CEMIT Ireland

Website hosting

If you purchase a domain name you can either host your own website or have an internet service provider (ISP) host it on your behalf. If you choose to host the website yourself, you will require a fast internet connection, a suitable server and the provision of technical support. However, ISP hosting is relatively cheap and straightforward and is the most preferred option for most businesses. See our site for website hosting options.

The type of internet connectivity and the available bandwidth will be an important consideration, irrespective of which hosting solution is selected. Most businesses choose some form of broadband connection.


Software options

An important early decision to consider is whether to use a 'shop' package or build the software from scratch.

Shop packages allow you to configure product information and the look and feel of the shop. However, they can provide limited opportunities for tailoring them to your back office processes.

Alternatively you can get a third party to build the software for you, or develop it yourself in house. See our guide on how to create an online shop.

Recognising the ongoing commitment

Even in the planning stages of an e-commerce project, it is important to understand how the website will be maintained on a day-to-day basis. There are also various marketing and security issues that need to be taken into account.
Site maintenance

Changes in product details, product ranges, special offers, up-to-date advertisements and sales information will all need to be maintained throughout the life of the site. In addition, you should consider redesigning the site on a periodic basis in order to improve the features offered to customers and keep the site looking fresh.
Customer feedback

It is important that the site evolves to meet the needs of your customers. There are a number of actions you can take to encourage customer feedback, including carrying out surveys and putting feedback forms on the site. Social media, such as blogs, can also be used to help build a community around your brand and help you understand what your customers want.

No matter how well designed your e-commerce site is and how competitive your products and prices are, if the customers are unaware of its existence then you will fail to exploit its potential.

Popular methods of promoting a website include:

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Email advertising campaigns.
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Search marketing - improving visibility of your site in search engine results pages.
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Web adverts - including sponsored links where you 'pay per click', banner adverts and reciprocal links. See our guide on pay per click advertising.
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Digital coupons offering discounts.
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Online directories.

Use the web tools provided by the search engines to help you optimise your search engine performance and improve your website's ranking. Many of the main search engines - such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing - provide tips, advice and tools to help you improve your website's searchability. Access the Google Webmaster tools on the Google website - Opens in a new window.

Don't forget to take full advantage of search engines by ensuring that they pick up all of the key terms that you think your customers will use to find your site. Each product will have its own key words and descriptions. In addition, your website designer can help you include the cross-site key phrases and meta descriptions (information that describes a webpage, but isn't visible on the pages) when designing and building your website. Ensure that the keyword phrases you choose appear in your webpage title and the page body text. This will improve organic search engine listings. Find out about online marketing on the National B2B Centre website - Opens in a new window.
Security considerations

Using the internet for business purposes is fraught with risks to security. Hackers can attack systems at any time. Whatever your business, there's a real risk that your system may become the target of an attack that could affect your organisation.

You should recognise the need for effective security controls to prevent your site from falling victim to hackers or fraudsters.

See our guide on securing your e-commerce systems.
Contingency planning

The more successful your e-commerce service becomes, the more reliant you will become upon it. You should consider what risks and threats your e-commerce site might be open to and have contingency plans to ensure that you can continue trading should anything go wrong.

See our guide on managing risk in e-commerce.