| E-Commerce Newbie |
| Page: Web Hosting |
If you are considering an Online Store please review "How to Build An Online Store" before purchasing a hosting plan , many shopping cart solutions come with hosting included.
This was a market I considered when establishing this site as you are obviously looking for a hosting provider. However I decided not to, as this would limit the hosting features you would receive.
So who do I recommend?
You may be surprised that I am not recommending GoDaddy the worlds largest hosting provider, not because I have had any bad experiences with them just that I have never used them.
With a good experience as my criteria I am limited to 2 providers.
Hostgator has 3 levels of service most people will be more than satisfied with the Baby service plan. Hatchling is cheaper but you are limited to 1 domain. You can upgrade later if you want to start cheap. All plans include access to their Website Builder & Templates.
If you are intending to sell through a shopping cart & accept credit cards you will require an
SSL certificate this is $75/year with Hostgator if you are on the hatchling plan not available on the Baby..
SSl changes your address to https:// it encrypts the data being transferred for safe online shopping.
NOTE: Several visitors have commented that Hostgator does not offer Windows
Hosting. The referance to Linux & Windows hosting applies to the type of server Hostgator is running not
your PC, in fact unless you have any paticular requirement for a windows server I would recommend Linux - Most
server side marketing scripts will require Linux.
Bluehost only has 1 plan but the SSL certificate is included. A domain name is also included if you purchase 12 months of hosting at $7.95/month.
I suggest you compare companies, pricing plans & features, you are by no means limited to these 2 but you will find it very hard to beat the price & features.
It is highly recommended that you choose a host with cPanel installed with Fantasticoas the user interface . Both Hostgator & Bluehost offer these features & I will be discussing them in our tutorials.