# A good web hosting for a Ecommerce site



## Sanford (Feb 1, 2015)

I was wondering if i should use ipage, 1&1. Go daddy or bluehost for my site hosting needs. I know there are many more, but is one or none ideal for selling T-shirts on? and they offer an Ecommerce site builder and also an Online shop builder im pretty much confused on which is a better platform to sell on.
Anyone familiar with any of this.?


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

Sanford said:


> I was wondering if i should use ipage, 1&1. Go daddy or bluehost for my site hosting needs. I know there are many more, but is one or none ideal for selling T-shirts on? and they offer an Ecommerce site builder and also an Online shop builder im pretty much confused on which is a better platform to sell on.
> Anyone familiar with any of this.?


I have been using Godaddy's Quick Shopping Cart for the last year. I had very few visitors and only one purchase in that time. Most of that is my fault as I did not do proper SEO for the shopping cart. My one year is up so I am in the process of giving Bigcommerce a trial run to see what options they have. So far I am liking what I can do with Bigcommerce.

I still have to make sure I use good SEO practices on each and every item, category, photo like I would any other site. 

Main thing you need to keep in mind is SEO. If you didn't know already you don't just put your products on an ecommerce site and they sell. If you aren't going to do your own SEO because of time or you don't feel comfortable with SEO it will cost you.


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## Sanford (Feb 1, 2015)

Ok so do you believe using an Ecommerce site would be better that an online site through a web hosting site


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

Sanford said:


> Ok so do you believe using an Ecommerce site would be better that an online site through a web hosting site


Not sure what you mean. Unless I am missing something you can't sell anything online without ecommerce capability unless you plan to just show pictures and prices then the customer calls you to order.


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## Sanford (Feb 1, 2015)

is there a difference between an Ecommerce site powered by shopify and a Ecommerce or online store you can purchase on godaddy for about $29 a month


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## AMC13 (Jan 29, 2015)

But a domain. Get wordpress


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

Sanford said:


> is there a difference between an Ecommerce site powered by shopify and a Ecommerce or online store you can purchase on godaddy for about $29 a month


Basically no. There will be differences in features from one company to another. There will be differences in features with the same company depending on the level you want to purchase.


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## Biverson (Oct 20, 2014)

If you're familiar with web design, mostly graphic design, you can do some great stuff with WordPress, Shopify, Square space, and a couple others. WordPress is pretty powerful, but can be more difficult to pick up. If you do go WordPress use Godaddys managed WordPress hosting. Very fast and affordable.

Update: what I meant by "graphic design" over knowing web design (such as CSS, HTML, php, etc.) is that a lot of builders that i mentioned come with some intuitive theme features where if you're good with graphic design, and tech savvy, you can get away with a decent site.


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## Screen Medics (Feb 23, 2015)

Sanford,

We use inksoft for our webstore. It already had all of the products from our suppliers and comes with a tool that allows the web visitors to create or choose from existing designs. It does not require web knowledge to set up and they have great customer service.


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## dysebdesigns (Feb 26, 2015)

We have been operating an online shop for 7 years now using Zencart
You need to consider whether you want good performance and exposure or just be online
Lots of factors involved with ecommerce its not just about having a site
Security of your data and your customers
Upkeep
SEO
Ease of buying from a a customers point of view
Then the ROI
No exposure, bad design and the main issue bad hosting equals no sales
Weigh it up as its not about cheap hosting, website design or easy setup etc


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## 32R (Nov 20, 2013)

I've been using wix as my provider. I started with shopify but they were too limiting without knowin css or html. I do all my design wysiswg so they work well for me. 20 bucks a month though for the ecommerce plan though. Paypal is already integrated into their platform but they also have their own gateway. My customers can pay through their paypal account or with debit/credit. Very easy to do. Dont forget- if your business seves a niche, theres likely a few directory sites online- make sure you submit your site to them! I get almost half my hits from one directory alone. It helps that a lot of them alphabetize their link list and my website starts with a number, lol.


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## Sanford (Feb 1, 2015)

WOW!!! great info THANKS!!! do you recommend a good hosting site i really didnt trust the cheapest offer having reliable hosting attributes


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## 32R (Nov 20, 2013)

Sanford,
You very much get what you pay for with internet hosting. You can find free solutions even- but then to add on a shopping cart or ecommerce plan could be an additional so much, add a domain, email address, etc. I actually originally purchased my domain through Shopify, so Shopify was my domain registar. When I switched over to wix, I had to manually go into my .opensrs page and add a file to allow my wix site to link with my domain name. On top of that, when my domain name was up for re-registration (after one year), I had to move my domain name to a new registar. I went with Godaddy to hold my domain name. It was a pain in the rear to figure out how to get that done. 
*Long story short, try to choose your website provider carefully and buy your domain name through them*, if you can. Its just easier that way. Its nothing technically difficult, it can just be a PITA.
Another nice thing I've experienced with Wix, is that if you miss a monthly payment (if you are paying month to month, you can also get a discount for paying a full year up front- make sure you check for sales they frequently have sales if you get one-year of hosting). You can also get the free version of wix, make your website, and then upgrade to add your domain and the shopping cart when your ready to go live.
SO, thats my experience. I have no connection to WIX, other than being a happy customer. However, like I said, I dont' have and don't have the time to learn HTML/CSS right now, so they work for me.


