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How to Build your Online Store

Tag: SEO

How to Build your Online Store

How to Build your Online Store

Opening an online store is now easier than ever. With new technologies and user friendly interfaces, the process of designing an e-commerce business has become simpler, faster and more efficient. However, it is highly important to plan properly to ensure that your online business and website meets your requirements. Also, the online store should be designed in a modular fashion so that it is economical and convenient to make any changes afterwards. So, here are some steps you can undertake to build your own online store.

Pick a Domain Name: While it has become a lot simpler to design an online store these days, it is still important to ensure that you have all the required elements in place. First off, you need to decide on a domain name. The domain name will be how your online store will be known. It is recommended that your domain name is able to convey the crux of your business. There are several guidelines which you may follow to select a suitable domain name. Such a name should be easy to remember too. Additionally, it should also be available to be registered.

Get Web Hosting Account: Once you have decided on a domain name and have ascertained its availability, the next step is to acquire a web hosting account. There are several services available which offer online store building kits. These packages not only include website building tools but also hosting facilities. These new services are convenient to use as these eliminate the need to be proficient in coding for creating a website. With their pre-designed templates, the user can create a basic website in a matter of few hours. These services offer additional features which may be added on the basis of your requirements.

Focus on Search Engine Optimization: Once you have created your online presence and have decided upon the target market to focus on, it is time to ensure that the people are able to locate your business out of the plethora of similar online ventures. A large number of people reach websites through search engines, and therefore, it is important to customize your online business to make it appear prominently in search results. For this purpose, you can prepare a list of relevant keywords and ensure that your website has those keywords interspersed throughout the content. It is also advisable to keep modifying the content to meet the requirements of changing algorithms as the search engines may keep changing their parameters for ranking.

Pick Online Marketing Strategy: Like an offline business, online businesses also thrive with appropriate marketing strategies. For online marketing, there are several tools available such as newsletters, search engine marketing and Pay Per Click, for promoting your business. Further, the use of social media can also help you in augmenting your position in the market. It is important that an optimal mix of these tools is used. Some of the most important online marketing tools you can use are Google Adwords and Social Media Ads. Both of these are paid mediums and have their distinct characteristics. These methods may be used in conjunction with free or low cost methods such as Instagram pages and Twitter, enhancing the overall effectiveness of your online marketing campaign.

Use Enhancement Tools: Your task does not end with the launch of your online business, as you have to keep your online store and its contents constantly evolving to remain relevant. The use of plugins is highly recommended to ensure that your website is ranked high in the search results. These plugins are also helpful in giving a customized touch to your business. These plugins may be a part of website building packages you may have used, while other plugins such as the ones provided by Google Chrome can be used by anyone.

Set up Analytics: it is extremely important that you are able to measure the results of your online business promotion strategies. Setting up analytical tools will allow you to collect the data and analyze it. By using this data to set up the benchmarks, you can ensure that your plans are focused in their approach. Some of the most important metrics in this regard are unique visitors, conversion rate and average eyeball numbers.

Holiday SEO Tips: Make It Big on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Holiday SEO Tips: Make It Big on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Holiday season is here and it is the time to boost your revenue stream to end the year with a big bang. The season is full of different festive occasions to let you market your products in an innovative manner. Whether it is the Black Friday or Cyber Monday, you and your business should be prepared to provide the best services to your customers during this rush time. The online sales volume during this time period is on the upward trajectory and tends to set a record every new year. So, here are some SEO tips to help you make the best of this holiday time period.

Review Your SEO Strategy: the holiday season is the perfect time to unleash your creative potential. However, before you put all your ideas into practice, it is advisable to review your existing SEO strategies. You can start by optimizing the technical credentials of your website and fix the ways your pages are crawled and indexed. This exercise will form the foundation of finally getting your website properly ranked. You should work towards resolving your 404 error page issues and fix broken links, if any, on your websites. Further, to ensure that your website works smoothly during holiday rush hours, you should optimize meta tags and add appropriate keywords to your content.

List Holiday Specific Keywords: once you have optimized the bare bones your websites, it is time to introduce keywords to the content on your website. First off, you need to prepare a hit list of holiday related keywords. There are various resources available which can help you identify these keywords. Next step is to incorporate these keywords into your content in a seamless way. It is important that such keywords blend smoothly into your website and do not seem to be planted. You can also customize these keywords according to specific holiday you are preparing for.

Spruce up your Landing Page: landing pages are your first interaction with your potential customers, so it is important to get the first impression right. You can incorporate keywords into the data provided on landing page. It is also imperative that you design your website landing page with appropriate keywords, meta tags and descriptions. An attractive headline can keep your customers interested in exploring your website further. Some other recommended SEO tactics in this regard are the use of timestamps where you announce upcoming big events. This will not only entice your customers but also make them coming back for more. You should also ensure that your landing page has appropriate key words embedded.

Integrate SEO with your Marketing Plan: In order to get the best performance during your holiday season, it is important that your holiday marketing strategy makes appropriate use of SEO.  Such integrated policy would mean that you make optimal use of social media as well, which, in turn, should be aligned with paid advertisement strategy. This omni channel approach to holiday marketing planning will help you make the best of this time period. For this purpose, it is also advisable to properly analyze previous year’s trends.

