E-commerce websites are really an area that needs utmost care. The Ecommerce sector is continually evolving and is really a highly competitive industry. To compete with the e-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Alibaba, etc., requires some extra-ordinary effort.
Even the minute things matter in here. Let it be choosing your domain name or E-commerce hosting.
Phew! Ecommerce hosting is one that you have to be really careful about!
Why?
It’s one of the most important things that decide the reliability factor of your eCommerce store. Also, it determines the loading speed of your eCommerce site.
This blog is intended to give you an idea about various factors involved with E-commerce hosting, what eCommerce hosting is, why it’s crucial to choose the right eCommerce host, things to consider when choosing an eCommerce hosting service provider, major eCommerce hosting service providers, frequently asked questions about eCommerce hosting, etc.
Stay right in here!
What is e-Commerce Hosting?
Let us make it short and simple!
E-commerce hosting can be described as the process of making your eCommerce website live by enabling users around the world to access your site through the internet.
There are multiple hosting service providers out there. They charge an amount based on the plans or features you plan to opt for your eCommerce store.
Why It’s Important to Choose the Right Ecommerce Host?
“Boost your eCommerce site’s performance and customer experience with the best eCommerce host service provider available.”
You will need space to store the data of your eCommerce website. So as website owners, you need to pay rent for utilizing their resources or services. The capabilities of the hosting service providers do vary.
So if you are planning to offer the best to your customers, choose the right eCommerce hosting provider.
Let us now see some of the best reasons to consider when choosing the right eCommerce host.
1. Customers do not like to do purchases from a slow speed site.
We live in a speedy world. No one likes to use slow loading websites. It has been found in a recent survey that around 50 per cent of the consumers expect a page load speed of two seconds or less.
Apart from all this, Google takes the site speed factor into account for ranking your eCommerce site. If it’s taking longer to load your eCommerce store then the chances of gaining traffic from search engines like Google will become risky.
2. Customers won’t be confident in using risky websites.
If your website is not fully secured, then the chances for customers purchasing from your eCommerce store would probably be less. A perfect e-commerce hosting service provider will make sure that your eCommerce site is maintaining all the security standards.
Some of the security standards that an eCommerce site should follow are HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure).
Also having an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate makes sure that the confidential data transferred between the server and the eCommerce site is encrypted so that no one can hack into the system.
3. Downtime will be a major blow to your eCommerce business.
Just assume that your customers are not able to access your website. The business revenue that you will be losing will be unbearable. Why? In business every single sale matters. So if your website is down for some time it may result in a huge loss for your business.
According to a recent study, it has been found that e-commerce giant Amazon would lose an amount of $220,318.80 per minute of downtime.
So choose an eCommerce hosting service provider that guarantees you less downtime. They will definitely inform you before about the downtime(usually for the scheduled maintenance of servers).
Look for the customer reviews and other opinions available over the internet before finalizing your eCommerce hosting provider.
Things to be taken into consideration while choosing an eCommerce hosting service provider?
Selecting a particular thing that you are interested in should be done only after proper research. Cost should not be the only criteria for choosing your eCommerce hosting provider.
Well, let us list the factors to be considered when choosing an eCommerce hosting service provider.
Encryption
Security should definitely be one of the top factors to be considered when choosing your hosting provider. Some of the major security features that an e-commerce hosting provides are as follows:
- Firewalls
- SSL certification
- DDoS protection
- Anti Hacking Security Measures
- Spam filters
- Domain name privacy
- Virus protection.
The internet world is a little tricky. The hackers out there are in search of reaping profits from your website. So following a set of highly secured security standards is mandatory to safeguard your eCommerce store.
PCI DSS Compliance
PCI DSS compliance is very much necessary for eCommerce websites since they will be dealing with a lot of online transactions, personal data etc. So a minor data breach will be really catastrophic. All the leading eCommerce hosting service providers will make sure they are PCI DSS compliant.
So do check with them while selecting your eCommerce hosting provider.
