Our April meeting will be about SEO. Please bring your comments and questions. This is a very important topic
Here are some articles I found which might help:
http://www.seobook.com/relevancy/
http://www.threadwatch.org/node/1135
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/06/msn-search-by-any-other-name-might-not-be-as-sweet.html
Some SEO tools:
Respondents to a February 2009 Practical eCommerce survey collectively use more than 30 different shopping carts, an indication that there is no clear and decisive leader in the ecommerce shopping cart segment.
14.1 percent of respondents to the survey said that they use Go Daddy’s Quick Shopping Cart to power their ecommerce business, while another 10.3 percent rely on Yahoo! Merchant Solutions or Volusion to drive their businesses. But, dozens of other carts are also clearly popular. osCommerce, a free cart, received nearly 7 percent of “write in” responses in the “Other” category. Miva Merchant drew 7.7 percent, while Network Solutions (formerly MonsterCommerce), ProStores, CubeCart, and 1ShoppingCart each received 7.1 percent of the responses.
The broad selection of carts listed in the survey may mean that the shopping cart industry is still very fractured with a large number of successful contenders. In fact, 40.7 percent of the survey’s respondents said that their shopping cart was very useful and improved business. Another 26.3 said that their shopping cart was useful and worked just fine, adding up to 67 percent of merchants who are apparently satisfied with their current shopping cart solution. These numbers might also imply that ecommerce site owners don’t have an effective way to compare shopping carts and, therefore, cannot really rank their solution against other available options.
More Control, Integration Would be An Improvement
While it is important to reiterate that most of the survey respondents were pleased with their shopping cart, when asked what they would improve, many of those surveyed wanted more control over the cart’s appearance (i.e. more templates or more layout control) and function and more integration with third-party tools, including FedEx shipping software, QuickBooks, Google Base, and Amazon.
Interestingly, several of the improvements that respondents asked for are available with other carts. For example, one user of ProStores wanted the ability to add a product image zoom, a feature available out of the box with Magento Commerce and Volusion (to name just two). Requests for features available in other carts may be an indication that ecommerce site owners do not necessarily compare features before selecting a cart, or that they may not really know which features will be the most desirable before implementing a chosen solution.
Viewed together, the responses point to two possible trends. First, there may be a lack of good comparative information about shopping carts or about important shopping cart features. QuickBooks or FedEx integration is a cart feature available from several vendors, yet many of the survey respondents wanted these features. Are they unaware that these tools are, in fact, out there? Would they make a change if they knew that software integration is available with other shopping carts? Perhaps, but it would seem that at least some ecommerce site owners did not have access to that sort of comparative information.
A second trend may have to do with development capabilities. Many of the most popular shopping carts identified in the survey required little or no HTML, CSS, or other development skills. Instead they are geared toward users with little or no coding expertise. These same users were the most likely to be unhappy or frustrated with the cart they were using. Its functions were too often a mystery, and they generally wanted more control.
As an example, Go Daddy’s Quick Shopping Cart, which requires no development experience, was the most popular, but it also had the highest number of respondents (28.6 percent of those that used Quick Shopping Cart) who wished the solution did more. Yahoo! Merchant Solutions, another solution that requires minimal coding skill, had 50 percent of users wishing it did more.
If our speculations regarding the survey results are correct—(1) that there is not enough comparative shopping cart information and (2) that ecommerce site owners do not have a sufficient level of development expertise to meet their own needs—then at least two lessons follow. First, ecommerce merchants need a better way to compare and review shopping carts, and Practical eCommerce is seeking to address this point by developing a new, upcoming shopping cart guide. The second lesson is many ecommerce merchants should be seeking professional development help.
Not too many brick-and-mortar merchants try to build their own stores from the ground up, hauling in lumber or hanging drywall. Instead they hire professionals to frame and finish their buildings. Perhaps ecommerce merchants should consider the same tact, investing in good developers to build their stores. This assumes that those developers are not tied to a particular cart via affiliate commissions or some other financial arrangement.
Our expert this week is Melanie Beam – Director, Business Development for Mountain Media:
Requiring Login to Order: This is one of many e-tailers’ favorite usability mistakes. Requiring registration is a clear barrier to sales and a definite no no, especially when you have yet to establish a relationship with the customer. First-time shoppers aren’t sure that they’ll return and the feeling that some sort of commitment is required may turn them away from making even the first purchase.
Vague, Hard to Find Return Policies: Ecommerce is increasingly competitive, no matter what your industry is and often, the difference between a sale for you versus your competitor comes down to your return policy. Make the process as easy as possible. Don’t hide your return policy deep within your site or require your customers to jump through hoops to complete the process. Rarely do e- tailers make their return policy a selling point or competitive advantage and they should. Consider using the words, “No-Hassle Return Policy” to reassure the customer that the process is quick and easy.
Poor (or no) SEO: Often online retailers have a ‘Build it, and they will come’ attitude. This could not be more wrong (no matter how great your product is). Retailers tend to forget that search engines are the highways and byways of the Internet. An eCommerce site not optimized for search is equivalent to a brick and mortar store conveniently located underground. Let professionals who are trained and knowledgeable in the latest techniques perform optimization and Internet marketing services that will ensure that your site can be found.
Poor Product Descriptions: Product descriptions are the closest thing you have to a salesperson. Make them work for you. Improving your product descriptions is one of the easiest, yet most neglected ways to improve your online sales. If your product catalog is large enough to justify, hire a copy-writer. Also, you’ll want your description to be unique. So, if you’re using manufacturer’s descriptions, you’ll want to change them so that your descriptions aren’t the same as your competitors.
Poor Merchandising: If you owned a brick and mortar store, you would probably walk your aisles every day to ensure your products are merchandised properly. You’d also most likely have end-caps that feature certain products, signs or posters that call out relevant products and items that you place at the point-of-sale to encourage last minute purchases. Yet many website owners expect their online stores to run themselves, and rarely take time for this important implementation. You need to plan and implement merchandising techniques including upsells and cross-sells to help move your products. Lack of Strong, Clear Calls-to-Action: Make your call-to- action buttons big, bold, and unmistakably clear (but be careful not to make them ugly). Any messaging on the site should also be clear and strong. Every page of the conversion funnel (landing page to product page to checkout) should clearly define the next step in the process.
Lack of Search, Filtering and Sorting: Product search is a must if your catalog is anymore than a few products. Customers simply expect it and your site will look amateur without it. Customers also expect to be able to filter down by criteria such as colors, sizes, or brand. Also, let them sort the listings by price, newness, popularity, etc.
Hard to Find Checkout Button or Add to Cart Button: Many online stores assume shoppers know that the shopping cart is the first step of the checkout process. To prevent confusion of your customers, always have a clear “checkout” button visible on every page and keep your ‘Add to Cart’ buttons clearly visible next to or under every product.
Unreachable Customer Service: Online retailers are typically not famous for their customer service. Phone numbers and email addresses should be listed prominently on every page.
Harvey Jelks
beautydepot1
synapsemultimedia
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