When talking with potential clients about eCommerce web design it often comes up, “Why don’t  we just purchase a shopping cart?” You have a problem and need a solution. Often the general problem is you’re not selling online now and would like to… but to what degree? $1,000 a month in sales or $1,000,000 a month? What is your marketing strategy going to be with your new eCommerce website? These questions all factor into the solution you’ll need, but are questions a cart alone will never answer. You need a team and not a product.

Custom eCommerce Design & Unique Layouts: When purchasing a shopping cart you’re often going to run into issues with your website looking like 100 other sites (if not thousands). This image is probably not what you’re looking for in a strong brand and will not place your company where you’d like to be. A customized solution will allow you (and us) to be creative in the way the website looks and is branded creating a customized shopping experience.

Flexibility of Functionality: Adding functionality is a given. You’ll need to at some point. Whether you need to now or not isn’t always the question, but what happen when you outgrow your eCommerce cart? Who is going to make modification for you? If you have a custom cart you’ll always have developers available, whether us or another company, that can take over your site and add additional functionality.

Search Engine Marketing & Optimization: Many eCommerce shopping carts really lack on the search engine marketing side, or they have to many clients selling the same items. What happens is 50 websites sell the same items, using the same cart and in return all end up with pretty much the same website. Google doesn’t like this. The search engines look to see how unique you are and how you stand out. If you’re just like everyone else, you won’t stand out at all. Also, custom designing the site allows us to constantly use the latest in web code trends and the latest SEO techniques. On each project we strive to implement the latest and greatest!

Controlling Your Destiny: Owning your code is huge! With many shopping cart systems you will not own the code, meaning if you’d like to move your shopping cart to another developer or hosting plan, you do not have access. It’s like renting code. You’re stuck with them!

We want you educated! We’ve recently written an article to help you better understand what goes into the price of an eCommerce website. Read it here: Pricing an eCommerce website: What Affects Cost?

As we’ve been analyzing our most successful clients and working on marketing plans, we’ve seen a pattern…. Pay per click advertising. It’s true. If you can optimize your pay per click campaign it can be very successful and sometimes the results are exponential. Spend a dollar and make two I often say. Who wouldn’t take that? That’s a much better return on investment than I’ve seen on any of my stocks in the last few years! Pay Per Click advertising can be scary, so we really do need to take a good look to understand what it’s all about and how we can reduce risk. It’s all about stats and numbers. It’s not a guessing game and if you make it one you’re setting yourself up to potentially lose a significant chuck of cash. Spending $5,000 a month or $200,000 a month can seem out of the question, but it’s not when the ROI (return on investment) is there. In this article we’ll look more in depth on whether PPC (pay per click) is a method of advertising you may be interested in and if you feel it’s a method that’ll work in your business model.

Will PPC work for me? This depends on a few factors. I’ve listed the main factors below:

1) Conversion Rate (what percent of users purchase after visiting) - A typical conversion rate is 1.5% on the low end. We usually use this number.
2) CPC (cost per click) - How much will it cost for each visit
3) Average Sale - How much is the average sale
4) Profit Margin - How much do you make on each dollar purchased
4) Potential Visitors - How many visitors do your keywords allow you to receive. Each market and industry has a certain amount of searches per day.

These 3 variables can usually tell you if you’ll make money. An example is a client’s marketing plan we’ve been working on.

We’ll do this based on 10,000 visitors purchased.

20,000 visitors @ $.50 (CPC) = $10,000.
20,000 visits at 1.5% conversion rate = 300 orders.
300 orders X $340 (average order) = $102,000 in sales.
$102,000 (total sales) X .30 (30% profit margin) = $30,600 profit.

Well, the numbers don’t lie. That’s a lot of money to make. Yes, it was a $10,000 investment but it was a 300% return! This is how you make money. The saying “you have to spend money to make money” is the first thing ever business man and business woman knows. PPC is the perfect example.

The biggest thing to look at is whether or not you have a product with a decent profit margin. If you don’t, any advertising is tough. The next variable we need to take into consideration is the CPC. The cost per click is going to let us know if this is possible. If the most per click was $3 for the industry in the example above, PPC wouldn’t be profitable. As you see, it’s a science and not a guessing game. Guessing is expensive. Guessing loses our clients money.

The next step in pay per click optimization is looking at the conversation rate. A 3% conversion rate in the example above would yield results that would be out of the world. Huge numbers. The numbers we’d all like to see. The way to achieve a conversion rate above and beyond the industry average is to optimize the pay per click campaign. The way this is done is to remove keyword that are not converting, run ads move often during times that visitors purchase the most and be sure clients are being driven to the page on the website that converts on the highest level for the keyword. This is done through constantly monitoring and updating the campaign. Creating powerful landing page for specific keywords that have clear calls of action (COA) is also a very important step.

