Select a Domain Name / Web site name
Choosing a domain name (or web site name) is one of the most important decisions. Domain name is used to identify your online store. Domain name should also describe the nature of your business and the products or services that you offer. There is a good article “Tips on Choosing a Good Domain Name” written by Christopher Heng at http://www.thesitewizard.com that you can visit to get more helpful information and practical tips for choosing a domain name for your e-commerce store
Register for Domain name
Once you settle on a domain name then you have to register it to get exclusive use of that name. Again there is good instruction by Christopher Heng on how to do this at http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/registerdomain.shtml
Select a Web Hosting Company and Hosting Plan
You will need to sign up an account with a web hosting company so your website has a home. When you chose a hosting company, there are many factors to consider such as reliability and access speed. Again, Christopher Heng has an article on how to choose a web hosting company at http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/findhost.shtml
The most important things is to make sure that your selected hosting plan will provide all features needed by your shopping cart software. Please contact Vidaltek so we can provide you a recommended list of suitable hosting companies and hosting plans that are comparable with our shopping cart software.
Set up a Merchant Account
Merchant account is similar to an ordinary bank account with the difference is that you can process process for credit card transactions for your online store (you will need a bank that provide Merchant Account Service). You can also select a Third Party Merchant (Payment Gateway Providers) that can accept credit cards payment on your behalf. You will be charged for a percentage of transactions and/or setup fee and monthly fee.
For more information, you can refer to this article “Accepting Credit Cards on Your Website” by Christopher Heng at http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/creditcards.shtml
No matter what Merchant that you select, be sure to check with your web design firm to if your choice Payment Gateway Provider is supported. At Vidaltek, we support all popular Payment Gateway Providers such as Authorize.Net, Paypal, etc.
Select a Website Design firm
This is certainly the utmost important decision that you will have to make. It will take a lot more than opening the phone book or hitting the Internet search engine and selecting the first company that you see. You have to invest significant effort for this task. It helps a lot for you to come up in advance a list of services that you want to offer on your website and to know what features that you would need. Then you would select a web design firm that can offer you the best in the functionalities, services offered, pricing, quality. The most important factor that you should take into consideration is the firm’s willingness to work with you to provide a custom solution tailored exactly to your unique business needs.
At Vidaltek, we will work with you to deliver unique design and solution for your unique needs. Our E-commerce Solution Team at Vidaltek has launched hundreds of on-line stores with a wide ranges of products and business offering. We bring you a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise that will insure the successful of your on-line business. Contact us today.