You have your online store all set up. It’s easy to use. It looks professional. Your products are added, and they’re all well described. You’re guaranteed to make money, right?

Wrong.

You can have the best website in the world in your given niche, but if you never get any traffic to it, you won’t ever make a sale. That’s why search engine optimization or SEO is vital to the success of your e commerce store. Search engine optimization is the process of adding elements to a website to help it appear high up in the results of search engines.

Each time someone searches for a keyword, Google’s algorithm determines which websites are the best and most relevant ones for the result. It evaluates this in two ways:

1. Through Elements On the Site. Google looks at certain things on websites to find pages that are relevant and useful to people who are searching. You can use on-page SEO to help Google see your site in the best way possible.

2. Through Links to Your Site. Google also examines how many websites link to web pages and what kind of sites are referring traffic to particular pages. A page that has a lot of incoming links from high quality sites will rank higher than one that has few or no incoming links or links only from low quality sites. You can use off-page SEO to improve your standing in terms of link placement.

On-page SEO is much easier for online store owners to control and should be your focus when you’re beginning your e commerce store. This tutorial will teach you what you need to know to complete it.

1. Use Keywords.

I have developed guides specifically related to keywords in the past, but if you’re unfamiliar with the term, a keyword is the word or (more…)

When I’m talking with people who are beginning the process of launching an online store, they’ll often ask me what the most important thing to do is when planning a website. The answer is keyword research.

When you open a brick and mortar store, customers will see your sign outside and come in to see what you have, but on the Internet customers can’t drive by your store to get interest in your inventory. Many of them will find you through search engines, which are powered by keywords.

Keywords are phrases that people type into search engines by Google in order to find something online. When people are shopping for something specific, they’ll type a few words into the search box and then click submit to find a store that sells it. The exact words and their order matters, and it can be hard to just guess what people will actually be searching for when they want to buy products like yours.

Keyword research gives you insight into what people are searching for online for the most and what phrases they are entering. You’ll need keywords for everything from naming your store to naming your products to naming your categories. I really can’t overstate how important it is that you invest enough time into keyword research if you want to succeed with an online store.

The good news is that keyword research is very easy these days, thanks to Google. The search engine offers a tool called the Keyword Planner that you can use to discover keywords.

Here’s an actual example from my online store. I sell dance clothing and had a particular pair of dance shorts that I was having trouble naming. The shorts had a very wide waistband that could be worn up as high waist shorts or folded down to wear as standard (more…)

A lot of entrepreneurs who are interested in starting their own e commerce stores are overwhelmed with the idea of actually getting the site put together, but if you break everything down step by step, it’s really not difficult to get a site up and running. I’ve created a series of videos and even have a complete course that walks you through all of the steps that you need to take to get an e commerce store up and running.

Of course, you need to begin by deciding what you need to buy, purchasing a domain name and developing a brand. Then, you need to find products and get your website’s framework in place. Once you have a basic website set up, you’re ready to start adding products to the e commerce site. How long this will take you will depend on how many products you’re selling, and the specific steps that you need to do to add products will vary based on what site platform you’re using. Still, there are some basics that will apply to all stores.

Here are some secrets and best practices that can help you add products in a way that will ensure you to get the most sales possible.

1. Remember SEO when you’re naming your products.

When you’re deciding what to call your products, you need to think of two things. First, you want to make sure that the title is an accurate, clear description of your product. After all, people will see the product listed on your category pages and need to be able to know which links to click to buy what they’re looking for. Next, you want to make sure that the title is something that people actually search for. This means that you want to include at least one good keyword. As an (more…)

Heavy web traffic to your online store is a beautiful thing. After all, you’ll never sell a single product if no one ever comes to your store. Still, just having people visit your website every day won’t make you money either. What really counts for success is being able to effectively convert site visitors into buyers.

For example of why conversions matter more than site traffic, let’s say you only had 100 people visit your site but that you managed to sell to 50 percent of them. That would mean that you would get 50 sales. By comparison, if you had 1000 visitors and only converted 2 percent you would only end up with 20 sales. Naturally, your goal would be to have both high traffic and high conversions, so that you can sell as much as possible and make a great profit.

