Seeking the Perfect Host.

On the Web, the winds of change blow, shift direction and scatter companies across the landscape like specks of dust. This web windstorm won't stop anytime soon. It just keeps blowing and blowing...

To avoid getting blown away, it may pay dividends if you review and research vital issues of importance. Resist burying your head in the sand when it comes to doing intelligent analysis regarding the exact way your company is going to weather this web windstorm. Ask yourself: how am I going to secure longevity and growth exploiting the wild windswept web to my best advantage?

Whatever you sell on the web, whether a product or service, onesie's and twosie's of stuffed olives or 15 metric tons of aluminum, there are several topics to consider before investing in your digital superstructure.

Hosting

What is the best strategy to find and keep the host with the most? Look for a proven track record of reliability, redundancy, and the hardware infrastructure they invested at least $5 million to build. Ask what operating system they use, Unix, Windows NT or Linux. Ask how much bandwidth the hosting company has. Are they using a T3? Multiple T3s? Or have they installed OC3 or OC12 - fiber optic lines? What are the host's online e-commerce capabilities? Is the host SSL ready? Which electronic payment gateway do they use? Check if their backup systems are secure and in place. Ask how many websites they currently host and what is their pricing structure Does the Host provide other services such as dial-up, ISDN, DSL, T-1 or VPN's? (Virtual Private Networks). Will your host be going out of business next year?

For every website out there (9 million plus according to Internetnews.com) each needs a host with different levels of features offered to accommodate the potential growth of an online seller. Usually, the different levels break out like this:

1. A basic level of service for those looking to build brand awareness without processing payment. Usually these sites are more for information with an email address or phone number for the consumer to contact the seller.

2. An intermediate level offering information about their product or service and security through low-level transaction processing encryption.

3. An advanced level offering software that allows consumers to read the sales literature associated with the sale, select the product or service, add it to the "shopping cart", review what they've selected; make changes if needed and then purchase the item(s). Of course, the more features added to the basic level, the greater the cost. The key is recognizing what level of web hosting service you'll need based on your short, medium and long term objectives and sales volume. But any size e-commerce merchant can use whatever feature they feel achieves the best fit.

Transactions

Transactions conducted over the web flow in this way; Credit card numbers are entered, that information is transmitted to a third party company which verifies the funds exists, withdraws those funds and deposits them electronically into the seller's account.

But how can the seller ensure the credit card information will not be compromised?

Security

Guaranteed privacy and security are the keys to establishing the trust factor your customers need to keep buying things on your website. One way to guarantee the safety of your customer's financial information is to make sure your host provides "SSL" -- A secure socket layer. This allows the seller to "encrypt" confidential information during transmission of funds. Providing 100% secure transaction processing is a prerequisite to selling anything over the web. Your customers need to have total confidence their financial information will not be stolen.

Your customers should be able to easily check your site's level of security. To view a site's security level a customer should double click on the "padlock icon" (on the lower left of the bottom indicator bar in Netscape and on the lower right in Explorer), and then click on the "open page info" button. A screen will appear revealing the technical details of the security level. The highest level of encryption available today will read something like this, "This is a secure document that uses a high-grade encryption key for U.S. domestic use only (RC4, 128 bit)." If the host offers this level of encryption you can be sure that it is impossible to have your transaction intercepted. It is more likely that your banking info will be stolen from your telephone or mail as it would take at least $350,000 in computer equipment to break this type of encryption.

Privacy Issues

Make sure your site has a clear and unambiguous privacy policy. Tell your customers their email address or other personal information will not be sold, shared, rented, given or exposed to anyone. State that occasionally, you will send your customer updated information on new products or pricing. Inform the customer that the information they provide will be used to verify their account when they order. Describe how no personal identifying information will be displayed online or that it will not be accessible to the general public.

Describe how "cookies" are used to identify customers when they visit your site. Explain how these help identify buying preferences and how they allow you to customize your site to better provide the kinds of products and services they are interested in. Mention how these "cookies" give you greater flexibility in providing those products or services that are important to the customer. Emphasis on these technologies saves the customer time and makes their shopping experience unique because it is tailored specifically to their interest.

Back-up

Every transaction, every record produced from each sale on your website has to be backed up. Whether you copy your files to a floppy disc, a CD or in a data warehouse on the Internet, a secure and failsafe backup strategy is a must. Also consider storing hard copies of everything in a fireproof safe at an off-site location. An ounce of prevention equals a pound of confidence.

Transaction Gateway

These third party providers allow the funds paid from cyber purchases to be "authenticated" and "transmitted" safely and are industry-recognized to guarantee payment. They include CyberCash, PaymentNet, PPI, AuthorizeNet and others.

Building the Site

Who will build the site and incorporate the above aspects into it? The options are:

1. Hire someone to build your e-commerce website in-house.

2. Use an "e-commerce total solution" package. These are popping up all over the web. Look for one that provides a browser-based (Netscape or Explorer) setup procedure. A "wizard" should help walk you through the process of stocking, configuring and laying out your storefront. This "packaged solution" should allow you to make changes in real time, have pre-defined design templates, and allow you to customize the appearance of your store by uploading your own header, footer and navigation buttons. The "package" should let you create multiple product categories, add multiple product items by SKU number, manage your product inventory, define product attributes (size and color). The software package should permit the easy addition of sale prices, digital coupons, promotions and specially featured products. Regarding the fulfillment issue, the "package" should give you the ability to configure shipping fees, handling fees and tax rates. These are a few of the important features to look for in an e-commerce total solution" from a third party vendor.

Define Sales Objectives

What level of sales volume is your business currently pulling? Almost any business selling products or services in a brick and mortar store or through, a catalog can expand their sales over the Internet. Your challenge is to select the level of e-commerce appropriate for current operations, and to keep an eye on potential future growth. Do your homework and do everything you can to be prepared to start with small steps to minimize exposure and risk. But always plan with the objective to expand your business. Using the web as an additional sales channel is a fact of business life. The question is: How deep and wide does that channel have to be?

Stephen Bagish is Marketing Associate with PacLink.NET, a full-service internet service provider.