Category

Design & Development

The nuts and bolts of an ecommerce site are design and development. We address design innovation and trends — including layouts, colors, photography, logos, video, and more. We explain the basics of code — HTML, CSS, JavaScript — as well as platforms, themes, plugins, open source, and related topics.

Code | Design & Dev Tools | Platforms & Apps | Schools & Resources | Typography & Fonts | User Experience

User Experience
Using Keyboard-only Navigation, for Web Accessibility

March 30, 2016 • Joseph C. Dolson

At many of the web development conferences I attend, there is a talk on how to use an integrated development environment to aid in programming. The speaker will almost invariably ...
Design & Development
5 Ways to Improve Mobile Commerce in 2016

March 24, 2016 • Armando Roggio

Mobile commerce sales accounted for about 29 percent of all ecommerce sales in 2015, according to published reports. In spite of this, many online retailers have yet to master the ...
Schools & Resources
11 New Ecommerce Books for Spring 2016

March 20, 2016 • Sig Ueland

Spring is here, which means it’s time to look at the new ecommerce books. There are titles on content marketing, crowdfunding, platform enterprises, brand identity, startup strategy, and building a ...
Code
What CSS Means for Ecommerce Merchants

March 18, 2016 • Eric Davis

Last month, in “What HTML5 Means for Ecommerce Merchants,” I described the purpose of HyperText Markup Language, and how HTML5 is better than previous versions. In this article, I’ll review ...
User Experience
How to Make Videos Accessible for Blind, Disabled Users

February 28, 2016 • Joseph C. Dolson

A video is a compelling option when you want to demonstrate a product or show off its features. But a video can cause accessibility challenges. They aren’t insurmountable, by any ...
Code
What HTML5 Means for Ecommerce Merchants

February 25, 2016 • Eric Davis

What is one thing all ecommerce stores have in common? They use HTML. In fact, just about every website uses HTML. That means when an update to HTML comes out, it ...
Code
Image Recognition APIs May Help Ecommerce

February 25, 2016 • Armando Roggio

A pair of new image-analysis solutions could open the door for powerful ecommerce and retail applications that significantly improve shopping experiences or create new marketing opportunities. On Feb. 18, 2016, Google ...
User Experience
7 Mistakes to Avoid When Designing Website Forms

February 23, 2016 • Daniel Kedinger

Web forms are often one of the last things considered in a website’s design, but it is one of the ways people interact with a site most frequently. Whether it is a checkout form, registration signup, or simple contact form, the following seven web form mistakes can hurt your chances of a getting a prospective customer to do business with your company.
Design & Development
Monitor Accessibility Errors on Your Ecommerce Site with Scrapy, WAVE

February 19, 2016 • Armando Roggio

In just a few lines of code, ecommerce businesses can monitor individual store pages, searching for potential web accessibility problems that might make it difficult for shoppers with disabilities to ...
Platforms & Apps
How to Build a Small Business Website Using Squarespace

February 9, 2016 • Daniel Kedinger

Squarespace is an easy to use platform for building a small business website, to get up and running in a relatively short time frame. It contains a variety of beautifully-designed starter templates that make adding and editing content a simple procedure. Squarespace also provides an ecommerce solution, to sell products or collect donations.
User Experience
Common Web Accessibility Problems on Leading Ecommerce Sites

February 4, 2016 • Armando Roggio

From missing alternative text to redundancy, several of the Internet’s leading ecommerce sites have potential web accessibility problems, which might make it difficult for shoppers with disabilities. In the absence of ...
Code
Crawl Your Ecommerce Site with Python, Scrapy

February 1, 2016 • Armando Roggio

Ecommerce business owners and managers have many good reasons to crawl their own websites, including monitoring pages, tracking site performance, ensuring the site is accessible to customers with disabilities, and ...
Design & Development
15 Questions to Ask a Web Designer

January 26, 2016 • Daniel Kedinger

If you are looking for a web designer to help with your next small business website, ask the following questions, to avoid major issues during the project.
Design & Dev Tools
6 Online Appointment Scheduling Tools, for Service Businesses

January 20, 2016 • Kathleen Fealy

Online appointment scheduling tools provide efficient, practical, and profitable solutions for consulting and professional service businesses to manage their customer, vendor, and prospect communications. Schedulers are appearing on "contact us" forms, support pages, and services forms throughout the web.
Schools & Resources
6 Web Design Trends for 2016

