Chapter 15
E-COMMERCE

IN This Chapter
Choosing the right ISP
Online security
Planning your website
Basic e-commerce capabilities

Introduction
The Internet is simultaneously a powerful sales platform, a versatile marketing tool and an invaluable source of customer, competitor and industry information for entrepreneurs of all sizes.
To make the most of this powerful tool, you need to make the right choices on everything from choosing Internet service providers to accepting mobile payments.
This very basic introduction will get you started. Due to the swiftly evolving nature of online technology and competition, you will need to stay on top of new and emerging e-commerce tools and trends for as long as you run your business.
Choosing the Right ISP
No matter what type of business you run, you need a reliable Internet service provider (ISP). Whether you’re answering customer questions, placing orders with suppliers, researching competitors, or backing up files, a slow or erratic Internet connection can wreck your efficiency and cost you time, sales, customers and profits.
In short, the Internet is a crucial part of your business’s infrastructure. From a basic operational standpoint, choosing an ISP is one of the most important decisions you will make.
Even if you already have an ISP, consider whether it will meet your current and future needs. Site hosting, email and other features offered in consumer plans may not be adequate for e-commerce. Most ISPs offer different service levels for businesses, so research your options with growth in mind. In particular, find out what level of service is available at your actual location. Depending on your area, you may get less than the advertised speed and reliability.
If your business is entirely Internet-based, you may not be able to cope with even a brief outage. In this case, you may need to have two services in case one fails. Using a 4G wireless connection as a backup is a common, relatively inexpensive solution. However, it may not be adequate for a business with heavier Internet needs.
Completing the Internet Needs Worksheet will help you compare the pros and cons of your local ISPs.
Service Levels and Restrictions
When choosing an ISP, consider all the things your business needs to do on a daily, weekly, quarterly and yearly basis, from accessing cloud services to sharing large graphic files to videoconferencing. Also, consider how many employees will need to be online at once; more users means more bandwidth, which may mean higher costs.
Most ISPs offer tiered plans for businesses, ranging from basic services for small startups to full-service plans that include automatic backup and allow bandwidth-intensive tasks like videoconferencing.
Watch out for data caps that limit the amount of data you can transfer. Some providers will slow connection speeds when the cap is reached, while others will impose extra fees. Data caps are often arbitrary and should be considered negotiable.
You should also look out for early termination fees. A cheap contract is no bargain if it costs you a year’s worth of payments to get out of it.
Connection Speed
The speed of an Internet connection is measured by the amount of data (or bits) transmitted per second. The average broadband connection in the United States is about 11 Mbps (megabits per second), which is generally adequate for high-definition television, online gaming and similar applications. However, much higher speeds are available in some areas for customers who can afford them.
Although ISP promotional materials often focus on download speeds, that’s only half of the picture. Don’t overlook upload speeds when assessing providers, especially if you routinely use videoconferencing or cloud services such as online backup.
Connection speed depends primarily on the type of connection you have, which in turn depends on what services are available in your area. To research your local options, visit www.broadbandmap.gov.
Cable modems
Cable modems connect to the Internet over cable television lines. They may use coaxial wire, which is the older standard, or fiber optic lines that transmit information in the form of binary light pulses. Cable connections are usually fast and reliable. Fiber optic cable offers extremely high speeds and a stronger connection. In areas where it’s available, it’s usually the best option for a growth-oriented business.
One major drawback of cable is that it’s often available from only one or two providers in a given area. With little or no competition, these firms have less incentive for responsive service. Also, cable service may be slower at peak hours.
Digital subscriber lines (DSL)
DSL connects to the Internet over an existing telephone line. It’s usually slower than cable, and it may also be harder to get service in some areas. Although DSL may be adequate for a small business with few employees and minimal requirements, a growth-oriented business will almost certainly need to upgrade to a faster and more reliable connection at some point.
LEASED Lines
A leased (or dedicated) line is a copper or fiber optic connection wired directly to your business; you do not share it with other consumers, so these lines offer extremely high speeds and reliable service.
The cost of a leased line is significantly higher than that of cable or DSL. But if your business needs a very reliable connection, a leased line is your best bet. If your connection is less crucial, business-level cable may be acceptable.
The most common options are T1, which is adequate for most small businesses, and T3, which is appropriate for medium to large businesses. Leased lines can also be used to create private networks between business offices.
Wireless BROADBAND
Wireless broadband customers access the Internet through a satellite dish or mobile network. Such connections are common in remote rural areas that lack access to DSL and cable. Service tends to be erratic—especially at peak hours—and wireless services often have usage caps that may be unsuitable for a growing business.
A more reliable option is a fixed connection through a wireless Internet service provider (WISP). These connections can deliver speeds comparable to cable and usually lack usage caps.
Many private and public agencies are working to improve Internet access in rural and underserved areas. For more information, visit Broadband USA at www.broadbandusa.gov.
Uptime
Your ISP’s service level agreement (SLA) should clearly state its percentage of uptime—that is, the amount of time the service is actually available. A business-class SLA should guarantee an uptime of 99.99 percent and reduce its fees when that level of service isn’t met. (This amount of uptime equals about 50 minutes of downtime per year.)
Tech Support
How important is tech support to your business? Are you only operational during standard business hours, or is it possible that you’ll need help at 2 a.m. on a Sunday? Can your problems be handled remotely, or will you need on-site help with hardware and wiring issues? Depending on how disruptive an outage would be to your business, you may need to choose a provider with around-the-clock tech support, or even sign a technical support contract with a specialist firm. Such contracts typically range from a few hours or visits per month to full-time support.
As a rule of thumb, consider how long your business can run smoothly without Internet service. If it’s not a major part of your operations, you may be able to get by with basic tech support. If an outage would instantly affect everything from accounting to sales to marketing, you will probably need a more robust support contract.
Security
A good ISP will have strong measures in place to protect itself and its customers from intrusions, attacks, domain name fraud and other online threats. Note, though, that even if your ISP has such protections in place, you will still need to take security measures of your own.
…
I took over the family business from my father a few years ago, when he retired. He’d been in business a long time, and he had some very loyal customers, so at first I was afraid of making too many changes.
We make personalized, embroidered linens. Traditionally, it’s a very relationship-oriented business; that was one of the things my father loved about it. He’s very old-world, very old-school. He always wanted to make a connection with people. To him, a website was just an advertisement, like a neon sign or a billboard. So all he ever had was a brochure site—a brief introduction, some pretty pictures, contact info and not much more. After all, you don’t serve clients through a sign; you meet with them or talk to them on the phone.
