Actinic Ecommerce Site Guide

1. Domain name & web hosting

You will need is a site (domain) name in the format www.yourdomain.com and a hosting package. Hosting requirements for Actinic software are either a Windows, UNIX or Linux server with Perl 5.004 or later recommended MD5 Perl module as Perl 5.10.0 not supported, a user writeable CGI bin and a recommended minimum of 20 MB process memory.

Depending on the hosting company you can expect to pay from £50 - £250+ for hosting yearly renewal costs. You may need to pay more if your site becomes extremely busy.

Cost: £50 - £250 P/A

2. Actinic ecommerce software

The Actinic ecommerce software can be installed on your computer and allow you to completely manage your own ecommerce website. You can add your own brochure pages, products and images, upload the site and download orders any time. Read more about Actinic software.

Actinic costs from £399 +VAT for the starter package Actinic Catalog which is a single site licence, £799+VAT for the Actinic Business package (extra marketing features) and £1,249+VAT for Actinic Business Plus (multiple site licence).

Cost: from £399+VAT

3. PSP Payment Service Provider

To take payments on your website, you will need a PSP (stands for payment service provider). They will securely take credit card payments on your behalf and also comply with PCI DSS guidelines. Actinic offers a wide range of trusted payment providers already built into the software. See UK Payment Gateways.

Cost: Varies

4. SSL Certificate

Card details are taken securely by a PSP, but you can optionally purchase an SSL certificate from the hosting company to encrypt the data of the checkout. This will further increase the security of your customers name, address, email, phone details etc and it will also display a padlock on the page which give shoppers confidence to purchase safely. SSL certificate costs vary but are often in the region of £100-£150 per year.

Cost: £100 - £150 P/A

5. Web site design

Actinic comes with a set of basic design themes however, many people prefer a personalised design, either made to match an existing site or an entirely new design.

Design costs can vary. Most people opt for a customised professional design whereby we do custom quotations. See the Actinic web design page for options.

Cost: Varies

6. Building site content

Actinic software has an easy to use content management interface where you can add brochure pages, sections, products, prices, images, text and shipping information quickly and easily. Building content can be done before or after applying a design, because you can change the design without affecting site content.

Many people enter their own site content into the software which does not cost anything except some of your own time. If you need someone to enter products to get you started, please request an estimate (cost depends on quantity and complexity).

Cost: Optional

7. Search Engine Optimisation

When we build your site we make it search engine friendly by using CSS style sheets and techniques and being sure to include heading tags. Along with good unique content this helps your search results.

You may still need to do further work to compete with competitors. You could either set up Google Adwords for instant promotion or in the long term it may be more efficient to have your site optimised for natural listings. See Actinic search engine optimisation.

Cost: Varies