Web Hosts - What You Need to Know

You've probably heard of websites like Amazon and Etsy that give customers the ability to be selective with the items they buy. Well, the concept behind this type of business is very similar, except that instead of selling one product, you're selling virtually every product available online. That's a lot of websites to maintain! That's a good portion of what we call the "infrastructure of the web" – the thousands of websites that support online retail.

Let's say you're a fashion company that sells jeans, and you decide to expand your business to sell outdoor equipment and travel accessories. As a marketer, you'd want to create a simple landing page for each product you sell. You might call these pages "product landing pages." For example, if you're selling snowboards, your product landing page for that item might look like this:

The important point to note here is that this isn't just an online store. You'll still need real-world locations where customers can come in and purchase your products. So, although your online store is a crucial component of your business, you still need to consider what type of physical store presence you'll need to maintain – especially if you're expanding into brick-and-mortar retail.

Before we begin our discussion on how to get website production costs down, let's define what those costs actually are. A website production cost is whatever it takes to design and build the site. That includes everything from hosting costs to the cost of the design template you'll use to create your site. For the purposes of this discussion, we'll consider a basic website with a minimum purchase of five pages. So, to produce your first website for the cost of just the hosting and design, you'd need to spend at least £2,995.

If you'd like to create a stunning shopping cart page that would be the highlight of your site, you'll need to spend between £4,995 and £5,995. Of course, the higher your traffic, the more expensive your hosting cost will be. And if you'd like to create a sleek video layout that would be the talk of the town, you'll need to spend between £7,995 and £8,995.

The good news is that you can get these costs down. Sometimes it just takes a bit of research and asking the right questions. Let's get started.

If you're serious about creating a profitable e-commerce site, then the first thing you should do is define your target audience. That way, you can select the right products to promote and the right website design that would give your product the best shot at being discovered. Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Know your customer. Who are you selling the product to? What are their needs and wants? This is called the "ideal customer." You can find out a lot about your ideal customer by simply entering their name and email address into the email sign-up form located on the right-hand side of every page on your website. From here, you can send them email marketing messages that would help them discover your product. It's all about getting them to trust you enough to enter their credit card details so you can up-sale the product.

2. Choose your web host wisely. Just because a web host offers "free" hosting doesn't mean that they're great for your business. There are many reasons why a free host can be problematic, but here are the most common ones:

• No support team. So, if you have any questions regarding the set-up of your website, you're on your own.
• Limited storage. Be sure to look for a host that offers at least 25GB of space for each website. This way, you can easily store all of the products you're selling and any relevant documents.
• Limited bandwidth. Just like the storage space, look for a host that provides enough bandwidth for your website to load quickly and smoothly. If your site takes a long time to load, then visitors will leave and never come back.
• Poor performance. Just because your hosting provider is cheap or free doesn't mean that they offer the best service. Look for a host that is fast and stable.
• The list of issues goes on.

Once you've decided that you need a web host, take the time to read through their terms and conditions. This will tell you everything you need to know about how they operate and what kind of service they provide. Just remember: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. There are many different hosts out there, and chances are, there's a good reason why you haven't chosen your current host yet. Try out a few different hosts and see which one suits you best. This way, when it comes time to renew your contract with your current host, you'll be sure to get the best possible deal.

Once you've chosen your web host, the next step is to set up the basics of your site – namely your domain name and email. You'll need to decide what sort of web content you'll put on your site. If you've decided that you'll mainly offer products for sale, then you can use Shopify's platform to get up and running quickly. This is a cloud-based service that allows you to create stores, product catalogs, and even blog posts all in one place.

When choosing your domain name, it is a good idea to buy a.com address. This isn't just because they're more available, but it also indicates that you're creating a legitimate business. If you're worried about being accused of counterfeiting, then using a.com address ensures that you're operating within the law. Of course, if you're really eager to get started, then feel free to purchase a.net,.org, or any other available domain name. Just make sure that you have a catchy and unique name.

To create a profitable e-commerce site, you'll need to decide where you're going to sell your products. When deciding this, it's important to consider a few different things. The first and most important consideration is what is the best place for your target audience to come across your product? That is the key to having a profitable e-commerce site - bringing in as many potential customers as possible. So, you'll need to bear in mind the physical and online locations that your ideal customer may visit.

The next step is to look for the largest audience that can be targeted using the resources that you have – namely your email list. You can use free tools like Bitmit and Sumo to grow your email marketing lists. Bitmit is a free tool offered by Google, while Sumo is a popular email marketing tool that allows you to create emails with personalized subject lines and grow your email lists quickly.

Once you've got your email lists prepared and validated, the next step is to look for the best physical store locations. If you've decided to sell your products online, then the last thing you need is to run around searching for a physical store that would be open to the public. For the purposes of this discussion, we'll assume that you've decided to sell your products online. That way, you won't need to worry about being selective with the locations you consider.

When choosing a physical store location, it's important to look for high footfall locations. These are places where lots of people walk in and out all day long. Due to constant footfall, there's always the chance that someone could stumble upon your product and make a purchase. So, if you've got the budget for it, try looking for a physical store location in a prime location such as a shopping mall.

Here's a good rule of thumb to keep in mind: If you can get a $10 discount on a McDonald's lunch, then you can bet that someone in your target audience is going to be willing to make a purchase at your store.

The next step after you've decided on the type of products you'll be selling is to choose the price. At this point, you'll need to do some research into the costs of the products you're selling and determine how much you should be charging. If you've decided that you're going to use a Shopify store, then use their product prices to get an idea of what to charge for your products. Just remember that if you've decided to use a different service, then you'll need to find that company's pricing structure and apply it to your own products.