Page 105 – Practical Ecommerce

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Technical SEO
HTTPS Is Important for More Reasons Than SEO

February 9, 2018 • Jill Kocher Brown

A website’s use of the secure protocol — as evidenced by the HTTPS designation and the presence of a security certificate — is a priority for search engines. But recent changes to Google Chrome make it important for web browsers, too. Google is tackling the security challenge across the web via its Chrome browser. Google is tackling the security challenge across the web via its Chrome browser. This week, the Chrome team announced that all web pages without an HTTPS certificate will display a “Not Secure” label in Chrome 68, scheduled to be launched in July 2018.
Social Media
The State of Social Advertising and Tracking

February 9, 2018 • Michael Stancil

What a year 2017 was for social advertising and tracking. What stayed the same, what’s new, and what is on the horizon? Let’s get into it. UTM links are still crucial to understanding ad performance. We may never move beyond UTM tags, or any query parameter tracking for that matter. The reason is simple.
Business
Create Google Docs from a Google Sheet

February 8, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Your business can use Google Apps Script to pull data from the rows and columns of a Google Sheet and create individualized Google Docs that include only the information needed. This can make your business and the folks running it more productive. Here's an example.
Google Ads
Creating Dynamic Ads on Facebook

February 7, 2018 • Robert Brady

In "Using AdWords’ New ‘Responsive Ads’ Format," my article from February 2017, I explained how AdWords allows advertisers to insert ad content on the fly, such as a logo, images, text, and the business name. It's a cool feature for advertisers short on time and design resources. In keeping with the theme, in this post I'll address Facebook, the other player in the online advertising duopoly
Customer Retention
Manage Site Search Like It’s 1996

February 7, 2018 • Pamela Hazelton

Configuring site search to mimic how visitors think and speak can go a long way to helping them find what they are looking for. That was the goal of Ask Jeeves. It launched in 1996 and shook up Internet search. Its objective was simple — to let people ask real questions, instead of entering specific keywords.
Business > Merchant Voice
My experience with product reviews

February 6, 2018 • Peter Keller

I'm a huge believer in product reviews for ecommerce sites. I have been for years — since the start of online reviews. I remember when Amazon first utilized reviews, in the early 2000s. I was working for LivingDirect, a retailer of home products. We marveled at reviews. What a strange innovation. A customer could post a review on the site — any review, any customer.
Analytics & Data
Google Data Studio: Track Sales, ROI from All Sources

February 6, 2018 • Morgan Jones

The proliferation of marketplaces and advertising channels represents a data challenge for ecommerce merchants. Increasingly, merchants are selling on Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, for example, in addition to their own websites. Many are now advertising beyond Google AdWords and Bing ads to other channels, such as Facebook and AdRoll. The challenge is obtaining traffic and conversion data from each of those sources.
B2B
Driving B2B Revenue through Personalization

February 5, 2018 • Lori McDonald

Shoppers want a personalized experience. It used to be that ecommerce sites offered what shoppers asked for. Now, thanks to personalization, ecommerce sites do that, and more. They know what shoppers want or need even before they ask. Personalization adds value. It builds a relationship.
Design & Dev Tools
13 Tools for Responsive Web Design

February 5, 2018 • Sig Ueland

Responsive web design ensures a site renders well on different devices and screens. Use responsive design tools to make sure your users have an optimal viewing experience. Here is a list of responsive design tools. There are tools to build responsive web page elements, and tools to test your design on a wide variety of actual devices and screen sizes. There are both premium and free tools.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for March 2018

February 4, 2018 • Armando Roggio

March is prime time for information about nutrition, success, humor, and being outside. So why not create seasonal content that will help your business build customer relationships and make sales? Content marketing is the act of creating, publishing, and distributing articles, podcasts, or videos with the aim of attracting, engaging, and retaining customers. It works on the principle of reciprocity — exchanging things for mutual benefit.
Technical SEO
6 Ways Web Developers Can Improve SEO

