Learn more about online merchant credit card processing services and the ecommerce transaction processing system including how to get started building your online storefront and how to set up a merchant account and how transactions get processed.

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What's in a name
- Your name will communicate and reinforce your type of business to every web site visitor
- Your company name and domain name can help rank you in the directories and search engines.
Tips for Naming Your Online Business:
- Make it descriptive so there is no guessing on what your business does. Try to make your company name, brand and domain name descriptive.
- Keep the name of your site the same name as your business.
- Keep it brief so customers can easily memorize the name after only a few glances and type into their browsers.
- Try to make it catchy so it's memorable and would easily be passed along by word of mouth.
Register your Domain Names:
- Check the availability
- Register misspellings
- Registration of multiple domains protects your intellectual property, brand name and trandemarks against infringement by cybersqatters
- Investigate other domains using thesaurus
- Register several variations and names with different top-level domains or TLDs (such as .biz, .net, .pro, .info, .coop)
- If you plan on doing business in other countries, register domains with country-specific web TLDs

Register through Names4Ever.com

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Builing a targetted storefront
Make it easy for customers to pay you.
-organize your site so customers can pay by simply clicking on order now and inputting their credit card number
- offer various convenient payment methods
What's the point of your site?
- identify clear marketing goals and before you build your site decide on the site's main objectives (i.e. generating leads, building database, putting product catalog online, save time of printing and mailing)
- Specify your objectives- quantify and numerically measure what you want your site to do in order to determine the success of your site (i.e. increase sales by 15%)
- Who is your target market?
- What do they want to know about your product or service?
Basic Layout
- include an overview of your company, its products, services and their applications
- Product or service features, benefits, pricing and specifications
- Validate/provide value to your product or service with testimonials, case studies or success stories so customers can see similar customers or companies that reflect your target audience
- 24/7 Customer Service is more affordable with a list of posted FAQs that anticipate commonly-asked questions

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What to look for in a hosting company
1. Hard-disk storage space: Smaller sites may need only 400-600 MB (megabytes) of Web site storage space, while busier e-commerce sites may need at least 10 GB (gigabytes) of space-or their own dedicated Web server. As your site grows, your ISP should accommodate you with a range of options.
2. Availability: If you run an e-commerce business, your site must be accessible to customers 24 hours a day. ISPs and web hosts maximize the availability of the sites they host using techniques like load balancing and clustering. Can your ISP promise 100% availability?
3. E-mail accounts: E-mail accounts that match your domain name are often available from your ISP. Are they included with your monthly access and hosting fee?
4. SSL Encryption: The security of the credit card numbers and other personal information customers send you should be a top priority. Does your ISP or web host protect your site with an SSL server ID?
5. Support: A big part of the value of turning to an ISP or Web host is that you don't have to worry about keeping the web server running. Does your host offer 24/7 customer service?
6. Shared or dedicated server options: Hosting company should offer a wide-variety of hosting options. There are three basic flavors of site hosting to choose from: shared, co-located, and dedicated hosting.

Shared Hosting
Shared Web site hosting is the easiest way to get your site up and running. With it, the hosting service provides all the equipment, software, and Internet connections. All you need to do is provide the HTML files and images that make up your site. Pricing, which can range from $10 to more than $100 per month, primarily varies according to the amount of storage space and file transfer bandwidth you need. The bandwidth counts both the amount of data transferred to the Web site by you and the data transferred to the browser by your site visitors. While the shared hosting option is convenient, it can be limiting since you're left having to work with the applications that the service provides and it is usually not sufficient for web sites with high traffic. Hosting customized interactive or e-commerce applications like a searchable database or shopping cart software should be on dedicated servers.

Dedicated Hosting
Paying the host for your dedicated server provides faster access and ensures that your site will be accessible to visitors 100% of the time. A dedicated server refers to the rental and exclusive use of a computer that provides a stated amount of memory, hard disk space and bandwidth and includes a Web server, related software, and connection to the Internet, housed in the Web hosting company's premises. A dedicated server is usually needed for a Web site (or set of related company sites) that may develop a considerable amount of traffic. The server can usually be configured and operated remotely from the client company. The use of a dedicated server on the premises of a web hosting company saves router, Internet connection, security system, and network administration costs. Some hosting companies allow the renter of a dedicated server to do virtual hosting, in turn renting services on the server to third parties for their Web sites. Domain name system, e-mail, and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) capabilities are typically included.

Colocation
Colocation (sometimes spelled "co-location" or "collocation") is the provision of space for a customer's telecommunications equipment on the service provider's premises. For example, a Web site owner could place the site's own computer servers on the premises of the Internet service provider (ISP). Or an ISP could place its network routers on the premises of the company offering switching services with other ISPs. Outsourcing is a cost effective solution providing optimum performance, 24/7 monitoring and high security.

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Building Trust
Security: once you've purchased your domain name, built and hosted your site, it's time to turn your online storefront into a thriving e-commerce business. To do it, you must win your customers' trust. Eighty-five percent of web users surveyed reported that a lack of security mae them uncomfortable sending credit card numbers over the Internet. E-commerce merchants who can win the confidence of these customers will gain their business and loyalty and reap profits online.

Authentication: Your customers must be able to assure they are in fact doing business with you-not a "spoof" or copied site masquerading as you

Confidentiality: Sensitive information and transactions on your web site, such as the transmission of credit card information, must be kept private and secure.

Data integrity: Communication between you and your customers must be protected from alteration by third parties in transmission on the internet.

Proof of communication: A person must not be able to deny that he or she sent a secured communication or made an online purchase.

Authentication and Encryption with SSL Server Ids: Server Ids are digital ccertificates that enables your customers to verify your site's authenticity and to securely communicate with it. Server Ids allow your e-business to provide customers with the world's highest level of trust. A server ID assures them that your web site is legitimate and that confidential information such as credit card numbers transmitted online is protected. Web browsers can automatically check that a server's certificate and public ID are valid and have been issued by a certificate authority. Often times, the web page address will start with "https:" and you will see a key or closed padlock icon at the bottom of your browser to confirm the page is on a secure server with SSL protection. SSL server authentication is vital for secure e-commerce transactions.