To ensure your ecommerce website success you must have a plan in place and have an idea what you’re doing before you get started if not it will be a very long and hard road ahead for you. So, where do you start?

You have to make sure you choose the right shopping cart software to make sure you have the right platform to sell your product. There are many ecommerce shopping cart software companies out there so make sure you choose a reputable shopping cart. Make sure you do your research on the platform you choose as there are many resources out there for you to do so.

Once you have chosen your platform, start thinking about your design and how you envision your website to look. Most ecommerce software’s have ready-to-go templates that will allow you to choose a design and can literally be up and running in minutes. You want to make sure you already have a logo in place and it’s very important you have a nice and attractive color scheme.

You must optimize your design and that starts with making sure the basic elements on your website are in the right place. One way to ensure that is use services such as CrazyEgg which is a heat map service that you can see where people are clicking the most. You can also use Google Analytics which is free of charge and also provides a site overlay that tells you where people are clicking the most. You should always be testing different buttons on your website such as ‘add to cart’ or ‘buy now’ on your products to see what is working best to make sure you’re converting at optimal levels.

Once you have a layout of your website, you should start uploading your product. Before you do so, I strongly recommend doing comparison shopping on products you are selling and really study your competition. One common mistake among many starting in ecommerce is not doing enough research on their competition. Coming into 2010, the internet has grown to be a worldwide market place and in order to survive; you must compete with the very best.

When creating your products and website, it is very important to have search engine optimization in mind. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing literally drive millions and millions of people a day through the web to different sites. If you are selling a product, there is a big chance there are many people out there a day looking for it and you want to make sure your site has the visibility it needs. Your site should have the right meta tags, in all the product pages. Make sure your individual products are well optimized and that is achieved by making sure your meta tags are on point starting with the title and then to the content of the product.

Search Engine Optimization is something that takes time so to get instant traffic, you can start Pay-Per-Click marketing which is offered by all the three major engines. Google, Yahoo, and Bing are great traffic drivers and depending on your product and keywords you choose, that will determine how much you pay per click. It is a good marketing model as you can really see your return on investment.

Now you’re ready to embark in the world of ecommerce and see how far you can take it. Like all businesses, you must start little by little and with time and experience, you’ll see different things you can implement to your ecommerce strategy. It is essential you have the basics down to begin your ecommerce business. There is a ton of great content on ecommerce on the web, so make sure you read ecommerce publications and blogs and that should get you ahead.

Paul A. is in the sales staff of Fortune3 which is a ecommerce software Company

Customers want a convenient and safe way to send payment. Money orders and checks are not very convenient nor are they safe. As a vendor, you want to close the transaction quickly. If you have to wait for the customer to remember to mail you a payment, there are too many things that can break the sale. So credit cards are a method by which the customer can place the order quickly.

What about payment services like Paypal?

Yes, payment services such as Paypal will work and is in fact the method of choice for most customers. But there are drawbacks. Often both buyer and seller must register for an account with the same service. The charge may appear on the customer’s card as a charge from the service – not the actual merchant. Sellers complain about payments being accepted into their accounts which they do not want, such as payments from unverified accounts with unconfirmed addresses. Sometimes a minor problem leads to an entire account being restricted (something which should never happen with real merchant accounts) and payments continued to be accepted into these restricted accounts (which would NEVER happen with a real merchant account). Payment services often allow scammers to hide their identities. Disputes often go from the buyer to the buyer’s credit card to the payment service and then to the seller. There are too many points along the line where the ball can be dropped and an innocent party made to pay for it. There is little incentive for the service to fight on behalf of the seller. Even if all the proper efforts are made, it is often determined that a scammer used a loophole in the system to perpetrate the fraud. If there is no money remaining in the scammer’s account (and there wouldn’t be) the victim loses.

With a merchant account you deal directly with the buyer and decide if you want to charge the card. With a payment service all you know about the buyer is what the service tells you. If the buyer used a stolen credit card or changed addresses, you wouldn’t know about it. I did have a buyer try to get back his paypal payment made to me because I shipped to an old address from which he had moved years before. That was the only address I was given by Paypal because the buyer had never updated it. Fortunately Paypal ruled in my favor. With a real merchant account the buyer could not have made such a mistake. So while services like Paypal and Google are basically safe if some common sense is used, they still add complications which can make it less safe for the seller.

Since almost anyone can get a paypal account, many buyers have decided that a seller who has his own merchant account is more reliable than a seller who only accepts payment through a service. Many buyers do not want to join a payment service in order to make a purchase. Many sellers have discovered that having their own merchant account not only gives them a more professional appearance to their buyers, it also gives them more protection against fraud.

What about CCnow and Propay? Aren’t these merchant accounts?

