Business Strategy Blog Posts, Tips, Tricks and Advice

[Video] Dropshipping & E-Commerce 101 From Our Friends At Ordoro

Published on June 23rd, 2011 by Mitchell Harper

If you’re just getting started with e-commerce, then dropshopping can help you source and sell thousands of products – without ever having to store or buy your own inventory. In this video Naruby from Ordoro (a great multi-channel dropshipping solution that, of course, integrates with BigCommerce) does a great job explaining the basics of dropshipping.

She explains the 3 simple steps involved in setting up your own online store with full dropshipping capabilities using BigCommerce and Ordoro. Definitely worth watching if you’re more interested in making (lots of) sales than buying, storing and shipping your own products.

Your SEO Webinar Follow-Up Questions Answered

Published on May 4th, 2011 by Mitchell Harper

Last week we held the first live webinar for our new series called “eCommerce Tips for Displaying Trust, Effective Store Design and Better SEO” – and it was a MONSTER success with well over 600 people attending live and thousands watching the on-demand recording, which you can find here (40 mins).

The webinar was presented by JB Kellogg from BigCommerce certified design partner Madwire Media. There was a great Q&A session at the end of the webinar and JB came up with a list of those questions along with the answers that were shared on the webinar. I’ve included them below just in case you don’t have time to watch the webinar or simply prefer text to video.

I get good traffic, but how do you recommend I get more product reviews?

We recommend you contact previous customers by phone, email, or feedback survey to capture their product review and evaluation. Encourage them to post reviews on your store or ask for permission to post their review for them. Provide incentives for them to post reviews such as 10% savings for example.

Is the tab product page layout better then the non-tab for SEO or does it matter?

It does not matter. Search engines like Google can crawl the tabbed and non-tabbed layouts just the same. Therefore, the importance is in the content, not the layout. Go with whatever you feel looks best.

Does it make a difference to SEO if I use blog.storename.com for my blog or storename.com/blog for the URL?

There are arguments both ways for what is best. We have used both options for many websites we actively search engine optimize and have not seen that one way is better than the other. We’ve seen rankings increase with blog.storename.com and storename.com/blog. The important thing is building good, unique, consistent, content. Search engines will credit you for that content and links whether you use a sub-domain or sub-directory. With BigCommerce you can use the built-in “news” feature as your blog to keep it as a sub-directory, or install WordPress and host it separately on a sub-domain. Both ways work well for SEO.

Do image heavy designs hurt you for conversions and SEO?

No. That fact that a design is image heavy does not matter. What is more important is what the images are and if good call-to-actions are on the images. The Images need to “export dreams” to the viewer. They should reduce your bounce rate and increase your click-through rate. If your bounce rate is high, you need to change your images and try some different call-to-actions. Keep in mind, you’ll need some text content on your site for SEO. It does not need to be much, but should include your best keywords.

That Google ecommerce tracking is great, how can I set that up on my store?

It is not difficult, but there are some more steps involved then when you setup the standard Google analytics code. Here are some directions.

What was that address you recommended to check keyword traffic you gave?

Google Traffic Estimator

How can I watch the webinar again, will I be able to replay it?

You can re-watch it as much as you’d like here.

What was that webinar reference page link again?

It was this page.

Is Emedramps.com a custom store?

Yes. Although it’s not extensively custom designed. The product page layout is the most customized layout on that store. To see more custom store designs you can browse our portfolio.

How do I add promotional banners to my store like Emed has?

Here is a video that talks about adding banners to your store.

What is a good conversion rate percentage?

Anything over 3% would be considered very good. Average is around 1-2%.

Can I have a store on BigCommerce that has downloadable products?

Yes. Here is a BigCommerce support page about that.

What is the most important thing for conversions?

Driving the right kind of traffic and store design. The design has to include the important things we’re talking about today (such as trust and credibility) at minimum in order for you to be truly successful.

How do I get an SSL on my site?

