Marcia Yudkin - Practical Ecommerce

Articles by: Marcia Yudkin

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Marcia Yudkin

Marcia Yudkin is founder of No-Hype Marketing Academy, which offers on-demand online courses on copywriting, marketing, and publicity. The author of 17 books, including Persuading People to Buy, Meatier Marketing Copy, and 6 Steps to Free Publicity, she has been a consultant for small-to-medium-sized companies and professional services firms since the early dot-com years.

Marcia divides her time between the island of Maui and the woods of Western Massachusetts.

Follow her "Marketing for Introverts" channel on YouTube.

Conversion
Shopper’s Journey: Lessons from a Gift Search

December 11, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Is your ecommerce site set up for consumers who know very little about your products? I recently shopped for a bicycle safety light for a relative who commutes to work by ...
Marketing & Advertising
16 Quick and Free Grammar and Usage Resources

November 11, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

At 3 a.m., while polishing an email blast for your customers, you get a brain freeze about a grammar question. Use these free online resources to answer questions on grammar, punctuation, spelling, writing errors, and more.
Marketing & Advertising
5 Ways to Land Your Company in the News

October 13, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

You’re likely already marketing in social media. Traditional media such as television, magazines, and news agencies may be off your radar. Getting into the media spotlight can cost nothing other than a little time, effort, and creativity. Here’s how.
Product Pages
Product Descriptions: 17 Fresh Writing Angles

September 9, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Need to spice up descriptions for bland products? Use these themes and examples the next time you’re describing a back-to-school backpack or plain white t-shirt. You’ll soon understand how to look at ordinary products differently.
Conversion
6 Misconceptions about Negative Reviews

August 8, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Ecommerce merchants sometimes manage their online reviews out of fear. Doesn’t it make sense to remove wacky, blistering or biased reviews? Instead, consider these six perspectives on commonly held beliefs about how reviews function and influence shoppers.
Conversion
7 Ways to Address Concerns of Online Shoppers

July 10, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Even for an ordinary, inexpensive item, it’s astounding how many uncertainties can come up from online shoppers. If you tried to address every single worry or question in a product description, it would quickly become bloated and unmanageable. Instead, refer shoppers to secondary content, such as the following seven options.
Shipping & Fulfillment
How to (Clearly) Explain Shipping and Return Policies

June 13, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Ideally, a shopper comes to your site, finds a product she wants to buy, puts it in her cart, and then completes the purchase. Near the end of that process,
Customer Retention
Overlooked Ways to Encourage Repeat Business

May 13, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Given how much more profitable returning customers are than first-time buyers, it’s amazing how many companies put so little effort into encouraging repeat sales. Consider imparting something visible and obvious to your customer as a memory prompt. This doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive.
Marketing & Advertising
7 Key Details to Enhance an Ecommerce Blog

April 12, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Many ecommerce merchants publish a blog. But they don’t always assess its overall effectiveness. Has it boosted sales? Does it generate reader engagement? In this post, I’ll review a strategy for ...
Conversion
Photo Captions (Greatly) Help Ecommerce Conversions

March 15, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Many of us conclude that pictures make words unnecessary. We believe images are so explicit and clear that they communicate fully on their own. Too often that’s not true, however. Whether of people or products, photos can be more ambiguous than most people assume.
Business
5 Writing Tools to Improve Grammar, Readability

February 19, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

If you never understood grammar in school, or if you learned English as a second or third language, you may be looking for a software tool to help. In this post, I'll address the pros and cons of using automated writing tools. I'll also list three popular grammar checkers and two readability raters.
Business
Proofreading Pitfalls That Trip Up Even Watchful Wordsmiths

February 13, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Shoppers are taken aback when they spot a typo on a website that seems to them obviously careless or ridiculous. In some instances, it’s not habitual sloppiness or lack of effort leading to the errors. Instead, certain situations crop up where even meticulous writers or editors find it tough to catch mistakes. By keeping an eye out for these glitch generators, you can keep website visitors focused shopping. Here are the seven situations most likely to cause hard-to-catch typos.
Conversion
Use Your ‘About’ Page to Build Trust with First-time Visitors

January 16, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin

Scammers don’t go to the trouble of creating a company history with its values and original photos. Consumers know this — they are reassured by original content on your “About” page. To build trust, an “About” page should include unique details, such as who started the company and why she bothered, as well as what drives her to keep at it. Communicate the story in a real and distinct manner — not as a faceless bureaucracy.
Product Pages
4 Ways to Jazz-up Product Descriptions (without Hype)

December 5, 2017 • Marcia Yudkin

According to Karon Thackston, author of Amazon Advantage: Product Listing Strategies to Boost Your Sales, successful ecommerce merchants avoid hype. Moreover, Amazon’s official terms of service for sellers forbid the ...
Marketing & Advertising
Seasonal Copy Perks Up Promotions and Triggers Purchases

November 6, 2017 • Marcia Yudkin

A few years ago, I started to read a four-page flyer from the hip grocery chain Trader Joe’s and could not stop. I was astounded at its creativity. It promoted ...
Conversion
Editing Bullet Points for Maximum Impact

October 11, 2017 • Marcia Yudkin

Most product descriptions include a section of bullet points — a succession of quick facts. It makes information easy for the eye and brain to scan. Shoppers either gaze down ...
Product Pages
How to Communicate Value in Product Descriptions

August 23, 2017 • Marcia Yudkin

Not everyone shops for the least expensive products from the lowest-priced vendor. Even so, no one wants to waste money. When you are not the bargain-basement option, it’s important to provide ...
Conversion
To Drive Conversions, Don’t Forget Clueless Shoppers

August 14, 2017 • Marcia Yudkin

Whether you’re selling eyeglass frames or earphones, swimsuits or swing sets, you’ll inevitably have shoppers unaccustomed to buying them online — or buying them ever. Others are trying to buy ...
Marketing & Advertising
Avoid Bland Wording for a Unique Company Personality

July 11, 2017 • Marcia Yudkin

One of the best ways to make sure that shoppers who find your company seek it out again is to establish a consistent and distinctive personality. Just as people might be brash,