More customers are shopping online, which means businesses have to establish eCommerce stores to cater to their customers’ needs. Therefore, choosing the right eCommerce hosting solution is critical to running your eCommerce business smoothly. Shared Hosting is an easy and cost-effective solution for businesses starting out and with a limited budget.

From benefits to factors to consider and a step-by-step guide to building your eCommerce site with shared hosting, you’ll find all you need to know in this article.

So, is shared hosting good for eCommerce? Let’s find out.

Understanding What eCommerce Is

eCommerce websites let business owners promote and sell their goods and services to consumers online. The website may include a catalog of products and services that customers can explore to choose their desired product or service. It also features a shopping cart that lets consumers add items to their orders and a checkout process that accepts payment and shipping information.

Generally, the best eCommerce sites are designed with the customers in mind. They excel at providing seamless customer experiences that let users navigate and shop easily in the online store just as they would in a brick and mortar store.

Learn More About What is eCommerce? An Introductory Guide

Is Shared Hosting Good for eCommerce?

Is Shared Hosting good for eCommerce? Shared hosting is a great choice for an eCommerce business just launching and those working with a budget. It is cost-effective and easy to set up. It’s cheaper than other hosting options, so it’s an affordable alternative for small businesses to maximize costs.

In addition, shared hosting is easy to manage, as the hosting provider handles the maintenance, including security. So, it’s easier for businesses without support or an IT team to use. Therefore, it’s a great choice for small eCommerce businesses. However, before opting for shared hosting, ensure your shared hosting provider has adequate capabilities for your eCommerce features.

Explore our recommended Shared Hosting Providers

Factors to Consider When Choosing Shared Hosting for eCommerce Website 

There are certain factors to consider when selecting the best eCommerce hosting for your online store. Let’s consider them below:

Server Uptime and Performance

Server uptime is the period of time a server or hosting provider’s server infrastructure is available and functioning properly. It is critical to know the server uptime of a website because it shows when a website is available for customers. So, identify the uptime of the server to know if it suits your needs.

If a server experiences a high uptime, visitors can access the website freely without time restrictions, leading to positive user experiences. However, a low server uptime makes your website unreliable. Besides a high uptime, ensure the server offers high performance. High-performance servers lead to responsive websites, boosting customer engagement and satisfaction.

On the other hand, a low-performance server results in a slow, unresponsive website, hampering customer engagement and retention. Therefore, choose a server with a high-performance rate for quick load times. This way, customers have enjoyable experiences on your website, leading to high satisfaction and retention.

Security Features

Shared Hosting Security is vital when choosing a server because it determines your business and customer data safety. Therefore, knowing if the web hosting service offers solid security features is critical. Here are some critical security features to look out for:

• SSL certificate: SSL certificates encrypt the information between a website and the user’s browser, protecting their sensitive data like login details, bank information, etc. Many shared hosting packages offer a free SSL certificate.
• Malware and Virus Scanning: An excellent shared hosting solution should provide regular malware and virus scanning to identify and eliminate any malicious code that might have been injected on your website
• Firewall: Firewall protection obstructs unwanted access to your website by monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic and preventing malicious attacks like SQL injection attacks
• Regular backups: Regularly backing up your website’s data preserves vital information and allows you to restore your data quickly and efficiently in cases of data breaches

So, ensure your shared hosting environment offers these security practices to safeguard your business’s activities on your website.

Bandwidth and Storage Limitations

Bandwidth and storage limitations are crucial factors to consider when choosing an eCommerce hosting provider. These limitations impact your website performance negatively. Here’s how these limitations can affect your eCommerce site and how to choose a shared hosting plan that meets your needs.

• Bandwidth: This is the number of data that can be communicated between a website and its users within a particular period. Since eCommerce sites experience more traffic than other sites, it’s best to opt for a shared hosting plan with enough bandwidth.
• Storage: This is the amount of disc space available on a shared hosting server. eCommerce stores often have larger files and databases to store, so a hosting server with eCommerce storage space is recommended.

Learn More About Shared Hosting Traffic Limit

Payment Gateway Integration

Payment gateway integration allows secure and reliable online payment transactions. It gathers and transfers payment information between the website and the payment processor, ensuring secure transactions. A payment gateway integration is essential for these reasons:

• Ensures that customer payment data is protected from cyber attacks
• Enables easy checkout processes for consumers on the website
• Boosts the credibility of your website

Primarily, payment gateway integration secures consumers’ information and facilitates their shopping experiences. So, consider a shared hosting server that offers the payment gateway integration feature.

Learn more about eCommerce Payment Methods

eCommerce Website Builder Support

Adopting a web hosting provider like Cloudways ensures excellent website builder support. This lets you customize your website and improve consumers’ experiences.

eCommerce Website Builders offer various templates and tools, enabling businesses to customize their branding to meet consumers’ preferences. They also offer multiple plugins that add functionality to their websites.

