tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57620754159187896682024-03-12T16:03:34.401-07:00Lauren Hills DesignSEO Tips, Mobile Commerce, ShopSite Shopping Cart SoftwareAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-62575557770269313632013-05-06T21:20:00.003-07:002013-05-06T21:20:59.816-07:00Helpful Website HeadersHeaders are the first thing that loads on your website, the first thing a customer sees, and the place a customer looks to find what they want. Does your website header make it easy for customers to find what they are looking for? Below are four questions to ask yourself as you look at your website's header and company logo.<br />
<ol>
<li>Does your header quickly convey what your company/website is about?<br />Maybe this means that your logo or company name has keywords in it, or a slogan that conveys what your website is about. <br /> </li>
<li>Can customers get to your main website pages by using the header?<br />Pages like "Contact Us" or "Resources" are not website main pages. Instead, make sure that your main product pages, best sellers, or specials are the first links in your navigation bar or in your header.<br /> </li>
<li>If you have a large inventory, can customers search your website?<br />If you have more than a handful of products, or large product categories, you will want to include a site search or product search so customers can search for products in your store.<br /> </li>
<li>Why should customers purchase from your website? <br />Do you offer free shipping? Do you have great customer service? Maybe you have 100% satisfaction guarantee or easy returns. Whatever it is, include some basic information on why a customer should purchase from you. It is easy to go from website to website looking for exactly what you want, for the price that you want. Set your website apart from the rest and make sure your customers are aware of the benefits of shopping with your company.</li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-4816991591645229882013-04-29T19:47:00.002-07:002013-04-29T19:47:46.850-07:00Summer Is In Full SwingSchool is out, kids are out, summer projects and summer trips have begun. Is your website full of helpful ideas? We are past the spring cleaning phase and now onto the summer building phase. Put your best foot forward by offering your customers helpful tips, guidelines and products to make their summer easier, more fun, or just plain more enjoyable. If you sell clothing, highlight your hot trends. If you sell outdoors gear, suggest places to go, things to see, and products to use. If you sell jewelry, highlight this seasons trends. Nearly all online stores have something that they can offer their customers for the summer season.<br />
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If you have an opt-in email list for your customers, now is the time to send out those quarterly newsletters.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-10035570266952930042013-04-09T00:20:00.000-07:002013-04-09T00:23:14.043-07:005 Easily-Overlooked Final To-Do's For A WebsiteThese 5 easily overlooked final to-dos for a website are things that only take a few moments, but will make a noticeable difference for you and your customers. <br />
<ul>
<li><b>Check Browser Compatibility.</b> Often times you create, add, and make changes to your website using the same browser that you use for your regular web search, shopping, etc. However, just because it is your go-to browser doesn't mean that it is your customers' go-to browser. You will want to check your website in all the major browsers to make sure that it looks and works correctly in all of them. The main ones I check when I am creating a website are FireFox, Chrome, Opera and Safari (all of those can be on Mac and PC), as well as Internet Explorer on a PC. If you really want to over-achieve, you should also check your website on a few different tablets and mobile devices.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Enable Google Analytics.</b> This one is purely for you as a merchant. Google has many tools that merchants can use to track visitors, sales, and to submit your website to search engines or to clean up your code. Google Analytics along with Google Sitemap are two of my favorites. <br /><a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">http://www.google.com/analytics/</a><br /> </li>
<li><b>Add a Favicon.</b> When you go to a website, and on the tab of your browser there is a tiny little square logo, that is a favicon. It is a nice finishing touch that customers will notice when they come to your website. <br /><a href="http://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Favicon">http://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Favicon</a><br /> </li>
<li><b>Validate Your HTML and Speed Check Your Site.</b> I talk about these two a lot. The two sites below allow you to enter the URL for a page on your website, and they will check for errors and speed, and will tell you how to clean up your code so your page is fast and smooth.<br /><a href="https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights">https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights</a><br /><a href="http://validator.w3.org/">http://validator.w3.org/</a> <br /> </li>
<li><b>Keyword Target Your Meta Tags.</b> Each one of your store pages should have a title tag, meta keyword tag and meta description tag that is specific to that page. Don't include words that are not found on the page, even if they are found on the rest of your website. Do highlight your top keywords in the meta and title tags, as well as heading tags, strong tags, and anchors.</li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-77718146769546798322013-04-02T13:42:00.002-07:002013-04-02T13:42:30.324-07:00Are You Summer Ready?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVHoVhIJ8-hF_1brA4x12BE2brNHPfTHfM_8xHdVIbFq8DdYZ5spoPWKR33JKO1lv2jbly0lRFZyuAsValak0ds806hpjZtAsrThbxzId0z-G_EW0Jhpn6E8br6IZdzb1XG0aO2K_3pln/s1600/%3Cuntitled%3E.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVHoVhIJ8-hF_1brA4x12BE2brNHPfTHfM_8xHdVIbFq8DdYZ5spoPWKR33JKO1lv2jbly0lRFZyuAsValak0ds806hpjZtAsrThbxzId0z-G_EW0Jhpn6E8br6IZdzb1XG0aO2K_3pln/s320/%3Cuntitled%3E.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Summer is just around the corner and the excitement for the warm weather and fresh season changes is growing. Now is the time to help your customers with their summer projects and vacations. Build a newsletter to send out to your customers with discounts, or helpful tips for this new season.<br />
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If you do not currently ask customers to opt into an email checklist when they checkout in your store, now is the time to turn that on. If you have a ShopSite store, simply go to Commerce Setup > Order System > Checkout, and check the checkbox to add an email opt-in to your checkout. This will help you gather a list of customers to send email blasts to on occasion. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-63763267018243399782013-03-26T10:17:00.000-07:002013-03-26T10:17:20.213-07:00Better For Visitors. Better For Search Engines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aNYgvxVSkxWuPmIN9tBR9iTET5iDCspQS8XOzVYi4m5gtafOPb9nAOzcqmq90_TmLCjxb4WLKskGDYJdkY-pHHALPpUA-ORE-u5nyfp3dzGbDVzSe4L_Xt_ppmpOGfcOFTnW6k6ColGX/s1600/good-better-best.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aNYgvxVSkxWuPmIN9tBR9iTET5iDCspQS8XOzVYi4m5gtafOPb9nAOzcqmq90_TmLCjxb4WLKskGDYJdkY-pHHALPpUA-ORE-u5nyfp3dzGbDVzSe4L_Xt_ppmpOGfcOFTnW6k6ColGX/s200/good-better-best.png" width="200" /></a></div>
SEO isn't about tricks in your code to make it look better for search engines, or about stuffing in unnecessary content. Websites can optimize for search engines the same way they optimize for customers. Below are five ways to optimize your website for both search engines and your customers.<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Speed It Up. </b>I know I harp on this a lot, but having a slow-loading website will make your customers get impatient and leave, and will be ranked lower by search engines. Streamline your website so that your web pages load quickly for pleasurable viewing. Especially since mobile browsing over a mobile network rather than internet is becoming more popular. <br /> </li>
<li><b>Make It Engaging. </b>Having exciting content on your pages, and clear calls-to-action are both good for your customer so they want to stay on your website, and for search engines to easily 'see' what your page is about.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Give It Good Structure.</b> This step should come before starting your website, but since many merchants already have their site setup, I am going to assume this is post-initial website setup. Take a good look at your website from a customer's point-of-view. What does your customer want to find? What links is your customer looking for? If you don't have a large majority of your customers calling you on a regular basis, don't include your "Contact Us" link in the header. If Google Analytics says that customers rarely search by brand, don't have a "Brands" option as a main search option. Use your interactions with your customers, and your information from Google Analytics to make your most popular pages, easy to get to, and the focus of your home page. Do this for all your main landing pages. Also, during this process make note of your site's top keywords or what you want your website's top keywords to be.<br /> </li>
<li> <b>Use Proper Tags and Code.</b> Your pages should be structured in a way similar to a written out paper (yes, we are using some of those skills from English class). Place the title of your page in a heading tag <h1>Title here</h1>. Subtitles should be in <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, etc, tags respectively. Headings should not have "Description" as a title, but should incorporate keywords for that page such as "Sock Materials." <br /> </li>
<li><b>Helpful URLs. </b>Each page should have its own keywords, which are included in the page title, possibly some subtitles, the meta tags on the page, and then again used in the page file name. File names should be helpful for the customer and descriptive for search engines. Uses dashes to separate words, and keep pages as close to the root of your domain as possible. </li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-4992214818188967612013-03-18T14:22:00.002-07:002013-03-18T14:22:50.776-07:00Social Media - Twitter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Twitter is a social media resource that is probably the most time sensitive of the various avenues. With Pinterest and Facebook where there are images in many cases, end users will go back pretty far looking at the images and posts. However, with Twitter, since it is mostly text, end users won't go back as far. Because of this, many merchants will incentivize customers to follow on Twitter and will advertise time-sensitive sales. <br />
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There are two main areas of integration for Twitter for your website. The first is the Twitter "Tweet" button, and the second is a link to
