How to Select the Best Small Business Ecommerce System? - Part 2

Almost no one is talking about how to set up online order processing for small businesses these days. That is sad.

It leaves those who want to know lacking an understanding of what they should do today to get started.

Well, in a previous article I mentioned I'd talk more about the challenges of setting up Google-required SSL when using Google Checkout (soon to be Google Wallet exclusively).

Setting up SSL is straightforward and easy if your domain is both registered and hosted by the same company (not recommended though). Say you register a domain at Hostgator.com and you also sign up for their hosting services. Getting an SSL certificate setup is easy. Is a much more integrated process than when using two different providers (recommended) for domain hosting and registration.

However, the process is not so simple if using two different providers, as I recommended earlier. More on this in a bit.

For example, say you are using Hostgator.com for web space hosting but using Godaddy.com for domain registration (recommended approach). Setting up Google Checkout in this type of situation is difficult. And extremely technical. Especially if you are doing the work yourself. Specifically, Google requires a SSL certificate registered to your domain name. The process of integrating SSL between disparate providers is hard. Period.

Why Oh Why?

So why in the world would anyone ever use a different provider for hosting than for domain registration? Why would I recommend anything so complex? Protection and redundancy.

Lets say your registrar goes out of business. And you made the mistake of using both their registration services and hosting services for your site. What happens to your login access to your site and the files and shopping carts and payment processing on your site? what happens to access and control of your domain registration information?

On the domain registration side your information is in a global database, no matter which registrar you use. So you only are temporarily locked out of your domain as things are sorted by any new registrar your information is transferred to. But at worst if your domain renewal should come up during the time your domain is being sorted by registrars your domain could be bought up by someone else. someone unscrupulous. This happened to me once. About 12 years ago. It is rare but can happen. Is a pain in the butt to get your domain back. And I think the fee is still around $1250 to file a complaint with Internic.

If your domain registrar goes out of business you have a measure of peace of mind that your info is backed up on Internic's main servers. Your site will remain online. No big deal. Usually just a minor inconvenience.

But your domain problems can be compounded if your host is the same as your selected registrar.

If your host goes out of business you go out of business too. Your site is toast. Every file and every piece of information on your site vanishes when the host vanishes. There is no such thing as an inherent backup source when a host goes belly up, as there is for domain registrars. Does this happen? Yes. Many hosts have gone out of business over the past 12 or so years. They come and go. Losing my hosted sites to out of business hosts has happened to me several times over the years.

If you have backups for your site you can simply move to a new host as soon as the old ones goes belly up.

But if your host is also your registrar what do you do? You are screwed. At least temporarily while things get sorted. And as I said, you could lose your site to someone who buys your site during the interim if your registration should expire during this nightmare. Again, this has happened to me. Not fun. This is why I say a serious business should never use the same provider for domain hosting and registration. Ever.

Ok. That said, which payment processor should you go with?

I always recommend Google as a first choice.

Obviously there are more technical considerations required when using Google Checkout as a payment processor -- especially if using different providers as I recommend. The technical requirements are only a problem though if you are a DIYer or a tightwad. I discourage both. At least for this step. The entire process can be 100% transparent if you just pass the technical steps off to whomever is setting up your site for you, be that a web marketing team or your webhost. No headaches then. Plus you have the peace of mind that you can make money online while remaining protected by Federal credit processing laws. Something that is not available if you go with PayPal.

Ok, say you've decided on Google (or PayPal despite my warnings), how do you get money into your bank account? What do you need to setup on your site to make all this happen? Keep an eye out. When I have a bit more time I'll post an article detailing how to select ecommerce software to use with PayPal or Google Checkout.


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Marketing consultant Andre Bell is President of Andre Bell Consulting Group, a marketing firm that has a special knack for helping business owners increase sales revenues and profits using smart, low cost and no cost marketing approaches to get all the sales increases they deserve. Bell works with all types of established companies, whether it’s retail, restaurants, manufacturing, cosmetic companies, franchises, doctors, service providers and everything in between. He’s advised business owners in seven countries including USA, Japan, Romania, The UK, south Africa, and more. Learn more about Andre Bell Consulting Group's marketing approaches at http://www.andrebell.com or contact Bell at www.facebook.com/MrAndreBell. Follow Bell on Twitter @SEOSoftwareGuy