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Posted by StoresOnline on January 21, 2011 at 5:41 PM
One of Google's founders and PageRank's originators is taking over as CEO at Google. It's Larry Page! Read the Story.
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Posted by StoresOnline on January 13, 2011 at 3:42 PM
When most online
business owners optimize their websites for organic search, they begin by
optimizing their copy for search terms they’ve selected. They pepper those
terms into their copy and add them to their meta-tags. But many stop their
efforts there, and that’s a mistake. There are some fairly easy measures you
can take to further optimize your e-commerce website to capture more traffic
and make more sales.
Other Shopping Sites
Many online
shoppers start shopping for a product by using a search engine. You can list
your product data and photo at Google Merchant Center. Just open a free Google
account first, if you don’t already have one. The info you post with the
products you list will link back to your e-commerce site.
Always include a
product photo with your listing. When possible, make it one you’ve shot
yourself if you have the equipment to do it right. Otherwise your photo may
look the same as those of your competitors.
Update
regularly. Put a reminder on your calendar to update your listings so they
always show the latest model, price, features, etc.
If you can, it’s
best to vary the copy on your product listing from the copy on your website.
That’s because Google looks for duplicate content and rather than listing all
the sites with duplicate content, it picks what it thinks is the most valid and
only lists that one. So if you change up the copy on your outside listings, you
may have your products come up multiple times on a search, instead of having
Google see it as a duplicate and leave it out of the results.
Blogs and Other Social Media
Social media
sites like Facebook and Twitter became much more relevant to e-commerce when
search engines started to index them. Social media postings tend to affect
search rankings only temporarily, though, so it’s best to post regularly. There
are auto-posting tools on which you can pre-load posts for some social media
sites to help you have a consistent presence.
Each social
media site in which you establish a presence adds another touch point that can
help increase public awareness of your website or products. It’s easy to feel
overwhelmed when you start to realize the huge number of social media options
available to you. The thing to do is start small. Pick two or three social
media sites and get good at staying on top of them. Once you’re comfortable
with them, you can add more to your social media repertoire and start to get a
feel for which sites are doing the most good for your business. Then you’ll know
how your time is most profitably spent.
Local Search
If you haven’t
listed your business there yet, go to Google.com/Places and list your business.
Even if your business is strictly online, your listing includes a back-link to
your website—always a good thing. Additionally, people looking at Google Maps
in your area will happen upon your listing.
Many
metropolitan areas have search engines specific to their areas. Make sure your
business is listed in those, as well.
Images and Videos
Product images
are essential to your e-commerce site’s success. If you can add video, your
conversion rate will likely go up. Photos can tell about your products far more
quickly than copy, and video can do it even better.
When you put
images on your website, remember to incorporate rich ALT text for each image.
Describe the image using the same keywords for which you’ve optimized your
copy. Include those same keywords in the image file names, when possible.
Finally, make sure that the image caption and all the copy around the image are
highly relevant to the image.
Video reduces
bounce rate by keeping customers on your site longer. That’s because it’s
engaging. Instructional or how-to videos are best. Keep them short—two or three
minutes—to increase viewership. Visitors will often stop a video or not even
start it when they see it’s long. Remember to tag your video with appropriate
keywords that will maximize searchability. In addition to putting your video on
your website, upload it to other popular sites, as well, to get more exposure.
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Posted by StoresOnline on December 30, 2010 at 10:41 AM
One of the most
common mistakes new Internet marketers make is to get caught up in their own
enthusiasm over what they want to sell. Enthusiasm is great but unless you
couple it with solid research and a hard, honest look at your business plan, it
can blind you to fatal flaws you might otherwise avoid.
The Un-fun Side of Online Business
You get excited
about a product or a line of products or a way of presenting them. You build
your website. You do the marketing. Then you wait with bated breath for the
orders to start coming in. You hear crickets chirping. You see a tumbleweed
roll by in the lonely breeze. But you don’t see orders, or at least not enough
of them. It happens.
