Now that you have decided to use Miva Merchant as your shopping cart platform (good choice by the way) you need to go out and find a good quality host. So where do you begin? We have put together a list of all the things to look for when choosing a new Miva Merchant host and we also give you our recommendation for best Miva Hosts around.

All Miva Merchant hosting packages come with Miva already installed. You are given a licensed version of the software which can only be used for your domain name. If you want multiple stores on multiple domains then you need to purchase a hosting package for each one. Expect to pay anywhere from $35 to $50 per month for standard Miva Merchant Hosting. Miva Merchant hosting is usually more expensive than standard web hosting because they are leasing you a copy of Miva Merchant, which would normally cost $850 to purchase outright.

Here are 5 qualities to look for in a good Miva Merchant Host

1. Multiple Hosting Plans – You want your new Miva host to have multiple hosting plans which fit your budget, but also give you the option to easily expand in the future. Having multiple hosting plans ensures that you won’t have any problems upgrading as your business grows. Also see if the host offers both shared hosting packages and dedicated server packages. You will probably want to start on a shared hosting environment and possibly move to a dedicated server as your traffic and bandwidth increase. However, keep in mind that dedicated servers for Miva Merchant run $300 to $500 per month.
2. Able to Move Your Existing Miva Site with No Downtime – If you already have a Miva website but are just looking for a better quality host, make sure they are experienced with moving Miva Websites. Any good Miva host will be able move you existing website to their servers with no downtime and also most will do it for free.
3. Their server speed in Fast – Nothing is more frustrating than browsing a slow website. Make sure your new web host does not “overcrowd” each server. Because you will most likely be using a shared hosting environment you don’t want to choose a host that puts too many websites on each server. This causes your website and every other website on that server to slow down considerably.
4. No Downtime / Data Backup – You don’t want your host to all of the sudden say they are going to be down for maintenance for a few hours. In the world on e-commerce downtime is costing you money in lost sales. Make sure your new host has a good reputation for no downtime. Also see how often your host does data backups of your server. Most should do it nightly. This ensures that if you happen to delete an important file or make a mistake when updating your store you always have a backup.
5. Knowledgeable Staff – By far this is the most important thing to look for when considering a Miva Host. Having a staff that is there to help 24 hours a day 7 days a week who actually know Miva Merchant is essential. Sometime or another you are going to need the help of your hosing company to troubleshoot problems. You want to make sure they have the knowledge to handle you Miva requests. Not all web hosts are created equal. You want to choose a web host who has years of experience with Miva Hosting, and can help you when a problem arises.

So now you know what to look for in a good quality Miva Merchant hosting company here are our recommendations for Miva Hosts.

We have extensive experience using different Miva Hosts we have used almost every one out there, and we can say hands down the best Miva Merchant Host is DotComHost. They meet all the criteria outlined above and they have some of the best support staff in the industry.

Click here to view DotComHost Hosting Plans  

About the Author: Brennan Heyde is an e-commerce consultant working in San Diego, Ca. He specializes in online marketing and SEO for e-commerce.  Have a struggling e-commerce website? – Contact Brennan today for a site analysis.