Setting Up Your Website

In order to sell your products online, you must first set up a website.

First, you need to buy a domain name and some web space to house your website.

You should decide whether to host the site yourself, which requires a certain amount of technical knowledge, or whether to find a third party to host it for you. For smaller companies, third party hosting is usually the best solution, since it allows you to concentrate on your business without having to worry about maintaining your servers.

Next, you must decide how you would like your website to look. You may wish to employ a web designer to create the site for you. Alternatively, you might prefer to use a piece of software, called a shopping cart, which will enable you to create the site yourself. Shopping carts are generally very easy to use and will allow you to do everything from designing the look and feel of your website, to handling stock and shopping transactions.

If you are new to setting up websites, why not visit our partners' page for information on web designers and shopping carts that can help you to set up your website and integrate our payment solutions.

If you already have a website up and running, please visit our products page to select the right payment option for you.


Website costs

The costs involved in setting up your site will include hosting, domain registration, and the costs of designing your site and setting up a shopping cart. There are a number of options available to you, depending on your budget and your needs.

If you prefer you can host your own servers, secure your own server with a digital certificate, arrange for a web developer to design a bespoke site for you, and develop your own shopping cart solution. This type of bespoke solution can cost anything from a few hundred pounds to a few thousand pounds, depending on the type of solution you require and whether you develop your site in-house or use third party specialists to develop it for you. This option gives you complete flexibility to design a unique website to suit your needs.

However, there are many solution providers that provide competitive hosting or template shopping cart solutions that provide you with a cheaper means of setting up your site. These solutions vary widely in terms of flexibility, service and cost. In fact some shopping cart software is free.

Protx works with a range of web developers and shopping cart solutions who can advise you on the best way to set up your site according to your budget. Please see our partners section for further information.

If you would like further impartial advice on setting up your website, why not visit the Business Link website at www.businesslink.gov.uk