your Twitter profile, or a "Follow Me On Twitter" button.<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>Tweet Button</b> - this can be placed on your product pages so
that customers can tweet about the products or category pages on your website. </li>
<li><b>Follow On Twitter</b> - your followers on Twitter will see the things that you tweet in their Twitter feed. </li>
</ul>
If you are using ShopSite to build your website and you are using one of
their built-in themes (or a custom template that supports this
feature), you can enable both Twitter options above by going to
Merchandising > Social Media > Twitter.<br />
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Now that you have your Twitter account and have enabled Twitter on your website, you can start building followers and posting tweets. Much like Pinterest, if you follow others, they will often follow you. Find websites and companies in a similar or complimentary industry as yourself, and follow them. This includes bloggers for the industry that you are in. Next, start tweeting.<br />
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Twitter Tweets are 140 characters or less and need to grab your followers' attention. This can be done with funny or beneficial (like sales) tweets, and with hashtags. Hashtags are when you have a pound sign "#" in front of a word or phrase. For example, if my post links to an article that is good for ecommerce and SEO, I might say "I just boosted my search engine rank with these tips #ecommerce #SEO http://domain.com." Hashtags are like keywords that help your post come up when Twitter users do a search.<br />
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<b>How To Gain Followers</b><br />
Follow others and Tweet with hashtags.<br />
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<b>What Is The Point Of Twitter?</b><br />
Twitter is for the most up-to-date information. Twitter users like seeing what is happening right now, what is trending, etc. Keep your posts very current, or even time sensitive. <b> </b> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-25190468232620437952013-03-12T08:01:00.002-07:002014-01-27T16:49:05.729-08:00Social Media - PinterestPinterest is more of a hands-off way to interact with your customers online; Pinterest is completely pictures and videos in a bulk presentation with other pictures and videos. The main idea with Pinterest is to create a collage board, or many collage boards, that inspire your customers and get them excited about your industry and your business.<br />
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There are two main areas of integration with Pinterest for your website. The first is the Pinterest "Pin It" button, and the second is a link to your Pinterest page, or a "Follow Me On Pinterest" button.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Pin It Button</b> - this can be placed on your product pages so that customers can pin your products to one of their collage boards. Their followers will see their pin and may repin. The benefit of this is (1), possibly more followers and more exposure, and (2) the pins can have a price tag on them, so that viewers who like the pin/product, know that it is something that can be purchased, and can click on the link to get to your website.</li>
<li><b>Follow On Pinterest</b> - your followers on Pinterest will see the things that you pin in their Pinterest feed (much like the Facebook news feed). </li>
</ul>
If you are using ShopSite to build your website and you are using one of their built-in themes (or a custom template that supports this feature), you can enable both Pinterest options above by going to Merchandising > Social Media > Pinterest.<br />
<br />
Now that you have Pinterest buttons on your website, it is time for you to utilize your Pinterest account for the good of your business, and for the interest of your Pinterest followers. <a href="http://laurenhillsdesign.blogspot.com/2013/03/social-media-facebook.html" target="_blank">Facebook has a few different types of posts</a> that you can do, funny posts, beneficial posts, and informational posts. Pinterest, on the other hand, has a more narrow focus; you want to do <b>funny posts</b> related to you or your industry, or <b>product specific posts</b>, such as uses, products in action, and product information. However, similar to Facebook, you don't want all of one type of post. You don't want to <i>only</i> pin your own products to your boards, and you don't <i>only</i> want to have funny posts about your industry. Make sure your boards are inspiring so that customers get an energized feeling about your website when they see 'who you are' on Pinterest.<br />
<br />
<b>How To Gain Followers</b><br />
Pin. Follow. Pin. When you follow other people's boards, they are notified that they have a new follower. Much like Twitter, often times if you follow someone, they follow you back. This is not always the case, but it is often enough that you want to follow people and companies that are in your industry or who have pinned things in your industry. Don't follow everyone and their dog right off the bat. Build up a few boards and pins, so that when people you follow click to see 'who you are' they see boards that may be interesting to them.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>What Is The Point Of Pinterest?</b><br />
The idea for Pinterest is inspiration. For example, if you have a paint store, you can pin different ways paint can be used, such as for a home, interior and exterior, for DYI decorations, to re-style furniture, etc. Or if you have a health goods store, you can pin other websites' suggestions on ways to stay healthy, healthy food tip ideas, or success stories for people getting and staying healthy. The idea is to get others inspired and excited about your industry. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-26696117578964494722013-03-05T12:35:00.002-08:002013-03-05T12:38:25.048-08:00Social Media - Facebook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXtD4f__-zyWVP7cXJ9TxkYJ-Yn2UDIzl82ZUXT0NTjPBPSAhhw1K0t7_y8X6RPRobFysvoaBxk4HTAwv41HvLFf_NtOBARyo2msXCVXAOvd602Dj3HvTON_ZJLW4WfdesL4bsfPIvJ5K/s1600/facebook-f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXtD4f__-zyWVP7cXJ9TxkYJ-Yn2UDIzl82ZUXT0NTjPBPSAhhw1K0t7_y8X6RPRobFysvoaBxk4HTAwv41HvLFf_NtOBARyo2msXCVXAOvd602Dj3HvTON_ZJLW4WfdesL4bsfPIvJ5K/s1600/facebook-f.jpg" /></a></div>
There is a lot of power in social media, but there is often times a learning curve when trying to break into social media. This is especially true for e-commerce stores. I am not a social media expert, but hopefully I can provide e-commerce business owners with some basic information about some of the main social media sites so that they can begin building their fan base and promoting their brand.<br />
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Facebook is the first social media site that I would like to focus on. There are three big areas for Facebook integration with your online store. If you do not already have a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook Fan Page setup</a> for your website, first set one up.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Facebook Fan "Likes"</b> - these are when you get people to "like" your website on Facebook. The two ways people can "like" your page on Facebook is either by going to your Facebook page and clicking "like" or by adding the "like" button/counter to your website and customers can click "like" right from your website without going to Facebook. I am a firm believer that you will get more 'likes' if the button is right on your website (customers do not have to go to another page just to 'like' you), but at the same time, I don't like the look of this as much...so it is a trade off. I personally rarely 'like' a website via their Facebook page, but if that website has a "like" button right on their website, I will regularly click that.<br /><a href="https://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Add the Facebook Like button to your website</a></li>
<li><b>Facebook Connect</b> - this is customer registration on your website, allowing customers to login using their Facebook account. It is so frustrating having a different login for every site that I visit; so when websites allow me to use my Facebook account to login, I am more likely to login (when given the choice to login or checkout as a guest, if I can login with Facebook, I will, if not, I won't register at all). This is good for you as a merchant for two main reasons, (1) you can have more people register with your store, and (2) you don't have their login information so you never have to deal with those security issues, or customers calling to try to reset their login information.<br /><a href="http://www.shopsite.com/help/current/en-US/sc/pro/facebook.connect.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Setup Facebook Connect in your ShopSite Pro store</a></li>
<li><b>Facebook Store</b> - this is not as used, but is nice to have. When customers come to your Facebook Fan Page, a Facebook Store allows you to list some of your best selling products right in Facebook. The main point of this is if customers come to your Facebook page BEFORE your website. <br /><a href="http://www.shopsite.com/tutorial/merchandising-facebook-store.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Add a Facebook Store tab to your Facebook Page</a></li>
</ul>
Now that you have a Facebook Like button for your website, customers can login with their Facebook account using Facebook Connect, and you have a Facebook Store tab on your Facebook Fan Page, you are ready to start advertising yourself and building your fan base. The big question with things you post is "Will this interest my neighbor?" If you are posting things that interest you, because you are the owner of your business, you may not get as many likes or followers as if you are posting things that will interest a non-business related customer, such as your neighbor.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span style="color: #741b47;">Will this interest my neighbor?</span></i></span></span></blockquote>
You want to be posting things to your Facebook Fan Page that are relevant to your company or your industry, AND that meet one of the following criteria (try to balance all three):<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Funny</b> <b>Posts</b> - a funny Facebook post, especially one that is primarily an image, not text, is one of the best Facebook posts to get liked and shared by visitors. </li>
<li><b>Beneficial Posts</b> - your customers will be liking your Facebook Fan Page, so you want to make sure that they get something out of it. Facebook posts that provide coupons, discounts, advertise specials, etc, all benefit your customers and remind them why they like your Facebook Fan Page.</li>
