by Tom Oki

Today, there are numerous resources to build an online store that did not exist just a few short years ago. The resources have made it possible for just about anyone to build an online store, even if they do not have technical skills. But before I reveal what tools I consider the best, let’s review what exactly you need in order to build an online store.

1. A Domain – You need a name for your store, which should be the same as your domain name. Good domains are becoming hard to find, so you may need to be creative to come up with a good name for the online store you wish to build. You can buy domains from websites called “domain registars,” or directly from the web hosting company you work with.

2. Web Hosting – Web hosting is simply website space that you rent on “servers” that are connected to the Internet. You typically pay a monthly fee to have your site hosted by a web host. Depending on which ecommerce solution you use to build an online store, you will need to make sure your web host supports the technology used. Some web hosts offer turnkey ecommerce solutions to help you build an online store, but be aware that some of these solutions require much work to set up successfully.

3. Secure Server Certificate (SSL) – Any sensitive information the customer sends you, such as credit card numbers and billing addresses, MUST be transmitted over a secure server. This means you need to buy a security certificate from a place like Verisign or Geotrust. This certificate then needs to be installed on your server. The cost of certificates has come down in recent years, but they still typically cost hundreds of dollars per year.

4. Shopping cart/payment system – Finally, when you build an online store, you will need software to handle your shopping cart system. This can either be a solution that you buy from a software vendor, or you can use shopping carts of services such as Paypal or Yahoo. Traditionally, you also needed a merchant account, but if you build an online store using Paypal or an existing online store solution, you may not need one.

Setting up each step can take some time if you do them individually. A few years ago, I had to build an online store and the whole process took weeks. Fortunately, there are now complete, turnkey online store solutions that give you everything you need for a monthly fee. Using these services, it is conceivable to build an online store that is fully functional in a day or less. These services range from the very basic, to highly sophisticated systems that can support 50,000 products or more. Most are very easy to use, even if you do not have technical skills.

Unless you are absolutely determined to select specific solutions for every element of your store, I would highly recommend that you utilize turnkey shopping solutions because it saves you money and time, without sacrificing quality. If you build an online store using such a service, you still will look professional and be easy to manage as well.

About the Author: Tom Oki is editor of http://business-reviews.com/, a business opportunity and marketing review site.

To find out more about which services are available for building an online store, be sure to ready my full article on starting an online store.