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Setting up an Ecommerce Website

settg up ecommerce Setting up an ecommerce website involves lots of different processes and several decisions have to be made.

At Toucher Web Design UK we regularly get enquiries from people who are considering an ecommerce website but who really don't know where to start and who can blame them?

On this page we talk about the most important aspects of setting up an ecommerce website - those which can mean the difference between success and failure for your project.

Setting up Ecommerce Website Domain Names

Unless you are adding ecommerce functionality to an established website you will have to think about a domain name. It may be that because of current branding you need to use your business name but if not choose wisely. The words used in the domain names can have a major impact on an ecommerce website's ability to get found in the search engines. We won't say any more about this since it has already been discussed in our choosing a domain name page.

Finding an Ecommerce Website Hosting Company

You must decide if you are going to set up your ecommerce website on a shared or dedicated server. Shared servers are shared by several websites while dedicated servers have only one website installed on them. Dedicated servers cost much more than shared servers.

It is beyond the remit of this website to suggest any particular hosting company or ecommerce server solution but there are many reviews and resources online where you can find the information that will help you to make your choice.

ecommerce website servers Ecommerce websites generally use a database, which is installed on the server provided by the website hosting company. This database is used to store all the information about the items that are for sale. This could be anything from 10 or 20 items to many thousands.

When someone is using the website to look for an item this involves querying this database, a process that can put a load on the server. If there are other similarly loaded web sites sharing this server then things may grind to a halt or at least be too slow for an ecommerce website setup.

There is really no way that you can tell how a shared server is going to perform until you try it and even if it is currently working well there is no guarantee that the hosting company will not overload it in future. Shared servers are available from about $5.00 (£2.50) per month upwards.

If you decide to use a dedicated server the problems mentioned above will be minimised. Your website will be the only one on the server so any server performance issues will be down to excessive traffic on your own website. (I generally tell clients that this is a problem that they should be happy to deal with!) Dedicated servers are available from about $30.00 (£15.00) per month.

It is worth mentioning that the features offered on server deals by the hosting companies can vary widely. You should take advice on this before deciding but ensure that the chosen solution includes an easy to use control panel. Running your own server can get quite complex unless you know what you are doing so a good control panel like Plesk or CPanel will make things easier.

If you are intending to take online payments you will have to consider the server security requirements. Ensure that transactions on your ecommerce website are secure and that you and your clients are protected as far as possible from fraudulent transactions.

Taking Credit Card Payments Online

If setting up an ecommerce website you will have to ecommerce website credit card decide how you intend to take payments for the goods you are selling. There are several options here ranging from asking the clients to send you a cheque to fully automatic online credit card processing.

Most people will want the credit card transaction to be handled automatically to minimise the amount of work involved in processing sales from the website. Some businesses will already have a retail merchant account and a POS (point of sale) CC swipe machine. Do not mastercard image make the mistake of thinking that you can use this for online sales. The process of taking online payments is called a "Cardholder not Present" transaction.

Retail POS machines are not supposed to be used for this although some people set up their ecommerce website to send clients credit card details via email for processing manually. For security reasons this is now seen as a taboo and if your bank knows you are doing this they may close your account. Check their terms and conditions.

Internet Merchant Accounts for Ecommerce Websites and Paypal type Solutions

To take credit card payments securely on our website you need to have an Internet Merchant's Account. You must apply for this to a bank. Once again it is beyond our remit to advise you what bank to choose but there is a massive amount of information on this online. You must look at the amount of sales you think you can generate per month and compare the relative charges of the companies you are considering.

paypal payments Alternative payment processing methods that do not require an Internet Merchant's Account are also available in the form of systems like Paypal. Some of the banks are now also offering their own similar systems. The difference with these systems is that the customer is taken away from your site to the payment service provider's website to make the credit card transaction. This releases you from many of the security implications.

Whatever you decide you should ensure that you are in compliance with current legislation regarding security. If you are not sure what to do take advice from your web designer.