The good news is that increasing conversions is much easier than boosting traffic, making it a relatively simple way to improve your website’s profitability without having to invest in more marketing and advertising. This quick guide will teach you how to increase your conversions whether you’re just starting out or have an established website.

Step 1. Don’t Make Me Think.

I got this idea from a book by Steven Krug. The concept is to make it so that buyers don’t have to do any work to make a sale. As an example, imagine if I gave you a candy bar and said it costs $1, you might be willing to do so. But what if I said you can buy the candy bar for $1 after you solve a maze? You’d say there is an easier way to go and buy a candy bar, and you’d just find a store selling one for the same price or maybe even more to purchase (more…)

Google Analytics is incredibly important for managing an online business. The data provided by the program can give you valuable insights about how well your site is doing, but for beginners, it can be hard to interpret all of the information or even know how to get started. But don’t panic, this step by step guide will make the process easy.

Step 1: Check Out Acquisitions, All Traffic, Source/Medium.

This is the one part of Google Analytics that I check every day. You can use the calendar at the top to display data from a certain period of time or to do a year-to-year comparison. This will give you an idea about how well your site is performing in terms of important key metrics.

The page tells you the top sources of revenue that your site has. You may have hundreds of different entries on the page, but the top five on the page will be the most important for you. It’s these areas that you’ll want to concentrate your marketing efforts on.

With the filters, you can eliminate certain traffic, such as visitors that are coming from outside the geographic area that you sell to. By selecting different metrics, you can evaluate things like how well advertising methods are working. This will help you to refine your marketing efforts and spend money on the things that are most profitable and beneficial for you. You can also dive into your pay per click traffic to find out how much you spent on specific ads versus how much you actually made.

The other segment that I use most often is mobile traffic versus non-mobile traffic to see how well my site is performing with shoppers using mobile devices. This will also let you know what percentage of your sales come from mobile device users and how those (more…)

I’ve been making videos about successful online stores for some time now and provide coaching for entrepreneurs who are looking to get started with e commerce. From my experiences, I realized that most people who are new to e commerce have similar questions about the process. Here are some questions about online stores and some answers:

1. Does it make a difference if you add hand written notes to customers?

Yes, absolutely. My store includes handwritten notes with every order. I have a staff member who sends a follow-up handwritten note to every customer who spends more than $250, and I actually have a second staff member who personally calls every customer. To make sure that the work gets done, my team reports to me once every week on how many calls were placed and how many letters were sent. I have everything automated so that a spreadsheet is compiled on an ongoing basis when a customer spends more than $250. Then, my staff members mark off when the work is done.

2. For someone who is just starting a website, what advice do you have to help people get their first few sales in order to get some food reviews?

Well, the very first thing that you need to do is take the time to examine your website and make sure that it looks good and works properly. Remember–you want the site to be straightforward and simple to use. If customers can’t easily find products and check out, they won’t waste time on your site. Don’t get hung up on little details like banners though. As far as how to get reviews, you may want to approach friends and family members and ask them to try your products for free and write reviews. You can also put out highly targeted AdWords ads (more…)

It’s time for another edition of Effective E-Commerce marketing, and this time I have good news and bad news for you! The good news is I’m going to make an exciting announcement that you’ll want to hear about as the owner of an online business. The bad news is that a major marketplace site has made a huge change to their policies that could have an impact on your business. But don’t worry, I’m going to tell you what it is, how it can affect you and what you can do about it.

First–the good news!

I am very pleased to announce that I am introducing my first ever educational product for owners of e-commerce stores. It’s called the “25K Ecommerce Profit Plan.” This isn’t just an e-book or a guide; it’s a complete course of study intended to help anyone get an e-commerce business off the ground.

The “25K Ecommerce Profit Plan” takes a step-by-step approach to starting an online store. The educational course is a great fit for people who want to start an online store and have no idea where to begin. In addition, you can also benefit from the course if you have an idea for a store and are ready to begin putting your vision into action to get your store up and running. Even people who already have an online store and want to boost sales and become more profitable can gain valuable insights from the course. What I’m basically saying is that my program can help anyone who wants to succeed in e-commerce no matter what your experience level is.

