When I work with clients who are new to e-commerce, they often ask me about product descriptions. What should they say? How long should they be? What format is best? It’s no wonder they are worried — the quality of a product description can make or break a sale, especially if it doesn’t include the information a shopper needs to make a purchase decision. Providing key product details is critical if you want the shopper to click “Add to Cart.”
A few weeks ago, I did a Wednesday Wisdom issue on the basics of SEO, particularly for your homepage. I briefly showed where you could find the spots for page titles, meta keywords, and meta descriptions for your products, categories, and web pages. I’m back this week to give you a more in-depth look at where these are in your store’s control panel so that you know exactly where to go when you’re ready to fill in this information.
If you want to learn even more about SEO, we’ve got a great bunch of articles here on our knowledge base.
Guess what – we’ve been working on a new content website for the last few months and today is launch day!
The new site is called ChiliFries.com and it was created to help you become an expert at Internet marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and e-commerce!
Our new website is updated regularly with fresh content and will teach you:
… and lots of other tips, tricks, strategies and ideas which you can use to either start a new e-commerce business or grow your existing e-commerce business faster than you thought possible.
P.S. Really important – make sure you like ChiliFries on Facebook and follow ChiliFries on Twitter so you don’t miss a post!
P.P.S. Become part of the ChiliFries community by leaving comments on a few posts you like. It’s fast, easy and is a great way to meet like-minded business owners.
Overview: New advanced webinar series
Title: How to Use Facebook, eBay, SEO and Free Tools to Skyrocket Your Traffic
When? 1pm CDT on Thursday, June 9th (See this in your time zone)
Register: Click here to register (limited spots available)
We already run regular webinars that teach the basics of e-commerce and BigCommerce, but today I’m happy to announce that we’re adding a third series to our already popular webinars.
Lead by certified BigCommerce design partner and e-commerce experts Madwire Media, How to Use Facebook, eBay, SEO and Free Tools to Skyrocket Your Traffic is our latest webinar series and the first webinar kicks off at 1pm CDT on Thursday, June 9th (see this in your time zone).
So, what will you learn during this free webinar? Here’s a taste:
Click here to register (limited spots available)
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?
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:.
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.
Overview: New advanced webinar series
Title: eCommerce Tips for Displaying Trust, Effective Store Design and Better SEO
When? 1pm CST on April 27th (See this in your time zone)
Register: Click here to register (limited spots available)
We already run regular webinars that teach the basics of e-commerce and BigCommerce, but today I’m happy to announce that we’re adding a second series to our already popular webinars.
Lead by certified BigCommerce design partner and e-commerce experts Madwire Media, eCommerce Tips for Displaying Trust, Effective Store Design and Better SEO is our latest webinar series and the first webinar kicks off at 1pm CST on April 27th (see this in your time zone).
I’ve been lucky enough to watch a test-run of this webinar and the content is excellent, so this is definitely one webinar you don’t want to miss. We were very selective in choosing the right partner to run our new webinars, and JB and his team at Madwire have done a phenomenal job of organizing the webinar based around their real world experience and customer case studies.
So, what will you learn? Here’s a taste:
Click here to register (limited spots available)
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.
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.
Well, the holiday season is almost upon us. As a way to say “thank you” for reading our blog (which now has over 50,000 readers a month – woohoo!) I wanted to give you a 27 page ebook that’s been 6 months in the making.
In Guerilla Marketing With Social Media I share the 7 social media strategies we’ve used to grow our business by 480% in the last 3 years (proof). And because these are all guerilla marketing strategies, you’ll learn how to reach a huge number of people for a very, very low cost.
This has been one of the most successful guides we’ve ever produced – it’s already been downloaded well over 5,000 times by people on our email list (sorry, they got it first!) so I’m confident you’ll love it.
Whether you want to increase sales, attract thousands of Facebook followers, launch a contest, partner with the big wigs in your industry or turn one-time customers into raving fans, it’s all here in this 27 page ebook.
Click here to download our free guide: Guerilla Marketing With Social Media
BigCommerce client La Grande Dame featured in The New York Times today
The New York Times is running a before-and-after case study for La Grande Dame, which is a BigCommerce store owned by Catherine Wood Hill selling plus-sized clothing for women. The article shares some interesting before-and-after details about Catherine’s online store, including:
The stand out piece from the article is definitely the greater than 100% increase in traffic since switching to BigCommerce:
While it’s too early to assess the new site’s impact on sales, traffic has increased sharply. From Oct. 1 to Nov. 1, Ms. Hill said, La Grande Dame averaged 300 unique visitors and 370 total visitors a day. In the first six days following the redesign, she reports a daily average of 626 unique visitors and 689 total visitors.
As we all know, traffic can make or break an online store. Although we can’t promise switching to BigCommerce will give you a 100% increase in traffic, there are so many testimonials saying the same thing, so it’s definitely something to consider if you’re not happy with your current shopping cart software.
