Archive for the ‘e commerce’ Category:
Upgrades and add-ons to OS commerce can cost more than the original development if some basic steps are not taken before updates and add-ons are installed.
Always make a full backup of your site and download the back up for each module. Keep the backups stored away for at least a few months.
If anything goes wrong with your site from the new installation it is easy to restore your site back to its operating state.
2. Prior to any install of a new add-on or an upgrade, as a site owner you should ask your developer (if it is not you doing the install) to note the module and version number they are using and the os commerce URL. Keep these details in a log record of your site.
In the future if your developer no longer works for the same company or you change developers then there is a clear record of what has been added to your site and that record will often allow the new developer to quickly ascertain how your system works and where any current issues will be coming from. It will also allow your developer to quickly ascertain what if any security issues need to be updated on your site or the origin of error messages that may appear.
Google recently released a new feature to their Web arsenal to assist businesses become more competitive and their customer service more transparent – Google SideWiki.
Google SideWiki http://www.google.com/sidewikiallows users to sign into their Google account and leave unmoderated comments and various other information about your company and staff. In turn your Google search rankings will be affected by the quality of comments.
The negative side to Side Wiki at the moment is the lack of ability to moderate spam and malicious comments in a timely fashion. Users also have the ability to send thier comments via Twitter, FaceBook and email.
Whilst there is a Google Terms and Conditions to make comments, there is no automated manner to see comments in real time. Organisations should check for new comments at least once a day. If your site has heavy traffic then you should adjust the amount of times per day accordingly.
Within days of Side Wiki being released users are making malicious and rude comments on some of the larger more well known brands such as Microsoft, Apple and WalMart.
Our advise is to sign up to the Google Webmaster Tools and make an introduction comment on your SideWiki thus allowing your comment to always be at the top of all the other comments. You should also update your Google Profile and add as many details as possible.
Today FaceBook announced the ability to tag friends, Fan Pages and groups in your status updates by using the @ then your friends etc name. FaceBook call this new feature status tagging.
Simply type your message and then add the @ symbol. This will put a link to your friend/Fan Page or Groups. At the bottom of your status box will appear a list of your friends, fan pages and groups in a manner similar to the search options in FaceBook.
Apart from the large social benefits, there is an increased opportunity for businesses and brands to be status tagged with both positive and negative comments from happy or unhappy customers. Considering the fast spread of news amongst friends businesses and brand owners will need to keep a watchful eye this new service.
Most properties that are for sale and rent are advertised on the Internet, whether on the real estate agents web site, a Realtors web site or an auction web site. Advertising properties on the web is the most convenient manner to find the dream property and the most effective manner to sort out those potential people who are interested in the property.
More often than not, Real Estate Agents and property investors create an advertisement for a property that they hope will entice potential customers to ring them and meet with them. This defeats the purpose of online advertising and will just waste your time and money as potential customers move on to the next property they are interested in.
To gain the maximum advantage from advertising properties online, the advertiser should:
1. Include inside and outside photos of the house.
2. Use Google Maps to show the location
3. Use Google Street View
4. Give a good description of the property
5. Include email as well as your phone number as a means of contact.
6. Don’t have any hidden surprises such as fees you did not mention on the advert.
Real Estate Agents should also do the following to maintain and gain new relationships and coverage:
7. Use Twitter to send property updates and market trends.
8. Create a Fan Page for your self so that your clients can give feedback and un edited testimonials. Beware, if you are a dishonest Real Estate Agent i would not suggest doing this.
9. Maintain a regular blog with tips and new emerging trends.
10. Utilise online communications more. The telephone is not the only form of communication.
With the current recession we have seen a large increase in small businesses creating an online presence with e-commerce web sites often selling products which would be better suited to having an information web site as opposed to directly selling products online, or at least set up to do so.
A great deal of small business e-commerce web sites are built in a pre packaged system – more often then not it is oscommerce because of its powerful features and simplicity to install and customise.
More often than not, installing such a system such as oscommerce and making it visually appealing is where the web developer stops.
As a customer you should know prior to any work commencing:
- Is your product sellable online or is it better with an information web site
- Does the site comply with local laws
- What “Ecommerce Best Practice” steps have been taken, ie Returns, Payment methods etc
- Will each page have a unique Title ?
- How will each product appear in search engines
- Are the sites links human readable ?
- What are the benefits of the SEO add ons ?
- Advertising strategies if any
- Social Media strategies if any
- How is customer feedback and complaints handled ?
- What directories will your site appear in ?
- What other SEO tasks will be implemented that ensure your site and products will appear in search engines.
- How will you know where your visitors enter and exit your site?
- What analytical software will be used for your site ?
About two weeks ago Microsoft launched their new new search engine called Bing – http://www.bing.com. One the surface it is simple and attractive to look at. It also has some familiar search options that we see in Google. It is still not yet scientifically proven how effective Bing is, nor if it will be a real competitor to Google. We do know that Bing is already taking a sizeable part of the market share away from Yahoo!.
As web site owners and especially if you have an ecommerce site, you need to know where your traffic is comming from to assist your strategy of investment, adverts, Search Engine Optimisation etc. This is usually done with software such as Google Analytics or default software in your CPanel of your web hosting.
Within the popular Google Analytics, Bing will appear in your statistics only as a referring site. We want to share with you this quick fix so that Google Analytics can incorporate traffic from Bing under the Default Search Engines list.
In your code on your site you will need to add this line
pageTracker._addOrganic(“bing”, “q”);.
The Google Analytics page and further details are here. When Google release the completed patch we will notify you and give any tips and instructions that are required.