January 14, 2016 • Daniel Kedinger

Web design trends are never static but change constantly. Here are six new trends that you can expect to see in 2016.
Design & Development
Google Analytics: How to Create Dashboard Overviews

January 7, 2016 • Sharon Mostyn

Dashboards provide an efficient way to review your Google Analytics data. By combining relevant data into a dashboard, you can quickly and easily make determinations about your website's performance.
Design & Development
6 Things to Look for in a Web Developer’s Portfolio

January 6, 2016 • Armando Roggio

Hiring a web or application developer to build your ecommerce site or money-generating mobile application can be a challenge, especially if you do not know what skills or experience the ...
Design & Dev Tools
2016 Online Marketing Checkup: 10 Tasks, Tools, Guides

January 6, 2016 • Kathleen Fealy

January is the perfect time to make improvements to your online marketing plan or implement a particular strategy to benefit your business, both in the long and short term. Having a solid foundation as you begin the year will help your business grow and compete more effectively.
Design & Development
13 Infographics to Kickoff Your 2016 Marketing Plans

December 23, 2015 • Kathleen Fealy

It’s time to plan your 2016 marketing calendar and make decisions about which strategies to implement. This collection of 13 infographics serves as a quick reference guide to concepts such as 2016 marketing trends, social network image sizes, AdWords optimization techniques, social media engagement practices, and more. Use it to spark new ideas and see where business opportunities exist.
Schools & Resources
13 New Ecommerce Books for Winter 2016

December 20, 2015 • Sig Ueland

It’s time to look at the new ecommerce books for winter 2016. There are titles on content strategy, mobile marketing, building a business plan, design theory, launching small startups and ...
User Experience
Strategies for Website Accessibility, for Ecommerce

December 14, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Goodwill, smart business, and even vague governmental regulation should compel ecommerce businesses to make websites accessible to all potential customers, including those who are blind or deaf or have other ...
Typography & Fonts
20 Emoji Tools and Resources, for Marketing

December 7, 2015 • Sig Ueland

If you need any convincing that emoji pictographs are relevant to communication, Oxford University Press has announced its Word of the Year is the “Face With Tears of Joy” emoji.
Schools & Resources
15 Helpful Forums for Online Merchants

November 30, 2015 • Sig Ueland

Online merchants often work alone or in small teams, particularly when starting out. However, merchants can find help from many of their peers in online forums. Here is a list of ...
Design & Development
5 Ecommerce Site Design Trends for 2016

November 8, 2015 • Armando Roggio

In 2016, ecommerce websites may start to look a lot more alike as designers use a similar set of user interface design patterns, employ cards and card-like layouts, and even ...
Schools & Resources
10 How-to Video Examples for Merchants

November 5, 2015 • Sig Ueland

How-to videos can establish your expertise, promote your products, and entertain and inspire viewers. Here is a list of how-to videos from brands and merchants. All of these videos provide helpful ...
Design & Development
Designing Banner Ads for Ecommerce Marketers

November 2, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Successful online banner ads feature clear and concise creative content that often expresses a single idea about a single product. For online sellers, a well-planned and well-designed banner ad may ...
Platforms & Apps
10 New, Free Ecommerce Themes for WordPress

November 2, 2015 • Sig Ueland

With an abundance of free themes available, WordPress is an ideal platform to start your ecommerce store — without breaking the bank. Here is a list of new ecommerce themes for WordPress.
Schools & Resources
8 Digital Marketing Awards to Follow, for Inspiration

October 26, 2015 • Sig Ueland

When developing digital content for your brand, why not learn from the best? Annual digital marketing awards are good for discovering creative content and effective campaigns on the Internet. And ...
Design & Development
3 Ways to Use ‘Haul’ Videos in Ecommerce Marketing

October 18, 2015 • Armando Roggio

According to Google, about 40 percent of shoppers who watch “haul” videos — which are a sort of show-and-tell for shoppers — will go to a store’s website or physical ...
Design & Development
4 Ways to Improve Ecommerce Security for the Holidays

October 13, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Site security is an important part of running an online retail business. Before the holiday shopping season arrives and your online store experiences increased traffic, it is important to check ...

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