Page 148 – Practical Ecommerce

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On-page SEO
SEO: Q&A for Google’s ‘Mobile-friendly’ Algorithm

April 3, 2015 • Jill Kocher Brown

Google’s “mobile friendly” algorithm update, to be released on April 21, has understandably created a major shift in the way ecommerce sites think about their mobile search optimization strategies. Announced over ...
Business
Exactor CEO on Federal Sales Tax Legislation

April 2, 2015 • PEC Staff

The rise of ecommerce has reduced local brick-and-mortar retail sales and the corresponding sales taxes from those transactions — putting states and localities in a revenue bind. A hodgepodge of ...
Design & Development
4 Email Newsletter Best Practices to Drive Conversions

April 2, 2015 • Phil Frost

An email newsletter can be one of the most powerful tools that a small business owner has for converting website visitors into prospects and prospects into customers. The reason is that newsletters address two fundamental aspects of conversion: engaging your audience with valuable information and staying top of mind, so that your company is the most logical choice when it’s time to make a purchase.
Social Media
Comparing Facebook Video to YouTube, for Ecommerce

April 1, 2015 • Samantha Collier

Facebook’s video capabilities are gaining momentum, with new functionality and advertising options. Video is taking over our Facebook newsfeeds. Many ecommerce video marketers are starting to question whether they should emphasize Facebook ...
Google Ads
Pay-per-click: The Case for Bing Ads

March 31, 2015 • Robert Brady

The dominance of Google hit home for me this past week as I was listening to a phone call for one of my clients. The representative on the phone was ...
Business
QuickBooks Online vs. Xero: Which Is Better?

March 30, 2015 • Mac McSwain

Most ecommerce merchants are familiar with QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online. Xero, a hosted accounting platform for small businesses, is less known. As a CPA for small-to-midsized ecommerce companies, I prefer ...
Social Media
TripAdvisor: How to Claim and Promote Your Listing

March 30, 2015 • Paul Chaney

With more than 315 million monthly users, TripAdvisor is the leading consumer rating and review site for the travel industry. TripAdvisor allows hotels, restaurants, attractions, and vacation rentals to claim and manage their listing, which creates opportunities for consumer engagement and business promotion.
Business
Leading Brick-and-click Retailers Winning in Mobile

March 30, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Large multichannel retailers are using mobile commerce and mobile apps for in-store sales. Although trend-tracking firm comScore recently ranked Amazon and Ebay as the top two mobile-savvy sellers, there is ...
On-page SEO
SEO: How Google’s ‘Mobile-friendly’ Update Affects Performance

March 27, 2015 • Jill Kocher Brown

Google’s “mobile-friendly” algorithm update is big news. But how will it impact your ecommerce performance? On April 21, Google will begin rolling out a worldwide mobile-friendly algorithm update that will have ...
Business > Merchant Voice
From Magento to WooCommerce, part 5

March 27, 2015 • Richard Stubbings

This is the fifth and final installment in a series of posts that describes my disenchantment with Magento and my consideration of WooCommerce as a new platform for my ecommerce ...
Shipping & Fulfillment
How to Manage UPS, FedEx Dimensional Weight Pricing

March 26, 2015 • Michael Manzione

The days of being able to offer free shipping may be coming to an end for many ecommerce merchants. UPS and FedEx have implemented dimensional weight pricing for ground packages ...
Local Business
Pros, Cons of Facebook Local Awareness Ads

March 26, 2015 • Rodney Hess

These days, advertising is almost a necessity when promoting your small business on Facebook. In 2013, the average organic reach of a business page’s post was anywhere between 12 to 16 percent of its total audience — a number that has decreased steadily ever since. A 2014 report from Social@Oglivy found that the number is now closer to six percent.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for April 2015

March 26, 2015 • Armando Roggio

April’s list of widely recognized holidays is a good source of content marketing. Add to this the power of publishing a lookbook, and you have five compelling ideas for ecommerce ...
Influencers & Affiliates
Bitly-Viglink Affiliate Deal Raises Concerns

March 25, 2015 • Carolyn Kmet

In early February, Bitly, the popular URL-shortening service, partnered with affiliate tool Viglink to auto-monetize every shortlink generated by Bitly’s millions of users. To understand the impact of this partnership,
Business
Supreme Court to Address Ecommerce Sales Tax?

