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Launching Your Business Online
Part 1 of 2
By Robert Kanaat
Whether you sell products or services, we all know the importance of having an Internet presence, but oftentimes the simple thought of getting a business online is a frightening ordeal which involves weaving together and synchronizing several complex elements.
The challenges include choosing the right domain name, finding the proper Web hosting package, selecting shopping cart software, designing your Website, adding Website content, and optimizing your Website for Search Engines (SEO), just to name a few.
After years of experience, I can tell you that there are certain steps that you need to take in order to create a successful Website for your business. Sure, there are Web designers that you can turn to, but just note that a good Web designer can cost a pretty penny, so make sure that if you want to have someone handle the process for you, that you're prepared to spend the money.
The first order of business is choosing the right domain name. If you already have a business name, then you'll know the general direction that you want to go in choosing the right domain name.
A domain name is a critical component of the success formula for online sales; if people can't remember, pronounce and even spell the domain, then those are customers that may be lost forever.
A few key points for choosing the right domain name are:
Ensure that the domain name is simple and easy to remember. It's important that the domain is simple and easy to remember, and by keeping the domain name to one to three words in length, you'll ensure that people will remember it and be able to come back to it without confusion.
Do not use any hyphens, or other special characters in your domain name. If you can do without them, then it's an important rule of thumb to not use any hyphens or special characters to separate the words in your domain name. For example, it's better to find a domain name such as exoticcharter.com rather than exotic-charter.com.
Choose a domain name that people will remember. Sure, you'll want to choose a domain name that's aligned with your traditional business name. However, as the Internet evolves, it's hard to be successful by staying traditional unless you have an astronomical budget or tons of time. Choose a name that's catchy and that people can remember. For example, amazon.com is the name of one of the most popular Internet stores, but who would have thought to name an online store amazon.com? Or, how about monster.com, the hottest online employment store? Catchy phrases definitely go far in the online world.
Search until you find the right name - it's certainly not going to be easy to find the right domain name, and it's going to take effort on your part. Albeit, finding the right domain name could make or break your online business, so search high and search low, but don't stop until you find the perfect domain name.
Purchase your domain - Once you've selected the perfect domain name, you'll then need to purchase it as well. You can both search and purchase at GoDaddy.com, the largest domain name registrar on the Internet today. Dot-com domain names at GoDaddy.com start at just $7.95 for the year.
Okay, so you've selected the perfect domain name; now what? Well, along with a domain name comes Web hosting. Web hosting is essentially a computer that you rent space on that's always connected to the Internet.
The Web host does just that, it hosts the Website on its servers where people can access them at any time, day or night. Of course, there are countless Web hosting companies out there, all competing for your business, so which one do you choose?
There are two types of Web hosting accounts:
Windows hosting account type. A Windows hosting account type is just that, a server running the Windows Server operating system. The Windows server account type has certain specifications that will run certain types of software. It's important to note that when selecting shopping cart software, as we'll explain later, you'll need to ensure that your Web hosting account will be compatible with the software that you select.
If customers can't remember, pronounce and spell the domain, they may be lost forever. |
UNIX hosting account type. A UNIX hosting account type is a machine that runs the UNIX software. This type of Web hosting account allows you to run software that's open source, but it is really only applicable to people who are experienced in Internet applications and installing software on Web hosting servers.
It's a general rule of thumb that your hosting account should have at least 100 Megabytes of storage space, which gives you at least 10 email accounts, allows you to transfer at least 4 Gigabytes of data every month, and gives you access to some sort of database system (necessary for eCommerce).
Once you've selected your hosting account type, you'll need to purchase the hosting. Of course, there are several facets that are involved with a hosting account including server space, transfer bandwidth allotment and so much more. However, there are several hosting companies that offer incredible hosting packages such as GoDaddy.com, Interland.com, and 1and1.com.
The next order of business involves choosing a shopping cart software system. A shopping cart software system will run your entire online business, so make sure that you choose wisely.
HANDS-OFF OPTION
If you're looking for something that is more hands-off, then it's important to select shopping cart software that is pre-bundled and prepared for you so that all you have to do is access your Website and start adding products, and configuring your store.
While some shopping carts require that you handle the entire installation yourself (something that is definitely not for the novice user just starting out), there are a few unique carts out there that are not only installed for you, but also come pre-built with free hosting, free email, free database, free design templates, and much more.
There are a couple of important points to remember when selecting a shopping cart:
Make sure that the shopping cart software is compatible with your hosting account. Once you've selected a hosting account, you want to make sure that the shopping cart software will work with that hosting account. It's important to do your due diligence and find out what the compatibilities are.
Pre-integrates real-time shipping & payment gateways. The last thing that you want to do is figure out how to integrate real-time shipping (i.e. through UPS, USPS, etc.) and real-time payment gateways into your shopping cart. It's important to select a cart that allows you to simply point and click your way to a fully automated online store.
Robust customer relationship management (CRM) system. Since the shopping cart is going to be your hub of operations, you'll want a cart that gives you flexibility over your customers, orders, products, and more. It's important to find a cart that will not only be functional and feature-rich, but also easy-to-use.
Making the purchase. Now that you're ready to purchase a shopping cart, it's important to select the right one. If you don't want to have to install it yourself or worry about all the little details of compatibility with a hosting account, then it's important to purchase a cart that is pre-installed, pre-bundled with hosting and ready for use without the hassle of installing it yourself.
Your hosting account should provide you with at least 100 Megabytes of storage space. |
One such shopping cart is CartWIZ (http://www.cartwiz
.com), which comes pre-installed for you (all you have to do is provide the domain name) and includes hosting, email, shipping integration, payment integration, pre-designed high-end Website templates and lifetime support, making it an all-in-one package.
Robert Kanaat, CEO and co-founder of Elemental Software, Inc., has over a decade of experience in the Internet commerce and Web development fields and has worked with some of the nation's leading companies on Web development and Internet strategy.
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