In order to get up and running in the wonderful world of ecommerce, there are several steps you'll need to consider. This site guides you through these steps and helps you put a working, ecommerce-capable website on the internet for the least amount of cash. After all, until you've tried it, you'll have no idea whether the internet can work for your business and whether or not its worth the expense.

First of all, the steps you need to consider are (you can click on any of the headings for more information):

	1.	Decide how the internet can work for your business.
	2.	Give your site a name.
	3.	Decide what you want your site to look like.
	4.	What services do you want to provide online?
	5.	Put your new site content on the internet
	6.	Make your site known to the world!
	7.	Consider your customers' privacy and your site security.
	8.	Keep your site updated.

These steps are by no means comprehensive, but they do conver most of the major issues. As you become more ecommerce-savvy, every day you'll recognise new and better ways to do business online.

1. Decide how the internet can work for your business.

Before you make any big decisions, you need to create a business plan for your online venture and work out if ecommerce is going to achieve all that you hope.
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2. Give your site a name.

You may need to register a "domain" name for your site, or you may be able to use a "sub-domain". Here is where we will explain the difference.
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3. Decide what you want your site to look like.

There are so many different ways you can design your site. Perhaps you'd prefer someone else design it for you, or maybe you'd like to find a "template" design to get yourself going. To have maximum effect, there are also many design tips that you may find useful.
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4. What services do you want to provide online?

There are so many possibilities for your site and all the products and services you can offer your customers. Generally, if you're selling something, it's called ecommerce, but that may even include simple promotion. Here is where we give you all the options.
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5. Put your new site content on the internet.

The technical term is "upload" your site but it simply means people will now be able to view your site on the internet. You will need some space to keep it connected to the internet - which is called having your website "hosted". Here you can find out most of the technical stuff that will get your site online.
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6. Make your site known to the world!

There are three main ways people will find your web site:

Alternatively, you can promote your website address to your current and potential customers. You may need to submit your site address to search engines or set up reciprocal links with other websites.
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7. Consider your customers' privacy and your site security.

While the internet opens many doors that conventional ways of doing business could not, there arise many issues about keeping the information about your customers private...and making sure sensitive information stands up to a reasonable level of security attack.
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8. Keep your site updated.

Periodically review your website performance to make sure you are getting maximum return for your money. There are always new and better ways of doing business so keep in touch with what's available.
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