusive package. Ecommerce hosting plans come with site building tools, shopping carts, product catalog creation and management applications, payment processing integration, SSL certificates and other resources that simplify, expedite and facilitate the establishment and operation of a secure and successful online storefront.
Conclusion
Both eCommerce and dedicated hosting plans come in various sizes and packages, so the capabilities of each plan will depend entirely upon the hosting provider and the chosen service. In general, dedicated servers are for more experienced webmasters that need a powerful solution for many web sites, or one large site. eCommerce hosting plans are perfect for novice webmasters, or online business owners that do not have the time or technical skills to manage and set up all of the necessary eCommerce tools on a dedicated server.
It is important to note that dedicated servers can host all of the aforementioned eCommerce applications such as shopping carts and product catalogs, however in many cases these tools are not automatically integrated. Ultimately the decision will depend upon your skill level, budget, and needs as a webmaster.
E-Commerce Tips: Choosing the Best Font Size for a Website
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On an e-commerce website, all font, text, and content should be easy to read, properly formatted and well-presented so the customer is able to make an informed decision about the products the site is selling. Like in any type of business, poor presentation can be the difference between a sale or not.
Small Font can be too Small
One major aspect of good website design and presentation is the font size of the content. The font size is the primary factor as to whether the website is readable and accessible or not. The most important tip is to not make the font size too small. A recent trend is to make the font small which makes the website appear sleek. It also provides more space per page for more content.
Unfortunately this often results in extremely small font sizes. With many platforms besides computers that display these websites, such as cell phones with small screens and projects hooked up to computers, excessively small font will distort the website. This will cause it to be difficult to use. Most website visitors are extremely impatient so if they cannot read the text, they will move to a site where they can.
How to Adjust the Font Size
It’s correct to set the general font size in the body selector of the style sheet. For example:
Body {
font-size: 100%
}
In general setting the base size for a document to 1em or 100% is the same as setting the font size to the user’s preference. It’s best to avoid sizes smaller than 1 for the actual body of the text unless used with fine print like copyrights. Once set, other base font sizes can be set by percentage, absolute sizes and relative sizes.
Base Font Setting
The percentage sizing increases or decreases the font size for the new element based on the original size in the main text. Absolute sizes are defined by CSS specifications including xx-small, x-small, small, medium, large, x-large and xx-large. Finally, relative sizes can be set in either large or small.
Font size can be the difference in a website visitor staying on the page and potentially turning into a sale or leaving. A font size too small can have detrimental effects on the website. Experimenting with font sizes and styles is beneficial, but try to stay close to the default.
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Improving Ecommerce with eBay
eCommerce is quickly becoming one of the primary contributors to the global economy, with countless people purchasing and selling items online every day. One of the biggest and most famous eCommerce companies around is eBay, which has experienced phenomenal fiscal growth since its inception more than one decade ago.
The thriving online marketplace provides a venue in which private vendors and retailers can sell virtually any item they’d like, whether it be used, brand new or refurbished. The auction sales environment is perfect for bringing in consistently high profits, because bidding wars often result in items being bought at prices that are above retail cost! However, aside form the benefits of eBay itself, there are many advantages to using eBay as a traffic supplement for your own eCommerce site.
Driving Traffic From eBay
As an eBay seller you have access to tens of thousands of eBay buyers at any given point in time. In fact, there are many cases in which a single item receives dozens of bids, and hundreds of page views in just a few hours. Fortunately, it is possible to use this traffic to your advantage as an independent retailer with your own web site. A service known as Auctiva lets you integrate your online shop with eBay, which means you can drive traffic from your auctions to your actual store. By bringing clients from eBay to your web site you are creating a client base that will continue to purchase items from you in the near future. However, it is also possible to have store within eBay itself, using eBay’s comprehensive eCommerce hosting solution.
eBay eCommerce Hosting
it was only a matter of time before such a successful eCommerce web site began offering eCommerce hosting plans of their own. eBay founded eBay Stores, their eCommerce hosting branch, a few years back and since then it has experienced exponential growth and great success. With eBay stores you can create you own store within the eBay marketplace, or you can host it on your own we site. eBay Stores provides unique tools and resources that will help you integrate your store with eBay and your currently active auctions. For example, you can display a button next to your items for sale that reads “view other items likes this.” This button will then bring your site visitor to the eBay auction, letting them buy one of your items from your eBay account if they so please. By funneling traffic to and from eBay you will see a gradual increase in the total amount of daily visitors to your site.
