January 26, 2010
We’ve been getting calls lately by concerned E-commerce business owners.
They’re big question: “How do I reduce shopping cart abandonment?”
Shopping cart abandonment has long been a serious problem.
It’s also been a tried and true mystery:
Why do shoppers abandon their carts after they have chosen the item they presumably want to buy?
For several years our designers, developers, and our entire marketing team has attempted to determine the answers.
Here are the most frequent reasons we’ve found for shopping cart abandonment, in order of importance:
- Expensive shipping charges
- Customer desires to compare prices
- Lack of money
- Decided to look for coupon
- Suddenly wanted to shop offline
- Couldn’t find preferred pay option
- Product was unavailable at checkout
- Unable to contact customer support
- Concerned about security (credit card info)
There are other reasons, but those listed above are key.
So, with this in mind, here is a list of ideas you may want to consider implementing if your E-commerce website is suffering from shopping cart abandonment.
Please keep in mind this isn’t an exhaustive list. However, it should give you a few ideas:
#1 – Simplify Checkout Steps. There is some evidence that links reduction of steps to reduction in abandonment rate. But this isn’t the “silver bullet” that most people think. Once people find what they want, they generally make the time to check out no matter how many steps it takes.
#2 – Provide Shipping Costs Early On. Ideally, you want to provide your customers with an estimated shipping cost even while they’re still browsing. Most of the time, clients want to know the “total cost” of their purchase. This is important.
#3 – Add Product Photos Inside Shopping Basket. Some studies have shown that by placing a thumbnail photo of a product inside the shopping basket, you can increase conversion rates by as much as 11%, which is highly significant.
#4 – Show In-Stock / Availability Right On Product Page. Treating your customers the right way means not making them wait until checkout to find out a product is out of stock. With this in mind, providing an estimated delivery date is also a good idea.
#5 – Provide Option To Call / Contact You. Sometimes customers may encounter a problem while checking out. This may lead to them feeling uncomfortable using their credit card in your store (most people feel uncomfortable using a credit card online period). Consider offering a phone number, a dedicated toll-free line is a good idea.
#6 – Offer Variety Of Payment Options. Some people like to pay by check. Others prefer Credit card. Still others by fax. And some even like to phone in their orders. By allowing visitors to pay using their preferred method, you are increasing the likelihood of making a sale.
# 7 – Give Clear Directions. Spoon-feeding your customers with “Next Step” or “Continue Here” checkout buttons on each checkout page will make them feel more comfortable, allow the process to flow more smoothly, and, ultimately, allow you to make more sales.
If you run an E-commerce website and you have a question or need further explanation on anything related to e-business strategy, please don’t hesitate to contact us by phone or email: 203-276-9812
January 19, 2010
Would you hand over a $50,000 contract to a firm with writing mistakes on their proposal or website?
These days, business moves at the speed of light. I’m sure you’ve heard the expressions associated with this idea:
· “Speed to market”
· “Ready, fire, aim”
· “First mover advantage”
In the online world, this means publishing all kinds of information—reports, marketing materials, ideas, and so on—at the drop of a hat.
Technology has certainly made this possible.
With the advent of blogs, email newsletters, content management systems, forums, and social media, where publication takes place immediately, many people are starting to overlook one of the most important parts of the writing process—editing.
If you’re like us, then you want to make sure everything is damn near perfect. And when it comes to publishing text, there’s really no excuse.
My College journalism professor used to say, you don’t have to be perfect, but your writing should be.
Case in point: We received a resume today for a new internet marketing job we are looking to fill. It was sent to us online and the cover letter alone had no less than 4 writing errors.
The sad part is that the person looked fairly qualified for the position. But, clearly, they were not detail-oriented, especially on things that really matter (i.e. a great new job).
Are your blog posts, web pages, email campaigns, forum posts, and social media rants as tight and professional as they should be…or could be?
Now, I’m not talking about proper English. Your writing style is your writing style, and we’ve always preferred straight talk over fancy prose (especially in marketing).
What we mean by “tight and professional” is making sure your readers truly understand your meaning. If they don’t, they won’t be reading your words for too much longer, now or in the future.
Here’s a good writer’s tip. After you write anything—an article, a blog post, an email for your newsletter—it’s best to set it aside for at least a day or so before you submit it.
When we’re writing, we’re usually so “into” the piece that we can’t see the forest for the trees. Mistakes escape us. Awkward sentences don’t stick out. Catching a phrase that sounds improper becomes nearly impossible.
The moment you finish writing and proofreading a piece, you may think you’re ready to publish: “This one is perfect—I could land this one in the NYTimes Editorial if I wanted…Huh!”
But when you come back to it after a few hours or 24 hours it’s like you’re seeing it for the first time.
Then you think, “Wow, I was tired yesterday afternoon, can’t believe I missed these spelling errors…” or “Did I write THAT? It sounds like I said something I didn’t mean.”