For his industry and his clients, this was a good approach up to a point. But times change. By the time I took over, it made no more sense to refuse to communicate online than it would to refuse to use a phone. To say, in the 21st century, “I’ll talk to you on this device, but not that one,” didn’t seem feasible to me. Our website was nice enough, but it was static; it didn’t do anything. That had to change.
Another thing was that the business was faltering. Some clients had started buying linens and towels from Southeast Asia, where labor costs are as low as a dollar a day. We couldn’t compete with those prices, and I didn’t intend to try.
Two years ago, Cleo Marais took over Sairam Luxury Linens after her father retired. Based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Sairam manufactures monogrammed linens and towels. Its customers include resort hotels, spas, cruise lines and restaurants.
Sairam’s specialty is hand-guided embroidery; where many similar firms have automated their stitching, Sairam’s products still require an experienced human operator. Although their highly personalized, relationship-intensive business had focused on large clients, Cleo felt it could serve small boutique retailers and individual customers through a more interactive website.
…
Online Security
Understanding online security is crucial to protecting your business and financial data, as well as your customers’ personal information. Although high-profile cybercrimes usually involve banks or giant retailers like Walmart, smaller businesses are increasingly likely to be targeted for the simple reasons that there are far more of them, they tend to have weaker security, and attacking them tends to generate less attention from law enforcement.
To keep your business safe, you need to identify your specific vulnerabilities and legal responsibilities, decide how to address them, and develop a security and online privacy plan that all employees must follow.
This is not a one-time activity but a constantly moving target; a plan that doesn’t evolve and adapt in response to new threats and tools will soon become ineffective or worse. Creating a culture of cybersecurity at your business will make the process of monitoring and avoiding threats much easier. Here are some tips:
Assess your threats. For current information on security threats—along with links to free security checkups—visit the National Cyber Security Alliance at staysafeonline.org.
Secure your Internet connection. Use a firewall to restrict unauthorized network traffic. Make sure your wireless network has strong password protection and uses enterprise-grade routers and encryption. You may need help from an IT professional to set up a secure network.
Secure your computers. Install software updates and security patches regularly. Use automatic updating features where possible. Make sure external drives and devices are scanned for threats.
Secure your browser. Avoid using Internet Explorer, which is highly vulnerable to attack. Instead, use Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge. Whichever browser you choose, be sure you understand its security settings and options. It may also be wise to use one browser for financial purposes and another for all other activities.
Monitor new and emerging threats. You can subscribe to bulletins on new security threats by visiting the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team at www.us-cert.gov. Update your defenses as recommended, and train employees on new security measures.
Create a cybersecurity plan. You can develop a customized plan with the FCC’s Small Biz Cyber Planner at www.fcc.gov/cyberplanner.
Train your team. Set strict security and privacy policies and monitor compliance. Require the use of strong passwords, and have employees change them regularly.
Spyware and Other Malware
Spyware refers to software programs that some websites download onto people’s computers without their knowledge. These programs gather information about what users do online. In addition to violating your privacy, they can slow your computer down or stop it from working at all. Such programs are a form of malware.
Some malware includes keylogging programs that record everything you type, including passwords and credit card numbers.
You can protect yourself with free programs such as Panda Free Antivirus (www.pandasecurity.com) or Malwarebytes (www.malwarebytes.org). For stronger protection, consider subscribing to an enterprise-oriented security program such as Webroot SecureAnywhere (www.webroot.com). Always install the updates that allow these programs to address new threats. Malware evolves quickly, so your protection needs to evolve with it.
Social media sites are a growing focus for malware and other attacks, so review each site’s security settings and features, and learn how to use them. Always use caution when downloading files and launching browser-based applications. Also, be careful about what kind of personal and business information you post on such sites.
Scareware
Many unscrupulous businesses offer phony antimalware programs. These “scareware” programs are often advertised by means of popup windows that claim to have detected a virus or spyware on the user’s computer. Other popups duplicate the appearance of the computer’s own security alerts. Some of these programs are themselves spyware, while others—known as “ransomware”—cause problems that they then charge a hefty fee to solve.
Even if an antivirus or antimalware program seems to be legitimate, research it thoroughly before you even think of installing it. Search online for the name of the software; a number of sites keep track of fake programs.
Email Security
Although business emails routinely contain sensitive information, and are relatively easy for third parties to intercept, surprisingly few businesses take steps to secure them.
As online threats continue to multiply, this approach should not be considered an option. At the very least, business emails should be encrypted to ensure that they can’t be intercepted while in transit.
You can improve email security by using two-factor authentication. When you enter your password, an automatically generated, single-use numerical code is mailed to your smartphone. You must enter this code to complete the login process.
In some types of legal conflicts, your email may be used as evidence. Therefore, you should back up your email archive regularly.
For more information on email and privacy issues, visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation at www.eff.org.
Phishing and Pharming
One of the most dangerous forms of online crime is known as phishing. Some phishers send out emails that claim to be from legitimate online businesses—like PayPal, Amazon or your bank—and threaten you with account suspension unless you submit your credit card number or password. Some pretend to be charitable or political organizations seeking donations for whatever cause is currently in the news. And others direct you to a fraudulent website that looks like a trusted site but is designed to steal your personal data.
The best way to avoid phishers is to avoid clicking on links in emails. If you get an email from a known company that tells you to click on a link—or demands your password or account number—always call the company to make sure the email is real.
Smishing is a form of phishing that uses mobile text messages. Usually, these messages ask the recipient to click a link or call a phone number. Doing so will result in a phishing attempt, a malware infection or both. Again, don’t click on suspicious links, even if they seem to have been sent by someone you know. When in doubt, contact the person to confirm that the link is legitimate.
Pharming is a more sophisticated form of attack. Emails from pharmers contain malware that redirects your browser to a fake version of some legitimate site (even if you type the correct URL into your address bar). This bogus site harvests any personal and financial information you enter, which pharmers can then use for fraud and identity theft. The ever-increasing sophistication of pharming attacks, and the difficulty of detecting and avoiding redirection, make this one of the most serious online threats.
To learn more, visit the Anti-Phishing Working Group at www.antiphishing.org.