It’s easy to
find people to whom this has happened. Some of them are the ones angrily spouting on
every forum that will have them about how Internet marketing is all a steaming
pile of nature’s fertilizer.
How to Avoid It
Clearly, you
need to do some serious research before you launch your online business. You
need to know if there’s really a market out there that will look for what you
want to sell at the price you want to sell it. Let’s say you’ve got a great
connection for tropical fish. Are people really looking online to buy tropical
fish? Or are they more likely to buy them from a local shop? Maybe people are
looking for that local shop online.
A great way to
start is by visiting a site that already sells something you intend to sell.
Some of those sites, like Amazon, Zappos, and many others, tell you what the
best selling items are in a certain category. More customers buying a certain product means a better chance that you'll be able to capture some of that business.
Once you have an
idea of what sells well, use the StoresOnline Reverse Search Tool to see what
keywords people are using to find those items. What niche keywords do you see? You
may not be able to sell tropical fish using just the term “tropical fish” but
you may be able to sell them using the term “angel fish Atlanta”, assuming you
live in the Atlanta area.
In order to
compete, you often have to find a very specific group of people who want a very
specific product. That way, when you do your marketing, you can market using
the specific keywords that group of people will use to find your products.
What Else You Can Do
There are plenty
of other factors you should research, if you can. Is your target market
responsive to online marketing? Are they averse to shopping online? Do they
have money to spend? Do they mainly buy seasonally? Will they only look at the
price of your product or will they look at other factors you can provide?
One final point:
Even with all the research done, not every online business will succeed. But if
you look at the Success Stories page on this website, you’ll notice that there’s
one thing that many of those people have in common. That is that while many of
them failed at first, they kept trying different combinations of products and
marketing until they found one that worked. If your first attempt fails, you’re
in good company. Don’t give up or get angry, just try something else. Resolve
to keep trying until you find the right mix.
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Posted by StoresOnline on December 14, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Everyone has their own reasons why they started (or will start) an online business. An informal survey of Internet entrepreneurs revealed some of the most common reasons why people start online businesses. It's interesting to see the variety. Here they are in no particular order.
1. More time with family and partner. People value their relationships and want
to stay close to the ones they love. Many people who work outside their home spend too much time away from their children or partner. It can cause conflict in their lives. Running an online business from home solves that problem to a large extent. You're still very busy but at least you're present.
2. Illness or injury can cause massive change to people's lives. It can mean that working outside the home is simply no longer an option. As long as you can still type and think, you can run an online business.
3.
It's surprising how many online entrepreneurs became such because they retired from regular jobs they held for years. After retiring, many people find that either they still need an income or they're simply bored.
4. This one's probably the most popular reason: money. The Internet provides new opportunities for people to realize their financial goals, whether by starting a new online business or by expanding an exisiting business into cyberspace to reach a global market.
5. Some people get into it simply because they are
fascinated by the idea of making money online and want to see if it really can be done.
6. Many people have it as a life goal to own a business. However, most of those people aren't able to realize that goal once they see the cost of establishing a traditional business. The Internet provides an opportunity for those who want to start a business but don't have the large amount of start-up capital it takes to start a traditional business. Starting a business online takes money but not nearly as much as starting a traditional business.
7. Most people who start traditional businesses tend to do it in their 30s or 40s. Age is much less a factor in online business. You can start your online
business at age 12, age 72, or anywhere in between.
8. Finally, there are those who start an online busines because of a lack of opportunity where they live. Sometimes they live in a rural area. Other times they simply don't see any good opportunities around them. In either case, by starting their own online business, they make their own opportunities.
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Posted by StoresOnline on November 29, 2010 at 12:17 PM
If you’ve been asking this question in your business, you’re
not alone. With all the hype around social media sites like Twitter®, Facebook®,
and others over the past year or two, it’s hard not to wonder if it’s something
your business should be pursuing more aggressively. The answer to the question
depends heavily on another question: What are you hoping to get out of social
media?
