Sig Ueland

Articles by: Sig Ueland

Sig Ueland

Sig Ueland is a longtime contributor to Practical Ecommerce, having written weekly ecommerce resource lists since 2011 — addressing tools, products, and services to help merchants.

He is also a seasoned freelance journalist and screenwriter.

Sig holds an M.F.A. in Screenwriting from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television and a B.A. in English from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is an alumnus of The Second City Conservatory in Chicago.

Contact Sig via email or LinkedIn.

Design & Dev Tools
11 Mobile Website Builders for Ecommerce Merchants

May 5, 2014 • Sig Ueland

There are a variety of solutions for merchants who are interested in establishing or improving their mobile presence. For small businesses just starting, there are affordable do-it-yourself options with basic ...
Finance
18 Ecommerce Crowdfunding Success Stories

April 21, 2014 • Sig Ueland

In “9 Equity Crowdfunding Sites to Finance your Business,” my article last week, I outlined leading crowdfunding sites that offer equity stakes in startups and small businesses. As a result ...
Finance
9 Equity Crowdfunding Sites to Finance your Business

April 14, 2014 • Sig Ueland

Thanks to the JOBS Act, startups and small businesses can now publicly raise equity funding via online crowdfunding sites. In September 2013, Title II of the JOBS Act went into ...
Platforms & Apps
17 Chrome Apps to Run your Business

March 31, 2014 • Sig Ueland

Google’s Chrome Web Store offers apps to streamline the Chrome experience, providing a small business with tools to thrive using cloud-based solutions. Here is a list of apps to run your ...
Schools & Resources
11 New Ecommerce Books for Spring 2014

March 24, 2014 • Sig Ueland

At last, spring is here. Here is a list of new ecommerce and Internet-marketing books for spring 2014. There are new titles on content marketing, entrepreneurship, web psychology, small business ...
On-page SEO
9 Tools and Templates for Pre-launch Landing Pages

March 18, 2014 • Sig Ueland

Before you launch your business, you can begin to reach potential customers with a pre-launch landing page. Use one to develop your message, build a mailing list, and create some ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
12 Apps and Resources for Shipping

March 3, 2014 • Sig Ueland

Product shipping is an essential task for most all ecommerce merchants. And efficient and reliable shipping is one of the best opportunities you have to make a positive impression on your ...
Social Media
9 Contests on Facebook from Retailers

February 10, 2014 • Sig Ueland

Facebook Page owners can now run promotional contests directly on the Timeline, simply and easily, without high cost and without a third-party app provider. As a result, smaller merchants can ...
Platforms & Apps
20 New Ecommerce Themes for WordPress

January 13, 2014 • Sig Ueland

With its wide variety of ecommerce themes, WordPress makes it easy to get a shop up and running in no time. Here is a list of new ecommerce themes for WordPress.
Marketing & Advertising
12 Most-shared Video Ads of 2013

December 23, 2013 • Sig Ueland

2013 has been a big year for online video ads — from branded videos on Vine and Instagram to Facebook’s testing auto-play video ads in its news feeds. Here is a ...
Payments
10 Bitcoin-like Cryptocurrencies

December 16, 2013 • Sig Ueland

A “cryptocurrency” is a peer-to-peer, decentralized, digital currency. In 2009, Bitcoin became the first cryptocurrency to trade on third-party markets. Since then, many cryptocurrencies have been developed and are actively ...
Payments
11 Alternative Payment Options

December 9, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Alternatives to entering credit card numbers can provide customers with more payment choices, streamline checkout for mobile devices, and potentially save merchants money. Here is a list of alternative payment options.
Platforms & Apps
20 Apps for Microsoft SkyDrive

December 2, 2013 • Sig Ueland

SkyDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage service, similar to Google Drive and Dropbox. SkyDrive comes with some attractive features, such as 7 GB of free storage and mobile apps for iOS,
Schools & Resources
16 Free Online Tools for Small Businesses

November 25, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Whether you’re starting a small business or you’re just thrifty, you can likely benefit from some free online productivity tools. Here is a list of online productivity tools for small businesses.
Marketing & Advertising
9 Holiday Retail Marketing Campaigns

November 18, 2013 • Sig Ueland

The holiday season is here, and so are the holiday marketing campaigns. And thanks to social media and some creative online applications, companies now have many ways to engage customers ...
Photography & Video
I Made a Movie and So Can You! Tools and Resources

