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Conversion
Getting Started with Continuity Ecommerce, Part 1: Approaches, Expectations

February 3, 2019 • Charles Nicholls

Continuity ecommerce combines recurring revenue, connected devices, and auto-ship functionality. It's subscriptions on steroids, and it's becoming big business. In this article, I'll explore how merchants can implement continuity programs...
Business
6 Leading Ecommerce Business Models Explained

February 1, 2019 • Armando Roggio

In this article, I will briefly explain six ecommerce business models. When you think of ecommerce, you probably think of the B2C business model. It is simply retail sales made from a business entity to an individual. Much of Amazon.com uses this business model.
Business
January 2019 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

January 31, 2019 • PEC Staff

Practical Ecommerce publishes roughly 45 articles per month. Our mission, since 2005, is to publish independent content — articles, podcasts, seminars — that help online merchants. What follows are the most popular articles that we published in January. Articles published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.
On-page SEO
Rise of Mobile Users Alters SEO Tactics

January 31, 2019 • Jill Kocher Brown

The percentage of U.S. searchers clicking on advertisements in Google search results is growing. Likewise, the percentage of visitors that click nothing is also growing. But the percentage of visitors that click natural search listings is shrinking.
User Experience
The Legal Picture for Web Accessibility in 2019

January 30, 2019 • Joseph C. Dolson

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires websites to be accessible to disabled users. This has been well established in the courts — most recently in a decision by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals against Domino's Pizza.
Marketing & Advertising
A Survey-based Marketing Campaign for Ecommerce

January 29, 2019 • Armando Roggio

In this article, I will outline the major steps to run a survey-based PR campaign. This campaign is meant to inspire at least of few journalists to write about the survey results. The articles they produce may include backlinks for SEO. And those articles could introduce potential customers to your business.
Finance
New Indian Investment Rules Limit Amazon, Walmart

January 29, 2019 • Marcia Kaplan

The Indian government will soon implement regulations that will severely hamper the Amazon and Flipkart marketplaces from doing business in India. Effective February 1, 2019, the government is enacting restrictions that will challenge the entire business model of those companies.
Product Pages
20 Popular Product Videos from Vat19

January 28, 2019 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of the most popular videos from Vat19, to provide inspiration for your own product video production. While Vat19's entertaining videos are appropriately silly — the company sells silly products, after all — they also highlight product features in a short amount of time.
Business
Building an Ecommerce Business, Part 11: Selling on Amazon

January 28, 2019 • Eric Bandholz

A fundamental decision for many ecommerce entrepreneurs is whether to sell on Amazon. The potential is high, but the competition is increasing tough, among other risks. This is episode 11 in my series on building an ecommerce business from the ground up. For this installment, I spoke with Mike Tecku, co-founder of Sky Solutions.
Analytics & Data
SEO: Monitoring Traffic from Domain Mergers, with Google Data Studio

January 27, 2019 • Hamlet Batista

A common practice among retailers is creating microsites to target different audiences. The strategy can produce strong conversions because the user experience is simpler and more relevant. Unfortunately, it is not usually helpful for organic search rankings.
Cross-border Selling
10 Tips for Successful Cross-border Ecommerce

January 25, 2019 • Gagan Mehra

Cross-border ecommerce sales have grown dramatically in recent years. The industry is collectively learning dos and don'ts for penetrating international markets. In this post, I'll offer 10 tips to expand your ecommerce business into new countries and regions.
B2B
How to Optimize B2B Landing Pages for New Leads

January 24, 2019 • Shawn Arnold

B2B products and services are often complex. Closing the sale frequently takes time, with multiple interactions. Landing pages can capture leads and start the conversation. In this post, I'll address eight ways to generate the most leads from B2B landing pages.
Business
Book Excerpt: ‘Profit First for Ecommerce Sellers’

January 23, 2019 • Cyndi Thomason

The Profit First framework works for all businesses. But it is just that: a framework. My firm has taken this foundation and built a structure specifically for ecommerce sellers. With these few additional techniques, you will position your business for permanent profitability.
Customer Retention
8 Micro Conversions to Instill Trust, Obtain Customers

January 23, 2019 • Pamela Hazelton

Micro conversions are smaller actions that can lead to sales. Micro conversions can instill trust, and therefore influence the 90 percent of visitors who do not intend to immediately purchase.
Content Marketing
Helpful Tools to Find Shareable Content

