There are more than 300 million active users on Facebook — such a great opportunity to get more customers to your e-store!
Win over more buyers by adding Ecwid to the Facebook ecosystem. It will take you 5-7 minutes at that. No PHP knowledge is required, no code changes or hosting expenses.



Update at 29 Apr, 2010: There is now a better way to add your store to Facebook. It’s even faster! Use our Facebook application to do it: apps.facebook.com/ecwid-shop/
Instruction: kb.ecwid.com/Facebook

Below are the steps to integrate your Ecwid with Facebook:

1. Detect your Ecwid Store ID.

• Log into the Ecwid Control Panel. (Don’t have an account? Sign up for free!)
• When you log in, page “Dashboard” with section ‘Getting Started’ will appear.
• Find the Product Browser Widget Code text-box with HTML/JavaScript code in it. This is the Ecwid integration code.
• Look through the code lines, find this line:
  src=’http://app.ecwid.com/script.js?1003‘

‘1003‘ is the Store ID.

Note: you will see another number on your page. Use the number from your page as your Store ID.

Check the screen-shot:

2. Then go to Facebook Developer App. (it’s assumed you already have a Facebook account).
You will see the following form. Click the “Allow” button to let the Developer application access your profile.

3. Add a new application by clicking the “Set Up New Application” button.

4. Give your application a name (for example “Super-duper Store”). Accept the Terms of Service and click “Create Application“.

5. Then you should enter some basic information on your application, upload a logo and add a description.
“Contact Information” and “User-Facing URLs” sections are not mandatory. You can fill them in later

6. We are almost done. Click the “Canvas” link on the left side of the page.

7. Now you should specify the required URL’s.

• Canvas Page URL — The base URL of your store page on Facebook. For example, “my-cool-store“.
• Canvas Callback URL — a special URL that will show your Ecwid store. Replace pattern %STORE_ID% with your real Store ID which you got at step #1 in this URL: http://app.ecwid.com/jsp/%STORE_ID%/simple-store#?.

For example:
http://app.ecwid.com/jsp/1003/simple-store#? or http://app.ecwid.com/jsp/1234/simple-store#?

Check the screen-shot:

Change width and size of your application. Choose “Full width (760px)” and “Smart size” options in the “Canvas settings” form.
Make sure that your options look like the ones on this screenshot:

Save the changes. You will see the following page:

8. Click the “View Application Profile” link.

9. That’s it. Your store is ready! Press to view your Ecwid store.
Any user can now add your Facebook app to his/her profile, use it, purchase items, discuss your store with other users, become its fan, etc.

It was quickly, wasn’t it?

Please, share your experience on how you added your Ecwid store to Facebook in the comments or on Twitter. I’d be glad to learn about your stories and get your feedback : -)

If you have questions, feel free to ask in our forums.

^Eugene

OpenSearch is a collection of simple formats to share search results and discovery of search engines.
It allows accessing search engines directly from search boxes in some browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome.

In this post we will describe how to add OpenSearch support to your Ecwid shopping cart. So your customers will be able to search your products right from their browsers’ search boxes.

1. Create an opensearch.xml text file with the following content:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">
<ShortName>Store Name</ShortName>
<Description>Description</Description>
<Url type="text/html" template="STORE_URL#ecwid:keywords={searchTerms}&amp;mode=search&amp;offset=0&amp;sort=relevance"/>
</OpenSearchDescription>


where
Store Name is your store name.
Description is the description of your store and site.
STORE_URL is the URL of the page where your Ecwid store is installed. For example ‘http://example.com/store.html’.

Example of an XML file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">
<ShortName>My Cool Store</ShortName>
<Description>We sell cool products.</Description>
<Url type="text/html" template="http://example.com/store.html
#ecwid:keywords={searchTerms}&amp;mode=search&amp;offset=0&amp;sort=relevance"/>
</OpenSearchDescription>


2. Upload this file to the root web directory of your site. Usually it’s ‘httpdocs‘ or ‘htdocs‘ or ‘public_html‘ directory.

3. Add the following line to each page of your site between tags <head> and </head>:

<link rel=search href="SITE_URL/opensearch.xml" title="Your_Store_Search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml">

You should replace SITE_URL with your site domain (with the http:// prefix) and Your_Store_Search with the name of your store search or the name of your site.

