All beginner Forex traders will at some point start looking at the various trading platforms available to them. Which one should you choose? With so many alternatives available on the net, it’s no wonder that so many people are at a loss at which platform to adopt.

Of course, you should know by now that there actually isn’t a "best" trading platform per se, but rather the best one that suits your needs. However, there are a few features that you certainly must have to help you become a profitable trader. In this article, I will briefly discuss two of these features.

Feature #1 - Updated Price Feeds

This is an obvious feature to consider. The trading platform you’re using should have tick-by-tick price feeds. As retail traders, we are constantly in need for the latest, most updated market prices. This is opposed to currency investors, who simply buy or sell currencies over the long term. Retail traders typically scalp, or participate in intra-day trades where even the smallest price movements are required to be shown in the trading platform.

Be careful about the claims of the marketers who sell or rent trading platforms. Many of them usually tell you that they provide tick-by-tick price feeds, but more often than not, they are unfortunately an exaggeration. Do your homework in finding out the best type of trading platform for you. Do a Google search to find independent user reviews of the various platforms you’re thinking of trying out. And of course, always demo trade with the platform first to see how fast the actual price feeds are.

Feature #2 - User Comfort

This is one of the most important trading platform features that is usually overlooked by many traders. You must be comfortable with using the platform of your choice. When I first started trading, I was using a user-unfriendly charting software that gave me a constant headache. The charting controls were not intuitive, and I always had trouble setting up my technical indicators.

Needless to say, my trading performance reflected my discomfort when trading. It was only after I switched trading platforms that I finally realized how important my comfort is to my trading mentality.

Trading is a tough job, so don’t make it even tougher by choosing to trade with an inferior trading platform. Choose one that you’re mentally comfortable with, and you’ll have a much easier time chasing after those pips!