You want to be an entrepreneur. You even have a brilliant idea in your head. All you can think about is how to get the business started. Do you know what you will need? Do you have a list? If an office or shop topped that list, I’m afraid you still don’t know how the new age market works.
The first thing you really need is a great internet service provider that can provide you with an uninterrupted internet connection. Some of the big names in the market include optimum, centurylink, Windstream, etc. However, if you go to localcabledeals.com you can just enter your zip code and find out exactly which ones provide services in your area.
Once you have the internet connection sorted, run an online search to make sure the market isn’t already saturated. Sometimes an idea may seem like it was sent to you by the universe, when in fact the whole universe is already doing the same thing. So researching before jumping in is very important.
These days almost everyone looking for something would first look online before venturing out into the real world to look for it. That brings us to the second thing you’ll need, a web store for your product or service. It is a much cheaper and easier way to test your new ideas and see if it’s something for you.
There are several e-commerce hosts out there but obviously, not all of them offer the same kind of service. Therefore, here are the top five e-commerce hosting providers that will take your online selling to the next level.
- Wix
- It has an easy to use interface that makes it great for newbies.
- The low pricing makes it a blessing for people like myself who want to start a business on a budget.
- The built-in editor helps you customize the lovely templates according to your style.
- You have the option to sell digital as well as physical products.
- You can upload images and videos to highlight your products.
- The new WixTurbo helps websites run much faster than before.
- There’s a wide range of supported payment methods available according to your location and surprisingly Wix does not charge any fee on your transactions.
- iPage
- Low starter prices for beginners.
- Free web store along with a website that is customizable via the various tools available.
- Paypal support for secure payments.
- Choice of shopping carts between AgoraCart, OpenCart, ZenCart, TomatoCart, OSCommerce, and PrestaShop.
- One-year free domain upon sign up.
- 24/7 customer support via phone and chat.
- A maximum of 6 pages per website can be created.
- Good for learning and experimenting with ideas when you’re just starting out.
- SiteGround
- It offers powerful e-commerce features at low prices.
- The website builder is Weebly based, hence simple to use.
- Cloudflare CDN integration and servers enabled with HTTP/2 offer high speeds.
- Free SSL certificates.
- Shopping carts like WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and Magento are available for download.
- 24/7 customer support.
- Automatic backups run daily.
- A limited 10GB space is available.
- Only 10,000 visitors a month per website are recommended.
- 1&1 IONOS
- Good quality design templates that can be customized according to your preferences.
- The basic plan supports up to 5000 items in your store. You receive a free domain, an SSL certificate, and a little SEO support.
- The medium-range plan includes advanced SEO support, shipment tracking, Instagram store, and support for up to 10000 products.
- The high-end plan supports up to 1 million products and allows integration with eBay, Amazon Marketplace and many more.
- Liquid Web
- A platform that is powerful and reliable enough for big businesses.
- The WooCommerce plans are expensive but offer amazing functionality and diligent customer support.
- Flexible store management tools, an unlimited number of products you can sell, and hundreds of design features.
- The isolated RAM and CPU storage allotted to you varies according to the activity of your store.
- You are provided with customer analysis for the lost sales.
- The stores are constantly monitored to detect and fix any issues arising before they become a problem for you.
Conclusion
These days e-commerce has become extremely profitable but the quality of the hosting services that many small retailers use does not match the pace of the market. It’s better for your reputation not to have a website than to have a dysfunctional one.
Many people will leave a poorly designed website without completing their transactions. A website is your first impression and has a direct effect on our sales revenue. So in order for your business to blossom online, you need an aesthetically pleasing and smooth running website along with a brilliant business idea.