However, there are a maze of options. Finding the best hosting for your eCommerce needs can be tricky. We’ll outline what types of hosting will suit your business, highlight important features of an effective hosting provider, and introduce you to the leading eCommerce hosting services.

Plus, we’ll share insights on why certain providers might be the perfect match for your operation. Our goal is to equip you with knowledge, not just options, so you can make an informed decision that fuels your business’s growth and satisfies your customers.

Best Types of eCommerce Web Hosting

While you can get started on any hosting plan, the most suitable type of hosting for your business will depend on the specific resources and features you need, as well as your budget. Let’s take a look at the options available:

Shared Web Hosting

Shared hosting is like renting a workspace in an office building. It’s an entry-level, cost-effective option where you share resources, like storage, processor power, and memory, with other websites on the same physical server. It is an ideal choice for small or newly launched eCommerce sites.

While shared hosting is wallet-friendly and simple to set up, most hosting providers don’t have the power to handle sudden surges in web traffic, which could slow down your site temporarily.

Our Shared Web Hosting plans shine here, offering free SSL certificates for secure transactions and SSD storage for faster access to your site.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

As your business grows, you might need more resources and features, similar to moving from a shared workspace into your own office suite. That’s where VPS hosting comes in.

It provides dedicated resources on a server shared with fewer users, enhancing your site’s performance and security. It’s a fantastic middle ground for medium-sized businesses or those experiencing growth.

You gain more control over your hosting environment, which means you can tailor it to fit your needs while still being conscious of your budget.

A2 Hosting’s VPS Hosting is designed for speed and scalability, ensuring your e-commerce store can expand without a hitch.

Dedicated Hosting

If you need maximum resources for your eCommerce store, dedicated server hosting is like owning the entire office building.

Your website is hosted on its own server, giving you the best performance, top-notch security, and complete control over your resources. It’s best suited for large eCommerce platforms with high traffic volumes.

Our Dedicated Hosting plans offer the most resources and full root access for the best performance and customization.

Your eCommerce store can handle even the heaviest traffic spikes while still delivering a smooth shopping experience for your customers.

eCommerce Hosting

While the hosting types above support eCommerce, there’s also specialized eCommerce hosting tailored fro accepting online payments. It aligns perfectly with various eCommerce platforms, such as WooCommerce, Magento Open Source, Drupal, and others, offering quick and easy setups.

With A2 Hosting, you can get a specialized WooCommerce Hosting plan within our Managed WordPress Hosting services. This plan comes with many useful add-ons and features, such as:

• WooCommerce pre-installed.
• Premium RapidSSL certificate.
• Daily automatic backups.
• Performance Plus Traffic Surge Protection.
• Unmetered bandwidth.
• And more eCommerce features!

“For those just starting, our WooCommerce Hosting offers a great balance of simplicity, features, and scalability. It’s an excellent choice for small to medium-sized businesses focusing on performance, growth, and customer satisfaction.” – Aaron Campbell, Director of Product at A2 Hosting

We also support virtually all eCommerce storefront software. Select the hosting plan that fits your needs and install whichever platform you choose.

What To Look For In A Web Host That Supports Business Success

Choosing a web hosting provider can be hard, especially if you’re just starting your online business and you’re not familiar with hosting requirements – but don’t worry!

We’ve gathered the most important features you should consider for eCommerce hosting. Let’s begin!

Self-Hosted vs Hosting eCommerce Solutions

First, it’s important to note the difference between self-hosted and hosted eCommerce platforms.

Hosted platforms like Wix and Squarespace allow you to create stores, but they offer very rigid site templates. While you can add certain sections or content features, there is only so much you can do to customize your site.

With self-hosting stores, you choose the hosting plan that best fits your needs and install the eCommerce software you are most comfortable with. While there are certain templates and potential limitations, this is a much more flexible opinion for building a web store for long-term growth.

While hosted platforms have their advantages, we are focusing solely on the best self-host plans for eCommerce sites.

High Storage For All Your Store Data

When you run an online shop, you’ll gather tons of data – like product details, customer information, high-resolution images, and sales records. Having enough space to store all this is key, so look for a host that can handle this information and allow you to upgrade storage as needed.

For example, with A2 Hosting’s entry-leve Shared Web Hosting plan, you get 10GB storage which is more than enough to keep your data safe and easy to reach. And if you go for our dedicated server plans, you get 2X1 TB SSD Storage.

In addition, our Turbo plans use next-generation NVMe instead of regular SSDs, which means your site will load much faster. Faster loading times for your pages and searches can make a big difference. If you don’t have enough storage, your site might slow down as your business grows, which means you won’t be able to scale properly.

High Uptime To Keep Business Operations Going

It’s important for your store to be available whenever customers want to shop. This availability is measured in uptime, which is vital not just for making sales but also for building trust with your customers and keeping your store’s reputation strong.

To give you peace of mind, every A2 Hosting plan comes with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. This commitment applies to any unscheduled downtime of your website for more than 0.1% of the total time per month. We will also provide a service credit in the amount of 5% of the paid fee for the month for every hour that your website is unreachable due to an internal network or equipment failure.

Guarantees Fast Page Load Speeds For An Optimal Customer Experience

Fast page loading keeps visitors happy, helps your site show up better in search results, and can significantly improve conversion rates.

At A2 Hosting, we take speed very seriously, and you can witness that for yourself with our Turbo Plans. These plans use LiteSpeed Servers, which are way quicker than other options like Apache and Nginx.

Besides that, we offer the A2 Optimized WooCommerce plugin, which sets up your site to load faster by handling things like compression and caching without you having to lift a finger.

You also get our exclusive TurboHub WordPress control panel. Improve your store performance in as little as one click. Plus, you can manage site security and maintenance from one easy-to-use dashboard.

All this means you can focus on your business, knowing your store is fast, friendly, and ready to impress your customers.

Supports Various eCommerce Platforms With One-Click Installs, Pre-Installed Software, and Control Panels

For your store to run smoothly, you need a hosting provider that supports a wide range of content management systems and eCommerce platforms. Flexibility is essential for small businesses online because you might start on one platform and then decide to move to another when your needs or budget changes.

Our WooCommerce Hosting comes with the plugin already set up for you. But that’s just the start.

And if you don’t work with WordPress, you can easily add other major software like Drupal and Joomla with one-click installs via Softaculous.

Need something a bit different? Magento Open Source, PrestaShop, and OpenCart can be installed in just a few clicks.

Another piece of software that is crucial for online shops is control panels. Managing your online shop should be straightforward, not a headache, and control panels help with that. It’s like the dashboard of your car, putting all the important controls in one easy-to-access place. You can manage inventory, track orders, and customize your site without jumping through hoops.

Managed Hosting Options For Automated Backups And Other Technical Maintenance

Managed hosting is like having a tech-savvy friend take care of all the behind-the-scenes work for your online store. This service is fantastic because it handles all the technical stuff for you, such as keeping your site backed up and running smoothly.

With managed hosting, you won’t have to worry about losing your latest updates or customer data; everything is backed up automatically. It’s perfect for eCommerce owners who prefer to focus on growing their business while the experts are keeping your site safe and sound.

SSLs, CDNs, And Other Essential Security Measures For Businesses

Strong security is a must for any online business, especially when it comes to protecting your customers’ transactions. SSL certificates are your first line of defense, encrypting data to keep customer information safe. A2 Hosting steps up by including a free SSL certificate with all our hosting plans, ensuring your site is secure from the get-go. For those on the WooCommerce Hosting plan, A2 goes even further by offering a premium RapidSSL certificate with an even higher level of security for your online transactions.

Apart from security, you also need to ensure your data reaches visitors fast, and that’s where Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) come in.

They make sure that your website’s content is available quickly, no matter where your customers are. All of our hosting plans are CDN-compatible, helping your site load faster for everyone, everywhere.

Scalable Plans For eCommerce Stores Facing Growth

As your web store grows, your hosting needs will change. It’s important to have the flexibility to move from shared hosting to more powerful options like VPS or dedicated server hosting with as little hassle as possible. This kind of growth is a good thing; it means your business is thriving!

We get this! A2 Hosting offers scalable plans that grow with you, ensuring you can upgrade your hosting environment without missing a beat. Plus, if you’re moving your site from another host to A2, we’ve got your back with a free migration service. This means you can switch to faster, more secure hosting without worrying about downtime affecting your sales or customer experience.

Reliable Support For Your Operations

Running a store comes with its own set of challenges, and having a support team ready to help 24/7 is crucial. There might be a software issue, or you might need to figure out a specific feature.

In these cases and more, it can be very useful to have a team of experts always on standby, ready to solve any technical issues you might face, day or night.

Our Guru Crew support team is available 24/7/365 by phone, chat, and more to help you when you need it most.

Exploring the Best eCommerce Hosting Solutions

InMotion

InMotion Hosting has built a strong reputation for its reliable performance and exceptional customer service, making it a solid choice for eCommerce businesses looking to establish or grow their online presence.

Their offers include:

• Free website migration service.
• A wide range of hosting plans, including shared, VPS, and dedicated servers.
• InMotion’s Max Speed Zones, which optimize site performance based on the geographic location of the site’s visitors.
• A variety of eCommerce tools and the ability to integrate with popular platforms, such as PrestaShop, OpenCart, Drupal, and custom-built stores.

This blend of reliability, service, and versatile hosting solutions makes InMotion an appealing option for eCommerce sites looking for growth and performance.

A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting provides ultra-reliable hosting with unlimited bandwidth and support for all eCommerce platforms. From shared hosting plans perfect for startups to dedicated servers designed for high-volume traffic stores, A2 Hosting has something for everyone.

We support virtually all eCommerce software, including WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento Open Souce, OpenCart, AbanteCart, and many more.

Here is why we can be your perfect partner in eCommerce:

• You can one-click install any eCommerce platform on any of our hosting plans. Our Sell plan, which is a tier on our Managed WordPress Hosting, is specifically for WooCommerce and comes with additional features such as Protection Plus Traffic Surge Protection.
• A2 Hosting offers up to 20X faster Turbo plans across all hosting types. These plans are built on LiteSpeed servers and come with other advanced features like limited occupancy, upgraded server hardware, advanced caching software, and optimized configurations. Faster loading times can greatly enhance the shopping experience, reduce bounce rates, and ultimately lead to better sales conversions.
• We offer scalable plans that accommodate increasing traffic volumes with minimal fuss. Upgrading plans is a straightforward process, ensuring that your hosting evolves in step with your store.
• Every plan comes with a 99.9% Uptime Commitment, so businesses can rely on their store being available around the clock, minimizing potential downtime and maximizing opportunity.
• The Guru Crew is available 24/7/365 by phone, chat, ticketing system, or email to address any eCommerce hosting concerns. Plus, we have a rich knowledge base of topics to help you customize your store, install new features, and improve security or performance.
• Every plan includes free SSL certificates for encrypted connections and secure data transfers. This protects your store and your customer’s data. You can also offer several other types of SSL certificates for enhanced protection and more trust with your customers.
• We also offer a comprehensive security suite with robust features to keep your store safe. Key features include malware scanning, DDoS and brute-force protections, and more.
• If you’re using WooCommerce or building your small business website in WordPress, then you’ll have access to our exclusive TurboHub control panel. It offers an at-a-glance site health check and offers personalized recommendations to further optimize site performance.

Besides, we’re so confident in our quality that we offer a hassle-free, 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try any hosting plan with absolutely no risk! Get a full refund for 30 days and a pro-rated refund any time after that.

IONOS

IONOS offers a range of eCommerce services, including hosting, store builders, eCommerce store design, shop integrations, and social buy buttons. Their hosting plans are suitable for all major platforms, such as WooCommerce, Drupal, and Shopware.

Main features include:

• Daily backups, DDoS protection, and data recovery options.
• The ability to export product listings to major online marketplaces.
• A set of pre-installed plugins for their WooCommerce hosting plans.
• Unlimited product listings and categories.
• Dedicated customer support via phone, email, or chat.

IONOS is a great option for businesses looking for an all-in-one solution, with their website builders and designer services.

Shopify

Shopify is a popular all-in-one platform that caters to eCommerce businesses by bundling hosting, shopping cart functionality, and customizable templates into one package.

Its user-friendly interface is a big draw for individuals or businesses with little to no technical background, making it easy to set up and manage a store without the need for coding knowledge. However, while Shopify simplifies many aspects of running an eCommerce site, certain integrations and the use of alternative payment gateways can incur additional fees, something that cost-conscious users might want to consider.

While Shopify’s hosting is seamlessly optimized for Shopify stores, offering reliability and speed, this tight integration might limit those who seek greater control over their hosting environment and deeper customization options.

Despite this, Shopify’s expansive marketplace of third-party apps allows users to greatly extend their store’s functionality, providing tools for marketing, SEO, and more, helping to round out its offering as a versatile platform for eCommerce entrepreneurs.

TMDHosting

TMDHosting is a fully managed hosting service, taking the technical load off your shoulders so you can focus more on your business and less on backend worries. This approach is especially appealing for eCommerce site owners who prioritize ease of use and reliable support.

Its main features include:

• Daily backups and real-time monitoring.
• Cloud and SSD technology to boost your website’s performance and speed.
• Global data centers.
• Support for WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento Open Source, and OpenCart.
• Staging and cloning tools available.
• Website tools like SpamExperts, CloudFlare integration, Memcache management, and backup restoration tools.

