Building Web Sites All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

Chapter 2. Building An E‐Commerce Site

In This Chapter

• Coping with technology

• Dealing with the law and privacy

• Using Web hosting and payment system tools

• Getting the word out

• Protecting your site

All the good intentions in the world won't get the job done, especially when you're creating an e‐commerce Web site. In order for an e‐commerce site to be successful, it's got to be usable. If potential customers can't navigate the site without a manual thick enough to be a doorstop, they'll never come back. In addition to being usable, the site needs technology in order to perform tasks such as capturing the e‐mail addresses of customers for a mailing list, taking orders online, and so on. And of course, any time you're doing business, there are legal considerations. Doing business online has its own grab‐bag of legal issues — and you thought you were just designing another pretty site on the Net. In this chapter, we show you the technological and legal considerations involved with an e‐commerce site as well as how to build some of the elements for your e‐commerce site.

Technological Considerations

Technology is everywhere in some shape or form. When it comes to creating an e‐commerce site, consider several technological issues. Some of the technological issues concerning e‐commerce, such as secure servers and credit card authorization are covered in Chapter 1 of this minibook. However, additional technological issues are involved with building the site.

The technology you use depends on the needs ...