Planning YOUR Website
For many customers, your website will provide the first impression of your company. Therefore, it must be welcoming, professional and easy to use. Of course, it should also be appropriate for:
Your business objectives
Your target market
Your brand identity and positioning
Your marketing mix
Your competition
Your budget
The budget question is an especially important one. There’s a wide range of costs for Web development. Depending on your needs, you could design and launch your own site with low-cost tools, or you could hire professional designers and spend hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars. Whichever approach you choose, it’s helpful to think about the following three aspects of online business:
Commerce means selling your products and services online. These can be delivered online, by mail or in person.
Content includes experience-based offerings like news, opinion, music, education and multimedia. Some content is available for download (e.g., a podcast or e-book), and some is offered online only (e.g., streaming video).
Connection means giving people an opportunity to interact or collaborate. One good example is LibraryThing, a social networking site for book lovers that fosters connections between people with similar collections.
In the early years of the Internet, these approaches were often distinct from one another. Today, they are better viewed as three aspects of a single online offering, each of which supports the others. When planning your website, think about where and how these areas will intersect. As an example, you might have a product page that allows customers to buy (commerce), and also includes an instructional video (content) and customer comments and reviews (connection).
Whether you’re planning your first site or upgrading an existing one, start by thinking about these issues:
Are your target customers the same people you’re trying to reach offline, or are you reaching out to a new audience?
What colors, fonts and design elements make sense for your brand? Will your site be playful or straightforward? Colorful or not? What do your target customers expect from a site like yours?
What technology and skills do your target customers have? Will they need to buy new equipment or learn new things to use your site?
Are you selling one product or many? If you offer only one product, you may be able to create a site with only a few pages. If you’re selling many products, you’ll need many additional pages, as well as much more complicated database, search and shopping cart functions.
How much time and money can you afford to spend on your site? Remember to consider maintenance and upgrades.
How often will you need to change the information on your site?
What do visitors need to do on your site (search for products, download brochures, look at pictures, get directions, watch videos, share information, rate products, redeem coupons, ask questions, place orders, track shipments)?
Will you host the site on your own server, or will you pay another firm to do it? Unless you run a tech-based business with very specific needs, you will probably prefer to outsource your site hosting. Either way, you need to estimate your monthly traffic, bandwidth needs, backup and recovery systems, and the skills required to maintain and upgrade the site.
How quickly do you need to get your site online? Can you start small and add features as you go? Or do you want to build a site that will still meet your needs three years from now? What are the advantages of each approach?
A turnkey site may get you up and running quickly, but you may have to redo it when your business grows. Always consider your growth plans, and design something your business can grow into.
…
Whenever I talk about making the decision to overhaul Sairam’s website, I always worry that people will think I’m putting my father’s attitude down. That’s not the case at all. My goal was not to move away from his values. On the contrary, I wanted to build his values into our site. I wanted to recreate his care, his efficiency, his sincere interest in every customer, his kindness, his attention to detail.
We couldn’t have done that when we launched our original site. But as technology progressed, it became a real option. I want to make this very clear: The issue was not that my father’s belief in personal service became outdated. The issue is that the Internet took a very long time to catch up with it.
Previously, most customers who visited Sairam’s website had contacted them by phone or email. Sairam would follow up with a phone call, during which design and other options were discussed. Once a design was agreed on and sent out for approval, there were usually several more emails and calls. Cleo estimated that for a mid-sized order, it took an average of 12 hours to close the deal. For some high-maintenance clients, it could take twice as long. Worse, these communications often ate into the time of machine operators, who were the only staff members who could answer certain technical questions.
Cleo felt that if Sairam were to survive, let alone be competitive, it would have to start delivering most of these services automatically through its site. Particularly if they intended to go after new customers, the website would have to answer customer questions, streamline the design and approval process, and accept orders and track shipments online.
…
Registering Your Domain Name
Your domain name is the basic address for your website. It’s the “personal” part of your site’s uniform resource locator (URL), which is the full address that tells a browser exactly where to find an online resource:
http://www.yoursite.com/about/ your-bio.html
In this example, the URL explains how to find a file called your-bio.html on a domain called www.yoursite.com.
A domain name can be up to 67 characters long, but shorter names are preferable. The only allowable characters are letters, numbers, hyphens, slashes and periods; it may not contain spaces.
You may have to live with your domain name for a long time, so choose a name that is meaningful, descriptive and easy to remember. Ideally, your domain name should include your business or product name. However, this may not be possible because so many domain names have already been taken. The combination of a branded business name plus one or more keywords may still be possible, however.
Another common strategy is to combine two words that describe your business. Successful examples include PayPal, Travelocity, LiveJournal and SlideShare. This allows you to use generic keywords while building your brand identity.
When choosing a domain name, watch out for double meanings. A site called Experts Exchange learned this lesson after realizing there was more than one way to read www.expertsexchange.com. Today, their domain name is www.experts-exchange.com.
You should also search online to make sure no one else is using your name, and that it doesn’t have inappropriate meanings in English or another language. This is especially important if you use an acronym such as “BDSM.” Searching for your acronym on InternetSlang.com can help you avoid misunderstandings.
Once you’ve created a list of possible domain names, and made sure that none of them is already online, you’re ready to register the one you like best. Most ISPs can register domain names for customers.
New Top-Level Domains
For many years, there were only 22 top-level domains, the most common of which were .com and .net. Today, many new generic top-level domains (such as .guru and .photography) are becoming available, creating numerous opportunities and threats for smaller businesses.
As the number of domains increases, it may be harder for smaller businesses to stand out from their competitors. In the past, businesses often bought alternative domain names that were similar to their primary name. For example, someone who owned www.glassworks.com might also buy www.glassworks.net in order to prevent a competitor from getting it. With so many more top-level domains available, this method of protecting your brand may become unfeasible for smaller businesses, due to the expense and confusion entailed in registering multiple domain names with multiple registrars. This is an evolving situation that every serious business owner should monitor.
Customized Email Addresses
For the sake of professionalism and branding, your domain name should be part of your email address. For example, the domain name www.glassworks.com could yield the email address sara@glassworks.com. Your site host can help you with this.
Researching Sites Online
Spending time online is one of the most important things you can do when planning or upgrading your site. Which online stores are easy to use, and why? Which aren’t, and why not? Which sites are visually appealing? Which load the fastest? Which have the most useful search functions? Which work best on mobile devices? What are your competitors doing?
The best e-commerce sites usually have a clean design, intuitive navigation and simple, striking graphics that load quickly on any device. Consider these issues:
Speed. Studies consistently show that most consumers will abandon sites that don’t load quickly enough. Making sure your site loads quickly on computers and mobile devices is crucial to making sales.
