Shop 'till you drop: Why your e-commerce choice matters

Content management systems provide a foundation for online business

By Melissa Cameron

The convenience of shopping online and the low-cost of establishing an online storefront is driving a considerable amount of business ventures to the internet. Virtual malls like Amazon, eBay and Etsy make shopping a breeze, and while some money making opportunities exist at these sites listing fees sometimes make the price of selling handmade wares somewhat inconvenient.

CMS and e-commerce: The dynamic duo of potential profits

To experience true success as an online entrepreneur it's wise to start out by selecting a niche of expertise that is meaningful to you. Select something you're actually passionate about, because this is about to become your primary source of income. Next, start planning your dream website and all of its functionality that you'll be needing once your business is operating at capacity.

From there you simply need to determine the Content Management System (CMS) and hosting platform to suit your needs as you grow from a small business to a fully fledged enterprise.

WordPress offers a fantastic CMS for the emerging internet business, and even provides substantial room for growth over time. If you're looking for something more complicated and flexible, those options are available as well, but first you might want to look into the choices of eCommerce platforms before committing.

Whatever the size of your business, or particular needs of your site, there is a CMS and an e-commerce platform combination that is ideal for you.

 

Comparing e-commerce platforms

Hosted: For a small fee, payable in monthly or annual increments, hosted e-commerce sites take care of everything for you. From the hosting of your entire site and store, you have everything you need right under one roof.

The only concern here is that you cannot host your site anywhere else. The upside, on the other hand, is that the support you receive is knowledgeable about every aspect of your web site. Examples of hosted e-commerce platforms include Shopify, Highwire, BigCommerce and Volusion.

Open source: Unlike hosted platforms, open source platforms allow you to host your site anywhere. This is great if you're looking to save a little bit of money by hosting your site with a low-cost, or free, provider. This option isn't really for the weak of heart or non-techie, however, since most of the support you receive may be in the form of a wiki entry or a vague forum answer.

There may be some bragging rights for using open source, just make sure it makes sense to the bottom line of your business goals. This isn't to say that Open Source is unreliable in any way, I actually have a lot of good things about Open Source programs and platforms, I just feel it's wise to always research the options before making a final decision that's best for you. Examples of Open Source eCommerce platforms include: Magento, and osCommerce

Hosted shopping cart: A hosted shopping cart allows you the most control over your website options. You use the host and CMS of your preference and your shopping cart and checkout services are hosted externally. Security details are all handled by the hosted shopping cart service, ensuring peace of mind for your business transactions. A few Hosted Shopping Carts are: FoxyCart, DPD, and Digital Delivery App.

Little fish, big web: When getting started with an online business, the opportunity to make money online is yours for the taking. It might seem like a giant leap of faith to invest a significant amount of time and energy in something that takes some effort before the pay-offs begin to roll in, but the first time you're out playing with your kids and get that notification that some sales have been processed you'll know that it's all been worth it.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of knowing you're earning an income while enjoying quality time with your family. So if you're just looking to create a website, or start a booming business online, take a little bit of time to do your homework before diving in. Invest some time in updating the content of your site daily and soon your natural google rankings will begin to rise, drawing more and more visitors to your site, and more revenue into your wallet.

About the author: Freelance writer Melissa Cameron considers herself a walking infomercial.  Her love of yoga, knitting, movies and internet marketing naturally led her to build a successful career as a stay-at-home mom and writer.  Often drawing  upon personal experience when creating content, Melissa credits past writing assignments with inspiring her to build an internet presence as well as get fit and eat healthier.

* Image attribution: Rexhep-Bunjaku; CC BY-SA 3.0