Step 1: The Website
Typical Process: This is your online impression to prospects and customers. There are a number of places on the web to get free websites - although you may be required to display an advertisement. The design of your site is critical to the success of your business! If it does not look like a professional, legitimate business - NO ONE WILL PURCHASE ANYTHING! - no matter how great the products you have. A Separate Account is Necessary

Step 2: A Web Hosting Account
Typical Process: This is an account that you will establish with a Web Hosting Company that will charge you a monthly subscription fee that can range anywhere from $39.95 per month up to $99.95 per month for an entry-level store. The servers that your website will be residing on are critical in the way that your site and content will be delivered to the merchant on their PC. Shared servers running on non-dedicated lines can bottle-neck and slow down the delivery of your information to the consumer, resulting in a chance that he/she will leave your site and move to another that loads more quickly. A Separate Account is Necessary

Step 3: A Product Shopping Cart
Typical Process: Software which allows you to accept product orders for multiple products from your website. This software automatically calculates and totals orders for your customers. It can also add applicable taxes as well as shipping totals to the customer’s order. Some setup must be done in the HTML code of your website, and the shopping cart software must be installed on the server which hosts your site or on the secure server which accepts sensitive ordering information.
A Separate Purchase is Necessary

Step 4: A Banking Merchant Account
Typical Process: A bank-authorized account that allows you to accept major credit cards, etc. Many banks will not give you a merchant account if you do business on the Internet because they may classify it as high risk. Credit can also be a major issue here. Banks will sometimes not notify you that your application has been declined as far out as 4 weeks. Be careful when looking for a merchant account provider! Watch out for hidden fees, high setup fees, and other unscrupulous business practices. A Separate Account is Necessary

Step 5: Credit Card Payment Transaction Software
Typical Process: This is a type of software that actually processes customer order information, address, credit card number, etc. The data is sent to a credit card authorization network which verifies that the credit card is valid and verifies that the shipping address matches the billing address. A possible warning sign that the card has been stolen is that the billing and shipping addresses do not match. A Separate Account is Necessary

Step 6: Secure Server Connection – https://
Typical Process: This is a link to a special computer that encrypts confidential ordering data for customer protection. You know you are on a secure server when the URL in your browser says https://. This stands for secure. If ordering information is not sent via a secure server it can be intercepted by computer hackers. It is not recommended that you purchase any product or service over the Internet if you cannot identify that you are on, or about to be on, a secure server.
Most encryption is done in SSL 40-bit encryption, which is the Government regulated security level which makes your online purchases secure enough for you to feel as comfortable with making your purchase online as you would be anywhere in the physical world. Included with Payment Transaction Software

Summary
This above process typically can take up to one month or more. IrvineWebworks has made this process a one step, simple and easy to understand process that can have your website up and running within 10 days.