October 23, 2013 • Sig Ueland

On Oct 24, 2013 at 7 p.m., Coffee, Kill Boss, a movie I wrote and co-produced, will premiere in the beautiful Paramount Theater at the Austin Film Festival. Here is a ...
Schools & Resources
12 New Ecommerce Books for the Holidays

October 21, 2013 • Sig Ueland

With the holidays around the corner, it’s time to browse the new ecommerce books. I compiled this list using Amazon’s “Books” category. I selected “Browse Subjects” and chose the “Business &
Google Ads
24 Pay-per-click Advertising Tools

September 16, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Managing a pay-per-click advertising campaign can be time-consuming and expensive. Fortunately, there is a wide range of tools available to create efficient ad copy and to optimize your budget. Here is ...
Photography & Video
15 Video Tutorials for Product Photography

August 26, 2013 • Sig Ueland

You can produce professional-looking product photos without having to hire a professional photographer. By following simple instructions from online video tutorials, you can create rich product images for very little ...
Social Media
10 Brands on Vine

August 20, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Vine is Twitter’s video sharing app that allows users to record six-second looping videos on their iOS or Android smartphones. Many brands have embraced Vine as a fun tool to ...
Conversion
10 A/B Testing Tools for Small Businesses

August 5, 2013 • Sig Ueland

A/B testing is a simple process to test versions of your page and determine which produce positive results. It is a great way to remove the guesswork from your development and focus on what’s working. Here is a list of affordable A/B testing solutions for small businesses. There are ea...
Schools & Resources
18 Resources to Make a Logo

July 8, 2013 • Sig Ueland

A logo is a way for a business to convey its identity and purpose. But hiring a designer to create a logo can be an expensive and intimidating process. There are a wide variety of online tools available to create a unique logo without spending a huge amount of money. Here is a list of ...
Schools & Resources
14 New Ecommerce Books for Summer 2013

June 17, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of new ecommerce and Internet-marketing books for summer 2013. There are new titles on digital marketing, A/B testing, search engine optimization, inbound content marketing, mobile commerce, email strategies, social influence, and drop shipping. I compiled the list usin...
Amazon & Marketplaces
13 Curated Shopping Sites

June 10, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Sometimes shoppers need a little help. Rather than searching through an endless supply of products, they may prefer a selection from the experts or tastemakers they follow. Here is a list of curated shopping sites. Some of the sites offer personalized product recommendations by expert ...
Design & Dev Tools
19 Free Design Tools for Your Website

May 29, 2013 • Sig Ueland

If you have a small business website, chances are you can use all the free design help you can get. Here is a list of tools and resources to help you with website design. There are font, icon and image tools, as well as audio and video applications. Also there are resources to give you ideas and generate your design inspiration. All of these tools are free.
Design & Dev Tools
21 Free Tools to Open a WordPress Shop

May 27, 2013 • Sig Ueland

WordPress is a free content management system with an abundance of free plugins and themes to launch and manage an ecommerce shop. If you’re looking for an inexpensive and flexible solution to test the ecommerce waters, WordPress might be right for you. Here is a list of free tools to...
Schools & Resources
11 Sites with Great Search

May 20, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Search is a big opportunity to provide a positive shopping experience. Helping customers find what they’re looking for is a proven way to generate sales. Here is a list of sites that offer compelling search. Some of these sites provide traditional site search with advanced search opti...
Technical SEO
10 Free Website Speed Tests

May 13, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Before your customers enter your ecommerce store, they’re waiting for it to load. Page load time is the lapsed time between the moment a user requests a new page and when that page is fully rendered by the browser. Reducing page load times can reduce bounce rates and increase conversion...
Design & Dev Tools
15 Easy Mobile App Solutions

May 6, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Mobile apps can be easy to make. With the variety of mobile app builders to choose from, even non-coders can build their own mobile apps with ease — from basic catalogs to complex utilities. Here is a list of solutions to build your own mobile app. These tools are primarily for users w...
Social Media
13 Inspiring Brands on Pinterest

April 22, 2013 • Sig Ueland

Pinterest is a place for inspiration. Successful brands use it not only to show off a product, but also to inspire people with the ideas, moods, and images behind the brand. Here is a list of brands that inspire on Pinterest. Their boards are filled with beautiful images and amazing d...