Sunday, March 25, 2012

eCommerce Website Building Tips

Building an eCommerce site takes patience and lots of researching. There are times when some people will usually try to create their own eCommerce website, but they end up failing because they either get no visitors or they just didn't have any knowledge on maintaining the site. There's a variety of reasons why so many people fail, and if you really want to succeed at selling your own products, you really need to have the right knowledge and experience. You also need to know how to build an eCommerce site that's going to rake in big sales. Of course, there are times when you'll experience bigger results than normal, but if you know how to follow a certain formula, you can achieve a lot of success with an eCommerce site.

Tips - How to Build an eCommerce Website:

Domain Name
The first step that you'll need to take is purchasing a domain name. The domain name is actually quite tricky, especially if you want to come up with a good name that you know is going to be catchy in your customers' eyes. I suggest that you add a keyword into your domain name. In other words, try putting in your domain name exactly what you think the majority of your customers are going to type into Google. So, if you were selling wallets, you should consider putting "Your businesses name + color + wallets". Try to keep the domain name as catchy as you can while adding a lot of SEO into it.

Website Hosting
This is super important as it is where your site is hosted. Look for a good host that has at least 99.9% server uptime (meaning your site is unlikely to go offline for any reason)

Website Content
The content is the last part of your site that needs to be done successfully. The truth is that you really need to deliver good, quality content selling your products in an effective way. By simply getting good content written for every product that you have available, you can be sure to get more sales and an increase in conversions.

Why you need to consider getting a professionally made eCommerce site

The truth is that you can't just build a website that is going to put all of your stuff on sale, and then automatically expect people to contact you to buy what you're selling. This is not a good way to achieve long term business, and if you were to get a website that you just ordinarily set up, you won't really achieve success right away. With a professionally made site, you won't need to create the site, as you can allow for the company to build the entire site for you.

What is the best company to join?

Salehoo is probably one of the best eCommerce site providers. Salehoo Stores is a product which allows you to quickly and easily set up an eCommerce store, with high quality hosting included. They have everything, from email marketing additions to complete beautifully made templates to give you the perfect online website, Salehoo can do it all for you. What's even better is that they can even provide for you a website that's already SEO optimized, so there's no need to put your keywords in your domain name at all, as they know what to do in order for your site to rank high on Google. They can offer you everything that you need to build your online presence, and you can be sure to succeed.

Salehoo is one of the best companies to work with online if you'd like to create your very own eCommerce site. The company provides all sorts of services for eCommerce businessmen, and you can be sure to achieve success when you work with them. They not only build your sites natural rankings, but they will also teach you how to build your own rankings little by little. If you'd like to finally build your own site selling your own products, Salehoo Stores can help you out.

Friday, March 23, 2012

How to Build an Online Store

An online store provides a seller with several features that are not provided through sites like eBay or selling on retailer such as Amazon.com. Expenses for creating and managing an online store are less than the expenses for selling through a third party site. When selling through a third party site, the owner must pay an expense to sell items and pay a fee for every product sold. In contrast, an online store would only require the purchase of a domain name and flat monthly fee. Some sites, such as SaleHoo.com, provide a fast way to build an online store and direct traffic flow to the products being sold.

Setting up an online store is easy just as long as you possess the correct tools to begin with. Setting up the whole thing will only take three minutes, and Salehoo.com is the best site to consult with regarding your online store. Choose from the templates that are professional looking and there will be one that will surely fit your online store concept. It is a cinch to use, and set up is quick as well as hassle free. It is also search engine and user optimized that promoting your business via the net won't be a problem at all.

Manning an online store is easy. You don't even need an extra hand in helping you with your clients, but it will always depend on you on how to run your business. If the business that you are going to set up is more service oriented, having someone to check your online store now and then might help your business flourish. People usually appreciate it when their concern is addressed immediately. It will make your online store more professional looking and people who actually like your services will be the ones that will recommend your business to friends and relatives.

How to Build an Online Store

There are several methods for creating an online store; the two most common methods are building one from scratch or purchasing a hosting service. Building one from scratch requires knowledge of web design and html programming language; it also requires registering a domain name and the software for the checkout function. Regardless of how the online store is built, it must have safety features and security that consumers trust in order for purchases to be conducted.