Explore the Best eCommerce Website builders

How to Set Up eCommerce Websites on Shared Hosting

The following are steps you can follow to set up eCommerce on shared hosting.

1. Select a Hosting Plan

Choosing a hosting plan is vital to the success of your eCommerce site. eCommerce sites need more website resources due to the high traffic volume and transactions. In addition, they are vulnerable to attacks and cyber threats. So, it’s best to use an eCommerce hosting plan with robust security capabilities to safeguard your online store from cyber threats and attacks.

Check out our recommended eCommerce Hosting Providers

2. Install the eCommerce Platform

Here is a step-by-step process for installing an eCommerce platform:

• Select an eCommerce platform: Choose an eCommerce platform that works best for you
• Shared Hosting plan: Explore various eCommerce hosting options and choose a shared hosting plan that matches your goals
• Install the platform: Sign up for the hosting plan, log in to your hosting account’s control panel, and move to the app installer. Select the eCommerce platform of your choice and follow the installation procedures
• Configure the platform: Once you’ve installed it, access the eCommerce admin panel and configure it for use
• Install themes and plugins: You can improve your website’s functionality by selecting the themes and plugins that suit your needs
• Test: Test your eCommerce store before you launch to identify any issues

Following these installation processes will help you design an online store that meets your expectations and customers’ demands.

3. Configure the Payment Pathway

Configuring a payment pathway for your eCommerce site means choosing a payment service provider and connecting their services to your online store. Follow these steps to configure the payment pathway:

• Choose a payment gateway provider
• Create an account with the payment gateway provider
• Configure payment options
• Connect the payment gateway with your website
• Test the payment gateway
• Launch your website

These steps will help you configure the payment pathway on your ecommerce website successfully.

4. Design a Website

An eCommerce store with an appealing design attracts customers’ attention, generating more traffic for your business. It makes good first impressions and facilitates a positive user experience. It also helps your eCommerce business stand out and stay unforgettable. So, it’s best to invest in captivating designs when creating your website. Here are a few suggestions for creating a design for your online store that will wow your customers:

• Keep your design simple by avoiding clutter
• Include high-quality photos
• Select color themes that reflect your brand’s identity
• Make your website mobile-friendly
• Enable quick load time

Visually appealing and intuitive websites generate a high return on investment for your business by boosting traffic, engagement, and retention. So, adopt these practices to build a functional design for your eCommerce store.

Learn More About eCommerce Website Design

5. Optimize the Website for Speed and Performance

Optimizing your website’s speed and performance improves user experiences and satisfaction. Optimized websites are faster and highly responsive, enabling users to perform their desired functions quickly. On the other hand, slow-loading websites frustrate users, leading to customer dissatisfaction. Here are some tips to enhance your website’s speed and load time.

• Optimize images by compressing and retaining their quality
• Use caching to reduce the amount of data that needs to be stored on the site frequently
• Reduce HTTP requests to avoid slowing down your website’s performance

Adopting these techniques significantly improves your website’s performance and promotes positive user experiences on your online store.

Advantages of Shared Hosting for eCommerce Sites

Shared hosting offers numerous perks for eCommerce businesses. Here are some of its advantages:

Cost-Effective Solution

Shared hosting is more affordable than other hosting plans, so it’s a cheaper choice for businesses looking to minimize costs. The best part is that it doesn’t compromise affordability with functionality.

It’s packed with multiple features and benefits, making it a comprehensive tool for businesses to manage their eCommerce platform effectively. For example, it offers tools and features like website builders, email accounts, security features, etc.

Easy Setup and Maintenance

Shared hosting makes building and maintaining your eCommerce platform easy. So, you don’t need IT support to manage or navigate its features. For instance, they are equipped with one-click installation updates for software applications, so it’s easy for you to update your software and apps.

Many of the best eCommerce hosting providers also provide automatic backups, enabling businesses to protect their data during data loss or breach. They also come with pre-configured servers that make it easy for you to build your website without technical expertise.

Scalability Options

Shared hosting provides multiple scalability options for users to build, manage and improve their online store. These options may include more storage, memory, etc. In addition, shared hosting providers often restrict the features available for each user, ensuring adequate resources for each website.

In addition, shared hosting plans mostly come with the option to upgrade to higher plans as your website expands. So, you can start with a basic plan and upgrade to access more tools and resources as you grow your business.

Technical Support

Technical support is a vital advantage of using shared hosting providers. A supportive technical support team helps with server configuration, software installation, and troubleshooting. They ensure your tool is updated and configured effectively for the best performance.

The technical support team also fixes bugs and other issues that may occur. and can provide security measures for your eCommerce website, including protection from malware, cyber threats, and more.

