International Payment Methods

Posted on April 23, 2009 by admin

We discussed in a previous post the advantage of opening up the international channels during 2009 to expand your business globally. While the increase in the number of prospective consumers will lead to new levels of profitability, ecommerce businesses need to establish how to charge the influx of new customers.

International Payment Method #1: Credit Cards & Online Payment

Credit cards are the primary source to charge consumers within every region where the credit card companies will calculate for you the currency conversion. The downside is that you need to set up a method to charge the cards within your bank which will most likely come at a fee.

A second and more popular option would be to charge to the consumer through PayPal or Google Checkout. While the fee for PayPal starts at 2.4% with a $0.30 transaction fee and Google Checkout starts at 2.9% with the same transaction fee, the billing options provide your business with a secure checkout process on your end and a form of legitimacy for your store.

International Payment Method #2: Bank Transfer

Bank transfers are a lot more common across Europe then they are within North America. The fees that are associated with bank transfers for the most part don’t appear in Europe. Since the payment method is popular internationally, it would be worthwhile to explore the option.

International Payment Method #3: Money Order

Funds are prepaid for the amount purchased. The consumer will purchase the order from their bank within the desired currency.  This payment method is similar to a check, but more trusted since the order will not bounce.

Even though the primary payment method for ecommerce purchases globally is by credit cards, whether directly or through and online service, there are still other widespread International Payment Methods. Two out of every three transactions are taking place in Germany are done via payment methods other than credit cards. It would therefore be a mistake to focus on a global expansion plan and ignore international payment trends.

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Dynamic Ecommerce SEO Tips

Posted on April 23, 2009 by admin

Despite what a lot of people think search engine optimization (SEO) for dynamic ecommerce sites is actually easier to implement than for non-dynamic sites, since dynamic sites contain only a few template pages (like: product page, category page etc.) so by simply optimizing a few template pages the entire site is optimized.

Although search engine optimization affects mainly the organic search results, the paid or “sponsored” results, such as Google AdWords are also affected due to the increase in the landing page score, that way you can benefit twice from the optimization efforts.

It is recommended to use a professional search engine optimization firm for the optimization effort but anyone with a small technical knowledge can implement at least the basic optimization procedures which should result in a great contribution.

Google offers webmasters a great SEO startup kit with all the basic tips to successfully optimize your site.

In this post we decided to focus and few simple to implement optimization tips which should result in the greatest contribution:

Tip #1: create unique, accurate page titles

A title tag tells both users and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. The <title> tag should be placed within the <head> tag of the HTML document. For a dynamic template page, like the product page, the title tag should be created dynamically via code.

Sample <title> tags:

table-1

Tip #2: add unique, relevant and well structured content

Search engines love content and give high scores for pages with unique, relevant and well structured content. Therefore you should carry out the following:

Add the HTML Meta tags: Including only relevant and unique keywords for each product for the title and description and make sure to include the Meta tags within each page of the landing pages.

  1. HTML heading tags (<h1> to <h6> tags).
  2. Unique relevant product descriptions: it is recommended not to use the manufacturer’s description as is, rather to modify it a bit and make it more relevant for both the product and the user.
  3. Long tail keywords: use various keywords that are related to the product and that go beyond the brand, model and category.
  4. Product reviews: product reviews not only add relevance for your site, but the user generated content will also be unique content that is searchable.

Tip #3: improve the structure of your URLs

Creating descriptive categories and filenames for the documents on your website can not only help you keep your site better organized, but it could also lead to a better SEO score by the search engines.

Sample URL structures:

table-2

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Long Tail Keywords

Posted on March 16, 2009 by admin

By eliminating the physical presence of a store, online retailers are able to offer an almost unlimited selection of products, based on their suppliers, to an unlimited group of consumers in their local market and internationally.

By applying the theory of Chris Anderson’s Long Tail economics companies will target a wide spectrum of niches along the curve. This theory makes it possible for ecommerce shops to continue to compete once a certain segment becomes saturated and also provides the foundation for bidding on keywords within an ecommerce campaign, by bidding on long tail keywords.

Long tail keywords

Long tail keywords are an extension of the specific product you are selling. Each word within the keyword is specific to product including, features, model numbers, colors etc.