Backup
Every web hosting service provider has the option to backup your website information on a timely basis. This is very important if your site gets hacked, the backup data will allow you to restore it to its original state.
So make this option a priority while choosing your eCommerce hosting provider.
Major E-Commerce Hosting Service Providers
There are multiple e-commerce hosting service providers. And choosing one from them is really a confusing process.
What I have to convey is that it’s the user who is the one who has to decide what is best for them. As a person who has researched a little bit on the topic, I will list some of the leading e-commerce hosting service providers to help you.
.blog-content table td,.blog-content table th{border: 1px solid #001848;padding: 5px;}
| Hosting Service Providers | Ecommerce Features | Pricing | Recommended Starter Plan | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A2 | Single click installations for all the major eCommerce platforms, Turbo Servers for faster page loads, Multiple SSL certificates to choose from | $ 2.99 – 14.99/month | Turbo Boost Shared Plan – $ 9.99/month | 24*7 customer support, Free security measures, Great site speed options | Mediocre uptime guarantee |
| SiteGround | Auto-install of e-commerce apps, PCI compliant servers, Cloudflare CDN, and SuperCacher technology for faster loading |
$6.99 – $ 14.99 | GrowBig WooCommerce plan – $9.99/month | Free automatic daily backups, automatic WordPress updates, searchable knowledge base for help & support | Low storage on basic plans, no automatic site setup |
| InMotion | Multiple payment methods, One-click installation for eCommerce apps, PCI compliant VPS and dedicated plans | $2.49 – 149.99/month | Power Shared Plan – $ 7.99/month | Strong shared and VPS plans, Great customer support | Pricier than most competitors, no dedicated IP address on shared plans |
| BlueHost | Dedicated WooCommerce hosting plan, Domain privacy included (on select plans), Regular automatic backups | $6.95 – 31.99/month | Starter WooCommerce – $ 6.95/month | Excellent uptime guarantee, seamless WordPress integration, affordable pricing | A small amount of storage on basic plans compared to other top providers |
| InMotion | Multiple payment methods, One-click installation for eCommerce apps, PCI compliant VPS and dedicated plans | $2.49 – 149.99/month | Power Shared Plan – $ 7.99/month | Strong shared and VPS plans, Great customer support | Pricier than most competitors, no dedicated IP address on shared plans |
| HostGator | Shopping carts and payment gateways on all hosting plans, One-click installation for eCommerce stores | $2.75-19.95/month | Business Shared Plan – $5.95/month | 99.99% uptime, robust 24/7 help and support, searchable knowledge base | More expensive than top competitors, No WooCommerce specific hosting plans |
| DreamHost | Email Hosting @ your domain, fast SSD storage | $2.59-79.95/month | Shared Unlimited Plan – $ 4.95/month | Free daily backups, great storage options | No direct phone support, mediocre uptime, weak dedicated plans |
Frequently Asked Questions on Ecommerce Hosting
Which all e-commerce applications are supported by the eCommerce hosting service providers?
All the major eCommerce hosting service providers do support all the major e-commerce applications like WooCommerce, Magento, Opencart, PrestaShop, etc. All these applications can be deployed on the cloud server of your choice.
Do eCommerce hosting service providers offer backups for eCommerce websites?
Yes, they do. Most hosting service providers do provide automatic backups for eCommerce sites. Also, they do allow you to even set the frequency of backups done.
Will our eCommerce store be safe if we are choosing a third-party eCommerce hosting provider?
Yes, it is completely safe. All the leading eCommerce hosting service providers do follow all the required steps for securing your eCommerce store. So there is absolutely no need to worry about the security of your eCommerce store while depending on a third-party eCommerce hosting service provider.
If you are planning to launch your eCommerce website or upgrade your store, selecting a suitable host is necessary. They will play a major role in gaining maximum revenue from your eCommerce store.
There are multiple hosting options available. Always select one based on your level of knowledge, budget and time dimension. The rest is all fine…
THANK YOU!