There are many good, reputable, solid ecommerce software packages out there. A lot depends on what your needs are:

Do you want an installed software package – or do you prefer a hosted solution? Standalone is for people who are comfortable installing, maintaining, securing and upgrading software – or have a budget and available skilled people to do it for them.

Do you want a free solution, or do you want a paid solution. Paid usually has more options, support and features, but these come with a price tag.

Do you offer a small number of products and combinations thereof for sale – or is your catalogue huge?

Do you sell physical products or just downloadable software?

Do you accept only Paypal or other credit cards as well?

Do you have a designer to work on your artwork, or do you want a ready made template?

So you see, first you should identify your needs. Only then you should set about finding the right software that fits those needs. Once you limit down your choices, read customer reviews. Don’t feel uncomfortable contacting customers who posted reviews on various forums.

Many companies offer free trial versions of their software. Make use of it and try the software to see if you are comfortable with your choice. If you are not satisfied with your choice – you can get your money back within a grace period.

Most important – don’t get analysis paralysis! Set a time limit for choosing and testing – and stick with it. Get your store up and running. Don’t strive for perfection right away. You can always improve a lot later on, and if this is the first store you have, you will learn a lot in the process.

Hope that helps, and I would love to see your store once it is up and running.

You buy a domain name at a domain name registrar. But since you also want an online store you need hosting and some shopping cart software. Some webhosts that will host your site, will also offer you free domain registration, so save yourself some bucks by combining the two.

From your question I assume that you are not a technical person, so building a store might be a difficult and expensive process for you. Simplify it by using a Quick Shopping Cart such as one offered by GoDaddy that will make setting up and running your store a breeze, for a low monthly cost of about $10 a month.

A Quick Shopping Cart will offer you a choice of several well designed professional web templates, easy uploading of products to your store, integration with Paypal or credit cards, invoicing and many other components necessary to run a fully functional, income generating store.

So you have your website up and running. You’ve hired a top notch designer and your store looks beautiful, with HD graphics, a couple of video, product reviews and customer testimonials. You use the best shopping cart software and have a secure connection so your customers can order hassle free and receive same day shipping. Now, how do you get traffic to your site?

In a nutshell, there are 2 ways to get traffic: either paid traffic – or free traffic. Both have advantages and disadvantages regarding price, volume and reliability. Neither one is necessarily better than the other, but the best is loads of free traffic! But the most important rule is – don’t rely on one single source of traffic.

Even if you ARE paying for traffic, you shouldn’t rely solely on it for income since things like the infamous “Google Slap” could come and shatter your whole business foundation.

If your main source is free traffic – make sure it is not coming from one single source. If you are relying on traffic from one keyword on Google for which your site is highly ranked, the next time Google updates it’s ranking algorithm might make your site disappear from the top entry and then you will be left with no traffic again.

So the secret is to diversify with traffic coming from as many sources as possible.

The old saying “honesty is the best policy” is not just nice in the offline world, it’s a must in the online world. I suppose you can make a few bucks by cheating a few customers, but sooner or later they are all going to end up in forums and complain, people are going to rant you out very quickly and drive you at of business.

Under Promise and Over Deliver
Be focused on creating a great product. Do not mislead or exaggerate because you will be discovered. Just focus on building a great product in an ethical manner. Focus on building your long-term reputation, not on making quick sales. Stand out by thinking about your customers and their needs.

Your Customers Are Real People
Treat them as such. Answer their needs. Predict their on-going needs and build a product or support for the new directions your company will go. Have a clear contact us page, forum or telephone number stated clearly on your site so people can reach you quickly. Listen to their feedback and email and respond quickly. Some of their needs are just small oversights which take very little time to remedy. Be open, admit any mistakes you made, and let your customers know that you care about them by fixing those mistakes.

Have Clear Policies on Your Site
Be clear of what you will do with personal information people leave on your site. Make sure you adhere to all data protection laws. If you are selling something online, make sure you have a secure way of taking payments. SSL is the common way to send sensitive information online. Have a prominent SSL certificate logo on your site so people know you are protecting their transactions. Publish a security policy. Have the privacy policy and security policy pages accessible from any page on the site. If you are part of any well known industry associations or BBB, have their seal displayed on your site.

Yahoo! Merchant Solutions includes ecommerce features like easy design tools, secure shopping cart, 24-7 phone support, free marketing services, free domain name, reliable platform, and set up consulting with an ecommerce expert.

Sign up here and get 35% off Yahoo! Merchant Solutions packages + no setup fee (save $50)

More Information:
Yahoo! Merchant account come in 3 flavors: Starter, Standard and Professional with prices starting at $25.97/month. You can start small and upgrade your package as your business grows. You will pay a monthly hosting fee, a setup fee (which is waived for a limited time), and a transaction fee on all orders. You can cancel your Yahoo! Merchant Solutions plan at any time.