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

32R said:


> choose your website provider carefully and buy your domain name through them


I do things differently but that is what you came to the forum for. To find out different ways of doing things. I buy my domain names with Godaddy whether I use one of their hosting services or someone else's. That way all my domains are in one spot. I then set up an Google Apps for Business (might be called Google Apps for Work now) account for email that uses the domain name I registered separately and keep on Godaddy. For $5 / month. I get more features with Google Apps for Business/Work than just signing up for email with my service provider. It really isn't too hard to change the dns settings to work with your hosting service and Godaddy support will help if you have questions.


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## Sanford (Feb 1, 2015)

Thanks guy for the great Feed back!!!!!


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## Sanford (Feb 1, 2015)

I just came from looking at Ipage, 1&1, host gator, in Motion hosting and Go Daddy they do offer a ecommerce site or an online site builder but then i looked at Volusion, big commerce, shopify, wix etc and im at a absolute road block as to which avenue to decide to go to open a online store?


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

Sanford said:


> ...im at a absolute road block as to which avenue to decide to go to open a online store?


My 15 day trial is almost over and I will make the switch from Goddady's Quick Shopping Cart to Bigcommerce. I am starting with one of their free templates until I see they are. The template I started with is this one. Fun 'n Games . I am comfortable with editing CSS and HTML so I have been able to modify the template to what I have now in just the few days.


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## Sanford (Feb 1, 2015)

WOW!!! That look really good i think ill try looking into Bigcommerce


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## natthansimpson (Mar 26, 2014)

hostgator
godaddy
siteground

are all three very reliable.

Godaddy has awesome customer service but all of that is changing...

Siteground has a great live chat and they can help you with almost anything

hostgator is reliable and good live chat but overall customer service is poor in my experience.


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## Sanford (Feb 1, 2015)

OK thanks!!!anything on Volusion vs Bigcommerce vs Shopify?


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## HappyHaole (Jan 12, 2015)

I am just starting as well, I went with Squarespace.
Just liked the look of there templates very modern.
You have to set up a Stripe account to link to Squarespace, but it seems to work very well.
Also really like that Stripe has an app so I see everything in real time and get inventory notifications as well.

Here's the Two pages I'm working on, neither are fully built yet but you can see the progress.

Ink&Kloth

and then my girlfriend's art site,

Ditas Akins Art


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## Pima105 (Feb 27, 2015)

if you a new comer for any websites, or web programming, I would recommend 
1. bigcommerce
2. shopify
3. volusion. 
you will be able to find a lot of comparisons online, and pick one, give it a try. it may cost more then web hosting solutions, but works much better than web hosting eCommerce solutions. 

if you are or you have a web designer/master/programmer, get a wordpress or basic php hosting plan, install wordpress+woocommerce to startup. connect it to PayPal payment gateway, much cheaper then ecommerce solution like bigcommerce, and also more flexible than web hosting eCommerce solutions like godaddy stuff. 

Like Mtnview said, SEO is the key, also do some ads around would help. but web hosting solutions dont offer easy SEO options. so I would recommend this two way to start up your business.

bigger business usually use magento or opencart for option 2. but they are generally bigger and heavier. they require better hosting plans that may cost anywhere from 30 to 1000 a month.


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## Locomotivator (Feb 27, 2012)

My advice is to stay away from 1and1. I currently have a e-shop there but it has had a problem since late January and we were told that since the issue only affected just us and a couple more that it was a low priority ticket. We are still waiting on tech support to fix the problem!!!  We are switching to another web host as soon as we find one that will accept transfer of our domain.


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## PyramidPrintWrx (Jan 16, 2014)

Locomotivator said:


> My advice is to stay away from 1and1. I currently have a e-shop there but it has had a problem since late January and we were told that since the issue only affected just us and a couple more that it was a low priority ticket. We are still waiting on tech support to fix the problem!!!  We are switching to another web host as soon as we find one that will accept transfer of our domain.


Agreed, 1&1 is really bad. Their outsourced tech support people read answers off a script and know less about tech than I do. I had them years ago & got out as soon as I realized how bad it was. 

If it's been 60 days since you registered the domain, you can transfer it to any host. Just be sure to have everything ready at hand when you hit the switch to minimize downtime.

I use yahoo for registrations & bluehost for hosting... and while they've had periodic issues, I think at some point every host has a glitch or 2 now and then. Both have US based tech support. I think it's important to have tech support in your home country.


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## brad7821 (Mar 28, 2015)

Biverson said:


> Update: what I meant by "graphic design" over knowing web design (such as CSS, HTML, php, etc.) is that a lot of builders that i mentioned come with some intuitive theme features where if you're good with graphic design, and tech savvy, you can get away with a decent site.


I can recommend what has worked for us and that is shopify. I suppose any similar platform would work. Shopify has some nicely made themes with styles for everyone. We ended up purchasing the retina theme which gave us the building blocks and tools to create a great first website. With a bit of additional help from online html and css editing tutorials like www.codecademy.com we were able to get our shop to the level we wanted - Hollow Leg Store
One downside that we are currently dealing with is very limited options for discounts. Be prepared to need additional apps to compliment your shop that might cost you extra. 

Best of luck


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Locomotivator said:


> My advice is to stay away from 1and1. I currently have a e-shop there but it has had a problem since late January and we were told that since the issue only affected just us and a couple more that it was a low priority ticket. We are still waiting on tech support to fix the problem!!!  We are switching to another web host as soon as we find one that will accept transfer of our domain.


You can just point your domain to your new hosts servers and move the c-panel over to your new host, if you do it this way you will have little down time, if you transfer your domain without problems will take 48 to 72 hours and sometimes longer.


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