SEO means Search Engine Optimization. The goal of SEO is to make a page “rank” higher in the results page of a search engine. SEO efforts are usually jugged by “Page Rank” This is a score that Google assigns your web page, and it is an important determinate of where a website will show up in Google’s search results.

Keywords

When trying to get a better rank in Google, or other search engines, it is important to consider what searches you want to show up for. This is part of determining what keywords to use when optimizing your site. You want to select keywords that are highly relevant to your site, and the services you provide.

You want to select keywords and then optimize the text on the website for these keywords. You want to use these keywords frequently across your site in relevant ways. But make sure to not cram too many keywords on one page, or search engines will penalize you. The number of keywords recommended is always changing, so you should look to see what people are saying a good number of keywords to use is when you go to edit your site.

Meta Tags

Meta tags are HTML tags that search engines look at to determine what your site is about. The most important Meta tags are;

-Title Meta tag. This tag is used to tell web browsers and search engines what the title of the page is. It is important to have a title that is relevant to the site, and includes the keywords discussed above.

-Keywords Meta Tag. This is a Meta tag that tells search engines the most relevant keywords on your web site. You should include all the keywords that you chose for your site in this tag.

Content

On the Internet, content is king. You should have a page with quality content. It is important that your site offers high quality, relevant, content to users. It is not quite known how Google judges the quality of content, but it does seem to prefer site that have large quantities of content over sites with little text, or irrelevant text. Make sure to not spam you users with a boatload of information they do not need, and Google will thank you for it.

Off Site Optimization

This is a key component to Google’s page rank algorithm, and thus a key component of any SEO effort. Google looks at the sites that link back to yours, and then judges how relevant the sites linking to yours are to the content on your website. Google uses this information to determine the “importance” of your page. Like with most things in SEO, quantity is not better than quality. Avoid submitting your website’s URL to huge link databases that promise better page rank. Sites like this are often frowned upon by Google, and can hurt your page rank rather than help it. Try to get people in your industry to link to your site. For example, if you sell pens, it would be helpful to have link to your site appear on a pen manufacture’s website.

Social Media

The social media frenzy is something that is sweeping the world faster than anyone could have imagined. In this day and age it is important to have your business on prominent social networks like facebook and twitter. When using social media as a business it is important to keep in mind that people who find your business on social media sites do not want a sales speech, they what to be your “friends”, they want to interact with your business in a social way. Try to use social media to generate a community around your business that your business participates in. People are more likely to use a company they feel a connection with, and this is a connection that social media can provide. Think of it like this, you are a small town hardware store, and you know most of your customers, people in your town are going to go to you when they need hardware items rather than the big nameless corporation. Having a large following on social networks can have a large positive effect on your page rank.

Page Layout

On top of having a page with relevant content, it is important to have your web pages laid out in such a way that make Google recognize the content of your page, and assign that appropriate weight to each item when calculating what your page is about. Remember to use “h1” tags for the header of your page, and only use it once per page. Google sees the h1 tag as something that identifies what the whole page is about, so choose it wisely, and try to include your keywords in it. Another thing you can do to the content of your page is making the keywords bold. Google sees words in bold as being more important.

Conclusion

Though these are just the basics of SEO, they are a good place to start when trying to improve your ranking in search results. It is important to keep in mind that Search Engine Optimization is an ongoing process. If you can not keep up with the job your self you should consider having your Web Developer do it for you.

The question, Why are people abandoning shopping carts on my site, is one that has plagued E-Commerce website owners for as long as E-Commerce has been around. There are a number of reason people abandon shopping carts, and solving these problems is something that an expert E-Commerce Development Company can solve. Lets explore some reasons that people abandon a shopping cart and do not complete their transaction.

1) Poor Shipping Cost Estimates

When a customer is checking out, the last thing they want to be surprised with is a shipping cost that is obviously too high. Calculating shipping costs is not as straightforward as it sounds. Some studies show that 40% of shopping cars are abandoned because the shipping cost is too high. For more information on this topic see our post “How To Calculate E-Commerce Shipping Cost Algorithms”

2) The Checkout process is too complicated

Customers shop online because it’s easy. Customers want to spend time selecting the items they want to purchase, not figuring out how to pay for these items. For this reason it is important to have a simple checkout process that is intuitive and straight forward. When looking at your E-Commerce checkout process, step back and ask your self “if I had never seen this before, would I understand how it works”. If the answer is no, start trying to eliminate unnecessary steps in the checkout process, and then analyze how you can make the steps you deem necessary more simple and intuitive.

One thing that most E-Commerce sites forget to do is create a way for a customer to checkout with out an account. Make sure customers have an option to checkout as a guest.

