How to Take Your Shop Online
The retail industry has taken a serious hit in the last 12 months. Not only have shop owners had to cope with the rising onslaught of large chain stores and huge eCommerce websites, they have had to survive the COVID19 pandemic that has swept the world.
Even before this past year, the trend towards shoppers buying online has been increasing year on year to the point where 87% of shoppers research purchases online before visiting a bricks and mortar store.
Not only that, most research is done using their smartphones, a resource they have on them at all times! In order to make an informed decision, customers search out social proof to support their decision to buy.
Web Hosting Real Estate
Like most major decisions, taking your shop online should not be taken lightly and considerable thought needs to go into your website.
Your physical store needs a safe, reliable, predictable, scalable, expandable place to reside. So does your electronic store, and that’s where your website hosting comes in.
7 Key Steps to Consider When Choosing a Web Host
1. Domain Name and Web Hosting in One Place
As with most things, the best deals are when you purchase items together. It is also much easier for long term maintenance of your site if you only have one place to manage your domain name and hosting, especially when it comes to needing technical support!
2. Storage Capacity
An easy way to think of storage capacity is to think how many physical products could you store on a shelf? In ecommerce the question is how many products can you list, in GB of storage. Just as you have a file on your desktop, it takes space to store it digitally.
3. Security
One thing you don’t want to be worrying about is security, that little padlock to the left of your URL is key here, to ensure your site is displaying it is HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). Finding web hosting that includes security is a time and money saving win. Look for Auto SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificates that are updated for you.
4. Back-Ups
A virus, getting hacked or an accidental broken code during an update could render your site unusable, so do make sure you have a backup ready to reinstall. Check out regular automated saves of your site, so that you can restore it quickly if the worst happens and something goes wrong.
5. Support
Fast and friendly customer support that is easy to access is a must, especially with something as important as your website. How will you be able to get in touch? What time zone does the support service operate in? Is easy integration and compatibility with your chosen website builder covered?
6. Price
An all-inclusive package price that covers all you need will save you money in the long run, and costs around £85 a year.
When you skimp on website hosting, the add-ons needed result in a mounting cost. A separate SSL certificate can cost £30 a year minimum, and back-ups that allow you to fully restore in an instant average £8 per month – why pay that on top of your hosting fee? Same goes for your crucial business email address!
7. Location
Where your server is located can make a big difference to Data Protection rules. It’s worth making sure you know where your website data is being stored, and who by. If you’re thinking of using a website management service that includes web hosting, make sure to find this out. You’ll also need the details should you decide to move away from that management service in the future.
Retailer Resources Round Up
When researching for the best web hosting service for your online shop don’t rush it. Take your time to feel comfortable and supported in your decision. After all, you want this relationship to work well for yourself and for your customers for a long time.
Consider the 7 key steps above in your deliberations and you won’t go far wrong.
Retailer Resources uses NetNerd, for our own site and for our clients. NetNerd is inexpensive without skimping on features, uses UK based servers built for speed and has super support that is fast and friendly. Reliable hosting that won’t let you down – it hasn’t in my 6 years with them. ‘One Click’ platform installation for all you need to get going, including the popular site builder WordPress.
If they sound like the web hosting service for you, like to use my affiliate account and send a few pence my way at no extra cost to you, I’d really appreciate it, please use this link: Visit NetNerd.com
If you are looking for some help and advice for your retail business, why not get in touch with us now? Tell us your business frustrations and we will create a clear path to achieve the success you desire.
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