Branding. Having a different online and offline identity may confuse your customers. How will you make sure your online and offline colors, graphics, logos, communication and customer service work together to reinforce your brand?
Promotions. How will you attract customers and convince them to buy? What incentives will you offer? How can you use the Web to add value?
Merchandising. How will you display your products? Will you have photos? Text descriptions? Videos? How will you handle customer questions?
Shopping and checkout. If customers can buy multiple products, they need a shopping cart that tracks selections and keeps a running total. Should they also have the ability to create a personal shopping or gift list? Will there be cross-marketing based on previous purchases?
Payment processing. How will you get paid? How will you calculate taxes and shipping costs? How will you handle international orders?
Security. Online customers want to feel secure, but they also don’t want to jump through too many hoops. How will you balance security and convenience?
Inventory and order fulfillment. Will you pack and ship orders yourself, or will you use a fulfillment center or have the actual manufacturer ship goods for you? Either way, how quickly will you process orders? Will you offer expedited shipping? How will you notify customers that items are out of stock, and what options will you give them (back order, refund, credit)? How will you notify customers when an order ships? Will they be able to track shipments online, or will you have to do it for them?
Customer service. Will you provide technical support? If so, will it be available online (e.g., a downloadable manual or instructional video), via phone and email, through social media, or all of the above? What’s your return policy, and how will you explain it? How will you resolve problems?
Market research and analysis. What data will you gather on site usage and statistics? How will you use them? What customer information will you gather? How will you use it in your marketing efforts? What laws apply?
Customer input. Will you allow customer ratings and reviews? If so, what are the terms of use? Can users be anonymous, or will they have to create an account? How will you moderate comments? Will comment length be restricted? What counts as a bannable offense (bad language, slander, off-topic posting)? Who owns the rights to user-generated content?
Tech support. As with ISPs, the level of tech support you need depends on how crucial your site is to your business. In addition to 24/7 support, you may also want a failover system that will keep your site online if your host is down.
Legal considerations. How will you handle contracts, disclaimers, and warranties? What about privacy issues? Who will manage your compliance efforts, and how will you communicate your policies and standards to customers, employees, and other interested parties?
Budget. Prepare a formal budget for your website, and remember to include the cost of maintenance, tech support and service upgrades.
…
I didn’t know much about Web design, but I did know there was no point in fixing the old site. It was time to start again from the beginning and do it right!
For a couple of weeks, I spent a lot of time online, looking at sites and taking notes. I wanted our site to be very simple, so our customers spent more time looking at our products and less time figuring out how to find them. I also wanted it to help people whenever they needed it. Whether someone was an old customer or brand new, I wanted them to feel at home.
I tried to keep that in mind when looking at all these other sites—I thought of myself as a stranger who has just arrived in a new town. How easy is it to get around? Are the people friendly? Are they helpful? Do you feel welcome here? It sounds silly, maybe, but these are the questions I asked myself.
As a result of this online research, Cleo made a list of features, abilities and design elements she thought Sairam’s site should have. She also became very interested in working with Jet Age, a five-person design team based in Austin, Texas. Jet Age had created a site for one of the largest hotel chains in the region. It was one of the best sites she had visited—stylish, uncluttered and effortlessly interactive.
She wasn’t quite ready to approach them for a quote, though. First, she needed to figure out exactly what she wanted her site to do. And come up with a budget.
…
Building or Buying a Website
Once you’ve done enough research to describe the features you want, prioritize them. Make a list of the features you must have, the ones you should have, and the ones you’d like to have. The Site Planning Worksheet will help you assess your options.
Site Building Tools
If you use a low-cost site building tool like Wix, Squarespace or WordPress, you can probably have a site up and running in just a few hours. These tools let you create your site by dragging and dropping your preferred features into a template. They usually either include e-commerce features or work well with third-party shopping carts and payment systems.
However, you may need features—such as a branded domain name—that the tool doesn’t offer. Also, if you don’t have good design and organizational skills, this may not be the best option for you. In addition to chasing away customers, a poorly designed site may get lower rankings from search engines.
Although professional Web designers cost more, they tend to do things right the first time. This can save you a lot of money and frustration in the long run. Always consider the value of your time when deciding whether to take the do-it-yourself path. If designing a site takes you 100 hours, that would be $1,000 of labor even if you assumed your time was only worth $10 an hour. And that doesn’t include the opportunity cost: In other words, what else could you have done with those 100 hours? What if you could’ve sold $1,000 worth of products in that time, or completed a $1,000 service contract?
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that do-it-yourself projects are free; your time is always worth money, and spending time on one business project always means postponing or abandoning another. If paying someone else to design your site—either from scratch or with a site building tool—will be faster, deliver better results and leave you free to accomplish tasks you’re good at, it may be a bargain.
E-Commerce Platforms
This is one of the easiest ways to sell online. You simply register with a service like Shopify or Magento, choose a template and upload your product information. E-commerce platforms are often bundled with hosting services, and most of them are upgraded frequently to reflect new capabilities, best practices and security features. This is a much cheaper way to keep up with new technology than overhauling your own site, and many platforms offer upgrades when you’re ready to grow.
Of course, you pay for this convenience by giving up a certain amount of flexibility and brand identity. Especially when it comes to checkout, payment and coupon options, you may be tied to the platform’s preferred way of doing things. Consider these issues:
Customization. How much can you customize your site, and how easy is it? Do you need to know a programming language, or can you simply drag and drop page elements?
Catalog and search functions. Does the platform allow you to organize, sort and display your products in a way that makes sense for your business? Can users search easily and filter results by cost, size and other parameters?
Hosting. Is the service hosted by the provider, or can you host it on a preferred server?
Content. What content can you add? If you want to include podcasts or videos, is that an option? What about customer reviews? Are there restrictions on the type or amount of content allowed?
Interface. How easy is it to add, delete or update content? How easy is it to perform inventory management and other site administration tasks?
Sales and marketing data. What marketing, promotional and cross-selling capabilities does it offer? What sales data does it collect, and what analytics tools does it have?
Payment and shipping. Will the site work with your preferred payment, coupon and shipping options, or will you be limited to specific options?
Add-ons. Does the platform allow you to integrate third-party apps and plugins that improve features and functionality?
Mobile support. Is the platform fully compatible with mobile devices? Sites that aren’t optimized for mobile devices will have a lower page ranking in Google search results and may lose sales.
