Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas for August 2009

Practical eCommerce asks industry insiders each month to share a great, innovative idea that could help an ecommerce company. Here’s what ten of them had to say for the August 2009 installment.

Google Alerts Provide an Extra Set of Eyes and Ears

“Set up Google Alerts on your company’s high-converting keyword phrases. When these phrases appear in a blog post, video, website update, or news release, Google will send a relevant email update. This instantaneous feedback is a great information resource for new blog posts, latest product ideas, link exchanges and even short-term PPC campaigns.”

Bob Shirilla
Marketing Manager
Keepsakes Etc

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Seek Quality and Affordable Advertising

“It is important not to overlook paid search engine advertising for your online business. Many of the leading search providers, such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing, offer paid advertising at rates that are affordable to businesses of any size. This is a great way to get targeted visitors to your website which could lead to potential sales.”

Sean Black
Marketing Lead
MerchantControl.com

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Use Long Tail Phrases to Describe Products

“Most people think of keywords as individual words. While these are important it is also important to think about the phrases that consumers use to describe your products. These phrases are referred to as ‘long tail keywords.’ For many websites, more than half of traffic comes with long tail keywords than from shorter one- or two-keyword phrases.”

Anthony Vitro
Account Manager
SageTree

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Fundamental Security Tips

“It’s critical to become a stickler for security when it comes to your customer’s data. Some fundamental tips are to use strong passwords and change them frequently, become PCI compliant, never store sensitive information in plain-text at any point, use digital certificates, store transaction IDs/subscription IDs over credit card data, and above all do not store any more customer data than is necessary.”

Stephan Rohde
Founder
Sevenforty Consulting, LLC

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Work Together to Build Strong Links

“To make the most of out your SEO linking strategy, make sure that the rest of your marketing team understands what keywords and pages you’re targeting. Some of the best natural links come from work you’re already doing elsewhere, from press releases to social media.”

Helen Fang
Marketing Manager
Vendio

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Diversify Online Marketing Tactics

“Online merchants should diversify tactics to reach customers through targeted advertising on sites like Shopzilla, Bing cashback, and Google Product Search; timely email promotions; and most importantly, by providing relevant, quality site content and high-quality images that foster a better online shopping experience.”

Lin Grosman
Marketing & Business Development
GoDataFeed.com

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Put Your Best Image Forward

“Compared to traditional store rent and utilities, ecommerce has built-in advantages with already cheap start-up costs. Resist skimping further on aesthetics and appearance; these things strongly represent you, your vision, and your business. Spend the dollars in design, proper functionality, and support to ensure your image is represented correctly.”

Josh Jones
Owner and Architect
Level Four Storefront, LLC

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Audit Search Queries Often

“Regularly audit your search queries. These are the actual words a searcher types, not the keywords you buy. If you buy paid search advertising using broad match and phrase match, you could be wasting money.”

Alex Cohen
Marketing Manage
ClickEquations.com

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Start Planning for Holiday Season Now

“To succeed during the holiday season, make sure your website and its underlying technology can support your marketing plans now. Online retailers should be prepared to quickly and accurately process large quantities of orders during the holiday season. And, integrate social media, wish lists, and page promotions now to have a successful holiday shopping season.”

Sean Cook
CEO
ShopVisible

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Use A Site Search That Incorporates Guided Navigation

“Shoppers often begin their search using vague and general terms, and then abandon the search in frustration and leave the website altogether because too many choices are returned in an unstructured manner. Guided navigation helps solve this problem by allowing the visitor to easily and rapidly narrow the search in a highly structured fashion.”

John Schoeph, President
Reinhart Technologies Inc.
CyberSiteSearch

Got a helpful ecommerce tip? Email kate@practicalecommerce.com.