Page 66 – Practical Ecommerce

Category

Keyword Research
SEO: How to Target High-demand Keywords (or Not)

September 28, 2020 • Jill Kocher Brown

Search engine optimization often has lofty goals, such as ranking on page one for a high-demand phrase. How can you reach a seemingly impossible objective? The sites that rank on the first page of the search results are Google's assessment of the best options.
Social Media
9 Pointers for High-converting Instagram Ads

September 27, 2020 • Kaleena Stroud

Instagram ads appear in users' feeds. The ads look like a regular post but with a sponsored label and a colored call-to-action button. What follows are nine tips for high-converting Instagram ads.
Business
‘My Wife Quit’ Founder on SMS Marketing, SaaS Platforms, osCommerce

September 25, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

In 2007 Steve Chou's wife, Jennifer, wanted to spend more time with their growing family. So she quit her job. Fast forward to 2020, and Bumblebee Linens, the Chou's ecommerce company, is prospering. Steve is now an ecommerce celebrity, having launched the "My Wife Quit Her Job" blog, podcast, and YouTube channel.
B2B
Covid-19 Exposes Inefficiencies in B2B Accounts Receivable

September 24, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The ongoing pandemic has exacerbated long-standing inefficiencies with the B2B accounts receivable process, such as manual entry, little standardization, and errant data. Accounts receivable personnel have historically overcome many of these problems, but an increase in remote work may require B2B sellers to move to a more automated or integrated process.
Analytics & Data
7 Google Analytics Tips for Measuring Organic Search

September 23, 2020 • Jill Kocher Brown

Search engine optimization relies on the ability to measure performance. Google Analytics can make the task easier. What follows are seven tips to help.
Conversion
Forget Black Friday Sales This 2020 Holiday

September 22, 2020 • Pamela Hazelton

The upcoming holiday shopping season is bound to shake the ecommerce sector. If you haven’t yet finalized your holiday sales schedule, now’s the time to get it done. But you may want to rethink your strategy for November and December.
Technical SEO
FAQ Snippets Expand Organic Search Visibility

September 22, 2020 • Bill Sebald

There is one rich snippet that has become increasingly popular: frequently asked questions. An FAQ snippet expands a listing's real estate in organic search results. It's based on implementing FAQ Schema in the code.
Influencers & Affiliates
Amazon Live: 12 Shows from Influencers, Sellers, Brands

September 21, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Amazon Live combines streaming video with online shopping, letting influencers, sellers, and brands engage and interact with consumers in real-time. Here is a list of shows using Amazon Live from influencers, sellers, and brands. Episodes range from 30 minutes to two hours, though most are roughly one hour.
Business
Covid-19 Is Driving Some Brands to DTC

September 21, 2020 • Armando Roggio

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital transformation in retail, prompting some brands to focus on direct-to-consumer channels. The retail and wholesale industries have long been undergoing an evolution toward ecommerce, digital brands, and DTC sales. But Covid-19 changed retail abruptly.
Email & Text Marketing
Email Marketing: Optimizing ‘From’ Lines, Subject Lines, Pre-headers

September 20, 2020 • Carolyn Nye

Email marketing remains a cornerstone of most ecommerce companies. But optimizing "from" lines, subject lines, and pre-headers is challenging for even the savviest marketers. I'll offer tips in this post.
Business
A Passion for Cosmetics Leads to $1 Million in First-year Sales

September 18, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

The YouTube-to-ecommerce business model may be the best way to build an audience of customers. It worked for my company, Beardbrand, when I posted beard-grooming videos on YouTube. And it worked for Lisa and Paul Jauregui. Lisa’s passion for cosmetics led to her YouTube channel, which educates consumers on the use and selection of those products. And that audience generated customers for BK Beauty, a direct-to-consumer cosmetics brand that the Jauregui’s launched in August 2019.
Business > Merchant Voice
After 20 years of ecommerce, change is the only certainty

September 17, 2020 • Richard Stubbings

Designing, building, and launching a website is just the beginning of an ecommerce business. Attracting and converting visitors is the next, all-important step. A website alone does not guarantee anything. But the most critical factor in long-term success is the ability to change and adapt.
Marketing & Advertising
2020 Holiday Shopping Is a Tale of 2 Consumers

September 17, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Covid-19 has throttled the U.S. economy, dropping the nation's gross domestic product 31.7 percent in the second quarter of the year. The economic effect, however, has impacted folks differently.
B2B
Getting Your B2B Team on the Digital Train

September 16, 2020 • Lori McDonald

The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of many B2B companies. Implementing ecommerce and other digital tools requires rethinking how your organization operates and how it interacts with customers. It's an opportunity to improve sales and back-office efficiencies.
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: September 15, 2020

September 15, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-September from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on social commerce, cybersecurity, international payments, product personalization, holiday shipping, artificial intelligence, and automated delivery drones.
Schools & Resources
13 New Ecommerce Books for Fall 2020

