A guide to website hosting and ecommerce

Test your website

You may be eager to launch your ecommerce store, but review and test your site thoroughly before going live. You have only one chance to make a good first impression on each new visiting customer. Broken links, incorrect phone numbers, and grammatical or spelling errors diminish the professional polish you've strived for.

Walk through the entire ordering process. Is it usable? Is it clear what customers need to do to purchase? Try to buy a product: is the page on which you supply payment information secure? Is the payment processed correctly through your payment gateway? Make sure you use both Macintosh and PCs for testing, as well as different browsers and modem speeds. You want to be able to support even low end systems (i.e., slower computers with a 28.8 modem line).

Finally, don't forget about customer support. This is the key to creating loyal customers. Can you confirm a customer's order has been received? Can you follow up with an e-mail message? Although a personalized message from a real customer service representative is best, an automatic reply works just as well.

What are the minimum response times and standards for replying to customer questions and concerns? Are your customer support staff fully knowledgeable about all your products and services, their features and benefits, pricing, and availability?

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