{"id":20726,"date":"2018-12-03T15:07:43","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T20:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=20726"},"modified":"2019-04-18T09:27:21","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T14:27:21","slug":"web-hosting-for-ecommerce-sites-a-helpful-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/web-hosting-for-ecommerce-sites-a-helpful-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Web Hosting for eCommerce Sites: A Helpful Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2017, people spent over<\/span> $2.3 trillion buying products online<\/span><\/a>, and experts expect that number to grow every year for the foreseeable future. For anyone considering entrepreneurship, eCommerce has become one of the most lucrative options-and one that notably has lower startup costs than opening a storefront.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to worry about real estate costs or hiring people to show up onsite all the hours you\u2019re open. You just need good products, enough staff to provide quality customer service (for a small enough eCommerce business, that could just be you!), and an eCommerce site.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When your business exists exclusively online, getting the website part of it right is essential. For new eCommerce businesses, one of the most important choices you need to make as you <\/span>build your eCommerce website<\/span><\/a> is which web hosting provider and plan to go with.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"build<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why You Need Web Hosting for your eCommerce Site<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve never run a website before, then you may think of the web as something that exists only in cyberspace. We don\u2019t often think of a website as something that takes up physical space. But it does-it has to in order to work.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every website you encounter online is taking up storage space on a physical server somewhere. In most cases, it\u2019s a server owned by a web hosting company. <\/span>How web hosting works<\/span><\/a> is that <\/span>the website owner rents the space by paying them either monthly or yearly.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For eCommerce sites, buying that little bit of physical real estate on a web server somewhere is the closest equivalent you have to spending money on a physical storefront. But you\u2019ll be pleased to know, the cost is significantly less, and for a 'storefront'\u009d that\u2019s accessible to people around the world, not just in your own geographic area.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, while it\u2019s a necessary expense you have to factor into your eCommerce business budget, it\u2019s a pretty good deal for what you get.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Typical Costs of eCommerce Web Hosting <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

eCommerce web hosting starts at round $5-$20 a month for a basic <\/span>shared hosting plan<\/span><\/a> that provides the main security features you need for an eCommerce website. However, if shared hosting won’t cut it for you, we also offer WordPress, VPS hosting<\/a> and Dedicated Server Hosting. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For services that provide eCommerce functionality and website building software along with hosting, the costs grow to around $30 to over $250 a month, depending on the features you want and the amount of traffic you anticipate receiving.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new eCommerce website probably won\u2019t need to plan on a huge amount of traffic to start, which means you can get by with a more affordable web hosting plan in your early days. But you do want to start thinking now about how your costs and needs will change as you grow. As your eCommerce website starts to see a lot of traffic or have higher storage needs, you should expect to upgrade to a:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n