Get Started With A2 Hosting’s eCommerce Hosting Plans

Choosing the right eCommerce hosting provider is a big decision for your business, so remember to consider all the features provided by the different options and think about what is best for you in the long term.

With A2 Hosting, you can start small, even with a tight budget, and then expand as your business grows. Our hosting plans are tailored to fit any eCommerce need, from startups to large enterprises looking for high-performance and top-notch security.

Our eCommerce plans are built on powerful servers that allow for high-speed CPU loads and give your website the ability to handle significantly more traffic, which can happen at any time if you have a sudden traffic spike due to a successful marketing campaign or social media.

For those who prefer WooCommerce, our dedicated WooCommerce Hosting plan is unmatched. It’s specifically optimized to get the most out of your WooCommerce site, combining speed, security, and ease of use into a single, powerful package.

Check out our eCommerce hosting plans today to explore what we offer and how we can elevate your store to reach its full potential!

Best eCommerce Hosting FAQs

What are the key factors I should consider when choosing eCommerce hosting?

Choosing the right eCommerce hosting involves several critical factors to ensure your store operates smoothly and efficiently.

Here is what you should be looking for:

• Uptime Guarantee: Look for hosting with a strong uptime record. Your store should be accessible around the clock.
• Speed: Fast loading times are essential for keeping customers engaged and reducing bounce rates.
• Scalability: Your hosting should be able to grow with your business, offering easy upgrades to handle increased traffic.
• Security: Robust security measures, including SSL certificates, protect your data and build customer trust.
• Customer Support: Responsive, 24/7 support is crucial for resolving any issues quickly.
• Compatibility: Ensure the hosting is compatible with your chosen eCommerce platform for a smooth operation.
• Price: Consider the hosting cost relative to the features and support provided.

What is the best web hosting for eCommerce?

Identifying the best web hosting for your eCommerce store depends on your specific needs. Most of the time, new business owners will need high-quality and fast support for technical issues and queries, fast servers to make sure their websites are performing as they should, and the opportunity to scale up as their store and customers grow.

A2 Hosting, known for its speed and reliability, offers plans specifically for eCommerce sites that you can scale up with no issues. Shared hosting starts around $2.99/month, with specialized WooCommerce plans for more robust needs.

Can I host my own eCommerce website?

While it’s technically possible to host your own eCommerce site, it demands a significant investment in infrastructure, security measures, and ongoing maintenance. If you want to focus on your business and product development, it’s recommended that you look for fully managed hosting solutions so that you don’t need to deal with the technical complications of running and maintaining a website.

If you’re an experienced developer and want to have control over technical aspects, then we recommend choosing an unmanaged hosting service such as the unmanaged VPS. This will give you full control over the hosting environment, as well as command line and root access.

Can my eCommerce hosting scale with my business?

Scalability is the key to your eCommerce success. Most providers offer a range of hosting options, but not all make it easy to scale your plan or services as you grow.

Look for a hosting provider that allows you to easily scale to other plans or add resources when you need them. This flexibility is key for handling increased sales and traffic.

A2 Hosting makes growing your store easy. Our team can migrate you to faster Turbo Servers or move you to VPS or Dedicated servers for even more resources.

How much does it cost to host an online store?

The hosting cost for an online store varies widely based on the platform and the plan’s features.

Basic shared hosting can start as low as $10 to $15 a month before special offers and incentives. However, you can usually get discounts as low as $1.95 per month.

VPS hosting, offering more resources and better performance, might range from $35 to $100 a month. For larger stores, dedicated hosting plans provide the utmost in performance and security, with prices starting around $100 per month and going up significantly from there.

How Does A2 Hosting Support Small Businesses?

A2 Hosting takes pride in supporting small businesses. We are happy to support and celebrate Small Business Week and all of Small Business Month.

From Katie Davis, author, and entrepreneur, to the Pyrenees Cycling Company in France, to music producer Gemtracks.com, we celebrate the backbone of our company, the small businesses that make us who we are. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have small businesses supporting us along the way.

Our CEO, Bryan Muthig said, “Small Businesses are so important and we’re trying to do everything we can to give them the prices and plans they need to flourish, everything we do is with the intention to help our customers thrive online.” We love our small businesses here at A2 Hosting and we’re committed to providing the speediest solution available for your business to thrive.

Speed might not seem like an obvious way to support small businesses, but website speed directly influences a business’s conversion rate and profitability. Also, speed isn’t a preference but an expectation. More than 45% of consumers expect pages to load in 2 seconds or less. After 2 seconds, many users leave to find another fast-loading page.

In fact, for every additional second of loading time after 2 seconds, conversions drop by 7% and continue to drop by intervals of 7% for every consecutive second.

Amazon performed site speed tests that concluded they would lose $1.6 billion every year if their site slowed down by one second. Now, Amazon isn’t a small business, but as a small business owner, you can’t afford to lose money. Sure, it’s not going to total a $1.6 billion loss, but any loss is a loss for your business.

For small businesses, a one-second improvement in page load speeds leads to $70 more revenue per day (over $2000/monthly) for sites earning $1000 a day.

As a small business, you won’t have the traffic of larger corporations like Amazon or Etsy. Your needs are smaller and it’s important to choose a plan that correctly matches your needs.

Start a fast, reliable eCommerce store with the best plans from A2 Hosting for as low as $1.95. Whether you want WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, or another storefront, we offer premium hosting with the resources you need to be successful. Choose an affordable eCommerce Business Hosting plan today and get started in as little as five minutes.

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An Introduction to eCommerce Platforms

eCommerce platforms provide the infrastructure needed to create and manage online stores. They provide tools for everything from listing products and processing payments to managing inventory and fulfilling orders.

While there are many different eCommerce options, all of them fall into two main categories: hosted and self-hosted. With hosted platforms like Shopify, you host your store directly through the platform. Solutions like Magento and WooCommerce are self-hosted, which allows you to add them to any hosting plan you choose.

About Magento Open Source

Magento Open Source is a comprehensive eCommerce solution offering a high level of customization, scalability, and advanced features, making it suitable for businesses that need a robust, flexible solution.

Whether you choose the open-source or enterprise version, Magento empowers businesses to create unique, powerful online stores that can grow with their needs.

Adobe acquired Magento in 2018. They continue to develop Magento as an open-source product but also offer a propriety version branded as Adobe Commerce, formerly Magento Commerce.

About WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a powerful, flexible eCommerce plugin for WordPress that is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses. First launched in 2011, WooCommerce is developed by Automattic.

Its ease of use, customization options, and integration with WordPress make it a popular choice for store owners who want complete control over their website and eCommerce experience.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to grow your online presence, WooCommerce provides a solid, scalable foundation for building an online store.

Magento or WooCommerce: Which One Should You Choose?

Both WooCommerce and Magento Open Source are powerful, scalable, and relatively user-friendly tools. But there are also a number of key differences to consider.

Payment Gateways

A payment gateway acts as the middleman between the customer and your store, safely processing payments.

While you technically only need to offer one payment gateway, offering several convenient options can improve customer experience and satisfaction.

Magento and WooCommerce both offer a variety of options to make purchases fast, safe, and simple.

Magento supports Authorize.net, Braintree, and PayPal by default. Plus, you can add extensions for 2Checkout, Google Checkout, Skrill, Stripe, and several others.

The default gateways for WooCommerce are PayPal and Stripe. With plugins, you can add support for Alipay, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, Square, and more.

Ease of Use

When it comes to ease of use and managing your store, WooCommerce has the advantage. It is generally considered easier to use than Magento, especially for users already familiar with WordPress or who have less technical skills.

WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress, which is known for its user-friendly interface. If you’re familiar with WordPress, setting up and managing WooCommerce is straightforward.

Just follow the guided setup wizard to configure your store, add products, set up payments, and manage shipping with ease.

While WooCommerce allows for customization through themes and plugins, it does not require extensive coding or development skills to get started.

On the other hand, Magento is a more powerful and feature-rich platform. It is highly customizable and scalable, which makes setup more complicated.

That doesn’t mean that beginners can’t use Magento. But the learning curve can be much higher, especially if you are not so technically savvy.

Still, Magento is often better suited for medium to large businesses with the technical knowledge and resources to manage your store efficiently.

Customization and Flexibility

Having the flexibility to customize your store is important for some. From themes and styles to features and options, both Magento and WooCommerce are extremely flexible.

Many of these features are built into Magento, reducing the need for additional extensions or plugins. This includes marketing and SEO tools, enhanced search and catalog settings, support for multiple languages, robust pricing and promotions options, and much more.

Extensions allow you to customize Magento even more. For example, you can connect your store with other platforms or add more nuanced features.

WooCommerce offers flexibility through the use of third-party plugins. Simply add the features you want with the right plugins. It is also based on WordPress, allowing you to customize your store relatively easily with their design tools.

Themes are also available for both eCommerce platforms, although more options are available for WooCommerce than Magento Open Source.

Security

No matter whether you choose Magento or WooCommerce, it’s important that you security seriously.

Both stores are open-source platforms. While they are both reliable and secure, you need to be proactive in protecting your store and your customers.

Make sure you keep your store up to date to protect against security threats. This also means you need to update plugins and extensions too, since they may pose additional security risks.

Since WooCommerce relies more heavily on plugins than Magento, it may put you at a slightly higher risk. As such, we recommend turning on automatic updates to prevent issues and limit vulnerabilities.

Outside of updates, you should also consider the security options included with your hosting plan. Look for a host that offers a comprehensive security suite with real-time threat protections.

Scalability

Another important factor to consider is scalability. If you plan to grow your store, you need eCommerce capabilities that can scale with you.

WooCommerce is an excellent choice for small to medium-sized businesses. It can handle a decent volume of products and transactions, but its performance and scalability depend largely on the limitations of your hosting plan.

More often than not, you will outgrow WooCommerce’s features before you need to worry about hosting issues.

Out of the box, Magento is built to scale. While you can use it for small storefronts, it’s meant for moderate to enterprise-level stores with extensive product catalogs and high traffic.

While you may need to commit more development resources to your store, Magento will allow you to scale virtually endlessly.

Hosting Requirements

You can’t talk about scalability without talking about hosting requirements.

Most basic web hosting plans are fine for starting a small store with a few products. However, you will likely require dedicated resources, more powerful processors, and more storage as you grow.

WooCommerce is often the go-to choice for entry-level hosting because it is a quick and affordable option for starting a web store. But Magento can also perform reasonably well on even the most basic hosting plan.

It really comes down to your needs, the number of products you are selling, your site traffic, and the features or plugins you are using.

Magento can perform better than WooCommerce, especially if you are using a lot of WordPress plugins. On the other hand, a streamlined WooCommerce store can handle more products with lower hosting resources than Magento.

Whichever eCommerce tool you choose, look for a hosting provider that allows you to scale your site easily with minimal downtime.

Marketing & SEO Options

When it comes to running an effective store, you need to think about marketing. Both eCommerce platforms offer great marketing tools, but they handle them differently.

Magento has a built-in suite of marketing tools that are included for free. Every page and product includes powerful SEO features to help your store and products appear in searches.

You can easily email customers about abandoned carts, promotions, and more. And the advanced targeting and personalization allow you to customize each visitor’s experience to boost sales.

You can also add extensions for specific features or allow you to connect your store with other platforms. These extensions may come with separate fees.

WooCommerce also supports robust marketing features through WordPress plugins. Easily add support for SEO, email marketing, personalization, and more with any number of plugins.

However, too many plugins can impact WooCommerce’s performance. Not to mention that many of these plugins come with recurring costs.

Community & Support

As free, open-source platforms, both WooCommerce and Magento have active support communities.

WooCommerce benefits from the enormous WordPress community, with countless forums, tutorials, and third-party developers available to offer support. Additionally, WooCommerce has its own extensive documentation and dedicated support services for users who need assistance.

Similarly, Magento has a stronger developer community. Although smaller than the WordPress community, it is highly specialized and an invaluable resource for businesses needing complex customizations or technical help.

You should also consider the level of support from your hosting provider. 24/7/365 support is relatively standard within the hosting community. Look for a host that offers reliable phone and chat support. Also, look for hosts with extensive knowledge bases about eCommerce stores, themes, and additional plugins.

Pricing

Strictly speaking, WooCommerce and Magento are both free, open-source eCommerce solutions. You can install them on most hosting plans at no cost and launch a store relatively quickly. But there are things to consider for both options.

Magento offers robust features that are included by default. But you can still install extensions that may come with subscriptions or recurring free. While Magento Open Source is free, Magento Commerce, now known as Adobe Commerce, is not.

The Adobe solution is a paid, hosted eCommerce storefront. With Adobe, you are paying to use their proprietary version of Magento. Those costs include your website and the software to manage and maintain your products and web store.

WooCommere is also free, but it relies more heavily on third-party plugins than Magento. This means you are more likely to pay for premium features like SEO plugins, email marketing tools, etc.

Another price consideration is the cost of your web hosting. Basic web hosting usually starts between $10 and $20 per month, although it may cost as low as $2 with discounts and incentives.

However, you may need higher-tier plans with more system resources to be competitive.

Which Platform is Right for You?

Both WooCommerce and Magento have their strengths, but they have different features, technical requirements, and costs to consider.

WooCommerce is best for small to medium-sized businesses looking for a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution with a familiar WordPress environment.