If you’re hoping to drive more traffic to your website or
get more visitors in your store, you’ll need a very specialized strategy. The
cold, hard fact of it is that with few exceptions most companies are unable to
get those things out of social media.
On the other hand, if your goal is to simply be “out there”,
and you have someone who’ll be maintaining your presence, social media may work
for you. For example, if you can get a substantial number of people to “Like”
your company’s Facebook® fan page, every time you post on that page, they’ll
see it. Post useful tidbits they’ll like getting and be sure to include your
company name. It’s a way of just staying on their minds long term. You may not
see huge amounts of business directly attributable to your Facebook fan page,
but if you want to stay in the minds of your customers, this is a good way to
do it. Twitter® and others work a lot differently but the principle is the
same.
Other benefits social media offer: keeping a finger on the
pulse of your market, product research surveys, reputation management, and
brand reinforcement. What benefits your company derives from social media comes
down to fit. Some companies are uniquely suited to reap massive benefits from
social media. Most companies are finding that the time and money are better
spent on web marketing fundamentals like link building, search engine
optimization, and paid search.
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Posted by StoresOnline on November 11, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Many people understand what
Social Bookmarking is good for: It’s a way you can share cool websites,
articles, videos, etc. that you find as you surf the Web. The Bookmarks feature
on your Web browser gets cluttered fast and it only works on one computer. A
social bookmarking site enables you to access your bookmarks from any computer
or mobile device, and rather than trying to navigate a complicated file system
for all your bookmarks, you just use tags. You can also look at your friends’
accounts to see what cool things they’ve bookmarked under a certain tag. What a
lot of people don’t know is how Social Bookmarking can be used to promote a
website. It’s quite common for people to know a little about how social
bookmarking works but then ask, “Now how can I use it for my online business?”
Starting Out
As with any component of a
social media campaign, start small. There are several social bookmarking sites
from which to choose. Delicious, reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg are a few of the
most popular. Pick one or two to start with, open an account, and learn how
they work. Try to find and make friends within the site. Look closely at which
sites have received the most bookmarks. What can you do with your title that
will help you attract attention that way?
If you’re just starting out,
use the circle of friends you already have in Facebook. It’s a ready-made group
of cheerleaders rooting for your success. Ask them to get on the bookmarking
site(s) you’ve chosen and bookmark your website, blog, or whatever it is you’d
like to attract more traffic to.
Why’s It Good?
What’s the value? First,
backlinks. The more people who bookmark your page, the more backlinks it has.
The more backlinks it has, the higher rank it achieves in organic search.
Second, depending on the bookmarking site, your page can receive more direct
traffic from it. That’s because on some sites, the more people who bookmark
your page in a short amount of time, the longer it stays highly visible to
people who are just surfing the bookmarking site for cool stuff. Hopefully,
some of those surfers will be curious enough about your page to go check it
out.
Remember, social media users
hate spam. Don’t title your page with something that sounds “spammy”. Instead
use a title that tells what value any visitor will get when they come to your
page.
Like any social media site,
the more time you spend on a bookmarking site, the more familiar with it you’ll
become, and the more ways you’ll discover to use it to promote your page.
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Posted by StoresOnline on October 20, 2010 at 4:49 PM
StoresOnline merchants and
others looking to boost a site’s search ranking see a lot of advice about how
to build links and optimize their Web sites for search engines. We all know
that search engine optimization (SEO) and link-building are important because they
increase search engine rankings, but not if we do it the wrong way. Here are
three paths you should avoid.
1. Slack
Off. Whether out of frustration,
laziness, or poor follow-through, the surest way to fail at link-building is to
not do it. Think of link-building like gardening. A garden has to be tended and
cared for on an ongoing basis in order for it to yield its crop. The same is
true of link-building. You can’t just do a bunch of it and forget about it.
Spend a set amount of time each week just link-building.