Tech support. If something goes wrong, will you be able to get personal technical support? Or will you have to search for answers in a user forum and then perform your own troubleshooting?
Fees. Watch out for setup, transaction, early termination, and resource usage fees, as well as monthly fees.
E-Commerce Portals
Many startups sell through online marketplaces like eBay Stores, Amazon Stores or Etsy. In addition to being easy to set up and use, these sites allow you to test-market products with likely buyers. You can try selling at various prices, offering various discounts and shipping options, and see which approach generates the best sales.
The downside is that these sites often don’t allow much customization, making it hard to differentiate your business and build your brand. That might not be a huge problem when you’re starting out. But once your business reaches a certain level of success, you’ll probably want to launch your own site. Again, monthly charges and transaction fees can be significant.
Hiring Designers and Developers
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, Web designers usually design the appearance and navigation for a site, while Web developers write the code that makes the site work. Web development firms will handle both tasks.
Hiring design professionals is the most expensive option, but it gives you the most control over the appearance and function of your site. As we mentioned earlier, it can also free up time that you might otherwise waste trying to build your own site.
Once you’ve decided which features you’d like to have, get quotes from at least three firms or professionals. Consider their skills, their costs and your budget. Visit sites they built—their own, especially—and test their functionality. Of course, you should also ask for customer references.
Unless you’re very comfortable with coding, you’ll need a content management system (CMS) that will make it easy to edit and update your site. This system should be user-friendly even for people with little experience, and it should also work on a variety of browsers. If possible, ask for a demo of the CMS.
Here are some good questions to ask:
How much will the entire project cost? Is there a flat rate, or will they bill by the hour? What’s included in the price?
Will they do all the work in-house, or will they outsource certain tasks? If they outsource, you may want to look into the contractor’s credentials as well.
Will they build the site from scratch or use a template? The latter approach can save you money, but it may result in a less unique site.
How will they optimize your site for mobile devices?
Will you own the site once it’s finished, or will they retain the rights to the design and artwork?
If you hire a developer or designer, get as much information as possible about the tools used to create your site. Many small
businesses that hire a freelancer neglect to get any of the site’s technical specifications. Later, when they need to know this information, they find that the freelancer has gone out of business or left the area.
Site Design
No matter who’s going to build your site, the first step is to draw up a basic blueprint that shows how your pages relate to one another. The Site Design Worksheets will help you with this important task.
Planning Your Site
Webmasters often design their sites from the top down. They start with a home page, and then work their way down to individual topic or product pages. However, we recommend working backward. Start with topic pages, group them into general categories, and then tie them all together with a home page. This allows you to focus on creating unique landing pages for products and product categories.
Start by making a list in Excel of all of your products. Then, group them into categories.
If you sell hats, you might start by naming styles of hats and then group them into men’s and women’s, casual and formal, or whatever category makes the most sense. Give each category a simple name.
Many webmasters use a technique called card sorting for this stage. This is a simple matter of writing the name of each page on a separate card and then spreading the cards out on a table so you can experiment with different placement options.
Another virtue of this approach is that you can give employees, customers, friends and family members the cards and ask them to arrange them in an optimal way.
Once you’ve identified your categories, think about whether they are in fact sub-categories of a larger category, like a brand. If they are, group them as necessary. Repeat this process until you reach the top.
Now, you can think about linking to each of the top categories from your home page. You also need to think about informational pages that visitors should be able to access directly from your home page (e.g., “About Us,” “Frequently Asked Questions” or a shopping cart).
At the end of this process, you will have a series of logically related pages that run from the most general (your home page) to very specific product or topic pages.
Page Elements
Once you’ve come up with a site diagram, you must decide which elements will appear on each page (e.g., navigation bar, company name, and logo) and how they’ll work with the rest of the site. This process is called wireframing; normally, it entails creating a simple, black-and-white mockup of your pages to show the position of the main page elements and how they relate to one another. Wireframing and other detailed aspects of site design are beyond the scope of this book. You will find a good overview of the design process at www.usability.gov. It also includes templates and tutorials.
Confirmation Pages
When a visitor performs a desired action on your site, this is known as a conversion. When designing your site, think about what customers need to do on each page and identify conversion goals such as buying a product, subscribing to a newsletter or creating an account. If you’re using the card sorting method, you can write conversion goals on each card.
Each conversion should take the visitor to a confirmation page. This is important primarily to confirm that your site recognized and processed the visitor’s action. Many businesses offer a confirmation number, a tracking number or some other method of following up on a sale. Of course, a confirmation page should always thank the visitor for her action.
A confirmation page should also offer the visitor a next step, like “Continue Shopping” or “Follow us on Twitter.” It shouldn’t simply be a dead end.
Navigation
Users should understand at a glance how to navigate your site to find what they need. Your search window, shopping cart and “Frequently Asked Questions” page should be impossible for users to miss.
An “About Us” page is also essential. It tells customers who you are, where you are and why they can trust you. These features should be accessible from every page.
Most visitors will naturally direct their gaze to the upper left corner, so that’s where your logo belongs. Clicking the logo should take users back to your home page.
Breadcrumb navigation helps users find their way through your site. It usually comprises a row of links that trace the user’s trail from the home page to the current page.
Home > Jewelry > Rings > Gold
This way, users who want to go back two pages can simply click on the desired link, instead of hitting the browser’s “back” button twice.
Interactivity
How will users interact with your site? Will they fill out forms, click on buttons or choose shipping options? Will they search your catalog or access a database? Each of these features requires careful planning and must be detailed thoroughly. Describe the features and what happens when the customer uses them.
…
Having visited a number of sites she liked (and a lot of sites she didn’t), Cleo made a list of the major features she wanted:
A color and texture palette for textiles and threads
A price calculator for embroidery jobs
An interactive embroidery preview tool that would allow users to experiment with different designs, sizes, colors, fabrics and textures
Real-time order and tracking capability
Live chat capability for customer questions and consultations
A secure payment tool
I remember talking to my father about all this. He was very interested, though of course he was also a bit skeptical. I told him about all the research I had done and everything I had planned. And he said, “You’ve also talked to our clients, I assume? You’ve asked them what they want to be able to do on our site?”
I felt like such a fool, because I hadn’t. I was so caught up with what I was going to do for them that I never stopped to ask them what they wanted. Right away, I contacted our biggest clients and got their input. They had great suggestions, like one-click ordering for swatch books and a gallery of standard designs for clients who don’t need custom work.