It typically requires less technical knowledge to get started. WooCommerce offers great flexibility through plugins and is suitable for businesses with moderate growth goals.

However, too many plugins can slow down your site. While WooCommerce is free, many of these plugins are paid add-ons. Remember to consider your needs and the costs associated with them.

Magento Open Source is the go-to choice for large businesses and enterprises needing advanced eCommerce functionality and the ability to scale.

Its robust features and superior customization options make it perfect for complex, high-traffic stores, though it may require more technical expertise. But that doesn’t mean you cannot use it for a small store.

Despite the higher learning curve, it can save you on recurring costs in the long run. However, Magento can require more server resources, leading to higher hosting costs.

Ultimately, the choice between WooCommerce and Magento depends on your business’s size, goals, and technical capacity. Both platforms can help you build a successful online store, but choosing the right one ensures that your store can grow and thrive.

Whether you want WooCommerce Hosting or Magento Hosting, we have affordable hosting options with one-click eCommerce installation to get your store up and running fast.

Not sure WooCommerece or Magento is right for you? No problem, we support many different eCommerce Hosting solutions, including OpenCart, PrestaShop, AbanteCart, and more.

Our entry-level Web Hosting plans offer a premium hosting experience at low, affordable monthly rates. Easily scale your store as you grow with our Virtual Private Server (VPS) and Dedicated Server plans.

No matter which hosting plan or eCommerce store you choose, you always get 24/7/365 support from our in-house Guru Crew via phone, chat, ticketing system, and email. Plus, we have an extensive knowledge base full of tips and how-to guides to help you set up and manage your Magento or WooCommerce store.

Hero photo by PNW Production / Pexels

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What’s the Difference Between Hosted and Self-Hosted eCommerce Sites?

All eCommerce hosting may look the same, but there is a subtle yet significant distinction. There are two key differences between hosted and self-hosted eCommerce platforms.

First is the level of control you have over your website. With hosted eCommerce sites, you can change colors, layouts, and maybe even your theme, but not much else.

If you choose a self-hosted eCommerce store, you can control every aspect of how your store looks. But there can be some technical considerations to contend with. More on that later.

Second, is who manages the hosting infrastructure. Hosted eCommerce sites take care of all the server maintenance and upkeep, claiming they are safer and more reliable than self-hosted websites. To some degree, they have a point.

With self-hosted platforms, you might need to manage your own hosting environment. But, in most cases, your hosting provider will handle that for you. So, this really isn’t as big of an upsell as hosted platforms make it out to be.

What Is a Hosted eCommerce Website?

A hosted eCommerce website refers to an online store that’s built and managed using a platform hosted by a third-party provider. They offer a streamlined platform that allows you to quickly create, launch, and manage an eCommerce site.

These platforms provide an all-in-one e-commerce solution that includes hosting, a shopping cart function, and technical support.

Your monthly hosting cost usually depends on the size of your store or the number of products you sell. You also typically pay per sale on top of the monthly hosting fees. Most platforms offer discounts if you pay for several months in advance.

With a hosted solution, everything from web hosting to security, updates, and server maintenance is handled for you. These platforms provide users with a suite of tools to design and manage an web store easily, often with drag-and-drop builders, themes, and integrated payment gateways.

All you need to do is add your store name, logo, and products. While there are some options to customize your store, these hosted eCommerce sites can be pretty cookie-cutter. That might be fine for some stores or products, but you may find these limitations a little too constraining.

Examples of Hosted Websites for eCommerce

Here are some of the most popular websites for hosted eCommerce stores:

• Shopify – A popular, all-in-one hosted eCommerce site that allows you to easily build, manage, and scale an online store with no technical expertise required. Shopify offers a wide range of built-in features, integrations, and payment gateways. Shopify is also available as a plugin for self-hosted web stores.
• BigCommerce – A flexible hosted eCommerce website designed for growth, offering robust features for scalability, customization, and multi-channel selling. It’s a great choice if you are looking for advanced functionality without the need for extensive coding knowledge.
• Wix eCommerce – An easy-to-use website builder with integrated eCommerce capabilities, Wix eCommerce is perfect if you looking to create a simple, attractive web store with drag-and-drop customization.
• Squarespace – A visually-focused website builder with built-in eCommerce features. Consider Squarespace if you want to prioritize design and user experience. It offers a range of templates, making it a good choice for creatives and small online shops.

Advantages of Hosted eCommerce

Hosted eCommerce sites offer several advantages, the biggest one often being how easy they are to get started. Here are the pros to consider when looking at hosted web storefronts:

1. Ease of Use: Hosted platforms are designed for users with little to no technical knowledge. The setup process is usually simple and intuitive, with easy-to-use tools for creating product listings, managing inventory, processing orders, and handling payments. You don’t need to worry about configuring servers or troubleshooting hosting issues, as that’s all managed by the provider.
2. Maintenance-Free: Hosted platforms take care of all the technical maintenance, including updates, backups, and security patches. You’ll never have to worry about your website being outdated or vulnerable to security threats, as the platform’s team ensures everything runs smoothly.
3. Reliable Customer Support: Hosted platforms generally offer customer support, often available 24/7, to help you resolve any technical or platform-related issues. This can be a lifesaver if you run into trouble and need assistance quickly to avoid downtime.

Disadvantages of Hosted eCommerce

Hosted stores also have some disadvantages to consider, including higher costs and fewer options for customizing your site.

1. Limited Customization: While hosted platforms offer a variety of templates, themes, and plugins, your ability to customize the site is limited to the options they provide. If you want highly specific features or a completely unique design, you may find hosted solutions restrictive. Modifications outside of their ecosystem could also be costly or unavailable.
2. Additional Costs: Hosted eCommerce platforms usually come with a monthly or annual subscription fee. Additionally, many of these platforms charge transaction fees for each sale, which can add up, particularly for larger businesses with high sales volumes. While the upfront costs may be low, the recurring or hidden costs can add up over time. These can include the payment gateway charges, plus an upcharge for the eCommerce host. Yep, they can make extra money off of each one of your sales.
3. Vendor Lock-In: Since your website is built and hosted on the platform’s infrastructure, migrating to another provider can be difficult and time-consuming. If the platform changes its pricing or policies, you may feel stuck with limited flexibility to make a switch.

What Is a Self-Hosted eCommerce Platform?

A self-hosted eCommerce website gives you complete control over your online store. With this option, you choose your own hosting provider and install eCommerce software.

Almost all hosting providers offer one-click installation for popular storefronts like WooCommerce, Magento, or OpenCart. This makes starting your store almost as easy as a hosted option.

And some hosting providers even sell plans with eCommerce options pre-installed, making it just as simple to get started.

Depending on the hosting plan, your service provider will also handle all the maintenance.

Hosting providers usually bill monthly for your hosting service. In some cases, you can launch your store for between $10 and $20 per month before current incentives.

You also need to pay your payment gateway for each transaction, but that is a separate charge. Hosted plans usually include this in their monthly fees, so it seems like this is an additional fee.

Unlike hosted platforms, self-hosted websites allow you to manage every aspect of the website, from the software it runs on to its design and functionality.

Examples of Self-Hosted Sites for eCommerce

There are many different self-hosted platforms, but these are the most widely used:

• WooCommerce –  An open-source eCommerce plugin for WordPress, WooCommerce gives you full control over your online store’s customization and features. It’s a great option if you want a scalable and highly flexible self-hosted solution. It also easily integrates with WordPress, making it the perfect choice if you already have an existing WordPress site.
• OpenCart – A user-friendly, open-source platform that offers a cost-effective solution for small to medium-sized businesses. OpenCart provides a simple way to create a customizable web store with multiple extensions and themes.
• Adobe eCommerce (formerly Magento) – A powerful, open-source eCommerce solution geared towards medium to large businesses. Magento offers extensive customization and scalability, making it suitable if you want to get started fast, but scale up to a complex, feature-rich web store.
• PrestaShop – An open-source eCommerce storefront known for its flexibility and scalability, PrestaShop is designed for merchants who want to customize every aspect of their online shop while managing a variety of features, including inventory and shipping.
• AbanteCart – An open-source eCommerce solution focused on ease of use and performance. AbanteCart is ideal for small to medium businesses looking for a simple yet flexible platform that offers built-in features for selling products online.

Advantages of Self-Hosted eCommerce Solutions

From lower costs to better customization, there are several reasons to consider a self-hosted eCommerce store.

1. Full Control and Customization: With a self-hosted solution, you have complete control over every aspect of your store. You’re not limited by platform-imposed restrictions, so you can customize your site to suit your specific needs. You can add any third-party tools, features, or plugins you need to enhance functionality, and you have the ability to modify your site’s code directly.
2. No Platform Restrictions: Since you’re not tied to a particular platform, you’re free to use any software, framework, or tools you prefer. This is particularly beneficial if you want to integrate custom solutions, design elements, or specific marketing tools that aren’t available on hosted platforms.
3. Lower Long-Term Costs: While there are upfront costs associated with hosting, domain registration, and possibly web development, there are fewer ongoing fees compared to hosted solutions. You don’t have to worry about platform subscription costs or transaction fees, which can make self-hosting more cost-effective over time, especially for larger businesses.

Disadvantages of Self-Hosted eCommerce

As with the hosted options, there are some cons to consider with self-hosted eCommerce stores. That said, nearly all of these disadvantages are less troublesome than you might think.

1. Somewhat Harder to Setup: Building a self-hosted website takes more time than a hosted platform. From choosing a hosting provider to setting up the software, configuring security, and maintaining performance, self-hosting is more complex and time-consuming. It’s important to weigh this investment in time against the benefits of greater control. However, most hosting companies streamline this process for you with one-click setups and easy-to-use site builder tools. Unless you want to make to completely custom site, setup really only takes one or two more steps.
2. Possibility for Maintenance Requirements: While hosted platforms handle updates, backups, and security automatically, you may need to manage some of those responsibilities with a self-hosted website. Typically, your hosting provider handles all of the server maintenance, including security. Whereas, you need to keep your eCommerce software, plugins, and themes up-to-date. Most of the time, that is as simple as hitting the update button.
3. Some Technical Knowledge Required: Managing a self-hosted eCommerce site also may require some technical skills. But it comes down to your needs. If you want to develop custom features, you will need to understand servers and have some coding skills. However, the standard modules are just as easy to use as they are on the hosted sites. If you do have an issue, most hosting companies offer 24/7/365 support to help out.

Self-Hosted vs Hosted eCommerce Hosting: Choosing the Right One for Your Needs

Still not sure whether you need self-hosted or hosted eCommerce hosting? Both are reliable hosting options to sell items online or start a web store.

Here are some last-minute considerations to help you choose before starting your eCommerce business.

• Hosted: Hosted eCommerce sites are often marketed as the fast, low-cost way to create a web store. And they may have a point. But, they can come with some major limitations and potentially hidden fees.
• Self-Hosted: Self-hosted eCommerce websites are usually easier to set up than they seem but can be overwhelming for some. However, they come with some significant advances like lower overall costs and more flexibility.

So, which is the best option? Well, it really comes down to your needs. If you have one or two custom items you want to sell right now, a hosted web store might be the most cost-effective way to get started.

But if you know you plan to offer more products or grow your business in the future, a self-hosted website could be the more reliable, less expensive option.

In most cases, they both include a range of features like:

• Easy site setup
• User-friendly interface
• Content management system
• SEO tools
• Social media marketing plugins

Hosted plans also offer features like:

• Streamlined sign-up to get started super fast
• Simple store templates for quick store launches

While self-hosted plans include additional features like:

• More options to customize your site layout
• More control over your product listings
• Choice of integrated payment systems

With A2 Hosting’s eCommerce Hosting options, you can start your web store in just minutes. After choosing the right hosting plan, checkout takes less than five minutes.

Then log into your hosting account and choose your eCommerce platform. With our one-click install feature, you are ready to go in seconds. Add your store name, create your products, and start selling!

Our premium Web Hosting starts as low as $1.95 per month. Upgrade to Turbo Hosting for up to 20X faster page load speeds or choose WooCommerce Hosting, built specifically for WordPress.

No matter which plan you choose, you always get our ultra-reliable 99.9% uptime and our risk-free money back guarantee. Plus, if you have any issues, our Guru Crew is available 24/7/365 by phone, chat, ticking system, and email to help!

Hero image by Negative Space.

The post Self-Hosted vs Hosted E-Commerce Platforms: Which Is Right for You? appeared first on The A2 Posting.

What is Magento?

First, let’s discuss what Magento is and why it may be a helpful platform for you. Magento is one of the top e-commerce platforms today. It is made with open-source software so users are able to control their online store’s look, functionality, and content without compromising the shopping experience. Also, Magento provides its users with a number of useful tools and features including marketing, SEO, and catalog-management tools. With Magento, users have access to a wide variety of plugins and themes to customize whatever they want. Such customizations can also improve customer experience.

In general, the platform is scalable to any store size and will adapt to your business, whether you are catering to a few customers or a million. This means that as your business grows you won’t be forced to change platforms.

What is Managed VPS Hosting?

Managed VPS Hosting is a managed service where you don’t need to worry about managing your server. With Managed VPS Hosting, your hosting provider will take care of server maintenance such as core updates, software installation, backup, security, and more.

