Ecommerce Solutions Explained: Should You Choose Hosted or Self-Hosted? Jun 3rd
You know you need a web hosting provider for your ecommerce site. The problem is you don’t know exactly what you need from the host. Here are what other successful ecommerce sites have done and what you can learn from them.
The Two Ways To Build Your Site
There are basically two ways you can build your ecommerce site. The first way is through a hosted service. The second way is to host the site yourself, however there are many helpful software options like at this site here – https://fastspring.com/solutions/selling-digital-products/ which can help you get the best out of ecommerce and sell more products. So you don’t have to do it all completely by yourself.
Companies like AS400 expert provide managed cloud services, which allows you to get a lot (or all) of the IT complications out of the way. You still need to design the website and manage your own store though. If you’re looking for a simple done-for-you service, then companies like Shopify would be ideal. These types of service providers allow you to upload your digital product details, connect with an internal shopping cart interface and credit card processing app, and send traffic to the site.
All you have to do is manage the content on the site. The company takes care of the rest.
Which One Is Right For You?
This isn’t as easy a question as it sounds like it should be. First, you have to determine how technical of a person you are. Are you willing to learn coding or do you want a company to do all that stuff for you? Are you comfortable playing the role of IT, like managing the technical back end of a website (hosting, configuration, optimization, security updates, etc)?
If not, then you probably want a hosted platform for your site and business.
If you are comfortable with the technical side, self-hosting can be a good choice. Also, if your store requires very uncommon features that 99% of other online stores don’t have, like certain customized tools, then you should consider a self-hosted plan.
Hosted Solutions
A hosted ecommerce solution allows you to build out your store and get it set up and running right away. You don’t need any technical expertise at all. In fact, many hosted sites use “drag-and-drop” functionality so you never have to touch a line of code.
It’s great if you don’t want to mess around with code or if you don’t feel confident doing so. Since it’s a “turnkey” solution, you just sign up, and the company gives you a simple framework to start building out your store right away.
Some hosted companies do require you to use their own credit card processing services or they charge you a fee equal to a percentage of your revenues.
Self-Hosted
A self-hosted site is much more involved with setup. You must design and build out your site by yourself or hire a developer to do it for you. You also need to have some knowledge of HTML and CSS to do the coding and FTP credentials to upload everything to your site.
Some popular content management platforms, like WordPress, make it easier, but you will still need to understand at least some code to make it all work.
You also need to manage security updates and maintenance on the site, along with managing PCI (credit card) compliance.
Conclusion
The best option is the one you’re most comfortable with. Not everyone can build their own ecommerce store. Choose the amount of time and effort you want to put into building your store. The choice between self-hosted and hosted comes down to one of control over convenience. Hosted platforms trade control for convenience while self-hosted platforms trade convenience for more control over site functionality.
Luca Boyle is an e-commerce consultant who draws on his own small business experience running an online retail store to help others succeed with their business online.
Jun 3rd
You know you need a web hosting provider for your ecommerce site. The problem is you don’t know exactly what you need from the host. Here are what other successful ecommerce sites have done and what you can learn from them.
The Two Ways To Build Your Site
There are basically two ways you can build your ecommerce site. The first way is through a hosted service. The second way is to host the site yourself, however there are many helpful software options like at this site here – https://fastspring.com/solutions/selling-digital-products/ which can help you get the best out of ecommerce and sell more products. So you don’t have to do it all completely by yourself.
Companies like AS400 expert provide managed cloud services, which allows you to get a lot (or all) of the IT complications out of the way. You still need to design the website and manage your own store though. If you’re looking for a simple done-for-you service, then companies like Shopify would be ideal. These types of service providers allow you to upload your digital product details, connect with an internal shopping cart interface and credit card processing app, and send traffic to the site.
All you have to do is manage the content on the site. The company takes care of the rest.
Which One Is Right For You?
This isn’t as easy a question as it sounds like it should be. First, you have to determine how technical of a person you are. Are you willing to learn coding or do you want a company to do all that stuff for you? Are you comfortable playing the role of IT, like managing the technical back end of a website (hosting, configuration, optimization, security updates, etc)?
If not, then you probably want a hosted platform for your site and business.
If you are comfortable with the technical side, self-hosting can be a good choice. Also, if your store requires very uncommon features that 99% of other online stores don’t have, like certain customized tools, then you should consider a self-hosted plan.
Hosted Solutions
A hosted ecommerce solution allows you to build out your store and get it set up and running right away. You don’t need any technical expertise at all. In fact, many hosted sites use “drag-and-drop” functionality so you never have to touch a line of code.
It’s great if you don’t want to mess around with code or if you don’t feel confident doing so. Since it’s a “turnkey” solution, you just sign up, and the company gives you a simple framework to start building out your store right away.
Some hosted companies do require you to use their own credit card processing services or they charge you a fee equal to a percentage of your revenues.
Self-Hosted
A self-hosted site is much more involved with setup. You must design and build out your site by yourself or hire a developer to do it for you. You also need to have some knowledge of HTML and CSS to do the coding and FTP credentials to upload everything to your site.
Some popular content management platforms, like WordPress, make it easier, but you will still need to understand at least some code to make it all work.
You also need to manage security updates and maintenance on the site, along with managing PCI (credit card) compliance.
Conclusion
The best option is the one you’re most comfortable with. Not everyone can build their own ecommerce store. Choose the amount of time and effort you want to put into building your store. The choice between self-hosted and hosted comes down to one of control over convenience. Hosted platforms trade control for convenience while self-hosted platforms trade convenience for more control over site functionality.
Luca Boyle is an e-commerce consultant who draws on his own small business experience running an online retail store to help others succeed with their business online.
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