In case you haven't been reading and participating in our forums as often as you'd like, we've got you covered. The E-Commerce Forums Spotlight provides you with details on several recent threads that can offer valuable experience-based insight for small online businesses. Of course, you are free to add your own comments or questions by following the links provided to each discussion below.
This week in the forums our members are discussing a variety of e-commerce issues. This Forums Spotlight highlights advice from our members on how to bring traffic to your Web site, plus an interesting discussion prompted by one forum member who wants to know about switching storefronts. Problem is, we're not sure what storefront the member is using now, but we'll get to that. Also, our readers weigh in with their opinions on other members' sites.
SEO/SEM: How To Get Traffic To My Site
This discussion was actually started last year by Leader12, but the topic of how to increase traffic never dies, and nor should it, considering how important it is to a successful e-tail operation. Today, we still have some fresh and new ideas being discussed by our forum members. If you ever want to learn more about driving traffic to your Web site, and how to do so on a small budget, this forum discussion is well worth reading. You can also peruse our archives at the site listed under advertising/marketing where we have lots of articles outlining how to improve search and how to list your store for free at shopping sites to increase your exposure.
Leader12 asks, ""How do I go about drawing other people from online to my Web site? I did an engine seeker with Google and Yahoo, and several others. But I am not sure if this is working. If you could advise me as to what are my best options on Web site traffic, I would appreciate it greatly."
Maverickc says, "If you want to increase traffic, it's ' all of the above' that is the answer. Marketing is a full-circle event and not just one thing will accomplish everything you need to do...you need to use several marketing strategies both online and offline. Online you can submit to directories, search engines and write articles and get backlinks from 'related' Web sites. The more you do, the more chances traffic will come to your site...The catch — have adequate content on your Web site to keep people there. Also, sufficient content on your Web site helps the 'organic' rank you get in search engines. Not having enough text content is a big reason why sites don't get ranked."
roban adds, "SEO is NOT an exact science but there are several things that can be done to improve your site's visibility on the Web. Getting visitors to your site is not difficult but getting targeted visitors to your site ups the ante quite a bit. If you sell green widgets, what do you care if you have 1000 people a week coming to your site looking for purple widgets? You want the ones looking for green widgets or you're going to start carrying purple widgets because you're a savvy shop owner.
The question you should be asking is: How do I know if what I have to offer is what people on the Internet are looking for, and if it is, then what can I do to attract THOSE people? That is what SEO is all about."
SeattleCPA suggests this: "Andrew Goodman's book, 'Winning Results with Adwords' is a bit dated but is a very good primer on how to run a smart PPC campaign. Beginning of summer, I read the book, used its advice and got a nice boost in my click-through rates and a little boost in my conversions."
Storefronts and Shopping Carts: Storefront Switch
You have the product — and you have a plan. Before deciding on a storefront for your e-business however,you have to know the basics of your operation. In this case, timothy1721 needs some assistance in figuring out what to do if he wants to switch carts, and if you need assistance with cart issues, you can also read our stories on shopping carts in the related links listed on the right for more information.
timothy1721 asks, "If I switch to a new shopping cart, give the new designer the files, can he plug those in to the new system, or will the files my programmer created not jive with any new cart?"
roban replies: "It's hard to answer without more information. What is the programming of your site? PHP, ASP? I have helped in the development of 2 cart systems and they support FedEx, UPS and USPS. Do you have a URL to the site as it is developed so far?"
TipPro says, "You mentioned you want to move to a new shopping cart. Do you mean you want someone else to develop a shopping cart or you want to move an existing shopping cart like osCommerce or Miva Merchant?
If moving to an existing shopping cart system, most of the files your programmer created for you will be useless, but probably most if not all of your functionality and design can be carried over to the new system. You will be able to hire a designer to follow the example of your old site and recreate it on your new shopping cart system."
timothy1721 says, "I didn't know much when first getting into this (and not too much now!) He seemed very knowledgeable and I took his word for it when it came to all this. I do not know the programming language, or the system that he is using. I've asked a few times, but he has been quiet about it. I think he believes that I'll see that it is fairly simple, and just complete the work he has already done. He did send the general instructions to me, and I came across this site. It doesn't look like anything that anyone has discussed on this forum. Do I have reason to be concerned? The site will be hosted on Brinkster, is this another concern I should have?"
Rate My Site: Please rate OnlineBodyManagement.com
Forum member FranklinBMI asks members to visit and rate the online fitness Web site, Online Body management. Its been online for a couple months now, but comments are appreciated by the site owner.
roban says, "I was very impressed with your images. They are clear, relevant and well done. However, I was disappointed with your choice of color. The black background, silver text with turquoise mouse-over blew it for me."
JPnyc adds, "Very well done . I think it's good to go just as it is."
vbeal says, "I would match the mouse-over color to what you use in the text logo above it, where it says "body management" (a bit more in the blues than green). Overall, you have a very impressive Web site with an excellent clean layout. I love the fact you make it more personal by adding staff photos and bios throughout the site, and also provide e-mail and phone contact details. Excellent job!"
The Small Business & E-commerce discussion forums offer advice on online marketing issues, security tips, Web site design elements and includes general discussion related to current trends and practices. Fellow small-business owners can network and share tips, tricks and advice. You can use the forums for knowledge gathering or create a free member account to take part in the discussions and ask your own questions.
Did you find a particular forum thread interesting or helpful? Tell us about it for our next E-commerce Forums Spotlight. E-mail us a link or, when logged into the forums you can send a message to forum member "vbeal."
Vangie Beal is a regular contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com and managing editor of Webopedia.com.
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