Thanks to innovations like Google AdWords, retargeting, social media promotion and content marketing, it’s getting easier for businesses to drive traffic to their online stores. But all that traffic doesn’t help if nobody is buying. Read the rest of this entry »
The people you draw to your website will be at all stages of the buying process, with some just starting to do research and some ready to buy. Content is a great way to the keep people at earlier stages of the buying process on the site.
In this joint webinar with Hubspot on Wednesday, March 20th, we demonstrated some ways how producing content can lead to increased ecommerce sales.
Content marketing and content strategy are major buzzwords these days, and for good reason — creating great content is one of the best, most cost-effective ways to increase traffic to your online store and lift your conversion rate.
To help you develop and execute your very own content strategy, I’ve teamed up with Sam Mallikarjunan, Head of eCommerce Marketing at HubSpot, to present our latest webinar: How to Use Content for E-commerce Marketing.
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 2pm U.S. Eastern Time
Length: 60 minutes
We’re taking a two-prong attack by tackling both marketing content (blog and email) and store content (product pages). You’ll learn:
Space is limited, so sign up today! If you can’t make it, you can still reserve a spot to get an on-demand copy of the presentation.
On Tuesday February 5th, we hosted our first webinar of 2013. It was focused on the five key areas that will help you boost your online sales. Using Storify, we compiled a recap of the some of key takeaways.
At the beginning of this year, I took over conducting the webinars for BigCommerce, and split our “Getting Started” into a basic and advanced version. Thanks to our awesome participants and some honest feedback, they’re going to evolve yet again.
Starting the week of July 9th, I’m going to be rolling out a new Getting Started webinar that is just the basics you need to start your store:
These four, easy steps are the minimum that you need to have a working store on BigCommerce.
From there, all our topics will help you sell more: design, promotions, marketing, etc. So, in addition to having the Getting Started webinar weekly, I’ll also have a more advanced webinar aimed at helping you take advantage of all the amazing features that your BigCommerce store has to offer. The content will differ each week, and range from essential parts of your store (like creating product options & sets), to more “fun” topics like using analytics to understand your customers better (and in return, raise your conversion rate). Our new and improved webinar series is designed with your growth in mind. As your business grows, your needs become more complex and our advanced webinars will introduce you to tools and resources that are already built into the platform.
This week, I will offer our last two sessions of the “Getting Started with BigCommerce” Basic & Advanced webinars, though you still will be able to find them on our knowledge base here. Then, starting on the week of July 9th, the new webinars will be available.
July 10th @ 10a CT: BigCommerce 101: Just the Basics – Register
Learn about the basics of beginning your store on BigCommerce. I will cover the first four steps for you to start selling your products in your BigCommerce store.
July 11th @ 2p CT: jQuery Sliders (nivo, jQuery Panel 2.0, and AD Gallery) – Register
In this webinar, we’ll cover how to install three of the most popular versions of the jQuery sliders available right now in your store. I’ll also cover how to change the pictures from the standard ones in the code that we give you in our support articles to your own pictures. This webinar is designed for more advanced users familiar with HTML, CSS, and some photo-editing software. You certainly don’t have to be a Photoshop expert, but it will make your life easier if you’ve had some experience with some sort of software that will help you edit and resize your pictures.
I hope to see you at these webinars the week of July 9th. Of course, I am always looking for suggestions on what you would like to see in these webinars. Feel free to send them my way via comment, form submission, or tweet.
Designing on BigCommerce: A Look into the Template File System
Wednesday, May 2nd @ 12pm CT
Register Here!
A good design for your e-commerce store is almost as important as the items you’re selling and the marketing techniques you use. This 1-hour advanced webinar is all about how to work in and around our template file system.
Here are the topics that we’ll cover in the webinar:
This is an advanced webinar tailored to people already familiar with web design, and you will need to have at least a cursory knowledge of HTML and CSS. You will also need to be familiar with connecting to your store’s remote space via FTP. While we don’t go over what to change, we do discuss how our system works so that you can then make the design customizations for your store. There will be 30 minutes of presentation with 30 minutes of time for Q&A.
Registration is required, so please make sure to register here prior to May 2nd. We hope to see you there!
Overview: New advanced webinar series
Title: How To Drive Sales Using Advanced Marketing Strategies
This webinar will be repeated as outlined below. Choose a date/time that’s convenient for you:
Lead by certified BigCommerce design partner and e-commerce experts Madwire Media, How To Increase eCommerce Sales During The Holiday Season is our latest webinar series.
So, what will you learn during this free webinar? Here’s a taste:
This webinar will be repeated as outlined below. Choose a date/time that’s convenient for you:
Overview: New advanced webinar series
Title: How To Drive Sales Using Advanced Marketing Strategies
When? 1pm CDT on Wednesday, August 10th (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 fourth series to our already popular webinars.
Lead by certified BigCommerce design partner and e-commerce experts Madwire Media, How To Drive Sales Using Advanced Marketing Strategies is our latest webinar series and the first webinar kicks off at 1pm CDT on Wednesday, August 10th (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)
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:.