Remember, spending money to make money is necessary, but spend wisely. If you’d like help in creating a successful PPC campaign, contact us.

Lately we’ve been working on and developing multiple videos and rich media presentations for various applications and I felt I’d be beneficial to discuss some of the benefits video can bring to the table and what we’ve seen happening. I believe video is the best way to quickly educate a visitor on your service or product, but it also has a lot of value in other respects.

For many of who run (or advertise) eCommerce websites / online stores or even a serviced based business, it’s not always easy for the owners or partners to meet with each client and give your customers the warm feeling that you’re there for them and you genuinely care about them. Online video is the perfect way to say “hello”, introduce your company and build that personal connection. The personal touch may be a larger benefit to a service based business while product demo may be more powerful for the eCommerce industry.

Working with Germ Guardian on their most recent site launch we not only developed a custom eCommerce website, but also put together a rich media piece that incorporate a presentation and also has video embedded. The rich media piece has been used on their website but will also be featured on Cosco, Lowes, Walmart and other various outlets in which they sell. Within days of the launch we saw the presentation almost double their sales of the featured product. Why? Because a buyer wants to know what they are getting into. They want to lear all they can about the product and we need to make them excited!

Keeping a visitor on your website and engaging them in one of the toughest parts to developing any website and we’ve found that video make it much easier to accomplish that at a high level. Simply offering video on the homepage will often double the time a visitor may spend on that page and in the end increase your conversion rate. As we all know, in the end it’s about the conversion rate! Below are a few tips to consider when developing an online video:

• Be to the point. If the video drag on too long your visitor may lose interest. Say what you need to say or show what you need to show in order for someone to make the decision of buying from you or requesting more information. I believe product demo should be short while a company introduction or overview may be longer.
• Quality is Key. We’ve all seen the attempts at web video that look like they were shot on a web cam. If the video is not as professional or as high of quality as your products or services, don’t use it! Spending the money on professional video recording is the best money spent.
• Brand it well. When shoot and editing the video be sure to include contact information at the end, your website address and of course your logo. Use company colors throughout and be sure there is a call to action (purchasing, calling, filling out a quote request, etc.)
• Share it! Once your video is done it may have a powerful impact on social media sites, You Tube and all over the web. Don’t put the video on your website and no where else. You have it, show it!

Many clients ask about Web 2.0 features as they have heard this phrase before and of course, it sounds like the latest and greatest. In some ways, it is. Web 2.0 can be very complicated or can be basic, clean and easy. Our goal in using Web 2.0, especially within eCommerce design, may be a little different than some of the over-the-top Web 2.0 sites.

How Web 2.0 works in eCommerce design and development: When designing an eCommerce website we look at the user experience. The question we try to answer is “how could the user experience be easier and quicker?” The goal of any eCommerce site is to get a visitor from point A to point B (ordering). If Web 2.0 features are distracting than it can hurt your site and send visitors in the wrong direction. An interesting navigation is great, but would you rather a user play with a navigation for 5 mintutes or learn more about your products? Website visitors have a certain amount of time to purchase an the quicker you can get them through the order process the better! We often use Web 2.0 and AJAX to load content without the page reloading. This is one of the most effective ways to use these features to make the experience easier. When going from one tab to another, for example, the tabs content can reload but not the whole page. When options are choosen on a products (red shirt, green shirt) the product image can change or fade to the next color. These basic, but effective, Web 2.0 features will give you site the edge needed to boost sales.

Flash or Web 2.0? A lot of elements or interactivity that was acomplished through the use of Flash is now accomplish through Web 2.0 development. Sliding navigation, fading images, roating photos and interactive experiences can be developed without the use of Flash. What the benefit? One, Flash is not always installed on all computers. If a visitor does not have Flash installed those elements will not dispaly for the visitor. If your navigation is in Flash, you’ve just lost a customer. Web 2.0 features do not include 3rd party programs to run (Flash does) and it will also allow the search engines to easily read all of the content within your site. eCommerce Search engine optimization is one of our key services and we always want to be sure everything we develop will be found by the search engines.

If you’d like to see some Web 2.0 examples check out Moo Tools. This will show you some basic functions that Web 2.0 Javascript can accomplish: http://demos111.mootools.net/

The significant differences between hosted and custom eCommerce website solutions
As eCommerce website design evolves the industry has separated into hosted and custom eCommerce website solutions, both very different from each other. As we explore the differences take into consideration what your goals are for the website your having built in respects to traffic, sales and longevity. We’ll help you in making the correct choice that’ll best fit your goals and budget.

What are hosted eCommerce solutions?
Hosted solutions offer an easy-to-start eCommerce website solution that you can usually get up within a few days, possibility a week or two if you customize the design. The advantage to these premade solutions is they usually cost less to start, which is the main attraction. Aside from this you don’t have to worry about maintenance, updates (assuming your solution of choice updates often) and making sure everything is set up correctly. Again, this can depend on the solution, but since hosted solutions are premade they are often stable and don’t require much attention.