Some hosting services provide the security required for an online store as part of the store package; for example, SaleHoo stores provide Secure Payment Processing and symbols to show the customers that one's store is secured and safe for making purchases. The previously mentioned example site also provides a constructed store template that is easily customized to fit one's online store preferences, further explained in later sections.

Building an Online Store from Scratch

Building an online store from the ground up begins with registering a domain name, which may be anything one chooses but should be relevant to the online store or company. After registering a domain name, one may purchase software to build an online store or write the code for the store manually. Payment options must be programmed for the customers use, as well as providing security for any financial transactions and consumer's personal information. A shipping method must also be setup with one of the major shipping companies for consumer's to receive purchased products reliably.

The advantage of building an online store from scratch is the level of control one has over the site, and the full access to the sites source code for modifying the site. On the flipside, it requires an extensive amount of knowledge in programming and designing websites to build a good online sight. This inspired the creation of hosting services that provide an online store template, which allows for people without any knowledge of building web sites to create an online store.

Hosting Service for your Online Store

Hosting services supply a means for one to build and manage an online store in just a few minutes, where building one from scratch would take days. An example of one of these hosting services is SaleHoo Stores. Through SaleHoo stores there are approximately twenty templates for a variety of online store designs, which may be further customized by the one building the website. The hosting service places the products one is selling on the website with an appealing style, as well as provides enhanced navigation of the online store.

The website is designed with a layout that may easily be navigated by potential consumers, and the Bread Crumb style menu prevents consumers from losing track of where they are on the site. In addition to the design aspects, SaleHoo provides search engine optimization through Google; there is also something known as SaleHoo Traffic Training that may be purchased in order to learn how to drive an increased amount of traffic to one's online store.

For those already selling on eBay, TurboLister will import one's listings and post them to the online store automatically. This particular hosting service only requires a monthly fee, which remains the same unless the subscription plan is upgraded. Other hosting services available vary in monthly rates, availability of templates and specific features to aid one in selling products. The goal of the hosting service is to provide people with no experience in web design with a way to sell products online, without any of the charges or fees required for third party selling sites.

Visit SaleHoo Stores to learn how to create an online store in minutes.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

eCommerce Website Design Tips for Beginners

These days, there are more and more entrepreneurs who are choosing to primarily become internet based for their businesses. This helps them to be able to minimize overhead costs, gain a worldwide presence and be able to have a business approach that is not location dependent. Having an ecommerce website can be a venture that is hugely profitable. To do that, you have to first know the best ways to create one so that it can give you maximum profit.

We can first look at what an ecommerce website is...

E-commerce describes business carried out in the online environment. In such a setup, all deals and business transactions that are carried out happen over the internet. An ecommerce website is a website where products are being sold and bought online. There are many tips that can be used to make sure that your ecommerce website is successful. Below are 5 of the most important tips to the success of your website.

1. Simplicity

Ecommerce websites should be designed with simplicity to ensure that making purchases is easy for users. Online merchants invest a lot of money to gain website traffic on their product pages. A crucial way of ensuring that users buy products from your website is by making the website as user friendly as possible.

The product page for instance should be very simple and contain only one product. This way the customer can be able to focus on the single product. Too much products in a single page overwhelms the user and might discourage the user from making a purchase. Many successful merchants agree that a product page with one product is bound to bring more successful sales than a page with multiple products.

Apart from a page having a single product, the presentation of the product should also be as simple as possible. For instance, the product picture should be clear with a visible and supporting product review. The shopping cart should also be easy to identify. It is important to note that the product options offered should be on a single page. For instance, if you have a website that sells clothes, a shirt design should be in one page together with the various colours and sizes that come with the design.

In the cases where you have similar items with some differences i.e. a phone model with different versions, then the product page should have links of the different versions in easily accessible areas. The simplicity of the page should however not be compromised.

2. Dimensional navigation

Ecommerce websites should also be designed in such a way that they allow dimensional navigation. Dimensional navigation allows an ecommerce website to guide a user accordingly up to when they find the product they want. An ecommerce website should be able to guide a user accordingly by predicting their next move. All successful ecommerce websites are built in such a way that the entire product pages of the website are linked together depending on different attributed that make sense to a potential customer. Research is thus crucial in ecommerce web design to ensure that the website is built according to a certain criteria that people use when buying online.