Using Auctiva to Manage eBay Stores
Auctiva is an incredible solution that lets you manage eBay stores within a centralized interface. There are many advantages to using Auctiva, however the most notable one is the convenience it offers for busy eBay sellers and eBay store owners. Auctiva provides a plethora of store templates, organizational tools, and resources that will make your job as an online store owner much easier.
Reselling eCommerce Hosting Plans
Web hosting services are generally seen as being classified into different types and categories. However there are some cases in which web hosting services can profit from each other and be distributed by one another. A perfect example of this would be using reseller hosting to establish eCommerce plans and sell them for a profit.
Reseller hosting gives the reseller enough freedom to package, label and distribute hosting services in a wide variety of types and sub-types. Reselling eCommerce hosting plans can be very profitable considering the amount of prospective clients there are. Virtually all webmasters are active on the internet because they own online businesses, so the essentially the entire market is saturated with online business owners that would be likely to buy an eCommerce hosting plan at one point or another.
Structuring eCommerce Hosting Plans
Since most reseller hosting companies do not give you the tools needed to create successful hosting plans, so you’ll need to properly structure each plan by providing the right tools and resources needed to create a full eCommerce plan. Tools like shopping carts, product catalog creators, merchant payment processors and other services need to be integrated into the hosting plan to create a proper eCommerce hosting plan. While this may seem as if it presents significant hurdles when offering eCommerce plans, in reality these tools can often be attained for free, or purchased in bulk with many licenses. Most reseller hosting accounts give you the freedom to create custom control panels, in which you can even include these tools directly within the user interface to create a genuine eCommerce hosting experience.
Pricing eCommerce Plans
After you’ve assembled a selection of plans for your clients, you’ll need to offer competitive pricing so that you can establish yourself as a presence amongst your client base. A good way to set up a fair pricing plan is to investigate the current market conditions and the plans that are available from your competitors. Reseller plans give you great enough leverage to make a steady profit by simply raising the price by a few dollars and keeping the allotted server resources within the marginal range of your competitors. A good rule of thumb is to keep your pricing within $5-$10 of your competitors when financially practical.
Marketing eCommerce Plans
Selling eCommerce plans is generally easier than selling regular hosting plans, since there is a large market of online business owners, and offline business owners that would like to bring their business to the next level. One selling advantage that eCommerce hosting plans have is the fact that they are geared towards retail businesses, which are often looking towards globalizing their business outreach for higher profits. It is often easy to convince a local business owner to give your hosting services a trial run, and you can expect regular calls if you list a package deal in local business directories within your regional area. Converting leads into sales in the eCommerce hosting industry is rather easy if you offer trial periods and bundled services.
Gutensite: A Free CMS
Gutensite is a fairly new and unique content management system that’s free, but can be extended to unlock additional features for a small price. The design of the system and the design choices within their library are what makes this a distinctive system. Also, it’s an extremely easy to use system that offers extensibility as well as specialized modules for different functions.
This content management system is considered by many to be the best free online system available. For additional add-ons, users can pay for individual features including:
- E-commerce store
- Gutenshare intranet
- Live MLS feed
- Donations
- SendStudio email marketing
The e-commerce store includes every resource needed to conduct business online. Product organization, advanced checkout filters, product details, coupons and custom filers are a few of the many features available. Both physical and digital products can be sold with instant downloads, memberships and registrations at the click of a button.
The Gutenshare intranet is a secure site that helps users manage employee information, administer and track products, share files, report employee hours, generate reports and organize client accounts. This is an all-in-one system to help ecommerce companies remain organized.
A live MLS feed is an attractive option for realtors that are members of various MLS organizations. This feed streams MLS information directly onto a website. It’s customizable to filter different types of data to different web pages, displaying photos and formatting the page display.
Another helpful feature is the addition of donations area. Although this is a free option for non-profit packages, an upgrade is available for business and individual sites. Included in the price is an IP address as well as an SSL certificate to ensure full security to its users and present a more reputable business.