Armed with all of this information, Cleo approached Jet Age, as well as four other firms she’d found online or heard about from business associates.
After discussing her needs and concerns with each candidate at length, she sent out bid requests and got quotes from each firm. At first, she was disappointed to find that Jet Age’s price was slightly higher than she had budgeted for. On the other hand, the other developers had told her the job would take six to nine months. Jet Age claimed they could do it in five. A faster turnaround time, combined with great references and a style that Cleo loved, was worth the extra money. Cleo decided to give the contract to Jet Age.
…
Mobile Devices
As of this writing, there are three basic ways of designing for mobile devices:
Mobile website. This is a separate, parallel site configuration created specifically for mobile devices. When a mobile user accesses your main site, she is automatically redirected to the mobile version. Most sites allow users to switch back to the desktop view if they prefer. On the positive side, mobile sites usually load quickly and function well. On the negative side, creating and maintaining two sites can be a headache.
Responsive design aims to deliver a single site that looks equally good and performs equally well on desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. It relies on fluid, flexible layouts and page elements that can adapt to different devices. Responsive design techniques allow page elements to reshuffle for different devices; for example, a three-column layout on a desktop computer may change to a one-column layout on a smartphone screen. The main benefit of this approach is that you have one site and one URL that work across a variety of devices. That said, responsive design can be tricky, and if it’s not done right it can slow down a mobile device’s performance dramatically.
Native apps are designed to deliver optimized site content on a specific device. This results in a very fast-loading page that often works without an Internet connection. However, each app will be tied to a specific device and operating system. This is the most expensive option, even before you consider the potential expense of marketing the app. Statistically, it’s also the least likely approach to be adopted and used consistently by consumers.
There are also hybrid options that combine features of mobile websites and apps. Many experts argue that it’s best to start with a mobile site and then adapt it to desktop screens, rather than vice versa. This is a good point to discuss with a professional.
Content Creation
Once you’ve decided on organization, design and page elements, you can start working on content. This can include text, images, animation, sound or whatever else you need to promote your business and communicate your brand. We will discuss content creation in the next chapter.
BASIC E-Commerce Capabilities
In this section, we’ll take a closer look at the four basic stages of online selling: merchandising, making the sale, getting paid and shipping goods.
Merchandising
Many sites assume that high-tech wizardry is the secret to attracting online customers. In reality, most people would rather see clear information than dazzling graphics.
Brick-and-mortar retailers are experts in presenting goods, as are catalog sellers. It’s not a bad idea to borrow their display concepts. Consider how department stores display merchandise. The physical layout encourages browsing. Lighting and colors inspire a variety of emotions (quiet calm for bedroom items, or sunny cheerfulness for patio furniture). Complementary items may be grouped into “lifestyle” tableaux to encourage add-on sales.
Think about the psychology of buying, online and off, and consider how your site can pique the interest of buyers. Here are a few common approaches:
Spotlight your products with large, professional, high-resolution photographs. Include a zoom feature, if possible. If you’re a tech business, use large, readable screenshots and videos to show what your product looks like and how it works.
Make it easy to search your site. In addition to a standard keyword search, add filters to help the user drill down to a specific product category (e.g., color, size, highest/lowest price, highest customer rating, and any other category that make sense for your business).
Use a cross-selling function to suggest complementary products. For example, a customer who looks at a winter scarf would get information on matching gloves. To make the offer more attractive, consider bundling the products. For instance, if the scarf is $100 and the gloves are $75, offer them both for $150.
Include all relevant product information, such as height, weight, color, size, ingredients and sourcing. As always, use these features to sell benefits.
Offer live online chat with a service rep through instant messaging or VoIP.
Include helpful tools such as rulers, charts, calculators, wish lists, personalized shopping recommendations, and gift reminder services.
Include customer reviews and recommendations. Most consumers trust other consumers more than they trust businesses. Consumer reviews and ratings can prompt fence-sitters to buy.
Promote sharing. Make it easy for customers to share content, product details and actions (such as buying a product or adding it to a wish list) on social media.
Making the Sale
In this stage, the customer must be able to put items in a shopping cart, choose a shipping option, get a price that includes shipping and tax, and enter billing and shipping addresses.
Here are some features all e-commerce sites should have:
The shopping cart should be accessible from every page. Customers should be able to add and remove items easily and to store them indefinitely. Price totals, including tax and shipping charges, should be recalculated immediately.
Customers should have the ability to add coupon, credit and discount codes. Again, the price total should be recalculated immediately.
There should be as few checkout pages as possible, and they should load quickly. Studies show that increasing your page-loading speed can boost sales. Many sites use a status bar to show buyers where they are in the buying process, which can encourage them to complete the process.
Don’t make buyers jump through hoops. Instead of requiring them to log in or register, consider giving them the option of creating an account after they’ve filled in their billing and shipping info.
Every checkout page should include a phone number or live chat link in case the customer has questions.
Highlight security measures, encryption standards, anti-fraud measures, return policies and any third-party guarantees of security.
Offer multiple shipping options, including overnight service. Show shipping charges early in the checkout process so they don’t come as a surprise.
If you accept foreign orders, make sure your shipping charges are accurate and your fields accept foreign addresses.
Allow customers to keep their encrypted credit card, shipping and billing information on file, so they won’t have to enter them every time they buy.
Tracking information should be available as soon as the order is processed. Providing this information up front will reduce the number of calls and emails you need to answer later on.
…
When Cleo talked to her clients, the most interesting thing she learned was that they had a very different view of her company’s personalized service. In particular, many of them saw Sairam’s lengthy design and approval process as inefficient, but they accepted it as the tradeoff for a strong relationship and high-quality, error-free work. Far from being unwilling to adopt a new system, they were eager for it—provided it was “simple” to use.
Cleo explained all of this to Andy Chau, Jet Age’s creative director, during a Skype call. In turn, he explained Jet Age’s three rules of design for e-commerce sites:
First-time visitors should feel as comfortable as repeat visitors.
If you have to provide instructions on how to use your site, it’s too complicated.
Every page should allow the user to do anything she needs to do in two clicks or less.
Jet Age’s marketing team also made some excellent suggestions on targeting individual customers, especially those who were looking for unusual, high-quality gifts for holidays, weddings and anniversaries.
