Of the many ways one can build an online business, none are, in my opinion, as exhilarating as operating a successful eCommerce business. eCommerce is the business of selling products on the Internet, usually from your own eCommerce website. I will assume that you already know how to build a website, or you can read my articles on the subject to learn more about how to build your site. Choosing an eCommerce web host requires a little bit of searching, and also requires that you understand what to look for in an eCommerce web host.

As with any venture, a plan is required. You formulate your plan based on the research you should do before implementation. I will provide some steps you can take to make sure that you’re getting off to a good start. Most reliable web hosts provide eCommerce web hosting within their menu of hosting options. They usually range from the beginner plans that offer a minimum of features, but enough to get you started, up to unlimited plans with all the bells and whistles. As an example, one might offer a limited number of products – maybe up to 10.

Keep in mind that most of the time, your options will include a free domain registration included in their eCommerce web hosting plans and you will notice that your entire site will be based on eCommerce, without the provision to build a regular site. That’s OK, as long as you’re planning to sell products from your site, with no other interaction. On the other hand, if you plan to have a business website in addition to an eCommerce site, you might have to subscribe to two different plans, one with eCommerce and one without. In this case, you can simply link back and forth to each site as necessary.

Just a word about free domain registration here. It’s a good idea to check to see exactly whom your domain is registered with. Many times, the domain registrar is not a choice you’re given. In my experience, I would rather know or at least choose, who my domain registrar is. This is important in the case where you have to make contact with them to make changes or to check the details of your domain.

Once you decide on your shopping cart of choice (your eCommerce plan, that is), then the fun begins! Depending on the plan you’ve chosen, you’ll have fun adding the products, descriptions, and prices and watch as your site gradually builds into something you can be proud of!

One last word of advice before I go. Please make sure that your host will back up your site regularly so you won’t have a crisis on your hand should your site crash. If this is not the case, then I very strongly suggest that you sign up with an online service to backup your site, or at the very least make sure your site’s information is backed up locally (on a flash drive, or an external disk). Now, go have fun and make some money!