Finally SendStudio email marketing is software that links directly to the website to send newsletters to its users and secure subscriptions. This is an additional feature that allows for customization. Furthermore, this application tracks campaigns, creates reports and statistics and manages multiple subscriptions.
Gutensite is an advanced yet inexpensive content management system that provides numerous features to suit the needs of every type of organization. The free edition is jam-packed with elements that are a necessity to business. Upgrades are available that provide further customization to the site. Gutensite is proving to be the best free online content management system available to date.
Best Domain Extensions for eCommerce Websites
The internet industry is one that cannot be taught or learned in a short amount of time. The fact is that most of the people that set out to make money online will fail, unless they already have a product that is popular in the offline market. Those that do succeed from scratch, usually follow a strict game plan and adhere to guidelines set forth by professionals. However, in the world of eCommerce unpredictability is king, and there are few factors that remain constant throughout the course of an internet business.
Factors such as traffic, search engine ranking, page rank, and even returns on investments can vary. Yet there is one part of an online business that will not change, and must be selected carefully upon registering the domain – the extension of the business site itself.
The Significance of a Commercial Domain
Commercial domains (.com sites) are by far the most common kind of websites online, and nearly everyone strives to obtain a .com site before resorting to other alternatives. When a site has the .com extension it immediately is recognized as a professional web presence based on social stigma alone, so it is not surprising to see that the most successful domain names are those that have the .com extension. However, very few people know that the term – .com actually refers to a commercial website, meaning that the site conducts business on a regular basis and was established and developed for commercial reasons. However a .com domain is no the only ideal option when shopping for eCommerce domain names, as there are two other domain extensions that hold authority on the web as well.
.Net Domains for eCommerce
The .net domain extension saw it’s highest point of popularity in the late 90’s and early 2000’s when Netscape was still a commonly used browser. However as people began referring to the internet as the web, and the .com craze began, the .net domains quickly faded in popularity and are now rarely seen. The .net extension is used to represent a network, and is commonly used in eCommerce sites that are parent companies to several corporations, such as software companies.
.Org
The .org domains have stayed consistent in their popularity levels and are still commonly used around the world today to represent organizations. The .org domain can be used to represent regular organizations and non-profit organizations. When used to represent profitable organizations these domains often perform at a lower standard than .com and .net domains, however they can still be used to open online shops that represent certain organizations.
.Biz?
Although the .biz domain extension was originally created to represent businesses, there are few people that actually use them for this purpose, as most people view such domains as unprofessional. The .biz domains do not rank well in the search engine and therefore are not he best decision for an online business owner. When searching for a domain name for your online business, ironically it may be best to steer clear of the .biz extension.
Drupal E-commerce with Ubercart 2.x
Product Description
Build, administer, and customize an online store using Drupal with Ubercart
- Create a powerful e-shop using the award-winning CMS Drupal and the robust e-commerce module Ubercart
- Create and manage the product catalog and insert products in manual or batch mode
- Apply SEO (search engine optimization) to your e-shop and adopt turn-key internet marketing techniques
- Implement advanced techniques like cross-selling, product comparison, coupon codes, and segmented pricing
- A step-by-step tutorial with an example-oriented approach with many screenshots to guide you through the book seamlessly
In Detail
Ubercart is an exciting open source e-commerce package that fully integrates your online store with Drupal. Ubercart leverages the advantages of Drupal’s major core and contributed systems, providing your users with shopping cart functionality that integrates with other parts of your company or community web site. It can be used to sell shippable goods, downloadable products, recurring memberships, and event tickets, and to enable complex interactions with Drupal through various add-on contributions.
This book guides you through the process of creating, administrating and marketing an online store, providing information and tips for raising your sales and your customer support. It will also show you how to maintain and add advanced capabilities to your company’s eShop.
If you are a merchant wanting to invest your precious time to update the online presence of your company, or a web site designer wanting to expand your business and offer innovative solutions to your clients, this book has been written for you. You don’t need any programming experience to install and customize your electronic store. The procedure is well structured and easy and all we ask you to do is to follow some simple steps in order to complete some specific tasks in each chapter. The book will guide you through the installation and configuration of Drupal and Ubercart. From there it will cover specific areas like managing orders, customizing the frontend and user interface. At the end it covers the advanced topics of internet marketing techniques and Search Engine Optimization.