Andy had a lot of ideas for improving the site—things I hadn’t thought of, like storing old orders to speed up the reorder process. And when I told him the history of the company, and the working methods we use, he found it very interesting and suggested we include some video content that explains who we are. He thought it would be good to have my father give visitors a little tour. I wish I could say I thought of that myself. But it was Andy’s idea, and that was when I felt very sure that I’d made a good choice. I could see that Jet Age understood us because they had the same values.
During one Skype conversation, Cleo told Andy that despite all her efforts to make the site welcoming, she was still a little worried about moving away from the one-on-one interactions that made Sairam special. Maybe the site would be too cold, too impersonal.
“Do you feel like the conversation we’re having right now is cold and impersonal?” Andy asked her.
“No, of course not!”
“Even though we’re online? Talking to each other through a computer screen?”
Cleo saw his point. She laughed, and asked him to add a Skype button to the site’s contact page.
…
Getting Paid
Credit cards are the most popular method of paying for goods online. According to SCORE, online sellers who don’t accept credit cards lose 60 to 80 percent of their potential sales.
If you want to sell online, you should set up an Internet merchant account (IMA) with your bank so you can accept credit cards. Research all terms, fees and conditions before signing a merchant agreement.
You’ll also need to choose a payment services provider (PSP)—also known as a payment gateway—to handle the actual processing of your credit card payments. Basically, PSPs manage communications between your website and the banks that process online payments. Authorize.net is a widely used PSP.
When choosing a PSP, pay close attention to security issues. Strong security measures are important not just to protect your finances, but also to encourage customers to buy. Find out what steps the PSP has taken—online and off—to thwart identity theft and other types of fraud. Some PSPs will automatically flag suspicious orders.
A good PSP should have reasonable fees, strong references and excellent customer service. And of course, it should integrate smoothly with your site. Again, read the fine print and look out for hidden fees.
Alternatively, you can accept electronic payments through a service like PayPal. If you’re a merchant who uses PayPal, your customers can click on a “Pay” button that brings them to a checkout form. PayPal collects the money and credits it to your account, minus a fee.
Security
E-commerce requires trust, which is why you must offer a secure method of accepting credit cards. As of this writing, the primary security standards is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). PCI compliance is a basic requirement for PSPs.
For websites, the standard security method is secure socket layer (SSL), which is a communications protocol that encrypts customer information. To implement SSL, you’ll need an authentication certificate. This is a sort of digital ID card that confirms your identity. You can get this from a certificate authority such as DigiCert (www.digicert.com). The certificate also encrypts the data. For maximum security, you’ll want a 2,048-bit certificate.
Studies show that sites with a recognizable SSL certificate enjoy increased e-commerce sales, fewer abandoned shopping carts, and more repeat purchases.
Mobile Payments
Accepting payments from mobile devices is becoming a basic e-commerce functionality. Not only are more people than ever shopping on smartphones and tablets, but mobile payment systems can be simpler,
faster and more secure than traditional e-commerce transactions.
Mobile payment systems typically prompt the buyer to enter a personal identification number during the checkout process. Then, the system sends a one-time authorization code to the buyer’s device, which the buyer enters to complete the transaction. Popular platforms include PayPal, Google Wallet and Apple Pay (which uses digital fingerprint recognition as a security feature).
The main virtue of mobile payment and digital wallet technology is that buyers can use it to pay for goods on any site. Instead of creating accounts on multiple websites and filling out multiple online order forms, digital wallets allow one-click ordering and payment. Historically, the hassle of filling out online order forms has been a primary cause of abandoned transactions, so the ability to streamline and simplify this process can boost sales significantly.
As with any other merchant service, you need to look carefully at subscription and transaction fees when considering a mobile payment platform. Also, because this is an emerging technology, it’s best not to get locked into a long service contract.
Calculating Taxes
Sales tax rates vary from state to state, county to county, and city to city. To make matters more confusing, you have to consider states in which you may have a nexus. The term “nexus” generally means a permanent location or establishment (e.g., a store, a shipping facility, an office or a resident sales agent). What constitutes a nexus in e-commerce is a subject of ongoing debate. Consult your accountant or tax attorney for more information.
Once you’ve ascertained your needs and obligations, you can buy third-party programs that will work with your site to calculate tax. Avalara (www.avalara.com) is a popular provider. As with all taxation issues, have a long talk with your accountant before you make any decisions.
Value-added tax (VAT)
Value-added tax is a type of consumption tax that is used in many countries worldwide, including the 28 countries that make up the European Union.
As of 2015, U.S. businesses that sell digital goods and services to consumers in the European Union are required to collect and pay VAT based on the rate in the buyer’s home country. VAT does not apply to business-to-business sales.
Affected goods include e-books and magazines, music, videos, photographs and illustrations, podcasts, games, software, screensavers, hosting and storage services, and online advertising space.
You can simplify this process—slightly—by registering for a VAT number from the Mini One-Stop Shop (MOSS) system. To do so, you must choose an EU country as your member state of identification (MSI). After you register through that country’s MOSS portal, you must follow these steps when making digital sales to the EU:
Note your customer’s location.
Charge the appropriate VAT for that location, based on the VAT tables available through ec.europa.eu.
Retain two pieces of address information (e.g., billing address and IP address) in your records to prove that you charged the appropriate VAT for that customer. You must store this data for 10 years.
Submit quarterly returns to MOSS, along with payment of any VAT due. Even if you make no EU sales in a given quarter, you must still file a return.
Barring an overhaul of these rules, the most plausible solution is a VAT-compliant shopping cart, such as the one offered by Ecwid (www.ecwid.com). Many other third-party services will undoubtedly spring up to help U.S. retailers cope with VAT rules.
Shipping
High shipping costs can chase online shoppers away. In most cases, you should avoid calculating shipping and handling fees as a percentage of the total price of the order. Should a shopper be socked with a higher shipping cost for spending more money at your business? Of course not! If anything, the shopper should be rewarded with free, discounted or expedited shipping.
For sites with a very high volume of sales, free shipping can be a good way to attract and keep customers. However, somebody has to pay; if you offer free shipping, you must either accept a lower profit margin on each item you sell or else raise your prices. Also, sellers who offer free shipping may lose customers if they ever change this policy.
If you decide to offer free shipping, make sure your system restricts it to a specific region and service level (e.g., ground shipping within the continental United States). Also, set a minimum order level (e.g., $50 or more). Standardizing your packing materials will help to avoid costly weight fluctuations.
Many shippers offer software plugins that will work in concert with your site. Visit their sites for more information.