3) Make sure customers can pay the way they want to.

Customers want to be able to pay the way they want to, so make sure you offer as many payment options as possible. A big reason people abandon a shopping cart is because they cannot pay they way they want. Imagine being a customer, finding all the items you want, and then finding out that the site your shopping on does not accept your credit card. In this case the customer is left with no choice but to leave.

4) Make Sure Customers Know your site is secure.

Customers have to trust you before they are going to give you sensitive personal information. Make sure that customers are reminded your site is secured at every step of the checkout process. If a customer gets to the checkout page, and forgets about the Verisign logo on you homepage, they will leave the site.

5) Load Times

Customers hate waiting. When a customer is checking out, and the shopping cart page is slow and un responsive, the customer will leave. To stop this make sure that the shopping cart page loads quickly, and that every step in the checkout process loads quickly as well. If there is not a solution to a slow shopping cart or checkout page, make sure to tell the customer that the site is in fact working.

These are just some basic reasons people abandon shopping carts on E-Commerce sites. To fix these problems, it usually takes a team of E-Commerce Experts to analyze that page. Make sure the company that is analyzing the page knows your business, and understands your customers.

Most online stores can use a simple calculation to quote customers a shipping cost in real time. But there are times when a simple shipping cost algorithm is not enough. When an E-Commerce store has a large number or products that require special handling and care, the simple shipping algorithms provided in generic shopping cart software start to show their weaknesses, which can hurt the bottom line of the E-Commerce operation.

Park East Kosher Case Study:

Park East kosher is a premium kosher food provider. They specialize in Prime quality meats, and gourmet kosher grocery products. Park East’s shipping calculation was so hard to compute that they were having people take orders online, and then calling them with shipping costs. This method was not only making the process slow for customers, but customers were giving up on their order because they did not know a definitive price for the shipping costs. They came to EcomSolutions looking to fix this problem.

Why was it so hard to compute shipping costs? First lets talk about how most online stores calculate shipping costs. Some take the product and assign a fate rate to it, and then call it a day, they say product A costs $5 to ship and product B costs $10 ship, so if a customer orders product A and B the shipping is $5+$10 = $15, and that’s the end of the story.

So why not set up a system like this for Park East Kosher? Simple. Park East Kosher has hundreds of products, some are perishable, some are not, and this means that products have different shipping costs based on whether it is perishable. The Perishable products have different handling times, and more complex packing costs.

How did we solve this problem?

Simple
 (Our Economics nerd friends should get this)

We gathered data on all the variables of past orders that we could think of. We gathered order weight data, order price date, number of items in the order, whether or not the order was perishable (0 or 1), ect. We took this data and loaded it into statistical software, and ran a linear regression. Using the results of this regression we were able to generate a formula that could accurately predict the shipping costs of an order within $5.

What we learned

When considering how to calculate your shipping costs, don’t assume that the simplest method is best. There are natural cost fluctuations in shipping costs that a simple flat rate system can’t hope to encompass, and when you factor in different packing methods needed among items, these costs start to vary even more. When you start to quote customers the wrong prices for shipping you can lose money, or worse yet lose customers.

This is a topic of E-Commerce development that is rarely talked about, or is just lumped in with the discussion of shopping cart abandonment. People automatically think of things like long load times, and poor layout as things that make people give up on completing an E-Commerce transaction, but never about the fact that they could be driving customers away with poor shipping cost estimates.

Take the example above where A cost $5 and B costs $10. Lets say item A is a Box of 20 pencils. If you ordered one of each of these products, then the shipping estimate of $15 might seem right, but say you order 50 units of product A, then the shipping estimate would $5 X 50 = $200. This estimate would make customers leave the site and go else ware, because $200 is an incredibly inaccurate estimate.

When having an E-Commerce site developed it is important that the E-Commerce Development Company developing the site has knowledge of the products, and the technical ability to generate a shipping cost algorithm that accurately estimates shipping.

ColdFusion is a rapid application development (RAD) platform and a programming language used with that platform. With most programming languages security is your number one priority, and ColdFusion Security is no different.

Expert ColdFusion Programmers will focus on ColdFusion Security in every aspect of their design and implementation. It is utterly important that ColdFusion Security be planned for in advance during the design stages of a project, and that attention to detail be carried through the implementation phase. It does no good to plan to design a piece of software with security in mind, and then have that be the feature that gets cut due to a lack of time or budget. Make room in your schedule and budget for security implementation and testing.