Go Mobile Friendly: as more and more people are now opting for mobile shopping, it is important that your website is mobile friendly. Alternatively, you can think about investing in the development of your own app so that you are able to harness the ever growing mobile market. you may be required to make certain changes such as optimizing the size of various graphics and media used in your website. Further, your website content should also be AMP optimized to provide proper results. SEO is all the more important for mobile shopping as users tend to make more intensive use of search engines on their mobiles.

Review and Rework: once you have implemented your SEO strategy, it is imperative that you review it to ensure that all the details are going on as required. You can use several tools such as Google Analytics for this purpose, which will let you know the performance of various webpages. If there are any broken links, you should take prompt steps to fix them. Following an integrated strategy will help you achieve or even surpass your holiday season revenue goals.

How to setup your e-commerce store using Payshop

How to setup your e-commerce store using Payshop

We are all aware that e-stores are more than just an add-on in today’s world. They are now a necessity. E-stores are fast becoming the preferred choice for buyers to make purchases. With their online presence, e-stores are easily searchable through most search engines, thus enabling the retailer to reach a wider customer base.

Here we present to you Payshop, a single-stop resource for all your e-retailing needs. Payshop gives you access to a multitude of templates, effective SEO tools, and everything else you need to run your e-commerce store.

While brick and mortar stores have limitations when it comes to timing, e-stores are available all the time. So buyers can make purchases at their leisure. Additionally, the detailed descriptions provided on e-stores make it easier for buyers to make purchase decisions quickly, while online payment platforms make the transactions much simpler.

Payshop, through Expandcart software, provides you with a volley of highly responsive and beautifully designed templates to start up an online store. Another one, Xcart software, is a type of PCI-DSS compliant software that gives you the freedom to operate flawlessly on your personal server. Xcart helps your e-store integrate seamlessly with the most popular payment gateways.

So, if you are a retailer without an e-store, Payshop can help you create one with ease.

Find templates

A good e-store requires a good template. The very first thing that a prospective buyer notices is how your e-store makes them feel. A template can tell a lot about a business and can help build trust and confidence in buyers. At Payshop, you are able to find pre-designed templates for your web-store. You can find the template that is the best possible fit for your business without the hassle of having someone create a template for you. The choices are all laid out, all you need to do is pick one and it’s yours.

SEO tools

It is common knowledge now that search engine optimization is vital for the growth of a business with an online presence. Where your store appears on a search engine, has a huge role to play in its growth and expansion. Payshop provides you with a myriad of SEO solutions to fit your business needs. Using these simple tools and effective strategies, you can help your business grow by leaps and bounds.

One-time licensing fee

Most e-commerce providers, which are supposedly ‘free’, charge you heavy hidden fees when it comes to transactions or a monthly subscription. With Payshop, you needn’t worry about being duped. Payshop charges you a one-time licensing fee with no hidden costs which will sneak up on you in the future. It’s a one-time investment for a lifetime of worry-free e-retailing.

Social media and marketing campaigns

In order to enable any e-store to be heard over the cacophony of loud online retailers trying to sell their wares, it is vital to create unique and strategic marketing and social media campaigns. Marketing for an e-retailing site must be aggressive if you are aiming to outrun the competition.

A business must aim to not only make its campaigns unique but also to be able to touch an emotional chord with its buyers. Payshop gives you the ability to design and run social media and marketing campaigns that will make the presence of your e-store known by the world.

Set up your e-shop with Payshop

People want to be able to do things quickly and with ease. E-retailing is now the major choice of buyers for making any kind of purchase. For the growth and survival of your business, creating and maintaining an e-store is a necessity. E-retailing enables you not only to maintain your older client base but also to grow and expand, and reach out to a whole new section of people. It allows your business to reach places way beyond what you could have ever imagined.

An online business needs to have an online payment gateway to operate. Payshop supports seamless integration of a payment gateway into your e-store. By creating an e-store using Payshop, you will be able to reach out to a worldwide audience.

8 Ways You Can Attract New Customers to Your E-commerce website

8 Ways You Can Attract New Customers to Your E-commerce website

Over the last few years, online retail sales have continued growing at an incredible rate proving that this is not a fad. According to projections,   online retail sales will reach 8.8% of total retail spending in 2018. According to TechCrunch, 79% of U.S consumers now shop online which highlights the huge opportunities in the e-commerce industry. If your business is not already online, it is time to make the big move. However, you should expect stiff competition as more online businesses set up shop and target the same market. To survive in this volatile business landscape, you need smart strategies to attract new customers to your ecommerce website.

This guide explores the best approaches for customer acquisition in the online ecosystem such as secure online payment systems, SEO, call-to-action (CTA), social media, and leveraging visual content, among others. Keep reading to learn more.

  1. Social Media Buttons

Most internet users converge on social media. If you want to attract new customers, you should target social media users by including social media buttons on your content. However great the content on your e-commerce website is, you will not attract new customers if your existing ones don’t share. If you have an amazing holiday offer on your products, make sure the content is easy to share on social media.  Sharing content on social media not only drives traffic to your e-commerce business but also increases brand visibility.

