Is Your Web site Ready for Cyber Monday?

We all know the holiday shopping season officially kicks off on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when shoppers storm malls and retail outlets. But the first workday after the holiday weekend (this year, Dec. 1) has become renowned for its own flurry of purchasing. "Cyber Monday" is to online shopping what Black Friday is to brick-and-mortar holiday shopping. And any Web site that wants to cash in on this spike in traffic and transactions needs to be prepared. So, is your Web site ready for Cyber Monday and the online shopping season?  

To find out, ask yourself these questions:

* Is your Web site stable?
Make sure your Web hosting service guarantees 100 percent uptime. A traffic spike to your site sounds like a good thing, but it has the potential to overload your server, resulting in an outage. Consider what it would mean to your business if your site went down on Cyber Monday: an outage of just a few hours could translate into significant revenue losses. Reliability and stability are crucial to an e-commerce business on this big sales day. Other features to look for in your hosting provider are overdraft protection, site restore automatic backup, a dedicated IP address and 24/7 live support.

* Who can I turn to for Web site support?
Check to be sure your hosting service and digital security certificate provider is reputable and offers 24/7 customer service. You can find out how responsive your service is to customers' needs by asking what the average wait time is before a call is answered and how many customer inquiries are resolved with just one contact.

* Do I have the right security for online transactions?
Web site security is an important component of your site's success. SSL Certificates can be installed in a few clicks and assure your visitors that your Web site is trustworthy. Give your customers the confidence to make purchases and share their confidential information and private data online.

* Can I afford full time Web site support and security?
The better question is, "Can your business afford not to have security and support?" Just one bad impression of your Web site is enough to turn countless customers (and anyone they tell) away for good.

Whether you're a small business operating a single Web site or a Web professional operating multiple sites, the right hosting and security solutions are critical to the success of your online business -- not just on Cyber Monday, but every day.  

Register.com provides all the essential tools a business needs to build and manage their online presence. Leveraging 10 years of experience with over 2.5 million domain names under management, Register.com has built a reputation as a leading provider of global domain name registration, Web design and management services, receiving a Shared Hosting Award by the U.S. Web Hosting Directory in November 2008. They enable small businesses and organizations to create an affordable, dynamic Web presence without the need for extensive technical knowledge.


Visit Register.com now to get the hosting and security solutions you need to be prepared for Cyber Monday. Copyright © 2008, ARAnet, Inc.