WAHM Forums

I need some advice regarding obtaining an SSL certificate for my site.


My website receives a good amount of traffic, but my sales do not reflect this. I'm not sure why my sales are low, but I believe the possiblity could be that my site is not secure. I utilize paypal for payments, so SSLis not necessary. But perhaps it is turning people away by not being secure.


The other issue is that I can't obtain a secure certificate with my current host because I share an IP address. They don't even offer a secure hosting package for less than $40 per month. So, if SSL is the issue that is affecting my sales, I need to find a host that can offer me a secure site, an SSL certificate. And one that is familiar with oscommerce and can transfer files with ease so as to not disrupt the website too much.


Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated...

If you accept PayPal your payment is secure and should not turn people off... it could be something else.....

I don't think it is the SSL issue either. When you say you get
quite a few visitors, approximately how many? You will always
have lots of lookers that don't actually buy. I get about
800-1000 visitors a month to my site, yet only get maybe 6-10 orders a
month. I don't have online ordering on my site, so that may be
part of it.

My webalizer stats show 2300 "visits" in January. But I received no orders. Don't really know what the problem is...just trying to do some trouble shooting.


Does anyone think that Paypal is turnoff for some? And, of course, that leads to SSL, because you can't get a merchant account without one.

Paypal is secure and so that shouldn't be a problem. And Paypalseems to bebecoming a widely acceptedpayment option.


Where is most of your traffic coming from?


Teresa :)

Not too sure. Haven't really figured out how to read those stats yet...smileys/smiley5.gif

Err... which site is it? Craftygiftcreations or That country charm.

Crafty Gift Creations. Sorry.


By the way, I had an order today. My first since Christmas!

congrats... Try to track down your traffic that would really help

You really need to focus on your stats to determine a few things.


1. How many visitors do you have per day.


2. How many of those visitors select a product creating a shopping cart session.


3. At what point in the transactionis the shopping cart abandoned.


4. Check your stats for server, page and script errors. Eliminate them!


It is my guess that the major obstacle is requiring a potential buyer from concluding a transaction is requiring them to create an account. While that may work for major companies where a customer is likely to make another purchase, it is considerably less likely to work for a smaller merchant. This is particularly true when you are using a third party merchant service such as PayPal.


Please allow me to suggest the following:


1. Eliminate the need for the customer to create an account to purchase. Any obstacle you eliminate in the order process works in your favor.


2. Indicate on your home page and products that the transaction is securely processed via PayPal. That simple step will go far in adding customer confidence.


3. Instead of account creation, create on opt-in list or membership allowing your visitors to receive notification of specials or future coupons and seasonal reminders.


Good Luck!Edited by: pushkart

There is an oscommercecontribution that allows purchase without account, but it is complicated. I do have a newsletter sign-up on the home page.


I agree with adding paypal info on the home page. Will do that. And will look into the PWA contribution from oscommerce.


Thanks for the suggestions.