E.g.:

<link rel=search href="http://example.com/opensearch.xml" title="Cool Store Search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml">


That’s all. If you have any questions, feel free to ask on our forums.

One of the Ecwid advantages is the ability to deploy and use the application on different sites or social networks at the same time. This enables an enormous grow of number of your potential customers.

We already described how to create your own Facebook shopping cart and make your store available to 350 million of active users. In this post we’ll instruct you on adding your Ecwid to MySpace — another large social network with millions of users.

No PHP knowledge or hosting expenses are required.

Follow the steps below:

1. On page http://developer.myspace.com sign in your mySpace account.

2. Click "My Apps".

3. Press the "Create New App" button.

4. "Create App" page will appear. Press the "Create On-site App" button.

5. Submit the App details.

• Application Title is your store name.
• Email and Password will be used to access your app.

Accept Terms and Conditions and press "Next".

6. A new page will appear. Press the "Skip this step" button.

7. Now you should setup your app settings. Set an application language, title, description and upload icons.

8. Select the app categories.

9. Leave all the other fields unchanged and press "Save".

10. Go to the "Edit App Source" tab.

11. Make sure that "Canvas Surface" tab is selected. You should setup the main store page in this tab with all products and categories displayed.

Set "Height" to the necessary store height (for example, 700px) and "App Type" to "HTML/JavaScript Source".
Then sign in to your Ecwid control panel and grab the integration code from "Dashboard". Insert it to the "HTML/JavaScript Source" field.

It should look like this:

12. Press the "Save Application Source" button.

13.(optional step) Go to the "Profile Surface" tab. Add an HTML code that will show on a user’s profile page when he/she adds your app to the profile.
Make sure that "Add type" is "HTML/JavaScript Source". Set app height and location.
Add an HTML code or just a text describing your store to the "HTML/JavaScript Source" field. It’d be a good idea to add description of your store there, its logo, some ads and featured products.

Press the "Save Application Source" button.

14.(optional step too) Go to the "Home Surface" tab. Add an HTML code that will be shown on a user’s home page.

Save the application source.

15. The two previous steps (#13 and #14) can be skipped and performed later.

16. The next step is to test your application. Use "Dev App" button at the page bottom. Its behaviour depends on the current tab. If you press it in the "Canvas Surface" tab it will show you the main app window.
In the"Profile Surface" and"Home Surface" tabs it will display the profile and home pages respectively.

Please note, if you want to test your app on the home and profile pages, you need to add it to your profile first. You can do it during testing of your app’s Canvas Surface.

17. Press "My App" again in the MySpace menu.

18. Your application is almost ready.
If you want to make your app available for all MySpace users, you need to publish it. Press the "Publish" button and as soon as MySpace staff reviews your app it will be approved and available for all.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them on Ecwid forums.

Drupal, one of the web’s most popular open source content management systems, just celebrated their 13th anniversary with a flourish. The company is gearing up for its next major release, D8, and the timing couldn’t be better to start taking advantage of Drupal’s growing e-commerce potential now by integrating an Ecwid shopping cart into your Drupal site. Let’s take a look at how you can easily integrate Ecwid with Drupal.

How to Integrate Ecwid With Drupal

The new version of Drupal is expected to make Drupal-based sites less complex and easier for non-Drupal experts to maintain. All of this is good news for those looking to add an online store to their Drupal page, especially since integrating Ecwid into a Drupal site is already so seamless and user-friendly.

Once you’ve taken a moment to create an account with Ecwid, adding the free and feature-rich Drupal e-commerce module is a breeze. Just install the module from Drupal, which will create a new “Store” page on your site. Then log in to your Ecwid control panel, obtain your Store ID and add it to the settings page of the installed Module, and your store is ready to go. Your Ecwid store will be smoothly integrated into your site, and will also look great on mobile devices. Then comes the fun part: customization.

You can integrate Ecwid into your Drupal store in a variety of ways, including setting up a minicart for easy customer check-out, vertical categories to display your products, and a search block to make exploring your inventory a breeze for your visitors. You can also customize how you want billing and shipping handled for your customers’ orders. And in keeping with the spirit of Drupal’s open source programming, Ecwid invites you to submit suggestions and ideas for how to better improve the operation of your Drupal shopping cart.

