So you finally have your website up and running. You expect this to drive in sales to your business especially as you have hired a very competent team to manage it. As long as you use effective search optimization skills, your site is definitely going to help as far as getting your products or services to people is concerned.
However, if you really want to want to nail down your market, you can't just rely on your site's information-disseminating function. You have to make it make money for you by adding an e-commerce feature so you can sell right from your site.
The Internet has no doubt become a market itself which means there is definitely great promise from mere website visits instantly turning into sales. When you're able to accept payments through your site, you know how much that makes a difference especially as competition with sites that have existing e-commerce sites is tough. So waste no time and start taking advantage of credit card merchant processing as you begin selling from your site.
The principal thing that you will be needing is a software which allows you to buy or avail from hosing and credit card processing companies. Then you can buy a dedicated SSL certificate for real time credit card processing. This is your way of making sure that all data entered into the server will be secure. If you're not keening on getting on this certificate, you have the option of directing your customers to an alternative site where they can supply their details and make payments before being reverted back to your site.
Making a choice between contracting the service of a separate payment gateway or something that is integrated within your merchant account is also important. You might want to consider that an independent gateway will have its own merchant account, but if you have a merchant account, you can get a gateway that pays directly into your account with that bank .
There will, of course, be fees involved but if you don't have an SSL certificate and want to sell through an alternate party, transaction fees per sale are all you need to settle. When you accept payments from a third party, you don't need a merchant account. However, if you prefer direct payments, you definitely need one with your bank.