Through the course of 10 modules filled with actionable tips and step-by-step tutorials, “25K Ecommerce Profit Plan” will teach you everything that I know about starting and running an online business. I’ve developed the course based on my (more…)

Social media marketing is vital to the success of any online business. Nearly all e-commerce store owners have heard that they should market on Facebook and Twitter, but there are other social media platforms that are emerging as well.

Among these newer social media sites are Pinterest and Instagram. Both social media platforms have millions of users that fit into demographics that many businesses target. Like other social media sites, Instagram and Pinterest are constantly being refined and updated to make them better for users and for businesses.

Recently, changes to both platforms were announced, and these modifications to Pinterest and Instragram will have an impact on social media marketing. If you’re using either or both platforms for marketing or are considering getting into Instagram or Pinterest marketing, it’s important to learn about these changes and determine how they may potentially affect you. Read on to get the full story on the changes.

Changes to Instagram

Instagram is becoming a more important platform for social media marketing, especially for niches that are highly visual like home decorating, fashion and beauty. Teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s use Instagram to discover products, so having a presence on the platform is crucial if your business caters to people in these age categories.

Recently, Instagram followed in the footsteps of Facebook and did a major overhaul on their algorithm. If you’re not familiar with the term, the algorithm of a social media site refers to the process that’s used to determine how individual posts to the site are displayed. The move to alter the social media site’s algorithm isn’t that surprising, considering the fact that Facebook owns Instagram. But even though it’s not a shock, the algorithm changes can have a major effect on your marketing.

Instagram is now no longer displaying posts in chronological order. Instead, it (more…)

Have you been thinking about starting an online business? E-commerce stores can be a great way to make money online, and you don’t have to have any retail experience to succeed with one. Still, you do need to know how to go about setting up your online store if you want to attract customers and make money with your site. I’ve put together a course that will help you get your online store up and running and begin making $25,000 or more per year.

Why Start an Online Store with This Guide

Before we get started, here are some of the reasons why this guide and starting an online store can benefit you.

1. You’ll Make Extra Money. An e-commerce store can help you bring in extra money to use for vacations, special purchases and more.

2. You’ll Be Able to Save. Having a steady stream of income from an e-commerce store can allow you to begin to save money, so you’re prepared if you ever have a financial emergency like a job loss or unexpected medical bills.

3. You May Be Able to Become Your Own Boss. Successfully growing your online business can help you achieve financial independence. Eventually, you may be able to quit working at your main job and focus on your online store full time.

4. You’ll Have More Freedom. E-commerce can be a pathway to freedom. An online store allows you to be free to live where you want, set your own schedule and be your own boss.

How My Guide Is Unique

There are a number of other programs out there like this one, but my ecommerce course is different because:

– It’s Based on My Experience. I successfully launched an e-commerce store and grew it, so that I could become my own boss. My course is not filled with (more…)

When you’re in the world of e-commerce, marketing is important. Across all niches, competition is high, so you want to make sure you’re doing things that will bring customers to your site. Unfortunately, there are as many ways to market an online business as there are online businesses, so it can be hard to figure out which methods of marketing to use.

Based on my experiences, spotlight marketing has to be one of the most if not the most effective ways to market an e-commerce store. Spotlight marketing has proven to bring in customers from other websites and to make people eager to tell their friends and family members about my online store. Best of all, most online stores aren’t using spotlight marketing, so you’ll get a competitive advantage if you do.

The Power of Spotlight Marketing

Spotlight marketing is the only form of marketing that I use to get traffic to my blog. How well is it working? Well, I get roughly 10,000 to 35,000 unique visitors to my site every month.

Basically, spotlight marketing involves interviewing customers and industry influencers. Interviewing encourages sharing and also allows you to network. By giving shoppers and important people in your industry attention, you can build relationships that can be beneficial to you in the future.

Benefits of Spotlight Marketing

Spotlight marketing has a number of benefits, including:

1. Easy content creation for your site. Interviews are an easy way to get unique content for your sight.

2. Guaranteed sharing. Interviewees will go out and share the interview in order to promote themselves, driving traffic to your site.

3. Backlinks. Backlinks can help to improve your standing with the search engines if they’re of good quality. There is a good chance that your interviewees will include links to your interview on their blogs or websites, giving you good quality (more…)