When you reach the end of the book, you’ll have a working store and you’ll have obtained all the required knowledge to customize it to your specific needs.
What you will learn from this book
- Organize your store catalog with categories and subcategories, or with user generated free tagging to use the power of folksonomy.
- Create products and product kits with a plethora of available information and multiple attributes.
- Skip the time-consuming process of manually importing products by directly transferring from information from external files.
- Create shipping quotes and connect your store with the biggest transport companies, like UPS or the United States Postal Service.
- Create and manage simple or more complex tax rates.
- Learn how to accept payments in as many ways as possible, and connect your store with payment gateways like Paypal or Google Checkout.
- Manage your orders and your customers. Integrate with CiviCRM and put the customer at the heart of your business.
- Track your store activities and sales and generate useful reports.
- Use newsletters, forums, twitter, and corporate blogging to create a community around your products.
- Transform any template or design in an Ubercart Theme and create a unique frontend.
- Make your store more competitive and suggest new products to your clients with product recommendation systems, or cross-selling.
- Enhance the user interface, improve the shopping cart, and manage prices and discounts.
- Use Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing techniques to boost your traffic, but learn at the same time how to improve the performance and security of your store.
Approach
This book will take you through the basics, like Drupal and Ubercart installation and common settings, and as we proceed through the chapters, we’ll implement more advanced techniques.
Whether you know Drupal or not, this book will be your guide to creating a powerful e-commerce web site.
Who this book is written for
If you are a business owner wanting to create an eCommerce website for your company or to upgrade a company eShop to be easier to maintain and have advanced e-shopping capabilities, then this book is meant for you. You don’t need any programming experience to use this book.
WordPress 2.9 E-Commerce
Product Description
Build a proficient online store to sell products and services
- Earn huge profits by transforming WordPress into an intuitive and capable platform for e-Commerce
- Build and control a vast product catalog to sell physical items and digital downloads
- Configure and integrate various payment gateways into your store for your customers’ convenience
- Promote and market your store online for increased profits
- Follow a practical, step-by-step guide packed with screenshots to ensure your store is created and deployed successfully
In Detail
WordPress is easily one of the hottest platforms for building blogs and general web sites. With the addition of the WP e-Commerce plug-in, it’s also a competent platform for easily creating and running an online store, capable of selling physical items as well as services and digital downloads. WordPress with e-Commerce offers every feature that a seller and a customer may need. You can build an online store that makes it easier for the customers to find and buy products.
WordPress 2.8 e-Commerce focuses on the integration of WordPress with the WordPress e-Commerce plug-in, covering all aspects of building and developing an online store from scratch.
This book provides a simple, step-by-step approach to developing an effective online store. It guides you through your initial planning and first steps, plug-in installation and configuration, building your catalog of products to sell, accepting payments for your orders, and dealing with taxes and shipping. You will also learn how to promote and market your new store, handle customer accounts and staff roles, and deal with essential store security.
As you work through each chapter, your online store will grow in scope and functionality. By the time you finish this book, you will have a complete and working store, ready to release your products to the world.
What you will learn from this book
- Tweak WordPress to build an adept, business-friendly online store
- Install and configure WP e-Commerce and add products to your online catalog
- Manage and sort your products with groups, categories, tags, and variations
- making it easier for your customers to find any product
- Automate the delivery of digital downloads after purchase ensuring the convenience of your customers
- Create and manage user account roles and permissions for customers and staff
- Brand your site by customizing WordPress themes
- Accept payments using a variety of payment processors and automatically apply sales tax and shipping
- Create your own customizable shipping rates and connect to shippers such as USPS and UPS
- Secure your online store against attacks and data loss
- Explore alternative e-Commerce plug-ins for WordPress
Approach
This book provides an easy to understand, step-by-step approach to installing, configuring, and using WP e-Commerce to run your online store. We will construct an example store in the book with enough information and flexibility to adapt the store to your specific needs.
Who this book is written for
This book is for you, if you are interested in using WordPress as the basis for a store that can sell physical items, downloads, or services.
It is ideal for a sole proprietor or small business owner with only basic, in-house technical skills. Some prior knowledge of WordPress will help, but is not required. No knowledge of PHP is expected, but it will also be helpful.
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