So, with the release of Drupal 8 just around the corner, now is the time to get started with your Ecwid shopping cart. Installation and management couldn’t be easier, and you’ll watch your business grow while taking advantage of Drupal’s new features when they’re released.

Think about your favorite companies and brands for a moment. Starting to feel that warm and fuzzy feeling? That’s because the most successful businesses work hard to create a personal connection with their customers that makes us feel special and keeps us returning for repeat business. But with all the demands of running a business, how do you find the time to make each customer feel that they matter? To help make that connection, we’ve highlighted a few simple ways to show you how to add a personal touch to your business.

1. Interact with Your Customers

Listen to your customers’ comments on social media outlets, including Twitter and Facebook, and respond to their questions and concerns on a one-on-one basis. While this does involve a time commitment, this personalized interaction goes a long way towards developing customer loyalty. When a customer feels that their input matters, they’ll stick by your business and tell their friends on social media as well. Read about how we recently teamed up with Paypal to help a seller!

2. Offer Exclusive Discounts and Promotions

Everyone likes to feel like they’re getting a special deal. Use coupons to offer exclusive discounts to repeat customers to encourage them to keep coming back. Inviting customers to mention your business on social media in exchange for special offers is also a great way to make them feel connected and to promote your business further.

3. Know Your Audience

Familiarize yourself with your target audience so that you can promote products that are most relevant to them. This may involve hosting more than one website or offering select inventory to specific customers via an email campaign. Tracking customer order histories and other data is also useful so you can personally follow up with customers with thank you notes and future special offers.

Adding a personal touch to your business, no matter how big or small, is critical to maintaining long-lasting customer relationships and repeat business. Make your customers feel that they are your number one priority and they will reward you with loyalty and by helping to spread the word about your business to others.

If you sell digital goods, you may be painfully aware of the new EU Value-Added Tax (VAT) changes that are now in effect as of January 1, 2015. As a merchant, it’s important for you to understand what this means and how to adjust accordingly — and Ecwid has the right tools to make sure you’re covered.

The New EU VAT Rule — What is it about?

Before we dive into what’s new with EU VAT, let’s start with the basics.

VAT

The Value Added Tax, or VAT, in the European Union is a general, broadly based consumption tax assessed on the value added to goods and services. If your business is based in the EU or UK and you sell to other consumers within the EU, then you probably have a VAT ID and file your VAT return to the country where your business is registered. If your business is based anywhere outside of the EU or UK, then you may not have a VAT ID. If you fall into the latter category and sell digital goods (or plan to) to customers based in the EU, then the rule changes also apply to you (and we’ll get into mechanics of registering in the sections below).

The New EU VAT Rule

Now, a closer look at the new EU VAT rule on digital goods — according to the new rules, if consumers from EU countries purchase digital goods from your online store, they must pay the EU VAT rate based on the EU country where they are established regardless of from where you sell.

More Details

Please see this page for more information about the EU VAT changes: Key Facts About The New EU VAT Rules

How this Affects You

Conditions

Basically, you are affected by the new rules if the following are true:
1. You sell downloadable digital goods or services including eBooks, hosting services, e-courses, recorded training videos, music or audio downloads etc. See also: What counts as an digital good?
2. You sell to customers in EU countries (regardless of whether or not you sell from within an EU member state)

Requirements

Here are the requirements to comply with the new rules:

• Identify the location of your customer
• Calculate the correct VAT rates basing on the customer location
• Save your customer’s location with two pieces of non-conflicting evidence such as a billing address and matching IP address — you’ll need to retain information for 10 years
• Submit a quarterly VAT return to each EU state, or use a MOSS (Mini-One-Stop-Shop), which reports to each EU state on your behalf

As a small business owner, the new rules present you with some difficult challenges that we’re prepared to help you navigate and comply.