Learn More About the Pros and Cons of Shared Hosting

Best Shared Hosting Providers for eCommerce Websites

The following are a few of the best shared hosting providers for your eCommerce website:

HostGator

HostGator is one of the top popular shared hosting providers offering various hosting plans for eCommerce web hosting. It offers extensive features, tools, and resources, making it highly functional and user-friendly. It has attractive pricing, starting with $2.75 monthly and basic deals, and offers unrestricted storage and bandwidth for every plan.

HostGator is beginner-friendly and intuitive, enabling business owners who can’t code to build websites easily. It also offers useful features for free, including a free domain name for the first year.

However, while HostGator comes with disadvantages, such as additional costs for add-on services, HostGator is among the best shared hosting providers for its numerous advantages. First, it’s simple to use and comes with free features that will let you set it up quickly. So, if you are looking for a reliable shared hosting website, HostGator is an excellent choice.

InMotion Hosting

InMotion Hosting is a shared hosting platform that works for everyone, including businesses, hobbyists, and designers. A free SSL certificate is attached to every plan; the higher your plan, the better your access to larger storage space, databases, and more. InMotion hosting plans start at $2.49 per month, and plans come with free website transfers and a free domain for a year.

InMotion hosting offers basic features for users. However, while many shared hosting platforms often limit users to specific features, InMotion hosting makes features accessible on all plans. The major difference among the plans is the amount of storage space and databases users have access to.

Finally, InMotion hosting offers many features that let you achieve your goals, from unlimited bandwidth to 24/7 support.

A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting offers an uptime guarantee, free automated backups, free site migration, and other features that make it highly functional. The exclusive web servers, 24/7 live chat and support, free SSL certification, and regular malware screening and monitoring ensure you receive adequate support. In addition, A2 hosting offers affordable pricing plans, costing about $2.99 per month.

However, A2 hosting does not provide a free domain for users, and the shared hosting provider increases renewal fees frequently.

Explore more recommended Ecommerce Hosting Providers

Which Hosting is Best for eCommerce?

When launching or managing an eCommerce site, choosing the right web hosting solution is crucial for its performance, security, and scalability.

Below is a comparative analysis of Shared hosting with other hosting solutions, focusing on cost, performance, and scalability among these hosting options.

Shared Hosting:

Shared hosting is the most affordable option among the hosting solutions, with plans often kicking off at just a few dollars per month. It provides adequate performance for small to medium-sized eCommerce sites, although it may struggle when faced with high traffic volumes.

When it comes to scalability, shared hosting is limited compared to other hosting solutions. However, some providers offer easy transitions to more scalable hosting types for growing websites.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting:

VPS hosting is moderately priced, standing as a more expensive option compared to shared hosting but cheaper than dedicated hosting. It offers better performance since resources are divided among fewer users compared to shared hosting.

Scalability is more flexible in VPS hosting, allowing for the easy addition of resources as needed, which is a step up from shared hosting.

Dedicated Server Hosting:

Dedicated hosting is significantly more expensive, with costs depending largely on the specifications of the dedicated server. It boasts high performance as the entire server and its resources are dedicated to a single user, ensuring a smooth running of even the most resource-demanding eCommerce sites.

Scalability with a dedicated server is more manual in terms of resource allocation, requiring manual configuration which might be a drawback for some users.

Cloud Hosting:

Cloud hosting offers flexible pricing based on usage, although it can become expensive with high resource usage. It stands out for its high performance and reliability due to distributed resources across multiple servers, making it a robust choice for large, high-traffic eCommerce sites.

Scalability is a major advantage of cloud hosting, with resources being adjustable on-demand to handle traffic spikes and growth, making it a highly adaptable option for growing businesses.

So, what’s the best eCommerce hosting and who is the best eCommerce hosting provider?

The answer largely depends on your specific needs and budget.

• If your eCommerce business is large or expects rapid growth, a dedicated server might be the most suitable option due to its high performance and scalability.
• On the other hand, for smaller eCommerce ventures or startups, shared hosting or VPS hosting might be more fitting due to their cost-effectiveness.

Identifying the best eCommerce hosting provider requires evaluating the performance, security, scalability, and cost offered by the hosting service alongside the unique requirements of your eCommerce platform.

Conclusion

Shared hosting for eCommerce websites is an excellent option for businesses looking to launch their website on a budget. It’s easier and cheaper to manage than other hosting types, as the shared hosting provider handles the site management.

When choosing a shared hosting provider, consider server uptime and performance, bandwidth and storage restrictions, security, payment gateway integration, and the website builder the provider offers.

An excellent website builder facilitates your experience by providing the tools and resources to build your eCommerce store successfully. Therefore, ensure your shared hosting provider offers the best website builders for your needs.

Next Steps: What Now?

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• Shared Hosting Traffic Limit: Explore This Ultimate Guide