That being said, one of the things that Expert ColdFusion Developers will remember to do is secure the ColdFusion installation itself. In this way ColdFusion Security can be maintained with significantly less expenditure of limited resources. There is not much of a point in checking that the third lock on the medicine cabinet is secure when you have left the front door wide open.

Expert ColdFusion Programmers will always remind you to create a separate partition or even a separate drive for your ColdFusion installation. This will help prevent attacks on your ColdFusion installation in a situation where an attacker will gain access to other system resources. A good example of this would be an attacker taking advantage of a common security flaw, such as a buffer overflow, and gaining access to your root system drive. If your ColdFusion installation is not on the root system drive the attacker won’t be able to get into it.

Another solid point Expert ColdFusion Hosting Providers will make is to ensure your operating system and web server software are always up to date and have the latest patches installed. This will help reduce the number of simple attacks that will get through to your systems.

Finally, you will want to make sure that your usernames and passwords are both secure, and hard to guess. Try to avoid the common pitfall of having your usernames always be, for example, first initial then last name. Most companies do this and it is extremely easy to guess.

So again remember to keep ColdFusion Security a priority, and as any Expert ColdFusion Programmers would tell you, keep your ColdFusion installation secure.

More ColdFusion Security Topics

-ColdFusion SQL Injection
-ColdFusion Cross-Site Scripting

SQL injection, like ColdFusion Cross-Site Scripting, is a type of digital attack where a potential intruder will look for weaknesses in application and database systems that can be exploited to gain access to user information such as usernames and passwords. ColdFusion SQL injection is an SQL injection attack aimed at ColdFusion installations.

There are several types of ColdFusion SQL injection attacks. The most common form of attack is referred to as a classic SQL injection attack. This kind of attack is performed when a web interface does not properly filter out special characters such as semicolons. In this attack, the intruder will go to a web form field such as the log in field, and type in their username followed by a special character and an SQL command. Since many web forms are run on the database with administrator permissions this will allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code to gain access to the database.

Experienced ColdFusion programmers will know how to prevent these ColdFusion SQL injection attacks. Simple changes such as only granting the web server SQL user the permissions it needs are a start, but the defenses against this kind of attack need to be as varied as the methods of performing a ColdFusion SQL injection attack.
Because of this and other concerns, it is recommended that only expert ColdFusion programmers be allowed to develop secure web applications that are going to be facing the public.

Expert ColdFusion programmers will be familiar with parameterized statements, escaping special characters, and other defensive measures to prevent these sorts of attacks, while inexperienced developers will not take these precautionary steps and this could result in a public relations nightmare as thousands or millions of customer database entries are compromised.

The importance of proper SQL hardening cannot be overstated. There have been several cases in recent memory of multinational mega-corporations not hiring experienced SQL programmers and having customer credit card numbers and social security numbers stolen. Not only did these customers have to be alerted to the intrusion, causing a massive loss of confidence in the company. These incidents frequently cost companies millions of dollars.

So in summary it is of the utmost importance not only for the integrity of your data but also legally, as companies do frequently face legal penalties for not maintaining proper database security, to ensure that when you are developing any application that you only have expert ColdFusion programmers to do the work.

It goes without saying that social networking is a powerful force for reaching potential customers and maintaining relationships with existing customers. Combining ColdFusion With Social Networks gives you an unparalleled ability to leverage this powerful platform.

ColdFusion is both a development platform and a programming language used on that platform, and allows for incredibly rich user interfaces and data management features. By combining ColdFusion with social networking you have a powerful tool for brand management and marketing as well as one for maintaining customer loyalty.

ColdFusion developers have extensive experience combining ColdFusion With Social Networks. Allowing you to monitor site information such as existing users and their information, prevent people from creating multiple accounts and abusing your social networking services, and even keep track of the content of the postings on your social networking site to cut down on offensive language.

With these advantages you can spend far more time using your social networking site for reaching your target audience instead of wasting time trying to develop ColdFusion software to work with your social networking site or spending your time tracking down multiple accounts, spammers, and trolls.

ColdFusion With Social Networks integration includes features such as an integrated JavaScript editor, an automated site map, and meta data management. These features and others mean that when you decide to use our ColdFusion integration website solution you’re getting the absolute most bang for your buck.

Social networking has proven itself time and time again to be an amazingly powerful resource for brand recognition. Allowing your users to drive the discussion gives them a feeling of control that you can’t get with normal advertising, and the fact it’s social networking based means that your users have done some of the targeting for you. People who are interested in technology tend to go to technology oriented social networking sites, and that means your advertising dollar goes further than it would normally.

These users also tend to be more likely to purchase products online, or feel that digital goods have more value than a user who doesn’t use social networking sites, and every time they talk about your product on your site, it is even more content.

