When I first started getting involved in freelance web development the requests for building online stores were few and far between. In recent years this has totally changed, as people want more and more to begin selling their products and services online. This trend has increased just as quickly as people’s concerns and interests in Search Engine Optimisation.

I’ve used my fair share of Ecommerce Software in this time and, really, they’re all about the same. They come in two flavors: hosted and self-hosted. My preference is to always go with the hosted solution because while the costs are usually higher the headaches are few and far between. A lot of the hosted solutions also have really excellent hooks that let you tie into your own CMS or scripts.

The one big knock on hosted shopping cart packages is that you lose almost all control over the look and feel of the interface. This is unfortunate because the best Web Design firms out there didn’t exactly build most of these carts. This is where the hooks they provide or so important. With the right hooks and programming you can do as much as you can on your side of the equation to offset what’s lacking on the hosted side.