Bigcommerce

[brain357]

Just wanted to post my experience with Bigcommerce. I have been in business for over 17 years. Started with just a html site I created using paypal buttons to buy. Like 6 years ago I decided I needed a much better site for obvious reasons. Ended up with a local company who claimed they could match all my needs. They set the site up using nopcommerce which is a free open source cart. It cost me a lot of money and certainly the site was an improvement in most regards, but I was never able to get everything I was promised and my search rankings really tanked. After a few years with them I was experiencing bad hosting and they were unable to do upgrades so I moved to another guy who was pretty good for a while. He had much better hosting, but eventually he too failed to be able to do upgrades. So finally last year I decided it was time to move the site and decided on Bigcommerce. Has been the best thing I have done for my business. Sales were slow the first few months as my search rankings returned, but I ended the year with huge double digit growth. Every search word that I think is important is at least on the first page now and most are first. I now have access to every feature I want on my website either through standard features or apps which are easy to install. It is not cheap, but find it well worth the money. I'm no longer hounding people to try and get things done on my site. The hosting has been great and so has the customer service. I've had to be a bit creative to make the site do certain things, but it does everything I want. Just wanted to share my experience as there are probably many now thinking they need to move and wondering what to do.

[Harold Mansfield]

Just want to explain why you had issues with other people for so long.


Just wanted to post my experience with Bigcommerce. I have been in business for over 17 years. Started with just a html site I created using paypal buttons to buy. Like 6 years ago I decided I needed a much better site for obvious reasons. Ended up with a local company who claimed they could match all my needs. They set the site up using nopcommerce which is a free open source cart. It cost me a lot of money and certainly the site was an improvement in most regards, but I was never able to get everything I was promised and my search rankings really tanked. After a few years with them I was experiencing bad hosting and they were unable to do upgrades so I moved to another guy who was pretty good for a while.
Most webmasters or designers who provide hosting are simply renting space as an affiliate from a larger company. They don't own nor do they control the equipment. So if the parent company doesn't do upgrades they and you are stuck.

Hosting is incredibly easy to set up and you should ALWAYS have your own hosting, in your name, and go straight to the source and get it from a company who owns the equipment and are selling you services directly. This way you aren't dependent on one person for everything. I've seen many horror stories of client/webmaster relationships going south and the client completely helpless to recover their website or anything else that they should own and have full access to.

There are many to choose from. You should do homework or speak to a consultant who knows the differences well, and what your needs are, but it's pretty easy to do.



He had much better hosting, but eventually he too failed to be able to do upgrades.
Again, same scenario.


So finally last year I decided it was time to move the site and decided on Bigcommerce. Has been the best thing I have done for my business. Sales were slow the first few months as my search rankings returned, but I ended the year with huge double digit growth. Every search word that I think is important is at least on the first page now and most are first. I now have access to every feature I want on my website either through standard features or apps which are easy to install. It is not cheap, but find it well worth the money. I'm no longer hounding people to try and get things done on my site. The hosting has been great and so has the customer service. I've had to be a bit creative to make the site do certain things, but it does everything I want. Just wanted to share my experience as there are probably many now thinking they need to move and wondering what to do.

Good to hear that Big Commerce is working out for you. I also like the company and they've come a long way since I first heard of them a few years back.

[michael.kuznar]

Brain357

I have built multiple websites on BigCommerce and feel they are a good company as well. Their CMS is very user friendly, especially for those who aren't necessarily computer savvy. They also have a great customer service program that is very prompt. They are a little lacking on flexibility as they don't like you to deviate off their templates, but all in all they provide a good way to build your website.

Thanks for the post

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[Ironclad Systems]

Something that I find to be a high value solution for hosting is a Amazon AWS virtual server. The basic subscription is free, and while we do charge a nominal fee for setting up the server (LAMP stack, etc ), our clients will retain ownership of the virtual server even if they choose another service provider than us down the road. Also AWS is VERY easily scalable when it comes time to upgrade, and not prohibitively priced.

[michael.kuznar]

BigCommerce is easy to use.