Web Hosting and E-Commerce Integration - Building Online Stores
There’s a lot that goes into building a new online store. You’ll choose a domain name, find an ecommerce platform, tinker with templates, upload your product catalog and more. But often overlooked is the web hosting that makes it possible for customers to visit your site and purchase your products.
The ecommerce hosting you choose has a major impact on a visitor’s experience with your store, from how quickly pages load to the security of the information they submit (including credit card details).
There are many types of web hosting. You can get shared, VPS and dedicated hosting plans. Each type of hosting determines how much control you have over your server setup and hardware. You can also opt for managed hosting, in which a team of engineers takes care of critical tasks like server setup and configuration.
When shopping for ecommerce hosting, look for a host that offers specialized features. These include shopping cart software, a secure server for processing payments, PCI compliance assistance and marketing tools to help you promote your site. Ideally, your ecommerce host will also offer a range of hosting options for different business needs, from budget to performance.
Having plenty of scalability is also essential. You’ll want to ensure your hosting plan can handle a sudden increase in visitors and sales. Look for a provider that offers unlimited bandwidth, which is the amount of data your host can transfer to your website visitors within a given period of time. You can then choose a plan with a lower amount of hosting resources if you’re just starting out, and then upgrade your service as your business grows.
A good ecommerce hosting provider will also prioritize page speed. A slow website can turn away shoppers, so your hosting provider should use caching and other techniques to optimize speed. Look for a host that provides performance monitoring and alerts, so you can be notified of any issues that might affect your visitors’ shopping experience.
Another feature to consider is whether your ecommerce host supports the ecommerce plugins you’ll need for your site. For example, if you’ll be using WooCommerce, an ecommerce plugin that lets you build and manage your own online storefront, look for a hosting solution that supports it. This may mean a hosting provider that offers a specific WooCommerce package or supports it as part of its standard web hosting.
This can include features like a special cache optimized for WooCommerce, specialized migrations that won’t break your site and support from people trained to use the platform. The key is to make sure your ecommerce hosting can handle the technical demands of your plugins and the traffic you’ll be bringing to your store.
Otherwise, your site could become inaccessible or unreliable. This could lead to lost revenue and a damaged reputation for your brand. The right ecommerce host can protect you from this and help your website grow and thrive.
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