A beginner's guide to setting up a successful online store

Online selling is by no means a simple task. To sell products online not
only requires making use of high end marketing strategies but also
involves lots of planning. This article is meant for those of you who
intent to start an online store. It is intended to give you a fair idea
of what you would need to do and what you need to avoid while planning
an online selling business.

The following are the various steps that you would need to take in order
to open a successful online store

1.) Designing a website that sells

The first most important aspect of online selling is to have a
professional looking website that is designed to sell. You can go about
creating the website from code up using web designers or simply go for
readymade website templates. If you are purchasing website templates, be
sure to go for templates that are professionally designed and have the
option of shopping carts. Buying templates from providers who offer
allied services like template customization, web hosting; SEO etc would
be even better. Some template providers like ?buytemplates.net? offer
allied services irrespective of where you actually purchased the
template from. To get a rough idea of how your site should be designed
you can take hints from successful online stores like
http://www.ishopage.com, ?gap.com? and ?bestbuy.com?.

2.) Hosting your store online

There are many factors that you need to take into consideration before
selecting your web host when it comes to online selling. Some of the
major factors are discussed as follows.

a.) Secure servers

Firstly you got to make sure if your web host offers you with SSL
encryption which is very important for secure money transactions online.
Most web hosting companies would offer you with SSL secure server
facilities along with a regular package whereas a few would charge you
an extra amount for the service.

b.) Up time guarantees

Your business is only as good as it remains online. Make sure to go for
web hosting service providers who promise you an uptime guarantee of 99
%. Also check to see as to how they back up their data and what kind of
back up systems they have in place in case of emergencies.

c.) Private CGI-BIN

A CGI-BIN directory is a location on your web server where you can
upload your binary scripts or interactive programs. This is very
important for payment processing and shopping cart management. So be
sure that the hosing company gives you a private CGI BIN directory.

d.) Web logs and web statistics

Web logs and statistics are vital for your online business. Studying the
web logs can give you much needed information about your customers and
your sales records. Understanding your customer behavior can help you
retain customers and attract new customers.

e.) Customer support

Get as much information about the hosting company?s support policies and
the type of support they offer. Go for web hosting companies that offer
24/7 customer support.

f.) References

Most web hosts promise you lots of goodies but may not live up to it.
Make sure to test the web host?s credibility by asking them for
references. The existing customers of the hosting company can give your
first hand information on the service that you can expect to get.

In addition to this you should also look for services that offer you
Mysql database and PHP scripting, unlimited emails and a minimum space
of 10GB.

3.) Deciding on shopping carts

If you are selling more than a handful of products then having a
shopping cart on your site is a good idea. You have three major options
of getting yourself an online shopping cart. First one is buying a
shopping cart software program; the second is using services of an ASP
and the third is programming it yourself.

Your best option as a beginner would be to go for ASP services. These
services are cheap and come with flexible options. As time passes and
you online business develops, you can hire programmers to design
yourself a customized shopping cart or buy shopping cart software
programs that can be set up in your server. Some good ASP?s that offer
shopping cart services are ?SecureNetShop? (SecureNetShop.com) and
?GoEmerchant? (GoEmerchant.com).

Shopping cart software programs are a costly option for beginners and
can cost you anything between $ 150 - $ 800. Some good shopping cart
software programs are ?shopfactory 6? (shopfactory.com) and ?storefront?
(strorefront.net)
One more option as already discussed above is making use of ecommerce
website templates. These ecommerce templates have pre installed shopping
cart systems and can help you set up a store in minutes. Some of these
template providers also offer template customization services that would
allow you to get your ordinary templates in selling modules.

4.) Deciding on how to accept payments

No matter what the speculation, credit cards are still the best way to
accept payments. So make sure that your online business has facilities
to accept credit cards. There was a time when you had to have a merchant
account from a bank or financial institution to process credit card
payments. But today there are enough options available that allow you to
accept credit card payments even without a merchant account.

Paypal (paypal.com) is perhaps the best payment gateway and has no
initial joining fees. Their service fees, per-transaction is very low
and they allow you to accept payments from all over the world. In
addition to Paypal some other good payment gateways are ?2checkout?
(2checkout.com), ?clickbank? (clickbank.com) and ?paysystems?
(paysystems.com).

Payment options other than credit cards

It is by no means necessary that all your customers will have credit
cards. As a matter of fact many of your customers don?t have credit
cards, many don?t like to use credit cards, many have credit card
phobias and the remaining may not wish to share their credit card
information online. Under such a situation it would be best for you to
provide alternate payment options.

Internet checks

Internet checks are as popular as credit cards when it comes to paying
online. Internet checks are comparatively safer and are best if your
customers are from international destinations. This technique would
involve your customer?s to make payments by an online blank check
provided by an internet check service provider. This information is sent
to the service provider for authorization. The merchant can also print
the check on his printer immediately afterwards. Some good service
providers who can offer you internet check services are paybycheck
(paybycheck.com) and cross-check (cross-check.com).

In addition to internet checks there are some other options of accepting
online payments like money orders and electronic checks. But these
methods are suitable only if your customers are from nearby locations.

The best way to decide your payment options is analyzing your customer
behaviors. You can also have online check boxes or feedback forms on
your website to collect information about your customer?s payment
preferences and act accordingly.

5.) Promoting your online store

No promotion equals to no sales. You can promote your store using online
marketing strategies like search engine optimization, email marketing,
banner advertisements and affiliate marketing among others. While
promoting your business you got to make sure to stay clear of any kind
of illegal methods like spamming, cloaking etc. Your promotion
activities should create a positive awareness about your online store
that leads to trust building.

6.) Assuring your Customers

The customer is the king and just as in any other type of business here
again you need to give your customer what he wants. To do this you got
to be sure of your customer?s preferences. Basically you need to address
the following doubts that your customers are likely to have in their
mind while buying online

a.) Is my credit information safe?
b.) How will the products be delivered to me and how long will it take?
c.) Are their any additional costs associated with the item?
d.) What kind of guarantees come with the product?
e.) Are there any discounts if I purchase multiple goods?
f.) What kind of customer service does the online shop have?
g.) What happens in case the goods are damaged or of low quality?

These questions in particular and many more questions in general can
arise in the minds of your customers