How Can You Accurately Compare Host And Merchant Account Providers Without Regret!

By Author: Ronnie Mack
Total Articles: 16
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So, you're interested starting your own web business!

Do you understand all the steps necessary to launch your product or service on the mother-of-all free-markets . the internet?

Have you analyzed the service provider landscape for the required services you need such as selecting a Host Provider and a Merchant Account and Gateway provider?

Go ahead, search for Host Providers or Web Hosting and you will see over 2 Billion results returned, combined for MSN, Yahoo and Google! Wow!

Not to mention, Merchant Account Providers. If you want your business to accept credit cards through your web site you definitely will need a merchant account provider and a gateway solution. Go ahead, do another search for Merchant Accounts you will see an additional 20 Million or so responses combined for Yahoo, MSN and Google.

How can you sort out the good from the bad, who offers the best fit for your business and who provides the best total costs?

How do you compare these solution providers?

Well, if you have the time and energy you should:

1) Check the provider's business standing.
...
... Examine what the Better Business Bureau states about the profile of the company.
Also, verify to see if the company publishes a business telephone number and a business address on their website.
You may be surprised how many providers do not list a company telephone number nor a business address ! Why?
2) Get a sense just how popular the provider is.
Visit Alexa.Com and Quantcast.Com. You can get a darn good view who drives the most traffic.
Yes, there is some concern and debate just how accurate Alexa and Quantcast are but they are a good tool for relative measurements.
The premise : The more traffic the more popular the site!
3) Compare the costs. Yep, you bet!
However, you need to do a deep dive on this topic. Don't take at face value the website catch-ads!
Make sure you examine the setup fees, annual fees, monthly fees, contract and cancellation fees. These providers can be very creative with fees and bury them in the fine print , especially in the Merchant account realm!
Be especially dubious of lowest rates and will beat all other rates declarations!
Be extra cautious when dealing with top tier providers such as Yahoo and GoDaddy. These are very dependable and reputable host account providers but they partner with select merchant account partners. The total cost for a merchant account with Yahoo/First Data and GoDaddy/Innovative Merchant Solutions can be quite expensive compared to third party companies. You are paying for a higher level of service and integration that you may not need!
4) Compare value. Compare what you get for the price you are willing to pay.
For instance, when choosing a host provider you should check just how much you are paying based upon your disk space allocation and bandwidth allocation. You may be shocked at the relative costs. This can be a real eye-opener!
Do a simple calculation and find the cost per Megabyte for disk space and the cost per Gigabyte for bandwidth. Use this number to compare. You will discover who offers the best value and which provider has a reputable entry level quote.
5) Check to see what features the provider offers for free!
You want to ensure your business has scalability, the ability to grow with your selected partner. Isn't it better to have a provider with a full menu of free services and applications that you can plug into your site at a moment's notice?
6) Call them !!!
Have a conversation with the representative of the service provider company. Use your intuition. If you feel uncomfortable or uneasy, simply try another solution provider.
If you experience high pressure sales or aggressive tactics then flee.
The Host provider and Merchant solutions market is a saturated and competitive market. Shop around, especially with merchant accounts. Typically, Merchant account providers will negotiate for your business.
Be careful of long term contracts and cancellation fees.

Be a savvy consumer. The internet can be an intimidating and hostile environment with money pits everywhere. Do your homework!