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To sell anything online, you need an e-commerce solution as part of your website. There are generally two solutions. Easiest is an integrated package where you post products, sell them, and process your sales (i.e., put money into your bank account) all through one provider. The other option is to set up your own e-commerce (or better yet, hire a qualified website company). Either way, they all have the same three components:
Online Store
This is where you create product profiles–description, sku, price, photo–customers create accounts, and so forth.
Gateway
In order for the store to send customer purchase information to your merchant account, there needs to be a gateway.
Merchant Account
This is where the money goes. Usually it’s your bank.
Make sure your store is secure (a closed lock icon will appear in the lower right of your browser window) by purchasing an SSL certificate, if it’s not already included with your account. The cost averages $99-$149 annually. Your URL prefix will change to https://secure, or, better yet, specify you want it to be https://www. You will need to make sure pages with sensitive data–credit card numbers, for example–are secure, so when the page is sent, the data is encrypted. Even if a hacker intercepts it, the information will be impossible (until they figure out a way to decrypt it one day) to decipher.
This is a question asked by nearly every one of our new and existing clients. As “they” say, one good question deserves another (or two):
- Do you have time or are you willing to pay someone to create relevant content and maintain it?
- Is it essential to your business or is it a vanity project?
If it’s essential to, or is your business, e.g., you run a lifestyle blog that depends on advertising, then blog. Creating relevant content takes time, and a lot of effort. One way to minimize your commitment is to draw from your workday. Everyone you deal with has questions—where can I find a good website designer in Los Angeles? Those answers become your blog.
If you’re trying to promote your business, then we suggest hiring a professional with web site search engine optimization experience. They will supply you with a list of terms and phrases people are using to find your business, and create content that is palatable to consumers.
Just when we thought it a thing of the past, another client comes along confused about their hosting (where your website files reside) and beat up by the techno babble spat at them by a less-than-understanding web designer. There’s no need to be intimidated.
First off, when presented with a contract, read it. Some companies consider the site they create for you licensed intellectual property. Others use exisiting software that is not available with any other hosting company, so you’re stuck on their server. And then there’s those who insert code that puts a time limit on elements used in your web site, so you have to renew annually or start over. Anyway you slice it, don’t be held hostage.
Here’s a couple rules for hosting:
Always do your research. It’s especially easy with web hosting as companies post pricing, features, etc. Web hosting is a commodity, pure and simple. The biggest difference is features and customer service, i.e., people that can explain technology to you in layman’s terms.
Anticipate your future needs. If you may need a blog or e-commerce at a later date, make sure it’s part of your hosting package.
Although tempting, don’t overbuy—most start up companies in the proof of concept phase do fine on shared hosting (you share a computer) opposed to a dedicated server.
Regarding web site developers and designers:
You should always receive a document from your web development company outlining costs, time lines, and what you get for your hard earned dollars. This is commonly referred to as a site architecture document (which is usually accompanied by a letter of engagement). These are important for many reasons: 1) Outline your current needs; 2) Anticipates your future needs; 3) Demonstrates a company’s thought process; 4) Is a plan by which everyone can be held accountable.
Where is your web site programming done? Local programmers are preferred for three reasons: 1) Accountability; 2) Availability for meetings; 3) Easier to check their references.
Get 2-3 bids. (Enough said)
You can buy almost anything online, and web hosting is no exception. But, when it comes to hiring someone who is an integral part of your online business development, a face-to-face meeting can be very telling.
In order to use your domain name, otherwise known as a URL (uniform resource locator), you must sign up with a hosting company. That web hosting company will provide you with DNS (domain name system) settings. These tell the Internet where your website is located, i.e., which computer contains your files. DNS most always come in pairs and will look something like US.server12.com and US2.server12.com.
You need to change these settings with the domain registrar (e.g., GoDaddy). Log into your account. Most times you click on the domain name and a screen of settings will appear. Look for DNS settings. Replace the current ones with those provided by your hosting company. Save the changes. In about 20 minutes, input your URL into the browser and refresh (Windows F5 key). A Home page will appear courtesy of your web host. At this point have your web designer create a new Home page. Put up at least basic information text about your company, logo, contact information, plus name the page something relevant. The reason for this is website development and implementation always takes longer than expected. You want to have something up for clients and search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo) soon as possible.
Unless you have a strong brand (e.g. Google), you’re best served purchasing a domain name that is descriptive of your product. Why? First off, when surfing the web, users will search for “website designer in Los Angeles” or “DVD packaging designer in 90046.” The act of someone actually picking up and skimming through a telephone directories may be dead, but human’s search habits haven’t changed. Secondly, this is part of your SEO (search engine optimization [more on this in a later posting]). Search engines such as Yahoo have special programs (bots) that constantly scan our web universe searching and categorizing websites based mainly on their text. If your name accurately describes your service/product, it increases the chance that your site will be properly indexed.
You’ll find most good names have been scooped up. Don’t let that deter you. Get creative. It’s a good exercise that may also make you rethink your website.
Treat your website files like children going off to college—they need a nice clean place to live, where there’s a responsible person looking after them (24/7 technical staff). Having roommates (shared hosting) is a good solution until they become really popular and need a place of their own (dedicated hosting). Always look at amenities—number of email and ftp (file transfer protocol, i.e., how you load your files on to the computer [server]) accounts, storage space, transfers allowed (files moving on or away from the computer [server]), and if there is additional free software packages: Blogs, Calendars and so forth that are already installed on the server and easy to activate.
If someone you trust recommends a company, ask if they can show you the “control panel.” This is where you set up email accounts and other things such as databases (a place where you store and recall data). If it seems easy to find where you need to go, and how to get back to where you came from (user interface), then there’s less of a chance you’ll get frustrated and flustered when setting up your own information. Your website developer should be able to guide you.
LotechonHitech.com is brought to you by Blue Fondue, a Los Angeles, CA (90046) website development, design and programming company.
When developing websites for our clients, we take the time to explain how everything from hosting, domain name registration, and search engine optimization works so they can be empowered to make good decisions about their online business.
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