March 25, 2015 • Elizabeth Lewis

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a closely watched decision in the Colorado “Amazon tax” case, Direct Marketing Association v. Huber. Marketing associations, affiliate marketing groups, online sellers,
Payments
Follow-up: EMV Credit Cards and AmEx OptBlue

March 24, 2015 • Phil Hinke

This is a follow-up to two topics I addressed previously on credit card processing: EMV chip cards and the American Express OptBlue program. I described earlier this year the changes affecting EMV ...
Content Marketing
9 Steps to Planning Website Content

March 24, 2015 • Daniel Kedinger

Planning and developing your website’s content can be a difficult task. Whether you have three pages or 100, deciding what content to place on your site is crucial to its overall success. Content not only includes the written copy but images, charts, or downloadable files as well.
Social Media
10 Ways to Deal with Negative Customer Reviews

March 23, 2015 • Paul Chaney

Consumers often rely on the opinions of others when making purchase decisions. According to Zendesk, a customer service software platform, 88 percent have been influenced by an online customer service review when deciding what to buy.
Business
6 Global, Online Shopping Trends that Could Impact Your Business

March 23, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Personalization, videos on product detail pages, and content marketing are among six important online shopping trends that are impacting ecommerce business practices, according to a new study. iVentures Consulting, a management ...
Checkout Tactics
How to Encourage Account Signup and Still Close the Sale

March 23, 2015 • Pamela Hazelton

Whether or not to utilize customer accounts is a never-ending debate. There are pros and cons to either method: prompting shoppers to create an account versus offering only guest checkout.
Schools & Resources
15 New Ecommerce Books for Spring 2015

March 22, 2015 • Sig Ueland

Spring is here. Here is a list of new ecommerce and Internet-marketing books for spring 2015. There are new titles on digital currency, Google Analytics, peer-to-peer economics, tax and legal ...
Analytics & Data
SEO: Using Data to Drive Performance

March 20, 2015 • Jill Kocher Brown

Two weeks ago, in “SEO: Measuring Key Performance Indicators,” I discussed the importance of goal setting and key performance indicators in search engine optimization. Now it’s time to use the ...
Marketing & Advertising
8 Ways a Marketing Agency Can Help an Ecommerce Business

March 19, 2015 • Armando Roggio

A good marketing agency may be able to help ecommerce businesses grow more quickly and alleviate stress for the entrepreneurs who own those businesses. Almost every business owner wants his or ...
Local Business
13 Local Business ‘About Us’ Pages, to Inspire

March 19, 2015 • Kathleen Fealy

Analytic programs show that the About Us page is one of the most viewed pages on a website, second only to the home page. Below are examples of local business About Us pages intended to inspire you. These pages aren't perfect, but they communicate the story of the company and its owners, engage the consumer in a unique way, and represent the brand or personality of the company.
Social Media
Using Woobox for Facebook Promotions: Pros and Cons

March 18, 2015 • Kristine Wirth

Many local businesses have Facebook pages where they engage with fans by posting coupons, running contests, or uploading product photos. Often, small business owners will utilize a variety of third-party platforms to accomplish these tasks, which can be time-consuming for someone already managing multiple business-related responsibilities.
Shipping & Fulfillment
Drop Shipping: How to Manage Fulfillment

March 18, 2015 • Jeremy Hanks

Recall from my previous posts that drop shipping requires three major data integrations between the retailer and the supplier: product catalog, inventory, and orders. It all culminates with fulfillment and ...
Email & Text Marketing
Email Marketing Metrics, Part 2: Advanced Topics

March 17, 2015 • Carolyn Nye

In “Email Marketing Metrics, Part 1: The Basics,” my article last month, I addressed the primary measurements for email marketing: delivery rate, open rate, and click rate. In this “Part 2”
Marketing & Advertising
How to Measure Content Marketing

March 16, 2015 • Armando Roggio

Content marketing may be one of the most effective ways for small and mid-sized businesses to attract and retain customers in 2015. Or it may not be. Nineteenth century American merchant ...
Local Business
How to Use Yelp for Local Marketing

March 16, 2015 • Paul Chaney

Yelp enables people to search for local businesses based on customer ratings and reviews. It covers a broad range of industry sectors including food, beauty and spas, health and medical, home services, and many more. As a business owner, you can use Yelp to showcase your products and services, and connect with customers and prospects in your local area.
Business > Merchant Voice
From Magento to WooCommerce, part 4

March 15, 2015 • Richard Stubbings

This is the fourth installment in my series of describing the process of migrating from Magento to WooCommerce. In “part 1,” I discussed my frustrations with Magento and the appeal ...