I know you are thinking its impossible. That’s because you’ve been fed a lot of misinformation. Do you want to know how you can be creating your own website in 1 hour? Good. Lets get started.

The reason you may think its impossible is you may have been told that you need to know HTML or other complicated languages. This is not true at all. Many modern websites are created with “content management” programs such as WordPress and Joomla.These programs make it easy for anyone to create an impressive website in a short time.

1. Get a web host.
A free website will not give you good results, and a professionally hosted web site costs so little that it doesn’t make sense. Get your own host for about $40. a year. The host will give you all the space you need, excellent webmaster tools and the best programs to create your website. So, get your host and sign up. Then you will need to pick a domain name for your site. This should take about fifteen minutes .

2. Create your website.
I suggest using WordPress to create your site. It’s a great program that’s easy to use and produces professional results. You will probably have to install WordPress to your website. In the control panel of your host, install WordPress. Once installed, you will log into your WordPress installation by going to your domain name, plus wp-admin. For example mysite.com/wp-admin.

In WordPress you will see a menu on your left. Choose “appearance” and choose a theme for your site. There are many beautiful themes to choose from. Next choose “posts” and then “add new”. A small wordprocessor will appear, and you can begin to type in your first paragraph. An introduction to your website will be fine. Choose publish, and guess what? Your website is on its way. Don’t feel you have to have fifty pages of content at first. Its fine to start with just a post or two and add to it as you go along. Many of the best sites started this way. Later you can add photos, music and even YouTube videos to your website.

That’s it. You’ve created your own website in an hour, or less. Get excited! this could be the best forty dollars you’ve ever spent!

Take the First Step to getting your own website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_J_Orr

If you are debating between a hosted shopping cart and a standalone solution, here are some arguments to sway you in favor of the hosted solution:

1) Price: Standalone shopping cart software usually is a one time fee, but an expensive one. Of course you can always find a free shopping cart, but you might have to purchase add on modules from software developers in order to customize your store to your needs. You still have to pay for hosting your site, and you will probably need to purchase an SSL certificate. Also bear in mind, if you are not a techie, you might need to hire someone to install, maintain, upgrade and backup your system. And if you’re just starting out – or not certain you’ll be there for the long run, you don’t want to incur lots of costs up front.

2) Installation and Upgrades: Can you install, upgrade and maintain your site professionally? Are you ready to regularly check for and install updates to your software?

3) Technical Support: Are you comfortable with all the technical aspects of running an online store. Do you have someone you can call for support and is s/he proficient in the software you chose? How long will it take to fix a problem in your store? Can you afford to have downtime? A hosting solution deals with all these issues, one thing less to worry about!

4) Security: Are you equipped to handle the security demands of accepting credit cards? Of storing financial information? If you are not compliant with industry standards, people will be hesitant to buy from you.

5) Backup: Are you capable of backing up your system on a regular basis? If something goes wrong and you cannot restore your site properly, you can be facing damages that can be catastrophic for your business.

With over 300 different shopping carts available on the market, it can be quite a job finding the shopping cart that is right for you. Here are some things to consider when choosing a shopping cart software that is right for your business:

• Time to market — How long it takes you to launch your ecommerce store after investing in a solution.
• Security — Is the cart PCI/CISP certified? Does it offer HackerSafe?
• Support — Can you call someone? Submit email or ticket support? What are the hours of operation? How well trained is the person helping you?
• Growth potential — Is the shopping cart just a shopping cart or does it offer advanced features like email marketing, autoresponder follow-up, affiliate management, ad tracking, analytics, etc.? Do you have to pay for these features before you’re ready to use them?”

Many people are grappling with this question: Should they get a standalone shopping cart and pay a one time fee for it, or should they pay a smaller monthly fee. Before you go to the bottom line – which is the cost of the product, you have to realize that running a store is more than the software to list your products and accept payment. Here are a number of questions to ask yourself when shopping around for the right solution:

Are you technically able to install and upgrade your service alone? Or will you end up paying a lot extra to other service providers to do it for you?
Are you ready to regularly check for and install updates to your software?
Can you update your store seamlessly or will there be disruptions in service?
If you use a standalone service, will you regularly back up your files, or do you risk losing them?
Is your server secure enough for your financial and transactional data?
Will your hosted solution customize options for you?
If you switch shopping carts, will your URLs change?

The list of questions can go on and on. Personally I chose a hosted solution and never looked back. Although now, if I were to change the software I run my store with, I would have to take into consideration losing all my backlinks and Search Engine Positioning that my links with my hosted service provide.

What is your take?