Should You Use Free eCommerce Hosting?

March 29, 2010

Should You Use Free eCommerce Hosting?

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of opening an online business is the very low startup investment that is required to setup an online store. Instead of spending thousands of dollars to rent, renovate and operate a brick and mortar shop just to reach the people in your community, you can start an online business and reach the world with little or no startup capital. However like everything else the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. If you want your business to be successful then you will need to make a substantial investment of either time or money. The more time you spend learning how to effectively market your online business, the less money you will spend. Obviously saving money is a good thing, however it may not always be beneficial. The question is:

Is it Beneficial to use Free Web Hosting Services?

The answer to this question depends upon what your online business entails, and how you plan to approach the endeavor. If you are selling products online, then you will need plenty of bandwidth and disk space, so that you can store all of your product descriptions without negatively affecting your site's performance. If this is the case then you'll need a quality hosting account, which you cannot find for free. However, if you're just trying to market your services, then you would not need a lot of disk space. In fact you could setup a small site that consists of nothing more than a few pages including an “About Us” and a “Contact Us” page. This is especially true of you already operate a local business.

Why Do eCommerce Hosting Accounts Exist?

Although you could theoretically set up an eCommerce site with a regular hosting account, it would not be as easy as using an eCommerce web hosting solution which provides all of the tools necessary to upload massive product catalogs and install shopping carts that make your customer's experience with you simple and convenient. In order to turn targeted traffic into sales you want to make your site's browsing experience as convenient as possible. Using a free eCommerce solution or a regular hosting solution is simply not going to allow you to do this.

Opening a Service Oriented Online Business

If you are opening a service oriented online business in which product catalogs and shopping carts are not necessary, then you can use a free eCommerce hosting account to accept payments and market your services. Simply setup five to ten web pages detailing your services and then give your customers an option to pay through your merchant account, or alternatively you can have them contact you via phone or email. Using the internet to market you local services is an excellent way to bring even more business to an already thriving business.

Conclusion

Ultimately the decision is up to you, however you should take all the time you need to make up your mind as you could potentially lose customers by making the wrong decision. A good website displays professionalism, and poorly operating website is grounds for many customers to dismiss your products or services immediately.

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