Purchasing Domain and Hosting for eCommerce

The Internet is so huge and complicated
that I get confused so badly

I have talked about my plan to sell my products online, however this approach comes with several technical difficulties that needs to be resolved. The internet is so advance these days that I, who I will credit as having more than average knowledge of how it works, easily get confused as to how it's supposed to work.

First of all I had to decide on which mode of online store would I want to go to. Most local sellers opt for non-automated blogspot style website. This obviously came with two benefits, it was free and it is easy to set up. I however, did not like this approach as it looks unprofessional and I feel that customers lose confidence when attempting to purchase from online retailers who resort themselves to blog-styled websites. I will not touch on this approach for now (in this post at least) as I do not see the need for it nor have I any experience about it.

I prefer the other alternative, using web hosting and professional eCommerce store system like those used by bigger organizations such as eBay, Best Buy and Amazon. I was also confident that I had at least some ideas as how it works and should be able to sort things out. Oh how I was wrong. If you choose to use this method of eCommerce, be prepared to post on some forums and learn new things. It is tricky but not impossible for any layman to accomplish. Furthermore, the end product is more professional looking and more rewarding than a web blog.

There are two options for these professional looking websites. You could choose eCommerce hosting or Web Hosting. Here's an overview:

eCommerce Hosting:

• Examples are Shopify, Goodsie and Magento Go
• They provide a complete solution to eCommerce
• All you have to do is set some basic information such as store name, store URL and products details
• The interface is fairly easy to manage and straight forward
• The price range for competitive packages that is suitable for starters are usually in the range of MYR 40 to MYR 100 per month
• They have a lot of limitation and cannot be customized as extensively as Web Hosting
• However they usually permit a trial store that you can use for two  weeks to a month depending on the provider before you pay any money

Web Hosting

• This is more complicated, requiring you to purchase domain name and web hosting service not to mention some technical knowledge
• Usually they provide a control panel that comes installed with commonly used softwares
• It allows you to load eCommerce softwares of your choice and create a store with it
• Some common providers are Server Freak, GoDaddy and Exabytes
• Prices range from MYR 100 to MYR 500 per year for competitive packages suitable for starters
• They have virtually no limitations, allow you to customize the set up as you may and according to your level of technical knowledge
• They don't usually have a trial system, so you are stuck with a provider for a year
• You do require some knowledge in networking and web design, but not much

Posting both solutions on this one post would be counter productive to you readers, so I'll link them to their own posts so you may read their own set up requirements and pros and cons

Link to eCommerce Hosting post

Link to Web Hosting post

However for either of these options, you would probably need your own personal domain (i.e yourdomain.com). Domains are web URL or web address that you type in your internet browser such as www.google.com. Getting a personal domain allows people to type your domain name into the browser and go directly to your store. Personal domain price differs by their ending or the letters after the dot such as .com, .com.my, .net or .org. Prices for .com domains are usually in the MYR 40 neighbourhood while the cheapest .com.my domain provider charges MYR 80 for your own personal domain.

If you are getting a personal domain, I would highly suggest www.serverfreak.com as they have very friendly technical support and competitive pricing if you would want to purchase a Web Hosting package. 

I decided to register www.phonecases.com.my as my personal domain for my phone accessories store. It was available and easy to remember. At first, I bought the domain name only without any packages from Exabytes for MYR 80. Their service was lousy and I couldn't get it to link to what was then my temporary website. I then transferred to Server Freak which had great customer service and was very helpful. They replied to my emails which I sent in at two in the morning! So I highly recommend you visit them to get your own personal domain and web hosting. 

Essentially you need a website, which you can get either through eCommerce Hosting or Web Hosting. Then you would purchase a personal domain with which ever provider you prefer. Once done, you'd contact them to link your personal domain to your website. You can do it on your own but the procedure for that is beyond my knowledge regarding nameservers and networking. So just contact them once you've bought your personal domain and they'll guide you through it.

If you are using eCommerce Hosting, you can make do without a personal domain as you can use the providers domain which usually looks like this, www.yourstore.provider.com (i.e mystore.goodsie.com). If you are using Web Hosting, you would absolutely require your own personal domain.

That's it from me for now, I'll write up the two posts on different professional eCommerce website and link them in this post. Leave a comment if you need any advice or have any opinion on different platforms to host your eCommerce website.

Yours truly,

Young and Gunning