So, next time, take an hour or a few hours or even a day or two to step back and give your mind and your eyes a chance to rest.
If you’re careful, and you give yourself a fresh look at whatever material you’re going to publish, you’ll almost always realize it was a smart thing to do.
This way, instead of being incredulous at your errors, you’ll be thankful you gave it the once-over; “Good thing I caught this before posting it!”
January 13, 2010
There are plenty of reasons why most websites fail to achieve the intended result, which is to acquire new business.
For the most part, we believe that Web Design Companies in CT (particularly in the Fairfield County area, which is where we do business) are focused on all the wrong things.
For example, most Web Design companies in CT think design is more important than layout, that colors are more important than content, and that image is more important than substance. Most don’t even have a professional copywriter on staff, which is unbelievable to us.
If this sounds like your Web Design company, and you’re located in CT (or anywhere in the U.S. for that matter) then pay close attention.
If you have not received new business because of your site, then don’t bang yourself over the head. It’s not your fault.
In the past year, we’ve found that typical non-performance issues include ill-conceived layout, disastrous design, boring content, missing meta data, few inbound links, non-intuitive navigation, buried info (too many clicks required to find it), and too much unnecessary flash. And that’s just for starters.
Now, we have built sites for several Connecticut entrepreneurs (as well as national and international entrepreneurs in general) who now have successful businesses and are making serious sales. And we believe this can very easily be you too.
You just need to understand two very important concepts: That in order to succeed you must focus on getting found by your prospects (who are looking for your products / services in the search engines) and converting more of those prospects into customers.
When you work with our company we’ll manifest some clear ideas for your site. Here is a small handful:
GIVE YOUR VISITORS WHAT THEY WANT
Excellent websites are intuitive websites. That means we will anticipate what your prospects and customers are looking for at the get-go, and give them what they want as soon as they land on your homepage. AAU websites are strategically developed to engage specific target audiences. What’s more, we always have a purpose in mind, which means getting your visitors to perform a specific action, like buy, subscribe, contact, and so on. If you want your website to work as it should, this is key.
CLEAR WORDS, NOT FANCY JARGON
Your content should be focused on one primary goal—converting your web browsers into buyers. Remember, nobody is impressed with fancy words and long drawn-out sentences. Make your point early on, make it quickly, and always try to use compelling, well-written, keyword-enriched text. Strong keyword-rich headlines are a must.
LINE UP YOUR DUCKS WITH RESPECT TO BACKEND HTML
All the words and text and general content you have on the front-end of your site (the part visitors see) applies also to the back-end (the stuff they don’t see). All the important back-end information is very important in order to get your site read and ranked by the Search Engine spiders. We’re talking about meta data, titles, keywords, alt tags, and descriptions. All should be clear and unique to each page.
PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD
Don’t be shy. In some respects, think of your website as a glorified business card. You want to stand apart from your competitors, not blend in. For example, use glowing testimonials strategically – not only on one page, but peppered around your entire site. Each testimonial should focus on a specific service/product you offer, along with glowing praise your client is giving as a result of doing business with you. Education, certificates, degrees, before / after photos, and things of this nature, are also very important. We once worked with a chiropractor who had a photo of himself and his good friend, Arnold Schwarzenegger, up in his office, but not on his site. Don’t you think a potential new client would have been more interested in this doctor if this photo was on the homepage of his site?
ASK VISITORS FOR THEIR BUSINESS
You hear it and see it often, and that’s because it works. Get more information today! Contact us today! Buy now! Call now! Call today! Reserve your seat today! Marketing 101 tells us that if you don’t have multiple “asks” or calls to action, people just won’t respond. You’d be surprised how many marketing experts get a failing grade on this one! No matter how obvious you think this might be for your website visitors that you want them to contact you, simply asking them to do so is still a very effective motivator.
CAPTURE EMAILS BY GIVING SOMETHING AWAY
A key factor in growing your business is to build a list of eligible prospects and then promote your business to that list on a regular basis. The first step is building a list. Successful marketers know how to use a valuable freebie (an e-book, white paper, podcast, etc.) in order to “bribe” the website visitor into leaving their NAME and EMAIL. When you’re deciding what to give away, remember that your goal is to give your prospects what they want, when they want it.
By not incorporating these and many other similar ideas, most web design CT companies are failing to help your company achieve your website’s primary goal—to make more sales.
If your company’s goal is to make as many sales as possible, then contact us and think about getting an AAU website: 203-276-9812 (info@allaccessunlimited.com)
For many companies in Fairfield County, CT and throughout the U.S. and even the world, choosing us has made all the difference.
January 8, 2010
The results are in. Our phones have been ringing off the hook for quite a while now, despite the lagging economy.
More and more Stamford, Connecticut web design seekers are finding out that their company’s website is an increasingly important asset to their business.
Gone are the days when a website was just a superfluous luxury, the online competition is now fierce. Sure, you know that already.