<li><b>Informational Posts</b> - informational posts <i>may</i> interest your customers, such as new products, or they may just help convey your company's personality, such as moving to a new building or warehouse, changing your business hours, or participating in a company wide New Years Resolution to promote a healthier work environment. Informational posts are more for customers to get a better sense of who you are as a company. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<b>How To Gain Likes </b><br />
Incentives and awesome posts. Simple right? Posting things that customers <i>want </i>to share will get you likes, and giving customers reasons to like your Facebook Fan Page, such as "like us to save 10%" will also get you likes. You benefit from getting another fan, and they benefit from getting a discount.<br />
<br />
<b>
What Is The Point Of A Facebook Fan Page?</b><br />
So what is the point of your Facebook Fan Page? Primarily you will have existing customers as your Facebook Followers, and existing customers are your best customers. Facebook gives you a way to remind your existing customers of your great company, your great products, and your great customer service. Many people check their Facebook feeds on a regular basis, and they will see posts from pages that they have "liked," so you can subtly remind your existing customers of your company, products, and customer service, without sending them newsletters.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Want To Over-Achieve With Facebook?</b><br />
Two additional things that websites I have purchased from have done for me that was very beneficial for them was (1) allow me to easily share my purchase (and often a coupon) on Facebook, and (2) personally thanking me on Facebook. You can add a "share your purchase" option to your thank you page, so that after a customer places an order they can tell their friends. This sounds weird, but for some products it is almost to brag. For example "I just bought the new Amazon Kindle Fire!" or "Check out these cute new shoes I ordered! Use coupon code newshoes to save 10%." Incentivising Facebook shares is not cheating :).<br />
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Once I had shared my order on Facebook, the store owners were notified that "someone mentioned you in a post" and they went to my Facebook page, and wrote on my wall, "Thank you for purchasing from us..." which was very a nice feel-good moment for me. Made me feel like I was a valued customer. I have also had websites post on their own Facebook page "Thanks Lauren, for sharing your new book purchase with your friends." and tagged me in the post so I got the notice in my Facebook account that they had thanked me on their Facebook Fan Page.<br />
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Facebook is an informal way of interacting with your customers. Relax and have fun with it!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-49219198207486071982013-03-04T10:33:00.000-08:002013-03-04T10:33:07.016-08:00DIY Search Engine Optimization Prep - PageSpeedPage load times are a big factor for search engines. Search engines don't want the high relevancy links in the search results to take an abnormally long time to load, so the slower your pages, the lower they will rank. For tips on speeding up your pages, go to <a href="https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights">https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights</a> and enter your website's home page URL. Google will give you tips for making your website faster. Some of the main tips are minifying your CSS and minifying your JavaScript, adding image sprites, and adding browser caching to your htaccess file.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-42340153899982506852013-02-26T13:04:00.000-08:002013-02-26T13:04:01.723-08:00Responsive Design vs Mobile CGIsI am often asked what are the pros and cons for doing a responsive design website verses using the mobile commerce CGI feature available in ShopSite. So hopefully I will clear up some of the muddiness now.<br />
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I would like to start by saying that the trend for websites (and a trend that many believe will quickly become the norm) is to be completely responsive design. Besides the fact that it is just plain awesome, it is much more compatible on the many devices used for surfing the web, and will be less maintenance as new devices are developed. That said, CGI driven mobile commerce is much easier to implement, has less bugs and is less expensive.<br />
<br />
Now to the nitty-gritty.<br />
<br />
<b>Definitions</b><br />
Responsive Design. A web page where the browser width changes will change the look of the site. You are not sent to a different page; A new page is not created for you. You stay on the same page, with the same code, it just looks different width different widths. Below is an example. You will see that there are 6 navigation links on the full version, 5 on a typical tablet, and 3 on mobile. You can also see that on a desktop and on a tablet, there is a banner image (slightly different sizes) but on a mobile device the image is removed. <br />
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Mobile CGI Driven Pages. This is where ShopSite takes your page and product databases, and recreates your pages when a customer comes to your website using their mobile device. These pages are created on the fly, so they only exist when a customer views your page, and they do take time to be 'built.'<br />
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<tbody>
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<td align="right" bgcolor="#EFEFEF" width="30%"></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#EFEFEF" width="35%"><b>Responsive Design</b></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#EFEFEF" width="35%"><b>CGI Driven Pages</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pricing (the biggie)</td>
<td>over $1000</td>
<td>Free in ShopSite <small>(Mgr and Pro)</small></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F7F7F7">SEO Friendly</td>
<td bgcolor="#F7F7F7">Great for SEO</td>
<td bgcolor="#F7F7F7">Doesn't harm SEO</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Buggy?</td>
<td>Can be. You often need to check ALL web pages.</td>
<td>Not really. Custom code could mess things up, but for the most part its not buggy.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F7F7F7">Speed</td>
<td bgcolor="#F7F7F7">Loads as fast as your regular site (same code).</td>
<td bgcolor="#F7F7F7">Built on the fly. Slower, but negligible.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Set Up</td>
<td>Lots of work initially.</td>
<td>Minimal work initially.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#F7F7F7">Adaptability</td>
<td bgcolor="#F7F7F7">Responds to different screen sizes, so will adapt as new devices come out.</td>
<td bgcolor="#F7F7F7">Only responds to mobile devices (not tablets), and is a little more specific on width of devices. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>End User Comments</td>
<td>No "view full HTML site" link.</td>
<td>Must switch to full HTML site for some features.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Which is right for you?</span><br />
<br />
<b>Do you have a lot of mobile or tablet visitors?</b><br />You can check this in your Google Analytics account. If you have lots of mobile visitors, then I would highly recommend responsive design. If you don't have many yet, you can start with the CGI mobile pages and see if that has an impact on your mobile visitors. You may also be in an industry where mobile is not as important, and you may not want to put forth the in<b></b>vestment for the type of return you would get.<br />
<br />
<b>How large is your website?</b><br />
If you have a smaller site (less than 100 pages, including product more information pages), then you may want to lean towards responsive design. It isn't too time consuming to go through 100 pages or less to double check that they all look the way you want.<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Things To Consider</span><br />
<br />
<b>Be ahead of the curve</b><br />
It is always better to get your mobile setup in place BEFORE you need a mobile setup. This gives you time to trouble shoot without being inundated with mobile visitors.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>What is the quick/mobile important information?</b><br />
With both responsive design and CGI driven design, you typically want to remove some things from the page, or make them much less noticeable. Don't try to display everything that you have on your main site on a mobile device. Mobile customers are typically going to your site with a purpose. Make the main products, main contact links, or other focus information easy to navigate to (one click).<br />
<br />
<b>Have fun with mobile</b><br />I find mobile browsing and testing really enjoyable. It is fun to see your website on many different devices, with slightly different looks, and even some different focuses. Whenever you make a change, note that change in your Google Analytics (or other tracking software) so that you can see what improves your website, what your customers respond to, and what may not be worth putting as much time into.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-34505251523114605172013-02-08T14:45:00.001-08:002013-02-08T14:45:37.414-08:00Using Google SitemapWithin your <a href="https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/" target="_blank">Google Webmaster Tools</a> account, you can click on your website, and on the left side, click "Optimization" then "Content Keywords." Here you should see a list of your website's top 20 keywords. These are your top keywords throughout all the pages included in the sitemap that you had uploaded to Google. If you are using ShopSite's Google Site Map integration, then this is all of your pages and product more information pages. Take a look at these keywords. Do the top 20 keywords on your website reflect what your website is about? Are the main keywords you use in your meta keywords, title, and meta description tags match those that are found here. If not, you will want to do two things. First, is locate and replace the keywords you don't want in this list with ones that you do want. Second, re-work your meta keywords, titles and meta descriptions to contain more of the top 20 keywords of your website. This second option is more obvious, so below I will provide more information on the first fix.<br />
<br />
If you go through your list of 20 keywords, you might wonder why some are coming up. For example, some common ones I see when I do this for websites are "jpg" "product" and "page." The main reason for "jpg" is because your images may not have alt tags attributed to them. When you upload an image via the ShopSite Image Uploader in the back office, if you don't specify an alt tag, then the image file name is used. If I upload "blue-shirt.jpg" the default setting will have the image tag looking like:<br />
<img src="media/blue-shirt.jpg" alt="blue-shirt.jpg"><br />
This makes "blue-shirt" a keyword on your website, then "jpg" after the period, a keyword on your website. You will want to change this by going to Images > Edit Image, and in the alternate text field, replace "blue-shirt.jpg" with "Blue T-Shirt" or whatever keywords you want.<br />
