Ah, Cyber Monday is here: the peer pressure fueled day when all retailers mutually agree to cut their profits and encourage their customer’s addiction to discounts and promotions. I know that sounds a bit pessimistic, maybe even downright harsh, but hear me out. There are really only 2 reasons why a retailer would offer Cyber [...]

Ever since Shop.org coined the phrase “Cyber Monday” back in 2005, online retailers have realized the sales potential of this first Monday after Thanksgiving. After all, people are back at their office jobs, tired and overweight from the Thanksgiving holiday. What better to do than shop online?  Below I’ve gathered some Cyber Monday marketing ideas [...]

For the last several years, I’ve had the privilege of directing the e-commerce site for C28, an online Christian clothing store. In the last 3 1/2 years, we’ve been fortunate to experience a 1600% increase in sales. I’ve recently been reflecting on lessons I’ve learned through this exciting but tumultuous experience. What follows is a [...]

“Never assume.” – These 2 words represent the greatest advice ever given to me on the topic of website optimization. Here’s a list of 10 assumptions site owners make (myself included) that could cost you a ton of business. Assumption #1: People will know how to find your website We often assume that people have [...]

Ever had one of those “aha” moments with your website? You know, that instant when you suddenly realize you’ve been doing something wrong for a long time? What is your site’s stumbling block? Confusing navigation? Broken links? A tedious checkout? Odds are, there’s something hindering the performance of your website. Since it’s usually challenging to [...]

“How can I SEO my product pages?” – It’s a good question that I hear frequently. After all, who has the time and resources to build links to hundreds, even thousands of individual products on an eCommerce site? Who has the time to write compelling, keyword rich copy for all these pages as well? Obviously, [...]

Speed kills. In the case of website usability, the lack of speed kills. Many have erroneously assumed the advent of high speed internet connections would make website performance optimization irrelevant. On the contrary, it seems as internet connection speeds increase, users simply become more impatient and demand faster browsing. Below, I’ve gathered some simple (and [...]

Email deliverability is a headache. We used to worry about the content of an email blast, and avoid spammy words like free or using ALL CAPS. But with the shift in the last few years towards repuation based SPAM filtering, email deliverability tactics have changed drastically. Now, instead of one isolated email getting stuck in [...]

In some ways, it seems search engines have a grudge against eCommerce sites. Often times, I don’t blame them. Many online stores offer little useful content, including drymanufacturer product descriptions, poor internal linking, and no unique, user generated content. Without a doubt eCommerce sites have unique challenges when it comes to SEO. Below I’ve gathered [...]

Surprisingly, many ecommerce sites waste the thank you or receipt page by making it a dead end. Instead of encouraging your visitors to close the window, continue to engage your customers with one of the following tactics: 1. Refer a friend form: After the user completes the purchase, ask them if they would be willing [...]