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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Looking into ColdFusion Hosting Alternative Services, when GoDaddy will turn the lights off on its GoDaddy ColdFusion Hosting Clients, you may notice that most other ColdFusion Hosting Companies charge more for CF Hosting. That is mostly because GoDaddy ColdFusion was cheap in comparison, and you do get what you pay for, right? But wait a second, now since you pay more, do you get more than GoDaddy ColdFusion Hosting? Yes, most ColdFusion Hosting alternatives will offer you more Services than GoDaddy CF, and the support is probably much better. If you are thinking about, or need Enterprise Level ColdFusion Hosting, look no further than… ANYTHING BUT GoDaddy ColdFusion.

In your quest for GoDaddy ColdFusion Hosting alternatives you will find a bunch of smaller ColdFusion Hosting providers, that could be a good fit for your needs if your ColdFusion Website or ColdFusion Application is not very demanding. However, if you are running ColdFusion, there is a big chance that you are looking to host intermediate to advanced ColdFusion Websites and Applications, and require Dedicated ColdFusion Hosting. Nevertheless, you probably won’t get it cheaper than GoDaddy ColdFusion Hosting, but it will be real ColdFusion Hosting, and will finally offer the appropriate tools and support for ColdFusion Developers to maintain your business. Just ask your ColdFusion Developer, they will agree !

Long Load Time

The first point at which people may leave your website is before it even loads. Long load times, typically anything more than 2-3 seconds for text or pictures to begin appearing and anything more than 4-6 seconds for the entire page, including CSS formatting and Flash videos ready to play, will deter a user. This is where webpage optimization plays a role. Having a well designed website means that it is ready to actively use within a few seconds. We are past the days of loading screens for web pages. Rather, a simple, quick displaying page with the option to load resource heavy features such as a Flash demonstration applet separately will tend to retain customers. There is no need to have time-consuming e-commerce additions and the like on the front page. Rather, allow the user to settle in before pushing too much at them. Another area to watch along with load times is ease of navigation and design principles.

It’s Confusing

No one wants to load a webpage and see a confusing array of links, buttons, colors, flashing lights, and clip art. The modern aesthetic of the Internet tends to lean to a simpler, more elegant solution. Influenced by companies such as Apple and Google, sparse backgrounds are not necessarily bad. But the thing to keep in mind when looking at examples such as these is the form and function work together. Google has one job: search. It does its job extremely well with little to no distractions. Apple funnels people towards its new product lines and directly to specific information for what they are looking for. From there, a seamless transition moves the user from information to the ability to purchase with their e-commerce system.

It’s Ugly

When choosing a web page design, think as a user. What would be their first impressions? What is the purpose of the website? Take away the extraneous. Put it in a document or technical specification section. You dictate how your customer or viewer moves around your site through the placement of links, search features, and leading lines in pictures. Remember to take into account design and journalistic principles. While not everything from classic journalism translates well, the movement of a user’s interest is vital to be able to take into account and plan for. Keep a simple, streamlined service with exactly what the consumer wants and nothing more.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the reasons people tend to leave a website. However, if these principles are followed, a definite return on user experience will be noted. Giving consumers a fast connection to just the information they want, followed by a simple, intuitive relationship between pages and information will stop forcing you to ask yourself the question “Why do people leave a website?” because it will not be your website they are leaving.

For more information on this subject see part-2 of this post.

If you are wondering “What can video do for e-commerce?” then take a look at what adding videos has done for many of the most popular online stores that have recently began adding video clips. For example, Zappos has seen a 24 percent increase on sales of items that have had videos added that feature a demonstration of the product being sold. Essentially, these videos allow users to see what exactly they are buying, which makes them more likely to follow through on their purchase. Create a video that shows the product being taken from its packaging and include clips of the product actually being used to get the best results.

Videos are very easy to add into your e-commerce development project. Many different hosting sites are available for videos, including YouTube, Vimeo and Oculu. After creating videos for your site, you can upload the files to one of these services. Once the file is uploaded, an HTML code can be generated to embed the clip directly to the page for the item on your store. Now, when a customer views the item, videos will also appear for them to watch.

Also, videos added to an e-commerce store will help in bringing more visitors to the website. Search engines like Google include a special section for videos when users are searching for a particular item and you can use search engine optimization tricks to make sure that your videos will appear before your competitors. This includes providing accurate title and description tags, backlinks to your web page, incoming links from other sites and RSS feeds and many other factors.

Once you get started in producing and uploading videos for your online store, you won’t be asking “What can video do for e-commerce?” and instead wonder “How did online stores manage without this fantastic promotional tool?”

E-commerce and social media marketing are a great combination for making sure that your site gets seen by users on social networking sites. In fact, social media marketing will help boost your site’s visibility, traffic and e-commerce sales. Studies have shown that the link between e-commerce and social media marketing will provide just as much advertising results as traditional methods, such as print or broadcast advertisements. Also, because marketing through social media has become such a viable way to promote a brand or business, if you avoid doing the same, your store will suffer from being behind the curve of the competition.

If you are new to social media marketing, it is quite simple to figure out how to tailor it to your online store. The easiest way to start is to sign up for a Twitter account for your site. This service allows users to post short 140 character messages called “tweets” to anyone who is following them on the site. Many users even have Twitter connected to their mobile phone, meaning they get alerts of new tweets from any location. The convenience of Twitter is that you can quickly announce sales or new products for your store to a wide array of potential customers and they will receive the message immediately.

Facebook is another social networking site you can not avoid when marketing through social media, as it is the largest and most used social network on the Internet. Create a “page” on Facebook and users will be able to add you and get updates when you post them. Some online businesses have even used their Facebook pages for giveaways, exclusive sales and many other incentives that will make users want to check out their page. Also, Facebook has paid advertising deals that can promote your store to users who have not added your page.

Lastly, uploading videos to YouTube will make your store more visible on online searches and provide customers with a better look at your products. Because YouTube is free and digital video clips are quick and easy to produce, it is a perfect solution for working with e-commerce and social media marketing.