<br />
The next big ones I see are "product" and "page." These keywords often come up because merchants will write intro paragraphs which say something like "This product..." or "This page contains products that are..." Often times this is used so that you don't sound repetitive when writing descriptions. There are two approaches to fixing this. The first is manually going through all your page text fields and product text fields and replacing all the pronouns with the actual name or category. This can take a long time if you have tons of pages and products. The second approach is making the change with a text replacement equation within a spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Excel. Don't be afraid that your descriptions are going to be too repetitive; many times customers ignore the text or just skim for bullet points. The text is in large part for search engines. You are still giving the customer useful page and product information, just using the full page/category/product name.<br />
<br />
You can download your product (you can repeat this for pages) database with just the unique identifier field (either the product name or the product SKU) and the text fields. If your unique product identifier is the SKU, you will want to download the product name field just for pronoun replacement. Open your database in Microsoft Excel. You should have 3-4 columns. In the first empty column, type "="the"&name-column-and-cell". So for example, if your product name is in column 1, then the equation would be "="the"&A2". In your next empty column, type the equation "=(SUBSTITUTE(description-column-and-cell,"this product","the-name-column-and-cell")). So for example, if you have the following:<br />
Column A(name) - Blue Shirt<br />
Column B(sku) - b-tee<br />
Column C(description) - The blue shirt is great for crafts. This product is made out of 100% cotton.<br />
Column D(more information text) -<br />
Column E(first empty column) - ="the"&A2<br />
Column F(second empty column) - =(SUBSTITUTE(C2,"this product","E2"))<br />
The end result in column F would be "The blue shirt is great for crafts. The Blue Shirt is made out of 100% cotton." This is a quick way to replace text for all your products. When you upload the database back into your ShopSite store, ignore your original description field, and your first empty column. have your second empty column be uploaded in your description field.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-36631739164976280972013-02-05T10:38:00.001-08:002013-02-08T14:45:54.247-08:00DIY Search Engine Optimization PrepI frequently have merchants approaching me about doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) work on their website. You can make your website code clean, fast, and good for search engines, but there is more to SEO than just clean, fast code. Some merchants will hire a Search Engine Optimization or advertising firm to enhance their website and improve their website's search engine rank. However, in many cases, I would suggest that a merchant take much of the SEO into their own hands and do it themselves. The reason for this is that you, as the merchant, know your product and your clients the best.<br />
<br />
To start, before going to your website, clear your browser's cache (typically under Tools > Clear Recent History) then look at your website with fresh eyes, as if you were a potential client. Answer the following questions, making notes of things you see or notice.<br />
<ul>
<li>Did your website load in a timely manner?</li>
<li>Does your home page instantly convey what your company is about?</li>
<li>Is there a call-to-action "above the fold?"</li>
<li>Can your customers purchase within 2 clicks?</li>
</ul>
If you found issues with any of the above questions, make sure you tackle those first, before making changes to your meta tags, keywords, etc.<br />
<br />
If you haven't already, make sure you have <a href="http://www.shopsite.com/tutorial/merchandising-google-analytics.html" target="_blank">Google Analytic Tracking Code</a> on all your pages, your Google Analytics is setup for e-commerce tracking, and that you have <a href="http://www.shopsite.com/tutorial/merchandising-googlesitemap.htm" target="_blank">submitted your website's XML sitemap to Google</a>.<br />
<br />
The first step in doing your own SEO is checking <a href="https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Webmaster Tools</a> (where you have submitted your website's XML sitemap), on the left click on "Optimization" then "HTML Improvements" and fix any errors or messages found in this section. <br />
<br />
Check back for the next step in doing your own SEO.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-49027018074755799072012-12-11T04:25:00.001-08:002012-12-11T04:25:12.171-08:00Modified Google Trusted Stores DateBelow is modified JavaScript to add 7 days to the Google Trusted Stores code ship date.<br />
<br />
var d = new Date();<br />var seven_date = d.getDate();<br />var curr_month = d.getMonth();<br />if (seven_date < 22) {<br /> var curr_year = d.getFullYear();<br /> var seven_date_two = seven_date + parseInt(7);<br /> if (curr_month < 9) {var curr_month_two = "0" + curr_month;} else {var curr_month_two = curr_month;}<br /> var weekDate =(curr_year + "-" + curr_month_two + "-" + seven_date_two);<br />}<br />else if (curr_month > 12) {<br /> var curr_year = d.getFullYear()+1;<br /> var curr_month_two = "01";<br /> var weekDate =(curr_year + "-" + curr_month_two + "-" + seven_date_two);<br />}<br />else {<br /> var curr_year = d.getFullYear();<br /> var curr_month_two = curr_month + parseInt(1);<br /> if (curr_month_two < 9) {var curr_month_three = "0" + curr_month_two;} else {var curr_month_three = curr_month_two;}<br /> var seven_date_two = "07";<br /> var weekDate =(curr_year + "-" + curr_month_three + "-" + seven_date_two);<br />}Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-10924578068853893042012-11-05T14:00:00.004-08:002013-02-01T14:11:35.406-08:00Google Trusted Stores With Your ShopSite WebsiteGoogle Trusted Stores is a feature you can setup for your website if you have a Google Account. You will need to have a verified website in Google. Google Trusted Stores is another way to let online shoppers know that you are a verified, secure, and trusted website. Customers are encouraged to report feedback on your website. Shoppers can hover over or click on the Google Trusted Stores logo on your website to see your company's standing with Google Stores.<br />
<br />
To set this up, you will need to add some custom JavaScript to all your store pages. You will also need to get your Google Product ID for all your products (this can be done by moving this information into an extra product field). Follow the instructions below for adding the Google Trusted Stores code to your website.<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Add Google Product ID For Products Into An Extra Product Field. </b>For this example, I will be placing the Google Product ID in the extra product field 10. Do this by downloading your products database (Utilities > Database > Download). You only need to download your product identifier field (either name or SKU), and the Google Product ID field. Once you have downloaded the file and saved it to your computer, re-upload it into your store. When you get to the step where you can map the product fields, click on the link to map the fields, and change the Google Product ID field to the Product Field 10, then complete the upload. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />Note: If you are already using the extra product field 10, you will want to use a different product field.<br /> </span> </li>
<li><b>Begin Setting Up Your Google Trusted Stores Account. </b>If you have a Google Account for your business, you can go to <a href="http://www.google.com/trustedstores/merchants/" target="_blank" title="Google Trusted Stores For Merchants">http://www.google.com/trustedstores/merchants/</a>, to begin setting up your Google Trusted Stores account. Go through the process until you need to place the JavaScript code on your website, then go onto step 3. <br /> </li>
<li><b>Paste Code Below Onto All Store Pages.</b> The code below should be added to all store pages. It should be included in the template. What I would suggest is create an include file called "GoogleTrustedStoresPageCode" and paste this code into that include file, replacing the red fields below with your specific store information. Then include the include file at the bottom of the page code in all the template types (in your page template and search template DEFINE PAGE section, product template DEFINE MORE_INFO_PAGE section, and the cart template DEFINEs). For example, in your page template, at the bottom of the template it should look similar to:<br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<span style="color: #444444;">[-- INCLUDE GoogleTrustedStoresPageCode PROCESS --]<br /></body><br /></html><br />[-- END_DEFINE PAGE --] </span></div>
<br />You will also want to add the following VAR tag to the TOP of all your templates (except the product template).<br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<span style="color: #444444;">[-- VAR.Field10 "" --]</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<br /></div>
Your product template should be slightly different. In the product template, you will want to place the following VAR tag in both the [-- DEFINE PRODUCT --] and [-- DEFINE MORE_INFO_PAGE --] sections.<br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<span style="color: #444444;">[-- VAR.Field10 PRODUCT.Field10 --]</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<br /></div>
Here is the JavaScript for the include file:<br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<!-- BEGIN: Google Trusted Store --><br />
<script type="text/javascript"><br />
var gts = gts || [];<br />
gts.push(["id", "<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">555555</span></b>"]);<br />
gts.push(["google_base_offer_id", "[-- IF VAR.Field10 --][-- VAR.Field10 --][-- ELSE --]<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">90014c3c-6d63-11e1-9ced-000a5e410845</span></b>[-- END_IF --]"]);<br />
gts.push(["google_base_subaccount_id", "<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">555555</span></b>"]);<br />
gts.push(["google_base_country", "ISO 3166-1"]);<br />
gts.push(["google_base_language", "ISO 639-1"]);<br />
(function() {<br />
var scheme = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://" : "http://");<br />
var gts = document.createElement("script");<br />
gts.type = "text/javascript";<br />
gts.async = true;<br />
gts.src = scheme + "www.googlecommerce.com/trustedstores/gtmp_compiled.js";<br />
var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];<br />
s.parentNode.insertBefore(gts, s);<br />
})();<br />
</script><br />
<!-- END: Google Trusted Store --></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: 90014c3c-6d63-11e1-9ced-000a5e410845 in the code above should be replaced with ANY of your products' Google Product ID number.