What are disadvantages of hosted solutions?
The main disadvantage with a hosted eCommerce website is that the customer does not own of the website and the code behind the site cannot be modified, making functionality customization nearly impossible. The eCommerce features that come with the website are what you get and custom features cannot be added. Now, this is not always a problem if you’re running a basic store and don’t need a website that offers features that are unique. If you want a website that stands out, looks unique and would allow a web designer to make modifications, a hosted solution is probably not the way you want to go. For a very basic site with a stand eCommerce structure and flow, a hosted solution may work. But, if you want the ability to grow the website and make updates in the future, you’ll probably need to move to a custom solution. If you anticipate this happening it’s better to start with a custom eCommerce website which will allow your website to grow without it needing to be completely redesigned.

SEO for Hosted Solutions – The Struggles
A problem we’ve run into multiple times is the task of performing eCommerce SEO on a hosted solution. We’ve found, nearly 99% of the time, we’ve very limited in what can be changed. Of course changing and tweaking code in the website is essential in the SEO process. The results we’ve seen optimizing hosted solutions have resulted in significantly lower traffic and sales. Also, without the ability to modify code variance testing becomes very difficult. An example of variance testing would be creating multiple versions of the same landing page or product page and comparing statistics on which performs at a higher level. Without the ability to modify code and all design elements creating these pages is usually not a possibility or is very limited.

Custom Developed / Open Source eCommerce Website Solutions
Custom eCommerce websites will allow you, or your developer, to make any changes to the website, given their knowledge or programming, design and SEO. This is an obvious advantage but of course a custom solution also takes more time to set up, additional programming hours and often no type of template solution is used. In the end you’ll pay more upfront for a custom website but you will not have monthly charges as high as a hosted solution. We’ve seen multiple times clients paying over $2,000 a month (without SEO!) for their hosted solution when they have high traffic and sales. Your custom eCommerce site also creates a high-end feel and in the end will provide the functionality you need without the clutter that you don’t. Not to mention you can update it and make changes as you need. Want to try a new checkout system? Not a problem. Need to import and integrate 50 different manufacture databases? Again, not a problem. If custom fits your budget, it’s the way to go and no one will ask you “Do you want fries with that template?”.

As eCommerce progresses and grows into one of the largest mediums for selling products, web designers are faced with creating ideas on producing higher quality eCommerce websites. The question lies between the effectiveness of witty ideas or clean-cut standard eCommerce development. When taking a look at some of the most effective eCommerce website today, it seems the second has established itself as the winner.

Usability is key in for a successful eCommerce website when a visitor already “knows” how to use your website. There are certain elements, in certain places, that visitors look for, utilize and expect that will always be available.

Following the guidelines below will help your eCommerce website sell at a higher conversion rate and give you the calls of action needed to be successful.

#2: Search - Let Them Find It Easily
When a user is on your site don’t make them work too hard. If they want to find something, be sure a search box is always available. Also, add a link to “advanced” or “detailed” search. A basic search bar doesn’t always bring up everything needed. Allow them to search by price range, category and any other specifications that may be relevant to your industry

#3:Cart Preview - What’s In It?
Be sure to make your cart preview visible from all pages of the website. No one wants to click “view cart” every time they forget what’s been added already or what their total is.

#4:Calls To Action - Make Them Visible
Whether it be your “Add to Cart” button or Phone Number (or both), but sure they stand out. Direct people what to do and how to complete their transaction.

#5:Breadcrumbs - Tell Them Where They Are
It’s much easier for a visitor to navigate when they know where they’re at.

#6:Product Photos - Let Them Zoom!
Usually it’s tough to see the details in product photos. Utilize different zoom features and make the details pop. You know what they say… a photo is worth a 1000 words. Spend the time, and money if necessary, to get photos that will sell.

#7:Payment Options - Offer them!
Having multiple payment options makes a huge difference! Always have an integrated merchant account, such as Authorize.net, but also offer PayPal and Google Checkout. When offering PayPal as an option we’ve seen sales jump by 40% in a month.

#8:Our Price vs. List Price
Be sure to show the difference between your prices and the list price. Hopefully your prices are low (important online) and it’ll give the visitor more incentive to buy from you.

#9: Shipping - Offer Flat Rate ( & Free If Possible)
Offering flat rate shipping makes the checkout process a bit easier and you’ll find you’ll convert better as well. If you have set prices for shipping (ex. $7.99 for orders under $50) you can then show the shipping price on the cart page without the user having to enter in their zip code! The less information someone needs to provide in order to get all of their order details the better. Also, if you can offer free shipping, even if this means adding a bit of cost into the products, this can often increase sales dramatically.