How to Comply With the New Rules

Change is always hard, but here’s what you’ll need to do in order to continue selling digital e-goods to your consumers in EU countries:

• Register for MOSS and get VAT ID. As a merchant, to comply with the new rules, register for the mini One Stop Shop Scheme, or MOSS. If your business is based in an EU country, then you may already have a VAT ID and can easily register for MOSS. If you don’t have a VAT ID and operate your business from outside the EU, then you can choose any EU country to be your Member State of identification. Note, for UK merchants with a UK VAT ID, you can register for MOSS through the HMRC.
• Report quarterly. Each quarter, a merchant is required to submit, by electronic means, a MOSS VAT return, whether or not you have actually supplied e-goods. Where no supplies in the EU have been carried out for that quarter, a “nil return” is submitted. The MOSS VAT return (and accompanying payment) is required to be submitted within 20 days of the end of the period covered by the return. This document describes the matter in more details: Guide to the VAT mini One Stop Shop

How to Set Up your Ecwid Store to Work in Accordance with the New Rules

• Charge VAT on your products. If you’re a European-based merchant, then you know that Ecwid has supported setup for VAT rates for a long time. However, if you haven’t setup VAT rates before, it can easily be done through the Ecwid Control Panel. Read this article in the Knowledge Base for details.
• Collect customer location. Ecwid already has capability to ask for customer country built-in. All you need to do is to enable billing address form at checkout in your store: navigate to System settings > General > Cart > Checkout settings in your Ecwid Control Panel and tick the “Ask for billing address during checkout” checkbox. What is also important, Ecwid detects customer location as soon as they open your store and shows product prices including VAT even before the customer goes to checkout
• Validate customer location by IP.Ecwid by default automatically detects a customer IP address. This is saved in the order details and displayed in the Control Panel. If there’s an instance when a customer’s IP address doesn’t match the billing addressed entered at checkout, then Ecwid displays a warning message on the order details page to let you know there is an issue. According to the law requirements, in this case you should contact the customer and ask them to reconcile the discrepancy between the two sources of information. Check out section 5 of the HMRC requirements for a good explanation of how this works.
• Store customer location information for 10 years. The information in your Ecwid Control Panel is stored for as long as you want. No action is required from your side.

Behind the Scenes — Ecwid’s Plans to Make Things Easier for You

As a global company, we understand the challenges you face and we’re dedicated to providing you with the tools to operate your store and comply with the laws around the world. We are already working on providing merchants with the ability to ask for a customer VAT ID at checkout to apply zero tax. Also, we are looking at ways to make VAT reporting easier for Ecwid users. So stay tuned.

FAQ

Am I affected by the new EU VAT rules from January 1, 2015 ?
In short: you do, if you sell digital goods to European customers. See the article above for the details.

Can I set up VAT rates in Ecwid to charge VAT appropriately in each European country?
Absolutely. Please see this article for instructions on how to set up VAT rates.

Ecwid stores my customer information. What about data protection required by HMRC?
HMRC requires a data protection to be in place if the seller store customer information. However, since Ecwid is SaaS and your store data is fully hosted with us, we’re responsible for the data protection and take care of this. You can rest assured we take all necessary measures to protect your customer information. Additionally, Ecwid is PCI-DSS Level 1 Service Provider certified, which is the gold standard for e-commerce solutions worldwide and ensures a high level of security.

I want to restrict sales to Europe. Is that possible?
We do not recommend doing so, as Europe is a huge market. It’s better to try to comply with the rules. If your business is based in the UK, then you may be aware of the “light touch” approach the HMRC is taking — in particular a six month “transitional period” to give businesses time to comply. You should check with your VAT ID home country to be certain if the same transitional period applies to you. . In the meantime, if you feel strongly about restricting sales to Europe, you can find a workaround on our forums — read more to learn how.

***

We’d love to hear from you — please let us know if you have any questions!

Like any business, the first few months you have a store are important, and in particular getting customers to visit your store is vital. Marketing your online store doesn’t have to be complicated. Check out our tips on some basic online marketing methods to kick-start traffic to your store.

Content Marketing

Google and the other search engines do not automatically find your store. Make sure to have links to your website throughout the internet and useful content for when the search engines get there. Here are some tips for how to do this:

1. Post useful articles and content with links back to your site on forums, websites and social media sites (i.e. Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter) that are related to your products.
2. Enable social sharing buttons such as Twitter and Facebook inside your store, to gain both links and visibility.
3. Ideally you should have at least 300 words on each website page to explain your site and get indexed by search engines.
4. Identify the primary keywords you think people would use to find your store and make sure they are featured prominently throughout your site.

Email Marketing

Once you have some customers, keep them coming back and encourage them to refer you to other people. The most cost-effective method for these tasks is using email.