February 2, 2018 • Jill Kocher Brown

The relationship between web developers and search-engine-optimization teams is sometimes contentious. Seemingly unrelated technical decisions by developers can impact organic search traffic. But there are enormous SEO benefits in working with development teams and their release planning and testing cycles. In 13 years, I’ve encountered just one developer who refused to consider SEO recommendations.
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: February 1, 2018

February 1, 2018 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of product releases and updates for late-January from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on voice shopping, managed hosting, customer service solutions, personalized emails, and zero-fraud payments.
Amazon & Marketplaces
How to benefit from Amazon ads

February 1, 2018 • Phil Masiello

Amazon Marketing Services offers three advertising options, for vendors and sellers: Product Display Ads, Sponsored Products, and Headline Search Ads. To win the Buy Box and build your brand, the key is to know which type of ad to use and how to use it — whether you sell on Seller Central, Vendor Centra
Business
January 2018 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

January 31, 2018 • PEC Staff

What follows are our 10 most popular articles for January 2018. "5 Content Marketing Ideas for February 2018." Valentine’s Day dominates the retail calendar in February, driving more than $18 billion in consumer purchases in the United States alone, including, by some accounts, $5.4 billion in ecommerce sales. Valentine’s Day spending often includes dinner out and movie tickets.
Checkout Tactics
Optimizing Checkout Flow in WooCommerce

January 31, 2018 • Curtis McHale

Abandoned shopping carts are a hurdle for online merchants. Optimizing your checkout process will lower abandonment rates, and increase sales. In this post, I'll review methods to streamline and simplify a checkout. I'll cite examples from the WooCommerce platform. But the broader points apply to all merchants, on all platforms.
Shipping & Fulfillment
New Electronic Logging Mandate May Increase Shipping Costs

January 30, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Critics of a new logging mandate for freight carriers claim it is creating a shortage of drivers and increasing shipping costs in many industries, including retail. Beginning December 2017, the U.S.
Amazon & Marketplaces
11 Amazon Seller Tools to Manage Customer Feedback

January 30, 2018 • Connor Gillivan

Amazon’s metrics help keep sellers aligned with the company’s overall mission of outstanding service for all customers. But the process of managing and optimizing customer feedback, product reviews, and overall seller rating can be time-consuming. Fortunately, third-party software companies can help. In this post, I'll list 11 vendors that help Amazon sellers manage customer feedback.
User Experience
SEO: 8 Ways UX and Design Could Reduce Traffic

January 29, 2018 • Jill Kocher Brown

For more than a decade I've optimized organic search traffic for big and small companies. They often come to my team with greatly diminished search performance stemming from decisions on overall strategy and design. The decisions resulted in changes to internal linking structures and reduced textual content, which affected the authority and relevance signals that search engines rely on to rank pages. Here are eight common strategy and design decisions that, in my experience, often harm organic search traffic.
Social Media
12 New Social Media Tools for 2018

January 29, 2018 • Sig Ueland

Improve your social media marketing this year with a slew of new tools. Create content to promote your brand, engage with customers, and track your success. Here is a list of new social media tools for 2018. There are tools to create infographics, stories, contests, and video and audio elements. There are also tools to communicate with customers, edit links on social media, and even purchase branded content from creators.
Cross-border Selling
Ecommerce in Nordic Region: Affluent Market, Appetite for Foreign Goods

January 28, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan

Scandinavia is an affluent market with an appetite for foreign goods. The Nordic region — Scandinavia — encompasses Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Individually, each country may not seem to be an attractive cross-border opportunity for merchants. Combined, the population is just 26 million. However, Nordic ecommerce is primarily driven by foreign merchants that give consumers access to goods that they are otherwise unable to find in local physical stores.
Business
The Rise of Human-free Retail