2. Write
For Search Engines. Search
engines are getting smarter and smarter. Every day they’re getting better at
detecting when they’re being played. That means if you clutter your Web pages
with repetitive terms designed to snag the attention of search engines, the likelihood
that it will ring the bells of those search engines is decreasing rapidly.
Even if
that weren’t true, consider what happens when real live people visit your StoresOnline
Web site. It’s easy to see when a page has been written for search engines and
not people. The result is a page that turns people off and gives you a huge
bounce rate; i.e. people take one look at your page and leave within seconds.
Your StoresOnline
Web site has to appeal to the people
who visit it. A high traffic rate does little good if your bounce rate is sky
high. Write your Web copy with the goal of appealing to your customers. Then,
go back and see where you can add in your chosen search terms without hurting
the effectiveness of your copy.
3. Pay For
Linkbacks. You’ll see companies that
offer to give you bunches—even hundreds—of linkbacks for a fee. Stay away.
Because search engines are getting smarter, they can tell when a site has had
this done. It sees a load of irrelevant linkbacks and the result is a lower search ranking. So not only does
it not work, but you will have paid to hurt
your search ranking.
That
said, there are also companies who can provide relevant backlinks. These
companies have real live people who do their link-building, not automated
software “bots”. A live person can make sure the links he builds are relevant
to the site they link to. Those are the kinds of links that boost search rank.
add to del.icio.us
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Posted by StoresOnline on October 5, 2010 at 4:02 PM
Creating a press release to promote your product or e-commerce Web site
requires thought and preparation. Without certain core fundamentals your
release will never get read. A well-written press release can be a
valuable asset for your business. Here are seven mistakes people commonly
make when writing a press release.
1. Lack of proper
research. Read and subscribe to press releases not only in your own
niche, but from some of the larger and more successful companies in the
world. See how they are structured and worded. Incorporate the parts you
like into your own releases.
2. Rash Assumptions. Your reader may know nothing
about your products or Web site. One goal of a press release is to have your
reader generate buzz to their readers or media outlet, so lay out the
specifics for them.
3. Condescension. While fatal flaw #2 says to be
specific with what you are writing, be careful not to write in a condescending tone.
It’s a sure way to turn readers off. Assume your readers are reasonably
intelligent.
4. Overselling. The purpose of a press release
is to put information into the hands of those who have influence and a crowd to
share it with. They are not the ones who will be buying or using whatever
is in the contents of your press release. Don't try to make them the
buyer, rather look at them as your reseller and present the
information in the same way you would teach a sales associate how to sell to a
customer in a store.
5. Bloat. A press release is not an article. It
should be informative and easily digestible; keep the fluff to a minimum and
focus on the details that pertain to your service, product, or Web site.
6. Dull titles. Look at your deleted email
folder and see which messages you deleted without opening. Chances are the
subject line didn't entice you to open it. Be creative and to the point
with title. It can mean the success or total failure of your press release.
7. Incorrect or outdated information.
Wait
until you have all the facts, specifics, and proper information included in
your press release, then send it. Don't send a release announcing a
forthcoming release, either. It will break the trust of your
readers. You're better off sitting on a release for a few days than
sending it out missing crucial information.
Avoid these simple mistakes in your press releases and the information in them
will be more likely to get used. As with all writing, re-read it, proof it, and
then read it again to ensure it flows smoothly and conveys the exact message you
need it to.
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Posted by StoresOnline on August 30, 2010 at 10:36 AM
When
you submit a press release to one of the free press release sites, like
PRLog.org or PressReleasePoint.com, you might be afraid your release will get
drowned in the sea of press releases you’ll find on those sites. The bad news
is you’re probably right. But there’s some good news, too. There are things you
can do with your releases, both before and after they’re published, not only to
increase the likelihood that they’ll get read and used by others, but to make
sure your friends, fans, and acquaintances see them, too.
1.
When you write your press release, make the topic one that pertains to your
website or its products but make sure it contains information that can be
useful to anyone.
2.