Benefits of Magento as an eCommerce Platform

Magento offers numerous advantages to e-commerce businesses. As an e-commerce platform, it provides:

• Increased performance and scalability
• Improved ability to persuade customers
• A powerful platform that can support thousands of products
• A responsive and mobile-friendly experience
• Advanced search engine optimization features
• A helpful community with developer support

Benefits of Managed VPS Hosting with A2 Hosting

• Enjoy Full Root Access: With full root access you can tailor your managed server to meet your specific needs as you’re not sharing it with other entities.
• Cost Savings: With managed virtual hosting, you can eliminate expenses incurred on hiring dedicated staff to take care of the technical administration and management tasks.
• Scalability: Managed VPS Hosting services also take care of scalability, which is an important requirement for growing businesses. With rising traffic, your server resources can be easily ramped up to meet the increasing demands.
• Security: With Managed VPS Hosting, you get an IP address that is unique to your server, which offers increased website security.

Conclusion

At A2 Hosting, our goal is to offer fast, responsive, and reliable hosting solutions to meet your unique needs. This recent integration with Magento is one way for us to show our support to all of our customers.

If you’re a growing enterprise, increasing business demands can place undue strain on your website and online operations if they’re not designed to handle high traffic and other challenges. In addition, the demands of an expanding business can divert attention from more valuable business activities. This is where A2 Hosting can come to your rescue. By opting for our Managed Magento VPS Hosting, you can focus your time and attention on operations such as marketing, promotions, sales, and customer service that directly contribute to the growth of your business.

Leave the hosting challenges to us while you attend to your customers. Benefit from our hassle-free and seamless hosting plans!

Learn more about our Managed VPS Hosting plans. If you have any questions, contact our sales team today!

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Backend & Technical Improvements

As all eCommerce business owners begin to buckle down and get ready for the upcoming holiday season many are focused on bringing new traffic to their sites to take advantage of the increased spending during Q4. But what happens when your site isn’t ready for the traffic and crashes in the middle of your biggest Black Friday Sale of the year? We want to make sure your website is fast and ready to receive all the new visitors coming your way. Here are some of our team’s top technical tips to make sure your site is ready this season.

Stay Up to Date with Updates

Keeping your website up-to-date is one of the most important maintenance techniques for your eCommerce site. Before the holiday traffic starts, be sure to have all the latest updates installed – both for the CMS itself and any plugins/ modules/add-ons that you already have installed. Luckily for all the website owners out there, it is easy to automate this process by signing up for automatic updates for major and minor releases of WordPress core and plugins. You also have the option to receive email notifications anytime there is a new release available. These updates will provide additional functionality, performance boosts, and patches for known security vulnerabilities. It’s important to verify these updates for compatibility with your combination of plugins and server configuration before updating your production site. This makes sure you don’t update and accidentally break your site.

Identify Your Resource Weaknesses

One of the secret tips to keeping your eCommerce website functioning smoothly is making sure you’re not approaching your resource limits. You should ask yourself…Have you looked at your traffic from last year? Did you run into any issues during your big sales? If so it may be important to check to see if you should move to a plan with more resources to help support a smoother customer experience. Not sure what resources to look at? Here are four important ones to check:

• Disk Space: This refers to the amount of room on your account to store files, including all of your text, code, and images.
• Memory Usage (RAM): RAM stores working data and is a vital part of a computer’s performance. A2 Hosting’s RAM options on our VPS and Dedicated plans range anywhere from 4GB to 128 GB DDR4 ECC, so we have options for any sized website!
• CPU Usage: This is the central processing unit that processes and runs instructions. We offer the choice of AMD and Intel CPUs on our Dedicated hosting plans!
• Inode Usage: This correlates with how many files you can store on your website. If you’re an eCommerce company with lots of files it may be important to get a plan with access to more inodes. Read our knowledge base articles to learn more about how to manage your inode count.

If you’re nearing the maximum usage afforded to your current plan we encourage you to upgrade! Interested in going even faster? Check out A2 Turbo, available on most plans! Confused about what all the web hosting resources are? Check out this blog on four web hosting resources to consider when choosing your hosting plan.

Try a CDN

That’s right, that CDN you’ve been debating? Now is the time to go for it. But what is a CDN? A CDN, or Content Delivery Network, works by utilizing dispersed servers. They use a global network of servers to store static assets for your web page, such as images, at multiple locations closer to the visitor to your site. Not only does this reduce load time as the assets are being delivered from a closer physical location to the customer, but this also reduces the load on your server as it does not need to service that portion of the request. This way visitors from around the world can access your site and all of its information from a server that is closer to them. Here’s a list of the benefits of using a CDN:

• Faster loading speed
• Boost in reliability and response time
• Better global reach
• Increased number of users at one time
• DDoS protection

A2 Hosting offers Cloudflare, a popular CDN, for our customers’ use.

Cache, Cache, Cache

Caching is a great way to speed up your site! Caching stores your web pages in memory, so the server can serve them very quickly, instead of fetching them from the disk each time. This is a way for your site to generate static html versions of dynamic pages that are frequently requested. Caching significantly reduces the load placed on the server to deliver that page as well as speeding up response times. Most web frameworks offer this as an option either directly integrated in the framework or as an additional plugin. Ensuring caching is enabled can make an enormous difference on the amount of traffic and number of concurrent users your site can handle. Our A2 Turbo plans come with Litespeed caching preinstalled! Read our knowledge base article to learn how to use Litespeed on your site.

Improve Your Database Indexing

A frequently disregarded aspect of website performance and scaling is the database itself. Databases include many options to make performance better and one of the most critical is ensuring you have good indexes in your databases.

A lack of indexes, or poorly designed indexes, can increase the time it takes to execute a database query by an order of magnitude. Creating basic indexes is relatively simple and optimizing indexes for your specific use case is something your web developer can typically do for you.

Similarly, it is important to make sure any database queries you are running are well written. It is very easy to write a poor database query during testing or development just to get things working and it is vital to go back later and ensure the query is written as tightly as possible to eliminate unnecessary operations to get the data you actually need.

Traffic Control

How many visitors can view your site? Only as many as your server will handle. This is why it is imperative to ensure that you have fast and reliable hosting. If you frequently experience drops in connection or other general server issues, now is the time to switch to a fast, reliable server. If you’re looking for 99.9% uptime, turbo speeds, and 24/7 guru crew support check out our plans available at A2 Hosting.

Upgrade Your Hardware Stack

You can upgrade the hardware stack powering your website to provide additional resources. A2 Hosting provides an extensive array of packages designed to meet your hosting needs. Our turbo packages are perfect for handling holiday traffic surges. These servers include NVME SSD drives for lightning-fast disk operations, Litespeed web server for dramatically improved page load times, and AMD EPYC CPUs for very high concurrency to handle the flood of holiday visitors. We also have VPS and dedicated server options for those extremely busy websites to ensure your server is not the limiting factor to your business growth during this holiday season.

Security

Security is a must if you don’t want your site becoming unresponsive, or worse, displaying undesirable content. Aside from running updates on the CMS and plugins, removing unused plugins and themes from your site will help reduce potential vulnerabilities.

Install an SSL

All traffic that provides users a way to send any type of information to your site should be secured over HTTPS with a valid SSL. A2 Hosting offers both free and paid versions of different SSLs. To learn the pros and cons of each read this blog. Using an SSL Certificate will help protect your users’ information. The presence of this certificate will help verify your identity to any potential customers and let them know that there’s an encrypted connection when transmitting their information. The great part about paying for an upgraded SSL with A2 Hosting is added security and the benefits of displaying a trust badge. These are symbols you can add to your site that will assure customers that their information is secure and your site is trustworthy (it also avoids the nasty “Unsecured” message that browsers display that makes users worried).

Check Your Authorized Users

You’ll also want to check on your list of authorized administrators/content editors. If you’ve had turnover at the company or previous contractors who have completed work on your site, double-check that their permissions have been removed by reducing their permissions, or deactivating their accounts (this applies to the CMS, as well as any server access that you may have given them). If the system provides for 2-Factor authentication, be sure you update your staff about these settings. Make sure they are aware of the new requirement, that they have their authentication setup, and that each user account is configured to require 2FA.

Increase Your Payment Security

Online security has always been important but in 2021 it’s absolutely essential. You want your information and your customer’s information to be safe and secure to help build consumer trust. Make sure you implement these strategies to help secure your site before the holiday sales:

Implement an Address Verification Service (AVS)

Don’t let those suspicious credit card transactions get by you! An AVS is a fraud prevention system that will help your eCommerce store limit its fraud and chargebacks.

Require Card Verification Value (CVV)

The CVV is the little number on the back of debit cards. By requiring customers to enter this information when trying to check out, you can add an extra level of security to every transaction.

Check Your Payments Processor

It’s also a  good idea to check the fine print on your payment processing system. Make sure you have the right setup so those sales don’t go down the drain when your customers can’t pay!

Make Sure Everything Works As Expected

Testing your key systems to make sure everything you are relying on to go right is a critical point. If you’re in eCommerce, double-check your payment processing is running smoothly.

You most likely have email notifications from your site either to customers (sending out updates, responding to contact submissions, order confirmations, etc) or to your staff (notifications of contact submissions, orders received, etc) – you’ll want to make sure these are being received by their intended target. Just because your site says it’s sending the message, doesn’t necessarily mean the customers are receiving the messages.

All notifications should have some way of retrieving the same information (contact submissions should be stored in the CMS as well as the staff email notification). Here’s our Knowledge Base section on web testing and development to help you get started!

Code Freeze

Your site should be well developed ahead of time to accommodate any changes you want to see during the holidays. By implementing a code freeze, you increase the reliability of your site by reducing the impact of your changes to the underlying system. This will require some advanced planning regarding what you will want from your website.

Have a Disaster Recovery Plan

Having a disaster recovery plan in place before you need it is critical in recovering from any unseen website disasters that may occur. At the very minimum, you’ll want local backups of your database and the site files. If you’re able to get offsite backups too that’s even better!

The second half of your recovery plan is knowing how to restore the backups. It’s just as important to know how to restore your backups as it is to make sure you have them.

Front End Website Optimizations

Getting ready for the holiday shopping season and looking to make some changes to your site? Well look no further, we have a list of great optimizations to help you thrive during Q4. Read more to learn about how we recommend you tweak your online store for success!

Choose the Right Hosting Company and Hosting Plan

Choosing the right host for your site is an essential part of speeding up your website. Our turbo plans at A2 Hosting are 20x faster with 99.9% uptime! Once you’ve found the right host make sure you’re on the right sized plan for your needs. Don’t run your large eCommerce site with heavy traffic on a shared server because it may not be able to handle the number of resources you’ll need, especially on heavy traffic days like Black Friday. We recommend a VPS or Dedicated plan if possible.

Use A2 Optimized

These days 47% of customers expect a website to load in two seconds or less. The internet is full of opportunities to shop around and if users have to wait, they may abandon your site for another one with similar products. Website speed is affected by many different factors. One big thing that could be affecting yours is your resource usage is too high for your current plan. Some factors that could be affecting this are images, JavaScript, and CSS files. Images should be compressed, and JavaScript and CSS files should be minified and combined if possible.

Image Optimization

Another area to consider is optimizing your images for web delivery. Modern cameras and even cell phones take very high-resolution images. These images can be very large resulting in slow page load times. We recommend either getting rid of them or compressing them so they take less time to load. Most web frameworks include tools to generate efficient thumbnail images as well as render high-resolution images at a lower resolution better suited to web delivery.

Go for Mobile

Many years ago – designs of websites changed to be designed mobile-first because of the shift to mobile devices so this one is likely already covered…but if not, you’ll want to work on this. If your site is not accessible from a mobile device, you will be missing out on potential users. Mobile-friendly sites do not need to replicate 100% of the desktop content or features, however, mobile users should not be missing out on anything critical. All the same, information should be able to be gathered and should be able to do so just as easily. Navigation around the site should be smooth for mobile users without having to do complicated gestures. Here’s a blog to help you through the steps of testing if your site is mobile-friendly.

Informative Website Content

If you have good information all over your store this will help your customers find their answers before they resort to your online chat boxes. Here are some elements to make sure you include or edit for clarity:

• FAQ sections
• Contact us page
• Ways for customers to reach your team (live chat, phone number, email, ticket system ,etc.)
• Social platform links for customers to check out or reach you there

Importance of Call/Chat/Ticket Functionality

Users come to your site for one thing – they are looking to get something from you – that is either information or a product. Your job is to make that as easy as possible. Hopefully, by now, your site is fast, reliable, mobile- friendly, and you’ve checked to make sure everything is working as planned – but sometimes you just can’t predict what your users are going to need. Adding a Support/Chat/Ticket feature to your website gives you an easy way of allowing users to contact you and receive a timely response. Users don’t have too much patience when it comes to getting feedback and this option gives them a way to contact you on their own terms.

Many times when a user is extremely frustrated they may want someone to walk them through a fix. That’s when having a calling system comes into play. There’s nothing like having someone fix a problem step by step over the phone, especially when you’ve tried everything and are very frustrated. Adding this functionality to your business gives users a chance to connect with the people behind a brand, which can be vital when building brand loyalty.

Give Some Love to Your Sales Team and Instructional Content

A lot of the time the people behind your phone and chat lines are having the most frequent interactions with your customers. That’s why it’s important to ensure they have a lot of training not only on your product but also on who may want to buy it and why. Taking extra time to address your clients’ questions now can go a long way when it comes to building a relationship and creating a repeat customer. Investing in interaction now with a potential client could lead to a fruitful relationship for you both in the future.

