Making the Perfect eCommerce Website
Having an online shop is a great way to support your physical sales or connect with customers you otherwise wouldn’t be able to find. With a variety of eCommerce website hosting tools available, it’s easier than ever to have an online storefront. When creating the perfect eCommerce website, it’s important to strike a balance between good design and powerful technology. With the right website and hosting provider, your eCommerce website can help boost your business and increase sales growth.
What is an eCommerce Website?
An eCommerce website allows you to sell goods and services to others over the internet. It’s different from a company that simply lists what it can offer, as it provides users the ability to purchase those objects and get them delivered to their homes and offices. Having an eCommerce website allows business owners to get in contact with more customers and improve their bottom line with a national or international reach. eCommerce websites require careful planning and maintenance to make sure they work properly for your business.
Aspects of eCommerce Website Hosting
Having an eCommerce website requires you to pay careful attention to setting up your pages and hosting. For an eCommerce site to work, you need product pages and checkout applications. Having user accounts and a blog can also help you improve your website and your customer’s shopping experience.
Product Pages
Displaying your products or services is the most essential part of any eCommerce website. If you don’t properly introduce your products, users may not be able to find them, and they’re less likely to make a purchase. A good product page should include the following:
- A basic description of the product/service
- Photo gallery of product/service
- Any ingredients/materials used to make the product
- Available customization options (such as color or size)
- Price
- Shipping and handling information (such as the estimated time to ship)
- Return policy
- Related products/services
By including all of this information, you tell users what to expect with your product and help secure more sales.
Checkout
The checkout is the second most important aspect of building the perfect eCommerce website. Without a working checkout, your users can’t make their purchases. You lose out on sales, and they become less likely to trust your future business efforts. A smooth checkout requires a strong hosting connection, so having a reliable eCommerce website hosting partner is a must.
The checkout can also be a great place to secure additional sales. You can offer other last-minute add-ons for related products and services. Just make sure you don’t overwhelm your users with pop-ups and sidebars as they’re checking out. Doing so could cause them to turn away without completing their purchase.
User Accounts
While you can get everything you need for a secure checkout without them, having user accounts is a great way to improve your eCommerce website. By allowing users to log in, you let them track their purchases, save items in wish lists, and build up loyalty points to use on future purchases. While this isn’t necessary to secure initial sales, it does encourage users to return in the future, helping you make more money and build a strong community with your online shoppers.
Blog
Having a blog is a great way to boost your online presence and SEO scores regardless of what type of website you have. A blog for an eCommerce site can help you get new users as soon as they look for the objects you’re selling online. Updating your blog at least once a week allows you to stay at the top of search engine results. Your blog can be used to build a personal connection with users, showcase new products or services, or introduce sales and events that will get people interested in your shop and business.
eCommerce Website Hosting Options
With a great design and working shop functions, you’ll need the help of a trusted eCommerce website hosting provider to get your online shop up and running. There are a few options you can choose from when deciding on your eCommerce hosting plan.
Shared eCommerce Hosting
A shared hosting plan is the most cost-effective option and is perfect for new online stores and small businesses or personal brands. By sharing server space with other website owners, you cut down on costs. However, there’s not as much power available, meaning your website could suffer from outages if you have too much web traffic. Keep in mind that it’s a great place to start if you’re unsure of your hosting needs, as you can easily upgrade when needed.
Virtual Private Server Hosting
Virtual private server (VPS) hosting is a step above shared hosting. You’ll still be splitting the cost of a server with other website owners, but only a few can be on one server at a time. This allows you access to a set number of resources devoted to keeping your eCommerce site up and running. It’s the perfect mid-range option for small or medium businesses that need a little extra hosting support.
Dedicated eCommerce Server
For larger businesses and complex eCommerce websites, hosting on a dedicated server is often the best choice. Having a server all to yourself does mean an increase in hosting costs, but you don’t have to share power and resources with anyone else. Dedicated servers can support larger online stores with multiple products and increased user traffic.
eCommerce Website Hosting with Cirrus Hosting
At Cirrus Hosting, we’re dedicated to providing high-quality online hosting experiences to all of our clients. Whether you’re a small business just getting started with online stores or a large business that already has a complex site ready to go, we can help. Our extensive eCommerce website hosting options allow us to support your online store and web hosting needs. You can browse our available hosting packages online or give us a call at 1-647-478-9984 for help with your account.
