Using your business name as your Web address is an obvious choice for your domain name, but adding a description of your products or services (for example, "shoes") to your domain name goes a long way in helping your store get found by customers searching online for what you're selling. Also consider registering alternate extensions, common misspellings and typographical errors to direct more traffic to your site.

In order to sell online, you need to be able to build a product catalog, collect payments and manage inventory and shipping. Before you buy, ask yourself:

• Is this an integrated shopping cart or will I need additional software?
• Can I integrate accounting software to track purchases and payments?
• Is there a website builder tool that does not require HTML?
• What about Web hosting, email and customer service?

If you want to accept credit card payments online, you'll need a merchant account and payment gateway that works with your ecommerce shopping cart. Offering payment options like Google® Checkout and PayPal® is also a good idea – the more payment options you can offer, the better.

Your website design must do far more than appeal to the eye – it must convince visitors to stick around and complete transactions. Professional ecommerce Web design should:

• Uses 3 main colors and avoids busy backgrounds.
• Features a prominent company name or logo.
• Makes navigation simple and obvious.
• Uses product images with good resolution.
• Keeps "Buy" and "Add to Cart" buttons in plain site.
• Updates content regularly for visitors and search engines.

Ask your ecommerce provider if they offer do-it-yourself and professional Web design options.

Customers will feel safe sharing their financial information on your ecommerce website when you:

• Comply with credit card industry regulations (also known as PCI Compliance)
• Add an SSL Certificate to display three signs of security on your website:
  • The closed padlock in the browser window
  • The https in the browser address bar
  • The SSL site seal
• Prominently display policies regarding returns, cancellations and shipping

Search engine optimization and pay per click advertising can support your ecommerce strategy by placing your website where customers will be looking – in a prominent position on search engine results pages.

Network Solutions® can help you work through all 6 of these key elements when opening an online store.