Adding a human element to a website can help potential clients feel more comfortable and be more willing to make a purchase. Creating an open line of communication with your potential clients for further discussion is very important during the customer buying process. Once that line of communication is opened, it’s time to start thinking about conversations with potential clients. When discussing options with clients, take the time to get to know them and their situation. The reasons they’re shopping with you will vary, and each individual interaction should be given the proper attention and assistance to help find the right solution. The goal here isn’t just to answer generic questions about a product or sell the most expensive option available. Instead, try to find out:

• why the client is looking to make a purchase
• if they have any particular pain points
• what is the reason they’re interested in your product

By investing the time to properly understand the client, it’ll help set up future interactions and hopefully create a long-term relationship. In the days of internet selling and fast purchases, the human element can be the difference between a client purchasing from you or another retailer. While these tips may be simple, the fundamentals of human interaction can often have the largest impact.

Write More Effective Product Descriptions

Determine Your Target Customer

Before you can begin writing the perfect product descriptions for your customers you need to identify who they are and empathize with them. If you don’t know who your target customer is, you won’t be able to write proper descriptions and your efforts will fall short of the mark.

You can do this by using the 80/20 rule. On average, 80% of sales come from 20% of your customers. If you’re trying to narrow down and find your target audience it would make sense to start by examining the top 20% of those who purchase from you already. To begin, use past purchasing data and gather customer profiles of your top 20% of customers. Now examine these profiles and look for patterns in their demographics and psychographics. Use these patterns to create personas. Personas are fictional customers that you can give a name, sex, age, career etc. By visualizing your customers in this way it is easier to write directly to them and create product descriptions that they would find appealing.

Show and Not Tell

When writing product descriptions, it’s important to remember to use clear
and descriptive language. You need to show your customers the benefits of your products rather than just telling them what they are. For example, for a service product don’t just tell your customer, “Our _______ service is reliable.” Instead, show them how reliable it is in your description: “Our ____ service is backed by an uncompromising Service Level Agreement that guarantees 99.9% uptime, a support staff with expert admins availability 24/7/365, and a 30-day hassle-free 100% money-back guarantee.”

Improve Your SEO

While high-quality images are important, search engines can’t see images – or not yet anyway. Images of your products may speak 1,000 words to your target customers and convey the emotion you’re trying to share, but they do little for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). To get your site to rank and become visible to potential customers, you must include product descriptions that are loaded with potential keywords. That way your site will begin to rank for related words to your products and your site will show up in more relevant google searches.

Make Your Descriptions Uniquely Yours

The bottom line is, your brand needs to be authentically itself and your product descriptions should embody this. To get noticed, your description copy needs to break through any commoditization noise that may surround your product. Don’t just look at your competition and try to write a description that’s 10% better, add something unique in your product’s description copy that directly taps into your brand’s authentic self.

Optimize Your Checkout Process

The holidays are the best time to get quick conversions but that can be made more complicated when you have a confusing checkout process. Now is the best time to take a look at what you have and try and spruce it up. Here are a few tips we recommend to make it as effective as possible:

• Add some urgency by including a count-down clock at the top that specifies how soon your sale is ending.
• Avoid adding in surprise costs at the end like large shipping fees. Extra costs are an issue for 60% of cart abandoners according to Optinmonster.
• Include multiple payment options. BigCommerce found that this can triple the conversion rate of your store.
• Highlight your security with a trust seal. You can purchase this with a paid SSL Certificate with A2 Hosting!
• Ask for your customers’ payment information last. You want to give them some time to make sure they trust your site and have all the details of their purchase in order before they start giving you their private payment information.
• Ideally use a single-page checkout process. You want it to be relatively straightforward with as few steps as possible. The worst thing is to have so many extraneous steps that you lose a potential conversion midway through the process.
• If you’re currently running a single- page checkout, declutter your form and only have your customers fill out the most necessary information.
• If you’re running a multi-page checkout try adding a progress indicator at the top of it! That way your customers can count down their progress rather than guessing how long it’s going to take to actually be able to buy from your store.
• Include areas that resolve frequently asked questions. If your support team notices they’re being asked the same questions all the time, include some answers. You can insert FAQ sections or flyouts with critical information that will inform your customers.

At the end of the day, you’re always going to lose some of your customers during the payment process no matter how well your cart is optimized. To try and convert this lost traffic follow up with those potential customers by sending abandonment emails with special discounts. This will serve as a great reminder of your store while also giving them some incentive to purchase from it.

Digital Marketing Strategy

The holidays are right around the corner so it’s a great time for eCommerce companies to capitalize on the opportunities that come with an increase in traffic. With proper preparation, online stores can gain brand recognition and increased conversions as they sail into the new year. Read more to learn about how to crush your digital marketing strategy this upcoming holiday season.

Pricing and Promotional Techniques

Effective pricing is a science and it’s never too late to start leveling up your pricing strategy game. The holidays are a great time to dive deeper into what makes pricing work and how you can use it to your advantage to increase conversions through promotions and deals. But before you begin to decide on your promotional pricing strategy, it’s important to first understand some basic pricing techniques:

• Price Skimming: To price skim, start your prices high and then lower them as you become more competitive in the market.
  Marketing Penetration Pricing: When your company is first starting out, set your prices low so you are more competitive than your competition.
  Premium Pricing: If you have a more wealthy target audience and are selling high-quality products you can start your prices high to signal quality and luxury appeal.
  Economy Pricing: This is when you set lower prices and target customers who are looking to make larger savings overall.

While these are good long-term pricing strategies, you may want to implement short-term pricing and promotions for the holiday months. Here are some examples of different promotional strategies to use to encourage quick conversions.

Refer-a-Friend: Tap into your clientele’s social networks and use social proof to your advantage! Give your customers some type of reward if they refer their friends to your products.

• Buy One Get One Free: This is a great way to entice your customers to try out multiple items from your store.
• Free Shipping: It’s always difficult to get to the checkout and see that shipping costs are going to add $10 or more to your purchase. By swallowing this cost you may raise your overall conversion rate.
• Free Item with Purchase of $X or More: Some customers may be buying holidays gifts in bulk. This is a great way to encourage customers to buy more of your products.
• Loss Leader: A loss leader is when you discount a product or service lower than its production cost. Some companies use this strategy to try and attract new customers or to sell more expensive products. It can also be a smart tactic if you’re trying to penetrate a new target market.

Plan Out Your Target Audience and Social Media Advertising Strategy

To ensure your promotions are a success it’s important to put a lot of thought into your advertising strategy and approach it with a target audience in mind. That way it’s easier to decide how you want to strategically choose the products you are featuring. When determining your product choice and targeting within your marketing campaigns, each social network has different options to choose from. Here’s a list of the different types of audience segments on some of the most popular social platforms:

Facebook/Instagram:

• Location: You can choose by city, community, and country.
• Behavior: Base your ads on behavioral attributes like prior purchases or device usage.
• Demographics: Choose from different demographics like gender, age, education levels, job titles, and more.
• Interests: You can segment your audience by hobbies or traits like the type of movies they like to watch or their dietary preferences.
• Connections: This allows you to decide if your audience is currently already connected to your business or unfamiliar with your products. This can be important if you’re trying to target an audience that is currently already interested in your business for an easier conversion rate.
• You can also use lookalike audiences which are created from source audiences of people that already interact with your ads! This connects you to people that are very similar to people that already follow your page.

LinkedIn:

• Job Experience: This includes job titles, seniority, job functions, member skills, and years of experience.
• Education: You can target based on degrees, subjects studied, schools attended.
• Demographics: Unlike Facebook and Instagram this is only split by age and gender.
• Company: You have access to target audiences based on industry, company names, company followers on LinkedIn, the growth rate and company size, and company category.
• Interests and Traits: Segment your audience by your potential customer’s interests, the groups they are a part of, and their traits.

Twitter:

• Demographics: You can filter by location, language, device (like phone type), platform (like phone carrier), Wifi (like internet provider), age, and gender.
• Targeting Types:
  • Conversation: This is based on the content of people’s tweets and conversations.
  • Event: Target people who attended various online and offline events.
  • Tweet Engager: Market to people that have organically engaged with your previous tweets.
  • Keyword: This allows you to search based on words your target audience used in previous tweets.
  • Movie and TV: If people mentioned any tv or movies this is how you would interact with them.
  • Interests: Twitter offers over 350+ present interests to choose from.
  • Look-Alikes: Like Facebook, Twitter lets you target people who behave similarly to accounts that already follow you.

YouTube:

• Audience targeting: Find people based on their interests, who they are, their daily habits, what they’re looking up, and their interactions with your business. This is split up based on google analytics.
• Affinity: Reach people based on their lifestyles, passions, and habits.
• Life Events: This narrows your audiences based on milestones like graduations or getting married.
• In-Market This allows you to target people who are looking up products and businesses similar to yours.
• Custom: Craft this audience based on keyword research, URLs, and apps.
• Remarketing: This helps you reach people that have already had some sort of historical engagement with your videos.
• Detailed Demographics: This is more like the other platforms and helps you create target audiences based on shared traits like their hobbies, occupations, or ages.
• Similar Audiences: This is like the lookalike audiences from above and allows you to find people that are similar to consumers that already follow you.

Publicize Your Sales with PPC and Google Ads

Now that you have a well-thought- out marketing strategy in place it’s important to promote and publicize it! PPC and Google Ads are a great way to increase the traffic to your site. Get that keyword strategy together and start bidding on the words that are most relevant to your business. It’s amazing what a good PPC strategy can do to garner traffic and conversions. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Make sure the landing page you’re linking to is relevant and optimized for conversions.
• Optimize your negative keywords so your ads aren’t showing up on searches that don’t align with your strategy.
• Research and understand the basics of keyword matches:
  • Broad: match searches with any words or synonyms of your target words
  • Broad Match Modified: match only with searches that include all of your keywords within the query
  • Phrase Match: match only when searches use the exact phrase you are targeting plus searches that include the meaning of your keyword
  • Exact Match: match searches that have an exact keyword match and order (searches must contain all keywords in the exact order you list them plus close spelling errors)
• Adjust your bids for geotargeting. If your products are weather dependent or popular in certain areas you can adjust geotargeting spending so your ads show up to people in the most appropriate locations.
• Run mobile-centric campaigns. We recommend checking your campaign conversions by device so you can see which ones to shift to target certain users’ search preferences.

Capitalize on Heavy Traffic and Grow Your Email List with Lead Gen Tactics

Lead gen, lead gen, lead gen. It’s always important to keep building your mailing list with potential customers. With all the traffic you’re bringing in from the holidays, now is a perfect time to implement some new tactics! Here are some ideas:

• Add a place on the homepage where they can enter their email to gain access to special mailing lists (like a newsletter).
• Implement pop-ups with places for them to submit their emails in return for different deals or discounts.
• Create an interactive quiz or tool that requires them to enter their email to get the answers.
• Create special contests where you can only enter by giving you their information.
• Provide gated offers or informative content that require an email to access.
• Offer free trials so you can collect more than just their emails.

Be Strategic About Your Email Marketing Tactics

It’s important to tap into your established leads list with a well- thought-out email drip campaign. You want to make sure you’re touching your pool of potential holiday shoppers more than once to remind them about your upcoming sale and create some urgency. This is a great opportunity to use some advanced email tactics like last-chance opportunities and special offers catered to certain mailing lists. Here are a few rules of thumb to follow:

• Split your email lists into segments and groups so you can specialize the copy, graphics, and promotions displayed.
• Use perfect timing setting options when sending your emails so it lands in your customers’ inbox at the time they are most likely to open it.
• Use A/B testing on your sales emails to see which strategies worked the best so you can utilize them for your next sale.
• Optimize your emails for mobile. Around 47% of emails are opened on people’s phones according to email marketing firm Litmus. Here are some quick optimizations you can use:
  • Use one-column templates.
  • Increase your font size.
  • Make your call to action easy to identify, in the middle of the page, and easy to tap.
• Measure your performance as you go by looking at open rates, click rates, and eCommerce data through UTM tracking and your email marketing providers’ tools.
• Implement a last chance email list. Look at your email results a few days before the end of the sale and send a last chance email offer to some of the mailing lists with the highest open rates.
• Remind loyal customers why they subscribe: If your brand has a mission that’s months in the making, the holiday season may be a great time to remind your customers of their goals outside of the products you offer. This mission may be the reason why your customers stuck around in the first place.

Some email marketing plans have begun to change since Covid-19. Read our blog to see how it may impact your strategies this year!

Create Holiday Content Converts By Adding Retargeting Pixels to Your Ads

Did you know that 96% percent of customers will leave a website without actually purchasing anything? Utilizing retargeting pixels in your ads is a great way to bring customers back to your website! But what is a retargeting pixel and how does it work?

By attaching a small piece of code to your site you can track potential customers that leave your eCommerce stores and display more advertisements on Facebook and Google to remind them of your sale! This is a very effective marketing strategy because it helps you turn some of your bounced traffic into conversions down the line.

Check out our blog that describes how to implement retargeting pixels into your marketing campaign!

Ready, Set, Sell!

