Chicago, Illinois - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - November 23, 2005 - Chicago web hosting company, Hostway Corp., will hold a live webinar on Tuesday, December 6, 2005, at 10:30 a.m. CDT. The webinar will explore the current and future ecommerce markets and provide entrepreneurs with tips on how to set up an ecommerce site to maximize business potential.

Attendees will hear information on the following topics:

-- Current environment of ecommerce

-- Why a business should have an ecommerce site

-- Step-by-step guide to designing a professional-looking web site

-- Ensuring your site is secure for credit card transactions

-- How to stand out from the ecommerce pack

-- Future predictions for online shopping behaviors

According to John Lee, Vice President of Marketing at Hostway, ''The Internet levels the playing field for small businesses to compete with larger corporations. Now, more than ever, it's essential for these small businesses to set up shop on the Internet and give enterprises a run for their money. The expert panelists for this webinar will provide useful tips outlining how entrepreneurs can easily make their dream of becoming a small business owner a reality.''

To register for the December 6th Web seminar, "How to Launch an Ecommerce Site," please visit http://www.hostway.com/ecomwebinar.

The webinar will include expert panelists from: GeoTrust, the world's second largest digital certificate provider and a leader in a wide variety of identity and trust services; CardinalCommerce, a provider of services for securing electronic and wireless commerce; and Hostway, a leading provider of web hosting and managed services.

According to Jay Schiavo, GeoTrust Product Manager, ''Every online retailer must understand and build their payment processes around a secure infrastructure. It's essential that online retailers have sophisticated encryption and fraud protection technologies and procedures in place - not only to secure protection against ecommerce crime, but also to prevent the loss of vital data.''

Mr. Schiavo will discuss how to secure your site with an SSL certificate, so that you can effectively run an ecommerce site.

Rick Lynch, Director of Business Development at CardinalCommerce, will discuss ways for small businesses to differentiate themselves from the ecommerce pack by offering customers a new tool that will provide their online shoppers with a great sense of confidence and security while shopping on their online store.

''Sites that offer Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode are very attractive to customers because they add an extra level of security to online purchases. While making your customers feel safer, these programs also make good business sense as they have proven to increase your average order value and convert online browsers to buyers,'' said Lynch.

Sam Perry, Product Manager at Hostway, will touch upon the resources Hostway provides, such as ecommerce web site design and shopping cart options, to help a small business owner create an online store.

Mr. Perry added, ''A successful online store should be reliable, easy to use and secure. Hostway has taken all of this into consideration and developed various ecommerce plans that any sized business can use to create and manage an effective online store.''