But did you know that 95% of the companies that are now initiating web design and redesign projects in the hopes it will “improve” their websites are going to fail?
This is because what many still don’t recognize is that in order to get the most bang out of their website re-design buck, they need to think in terms of a broader online marketing strategy.
Affordable & Professional Website Design Company
This is where an affordable and professional Website Design Company like us can help. We don’t just create pretty and cute designs for you. We work hard to create a site that shows your business is “THE” top business in its niche—a formidable and powerful leader in your industry.
It’s not easy. It takes experience, design skills, marketing skills, copywriting abilities, psycho-analytic skills, and, well, good old life experience.
We achieve our goal in a number of ways, but, to name a few, we begin by showing your testimonials, accreditations, before/after photos, education level, videos, brick and mortar locations, employees, employee bios, service awards, and so on.
Our ultimate goal is to prove to your website visitor, in as short a time as possible, that not only can you do the job, but you’re the best there is out there…period.
Here are some more quick tips to keep in mind if you’re thinking of doing a website redesign and (Note: if you are looking for an affordable and professional website design company to work with, don’t hesitate to contact us):
- Don’t start by looking at and trying to make the “design” more snappy, because you may just be wasting your money. What you should be looking at are components that will help your site encourage your visitors to take a specific action—like buy, subscribe, contact or reply.
- Think of your website as a “lead generation” tool, and then do everything possible to get your visitors to take an action that will encourage further interaction between your business and them (your clients).
- Try providing your target market with important high-quality information that’s related to your industry. Let your visitors start to see your site as an important resource. This will get them to continue to come back, it will attract inbound links (which increases search ranking) and it conveys the sense that you are the authority in your field.
- Another thing to keep in mind is keyword research. This is crucial. You need to build out your website content strategically. This means finding the right keywords and incorporating them strategically on your site.
- Building your website’s reputation via blogs and social media is also very important. Put some buttons on the homepage or high up on every page with links to your Twitter and Facebook pages.
- Keep in mind that you need to bring traffic to your site. So you may want to add an “Articles” page for example. This way, you can post a new article and then tell your followers on Facebook or Twitter to come and check it out.
- You should also hook up your site to an Analytics tool that will measure results from your Internet marketing efforts.
For more information on how an affordable and professional Website Design Company like us can help your business make more conversion and increase your leads, sales and profits, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’re located in the heart of downtown Stamford, Connecticut: 203-276-9812
January 4, 2010
We are always happy to provide free Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips and advice to local Stamford, Connecticut companies.
So in case anyone out there has any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re located in the heart of Stamford, Connecticut on Strawberry Hill Avenue.
Money is not everything to us, the appreciation we get when we know we’ve helped out another person or company can be just as rewarding.
For example, today we received a call from a local law firm. They recently got their web site created and up and running. Now they want to climb higher in Google’s rankings.
As we explained to them, this can appear to be a daunting task, especially for a new site. They wanted to know if there were some things that we recommend they should try first before calling a “big guns” company like us (big guns but with the big price tags).
So we came up with this list and emailed it to them:
- Create a short list of keywords and phrases you would like to focus on. Don’t make the list longer than 10 words and phrases. In fact, the shorter the list the better (to start off). Keep in mind, these are the keywords that people are typing in Google to search for your products and services; the words for which you want your site to rank for.
- Try to use those keywords and phrases in your content. Use them in the headings especially. Don’t overdo it.
- Go though your entire web site and try to tag each image with one of your key words. But keep in mind that if you overdo this it’s considered a “black hat technique” that can result in your site getting banned by the search engines. Make sure the keyword is relevant to the photo. For example, if the photo depicts a “divorce attorney” in court then use that keyword for the photo. Use the ALT tag to do the tagging of your pictures.
- Title your pages with your company name and a few of your key words/phrases. This is important because your title is what appears in the browser title bar. Don’t make it too long, but make it relevant. Relevance is more important than length.
- Check your competition and see what they’re doing to rank for your keywords. Who is your competition? Type your keywords and phrases into Google to find out. Study their sites.
- Create a page with a site map and post a link to the site map on your website. As an example, you can find a link to the site map page on the bottom of well-optimized websites.
- Create a Google Ad Words account (optional). Do some keyword research, find out what your top competitors are doing, choose the amount you would like to spend and set it up. Check your results.
- Get as many “inbound links” (links back to your web site) as possible. Are you or the people in your company members of any groups or organizations? If so, then email them a brief note explaining who you are and asking them to link back to you. If you can have them link some of your phrases to your site, even better. For example, if you are a Stamford, Connecticut Web Design Company, then make sure that the keywords are linked.)
These are just a few quick tips.
It’s always better to hire an expert SEO company, preferably a local company.
There are always lots of changes going on in the SEO industry, and a professional SEO company can help navigate the changes and can also do the most with your budget.
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