Now that you’ve worked on the back end of your website, the front end of your website, your digital marketing strategy, and everything in between, you are prepared and ready to capitalize on all of the positive things that come with the holiday season. If you have any further questions or want to ask our team about anything stated above feel free to contact our sales and support teams! We are available 24/7/365 and love talking with you!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Getting Your eCommerce Website Holiday Ready with A2 Hosting appeared first on The A2 Posting.

What Is Magento?

Magento is one of the best e-commerce platforms available today that empowers thousands of brands and retailers around the world.

Its open-source technology allows online merchants to take advantage of a flexible shopping cart system including full control over the appearance, content, and functionality of their digital store.

What Is Managed Dedicated Hosting?

Managed dedicated hosting is a type of hosting service on the internet wherein the client gets to lease an entire server for themselves. This means that they don’t have to share the asset with anyone else.

With managed dedicated hosting, the administrator of a website doesn’t have to worry about server-side problems because this will be the responsibility of the host.

Benefits of Magento as an eCommerce Platform

Magento offers numerous advantages to e-commerce businesses. As an e-commerce platform, it provides:

• Increased performance and scalability
• Improved ability to persuade customers
• A powerful platform that can support thousands of products
• A responsive and mobile-friendly experience
• Advanced search engine optimization features
• A helpful community with developer support

Benefits of Managed Dedicated Hosting With A2 Hosting

With A2 Hosting as your managed dedicated host, you can leverage countless customization options for your needs. Dedicated resources available for you mean that you can have your own robust server to tinker with.

Meanwhile, our team of experts will take care of the setup and optimization of all necessary hardware, software, network, and security systems on your behalf.

Conclusion

At A2 Hosting, our goal is to offer fast, responsive, and reliable hosting solutions to meet your unique needs. This recent integration with Magento is one way for us to show our support to all of our customers.

If you want to learn more, check out our managed dedicated hosting plans today! If you have further questions our sales team is available 24/7/365!

The post A2 Hosting Now Offering Support for Magento on Managed Dedicated Plans appeared first on The A2 Posting.

By embracing industry trends, you can drive more traffic to your site and convert visitors into paying customers. What’s more, staying in the know can help you maximize your revenue today while future-proofing your business for tomorrow.

In this article, we’ll help you keep your store at the cutting-edge throughout 2021 and beyond. We’ll introduce you to the importance of e-commerce trends, explore nine of the biggest ones currently, and discuss how you can implement them. Let’s get started!

An Introduction to E-Commerce Trends (And Why They’re Important)

Market trends are patterns of consumer behavior that can be found across all industries. As an online store owner, you likely depend on website traffic.

More people visiting your store means more potential customers and sales. Staying at the cutting edge of the latest e-commerce trends can help you generate more buzz around your offerings.

Once people arrive at your store, your next task is to convert them into customers. If your site reflects the latest e-commerce trends and consumer preferences, it can help you boost their experience, and in turn you can maximize your conversion rates and revenue.

It’s always been important for businesses to keep up with consumer trends. However, since the ongoing pandemic is having a massive impact on the world of e-commerce, it’s perhaps more vital now than ever.

A recent survey revealed that, throughout 2020, COVID-19 drove online shopping to an all-time high. By embracing industry trends, you can increase your chances of connecting with this huge potential audience of people looking to shop in a safe online environment.

There’s also evidence to suggest that new customers you acquire now are likely to stick with your business for the long haul. The aforementioned survey showed that nearly 9 out of 10 people worldwide plan to continue spending money with an online store they discovered during the lockdown.

The world of e-commerce is always changing and evolving. Staying on top of the latest topics and trends can prevent you from falling behind and becoming irrelevant.

9 Important E-Commerce Trends to Watch in 2021

To help you identify exactly where your e-commerce store should go next, it’s critical to monitor industry trends. To set you on the path to success, let’s take a look at nine e-commerce trends expected to shape the industry throughout 2021 and beyond.

1. There’s an Increasing Demand for Personalized Shopping Experiences

Today, the vast majority of stores have an online presence. With plenty of e-commerce sites to choose from, customers are in a strong position to demand a five-star experience. There’s evidence to suggest that, for many customers, personalization massively improves the purchasing process.

According to marketing specialists Epsilon, 80 percent of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer a tailored experience. By customizing the experience for each shopper, you can help drive conversions.

Also, over 36 percent of consumers say retailers need to do more to offer personalized experiences. That means this strategy can help you get the edge over your competitors.

Every purchase has a positive impact on your revenue. However, repeat customers are particularly valuable, as they deliver a high Return On Investment (ROI) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV).

Personalization can help you build rewarding long-term relationships by improving the quality of the customer experience. You can even use it to present yourself as a helpful service, rather than just another online store. For example, you might recommend new products based on a customer’s previous purchase history, or remind them when it’s time to reorder their favorite items.

If you’re going to provide this kind of helpful service, you’ll need to record information about the customer’s habits and behavior. You can achieve this by adding membership functionality to your site using a plugin such as Members:

Members ensures that all the customer’s actions are added to their user profile, ready for you to use to craft tailored experiences. You could even use this plugin to sell members-only products or offer exclusive pricing to your best customers. Also, memberships can create a sense of exclusivity, which is another powerful way to encourage long-term loyalty.

2. Smartphone Shoppers Are Continuing to Increase

The number of global smartphone users has passed three billion. With so many mobile devices out there, it’s essential to optimize your online store for this demographic.

In 2019, mobile devices accounted for 65 percent of all e-commerce traffic, and 53 percent of sales. Depending on your industry, this number may be even higher. For example, fashion retailers receive 67 percent of their sales from mobile devices.

The number of smartphone users is projected to grow by several hundred million in the next few years. Therefore, we predict that mobile optimization will be a massive trend throughout 2021 and in the years to come.

To ensure that your store provides a favorable experience for smartphone and tablet users, we recommend using a mobile-responsive WordPress theme:

It’s also a smart idea to remove popups, as these are particularly obtrusive on the smaller screen of your typical mobile device. Similarly, consider reviewing each web page to look for opportunities to trim unnecessary content.

Remember that your typical smartphone or tablet screen can display far less content than a desktop computer. By streamlining your site, you can minimize how much mobile users need to scroll to access the information or features they need.

Chances are your e-commerce store features a lot of product images. Beautiful, high-resolution images are essential for driving conversions. However, they also impact your page loading times.

If your site takes too long to load or provides a poor experience, you can assume that consumers will be less likely to make a purchase. To meet consumer expectations and drive sales, it’s important to optimize your product images for mobile.

3. Omnichannel Selling Is Becoming Essential

Today’s consumer expects to purchase content in multiple ways, such as browsing your product catalog on both their desktop and mobile browsers. Some online stores even have a dedicated mobile app:

As an e-commerce site, it’s crucial that you meet your customers wherever they are, and provide a seamless experience across all channels. A headless e-commerce architecture can help you deliver this kind of omnichannel experience. By opting for a headless setup, you’ll be able to create your content once, and then publish it on multiple platforms.

If you’ve built your site using the popular WooCommerce e-commerce platform, you’ll have access to the WooCommerce REST API. This API gives you the flexibility to use your data in other contexts, including Single Page Applications (SPAs) and mobile apps:

As an online retailer, you’ll likely want to promote your content on every conceivable channel. However, it’s important to be selective about your omnichannel experience. Building and maintaining a presence across a long list of platforms requires a significant amount of time and effort. As a busy website owner, this may not be practical.

Different channels also have different target audiences, and there’s no guarantee that these people will be your ideal customers. Focusing on a platform that isn’t widely used by your target audience will likely deliver a low ROI.

Ideally, you’ll zero in on the channel(s) that your audience spends the majority of their time. Here, it may help to deep-dive into your visitors and their behaviors using a platform such as Google Analytics.

4. Environmentally-Conscious Consumers Are Encouraging Brands to Go Green

In 2021, environmental issues are no longer reserved for eco-friendly brands. Many major online retailers have taken the pledge toward sustainability, including e-commerce giant Amazon:

Sustainability is a great cause, and every business should strive to become more eco-friendly. However, there’s no denying that ‘sustainability’ is also a huge buzzword, particularly among millennials.

According to a recent study, 61 percent of consumers said that they would switch to a brand that’s more environmentally friendly than their current favorite. This means that taking steps towards sustainability isn’t just the right thing to do – it can also help you get an edge over the competition.

Your customers may even be willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, especially the younger generation. The same study showed that 61 percent of millennials and 58 percent of Gen-Z agree that they’d pay a higher price tag for a ‘green’ product.

This suggests that, even if you have to increase your prices, your customers may be happy to foot the bill. Sustainability could be one of the few ways for you to increase your prices, while also improving the customer experience.

To set your e-commerce store on the green road, we recommend reviewing your current offerings. Consider whether your products are made through sustainable processes or with eco-friendly materials. Wherever possible, it’s a smart idea to replace items that aren’t with more sustainable alternatives.

Additionally, if you ship to your customers, you might look into ways to reduce the amount of packaging used. You could also replace non-recyclable materials, such as plastic, with recyclable alternatives, such as cardboard. To boost your green credentials, you may want to provide instructions on how to recycle the packaging, or even the product itself.

5. Social Media Continues to Drive Purchasing Decisions

For years, social media has been an integral marketing tool for online stores. However, in 2020, we saw a few initiatives that strengthened this link between social media and e-commerce, such as the partnership between Shopify and TikTok and the launch of Instagram Shops:

These projects reflect the increasing number of customers who make purchasing decisions directly from their social media feeds. To capitalize on this trend, you can look for opportunities to create shareable content related to your e-commerce offerings. For example, you might create unboxing videos of your products.

You could also generate social media buzz by encouraging your customers to create their own content. Consumers generally perceive User-Generated Content (UGC) as more trustworthy than traditional promotional and marketing content.

Therefore, you may want to provide an incentive to shoppers for creating valuable UGC. For example, home-ware brand MADE has an ongoing Instagram campaign where customers share photos of their favorite MADE products:

How you promote your store on social media also makes a difference. Although it’s difficult to prove, there’s a common belief that social media algorithms reward the adoption of new features.

Every time new functionality is introduced, you may want to put it to the test by incorporating it into your social media activities. Then you can measure the impact it has on your engagement, conversions, and other key metrics. Armed with this information, you can adjust your social media efforts accordingly.

Experimenting with the latest social media features can also help boost your profile. You may even earn a reputation as a business at the cutting edge of social media trends. This can increase your appeal, particularly among the tech-savvy younger generations.

6. Online Influencers Are Assuming a Content Creator Role

An online influencer is someone who has a significant digital following. They can promote your business or products to their existing audience, similar to a traditional celebrity endorsement.

The influencer marketing industry is expected to reach $9.7 billion in 2020, making it clear why these partnerships deserve a spot on the list of important e-commerce trends to consider. The right person can send a fresh wave of traffic to your online store, and even increase your sales.

Influencers can promote your brand, but they also fulfill a content creation role. With more social media platforms than ever before, busy website owners may struggle to create enough content to feed the machine. Instead of partnering with an agency, you could consider teaming up with someone who will create content based on your brand.

The key to a successful partnership is to find a fitting match. Ideally, there should be some crossover between their fan base and your target audience, as this will typically result in more conversions.

It also helps if there’s some connection between the influencer and the product(s) they’re promoting, so the content seems more authentic. Even though the work is strictly business, fans like to believe that their favorite creators are discerning about brands they promote. If the audience thinks the promoter is genuinely passionate about your product(s), it’s more likely to result in sales.

While it’s tempting to go after the biggest social media stars, sometimes it makes more sense to partner with a micro-influencer within your niche. They may have a smaller audience, but if their fan base represents your ideal customer, the collaboration could yield a high ROI.

7. More Online Stores Are Becoming Multilingual

Thanks to the internet, your store has the opportunity to reach audiences worldwide. With online shopping more prevalent than ever, we predict that more businesses will try to capitalize on this global increase by producing multi-language content.

According to estimates, 60 percent of all online content is in English, but 74 percent of internet users speak a language other than English. If you restrict yourself to a single language, you’re missing out on a huge audience – and a lot of potential sales. Plus, this is one of the e-commerce trends you can take advantage of to make your site more accessible.

Even if your customers are multilingual, most people appreciate a business that attempts to communicate in their first language. Research shows that 65 percent of consumers prefer to access content in their native tongues.

When it comes to translating your content, we recommend working with a native speaker wherever possible. They typically offer the highest quality results, and will have an innate understanding of the cultural etiquette surrounding the language. Rather than providing a word-for-word translation, a professional can use this insight to help you create interpreted content that is more engaging and persuasive.

After translating your e-commerce site, you’ll need to give visitors a way to switch between the supported languages. You can add a language picker to your online store using the Polylang plugin:

You can also use this plugin to optimize your site’s categories, tags, and custom taxonomies for the different languages your store supports. The tool can help your translated content appear in relevant search engine results, and drive more international customers to your online store.

8. Customer Support Is Getting an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Boost

Customer service is essential for driving sales. Studies indicate that a consumer will spend  140 percent more after having a positive experience.

Many factors contribute to the quality of your customer experience. However, how quickly you respond to inquiries is a huge one. Ideally, you’ll answer immediately, and at any time of the day or night. Of course, for many online store owners, this simply isn’t feasible.

Chatbots can be a powerful way to provide customers with instant access to support, regardless of the date, time, or number of other people currently seeking help. There’s also evidence to suggest that these AI tools are becoming increasingly popular, with over 67 percent of consumers using them for customer support in 2019.