January 26, 2018 • Gagan Mehra

A few days back the first Amazon Go convenience store opened, in Seattle. Shoppers can simply pick up the items they want to purchase and walk out. There is no need to stand in lines and go through checkout. Will Walmart, Target, and other competitors implement a similar technology? The answer is likely "yes." In fact, other companies are doing it already.
Code
3 Steps to Minimize Technology Risks for an Ecommerce Store

January 24, 2018 • Eric Davis

Every business has risks. Part of what makes a business successful is how it eliminates or reduces those risks while still serving customers. The hardware and software that power your ecommerce store create risks. I'll call them technology risks. Some technology risks are benign and don't threaten the company. Other risks can have a sizable impact on the business.
Customer Retention
Comparing A/B and Multivariate Testing

January 24, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

A/B tests are controlled experiments of two attributes, to measure which one was most popular with users. You can apply A/B testing to just about anything that you can measure. Multivariate testing allows you to measure multiple variables simultaneously.
Keyword Research
How to Identify Keywords That Signal Shoppers’ Intent

January 23, 2018 • Armando Roggio

Keyword phrases are the fuel that drives many online marketing efforts, including search engine optimization, paid search advertising, and even content ideas. If marketers do a better job in selecting keyword phrases, they may do a better job promoting their products and content.
Conversion
Study: Personalized Recommendations Produce 4 Times More Conversions

January 22, 2018 • Pamela Hazelton

Personalization is the key to selling online. Without personalization, you’re relying on consumers to figure out what they want. By presenting relevant products, you eliminate all of that hard work, which most aren’t going to do anyway. A study conducted by Salesforce in March to June 2017 revealed that shoppers prompted with relevant product recommendations accounted for 26 percent of revenue on ecommerce sites. This, despite results that show only 7 percent of visitors actually click such links.
Business
New Sales Tax Law Targets Marketplaces

January 21, 2018 • Shane Ratigan

Sales tax calculation, collection, and remittance remain a challenge for ecommerce businesses. The state of Washington, for example, recently began enforcement of regulations that require marketplaces with a physical presence in Washington (or annual sales to residents of at least $10,000) to collect on behalf of third party sellers who utilize the marketplace’s platform.
Technical SEO
SEO: Google to Make Mobile Speed a Ranking Factor

January 19, 2018 • Jill Kocher Brown

If you weren’t already focused on your mobile site’s performance, Google is giving you a reason. In July of 2018, Google will use a new ranking signal focused purely on mobile site speed: the “Speed Update.” Google will dampen rankings for slower mobile sites to help mobile searchers find sites that deliver what Google considers to be a better mobile experience. Desktop site speed has been a Google ranking factor for almost eight years — its obsession with speed isn’t anything new. What is new is that Google will now include mobile sites in the site speed ranking equation.
Email & Text Marketing
4 Common Methods to Personalize Email Marketing

January 18, 2018 • Carolyn Nye

Personalizing an email marketing program can greatly increase opens and clicks. But a quick look at my inbox reveals that very few retailers are doing it effectively. Much of the success of any marketing effort can be boiled down to making the message relevant to individuals. In this post, I'll review four common methods to personalize email, to encourage conversions.
Conversion
What’s the True Value of a Conversion?

January 17, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

How you calculate the value of a conversion can have big implications for your marketing budget and your company's bottom line. Many marketers optimize their search campaigns, for example, by looking at the cost per conversion of a given keyword. For display or video campaigns, analyzing performance by the cost of conversion per ad or ad type is common. But what happens if the person that clicked on a Facebook ad then clicked on a search ad a few days later? How much value would your attribute to each source?
Business
How to Plan for the Death of a Business Owner

January 17, 2018 • John Di Giacomo

The combination of a busy travel schedule and the death of my mother has kept me from writing this column. But these have also given me time to reflect on my own preparedness for life's unforeseen events. With this post, my hope is that others can learn from my reflection and better protect their businesses and families.