Keep your press release relatively short; 250-700 words is the ideal range.
Make it too long and it won’t get read, too short and it won’t have enough
relevant info.
3. To make your release official-looking, put a dateline at
the beginning: Sept. 26, 2010 - Lehi, Utah –. Keep in mind that some sites automatically put
a date at the beginning but not
your location. So always include the location but look at
other press releases on the site before you submit yours to see whether the date is
automatically included or not. Most press release sites have a Preview feature you can click to
see what your release will look like before you publish it. Use it to check the look of your
press release thoroughly.
4. Always include your company name or website in the
headline. A press release isn’t an article. In an article,
the topic is the most important thing to put in its title. In a press release, WHO the press release is about is just as important
as WHAT.
5. Put an About section at the end of your release. Make it about
you and your company. Include your website.
For you, this is the most important part of the press release.
6. At the end of your About section include your contact
information. This is important. If it’s missing, no one will know to go to your website or call
you.
7. End the copy (text) of your press release with ###. It’s
the professional way to signal editors and readers that it’s the end of your press release.
The rest is the background information in your About section and contact info.
8. Finally, to keep your releases from going uselessly into
cyber-oblivion, wait until you receive notification that your press release has been
published, then link to it from your blog, your Facebook page, and your Tweets. In fact, you can
use it more than once as long as you do it a few
days or weeks apart.
Below is a table of free press release sites you can use to spread your press release around. Thanks to www.PressReleasePoint.com for this list.
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Posted by StoresOnline on August 23, 2010 at 1:53 PM
As a small business, you're in a position to give your customers far more personalized service than your larger competitors. Here are some ways to take greatest advantage.
#1) Be sure to answer all questions from customers promptly.
Answer questions completely and in as much detail as possible. Don’t use
technical terms or acronyms without explaining their meanings. Your customer
may not know what they mean
#2) Always double-check your calculations. Math errors make a very
bad impression, especially if you overcharge a customer. Take the extra minute
or two to add everything up a second time to be sure.
#3) ALWAYS provide your contact info. Provide several methods
of contact: phone, fax, two emails, and a physical address. Include this info
on business cards, automatic email signatures, receipts, etc.
#4) ALWAYS thank your customers for their orders. Let them know
they’re important to you. Send a follow-up email or “thank you” card. Again,
include your contact info. You want their repeat business and future referrals.
#5) Wait two weeks, then follow up. You can email them, call
them, or send a postcard. Let them know you are still there for them. Make sure
they got what they ordered and are happy with it. Ask them if they are happy
with the transaction and if they aren’t, do your best to make it right
immediately. If you leave customers hanging when something goes wrong, they
won’t be your customers anymore.
#6) Wait six months and make contact with each customer again.
Let them know of any upcoming sales, referral specials, etc. Email them or send
a postcard or catalog. Keep your customer aware of your business but DO NOT
overwhelm or pester.
#7) If you miss a call, return it promptly. Call back within 24
hours, no matter what. The same goes for email. If you go out of town, make
sure your loyal customers who order very frequently know you will be
unavailable.
#8) No matter how familiar you are with a customer, never use
vulgar language around them. Don’t eat, smoke, or chew gum while speaking to a
customer in person or on the phone. Speak in a pleasant tone of voice. If you
are in a bad mood, get into a better mood before you return your calls.
Customers can sense your bad mood.
#9) Phone interruptions are not okay. If you take calls at
home, step away from noisy children before you answer. Don’t engage in other
tasks while speaking on the phone. Focus entirely on your customer.
#10) When you can, offer extra small services or products free
of charge. That’s the sort of thing they’ll mention when they tell their
friends about your website.
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Posted by StoresOnline on August 19, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Every website has online
competitors. It’s important for you to know who your competitors are and where
they fit in your market. The information you gather on your competition can
help you position your online business to serve a segment of your market that
your competition may be missing.