Even if you have a 24/7 customer services department, chatbots can streamline your support process. For example, you might use one to automatically gather important information, such as the customer’s account number and contact details. This information will then be shared with your support staff.

In this way, chatbots can reduce the amount of time required to resolve a customer’s query. When it comes to routine questions, research indicates that they can reduce response times by up to 80 percent.

There are various chat tools that integrate with WordPress. If you’re using WooCommerce, the WoowBot plugin is a popular standalone chatbot that has full support for the e-commerce platform:

Another well-known option is Chatbot by Collect.chat. This plugin is free to use, and lets you add a chat widget to your site without any technical knowledge.

9. There’s a Growing Need for Online Businesses to Invest in Dedicated Hosting

Behind most successful websites are reliable, high-performance hosting providers. The type of hosting you use influences all aspects of your site, particularly its speed and performance.

Business-critical websites, especially online stores, come with a unique set of challenges and demands. Not only are fast page loading times and quick checkout processes necessary to ensure a seamless UX, but any amount of downtime can be disastrous.

As more companies move operations online, it ushers in an increasing need to invest in dedicated hosting:

In a nutshell, dedicated hosting means you aren’t sharing your server resources with other websites. In turn, you have the benefit of improved security and overall better performance. You can feel confident that your store will remain online, even during unexpected traffic spikes, and as your site continues to grow throughout 2021 and beyond.

Conclusion

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many consumers to shop online and triggered an e-commerce revolution. Now it’s time to prepare your business for the next step.

To set your site up for success, it’s a good idea to provide a more personalized shopping experience. By offering membership features, you can encourage customer loyalty and increase your chances of securing repeat purchases. We also predict that consumers will continue to favor sustainable brands, and may even be willing to pay a premium for sustainable products in 2021.

Following the latest e-commerce trends is essential for driving traffic and conversions. This includes getting the foundations right, such as your web hosting. At A2 Hosting, we offer dedicated hosting plans that can help keep your e-commerce site up and running 24/7!

Image credit: Pexels.

The post 9 Important E-Commerce Trends to Watch in 2021 appeared first on The A2 Posting.

1) Be Authentic and Use the Right Tone and Voice

As with any major holiday or promotion, it’s important to be authentic to your company’s brand when coming up with a digital marketing campaign. It’s all good fun to come up with holiday puns and green themed campaigns, but above all you must do your research and make sure your posts align with how you want to portray your company to the marketplace.

Know Your Brand’s Personality on Social and be Consistent

Do research on past posts and make sure your tone aligns with what you’ve published previously. It’s important to follow your brand guidelines and be consistent, even as you play with puns that fit the St. Patrick’s Day theme. Posting something that’s drastically different from previous content won’t help in building a strong brand

It’s also important to remember why people follow you. What are they looking for when they come to your site? For example, if you own a crafting store people are likely following you to see the latest trends in crafting materials or what cool things you’ve created with your craft supplies. Likewise if you own an outdoor clothing store, people may follow you to see your clothes in action or find awesome new hiking trails. It’s important you can deliver what your customer wants to see on your social platforms. This will make it easier to keep your followers engaged with your content and refer them back to your site. The perfect combination is:

2) Be Culturally Sensitive

Be creative! Come up with new puns or ways to make old puns fit your brand. Remember to be historically and socially conscious before you post. Don’t be tone deaf and post offensive or charged content. Be relevant and timely while also socially conscious. A good publicity stunt can work wonders on brand identity and public image, but make sure to do it in the right way. Have your public relations team and any marketing members meet before posting and discuss implications of your campaign from all angles in order to uncover any miscommunication or issues that could arise later on.

3) Add Festive Decorations and Go Green

It’s always important to follow online trends and be timely in your advertising, and one of the biggest trends during St. Patrick’s Day is the color green. Historically green was worn to represent the Emerald Isle and the people of Ireland, but today it has turned into a folkloric attempt to avoid the pinch of an errant leprechaun. St. Patrick’s Day marketing is a perfect time to use this color to entice your audience to purchase from your online store!

If you have merchandise that’s green or your brand uses this as one of their colors, this is a great time to highlight this. It’s also a great opportunity for online creativity. Add green banners to your website or pop in some green accent colors here and there.  Reap the rewards of your environmental efforts while joining in on the holiday spirit. Use this opportunity to advertise any “green initiatives” your company is participating in!

4) Help Your Customers Call On the Luck of the Irish

In addition to decorating your store, St. Patrick’s Day is a great time to run discounts and deals on your site! Use this opportunity to give a percentage off on all green items (color or environmentally sound) or create a custom sales item with your favorite St. Patrick’s day slogan or image. Create a sense of urgency and run your sale for a limited amount of time. Encourage User Generated Content (UGC) by creating drawings or picture-sharing promotions asking followers to participate if they’re “feeling lucky.” This is a great way to create talk about your brand and encourages followers to interact with your posts.

5) Don’t Miss an Opportunity to Go Live!

You could use St. Patrick’s Day as an opportunity to do live video on your social accounts by sharing real time updates with your followers. Dress up and stream your live reactions as they send their selfies in or record as you contact the winners of your promotional contest. Create a funny behind the scenes video of your employees as they grant wishes or chase the rainbow. This is a great way to personalize your accounts and share the people behind your brand!

6) Send Out a Holiday Themed Email Campaign

To increase touches, send out a holiday themed email campaign. You could stick a shamrock themed logo on your header and cross-promote any social media campaigns you have running. Increase your marketing reach by requiring email sign ups to enter social promotions you have planned. Then attach a secret promo code that can be used by people who subscribe! The possibilities are endless and it works well to coordinate your overall marketing strategies across all marketing channels and promotional materials.

7) Do Research on Other Successful Campaigns to Help Plan Your Own

We know all of this might sound like a lot, but sometimes it helps to look at successful campaigns when trying to come up with some ideas of your own. We’ve got three examples below that may help spark some ideas for your own festive campaigns.

Guinness: Make St. Patrick’s Day the Friendliest Day of the Year

Their Friendliest Day of the year campaign was a huge success. By emphasizing coming together with friends and family, they were able to tie the theme of community to their product, eliciting warm feelings when followers thought of their brand. They included infographics with St. Patrick’s Day facts that could be shared worldwide, helping spread their brand awareness through increased follower interaction. They were timely, relevant, and socially aware as they ran their St. Patrick’s Day campaign.

M&M’s: Ms. Green Campaign

M&M used their iconic candy personas to bring their brand to life. Ms. Green embarked on a spokes candy campaign around Ireland, stopping off in famous cities to meet the locals and see the sights. Her tour was documented and shared as she educated her followers on Irish history and phenomena. Not only was the campaign relevant and shared accurate cultural details, but it encouraged fans to interact with their brand by posting selfies in order to win a trip to New York. They used ‘here for the craic, not as a snack’ as their tagline, an Irish pun that had the right comedic tone to spark laughs rather than controversy.

McDonald’s: Shamrock Shake

Finally, shamrock shake season. Every year McDonald’s releases their limited edition shamrock shake, a mixture of chocolate and minty goodness. Their timely release, limited timeline, and extensive media coverage creates a sense of urgency as people line up every year to get a green milkshake while it’s available. Rather than just releasing a mint chocolate chip shake they were able to turn their St. Patrick’s Day campaign into a hot commodity.

Conclusion

Most importantly, make sure you use this holiday as a point of connection with all of your customers. You want your brand to be engaging and personal, so celebrating this holiday together is a great way to achieve this! Personalize your campaign and share any employees with Irish descent. Use real time trends  as a way to connect with your socially savvy customers. Run video marketing campaigns and highlight topics relating to St. Patrick’s Day. Holidays are a great time to gain new customers and connect with loyal followers. Personalize your marketing content this year and make this the best celebration yet!

The post 7 St. Patrick’s Day Marketing Strategies to Boost Your Ecommerce Sales appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Thankfully, with the right tools you can build a fast, reliable online store without having to write a single line of code. Using these tools, you can launch your e-commerce business and start collecting payments, with minimal effort and very few upfront costs.

In this article, we’ll show you how to launch an e-commerce store using WordPress and the popular WooCommerce platform. Along the way, we’ll share advice on how to maximize your sales, by prioritizing your store’s performance and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Let’s get started!

Why You’d Want to Start an Online Store

Over the last few years, e-commerce has completely changed consumer habits. Today, online shopping is an indispensable part of the global economy, and online-only stores such as Amazon and eBay are some of the biggest names in retail. It’s difficult to even imagine a modern company that doesn’t offer customers the option to purchase products and services online.

In 2019, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to $3.53 trillion, and 2020 seems set to be a record-breaking year for online retail. Throughout 2020, physical stores around the globe were forced to close in an attempt to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This caused online shopping to skyrocket, as consumers embraced e-commerce as a way to access goods and services in a safe environment. In June 2020, global retail e-commerce traffic stood at a record 22 billion monthly visits.

With more people shopping online than ever before, you could find a large audience for your e-commerce business. By launching your online store now, you can maximize sales while helping your customers access the goods and services they need, without the risks currently associated with in-person shopping.

Introducing the WooCommerce Platform

There are a number of e-commerce plugins available for WordPress. However, with over five million active installs, WooCommerce is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms.

Out-of-the-box, WooCommerce provides everything you need to build an engaging online store, sell products, and accept payments. This has made WooCommerce a popular choice among online stores of all shapes and sizes.

Today, WooCommerce is used by many big-name brands. Aeropress, Weber, and the All Blacks all rely on WooCommerce to power their online stores.

There’s also evidence to suggest that WooCommerce can help you build a successful e-commerce store. According to research, 28 percent of the top one million e-commerce stores use WooCommerce as their e-commerce technology of choice.

WooCommerce was originally developed by WordPress theme developer WooThemes. However, in 2015, WooCommerce was acquired by Automattic – the company behind WordPress – who run and operate WooCommerce today.

As an Automattic product, WooCommerce is a stable, reliable e-commerce solution that’s regularly updated. If you want to create an online store, it’s always worth considering WooCommerce.

Why Build Your e-Commerce Store With WooCommerce

As a free WordPress plugin, WooCommerce is accessible to organizations of all shapes and sizes. This includes startups and smaller businesses, who typically have tighter budgets than established enterprises. Using WooCommerce, you can launch an e-commerce store with minimal upfront costs.

WooCommerce has a range of features built-in, but it’s also extensible. If vanilla WooCommerce doesn’t meet all your needs, you can choose from a wide range of WooCommerce extensions.

If you can’t find the perfect extension ready-made, WooCommerce is open-source software. This means you can always modify or extend the WooCommerce code to suit your exact needs – or hire a coder to make these changes for you.

WooCommerce is also designed to be user friendly. Using WooCommerce, you can potentially build a professional e-commerce store without having to write a single line of code. If you have previous experience with WordPress, building a store using WooCommerce will likely feel intuitive and easy.

Collecting payments is one of the most important parts of running a successful e-commerce business. WooCommerce can securely accept cards, mobile wallets, and bank transfers. It also integrates with over 100 payment gateways including PayPal, Stripe, and Square.

Today, many customers shop on their smartphones and tablets. In 2017, $1.4 trillion of total retail e-commerce sales were made using a mobile device. In 2021, it’s estimated that mobile e-commerce could account for $3.5 trillion of total e-commerce sales.

If you’re going to maximize your revenue, it’s essential your e-commerce store is mobile-friendly. WooCommerce works across all devices, including smartphones and tablets. The WooCommerce team is also continuously improving the plugin’s performance for mobile. For example, WooCommerce 3.0 optimized the product gallery for mobile users, and added support for touch gestures.

How to Start an Online Store (In 9 Easy Steps)

In this section, we’ll show you how to build a complete e-commerce store, using WooCommerce and WordPress. As promised, you won’t have to write a single line of code. Let’s dive in, and start your e-commerce business!

1. Choose the Right Web Hosting Provider

Your choice of hosting provider has the potential to make or break your e-commerce business. Downtime is always bad news, but for e-commerce stores downtime can mean an immediate drop in sales. To avoid downtime, we recommend opting for a provider that offers an uptime guarantee.

Performance is another crucial factor, as today’s consumer isn’t willing to wait around. Amazon calculated that a page load slowdown of just one second would cost them $1.6 billion in lost sales each year.

Performance can also impact your e-commerce store’s SEO. In particular, it can affect how quickly crawlers can index your content and serve it to customers. If your hosting provider doesn’t prioritize speed, your latest products and special offers may not even appear in Google’s search results for a significant period of time.

Google also uses page speed as a ranking factor in both its desktop and mobile search results. Research indicates that 39 percent of online purchases are influenced by a relevant search. Where your store appears in Google’s search results can have a huge impact on your sales and revenue.

There are many factors that can impact your site’s performance. However, your choice of hosting provider is one of the most important decisions you can make, particularly at this early stage.

At A2 Hosting, we take performance seriously. That’s why we’ve created a series of e-commerce hosting plans that are optimized for WooCommerce. These plans can deliver 20X faster page loads than competing WooCommerce hosting providers.

2. Set up WooCommerce

After activating the WooCommerce plugin, you’ll encounter a Welcome to WooCommerce screen. This is the WooCommerce configuration wizard, which is the quickest and easiest way to create a basic e-commerce store. By completing the wizard’s various screens, you can fast-track through much of the initial configuration, and get your e-commerce business off to a strong start.