Using the advantages of ColdFusion with your social networking needs means having the ability to literally crowd source your marketing and brand recognition needs, without having to spend more time than it is worth chasing down miscreants or managing your site.

The last post on this subject focused on the technicalities: load time, aesthetic, and ease of use. These are all fairly easily definable and fairly simple to implement. A clean, thought out design will address these issues. However, there are other factors which are more difficult to specify as to why people leave a website. These can be broken down into user interactivity and attempting to handle too many services in one instance.

User Interactivity

As the YouTube generation continues to become more and more of the Internet citizenship, an increasing amount of user interaction is expected with websites. With the advent of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and personal blogs, anyone can create an item and immediately receive feedback, both positive and negative. With companies looking to expand their own website offerings, interest should be placed in allowing user interaction and creativity with the brand.

Websites that provide solely static content prove of little use to most users. Sites like Wikipedia and other reference sites need little updating to most of their offerings. However, for a website that is hoping to have customers loyalty and interaction, additional thought must be put in to ways in which a dialog can be ongoing between consumers and business.

One common pitfall that companies have is limiting their customers’ creative spirits by strictly cracking down on items which may infringe on intellectual property. Rather than trying to discern what uses are fair use and what are infringing, mutually constructive activities always garner more support and free publicity. Many musicians encourage listeners to remix their songs, which ultimately gains more exposure. While most businesses do not offer something as easily mutable as music, thought needs to be put into ways in which an ongoing, constructive dialog can be built between both parties.

Have a Purpose

As mentioned before, static websites are quickly being phased out with those augmented by web apps, social media interaction, and self-publication. The major pitfall with this approach is overuse of social media and a lack of clear purpose for visitors. As mentioned previously, a clearly defined goal should be set forth to the user: learn more information here, purchase here, contact us here. Long gone are the days of drop down menus with fifteen options apiece. Rather, a clearly defined set of user options should be presented with a singular purpose in mind. Models such as Google prove that doing one thing extremely well, augmented by their other offerings available to the more inquisitive user, translates into a reliable, trusted service which has excellent customer retention.

Conclusion

The web has transformed from a frontier where anyone with a webpage could make it big to a multi-trillion dollar arena. Each website is constantly vying for attention and the loyalty of their customers. However, far too many companies solely dictate to their customers what it is they should do, without offering them a chance to actively engage and become vested in the product and brand. One of the many ways companies do this is by trying to be everything to everyone. In this crowded marketplace, a clearly defined set of goals and services will prove to engrain customers to a company and keep extraneous overhead at a minimum.

Apple has a history of being a very private company. Stemming from its roots with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, both having personalities that keep intimate matters close at hand, Apple is never one to divulge its secrets; without a plan, that is. Apple cultivates a following and brand loyalty that is close to unheard of, not only in the tech industry, but anywhere. The secret to their success on this matter is their deliberate release of key information at key times to bolster buzz and maximize free publicity.

As many are aware, according to Cnet, Apple has recently lost a second iPhone, the iPhone 5 prototype. Those who recall last summer’s fiasco remember the phone being left at a bar, taken and then sold to Gizmodo for device images, review, and teardown information. It seems odd that a second unreleased prototype would go missing in much the same manner. Simply put, this may all be a giant publicity stunt for Apple.

There is no secret that a new iPhone 5 is in the works. Rumors have been circulating for months about which processor, screen, and form factor will be used. In addition to technology websites, Apple may be starting to tire out mainstream media. They have established a solid brand with tremendous customer loyalty and have an immense market share in the states. Apple is no longer the underdog; the company has been valued as the single most valuable company in the world, and it’s hard to keep everyone balking in awe with every new release. Innovation is expected as the norm, and this has slowly tired out broadcast media.

The fastest way to disseminate information is a scandal, and Apple has managed to manufacture one just for their liking. Even a quick survey of top news sites has the stolen iPhone prototype at least mentioned, which at this point is all Apple needs. Just as Apple has always innovated to create new products by giving consumers what they want, so are they now leaking just enough information to keep its customers hanging for an official word?

Google’s App Engine service is starting to get some mainstream attention, though it’s attention for all of the wrong reasons. A recent price increase for its service is having many developers question their commitment to this brand and offering.

The Google App Engine is a service designed to host web apps. With it,

If Google hopes to challenge apple in the mobile app business, they will need to keep the developers using the platform happy

The method of calculating CPU time has transitioned between a primarily resource driven price structure to one of front-end usage. This means that even applications that have very low bandwidth and resource requirements but that are constantly running will see a huge price increase. Some sources have reported that an application that used to cost around $3 a day to run is going to hit $70 by November when the complete transition is complete.