Order Fulfillment Services
Some online businesses avoid the hassle of shipping orders by outsourcing order fulfillment to a third-party dropshipper such as Shipwire. This can be especially helpful for international orders, as some dropshippers will have warehouses in other countries.
Like any other intermediary, a dropshipper will add to your cost of doing business. Consider whether this cost will be offset by other benefits, such as lower inventory costs or improved marketing and sales efforts.
More seriously, you have to consider the fact that you are outsourcing a central element of your customer service to a third party. No matter how well you have performed up to that point, an unsatisfactory shipping experience will reflect badly on your entire operation. Given the importance of customer experience to online sellers, this is not a decision you should make lightly, no matter how much you dislike packing orders and managing inventory.
If you’re selling enough goods to consider outsourcing your order fulfillment, there’s a good chance you’re selling enough to hire a dedicated shipping team that understands your product and works under your direct control. The most likely exception would be a case where warehousing is impractical or impossible. For instance, if you’re running a very successful home-based business, but you’re not at a point where you can expand into an adequately sized business facility, outsourcing your order fulfillment might be a good short-term option.
…
Over the next five months, Cleo watched the evolution of her site as Jet Age shared each stage of the design process with her. Once a beta version of the site was ready, she had three of Sairam’s best clients test it out and provide feedback. In response to their comments, a number of features were tweaked to improve usability.
Soon, the site was ready to launch. Jet Age offered Sairaim a package deal that included hosting, search engine optimization and social media integration, which Cleo gladly accepted.
Within six months, orders were coming in from customers Sairam had never sold to before. A large fine-dining restaurant chain in Chicago placed an order for 4,000 custom napkins and matching tablecloths. Eight home-design boutiques ordered a total of 1,600 embroidered pillowcases, and Cleo was negotiating with a large hotel chain to be the sole source of luxury linens for 22 hotels. Individual sales were less common, but their numbers were steadily increasing.
The website’s beautifully designed interactive tools made it easier for customers to design and approve orders, and its multiple communication channels made it easier for Sairam to keep clients informed and happy. Because Sairam’s staff didn’t have to spend as much time hammering out technical details in multiple emails, they actually had more time for the old-school relationship-building that both Cleo and her father had always favored.
To me, the new website is a vindication of everything I learned from my father. He didn’t want to know about market segments; he wanted to know about individuals. Today, that approach is all the rage online, and I have to laugh when people talk about it like it’s something new. It’s true Sairam now has technology my father never dreamed of, but it didn’t pay off for us until we approached it with his values in mind.
…
CONCLUSION
Some business owners make the mistake of assuming that once they’ve launched a website and built a following on social media, their work is finished.
This is wishful thinking. Few areas of business and technology evolve more quickly than search engines, mobile devices and social media. What works today may not work a few months from now, and processes that are difficult today may require no more than the push of a button tomorrow.
If you’re serious about your business, you need to keep on top of online tools, trends and emerging best practices. Stay alert, engaged and curious, and never stop learning!

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Choose Your ISP Carefully! Consider these issues when choosing an ISP: What special features do they offer business customers? Do they have different service tiers based on usage needs (number of email boxes, speed, backup, website size)? Is there room to grow if your business takes off? How much bandwidth do you get? What happens if you go over the limit? Can you use your existing phone or cable line, or will they have to install a new one? How reliable is the technical support team? When is support available? How quickly do they respond? Do they have a chat room or users’ forum that offers help? What are their email policies? How do they address spam and other threats? What are their policies on email marketing? How reliable is the connection? What is its percentage of uptime? If it fails to meet the promised uptime, will you get a discount or refund? How stable is the ISP? Does it have adequate backup servers? Has it been in business for more than three years? Does it have good reviews and references? What security measures are in place, both for Web hosting and for e-commerce? How do their costs compare? Are there fees for equipment, setup, extra email accounts or early cancelation?

| NxLeveL® TECH TIP BUSINESS RESOURCES AND THE WEB
Online Trends to Watch Here’s a brief introduction to three important trends that will affect your business in years to come. All growth-oriented business owners should stay on top of these developments. Cloud computing means accessing services, data and programs over the Internet instead of saving them on your own hard drive. Computer backup, accounting systems and online office suites are just some of the services available, all of which can help small businesses by giving the same computing power and security as larger competitors. The Internet of Things (IoT). Where the Internet is an interactive network of computers, IoT is an interactive network of objects, machines and systems that communicate over the Internet. From a business standpoint, one obvious application is supply chain management, where the use of RFID communications allows you to know where every item in your supply chain is in real time. Smart grid applications that monitor your energy usage, and adapt automatically to changing temperatures, are another example. In coming years, very few businesses will be unaffected by these capabilities. Mobile optimization. The days when most people used desktop computers to go online are long gone. Today, online marketing must include mobile marketing. This means websites and other online content must be optimized for smartphones and other mobile devices, and it also means merchandising, payment, communication, social media and customer service functions need to work seamlessly with these devices.

Site Hosting Considerations Here are some things to consider when choosing a hosted platform or a site host: Type of hosting. Shared hosting stores many sites on the same server. This is the cheapest option, but it’s also the slowest and the least secure. Virtual private server (VPS) hosting also uses a shared server; however, your site is kept separate from the others, resulting in faster speeds and better security. Dedicated hosting means you have your own server; it’s more costly but also more secure and reliable. Storage and bandwidth How much data do you need to store? Consider the size of your inventory, as well as photos, videos and other content. Bandwidth relates to the amount of data your site can transfer per day and per month. When assessing bandwidth needs, consider the amount of traffic you expect and the types of content you will deliver (e.g., text and photos versus streaming video). Some hosts offer “unlimited” storage and bandwidth, but no such thing exists; always check for hidden limitations (such as “resource usage”) before signing a deal. Domain names. If you choose a hosted e-commerce platform, make sure you can use your own domain name. Security. If you will be collecting customer data, you will need a host that offers or allows secure socket layer (SSL) protection.

Online Payment Tips Assess your processing needs: How many transactions do you expect per month? Is your business seasonal? Will this number change over time? Which credit cards do you want to accept? What fees apply? How will you accept mobile payments? What fees and technical requirements apply? Assess payment service providers: What is their online reputation? What other sites use them? How is their customer service? Do they answer questions promptly? Do you have to sign up for a specific amount of time, or do they offer a month-to-month contract? Are there penalties for early termination? What security measures and standards do they use? What steps have they taken to prevent online fraud? How do they handle chargebacks?