September 15, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Here's a batch of new ecommerce books for your autumn reading list. There are titles on buying and selling a business, producing and fostering creative work, monetizing your podcast, live video marketing, Amazon, and the blockchain.
Marketing & Advertising
Privacy Changes on Apple Devices, Chrome Will Impact Targeted Advertising

September 14, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Privacy-related changes impacting Apple mobile devices and Google's Chrome browser will make it more difficult for businesses to target advertising at specific customers across platforms, applications, and devices. At issue are two separate technologies that are connected because of their privacy implications.
Payments
4 Payment Methods to Integrate for the Holidays

September 14, 2020 • Pamela Hazelton

Convenience and security increasingly impact online selling. That's especially the case for the upcoming holiday season, as consumers will likely seek flexible, seamless payment options. Here are four payment methods to consider for this year's holiday selling.
Google Ads
Using Google Analytics to Optimize Google Ads

September 13, 2020 • Morgan Jones

The Google Ads reporting suite in Google Analytics is essential for advertisers looking to drive profitable sales. I'll explain the setup and analysis process in this post. Before you can view Google Ads reports in Google Analytics, complete a couple of steps.
Cross-border Selling
Success in Europe Requires ‘People on the Ground,’ Says Danish Entrepreneur

September 11, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

American businesspeople tend to view Europe as a single market with like-minded consumers and cultures. But Rasmus Cort knows better. His company, Sorry Mom, sells tattoo ointments and lotions throughout the continent. I asked him how a U.S.-based company can succeed there.
Business
5 Predictions for the 2020 Holiday Shopping Season

September 10, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Despite strong increases in the past several months, predicting this year's holiday ecommerce sales made me feel a bit like Ebenezer Scrooge. I wanted to be optimistic about the Christmas sales, but three of my five predictions are negative overall. The other two, click-and-collect ecommerce and gig-economy delivery, are generally positive.
Shipping & Fulfillment
Holiday Shipping Surcharges Are Coming

September 10, 2020 • Marcia Kaplan

Selling during the upcoming holiday shopping season will not be normal. For the first time in its history, the United States Postal Service is imposing a holiday surcharge on commercial packages. The price increases will begin on October 18 and run through December 27, 2020, and range from $0.24 to $1.50 per package.
Payments
Understanding P2P Payments for Merchants

September 9, 2020 • Mike Eckler

P2P payments occur between two people. The term stands for both "peer-to-peer" and "person-to-person." Instead of using credit cards, consumers are now purchasing goods and services with P2P apps, and merchants increasingly accept P2P payments. In a sense, many merchants have become “peers” to capitalize on the trend.
SEO
SEO: 9 Tips for Brand-friendly Content

September 8, 2020 • Jill Kocher Brown

Branded marketing content and excellent organic search rankings are not mutually exclusive. Content is among the most subjective aspects of search engine optimization. It has also become the most important. And the best content is unique, well-written, and relevant. Here are nine tips to get started.
Platforms & Apps
Is JAMstack Right for Your Ecommerce Business?

September 8, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Looming changes in ecommerce development could provide a short-term competitive advantage for some businesses. Many platforms give a business just about everything needed to build an ecommerce site. They are comprehensive and monolithic. But they are also restrictive, or so JAMstack proponents imply.
Business > Merchant Voice
9 exercise tips for desk-bound workers

September 7, 2020 • Peter Keller

It's easier than most people think to get stronger, fitter, and healthier. That's especially true for desk workers, such as digital marketers and ecommerce merchants. Here are nine tips for desk-bound personnel to get stronger and healthier.
Design & Dev Tools
21 Free Web Design Tools from Summer 2020

September 7, 2020 • Sig Ueland

Free resources from the design community can add value to an ecommerce site. Here is a list of new web tools and design elements from summer 2020. There are designer and developer apps, coding resources, color tools, fonts, and more. All of these tools are free, though some also offer premium versions.
Google Ads
4 More Google Ads Scripts to Automate Tasks, Save Time

September 6, 2020 • Matthew Umbro

Google Ads scripts automate routine tasks. Last fall, I shared three such scripts that are helpful to me. In this post, I'll address four additional Google Ads scripts that automate tasks and save time.
Business
Quality Control Drives Ugmonk.com to In-house Fulfillment

September 4, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

By 2017, nine years after launching his t-shirt company, Ugmonk, Jeff Sheldon had expanded into posters and workspace products. Gather, Ugmonk's modular desk organizer, had just completed a successful Kickstarter campaign with two shipping containers of custom manufactured organizers en route, to send to customers.
Content Marketing
5 Content Marketing Ideas for October 2020

September 3, 2020 • Armando Roggio

Content marketing can help connect with new customers or deepen relationships with existing ones. But some businesses struggle to find topics to address. The good news is that opportunities abound in October 2020, when a company could cover National Taco Day, raise cybersecurity awareness, profile customers, provide a brief history of products, or identify Halloween do-it-yourself projects.