Example

Product: Casio Exilim EX-Z100BE

Keywords:  Casio Exilim EX-Z100BE, Casio Exilim EX-Z100BE 10.1 Megapixel, Exilim 28 mm lens, Exilim 4x optical zoom

Why use long tail keywords?

As a consumer moves along the purchasing cycle from getting informed about the products available to the actual purchase, they will be refining their search terms. At one point the consumer was searching for a digital camera, but once they establish the features they want they will include them within the search and then narrow it down to a specific brand and product. During the final stages of the consumers search long tailed keywords can be used along with prices in the text ad to capture the consumer at their point of purchase.

How to convert from your long tailed keywords

  1. Highly specific landing pages containing full product descriptions and product pictures.
  2. Call to action; order online, on sale, buy now.
  3. Insert the price of the product within your text ad. If your price is within the range of the consumer, who already knows the specific product they want to purchase, then the conversion rates will increase.
  4. Make it easy for the user to purchase the product they want. i.e. quick and painless checkout.

To get started on long tail keywords based on your products you can create the campaigns in one of two ways. The first would be to long tail the entire company’s database and produce keywords for each and every product and the second would be start with the top 10 to 20 products and add on products as conversions come in. Each method will be cost effective and like all campaigns you need to monitor conversion rates, cost per conversions and cost per transactions.

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Global Ecommerce

Posted on March 16, 2009 by admin

As the economy continues to take its shape for 2009 it is vital to focus on your margins and remain profitable.  At the same time 2009 will still provide an opportunity to grow your ecommerce business by strategically building a global ecommerce strategy.

The Global Ecommerce market 2009:

  1. Global Ecommerce sales (excluding travel) will grow by 4% in 2009 – eMarketer. The growth is smaller compared to that between 2007 and 2008, but still growth none the less.
  2. Europe spent $94.4 billion shopping online in 2006, a figure expected to rise by as much as 113.2% to 201.3 billion in 2009 – Internet Retailer’s Top 500 Guide.
  3. 19% of China’s citizens have Internet access, but contains more than 253 million Internet users. An emerging market nearly the size of the total population of the USA.

Based on the issues outlined above there is still hope for 2009 and beyond.  Those who build and grow successful Ecommerce businesses in 2009 will reap the benefits in 2010 and forward.

So what should you focus on?

  1. Highlight your willingness to handle overseas orders. Ex. a crawl banner welcoming visitors in multiple languages.
  2. Provide local languages on your site. Add a toggle switch so customers can select their language of choice.
  3. List prices in local currencies.
  4. Provide clear information about anticipated shipping costs, taxes, return policies and the countries or markets that you serve.
  5. Make sure to communicate estimated shipping times to your customers.
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Twitter Microblogging for Ecommerce

Posted on March 16, 2009 by admin

Twitter is a microblogging site where users can post content and messages up to 140 characters long. The social networking system has taken the early adopter and evangelist community by storm and its user base continues to increase by leaps and bounds as it spreads to the mainstream community.

Although the twitter microblog was not created for the purpose of marketing it has been utilized by various industries as part of the main marketing mix, especially in the ecommerce industry.

Methods for utilizing Twitter

First and foremost, to get your users on twitter, direct them with a link to your twitter page and briefly explain how they can sign up within your about or contact us page (take a look at Zappos.com about page as an example).

Customer Service through Twitter

Companies now have the ability to communicate with all of their clients in real time and respond quickly to any current problems. Twitter’s social networking system allows you to send a private message to specific users for customer service issues or message the entire community for more general issues which are then archived. Your twitter page in essence will become a frequently asked questions page as well, so any consumers can search for an issue that may have been dealt with already.

By tackling customer service through twitter you not only assist your customers in real time, but also develop a community around your company.

Promotional Marketing through Twitter

Once the customer service program is well in motion you can start to tap into your new found community with promotional marketing incentives. To get a quick idea of how to utilize Twitter for promotional marketing you can take a look at Dell’s campaign. Through Dell’s Twitter account, @DellOutlet, the computer manufacturing company offered discounts to its followers who were taken to a specific landing page with the promotion code for the sale item. Just through this free channel Dell was able to make $1 million in revenue.

To get started on customer service and promotional marketing it would be worthwhile to first follow current companies including Zappos and Dell to see how it’s done through your personal Twitter account and if you want to create a more tailor made coupon you can also use the free third party site twtQpon.

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