<br /> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Add JavaScript To Your Thank You Screen.</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"> The last step involves adding the JavaScript code below into the DEFINE THANK_YOU section of your shopping cart template. Again, replace the red information below with your specific store information.</span></span><div style="margin-left: 40px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><script type="text/javascript"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">var d = new Date();</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">var seven_date = <span style="color: orange;"><b>d.getDate()+7</b></span>;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">if (seven_date < 10) {var seven_date_two = "0" + seven_date;}</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">else {var seven_date_two = seven_date;}</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">var curr_month = d.getMonth();</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">if (curr_month < 10) {var curr_month_two = "0" + curr_month;}</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">else {var curr_month_two = curr_month;}</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">var curr_year = d.getFullYear();</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">var weekDate =(curr_year + "-" + curr_month_two + "-" + seven_date_two);</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">var prodNum = number_products;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">document.write("<div id=\"gts-order\">");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-id\">" + ss_ordernum + "<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-domain\"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">www.yourdomain.com</span></b><\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-email\">" + ss_email + "<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-country\">US<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-currency\">USD<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-total\">" + ss_ordertotal + "<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-discounts\"><b><span style="color: orange;">" + </span></b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: orange;"><span class="Code">ss_coupon_discount + "</span></span></b><\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-shipping-total\"><span style="color: orange;"><b>" + </b></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;"><b><span class="Code">ss_shiptotal + "</span></b></span><\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-tax-total\"><span style="color: orange;"><b>" + </b></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;"><b><span class="Code">ss_taxtotal + "</span></b></span><\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-est-ship-date\">" + weekDate + "<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-has-preorder\">N<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-has-digital\">N<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">for (i=0; i<prodNum; i++) {</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span class=\"gts-item\">");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-name\">" + ss_name[i] + "<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-price\">" + ss_price[i] + "<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-quantity\">" + ss_quantity[i] + "<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-prodsearch-id\">" + ss_field10[i] + "<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-prodsearch-store-id\"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">555555</span></b><\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-prodsearch-country\">US<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-prodsearch-language\">en<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> document.write("<\/span>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">}</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">document.write("<\/div>");</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"></script></span></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: The orange areas in the code above can be changed but don't necessarily have to. The first one, <span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="color: black;">d.getDate()+7, says that you are telling Google you will ship the order 7 days after it is placed. If your average ship time is longer than that, you will want to modify the 7 to whatever is more accurate for your store. The next few, " + <span class="Code">ss_coupon_discount + ", </span></span></span>" + <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Code">ss_shiptotal + ", " + <span class="Code">ss_taxtotal + " should remain the same if you have coupons, use any shipping rates, and use tax rates. If you do not use any of these, replace the orange with 0. Also, the codes provided above are generic codes and should work for most stores. I am not guaranteeing that they work for all stores.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;"><b><span class="Code"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;"><b><span class="Code"><br /></span></b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></li>
</ol>
I hope that this article helps as you set up your Google Trusted Stores account. There is a month probationary period from Google for the Google Trusted Stores seal, so make sure that you have everything setup correctly, before waiting through that probation period. Good luck :).<br />
<br />
Full Code Example (changed for 4 days out for shipping instead of 7):<br />
<script type="text/javascript"><br />var d = new Date();<br />var seven_date = d.getDate();<br />var curr_month = d.getMonth() + parseInt(1);<br />if (seven_date < 25) {<br /> var curr_year = d.getFullYear();<br /> var seven_date_two = seven_date + parseInt(4);<br /> if (curr_month < 9) {var curr_month_two = "0" + curr_month;} else {var curr_month_two = curr_month;}<br /> var weekDate =(curr_year + "-" + curr_month_two + "-" + seven_date_two);<br />}<br />else if (curr_month > 11) {<br /> var curr_year = d.getFullYear()+1;<br /> var curr_month_two = "01";<br /> var weekDate =(curr_year + "-" + curr_month_two + "-" + seven_date_two);<br />}<br />else {<br /> var curr_year = d.getFullYear();<br /> var curr_month_two = curr_month + parseInt(1);<br /> if (curr_month_two < 9) {var curr_month_three = "0" + curr_month_two;} else {var curr_month_three = curr_month_two;}<br /> var seven_date_two = "04";<br /> var weekDate =(curr_year + "-" + curr_month_three + "-" + seven_date_two);<br />}<br />var prodNum = number_products;<br /><br />document.write("<div id=\"gts-order\" style=\"display: none;\">");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-id\">" + ss_ordernum + "<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-domain\"><b>www.laurenhillsdesign.com</b><\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-email\">" + ss_email + "<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-country\">US<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-currency\">USD<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-total\">" + ss_ordertotal + "<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-discounts\">0<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-shipping-total\">0<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-tax-total\">" + ss_taxtotal + "<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-est-ship-date\">" + weekDate + "<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-has-preorder\">N<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span id=\"gts-o-has-digital\">N<\/span>");<br /><br />for (i=0; i<prodNum; i++) {<br /> document.write("<span class=\"gts-item\">");<br /> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-name\">" + ss_name[i] + "<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-price\">" + ss_price[i] + "<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-quantity\">" + ss_quantity[i] + "<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-prodsearch-id\">" + ss_field14[i] + "<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-prodsearch-store-id\"><b>123455</b><\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-prodsearch-country\">US<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<span class=\"gts-i-prodsearch-language\">en<\/span>");<br /> document.write("<\/span>");<br />}<br />document.write("<\/div>");<br />#### show this line only for testing the date purposes.<br />#document.write(weekDate);<br /></script> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-72709138158501480902012-10-25T10:14:00.000-07:002012-10-25T10:14:38.201-07:00Re-Committing To GoalsClearly I need to be on a path of repentance, especially since my last post wasn't even during this last season. So here I am, entering one of the busiest parts of the year for online sales, ready to lend some support and guidance to any who would like it. Below are my own personal short term goals:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Post on setting up a Google Trusted Stores account.</b> There is a 30 day (I actually think it is a 28 day) probation period, so if you would like to have a Google Trusted Stores account setup by December, you will need to get that set up by next week. </li>
<li><b>Create New Friendlier Design.</b> I have been looking at redesigning my website and blog for a while now. With the hype of this holiday season approaching, I think I will be able to finally get the new look implemented. </li>
<li><b>More Customer Support Avenues.</b> I normally only provide customer support via email. This goal has 2 parts, the first is setting up and advertising a website analysis option. I will offer my own website analysis, as well as provide detailed information on how merchants can do their own website analysis. I think this is especially important for merchants who hire companies to do work for them. The merchant should be able to check, to some extent, the quality of the work being done. The second is to actually setup a business phone number. I am sure that most of your companies already have a business phone number setup, but since my company is mostly just me, I haven't needed it. I find that I have been a little hindered without an option for customers to call me directly, so I will be setting that up before the end of the year.</li>
</ol>
I would advise that you sit down and map out a few short term goals for your company that you would be able to complete before the holiday season gets crazy. Make these goals things that can take advantage of the holiday season sales, such as setting up an avenue for new customers to be added to a newsletter, or to streamline promotions. Whatever your goals are, bullet point a few steps that will help you reach those goals in the coming weeks. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-28327457674535160062012-02-24T10:10:00.000-08:002012-02-24T10:10:00.483-08:00Small Steps To Stay On Track - NavigationA website's navigation is an essential element that is often overlooked. Below is a list of DON'Ts and DOs for your site navigation. First the bad news:<br />
<br />