Here is a support page that covers topics about SSL and BigCommerce.

Who do I call for a free design mockup to see what can help me get better conversions?

Call anybody here at Madwire Media on 888-872-3734.

Does it make a big difference how I use H1, H2, H3, etc. on my site for SEO?

Not huge no. But ideally you’d use your best keywords in a H1 or H2 heading, followed by H3, H4, and so on. The most important thing is to have relevant and unique content on your website. Don’t spam or stuff keywords.

My website does not have very much content on the homepage, just images, should I had content for SEO?

Yes. It does not need to be much, just a short paragraph is fine, but make sure it has your best keywords.

I like what you said about title tags, I need to do that but am wondering what keywords to use, can you help?

Yes we can. We can do a free SEO/keyword report for you. Visit our website to learn more.

Do you know how to do a competitor analysis to see what keywords they are using?

Yes we do. We can do a free competitive analysis report for you. Visit our website to learn more.

Can you tell what my competitor’s conversion rate is?

Based on our completive analysis we can give you a pretty good estimate.

What is considered a good bounce rate?

Typically below 30-40% is good. It sometimes depends on the target market however.

Can you tell me if my store passes the 2.5 second rule?

Sure. We can review your store and provide feedback.

Is BigCommerce the best shopping cart to use to do everything you’re talking about here?

Yes. We are about the most credible source you can ask. As a large design, development and eCommerce marketing company we’ve used many different e-commerce platforms and BigCommerce is by far the best. In fact, it’s not only our number one solution now, it’s our only solution. Watch our BigCommerce customer story video here.

How often should I blog to build content and what should I blog about?

Blog as much as you can. Make sure to blog about what your store specialized in selling. Research your competitors and see how much they are blogging…try to outdo them! Try to write well for your customers and the search engines.

Does product video help increase conversions significantly?

Yes it does. Product videos are very effective. We see a 30-400% increase in conversions with products that have professional product videos. The product video is basically your 24/7 sales person giving your product’s best sales pitch and showing the best images. Here are some product videos we’ve created recently (see the top of the page).

What are the best kinds of product videos for conversions?

Short (30 seconds or less), to the point, highlighting the best product features and images/video with a great voice over talent giving your best 30 second sales pitch!

I’m in Japan/London/Sydney/etc, should I do something different for SEO?

It depends, do you want to target a US market or the Japanese/London/Sydney market – or both. Depending on what market you want to target the strategy would need to be different. Feel free to ask us (Madwire Media) for advice.

How do I offer different languages for products in my BigCommerce store?

We suggest using the Google translator tool for basic translations. Go here to learn more:.

Archived Webinar: eCommerce Tips for Displaying Trust, Effective Store Design and Better SEO

Published on April 30th, 2011 by Mitchell Harper

A few weeks ago I announced that Madwire Media, one of our certified design partners, would be working with us to launch a new webinar series called “eCommerce Tips for Displaying Trust, Effective Store Design and Better SEO”. Well, the first webinar took place last Wednesday and was a massive success – over 600 people attended the webinar!

For those of you who couldn’t make the live broadcast, we’ve created an archived version of the webinar which you can watch whenever you like. Just click the image at the top of this post to watch it – and make sure you share the webinar on Facebook or Twitter because it contains a lot of FANTASTIC information to help you drive more traffic and get more sales from your BigCommerce store.

13 Stellar Tools to Test and Improve Your Website Traffic and Conversions

Published on April 2nd, 2011 by tjmccue

When it comes to your BigCommerce store, you want to know what your customers click and why – or at least where they go. Many times your analytics program can tell you this information, but often it takes an enormous amount of effort to get that data.

Your BigCommerce store may be converting very well, but then again, it could be better. How can you test what’s working and what’s not? You can do the well known A/B split testing and multivariate testing with Google Website Optimizer for free. Split testing in this way is built right into BigCommerce for all product pages, single VS multi-page checkout, etc.