First, identify who your competition
is. Do an online search for other websites that offer what you do. Make a list
and leave room to write next to each entry. You’ll need that space to record
all the details you can about each competitor: price, number of products, ad
strength, services offered, etc.
Next, analyze the strengths and
weaknesses of each competitor. Why do your potential customers buy from them?
Is it price? Is it reputation? Is it value? Is it service? What perks do they
provide when a customer buys from them?
This list should be ongoing and
constantly changing. Go back and fill in intelligence on each competitor as you
run across it. You may hear something from a customer or have someone tell you
something in casual conversation. You may see something in a competitor’s ad.
You may even want to pose as a potential customer and call a few of your
competitors to find out the details you’re after.
Next, rate each competitor based on
their ability to take away your potential customers. Take the top three or four
and concentrate on them. What market segments are not being served? What
benefits can you advertise that they are not? Why might someone hire you over them?
Finally, judge your company by the
same standards you used to judge your competition. Use that self-analysis to
find where you need to change, find what services you should add, and how you
might advertise that will catch the attention of potential customers against
your competition.
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Posted by StoresOnline on August 5, 2010 at 7:00 PM
You know your business. You know what it’s all about. That makes you uniquely qualified to know what words your potential customers will use in a search engine to find you, right? Not necessarily. The range of your customers may be far broader than you think. That’s why it’s a good idea to use the Reverse Search tool that comes with your StoresOnline subscription. Put in the search terms you think your customers will most likely use. You might be dead on. But if you experiment a little, you might find some you hadn’t thought of before. Ask your friends for ideas on this. Think about people looking for specific niches or features you may offer.
Once you know the terms you want to use, place them liberally in the copy of your site. The more you have, the better ranking you’ll likely get with search engines.
That’s one of the reasons blogs are so useful. If you don’t do one yet, you should consider it. Not only does it help position you as an expert, it lets people know your site is current and run by someone who cares. Most importantly, it’s another place you can use your chosen key words. Pay particular attention to the title, first paragraph, and tags of your blogs. Write each entry well, first. Then go back and see where you can put in your keywords where they’ll make sense. This technique alone probably won’t get you high enough in search rankings of often-used search terms. But if you pay particular attention to niche terms, you may be surprised.
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Posted by StoresOnline on August 3, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Customers who’ve recently got their websites up and running often know they want to promote their new site using social media (it’s free!), but they’re not sure where to begin. Where can they go where there’s a ready-made list of the people already rooting for their success? It’s a site of which many of them are already huge fans: Facebook.
Before you even begin the fairly simple task of building your company’s Facebook fan page, make sure your personal profile within Facebook is complete, including a fairly recent photo of you. Make it a headshot photo, nothing else. You might also post old photos of you that old friends would recognize but don’t use them as your profile photo.
Next, gather as many friends as you can. Use Facebook’s search function and seek out all the friends and family members you can think of who aren’t already in your Friends list. Facebook allows you to classify your friends into categories so you can message different categories of friends in different ways.
Now build the Facebook fan page for your business. Include product photos, photos of you, photos of your brick-and-mortar storefront if you have one, etc. Remember to include the link to your website and a good description of what you sell.
Once your Facebook fan page is complete, it’s time to make a few announcements to all your friends in this order:
1)Announce that you’ve started a great new business and tell them how excited you are about it. Tell them where your website is and provide a link. 2)The next day, announce the presence of the Facebook fan page for your business and invite your friends to become fans. 3)The next day, ask your friends to recommend your fan page to their friends. 4)Once a day, post an entry on your fan page. Don’t make it an ad, give your friends something useful like an interesting tidbit of info related to what you sell, or a link to a related article elsewhere on the Web. 5)Every few posts, try to post something that will get your fans to respond with a comment. Ask a question, or solicit opinions. Why? Because every time your friends comment on your fan page post, their friends see it. It’s a good way to build your fan base.
Remember to link your entries back to your website regularly. After all, you need to make money.
Once your Facebook presence is firmly established and you are maintaining it successfully, you can move on to other social media efforts.
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