<b>What NOT to do in your Site Navigation</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Don't have link-appearing titles that are not links. When you go to a website, for example, Target.com, there are a list of links at the top of the page such as "Women" and "Men." These links denote different departments in their store/website. When you hover over these links, there are many sublinks that are available. Here is the don't, even if a link-appearing object has sublinks, still make the link-appearing object link somewhere. Yes, many customers will hover over "Women" then find the subcategory that they want and click that subcategory, but there will be some customers who keep trying to click "Women" and may become frustrated when it doesn't go anywhere. This is good for customers who are not sure what subcategory they want, as well as for customers who may jump the gun and click on a link before the page loads enough to have the sublinks even appear.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9w3BFRwpqUZOZW9dQxlFzp36-PjK5bHDCUp0zb9QPberc1GZUWwUEjzpuHkPW1SshTybVgFRjkRZ1q-ZAFkB5lnQ2EfefeTi4_CaJFg2aegIxrJ8Gaw7SriegAe2TvhiYlivDg4FRZex/s1600/target.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9w3BFRwpqUZOZW9dQxlFzp36-PjK5bHDCUp0zb9QPberc1GZUWwUEjzpuHkPW1SshTybVgFRjkRZ1q-ZAFkB5lnQ2EfefeTi4_CaJFg2aegIxrJ8Gaw7SriegAe2TvhiYlivDg4FRZex/s400/target.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Don't have too many levels in drop down menus. I am a firm believer in drop down or flyout menus in top or side navigation bars. However, if there are too many levels, chances are that a customer's mouse will slip and they will lose all the levels they have gone through. This is a similar idea to avoiding too many clicks before a customer can purchase. There are some websites that need to have that many clicks or need to have that many levels, but if you can avoid it, do. </li>
<li>Avoid vague links. A single link that says "Customer Service" is less helpful than a series of links that say "Returns," "Shipping Information," and "Privacy Policy." </li>
</ul>
<b>What you SHOULD do in your Site Navigation</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Build navigation with your customers in mind. The first navigation bar that you see on the page (no-a-ways this is typically the top navigation bar), should contain your main categories or your main site links. I would not suggest using the top navigation bar for informative links like "About Us" or other customer service related links. Those links are informative about your company, but they are not as useful to the customer. Start your navigation with major categories. If you look at Target.com, the first categories on their page are "Women," "Men," and "Baby." Looking at Apple.com, you will find that their main categories at the top of their home page list the main products that they sell. Toys "R" Us starts their navigation with "Category" and "Age" pull down menus to immediately help their customers sort through the thousands of products available.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJ7tCxXRRwmIsQDAfpf77S5pFEmdpxksauHqZPQ6-frqjiveFFg3k_OAa0ubYQwsn4X4M0ZW0bCA1X3-bIJp3utp-lP_V4dVxBRyLprpAXKGjwVso13vMn27nPMfwYpCultSTM2ZoN2cm/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-02-24+at+4.12.41+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJ7tCxXRRwmIsQDAfpf77S5pFEmdpxksauHqZPQ6-frqjiveFFg3k_OAa0ubYQwsn4X4M0ZW0bCA1X3-bIJp3utp-lP_V4dVxBRyLprpAXKGjwVso13vMn27nPMfwYpCultSTM2ZoN2cm/s400/Screen+Shot+2012-02-24+at+4.12.41+AM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Do create a navigation menu that is straight to the point with meaningful text. Don't include links called "Products" with a flyout menu. Instead, include major categories at the top and any non-major categories in the side navigation bar or a flyout selection.<b> </b> </li>
<li>Do have interactive links. If a customer mouses over a link, something should happen. The link could change background color, change text color, become underlined. The customer should be visually shown what link they are mousing over, and be able to see that it is in fact a link. </li>
<li>Do include link titles. In the HTML for an href statement, you can include the href location, as well as a link title. This is not only good for search engines, but it is good for customers, especially for links of images. </li>
<li>Do make the navigation stand out.</li>
<li>Do have clear breadcrumb menus.</li>
<li>Do make it simple. I like the idea of getting to any category page on your website from any category page on your website. Repeat customers or customers on a mission will know exactly what sub category they would like to view. Having a categorized navigation with all of your sub categories will make it simple for customers to get exactly where they want without having to dig.</li>
<li>Do include company information links in the footer. Just like the top navigation, the footer navigation can have categories of links. Group your links in categories such as "Company" containing "About Us" type links, "Customer Service" containing "Shipping" and "Returns" type links, and "Stay Connected" with links to blogs, Facebook, etc.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6iaXnFOPta_ZCOybvEGVCdpNc48GlWs_9AY9SSeSOBjuVk8yi-o4qsYkd1MGAUDTZIoVQutQkDcner02zE1Cvak7AAdAuOfvGpaAj5kGAgIJnexSvimcXQua2b4qnZGpTS2WyzD6-v5n/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-02-24+at+4.14.28+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6iaXnFOPta_ZCOybvEGVCdpNc48GlWs_9AY9SSeSOBjuVk8yi-o4qsYkd1MGAUDTZIoVQutQkDcner02zE1Cvak7AAdAuOfvGpaAj5kGAgIJnexSvimcXQua2b4qnZGpTS2WyzD6-v5n/s400/Screen+Shot+2012-02-24+at+4.14.28+AM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-48896644408882568302012-02-16T13:22:00.002-08:002012-02-16T13:22:54.321-08:00Small Steps To Stay On Track - Home Page<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfRyHUxGJQh0qXlNpzFpTLudYdsRB0nUxSuuizIClVqRxwTTTEkgp85eLEpyUCjftk0elIpSt3OJXRzF0PPIUjHBRsww7kC07kwKhpFQgWoYQrxd2dtvOctWl9eEaGb7sYcD8Bq0oiB2U/s1600/website-homepage-examples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfRyHUxGJQh0qXlNpzFpTLudYdsRB0nUxSuuizIClVqRxwTTTEkgp85eLEpyUCjftk0elIpSt3OJXRzF0PPIUjHBRsww7kC07kwKhpFQgWoYQrxd2dtvOctWl9eEaGb7sYcD8Bq0oiB2U/s640/website-homepage-examples.jpg" width="123" /></a></div>
If you are anything like me, it is about this time in the year that you realize you aren't sticking to your New Year's Resolutions. I start off the year with so many goals and ambitions, but I realize that by trying to take on everything at once, I end up failing on most of my goals. So what I propose is to relax a bit, and take those New Year's Resolutions one step at a time. This series of blog posts will take various elements on your website and evaluate the good vs the bad. You can make improvements to your website one section at a time.<br />
<br />
<b>Home Page</b><br />
The home page on your website introduces your company to potential clients, advertises your top products and promotions, and gives information on the various categories in your store. With those three goals in mind, your home page should have some of the following features:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Clear call to action</b>. This may be a current promotion or sale, a top product, or a seasonal product line. Whatever it is, have one, and only one, clear call to action that you change periodically. You want your customers to come back and see what's new in your store.</li>
<li><b>Full navigation</b>. Have your page setup so that either in your top navigation, side navigation or footer navigation, customers can go directly to what they want. With ShopSite you can create categories or top navigation fly-out menus so that customers can find the main category (for example, Women's Clothes), and view a list of sub categories (such as Shirts or Tops) to go directly where they want.</li>
<li><b>Links to additional resources</b>. You are an active business owner so you'll have Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, blogs, newsletters or other ways to keep in touch with your customers. Let your new customers know that you are current with many online resources. </li>
</ul>
A few things to watch out for that could hurt your home page are the following:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Too many calls-to-action</b>. Trying to pull your customers in 5 different directions could distract customers or overwhelm customers. If a customer comes to your website with a purpose, for example to buy pants, they will look at your navigation and find exactly where they want to go. If a customer finds your website some other way, direct them with one call-to-action. If you want to direct them to more than that, have your additional features (such as other best sellers or promotions) highlighted as cross selling items on another page, not all on your home page.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Slow Speed</b>. Your home page should be the attention grabber, but a slow loading page does not grab attention. Make sure that your home page is clean and loads quickly. </li>
</ul>
On the right I have the home page of four popular brands, Apple.com, VictoriasSecret.com, Nike.com and Columbia.com. You can see that each of these home pages has one main call-to-action. Apple.com is advertising their iPhone 4S; VictoriasSecret.com is advertising their swim line; Nike.com is advertising their new sport band; Columbia.com is advertising their waterproof shoes. With each of these sites, the main thing they are advertising will take up nearly all the space 'above the fold' when viewing. In order to view the categories below, a customer would need to scroll down. <br />
<ul>
</ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-61973339155040221192011-12-30T12:13:00.000-08:002013-04-05T13:20:25.154-07:00Online Store New Year's Resolutions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
This weekend everyone will be thinking about and possibly writing down things that they would like to do differently in the coming year. These New Year's Resolutions often include a fitness goal, a social goal, an education goal, or experience goals. These same goals for the coming year in your personal life can be applied to your business' website. Below I have outlined a few New Year's Resolutions for your online store's website for this coming year.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Fitness - Trim Down While Bulking Up. </b>This does not mean removing content from your website. When you work out, it is best to have some fat on you in order to build muscle. If you don't have any fat, then you have nothing to convert to muscle. This is the same for your website. Every website has some "fat" on it; it is just a matter or rearranging or re-purposing that fat to bulk up. Look through your website and find areas where pages or functions are not as efficient as they could be. Then take those areas and enhance them or move them to where they will be more useful.</li>
<ul>
<li><b>Content vs. Calls-To-Action. </b>Content is important, but you should not have all of your content above your calls-to-action. Make sure your calls-to-action are above the fold on your website; this will likely involve rearranging your content so that it it lower on your page.</li>
<li><b>Images with Text.</b> Do you have large images such as banner graphics that have text in them? Change those images to be smaller background images, and allow the text to be plain text on top of those images. This will cut down on your page load times, while improving the content for search engines on your pages.</li>
<li><b>Too Much Information.</b> Again, this does not mean removing content. If you throw all of your website options, products, advertisements, et al. all your customers on your home page, it can be overwhelming. Divide your content out into sections or even multiple pages with each section or page focusing on one area. On your home page, customers can click on the area they would like to learn more about and get that additional information.</li>
</ul>
