Somewhere along the line people began assuming that selling things online was free.  I am sure that this assumption comes from thinking that they don’t have the overhead of a store or the need to keep a large amount of inventory on hand, etc.  I will be the first to agree that selling online is cheaper than having a brick and mortar store.  However, it is not free!  There are many things to take into consideration when budgeting for an eCommerce website.

1. Web Design – you need a quality design and someone experienced in eCommerce to succeed.
2. Merchant Fees – you will need to accept credit cards to sell online and all accounts charge fees based on a percent of each sell.  Also if you want to do it right you will need a premium account (something better than the low level paypal account) so that the cards can be processed on your site.
3. Shopping Cart Fees – There are lots of quality shopping carts out there that make selling online easier for the store owner.  There are monthly fees involved with these carts.  Expect to pay $30-70 a month for the service.
4. Maintenance – adding products to your store can be a simple process if you paid for it up front with a content management system.  Or if you were looking to save money you may have forgone that option.  If so you will need to pay someone who knows what they are doing to update the products in your store on an ongoing basis.

Selling online doesn’t have to be hard, but go into the process understanding that it isn’t free.  Find a designer/company that is willing to explain all the fees upfront and help you get started for what you can afford.

So you have decided that you want a website.  First, congratulations, I think everyone/business needs a website.  Now that you have decided that you need a site you also need to decide what goes on your web site.  I have a few suggestions for those of you running a business website:

1. Put an address on your site.  If you work from home and don’t want to publish that address for privacy (or to protect your children) then get a PO box or get a UPS store address.  Addresses on webpages provide security to users, especially if you are selling something.  People want to know that they can get in contact with you somehow if they need to
2. Homepage information is your most important information.  This page is very important to search engine rankings.  Make sure you tell about your business, what you do, area that you service, types of products that you sell, etc.  For those of you who like the “splash page” look (an image with no information) I caution you to rethink this.  Search engines don’t like it.
3. Take the extra time to go through all the information that you think people want to know about your business before you start.  The process of creating a website is made much easier if planning is done ahead of time.  Things can always be added or taken away but it is more cost effective to get the main areas covered the first time.
4. Get quotes and portfolios from several designers before you choose one.  When you have several quotes from companies compare what you are getting for the cost.
5. If you are selling a product online.  Don’t skimp on this section of the website.  The more comfortable and easy to use it is the more likely people are to buy from you.   Make sure it is a seamless transition from your site to the payment location.  If you go with a method where they pay on another site, it should look exactly like your site, there should be no discrepancies.  People get scared away if things change.  They suddenly feel like they don’t know who they are giving their money to and don’t know if they can trust them.  If everything flows and is easy to use, people will buy.
6. It takes time to get a good ranking on a search engine.  Be patient.  Just because you have built a website and put in all the right keywords doesn’t mean that you will have top ranking the day it launches or even the month it launches.  Give it 8 weeks or so before you start on further optimization.

Now that you have a few tips.  Start getting your information together and call a few designers to set up meetings.  Write down any questions you have before the meeting and most designers are happy to answer them and walk you through the process of getting your site done.

This question is undoubtedly the most asked question I get.  Where do I buy a domain?  There are several good registrars out there but my recommendation is godaddy. Godaddy is a reliable registrar that offers a lot for the money.  I also recommend looking up some coupon codes before buying.  You can usually find codes at retailmenot.

Along these lines people often ask when they need to get a domain.  I really believe that if you have a business idea and a domain name in mind that you should buy it.  It will only cost you around $10 dollars a year to hold the domain and it will ensure that when you are ready to use it you have it.  If you do buy a domain ahead of time, make sure you keep track of all your login and expiration information.  A domain that you own does you no good if you can’t login to the control panel.

Happy domain hunting.

One of the questions that I get asked constantly is where should I host my website.  My initial reaction is that you should host through your designer if they offer the service.  Why?  Simply because if your site is on their servers the moment it goes down (and it will at some-point, technology is not perfect) the design service will be trying to get it back up ASAP.  If you are hosting it on your own, you may not know your site is down right away and when you do find out it is down you will need to deal with tech support to get it back up.  Or you can pay your designer to do this for you.

If you do want the money savings of hosting your site on your own.  I think one of the best hosts for the price is 1and1.  They offer cheap small packages which are usually plenty to serve small business needs.  They also offer pretty decent tech support for the occasion that there is a problem with your website.

WYSIWYG = What you see is what you get.  For my money, which in this case in none, Tiny MCE is the best WYSIWYG editor.  It allows me to place it on a page and have a client enter text that they want, in the format that they want and submit it.  I have not used another editor for my client content management systems since I found it.  It works very well.  It is easy to use.  It has the very familiar feel of Microsoft Word that makes people comfortable.  If you are looking for an editor for content management systems, this is the one you want.

Tiny MCE Website.