#10:Tabs for Product Details
When listings features, specifications, reviews, additional photos, etc. on a product details page look into using a tab system. A remember, use some JavaScript and don’t make the page refresh each time!

#11: Sales & Promotions
It might seem basic but we’ve seen time and time again sites jump 100% + in sales by running a simple promotion. Whether it’s free shipping, a discount code or basic spring sale, always be running some type of promotion. This brings in the “buy it now” factor and gets users to pull out the plastic!

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When most people think of link building, they think of other websites linking to theirs. An important part of link building, whether you have an eCommerce website or informational website, is internal link building. The idea of internal link building is linking from one page to another within your own website. Doing this properly can have a significant impact on your rankings. We take many of these practices into consideration when designing an eCommerce website.

The basics of internal link building is linking pages of specific topics to other pages with relevant content. This allows the search engines to realize your topics, group your pages and rank them appropriately. Developing an effective internal linking strategy is something that must be well planned and thought out. You do not simply want to link every keyword to the page that has to do with the specific word. Some of the tips below will help you to create an internal linking strategy, especially for an eCommerce website.

Now remember, external link building is still a big part of SEO and internal link building is not to take the place of links from outside websites. The combination of internal linking and external linking will improve your rankings and boost your website rankings.

• Create brand landing pages - An easy way of link to multiple category, specifically with brand keywords in the links, is to create a brand landing page. Often this page will offer a general description of the brand, what products they offer and then link to all of the appropriate categories / products on your website that contain products by the specific brand.
• Related Items - When a visitor is on a product details page you should also be displaying related products. This will allow the search engines to index your products more easily and will also create an internal linking structure.
• View Products from This Brand Also - When on a details pages, let’s say for a pair of running shoes, you might want to offer your visitor other suggestions via a text link. Example: “Running shoes by Nike”. You could list out the other brands you offer for similar products. This is like related items, but more so “Related Brands”.
• Featured Items - When viewing your homepage, a category page or just about any page on your site you should be displaying featured items somewhere. Put the most searched for and most popular products in these areas. Remember, even if you’re displaying images of your products, be sure you have anchor text (text links) to the product as well that includes keywords.
• Create a Blog - As simple as this sounds, most website owners do not want to take the time to do it. Believe me, we understand, it’s time consuming… but it helps. If you blog about a certain product or about a topic, you can then link to those products or pages from your blog post.
• The easiest way to create internal links is to look at where you have content and link from your keywords to your landing pages. Take into consideration a visitor on your website when doing this and make sure it’s not annoying. From a visitors standpoint it’s helpful and easier to navigation when keywords are linked appropriately to the page of interest. This way a user can navigation directly from the text they are reading instead of having to try and find the link to that subject within your main navigation.

When it comes to eCommerce website design, many businesses are at a loss for where to start. Questions such as, “How do we manage our inventory?”, “Where do we find product images?” and “How do I choose a company?” always seem to arise. OuterBox Solutions eCommerce Website Development offers its suggestion below to help you better understand eCommerce and moving forward in developing your new website.

When it comes to choosing your eCommerce web design company, there are a lot of options. Many companies claim to be experts, so how do you know which is for real and which company may be a 15 year-old in their basement. The first area to explore is the company’s portfolio and client list. Be sure they have experience in website development and especially eCommerce website design. There is a big difference in a standard informational websited opposed to eCommerce websites. Next, be sure the company has a location and is easily accessible. If you need to sit down with them and go over ideas, you want that availability. Or, if you’re not in the region of the company you’re interested in, be sure they are readily available via phone and email. Also, check into how long the company has been in business, and you can always ask for references! Remember, any questions or concerns you have, be sure to ask. The more informed you are, the better the development process will be.

Managing your product inventory, or getting it online into your store, can often seem to be a daunting task. There are a few ways you can go about this. Your first option is to compile a database of all of your products in an Excel (or Excel type) format. This will allow your web design company to import all of your products into your website. Remember, images must be attached to your products as well, so be sure to create a column for the product image filename, or name of all of your images by SKU number. Your other option is to put in all products by hand. Any eCommerce website should come with an administration that will allow you to add products. Using this administration to add products is usually fairly easy, but it can be time consuming if you have hundreds of items!

Your product images are the key to success when selling your products online. As we all know, a photo is worth a thousand words, and customers want to know exactly what your product looks like before they make a purchase. Showing the details, whether it be a zipper or button, can be the difference between a sale or losing a customer. If your manufacturer provides product images, they will be often be high quality and will save you much time. If not, you can take photos yourself or hire a professional photographer. If you do opt to take photos yourself, be sure they come out well. Your photos are all you have to offer in order to sell your product.

For more information regarding eCommerce website development call us at 1-866-647-9218.