Wednesday, 30 March 2011

  • How to Improve on Free Website Templates

    When you visit an online store for the first time, you won't be able to easily tell if it was customized for the merchant or if it started out as a free website template. If you plan on going into online sales yourself, you could achieve the same effect.

    So many merchants today are much wiser with spending, particularly for the development of their virtual storefront. As such, they've gone away from the customized store path and have looked towards using website templates free off the internet. And there's really nothing wrong with that. On average, the most a merchant will have to spend would really be on the development of their online store.

    However, a lot of people new to this field fear the use of free website templates because their store might look like the clone of another. The easy solution to that is find ways to customize the store for your own brand.

    You could do this even without prior knowledge of html, css, php or other programming language. First things first, make sure the free website template you choose would allow you to easily make those minor customizations. One way to make it look different is to choose your own colors. Second, get a good banner that reflects the look and feel that you are going for. Part of this should be selecting a logo that represents your brand well. And last, but definitely not the least, spend time creating good content about your products.

    With just those minor tweaks, you can easily make your own online store - despite using a free website template - really stand out from the rest.

Sunday, 27 March 2011

  • Creating User-Friendly Shopping Websites

    Website usability seems like an overly technical word, but it's actually pretty easy to be compliant to. The main goal of website usability is to create user-friendly, easily accessible shopping websites.

    While there area actual guidelines set out for shopping sites that can help you gauge its website usability, the best way to design a good site for your customers is still to put yourself in their shoes. You can do this by doing a benchmark study of other shopping websites on the internet and judging for yourself what you like and didn't like about the general purchasing experience from those stores. Use this as a guide when creating your own online shopping sites.

    Next, have friends and relatives review your shopping websites to give you and honest opinion about how they felt about shopping there. Were there any elements of friction? This is basically anything that bothered them and made them pause during the process because they had to spend a considerable amount of time thinking about how to proceed.
    Then, search the internet for good tips on how to design shopping sites. You will usually find tips on where to put the call to action (first virtual fold), the importance of having good images, writing compelling store, category and product copies and more tips for creating successful online shopping sites. Again, use your best judgment as to what would apply to your particular niche.

    As you gather more data from your actual site visitors and buyers, use it to your advantage by continuously testing the different elements of your shopping website.

Sunday, 13 March 2011

  • Translating Brick-and-Mortar to Online Storefront Design

    For merchants that already have an existing local store or a brick-and-mortar store, they often go to the web as another sales channel. Especially for those whose brands already have recall, it is important to create an online brand that is fully aligned with the local store version.

    Simply said, you need to translate the buying experience that happens in your store into a virtual version. The best way to do this is to work with an online storefront design company. Even as your potential buyers enter your site, they must not feel that disconnect with a brand you've already worked hard on to make popular.

    Start with the corporate colors that you already use . It should be well translated as the background to your online storefront design. Your local store signage, on the other hand, should then become your logo. To do this properly, it would be best to hire professional logo design services.

    Next, when a customer steps into your store, what do they see first? This should be replicated in your online storefront design. No, you do not need to get a virtual greeter by the door, but good copy in your index page should do the job.
    To prevent that disassociation between your online store and your local store, we suggest you follow the same categorization as you would the way you layout your aisles. Your display cases should then be your highlighted products. For those, you can even create a new category on Specials or as Top Products, etc.

    When you're done with everything, walk through your store and then go through your online storefront design. It should feel as if you're still in your store and you're just as comfortable with buying from either channels.

Monday, 07 March 2011

  • The Secret to Online Selling Success

    There are three things that you will need to succeed online. First, a good online marketing strategy. Second, a kick-ass online storefront design. And third, a reliable supplier in the form of the best dropshipping company. With these three things, any new store can eventually achieve unbelievable sales numbers.

    But don't be mistaken, it will take a while to get all three and it will require a lot of effort from the merchant. First things first, let's talk about your online marketing strategy. Your goal here is to bring in quality visitors to your online store with a high potential to convert. There are several ways to achieve this. One is good search engine optimization. Targeting particular keywords and working on your site and building links to it can help you rank in major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. Another way to do it is to pay for your traffic. Paid advertising campaigns make it easier to target the right audience and to pay for better chances of conversion (via goal setting).

    Then, there's the issue of having a good online storefront design. This is crucial to getting good sales. Even if you had a million visitors, if they do not understand how your site functions or are simply not engaged by it the minute they see it, you're a goner. All that effort of bringing in visitors would be in vain. A good online storefront design would entice your visitors to continue shopping and maybe even buy an item or two.

    Last but not the least, you have your suppliers. If you go with the best dropshipping company, then you're already taking the right step towards putting your online store in the path to growth. Dropshipping can greatly streamline the entire process of selling online as well as cut your costs significantly.

Tuesday, 01 March 2011

  • Choosing the Right eCommerce Solution for Your Needs

    If you've decided to work with a company that provides complete ecommerce solutions , the most difficult part is finding the right one for you. We suggest you start off with a good plan in mind. Write down what you want to achieve with your business and how you intend to do this. Part of your business plan should be the types of products you want to sell, your pricing strategy and your marketing plan and your growth strategy.

    Knowing where you're headed can help you filter through the many ecommerce solution providers online today. Start with the very basic question: What do you want to sell online? This will determine your niche as well as help you understand who you're marketing your products to.

    You can also use it to benchmark your ecommerce template selection. The way your site looks should match the kind of brand you want people to see when they visit your online store. Are your products fun and youth-oriented? Choose an ecommerce template that is colorful and light. Are your products geared more towards businessmen or practical people? Then a cleaner ecommerce template would be a better match.

    The number of items you intend to sell would also play a big part in choosing the right ecommerce solution for you. It will determine the hosting package you need (as well as the necessary bandwidth and storage space that goes with it). Selling 200 items online is a huge difference from selling 25,000 items online.

    Planning your business ahead will help you make the right selection from the many ecommerce solutions available to you.

che4shopster

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