The biggest problem that this is going to have for Google is the transition by developers from Google services to other platforms. Android Developers are now more restricted to Google’s APIs and huge price increases, especially if they are taking advantage of the App Engine. This could lead android developers to transition to being iPad and iPhone developers as Apple has a brilliantly simple payment plan. While they do charge a heft percentage for their mobile apps, it is the same across the board without deviation.

While some developers may choose to transition away from Google, the most haunting issue is the lack of new blood coming into their ecosystem. With the cost of entry now catapulting ahead, a rise in iOS development will probably be seen. This only makes the problem worse in that competition in the mobile apps marketplace is not exceedingly high. Apple has a stronghold, at least in the states, but with Google’s fractured Android system, plus their new pricing structures, Android developers may be making the transition to a unified, streamlined production process. Ultimately, Google needs to step up and make their mobile app platform as a bit of a loss leader if they ever hope to chip away at the Apple dominance in the app market.

The Internet arguably one of the most important invention of the 20^th century. It allows information to spread like wildfire; breaking news is what happened on Twitter fifteen seconds ago, entire encyclopedias are editable by anyone, and colleges and universities continue to offer great services to their students. But the real reason the Internet has grown so quickly and become ubiquitous is money. Plain and simple, the Internet has reduced barriers of all kinds for both businesses and consumers alike, and it is this driving economic force that continues to drive innovation and development on the web.

The easiest way to take advantage of this ecosystem, to get your piece of the pie, is to have a well-designed, effective e-commerce site. E-commerce is no longer just about having a Yahoo shopping page, but rather a pleasing aesthetic that encourages consumers to peruse and shop as in a normal brick and mortar store. It also needs to convince them that your product is such a great investment that they should immediately part with their hard earned money.

The Layout

Just as in traditional physical stores, customer experience should be molded. An e-commerce site that has products arranged in logical ways and is easy to navigate by consumers will alleviate many headaches and keep customers returning. Maintaining a simple, elegant design will invite customers in and quickly show them the products they are looking for. An effective search function is vital to this. Along with the ability to search, care should be taken into what is shown to the customer.

The Front Page

The first page of your website is much akin to a store front. It needs to show off the latest trends and special deals or promotions. This will entice the customer to then inquire further about one of those featured products. From this point, they can gain more information, see different colors or styles, or view similar items.

Similar Items

One of the easiest ways to capitalize on a customer’s interest is by showing them similar items. Much like a salesman would offer to show other items that are either comparable, or would logically go with the item, such as accessories, so can a website cater to a customer’s shopping habits. It also gives you the option to push merchandise on which there is an overflow or sale to try and move it out of inventory faster.

The Design

Now that layout, landing page, and similar items have been established, it is good to think about the E-commerce page design. The problem that many e-commerce sites run into is an overbearing aesthetic. Care should be taken to keep design elements organized and, in some cases, hidden when not needed. Just as a store that is piled floor to ceiling with every possible item a customer could ever want is going to have problems with organization and, thus, profit margins, a well-thought out design scheme will keep customers happy, familiar with new products, and raise profit margins.

The Power of the Brand

As everyone knows, the Internet is teeming with websites vying for customers’ money. One of the major indicators which separates highly successful businesses is branding. A consistent, well-designed and implemented brand will encourage repeat customers and a sort of grassroots following. One other thing to keep in mind is product sustainability. It is a selling point which is quickly growing in consumer appeal and can often open the door to many more customers if a sustainable, eco-friendly solution is in place. This can be as simple as having a “green” server and advertising that, or, looking further, establishing sustainability in production and shipping practices.

The Checkout

Almost ubiquitously used on the Internet today is the shopping cart method of purchasing. This allows customers to keep all items they are looking at in one, central location and can ease shipping costs on the business. In addition, many companies offer special deals when a certain dollar amount is reached. A simple shopping cart icon with a label saying how much more needs to be spent for a discount may prove to persuade a customer to purchase additional items. Keep in mind that a simple, elegant shopping cart feature will be more effective than a flashy one that does not necessarily work as well.

Conclusion

E-commerce, and E-Commerce Development, is a huge part of Internet business today. The consumer now has a literally world-wide marketplace in which to purchase items, and the key to maintaining customer loyalty is often a well-designed, easy to use e-commerce website. Keep these tips in mind when looking at developing your own e-commerce website and the gains will be great!

When developing an E-commerce site, it is important to think about what will keep people on your site. Try to avoid Things that will make people leave your site.