However, just like configuring an analytics program to track every detail you want, it takes time and a little effort. If you’re short on time and have just a bit of cash, you can let one or more of the website usability applications below do the testing for you.

When it comes to purchasing products and services, customers will often display different decision-making behaviors that you won’t understand until you test. In addition, since social networks are providing a discussion platform for customers, you’ll want to know what aspects of your site and your social activity are influencing customers’ purchase decisions.

Tools to Improve Your Website Traffic and Conversion Rate

Here are 13 tools I’ve researched to help you test your website navigation, design, sales funnel or path, or use them to test your Facebook fan page as well. There are more tools out there, but for this review, if they didn’t list their pricing, I omitted them – but the major players are here.

Feedback Army – $15 for 10 responses. Built on Amazon Mechanical Turk. One of the easiest and most affordable ways to do a quick test of your site.
Five Second Test – has a free community option where you earn points by participating and can use those when you need testing. Otherwise, starts at $20/mo for 100 responses.
Concept Feedback – also takes a community approach and starts at $99, but I didn’t find out what that entails.
Uservoice – does feedback for your site and also helpdesk work. Pricing starts at $19/mo for feedback and some full service options.
Usertesting – cuts right to the chase with their website tagline “the fastest, cheapest way to find out why users leave your website.” For $39, you get feedback, but the sweet part is it comes as a video (and written report, too) with the user talking you through what they are doing on your site.
Userfly – has a free plan that lets you take the system for a real test drive. You see videos of real users navigating your site, every click, every mouse movement. Great customer testimonials and endorsements. Paid plans start at $10/mo.
Feng-gui – has a unique payment model — pay per image. They assume you know what you want to test and so have a low-cost attention analysis approach. Offers an easy way to test an ad or a particular section of your site. Pricing starts at $25, which is $5 for 5 images.
Crazyegg – is one of the so-called 800 pound gorillas in this space. They are best known for their eye-tracking heatmaps so you can see where your visitors are looking, then clicking. Very sophisticated and plans starting at $9/mo.
Clicktale – offers a limited free plan, then jumps to $99/mo, but don’t rule them out yet. They offer a very sophisticated tool set and it might be a perfect fit for your store and email efforts. They have heatmaps and conversion funnels to help your sales.
Gazehawk – is another eyetracking, heatmap technology. It keeps track of where your users look on your website which allows you to test landing pages, registration/checkout flows, homepages. Starts at $495 for a 10-participant study.
ReQtest – is more for software developers testing their user interface and experience. It helps users to do web-based testing and bug reporting on the cloud. Free to $30 per user.
Unbounce – lets you create, publish and optimize landing pages for testing purposes. Starts at $25 and has a free 30-day trial.
Optimizely – allows users to improve their website through A/B testing. Starts at $19. Think of it as a more sophisticated Google Website Optimizer.

With affordable and easy tools like these to test almost every aspect of a customer’s experience with your website, there’s no reason not to give them a try. I’ve used several of these and will continue to leverage them. You need every advantage in keeping a customer’s attention in today’s hyper-connected busy, busy world. Start testing and start attracting more visitors, more sales, and greater profits!

A Few Follow Up Notes

I don’t include Amazon Mechanical Turk in this list above, but it’s a good tool if you want to crowdsource your feedback and manage it all yourself. It takes a bit more effort, though. Feedback Army is built on Turk and is very affordable, so I’d recommend it.

We completed a project for Sales Rescue Team last year and it’s a beautiful way to get feedback, in near real time, from a few people to hundreds. However, managing it manually is a real hassle so I would recommend you use Smartsheet – an online project management tool – to manage Turk because they have a sweet spreadsheet interface that’s easy to use.

One last thing about design and testing. In general, whatever you want to be clicked should be put it in the upper left corner. You can put it elsewhere, but so much research data, heatmaps, user studies, etc show people read in an F pattern and they scan the top two horizontal lines of the letter F first, then go down the left side. BUT, they start in the upper left corner. Hardly anyone puts their form or call to action right there. Depending on your design, another location might work, but if you’re using any traditional layouts, then I would test the upper left quadrant.

