Compliance with industry security practices is one of the most important issues facing ecommerce hosting. In 2004, the Payment Card Industry (PCI), a consortium of credit card companies, created the Data Security Standards. These standards were designed to safeguard consumer's confidential information and are now enforced by contract with most merchants. Consumers have some comfort in spending money with companies that protect their confidential credit information and, in turn, the practice makes good business sense.

The current 12 primary requirements are broken down into several sub-categories. These requirements range from technical criteria to well-defined business practices. Examples of technical criteria include the storage and transmission of encrypted information. In addition, a company is required to regulate the digital and physical accessibility to the data.

A company that processes, transmits or stores confidential credit card data should follow the PCI standards. Although small to medium sized businesses may find it difficult to do so, there are numerous PCI-compliant ecommerce solutions from online shopping cart software to ecommerce hosting. Compliance is guaranteed because these solutions satisfy the PCI standards and allow businesses to focus on creating revenue.

Small businesses trying to enter the ecommerce market need a trustworthy PCI-compliance hosting provider. Frequently, third-party evaluations of ecommerce hosting on opinion web sites are available. However, it is important to also request references. It is essential that a highly credentialed hosting provider be chosen due to the close business relationship between the two.

Other benefits available in ecommerce solutions besides security features found in ecommerce hosting should be evaluated. Many hosting companies will frequently work with their customers and provide online shopping cart software. When your hosting provider understands your software, they can provide great benefits as well, including excellent technical support. In doing so, you will experience less downtime and a web site which your customers are happy shopping on.

In creating a successful ecommerce store there are many things to face and solve. The easiest parts are to focus on product solution and what marketing strategy to pursue. However, to make your store more attractive to the buyer, you need to ease their mind in regards to their private information that they provide. You also need to comply with your credit card provider's merchant agreement. Therefore, it makes the most sense to partner with a secure and PCI-compliant ecommerce hosting provider.