Hosting
Your website needs to be hosted on a web server in order to make it available on the Internet. Hosting involves housing, serving and maintaining files so that visitors are able to view the content of the website.

Your website is the public face of your business, so the hosting solution selected must be able to provide a fast, secure and reliable service. You can opt for an in-house hosting solution or go to an external Internet service provider (ISP). Key factors to consider include cost and the level of technical expertise and resources your business has.

For many small businesses, selling online provides some major benefits. Customers increasingly expect this facility and it can improve your cash flow significantly.

It's easy to accept cheques or invoices for your online sales and to process payments in the traditional way. However, because buyers often use the Internet for a speedy service, most sales are paid for with credit and debit cards. To accept cards online, you will have to make special banking arrangements.

Online payments using cards are "customer-not-present" transactions. There are higher risks of fraud with this type of payment and banks require you to operate within a well-defined set of rules and accept a higher level of commercial risk than a conventional swiped card transaction in a shop. This guide will help you to understand these requirements in order to take advantage of online payments.