If you accidentally dismiss the Welcome message, don’t panic! You can simply select WooCommerce from WordPress’ left-hand menu. WordPress will now display a list of all the steps required, in order to successfully complete the initial WooCommerce configuration.

You can now work your way through this list, by clicking each item in turn and following the onscreen instructions. Once you’ve successfully completed each task, it’s time to progress to the next step.

3. Add Extra Payment Gateways

As part of the setup process, WooCommerce will prompt you to add a payment gateway. A payment gateway enables customers to pay for goods and services using a payment system such as PayPal. By default, WooCommerce supports a number of core payment gateways. However, you can also add payment gateway extensions.

As part of the initial setup process, WooCommerce should prompt you to add at least one payment gateway. However, to maximize revenue we recommend offering at least two payment gateways.

There’s no guarantee all your customers will have access to the same payment gateway. Some gateways may also experience downtime. If you only support a single gateway, you’ll be unable to process payments until that gateway is back online. This could result is missed sales, and a significant amount of frustration on behalf of your customers.

Payment gateways may also have varying rules, regulations, and associated charges. Depending on factors such as geographical location, some payment gateways may represent better value for you and your customers.

You can enable additional payment gateways, by navigating to WooCommerce > Settings and then selecting the Payments tab. This screen displays all the payment gateways WooCommerce supports.

To add a payment gateway, click its accompanying Set Up button. This will open a menu where you can configure your chosen gateway. For example, if you’re configuring PayPal you’ll need to enter your PayPal email address and PayPal API credentials.

Once you’ve configured your payment gateway, select Save Changes. You can then enable the payment gateway by pushing its accompanying slider into the on position.

You can repeat these steps to enable multiple payment gateways. Just be wary of offering too much choice, as a list of unfamiliar payment options could potentially confuse your customers.

4. Create Your Product Categories

Product categories are an important way to organize your products, and help visitors find the items that matter to them. To ensure your e-commerce site is easy to navigate, it’s worth taking the time to define your product categories in advance.

You can always create more product categories as your store grows. However, by defining some product categories now, you can lay the foundations for an organized, logical e-commerce store.

To create a product category, navigate to WooCommerce > Categories. In Add New Category, enter the name of the parent category that you want to create.

In Description, provide a description for this particular category. By adding a description to each product category, you can help search engines such as Google understand your site’s content, and rank it appropriately. Relevant, keyword-rich product descriptions can also help boost your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Once you’re happy with the information you’ve entered, select Add New Category. Rinse and repeat to create multiple categories.

You may also want to create product subcategories. For example, you might create a Clothing category consisting of Sweatshirt, T-shirt, and Jeans subcategories. To create a subcategory, open the Parent Category drop-down. You can then select the parent category that you want to assign to this subcategory.

5. Create Shipping Zones and Shipping Methods

If you’re going to physically ship products to your customers, it’s important to create at least one Shipping Zone. A Shipping Zone might be a country, region, or even a specific zip code where you ship your items. Your customers will see only the shipping methods that are available for their zone.

To create a shipping zone, navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping. You can then select Add shipping zone.

Give your zone a name, choose a region, and select Add shipping method. WooCommerce supports several shipping methods by default, including free shipping.

According to a recent survey, almost half of consumers prefer stores that offer free shipping. What’s more, 77 percent identify free shipping as the most important factor when making purchasing decisions. To drive conversions, you may want to offer free shipping when certain conditions are met.

WooCommerce also provides a local pickup option. This is great if you’re selling bulky items that are expensive to ship, or you anticipate lots of local trade. Note that if you offer local pickup then store base taxes will apply regardless of the customer’s address.

Make your selection, then click Add shipping method. You can repeat these steps, to create multiple shipping zones.

By default, WooCommerce generates the following option: Locations not covered by your other zones. If no appropriate zone is found, WooCommerce will default to this shipping zone. You can edit or delete this zone, as required.

You can also add more shipping options, using a WooCommerce shipping plugin. These plugins give your customers more options, and some even integrate with well-known shipping services such as DHL. Some popular choices include WooCommerce ShipStation Integration, and Advanced Shipping.

6. Create Your First WooCommerce Product

It’s time to stock those shelves! To create a product, select Products > Add New from WordPress’s left-hand menu. You can then give this product a name, enter a description, and upload some images that represent the item or service you’re selling.

Next, open the Product data drop-down menu and specify the type of product you want to create. Here, you have a few choices. WooCommerce supports simple products, which are defined as products that are shipped and have no options. The opposite of a simple product is a variable product. A variable product has multiple options, for example a coat that’s available in different sizes and colors.

A grouped product is a collection of related items. Finally, an external/affiliate product is sold on a third-party website, but featured on your e-commerce store.

The next steps will vary, depending on the type of product you’re creating. For example, if you select Grouped product, you’ll be prompted to enter the product’s Stock-Keeping Unit (SKU). This is a unique string that represents this product in your e-commerce store. Alternatively, if you select Simple Product, you’ll be prompted to specify whether this product is downloadable.

After creating your product, it’s time to set your price. You can specify the everyday, non-sale price in the Regular price field.

You can now assign this product to at least one category, and add product tags. Both of these elements are essential for helping visitors navigate your store, and find the exact items they want to buy.

7. Create an Inventory and Stock Notifications

At this point, we’ve entered some basic information about our product. However, before we go ahead and publish the product, it’s a good idea to perform some stock management. This involves entering the total number of units currently in stock, and configuring some optional low stock warnings.

Stock management ensures you know when to order more stock. It also helps you avoid unpleasant situations, where you have to explain to customers that the product they’ve just paid for isn’t actually in stock.

To start, select the Inventory tab and create an SKU for this product. You can then enter the number of units you currently have in stock.

WooCommerce can email you when you’re running low on stock. If you want to receive these notifications, select the following checkbox: Enable stock management at product level. In Low stock threshold, specify the point where you’d consider this product to be approaching low stock.

By default, WooCommerce doesn’t allow for back orders. However, back orders can help you secure sales, even when an item isn’t currently available. This can be particularly useful during peak retail seasons, where it’s generally accepted that some items may be temporarily out of stock.

If you want to permit back orders, open the Allow back orders drop-down. You can then select either Allow or Allow, but notify customer. If you choose the latter, the product page will display an Available on back order notice. The customer can then decide whether to purchase this product, fully aware that it’s not currently in stock.

8. Build an eBay-Style Product Menu

To drive conversions, your customers should be able to find their perfect product, in just a few clicks. WordPress supports a range of navigational menus. However, drop-downs are particularly popular, as selecting a parent category displays all the associated product subcategories. This is exactly what we see with many popular e-commerce sites, including eBay.

By default, you can’t add product categories to a WordPress menu. To enable product categories, select Appearance > Menus > Screen Options. You can then select Product Categories.

Next, scroll to the Add menu items section. You can now add product categories to your WordPress menus.

Since we’re creating a drop-down menu, position each subcategory beneath its parent. You can then grab each child category and drag it slightly to the right, so it appears indented beneath its parent.

You can now create your menu, as normal. To ensure this menu appears across your entire e-commerce store, we recommend setting it as your top menu.

9. Boost Your Revenue With Related Products

As an e-commerce store, you’ll naturally want to push customers towards purchasing additional products, or more expensive alternatives. One method is to display related products.

WooCommerce tries to generate related products automatically. However, you can often get better results by linking products manually. To start, navigate to Products > All Products. You can then open any product for editing, and select its Linked Products tab.

You can define two types of linked products: ‘upsells’ and ‘cross-sells’. Upsells are typically more expensive alternatives, whereas cross-sells are complimentary items. For example, potential cross-sells for a laptop might include a Bluetooth mouse, or a laptop bag.

Conclusion

If you sell products or services, chances are your customers are already online and looking to make a purchase. If you aren’t offering your goods via an e-commerce platform such as WooCommerce, you could be missing out on sales.

When building your online store, we’d recommend paying particular attention to your product tags and categories. These elements are often overlooked, but are vital for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

To climb Google’s search engine rankings, it’s also important to choose the right hosting provider. By opting for a hosting package that delivers high performance and an uptime guarantee, you can give your store the best possible chance of attracting a large volume of traffic, and securing lots of conversions.

Image credit: freestocks.

The post How to Start an Online Store (in 9 Easy Steps) appeared first on The A2 Posting.

To answer that question, it’s worth taking a look at both Magento’s past and its future. Understanding where the platform has been and where it’s headed now will help you better decide how it fits (or doesn’t fit) into your strategy moving forward.

In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about Magento as it stands today. Let’s get started!

A Brief Introduction to Magento

Before we discuss the future, let’s talk about Magento in a more general sense. Magento is the most popular e-commerce Content Management System (CMS) online, powering over 25% of online stores. A CMS is a type of software that helps you manage websites and other online content, without needing to know how to code.

Like many CMS platforms, Magento is also an open-source tool. Open-source software is open to the public and developed by a community rather than a company, which means that it’s always getting bigger and better.

Magento’s popularity is largely due to the fact that it’s designed specifically for e-commerce, unlike many other CMSs that have a wider range of applications. Plus, there are a few things that set Magento apart from other e-commerce platforms.

For example, Magento is self-hosted, so you can purchase the exact amount of hosting space that you need. This means the platform is easily scalable, and able to grow alongside your store. Magento also has hundreds of extensions that can add a wide variety of advanced features to your site, such as extra-secure payments and customer support integration.

The major downside of Magento is its learning curve. With some training or research, you can learn how to create an online store that does anything you want. However, it is a less beginner-friendly CMS than some of your other options. Still, it’s become a very popular platform, with a highly dedicated user base.

Magento’s History, in a Nutshell

Magento has been an e-commerce company for over a decade. When he was in college, a man named Roy Rubin started a web design company called Varien. In 2007, he and Yoav Kutner began Magento as a part of Varien, because they recognized a need for a flexible e-commerce solution. They launched the product in 2008.

The pair originally wanted to title the new product “Magenta,” but changed it slightly to “Magento” after realizing that Magenta.com was taken. The platform grew quickly, as it was one of the first customizable tools for creating online stores. In 2010, Rubin renamed the company itself from Varien to Magento, reflecting the new focus on that product.

The past seven years have been a turbulent time for Magento. In 2011, tech giant eBay acquired Magento in a $180 million deal. Co-founder Yoav Kutner left the company in 2012, not long after the eBay merge, and Roy Rubin followed suit in 2014. Then, the company briefly went private again in 2015, since investment company Permira Funds bought out eBay’s shares.

In 2018, Magento was purchased by Adobe for over a billion dollars. In the next section, we’ll look at what that acquisition might mean for the company going forward.

A Look at Magento’s Future

With the company changing hands three times in the past seven years, Magento users are no strangers to turbulence. At this point, anyone who has a Magento site may be wondering where Adobe will take the platform in the future.

A big worry on some people’s minds is whether or not Adobe will change the CMS’s payment structure. As we mentioned earlier, Magento is currently open source, which means that anyone can use the software for free. Adobe has promised support for Magento 1 through at least June 2020.

However, it’s possible that Adobe may roll Magento into a paid product in the future. Some business experts think that Adobe may combine Magento with its Experience Cloud, an enterprise business solution offering advertising, marketing, and commerce tools.

Keep in mind that this merger was a very recent event, and it’s still unknown what other changes may be coming to the platform. Adobe has already caused a furor by closing down a program that rewarded bug-reporting with cash (although it reversed course soon after the announcement, and decided to continue the program).

For those worried about the uncertainty surrounding Magento, we recommend scoping out some other options for your store ahead of time. There’s no guarantee that the platform will change significantly, but if it does you may want to consider switching to a less unpredictable tool.

The Alternatives to Magento

If you’re worried about the upcoming changes, you’ll be glad to know that there are many excellent alternatives to Magento. We still don’t know for sure that Adobe will shutter Magento or put it behind a paywall, but it’s best to start planning your contingency plan now, while the platform is still being supported.

Let’s look at a few of the other e-commerce solutions you may want to try out. First up, there’s Shopify:

This is another hosted e-commerce CMS, which is very easy to use. It’s also less scalable than Magento by default. However, it can also be integrated into the flexible, scalable WordPress CMS.

Speaking of WordPress, the WooCommerce plugin is a very popular e-commerce platform:

Finally, OpenCart is an excellent tool if you want a simple, user-friendly solution. It also enables you to easily manage multiple stores at once:

Since Adobe has promised to maintain Magento at least until 2020, there’s no rush to move your store right away. If you start scoping out the alternatives now, you’ll be well prepared to choose an alternative platform when (and if) the need arises.

Conclusion

Magento is a powerful e-commerce CMS, powering over a fourth of all online stores. The future of the platform is now somewhat hazy, however, following Adobe’s June 2018 purchase of the company.

We know that Adobe has promised to continue supporting Magento 1 at least through June 2020. After that, the fate of the software is up in the air. Current Magento users may want to make a contingency plan just in case, by checking out platforms such as:

1. Shopify: This platform offers a hosted e-commerce CMS, and can also be integrated into WordPress.
2. WooCommerce: An e-commerce plugin for WordPress, this is a popular and easy-to-use CMS.
3. OpenCart: When it comes to e-commerce solutions, this one is about as user-friendly as it gets (while still remaining flexible).

Image source: Pexels.

The post A Brief History of Magento (And a Look at Its Future) appeared first on The A2 Posting.