I’m not a fan of the so-called squeeze page, where you give users/readers no choice but the back button to click out, but simplifying your copy and design to make it really clear is the main goal of what I’m trying share here.

So in a nutshell, use the services above to figure out what visitors are doing and do more to keep them happy. Common sense isn’t always common, so do these simple things and you’ll increase traffic to your site because people will have a good experience and tell others. Simple, but true.

Free Guide: 20 Proven Ways to Jump Start Your Online Sales

Published on February 7th, 2011 by Mitchell Harper

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If you’re just getting started with e-commerce then it can be a bit daunting to know what to do once you’ve added products to your BigCommerce store. Do you run Google AdWords? Should you hire an SEO consultant? This is a question we hear a lot, so Luke (our ninja technical writer) and I decided to team up and write a guide for you.

In 20 Proven Ways to Jump Start Your Online Sales we share 20 simple, fast and (mostly) free strategies you can implement right now to boost traffic to your BigCommerce store. The goal here is to get your first order in the next few days and then build up from there.

Like anything worth doing, it can take time to receive your first order. But hang in there – it will happen. After receiving your first order, you’ll soon get your second, third, fourth and before you know it you’ll be receiving multiple orders a day.

These strategies are simple but extremely effective. Here’s a list of the strategies in the free guide – each is broken down into actionable steps complete with videos and/or step-by-step tutorials to guide you through the specific action items:

Integrate Google Analytics with your online store
Submit your products to Google Merchant Center
Setup your shipping FAQ & returns policy page
Submit your online store to all free directories
Create a fan page on Facebook and setup SocialShop
Link to your Facebook page from your online store
Share your Facebook page with friends
Setup integrations with Shopzilla, PriceGrabber, etc
Setup your home page title, META keywords and description
Add your page title, META keywords and description for products
Add keyword rich descriptions to all product photos
Make sure your product pages are filled out completely
Create an “About Us” page with your store and photos
Announce the launch of your store in related forums
Get a 1800 phone number and add it to your website
Setup and use free live chat software
Setup your “Contact Us” page
Create targeted link exchanges
Setup email marketing with Mailchimp
Run mutli-variate tests Google Website Optimizer

Click here to download our free guide: 20 Proven Ways to Jump Start Your Online Sales

[Video] Using Pareto’s Principle (or the 80/20 Rule) to Grow Your Business

Published on January 26th, 2011 by Mitchell Harper

Pareto’s principle states that 20% of your effort results in 80% of the result. While this ratio isn’t always exact, the general idea is that not everything you spend your time doing is productive, nor will it produce the results you want.

In this video I explain how Pareto’s principle is at work in your business right now and how you can use the simple concept to work less and accomplish more – specifically how you can increase the growth rate of your e-commerce business without sacrificing your work/life balance.

The key really is to shift the 80/20 balance in regards to tactics (day-to-day tasks that you can pay someone to do) versus strategy (the ideas to increase revenue that will grow your business). If you can shift from the typical 80% of time on tactics and 20% of time on strategy to 20% of time on tactics and 80% of time on strategy, then you can quite easily double the growth of your business in 2011.

Stepping back from the day-to-day and asking yourself as a business owner “where do I want to take this business and why?” is also one of the key questions you have to ask if you’re going to use Pareto’s principle to grow.

Ecommerce Blog

[Video] Dropshipping & E-Commerce 101 From Our Friends At Ordoro

Your SEO Webinar Follow-Up Questions Answered

Archived Webinar: eCommerce Tips for Displaying Trust, Effective Store Design and Better SEO

Free Guide: 20 Proven Ways to Jump Start Your Online Sales

[Video] Using Pareto’s Principle (or the 80/20 Rule) to Grow Your Business

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