<li><b>Social - Let Customers Know You Appreciate Them.</b> Customers purchase from your website because they like something about your website. It may be that they like your products, or that they love your low prices, or even that they like your flexible and informative customer support and return options. Whatever the reason may be, customers who purchase from you are letting you know that they like your business. So show the love back; let your customers know that you appreciate their business. This could be as simple as a thank you card included when you mail their order, or it could be an email. Ask customers for feedback on both the products that they purchased, and your company as a whole. See if there is anything that you could do to improve their experience. Also, provide customers with a way to keep up with your website and learn about new products, specials, or changes that might interest them. Make sure that any newsletters that you send are regular and not spammy (if you say it is a monthly newsletter, don't send one every week), and that they are for the benefit of your customers. After all, it is your customers that keep you in business :).</li>
<li><b>Education - Continue Learning And Sharing.</b> This is great for you as a merchant, the customer, and your search engine ranking. Continually add content to your website or update a blog with information that deals with your company, the products you sell, and the industry you are part of. If you sell furniture, you can include information on how to maintain your furniture, or new interior design trends. If you sell clothing, show pictures of people wearing your clothing, give style tips on accessories, research the best materials and maintenance and share your research with your customers. If you sell books or music, share information about your best selling authors and musicians, as well as relevant news in your industry. Keep the content on your website current and informative. If you make your website an information resource, customers coming to your website for information might just end up purchasing, and customers who have purchased from you will come back to see updates. You can include some of this information in your monthly newsletters, your blog or twitter posts, your facebook wall, and one relevant pages of your website.</li>
<li><b>Experience - Try Something New. </b>Your website may be functioning great, so you may not even be considering trying something new, but this can be good for both improving your visibility on the web and increasing sales. If you are not doing regular newsletters, start a sign up. Services such as MailChimp have packages that are free to get you started. You may want to add mobile pages to your website. If you are using the latest version of ShopSite Pro, you can add a mobile option to all of your store pages easily. Maybe you haven't been blogging or you have yet to get on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or Google+. You don't know how may more customers you can reach until you try to branch out from your norm. </li>
</ul>
I am going to try all of these things on my website, <a href="http://laurenhillsdesign.com/" target="_blank">http://LaurenHillsDesign.com</a> this year. I resolve to re-organize my pages so that the most beneficial information for my customers is the easiest to find. I resolve to provide more ways to keep in contact with my business. I resolve to provide regular information updates about the eCommerce industry on my website, both information that I have researched and write, and link to third party websites providing helpful eCommerce information. I resolve to send out a monthly newsletter with eCommerce tips, specials for website enhancements, and fun facts or online stores that I come across. If you would like to sign up to receive these monthly newsletters, you can sign up at the following URL: <a href="http://laurenhillsdesign.com/newsletter-signup.html" target="_blank">http://laurenhillsdesign.com/newsletter-signup.html</a>.<br />
<br />
Good luck in the coming year, and have a happy New Year!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-52229306003870471652011-11-29T10:32:00.001-08:002011-11-29T11:13:38.152-08:00Push to Christmas - Emergency Preparedness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Cyber Monday is over, you have a little calm before the last-minute-Christmas-shopper storm. Now is the time to do your emergency preparedness. Getting ready for those frantic shoppers needing their orders on time and those customers who ordered and expected their order by the holidays is essential for making your business' holiday season finish smoothly. One of the best ways to do this is to let customers know approximately when they will receive their order. Do this on your home page, your product pages, in the cart, and on the email receipt.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Home Page Delivery Notice</b> - on your home page, or in a main area on your website, advertise when is the approximate last day to place an order in your store and safely receive it by Christmas.</li>
<li><b>Product Page Delivery Notice</b> - some products ship quicker than others. If you drop ship products, have custom products or products that ship at a different time, you will want to let customers know. Include some text near the add to cart button letting customers know approximately when to expect each individual product if they ordered it that day. Or, for each individual product, list the last day that product can safely be ordered to arrive by Christmas.</li>
<li><b>Shopping Cart Delivery Notice</b> - this should be the most exact delivery notice because at this point you have the customer's shipping zip code. Include on this screen the delivery date as exact as possible. Make this notice clear so that customers can assess if their gifts will arrive when they want.</li>
<li><b>Thank You Delivery Notice</b> - include the approximately delivery date in the email receipt if possible.</li>
</ul>
Another thing you may want to offer this time of year is expedited delivery. This will put some of your last minute shoppers very excited.<br />
<br />
Good luck preparing for the final push of the hectic holiday season!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-23838112166186633192011-11-22T14:35:00.001-08:002011-11-22T14:47:54.617-08:00Advertise Cyber Monday Deals with Post-Purchase Share<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://laurenhillsdesign.com/templates/post-purchase-share-on-facebook-twitter.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://laurenhillsdesign.com/media/enhancements/ss_size1/post-purchase-share-on-facebook-twitter.jpg" /></a></div>
I recently added a new enhancement feature for ShopSite merchants to add a post-purchase share to Facebook or Twitter. This allows your customers to share what they purchased, and it is a way of advertising your website through your customers to their friends and family. I believe that this feature will be especially beneficial over the Black Friday - Cyber Monday weekend. You can encourage your customers to share their purchases with their friends and family by including coupon codes or sale announcements in the Facebook post or Twitter tweet. Advertise your Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales through post-purchase advertising.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://laurenhillsdesign.com/templates/post-purchase-share-on-facebook-twitter.html" target="_blank">post-purchase share to Facebook and Twitter enhancement</a> is regularly $50, however if you <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lauren-Hills-Design/129800563704556" target="_blank">"Like" LaurenHillsDesign.com</a> on Facebook (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lauren-Hills-Design/129800563704556" target="_blank">click here</a>), you can receive <b>70% OFF</b> this enhancement feature by using the coupon code "<b>sharenow</b>" at checkout.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-16159781229220471672011-11-03T10:10:00.000-07:002011-11-03T10:10:36.612-07:00Reward Your Tired and Weary Shoppers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMdF1kHGS-2WoITeS5RcQHMyCMlgae_GmI2IB70uWqCiOOMv_Z9mWNTQctEa5IM1qyuQsvLwWrpU813IhyphenhyphengK5XSkSQeopatfNVa5JI9paxuK-4Ug0cq4T469PmRF2sR84l2LroMyiJ2pi/s1600/tired-shopper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMdF1kHGS-2WoITeS5RcQHMyCMlgae_GmI2IB70uWqCiOOMv_Z9mWNTQctEa5IM1qyuQsvLwWrpU813IhyphenhyphengK5XSkSQeopatfNVa5JI9paxuK-4Ug0cq4T469PmRF2sR84l2LroMyiJ2pi/s1600/tired-shopper.jpg" /></a></div>
Everybody knows about the sales on Black Friday. If you've participated in the craziness, you know that stores open as early as 4 or 5 in the morning, which means you are up at least by 2. However this year the sales start even earlier. Stores such as Walmart, Target and Kohl's are opening their doors at midnight. Stores are putting more of an emphasis on the Black Friday sales. Another interesting bit of information is that NRF's Holiday Survey found that people are planning on spending more on themselves this year. So how can you use this knowledge to your advantage? Reward the weary!<br />
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The equivalent for online retailers of Black Friday is Cyber Monday, yet, by this point shoppers have already spent an exhausting weekend at local retailers hunting for deals. By the time Cyber Monday rolls around you have some pretty exhausted and sleep deprived shoppers. They have not been able to get all the items that they wanted at local retailers, so they are turning to the internet to solve their gift giving problems. Yes, they are likely still looking for some glimmer of those sale prices that they saw over the weekend, but, as NRF's survey forecasts, they are also looking for a little pick-me-up for themselves. So show your tired shoppers some love by offering them free gifts or bonuses. They can purchase the gifts for their loved ones, then get a guilt-free bonus gift for themselves. You'll want to make this incentive worth your while, so offer deals such as "Spend over $X and get a FREE X!" This will increase your total per sale and will raise your customer's spirits over the busy shopping weekend.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-30365672109213209532011-10-29T18:40:00.000-07:002011-10-29T18:41:27.169-07:00Post-Purchase Advertising<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9nu_781LEJuFWUGiv12JbAYHz6cn1A64bEmZk2GtalSaCjnm7NMfo301XhKKY1v8bIvmRvkhnU0PKL_XjxG3J_yEdEsvsdSHGMlnRUOfz-q1SRre7aTlcXjkip-RCvHOCW1HchgQ-iFO/s1600/post-purchase-share-on-facebook-twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9nu_781LEJuFWUGiv12JbAYHz6cn1A64bEmZk2GtalSaCjnm7NMfo301XhKKY1v8bIvmRvkhnU0PKL_XjxG3J_yEdEsvsdSHGMlnRUOfz-q1SRre7aTlcXjkip-RCvHOCW1HchgQ-iFO/s320/post-purchase-share-on-facebook-twitter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I have begun seeing messages on facebook and twitter from my friends such as "I just pre-ordered the new Amazon Kindle!" and "I just purchased this new phone case. You can save $10 on a new phone case using promo code 'fonekase'." Allowing your customers to advertise your products on their facebook and twitter accounts easily is a great way for you to get new customers, and it's free advertising. Some stores will simply form a message for the customer stating what they purchased with an image of the product and a link back to your website while other stores will offer customers and their friends incentives, such as providing a promotion code or advertising an upcoming sale in the facebook post or tweet.<br />
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If you need help setting up a "share on facebook" and "share on twitter" option on your ShopSite thank you page, you can have me set it up for you. More information about this option can be found at the following URL: <br />
