e-Commerce Tips for 2007

Now that most of us have had a Christmas break it is time to go into bat on the business front. This is a little collection of tips that I have put together to get your online business off to a good start ...

Maximise traffic to your web site.

How long is it since you last spent time driving traffic to your web site? Don't be left behind. Traffic doesn't come to your site automatically, search engines and directories send it. And if you don't optimise your site to convince the Search Engines such as Google that you have relevant content, then your site will be largely ignored.

Consider taking a combined strategy:

Set up reciprocal links from other sites with a higher PageRank than yours. This is particularly important for Google. One easy way to do this is to find web sites, forums or blogs that are related to, but not directly competing with, yours and submit articles to them with links referring to content on you own web site. It is these incoming links that search engines love and your PageRank will rise accordingly.
Have specific pages on your web site optimised for particular keywords. This is a specialist activity that in general should only be done by a web developer. Follow this link for further information.
Consider paid advertising on a "cost per click basis". Google AdWords is a good place to start.

Develop a marketing strategy for the next three months

I have to admit that I am the worst offender in this respect. I am so busy helping others meet their goals that my own are always running a sad last. And do you know what that is? A poor excuse. And I am sure it sounds familiar to many of you, so let's all turn over a new leaf.

The reason marketing activities should be planned well in advance is to give yourself plenty of time to get in the necessary stock, or if you have a services business, assemble the relevant resources. For example, if new stock is involved then you will need time to photograph the products, prepare the various copies of the image, load them onto your site, write up the descriptions and price them. On the other hand if you are having a sales drive for the services you offer you may need to engage additional temporary staff.

Detailed planning

This is the 3Ps bit - only this time they are Plan, Plan & Plan. Look at your marketing campaigns collectively, and then individually. Start with the core propositions. You may be planning to run three campaigns over the period: the first to clear stock, the second to highlight specific existing services and the third to launch new product lines or services. Whatever they are I suggest that you keep them simple and only have one core proposition per campaign. Much more than that and you will run the risk of confusing yourself and your customers!

Newsletters

If the marketing campaign revolves around a newsletter then that needs to be very carefully planned, drafted and tested.

There are many sorts of newsletters, however those promoting e-commerce ventures should have one primary purpose: driving traffic to your online shop. The implication of this is that you don't want to give customers too much information in the newsletter, but rather write the copy in such a way that it provides just enough to whet their appetite for more. So don't forget to tell them - specifically - where to go on your site for the whole story, or to see all the great new lines. This should be done with embedded hyperlinks. Oh, and don't leave any doubt regarding what you would like them to do when they get there ... buying would be nice!
Don't waste time singing your own praises. You or your business may have done some really great things, but sadly customers just aren't interested. What they want to know is what is in it for them. Keep this as your focus and you will not go far wrong.
Pay particular attention to the subject line of the email newsletter. Remember, with many customers this may be all they read before they start going for the delete button. Try and make it compelling but avoid hype. Even words like "sale" and "bargains" will, in all likelihood, automatically consign your carefully constructed email to the junk folder.
HTML email newsletters are acceptable to most customers these days. They can look great and of course can feature images but do make sure that they are correctly constructed. View them in Internet Explorer and Firefox as a minimum before you send them out. You may be surprised how differently the common web browsers can present the same HTML document. Sometimes these differences can be disastrous.
Ensure that you comply with the Australian anti-SPAM regulations. If you are unsure about them, click here for a practical business guide. At the very least include details saying who you are, why the person is receiving your newsletter, and how they can unsubscribe should they wish to do so.
Before you send out your email newsletter to your whole mailing list, test it. That means checking that the content is correct, that links work, that any mail merge fields are merging correctly and that unsubscribe links are fully operational.

Your mailing list

Mailing lists must to be maintained. And I don't use the word "must" lightly. With legislation in place to prosecute those who play fast and loose with their mailing lists this is an area that requires careful attention by all e-commerce operators. If you manage your mailing list manually and it looks like growing then consider upgrading to a list management system that tracks subscriptions, unsubscriptions and member details automatically. If a query is ever raised it is very nice to be able to provide evidence that details a customer's complete subscription history. Click here for further information on email list server functions.

Your online shop

OK. So far the focus has been on getting customers to your online shop. Now it is time to make sure that when they do they have a pleasant experience.

How are your stock levels? Check what you need to order. This need not be a thorough stocktake, just make sure there are not any yawning holes in your inventory and take immediate steps to plug them if there are.
Do the product lines as displayed in your online shop match up with what you have in stock? If not, turn off (don't delete) the items that you are out of. That way you only have to turn them back on when they are back in stock.
Don't be tempted to leave items on display that are out of stock. You may know that they are coming back in, but your customers do not. And online customers really do expect that what they see lines up with reality!
Check the navigation of your site to make sure that all links are operational.
Review your terms, conditions, FAQs and freight. Hopefully there will be first time customers as a result of your mail-out who will want to check these things. By the way - when you are checking these things try not to just go through the motions. Put your customer hat on and read them as if you were reading them for the first time.
Place a couple of test orders using the available payment methods. The last thing you (and your customer) wants is a dis-functional checkout system.

Finally - good luck with your e-commerce ventures in 2007. E-commerce is not rocket science - it is just another form of business. And like all forms of business it is constant attention to detail that counts.

Michael Hayes,

The Online Shop Designer (TOSD)
www.tosd.com.au