  1. Provide Flexible Payment Options

User experience is one of the biggest aspects of successful online marketing. If you want to attract new customers, you must offer an excellent user experience. One way of doing this is through flexible online payments. You should integrate the best payment gateway on your site to start accepting payments without much hassle.

  1. Focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The competition in the internet market is stiff and to get an edge over the competition, your website must rank high on search engine result pages (SERPs) for your target keywords.  You have to implement a smart search engine optimization (SEO) campaign for better ranking as this not only increases visibility but also builds the credibility of your online store and drives traffic to your site.

  1. Buy Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

PPC is a premier online marketing tool to attract new customers. It is easy to target potential customers who are more likely to shop from your store. PPC campaigns have high ROI and you can use credible PPC platforms including Google, Bing and Facebook for targeted marketing with good results.

  1. Invest in a Professional Web Design

Many online businesses fail because they don’t make a good first impression. Web design is an essential part of any SEO campaign and it helps attract new customers. By investing in responsive web design (RWD), your target customers can reach you on any device. Good web design also reduces churn rates and increases conversion rates.

  1. Use a Powerful Call To Action (CTA)

On each page of your e-commerce website, you should have a call to action (CTA) which directs visitors as to what to do. A good CTA is short and concise and should lead to higher conversion rates. The idea is to convert a website visitor into a buyer and avoid high churn rates.

  1. Leverage the Power of Visuals

Visual content is the future of business marketing and internet users love it. If you want to attract new customers to your website, you have to invest in high-quality videos, images and animations with informative content, for your marketing campaigns. Videos and images have a high ROI and internet users share them rapidly. You will not only enjoy higher conversion rates but also create brand awareness when you invest in the best visuals.

  1. Invest in Fresh and Relevant Content

Internet users are highly conscious of what they need. They are always on the lookout for something that adds value to their lives and they want it instantly. If you can’t captivate your target customers with good content, they will quickly look for an alternative. For this reason, you should invest in fresh, relevant and interesting content.

These are only a few of the techniques you can use to attract new customers to your e-commerce website. You should also invest in creative marketing such as competitions, keep your website updated, and use referrals and membership programs, among other techniques. The ultimate goal is to grow your e-commerce business’s customer and get the best ROI out of the methods you use.

5 Tips for Improving User Experience at Your Web Store

5 Tips for Improving User Experience at Your Web Store

When we talk about user experience, we can broadly divide it into the following categories:

  • Convenience
  • Flexibility

These are the two major factors on which the entire user experience is based. People look for convenience while shopping online or using an e-commerce site. If the site offers everything that the customer might be looking for, keeping their convenience in mind, people will love using the site. The same is true for another factor – flexibility, which is applicable when people look for different options.

Nobody wants to be conditioned to use a limited set of options, which might be quite inconvenient sometimes.

1.Keep your payout speed fast

E-commerce world is going through a sea change as more and more people are moving from traditional jobs to freelance and online jobs. They earn their livelihood through offering gigs and working remotely for others. In such a scenario payout speed of your site becomes extremely important, as your users need to pay their monthly bills.

User experience is everything in this case and the popularity of your platform largely depends on how well the platform pays its users.

2.Make use of targeted keywords

Convenience can be of different types and ease of access and search ability of your website is the topmost factor. We can achieve visibility in organic search through targeted keywords. It is not only important for SEO but also to attract online crowds through different channels. We need to keep in mind that most of the people are looking for a product using their mobile phones so misspelled words and voice search are extremely important, and we should take care of them while defining the targeted keywords.

3Arrange the placement of search bars

It is extremely important how your search bars are placed on a page during site navigation. In E-commerce sites, there are various filters you can use to search for the product you are looking for. Every section and filter has an adjacent search bar, which can be scrolled up and down or right and left. It helps you view the entire list, grid or web page. It makes the site easy to navigate, view, and find the right information.

4. Keep your product display captivating
Every effort should be made to highlight the product you are selling. A well displayed product has a higher probability of selling. So, everything that might help you in displaying your product in a better way will help you in improving your customer experience. From HD pictures to HD videos, 360 degree views, GIFs and anything else that helps your customer get a better idea about the product will help you.

5.Make sure checkout is smooth 

One major part of user experience is the checkout process. If the customer feels that the checkout process is not smooth and quick, they will not leave your site in a happy frame of mind. It may also prevent them from visiting your site next time. The same is true for customer experience with your payment gateway. The overall experience includes the ease of choosing the right product, time taken to move a product to the cart and finally making the payment to complete the order.

There are many things that make your checkout smooth and convenient, such as the functionality to store your card information. With this arrangement, the customer doesn’t have to enter the card details every time they make payment. Don’t redirect them to another site to complete payment. Try your best to keep the customer on your site, unless it’s warranted due to security reasons.

If you take care of all these things, it will dramatically improve your user experience and will help your site to attract more traffic and convert more customers. That’s probably the reason user experience is also one of the major factors that influences SEO.