<a href="http://laurenhillsdesign.com/templates/post-purchase-share-on-facebook-twitter.html">http://laurenhillsdesign.com/templates/post-purchase-share-on-facebook-twitter.html</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-20939986438687520762011-10-13T10:39:00.000-07:002011-10-13T12:26:44.845-07:00Is Your Site Ready For Mobile Commerce?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fASSZi6lZHrCcHTLqPAQFSEHaOVl0k7z6Qii4yzqm9ZOVjRQwERjDiKFpzOXTD9nNYPLqNjzA65a-14XKsaOh1T7JK94mXOHp5h99okkl4FLsL3F2xsHWmvhGlTDSQOxfkD8tWjZndtq/s1600/mobile-devices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fASSZi6lZHrCcHTLqPAQFSEHaOVl0k7z6Qii4yzqm9ZOVjRQwERjDiKFpzOXTD9nNYPLqNjzA65a-14XKsaOh1T7JK94mXOHp5h99okkl4FLsL3F2xsHWmvhGlTDSQOxfkD8tWjZndtq/s320/mobile-devices.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
Many top websites have optimized their website for mobile or have mobile pages. So many sites have done this that smart phone users are beginning to expect that sites will have a mobile version. Pinching to enlarge and squinting at the content is no longer acceptable for many smart phone users. So is your website ready?<br />
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ShopSite is planning to have a mobile capability built into their next release where users will be redirected to a mobile optimized version of your website. So what do you need to do to prepare to use this upcoming feature?<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Logo</b>. Start by creating a mobile sized version of your logo. Many websites that you visit will have a header/logo area that takes up no more than 60-70 pixels of the top of the mobile screen.</li>
<li><b>Navigation</b>. No doubt you have many different ways for users to find what they are looking for on your website, but since space is limited on a phone, narrow your main categories down to about 4 main categories that will be listed on every page. The first link should be a "home" link or a "categories" link so that customers can always return to your main list of store categories. The other three links should be your top categories, or your most interesting categories such as "sale" or "new items." Decide what 4 links you would like at the top of all your mobile pages.</li>
<li><b>Template Tags</b>. If you are using built in templates within ShopSite, this is not an issue for you. However, if you are using custom templates, you will need to add the new mobile tags to your custom page and custom more information page template so that the redirect code will be included on your pages. Below are the two required template tags for mobile.<br /> [-- MOBILE_JAVASCRIPT --] - goes within the <head></head> tags.<br /> [-- SS_MOBILE_REDIRECT --] - goes right after the <body> tag.</li>
<li><b>Footer</b>. Your footer should be simple but informative. Many merchants will include their company information links in their footer such as the "about us" page, the "shipping and returns information" page and "terms and conditions." If you have copyright information that you would like to include, you can include that in the footer as well. </li>
<li><b>Emails</b>. Often, smart phone users have one or more of their email accounts tied to their phone, so when they receive an email, they can check that email without going to their computer. Because of this, you will want to make sure that ALL of your emails to customers are mobile optimized.</li>
</ul>
I am excited to delve more into the capabilities of mobile as there become more and more mobile users and mobile optimized websites causing mobile to evolve. If you are planning to have a mobile optimized website, make sure you keep up on mobile trends. This technology if rapidly expanding and changing.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-41561600225618688012011-09-09T12:17:00.000-07:002011-09-09T12:17:57.662-07:00Favorite Tips From American ExpressOn American Express's Open Forum blog they posted "<a href="http://www.openforum.com/articles/30-ways-to-boost-sales-without-discounting" target="_blank">30 Ways To Boost Sales Without Discounting</a>." Below are my favorite of those tips.<br />
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<em><strong>1.</strong> <strong>Future-use coupons</strong></em><br />
<strong></strong>Use wording such as "For every $50 you spend tonight, you get $10 off your next purchase of $50 or more." Your customers have an incentive to spend at least $50, and you'll get an additional $50 in purchases when they apply their future-use coupon.<br />
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<em><strong>9. </strong><strong>Upsell</strong></em><br />
<em><strong></strong></em>Have you trained your staff in the power of suggestion? Many restaurants do, but you might have overlooked it. Wait staff or counter staff should always have an upsell suggestion at the ready. "Would you like fries with that?" is only the beginning.<br />
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<em><strong>13. </strong><strong>Shipping</strong></em><br />
<em><strong></strong></em>Offer free shipping or faster shipping for purchases made within a certain time or over a certain dollar amount.<br />
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<em><strong>14. </strong><strong>Bulk order rewards</strong></em><br />
<em><strong></strong></em>Customers who buy in bulk get a reward of some kind, such as a free customer club membership or a free T-shirt or other promotional item.<br />
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<em><strong>15. </strong><strong>Features</strong></em><br />
<em><strong></strong></em>Highlight a particular item and put it front and center. Sales will increase just because it is "the featured item" even though it isn't discounted.<br />
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<em><strong>16. </strong><strong>Customer reviews</strong></em><br />
<em><strong></strong></em>Gather positive customer reviews and put them beside the product or service being offered. Testimonials are powerful.<br />
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<em><strong>30. </strong><strong>Rewards and levels</strong></em><br />
<em><strong></strong></em>Offer rewards, but tie them to dollar amounts or commitment levels. The greater purchase or commitment garners the greater reward.<br />
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You can view the complete list at: <a href="http://www.openforum.com/articles/30-ways-to-boost-sales-without-discounting" target="_blank">http://www.openforum.com/articles/30-ways-to-boost-sales-without-discounting</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5762075415918789668.post-60782620297432340392011-08-21T13:35:00.000-07:002011-08-21T13:35:21.125-07:00Web Page Speed - How Does Your Site Rank? Pt 2I did a post, <a href="http://laurenhillsdesign.blogspot.com/2011/08/web-page-speed-how-does-your-site-rank.html">Web Page Speed - How Does Your Site Rank? Pt 1</a>, where I took my own website, optimized the images with image sprites, and tested how much of a difference it made in the <a href="http://pagespeed.googlelabs.com/" target="_blank">page speed with Google</a>. This time I would like to do the same thing with another website, a website with more images and other files such as JavaScript files, as well as add some server side optimization code that I read about in a blog post from <a href="http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2010/11/google-need-for-speed/" target="_blank">LexiConn.com, Google’s Need For Speed (and 3 things you can do to meet that need)</a>.The site I will be working on is <a href="http://www.homeandstuff.com/" target="_blank">http://www.homeandstuff.com</a>. They are a relatively new website (opened earlier this year). The site is getting a good amount of traffic, but I would like to see what a difference it will make to make these changes. Both the immediate difference seen on the speed in Google, and the long term difference. I will get an update on this website in a few weeks to see the progress.<br />
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<b>Starting Out: 76/100</b><br />
On the first test of the page speed, without making any changes, the site scored 76/100. There were both <span style="color: #e69138;">medium</span> and <span style="color: #f1c232;">low priority</span> suggestions as well as some experimental suggestions. The first thing that I am going to do on this website is add in some additional code to the .htaccess file. The .htaccess file tells browsers a lot about your website. You can include security/login information, set controls, specify where 404 page not found errors go, etc. I got my information from LexiConn's blog and in the .htaccess file for this website I added the following code:<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/plain text/xml text/css text/x-js application/x-javascript application/javascript text/javascript</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><FilesMatch "\.(ico|pdf|flv|jpg|jpeg|png|gif|swf|js)$"></span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Header set Cache-Control "max-age=2419200, public"</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></FilesMatch></span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><FilesMatch "\.(css)$"></span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Header set Cache-Control "max-age=604800, public"</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></FilesMatch></span></span><b></b><br />
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<b>After .htaccess Change: 88/100</b><br />
Adding the caching settings to the .htaccess file did a lot for this website's page speed according to Google. One thing that you should note is that not all servers have this capability setup. If you add the code listed above, and when you view your website you get a 500 error, talk with your hosting provider about making sure the server is setup for this type of .htaccess file setting. Next I'll be changing the basics, no broken links or missing images, optimizing the order of CSS and JavaScript files, cleaning up HTML so that it is W3 Compliant. <b> </b><br />
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<b>Clean Up: 89/100</b><br />
For cleaning up your website, there are a few different online tools that you can use. A common tool is Google Webmaster Tools. You can login to your Google Account, submit your website sitemap, and have Google analyze your website. In Google Webmaster Tools you will get things such as a list of duplicate titles, meta descriptions or meta keywords. You can get a list of missing or broken URLs and links, and other helpful information for cleaning up your website.To check if your website is W3 Compliant, I like to use <a href="http://validator.w3.org/">http://validator.w3.org/</a>. There are browser plug-ins that make checking this information easy, but you can just go to <a href="http://validator.w3.org/">http://validator.w3.org/</a>, type in your page URL, and see what, if any, errors come up. After fixing those errors, re-validate. For HomeAndStuff.com, there were 26 errors on the home page when I first validated it. However, after a few changes to match the DOCTYPE tag, all the errors have been fixed and it is passing W3C validation.<br />
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<b>Image Sprites: 90/100</b><br />
I only created one image sprite for 4 images, the rounded corners at the top and bottom of the page, as well as the navigation and sale background bars. The merchant could create image sprites for the logo image, the credit card image at the bottom, the phone number, and even the 2 images to the right of the banner. I would only suggest to create image sprites for images that are on more than one page, so the two images on the right of the banner, although they could be added into an image sprite, I would not suggest it.<b> </b> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928339965063467918noreply@blogger.com0