Archive for April, 2008

Small Business Website Builder

April 26, 2008

Are you starting a business or already have one, but can’t afford to spend a lot for a great website? No need to worry because edirecthost.com provides website hosting services via there online website builder. They help you make your own website without the cost of an expensive web designer. Edirecthost.com supports both informational and eCommerce sites.

Ecommerce website design sounds complicated but at edirecthost.com you will find all the tools you need to do it fast and inexpensively with out compromising quality. Their online store builder with product catalogs and Ecommerce shopping carts can sell almost anything. Use you own logos and images or choose from their great selection of customized colors and images. Upgrading is simple and fast as well. If you should have any questions or need help resolving issues, their excellent staff is available by phone at 1.800.557.4903 or via email at support@edirecthost.com. They offer a free ten day trial period and you can cancel at any time.

In this day and age the internet has become the most important tool in promoting a business so let edirecthost.com be your online website builder. Their services and expertise are what you need to make your own website.

Website Builder and eCommerce

April 7, 2008

When comparing website builders, keep in mind that eCommerce is a large part of the builder that needs to be reviewed and tested.  Some of the key things to look at are; shopping cart, shipping options, product catalog, secure checkout, merchant account integration, coupons, import/export, order review and processing, inventory control, sales tax, gift certificates, subscriptions, downloadable products.  This is just a partial list but the right website builder will have these options and more.

 

Shopping Cart, make sure the builder has a shopping cart that allows you to add products to the cart and buy them.  Integrating a 3rd party shopping cart within a sitebuilder can be a real headache.  Having the shopping cart built into the website builder allows you to get support from one company and not having to contact separate parties and then get the finger pointing issue.

 

Product Catalog, verify you can setup and manage your products within the sitebuilder.  Sitebuilder should also have the ability to create categories and sub categories for organizing larger product listings.

 

Secure Checkout, sitebuilder NEEDS to have a secure SSL checkout certificate integrated in.  You should not have to go out and buy a SSL certificate and then integrate it within the sitebuilder.  Again, one product and one support number to call.

 

Merchant Account, eCommerce solution will need to support various merchant account setups.  A merchant account is the bank that will do the credit card processing for you.  Sitebuilders won’t have this option built in because they are not a bank but should have the option to work with the most popular gateways out there.  Authorize.net, linkpoint, verisign and more.

 

Coupons, gift certificates, subscriptions and downloadable products are a much needed add on for any eCommerce solution.  Again, they should be built into the website builder so you don’t have to integrate another party solution.

 

Inventory control isn’t needed by everyone but if your business requires it then verify the eCommerce website builder supports this option as well.  It will be very difficult to integrate online inventory control with retail stores because of the inventory change within the store.

 

Make sure sales tax and shipping vendors are available as well.  As eCommerce store will need to charge tax for the state they are in and not for any states they don’t have a physical location in.  Integration with FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL and others is a very important option.

 

Keep this in mind when looking for a Website Builder with eCommerce features.  One company we recommend that handles all of the above and much more is eDirectHost at www.edirecthost.com, they have one of the most advanced eCommerce shopping carts in the market today.