January 21, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Curating content can be like finding a needle in a haystack, if not a stem or leaf in a haystack. Fortunately, there are many software tools to help content marketers discover good articles and videos to share.
Link Building
SEO: Reclaiming Lost Links from Site Migrations

January 21, 2019 • Bill Sebald

There is a little-used opportunity for longtime retailers to gain links. If your ecommerce site has changed platforms in its lifetime, you might have editorial links — legitimate, not spam — waiting for you to reclaim.
Email & Text Marketing
17 Free Email Marketing Tools

January 20, 2019 • Carolyn Nye

There is no free lunch, supposedly, but there are plenty of free email marketing tools. In this post, I'll list 17 free tools to accelerate your email marketing program.
SEO
SEO: 6 Things to Do When You Have Nothing to Do

January 18, 2019 • Jill Kocher Brown

Search engine optimization is self-directed. Unless you’re being managed by another practitioner who tells you what to do and when to do it, SEO can be difficult to plan. These six things can help fill your days with interesting work and deliver natural search value.
Content Marketing
Dos and Don’ts for Curating Content, to Grow an Audience

January 18, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Discovering and sharing useful and interesting content from sources outside of your business can be a good, low-cost, and easy way to meet content marketing goals. The content your company curates should be focused on one or more of the topic clusters. Initially, this will probably require a lot of research.
Conversion
Should Merchants Consider Voice Commerce (Yet)?

January 17, 2019 • Dale Traxler

Shopping is too complicated to conduct by voice, at least thus far. Does this mean voice shopping is a low priority? Absolutely not. It’s an opportunity that manufacturers and retailers should be investing in right now.
Finance
Ecommerce Briefs: Holiday Sales, Retail Chains, 2019 Predictions

January 17, 2019 • Marcia Kaplan

“Ecommerce Briefs” is an occasional series wherein I review news and developments that impact online merchants. In this installment, I’ll address final holiday sales figures, a change in brick-and-mortar location trends, and 2019 predictions.
Marketing & Advertising
Best Ad Options for Smaller Fashion Merchants

January 16, 2019 • Viktoria Kanevsky

Small companies on shoestring budgets would be better off to grow organically via search engine optimization, social media, and email. Those channels, to be sure, are time and labor intensive. But the efforts will pay off. However, if you have the resources to invest in advertising, consider the following channels.
Platforms & Apps
Ecommerce Product Releases: January 16, 2019

January 16, 2019 • Sig Ueland

Here is a list of product releases for mid-January from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on shipping, virtual shopping, landing page creation, sales tax collection, social media marketing, and large-purchase financing.
Analytics & Data
18 Basic Metrics to Review at Year-end

January 15, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

This is the time to conduct your year-end analysis to help plan for 2019. Here are some basic metrics to analyze, to see what worked and what didn't.
Content Marketing
How to Invest in Videos, Apps, Big Content

January 14, 2019 • Armando Roggio

Even a simple video may cost several thousand dollars to produce — with no guarantee of success. An interactive app might take a few months to develop. It, too, has no guarantee. You could take that risk, toss thousands of dollars at a video or similar content project, and hope for the best.
Social Media
12 Apps for Creating Instagram Stories

January 14, 2019 • Sig Ueland

Using Instagram Stories, businesses can attract followers with dynamic product and brand content. Here is a list of tools for creating Instagram Stories. There are templates, easy-to-use video editors, and full content production platforms. All of these tools are free, though most offer premium add-ons.
Keyword Research
SEO: Converting Keywords to Link Authority

January 13, 2019 • Jill Kocher Brown

Link authority is one of the most critical influencers of how a site ranks. How do keywords increase link authority? They indicate the content you need to create to convince others that your site is worthy of linking to.
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics: How to Track PayPal Transactions

January 11, 2019 • Morgan Jones

“PayPal Payments Standard” is popular, but it can be challenging for Google Analytics to report the sale. Using PayPal Payments Standard, customers leave the merchant's website for their account at PayPal. After they complete payment, PayPal redirects them back to the return URL provided by the merchant.
Business > Merchant Voice
Time to make, save, and invest money

January 11, 2019 • Elizabeth Hollingsworth

The start of a new year is a good time to take stock of the previous 12 months in your business. This January, I’m focusing on how I can make, save, and invest money in My Event Décor for 2019.
Business
Building an Ecommerce Business, Part 10: Apparel Sales, Manufacturing

January 10, 2019 • Eric Bandholz

Selling apparel online is notoriously competitive. The margins are thin, typically. With hundreds of SKUs for size and color and styles, inventory management can be complicated — especially when the ...