Not really. Companies like CCNow and ProPay allow merchants to pretend to have a merchant account. I will assume that CCNow (which I haven’t used) works similar to ProPay (which I have used). The merchant validates the customer and enters the transaction at the site. There are no monthly fees, statement fees or minimums; it is strictly pay-as-you-go. Payments are not automatically accepted; the merchant must accept them. The merchant uses his own judgement and does not rely on a third-party to validate the customer. Charges appear on the statement with the merchant’s name. However, there are still some disadvantages. The transaction fees are high. Propay has a fee to open the account (last I checked it was $35 annualy), a 3.5% percentage and a transaction fee of about 70 cents (35 cents on the acceptance and another 35 cents on the withdrawal. You can make one withdrawal which encompasses several transactions.) CCNow’s rates are even higher. There are limits. Propay limits individual transactions to no more than $250 and no more than $1,000 per month, unless the merchant signs up for a different account with higher fees. Even though it appears to be a real merchant account, it isn’t. Propay is acting as the middle-man. Chargebacks are reported to Propay, who may or may not contact the merchant in time to dispute them. As for validation, in about 20 transactions I made with Propay, it reported a zip code mismatch every single time. I even charged my own card and it reported a zip code mismatch, though I had been living at that address for over 12 years. When I contacted Propay, they blamed it on typos, on the issuing bank, on the AVS system, and would not for a moment entertain the notion that there might be a problem with their software. This was several years ago so they have probably fixed it by now.

There are some folks who shop by price alone and look for what is (or seems to be) the cheapest deal. There are some who understand that other factors may influence the bottom line. Do you want to deal with a company whose support desk often consists of a telephone answering machine? You can save on your startup costs if you do. But what would the long-term ramifications be? Perhaps it really isn’t a “savings” when you take into account that the company with the higher fee provides a manned support line, electronic check processing, free shopping cart software, and a secure order form for your customers.

You also have to be very careful. Unfortunately, there is a lot of dishonesty in the merchant account arena. Like the stereotype of the sleazy used car salesman, providers often mention those areas where their rates are lower and fail to mention those areas where they are higher. Some outright lie.

Don’t fall victim to sleazy marketing tactics and hidden charges!

Make sure you ask the right questions:
What does it cost to open the account?

What are the monthly fees, statement fees, gateway fees, annual fees, per transaction fees, batch fees, monthly minimum?

Don’t fall for the “qualified” card rate. Ask what the rates are for corporate cards, Canadian cards and other foreign cards.

Is there any long-term commitment? Are there any closing/cancellation fees?
The cheapest account may not be the best for you. Then again, it might be. If
For established sellers doing $1500 a month or more in credit card sales, look for a standard merchant account with the lowest fees and good support.

I spent months researching merchant accounts, for myself and also for a series of articles I wrote forhttp://www.auctionbytes.com. I discovered that while most of them advertise “free application,” almost ALL have a fee for opening the account and this fee ranges from a low of $25 to as much as $500. Having opened seven or eight different merchant accounts over the past twelve years, I have detailed my experiences. I suggest you read them and learn the tricks you have to watch out for.

Izzy Goodman sales@ccs-digital.com

The overall positive aspect of this directory is the revolutionary way the founders conceptualized an interactive directory/community. They first tightened security by putting a process in place that verifies the validity of the retail or wholesale suppliers, drop shippers or liquidators. It has also incorporated frequent updates to the directory and a means to check activity and quality of those that are already listed. Another positive point is the large number of suppliers, around 8000 and products more than 1.5 million. There is also an easy way to look up your preferred product or brand name through its search bar feature. After searching and picking out a couple of probable suppliers through the star rating (another positive feature where the suppliers have ratings according to feedback clients have given) you will be able to further investigate on the supplier through online forums open to subscribers and the information shared and exchanged are not exclusive to only supplier performance but also tips on managing the business as well. The fee SaleHoo charges is only for that one time you when you registered and no recurring charges are further billed. Informative articles are also available in site to guide the user how to use the directory and what for among other things. Lastly, it also has a money back guarantee.

Brand Name Wholesale
Jumpstart Your Online Business and Join the dBay Powersellers! Buy Wholesale Products From Real Wholesale Manufacturers Worldwide. Compare Top 3 Legit Wholesale Suppliers.

As Reviewed by BBC News: Brand Name Wholesalers

Then finding a wholesale company that is to be trusted… maybe one of the most important tasks, for if you engage yourself with the wrong companies you might hurt yourself not only business-wise but also financially. Here you might run into a catch 22 situation: many wholesalers want you to prove that you are indeed a retailer. They ask you to list 3 or more other wholesale companies you do business with and the name of the contact person, telephone number, fax etc. Now that is a bit complicated when you are just starting out…

If you decide not to buy the goods first and then sell them but endeavor in wholesale dropshipping things might get a little less complicated. The companies you then want to work with still want your tax ID number and such, but do not ask for referral addresses you cannot provide to them. That is a whole lot easier indeed. Another big plus is the fact that you do not have to keep an inventory, thus risking you get stuck with loads of unsellable items.

Wholesale dropshipping could be a great way to start as a seller on the internet and make an income that is worth mentioning. You may have heard about people making 6 figures income with this. Why should you not be one of them? Why not indeed… If you are prepared to put in as much hard work as those top sellers have done, maybe you could turn in a nice profit. If you are prepared to dedicate yourself completely for a certain but yet unknown amount of time, you might do well. If you have stamina, persistence and an open mind to learn from others… you just might get there, eventually. You may have to settle for 5 figures, but that is a good start anyway.

As Seen on BBC News, FORBES and CNN Money
See: Wholesale Dropshipper (Platinum Edition) and Turnkey Store Online
Sonny S. Wilsons built his online business without knowing any HTML programming. He is now an Ebay Powerseller, bringing in over $1 Million in yearly sales, selling everyday consumer products. Learn how he uses turnkey wholesale dropshippers to build his business into what it is today in barely 15 months.