3. Rich content

Ecommerce websites should also contain pages that have rich content. Although web pages should be simple, the information in them should be complete and useful to help customers make decisions fast. Product pages should not be complicated with too much technical information. The best way of providing information is through layering. Layering information refers to when all information that is needed is available by just clicking on a single link. That way, content is not compromised yet the page remains simple.

4. Expert opinions

Ecommerce websites should also offer expert opinions. Expert opinions help in creating a professional mood towards a product which can increase confidence on a certain product. It is however important that the expert reviews be done cautiously. Many people tend to trust independent reviews although at times the reviews can be overdone to sound more like sales information. The best way to give expert opinions should be through recognized persons. This can be done by linking a product with a video made by an expert on the product.

5. Questions

The last tip of the 5 ecommerce website design tips for beginners is the question tip. Questions on ecommerce websites help shoppers to select various options before putting items into a shopping catalog. For instance, questions such as; what color do you want, may make shoppers proceed to check products without actually realizing that they haven't followed their preferences. Questions on product pages in ecommerce websites therefore promote impulse buying which is a good thing.

The above 5 ecommerce website design tips for beginners when followed guarantee successful ecommerce websites. Other tips such as advertising also play a big role in making a successful website however the initial stages of a website must be perfect for advertising to help.

Monday, March 19, 2012

How to Improve Your eBay Business

You may be frustrated if you keep trying to sell something on eBay, but it just never seems to be bought. On the other hand, you keep seeing people who put their products on eBay in the morning and by noon 90% are sold. This is the indication of a seller who knows what they are doing, and this is definitely the place you want to be. The following could be some of the reasons showing why your listings are not selling and what you can do about it:

1. You do not have an effective listing title

It is hard to get noticed if you have a poor listing title. Even if your product is very good, it needs to somehow be found for it to be sold. Therefore, create a title which clearly mentions the product. The Google Adwords Keyword Tool can show you alternative product name searches. You can also use it to see how many people are using different names to look for that product. Use this effectively to create a product title which can be easily found through a simple search.

2. Poor use of photos

It is always true that a picture speaks more than 1000 words. Therefore, poor use of photos will lower your credibility and thus your products won't sell much. Use photos which clearly describe your product. Also make sure that you don't take photos of substandard quality. Take photos with the highest resolution, ones that will drive someone to want to know more about your product. Use creative follower texts to your photos that will make someone understand your product. Note that on eBay, photos are part of the biggest selling tools.

3. Bad product description

Having a poor product description will definitely lower your sales. This is because your potential buyers will not have adequate information about your product. Have a detailed product description which aims at answering all possible questions about the product. It is a well-known fact that it is easier for someone who knows exactly what you have to offer to buy what you are selling as compared to someone who has scanty information.

4. Lack of urgency

There are some products which are clearly urgent and need to be bought within a specific period. If this is not indicated, then your chances of selling that product within that period will be low and there are high chances that you will clear your stock in due time. Give prospective buyers a reason to take action immediately. After they bid they won't want to lose those items. If the product is a hard-to-come-by or one off, make sure that fact is emphasized. Urgency or scarcity can get people bidding like crazy.

5. Not having a guarantee

A guarantee is something very important. It shows your prospective clients that you are confident about your product and you are sure that it will satisfy your clients. You can assure your clients that in case they are not satisfied with the products they can get a no-questions-asked refund. Another great thing about giving a guarantee is that it sets you apart from all your competitors who do not have a guarantee.

6. Not putting your terms and conditions

This will lead to returns, disputes and plenty of misunderstandings. People will not just automatically read your shipping and payment details. A lot of hassle will be saved if you put your listings together with your terms and conditions.

7. Communication problems

Communication problems with your bidders may make some of them be turned off and not buy your items. The eBay system has a design where you can directly communicate with your customers. This is a great opportunity that if used well can create a lot of loyal customers.

Therefore, these are the things that you need to avoid if you want to have product listings that will sell. They will be found easily by customers and build your company's credibility in its field. You will also be able to give your clients quality information in the areas that matter. Eventually, your sales figures will definitely be increased and you'll start making great profits on eBay.

Here's a free PDF report that you can download (no opt-in needed) to help supercharge your eBay Business:

Supercharge your eBay Business by Selling on your own Website