Shopping Cart Setup on Ecommerce Websites

shopping cart setup You will probably require a shopping cart on your ecommerce website. This is the system that allows the customer to find the products they are seeking and to make the purchase quickly and effectively.

Online shopping carts also have administration areas that allow the ebusiness owner to log on and make changes to stock, prices, images, categories, shipping and postage rates, etc.

There are literally hundreds of commercial online shopping cart solutions available for ecommerce websites. Prices range from about $100 (£50) to several hundred $/£.

Ecommerce Website Setup using Open Source Software

There are also many Open Source solutions available for ecommerce. The Open Source movement started many years ago with groups of people who contribute to the development of software applications as volunteers. The finished applications are offered for download at no charge. With the number of dedicated and skilled people involved in the development of Open Source software it is often as good as and quite often better than many of the commercial alternatives. The best known open source ecommerce website shopping cart is OSCommerce.

One of the problems with Open Source software is security. Since the software is open and can be amended by anyone with the technical ability to do so it can become a target for hackers and criminals seeking to exploit any security loopholes they can find for fraudulent purposes. Fortunately the open source community are aware of this and they regularly produce security updates. If your web designer uses an open source application you should consider taking out a maintenance contract that will include all updates to the software.

Designing an Ecommerce Website

Designing ecommerce website OK we have got all the way down here and we haven't even started to design the website! If you want my advice on how to do this all I would say is don't. It gets much too complex for most lay people and you would be better of hiring an ecommerce web designer who knows all the tricks.

I am repeatedly asked if I can fix website that people have tried to develop themselves. "It's almost there. It just needs a little bit of work." I am often told. When people come to me for help on this I will just not get involved since it can take an indeterminate amount of time to sort out other people's problems and putting a price on the work is very difficult. All I can do in these situations is offer to rebuild the website from scratch, but unfortuately this is not what people want to hear.

Remember that when you are starting an online business the website is that business so doinlt expect to set it up for £100 and do not cut corners. Ensure that it is done properly. This will pay off in the long term. If you do build it yourself the chances are that it will look home made and amateurish. Make no mistake about it, this will chase potential customers away. Who wants to do business with a company that cannot offer a decent website? I mean ask yourself, if you were starting a bricks and mortar shop would you attempt to build it yourself?

Toucher Web Design UK can set up ecommerce websites from about $2000/£1000 upward. Reasonable prices like this make it pointless risking a do it yourself job.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) on Ecommerce Websites - Your chances?

Ecommerce SEO is normally extremely important but a surprising number of people set up ecommerce websites (or any websites) without giving it any consideration. Quite often when I mention SEO it is clear that some of my enquirers have not heard of it or given it any consideration.

If you are selling online it is clearly very important that people find your website. Unless you have the funds to market it externally then SEO is your best chance so ensure that your designers have a track record in this and it does not happen automatically or overnight. It can take several months for a website to get any significant traffic.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that "if you build it they will come." People won't visit your website unless they can find it easily and it's on the first couple of pages of results for the competitive search terms. You must consider what are your chances of getting found and what type of market place are you competing in? Be realistic in assessing your chances and if you are competing in a market that already has many established sites with lots of resources be honest with yourself. Do you really think that you can compete against the big boys?

Unfortunately many people let their heart rule their heads and they don't like to be told the truth. I have had several people thinking that I was wrong to advise them not to proceed with their projects because they had no real chance of succeeding. The problem is that many other ecommerce website designers do not think that offering this sort of advice is their job. They will go ahead and build the site knowing that the client has no chance of getting a return on the investment.

Additional Ecommerce Website Setup Information

The UK Government has an IT and ECOMMERCE SECTION in the business link sections of their website that provides a wealth of information on online trading.

The government's business link website also offers unbiased information on creating an online shop and accepting online payments

Taking Electronic Payments
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) website provides good, unbiased information on how to take electronic payments.

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