Global eCommerce sales are expected to reach 1.5 trillion dollars by 2018. This means that the massive expansion of online stores is not likely to slow down.
To stay relevant in this highly-competitive environment, your online store will need to overcome several challenges. As the competition heats up, your cloud hosting solution needs to keep up as well.
Your services will need to be more complex, yet simple to use.
You need to be sure the technology you’re using is professional and reliable. Also, it’s important you can rest assured knowing the infrastructure is capable of scaling in a highly efficient way.
This article will help you make a smart decision about cloud hosting. Read on to find out how to choose the right solution for your eCommerce website.
A Few Words about the Benefits You’ll Get
A professional hosting solution for your eCommerce site gets you flexibility. That is useful if, for instance, your online store has days with little traffic and weekends with high spikes.
You’ll be able to keep your store up and running 24/7/365. But there are other benefits as well.
The best cloud hosting solutions also get you scalability. You’ll be able to scale up or scale down your eCommerce website based on your needs.
Choosing this type of solution also helps you keep your costs down. Remember that you will no longer need to have in-house servers or an IT team on your payroll. Granted, that may come with a new set of challenges.
One of these challenges is security. Thousands of eCommerce websites now rely on a cloud hosting solution. However, the safety of the servers is the top priority for the company that offers the service.
These are just some of the most significant benefits of this service. Read on to find out what steps you should follow to choose a reliable hosting solution.
Step 1: Look for a Partner, Not Just a Service Provider
You have to think long-term. The truth is that you don’t just want a cloud service provider; you need a partner. You need to know you both share the same goal: growth.
Communicating with your service provider is an efficient way to ensure you are both on the same page.
Find out if they have a corporate viewpoint, or an entrepreneurial one. Look for a provider that treats its clients with attention, and knows that each customer is different.
Step 2: Fish for Great, 24/7 Customer Support
In the eCommerce niche, having a downtime of a couple of minutes can translate into significant losses. You’ll want your online store up at any time.
No matter at which level your business is, things can go wrong.
Let’s say you wake up at three in the morning and find out that your eCommerce website is down.
You then find emails and comments on your Facebook page from angry customers. They’re complaining they can’t access your store.
In situations like this, you need to be able to solve the problem fast.
That’s why customer support should be a vital part of the decisional process. Having great 24/7 customer support all year round makes the difference between success and failure.
Step 3: Look for the Complete Package: Security, Flexibility, Scalability
Finding the right cloud hosting partner will get you the full package.
Regarding security, this means two things: online and offline security. It is important to know if the provider has a specialized hosting facility.
Purpose-built data centers with power and cooling infrastructures are what you want.
These facilities need to withstand the test of nature. They should also have excellent connectivity and multiple backup solutions.
When it comes to online security, things need to be in top-notch condition. That’s a fact you can’t ignore.
Do you know how many digital attacks are occurring at any given time? Check out this map that shows just that. It’s a bit scary, isn’t it?
As for flexibility and scalability, you need to know you can adjust your computing power to meet your specific needs.
Maybe the new promotion campaign you are planning to implement will turn out to be a huge success. In this case, you’ll want your eCommerce website to work as good as ever. It will translate into more sales.
Step 4: Go with the Latest Innovations in Cloud Hosting
Technology is evolving faster than ever. Innovation is a sacred word for companies. New tech makes processes:
- More efficient;
- Less time-consuming;
- More profitable;
You want your eCommerce website to stay ahead of its competition. That involves innovating from head to toe, including the cloud hosting service.
We know the latest technology gives you a solid advantage.
At Applied Innovations, we were the first to launch a Windows 2012 cloud service offering. We’re also one of the few that built a Hyper-V Cloud on top of Microsoft’s Dynamic Datacenter Toolkit.
Step 5: eCommerce Solutions Integration and Experience
It is also important to find out if the cloud hosting solution can integrate your eCommerce solution. Note that there are multiple platforms for online stores. If the provider can integrate any solution, you’ve got yourself a winner.
It’s even better if the cloud hosts can help you with knowledge and optimization.
We’d like to mention nopCommerce. It is an open source, free eCommerce shopping cart. It offers you many benefits that are worth noting. As long as your hosting provider has experience with nopCommerce, you’ve got yourself a great deal.
To Sum Things Up
As you can see, there are many aspects you need to consider. Choosing the right cloud hosting solution for your eCommerce website is a complex decision.
Your site’s performance involves having a distributed infrastructure. Find out if your provider can present you with this as well.
Look for great customer support and ask if it will be available at any time, in the case of emergencies.
Search for the latest concerning software and hardware. It will help you stay ahead of your competition, and it will improve efficiency.
Applied Innovations is a group of Windows hosting experts.
Working with us gets you 24/7/365 customer support and the latest, most advanced hosting solutions.
We guarantee 100% uptime, daily backups, and a 60-days money back guarantee. Find out more.
If you have any questions about our services, feel free to get in touch with us as soon as possible.