best ecommerce web hosting plans
- Before getting an ecommerce website on line you need to have a domain
name, and you will need to host your domain with a reliable company who
understands the special demands of ecommerce merchants. Ecommerce has
its own needs and so your hosting provider must have a solid reputation
where this is concerned.
Domain names themselves are your Internet address and are pointers to a
particular IP address and we use them because they are easier to
remember than a series of numbers. IP means Internet Protocol, and it
is how people will find your online store.
All websites have an IP address in the form 123.456.78.9. The domain
name system translates these numbers into names such as mywebsite.com.
All domain names are registered in a central registry maintained by
InterNIC, a subsidiary of ICANN -- the organization which certifies
domain name registrars. Domain names are filtered through Domain Name
Servers (DNS) which link IP addresses with domain names. Each web site
usually has a primary and a secondary DNS that duplicates and increase
reliability.
The first step in registering a domain name is to choose it. The name
can be almost anything you want, but to be most effective it should
reflect the nature of your website. If you are selling watches, for
example, it helps to have a domain name that has some reference to
watches, such as A1-Watches.com.
The rules for domain names are simple, only letters, numbers or hyphens
are allowed. Other than that, a domain name is limited to 70 characters,
but you are advised to keep it as short as possible. Domain names can
be upper or lower case, and case is ignored by the DNS but you can use a
combination to make the name more recognizable. MyWebSite.com is easier
to read than mywebsite.com, but both are identical to the DNS.
There are several extensions available, but before we talk about this,
let me first say that .com, .org, and .net are your preferred domain
names. This is particularly important where ecommerce sites are
concerned. Country extensions are fine, as well, but generally
speaking, avoid .info domains unless the site is intended for limited
use. Never start a serious ecommerce store using a .info domain; stick
to .com, .org, or .net, or use a country extension.
The most common is .com -- it has even entered common vocabulary as a
way to express Internet activity – (I own a dot com business). Other
extensions include .biz (for commercial sites), .org (for non-commercial
organisations), .net (for organisations involved in Internet
infrastructure) and .name (for personal names). There are also
extensions with more specialized uses such as .museum, .aero, and .coop
and are used exclusively by members of certain organizations. In
addition to these common extensions, there can also be a country code
extension such as .us (United States) or .de (Germany). The rules for
using country extensions vary, so you need to check with your registrar
to see if they are available to you.
All domains must be registered with a registrar that has been certified
by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). There
are hundreds of registrars and their prices vary considerably. The full
list of registrars is available at the InterNIC website
(http://www.internic.net/regist.html). Although registrars are closely
regulated, they are permitted to offer their services through third
parties, so many web hosts offer a domain name registration service even
if they are not a registrar. The price of a domain name will usually be
higher when dealing with these third-party services.
best ecommerce web hosting plans - Domain names are usually registered
for a minimum of one year, although you are permitted to buy up to a
10-year registration contract. Usually the longer the registration
contract, the lower the price, so if you are sure you will be on the web
for a considerable length of time you can benefit from a longer
registration period. Most registrars also offer a discount on bulk
purchases. If you own a number of domain names you can save money by
transferring them all to the same registrar. Another point to consider
is that domains registered for longer periods of time gain more search
engine trust. Although not absolutely essential, domains registered for
a longer period of time can assist with SEO (search engine
optimization).
However, all of your efforts at setting up your domain name and running
your store will be of little use if you do not have superior web hosting
for ecommerce. There are many hosting providers offering many
different kinds of packages, almost all hosting providers even offer
shopping carts for your website. Nevertheless, just because a hosting
company offers a shopping cart does not necessarily mean that they are
equipped to provide you with the support you need as your business
developes. Be sure to do the research for the best ecommerce web site
packages from the most reliable ecommerce hosting companies.