1. For small lists you can send from your current email, but once the list grows beyond 50 people you should look into using an email service provider like MailChimp or Constant Contact. Both have templates and tools to help you stay in touch with your customers and share deals.
2. Offer discounts to reward current customers and keep them coming back. You can even offer discounts for customer referrals. Customers of Ecwid’s Venture plan (or higher plans) are able to generate discounts easily through the control panel.
3. Generate and share customer reviews with tools like Yotpo. Testimonials from happy customers are a great way to build your brand and reputation.

Pay Per Click Advertising

Online advertising is an opportunity to generate qualified traffic and also spend a lot of money very fast. Here are some tips for getting started without breaking the bank:

1. If your products are very specific and are easily searched for online, then Google AdWords is the place to start.
2. If you sell a more general product, but to a very specific demographic or interest group, then you may want to begin with Facebook Ads.
3. Start with a low daily budget, test and tweak.
4. Install the conversion tracking code for each inside your Ecwid control panel (link to General —> Cart) so you know where the completed sales came from and you can repeat.

Social Media

There are many reasons why social media is an effective tool for selling your products. It’s cost effective, there are billions of users on social media and it helps build a community around a store! But with new social media platforms popping up everyday, your marketing options may seem overwhelming. Remember: you don’t have to be everywhere at once. Explore your social media options wisely and use platforms that best showcase your products and reach the audience you’re looking for. Once you pick the best platform for you, check out our post on 5 ways to market your products on social media.

1. Facebook — is a must have. It has customizable marketing and tracking tools with a massive reach. Every merchant should create a Facebook business page. And of course you can add your Ecwid store to your Facebook page!
2. Twitter — If you have the time and resources to send consistent tweets, then you can develop a following.
3. Instagram and Pinterest — If your product has a strong visual element. For example, if your store sells clothing or unique items that need to be seen, these are great places to build a community of followers.
4. LinkedIn — This is a great place for products or services geared to businesses and professionals.

If you’re reading this blog, then you’ve already taken the first step toward your dream of starting your online store. And, although there is much more to learn about the different ways to market your store, give these basic methods a try to start generating traffic and sales!

Happy Selling!

If you’re already using Google Analytics for your Ecwid storefront, then you know that it’s an important tool for understanding how your website generates traffic and what drives sales. If you don’t use the tool, then continue reading to learn about how your store can reap the benefits of setting up Google Analytics and connecting your Ecwid storefront.

More than half of all websites use Google Analytics to have a full view of who’s visiting their sties. For Ecwid users, Google Analytics is a powerful resource that can help you learn about the performance of your online store — looking at online traffic, trends, search engine information, customer insights, and sales information. This valuable data can be used to understand the unique nature of your business and tailor your online marketing efforts to promote sales. If your site isn’t already mobile-friendly, consider that this trend will only continue to rise, and Google Analytics has addressed this by releasing its Mobile Usability reports looking at traffic from mobile devices.

Not yet convinced? Here’s a closer look at some of the specific insights that Google Analytics can provide.

Sales Figures

Google Analytics provides detailed insights as to how many website visitors have turned into paying customers. By monitoring your conversion rates via sales versus visitors, you’re able to track the financial health of your online store.

Bounce Rate

Monitoring your website’s bounce rate is essential to determining how well your site is serving your visitors’ needs. It doesn’t matter the number of website visitors if they are all leaving within a few seconds. Track the pages that your visitors are viewing and how long they are staying to make adjustments where needed.

Email Marketing

With Google Analytics, you can track the success of your email marketing campaigns to determine if it’s successful. Do this by looking at the amount of subscribers who are entering your website via your newsletter and their engagement once on the site.

Visitor Engagement

To maintain strong sales figures, Google Analytics allows you to monitor your engaged visitors, which are website visitors who have remained on your site for more than 60 seconds. This offers a better understanding of your customers and what they want from your website.

Social Media Results

Track the success of your social media campaigns with comprehensive social media results. You’ll view critical data pertaining to social media activity and engagement, which is then used to cater to your customers’ needs and interests.

Mobile Usability

Google takes a website’s mobile performance into great consideration in their effort to increase mobile performance. The Mobile Usability Reports offered with Google Analytics allows you to track the performance of your website via mobile devices. With mobile sales quickly gaining momentum when compared to PC sales, you’re able to resolve any mobile device errors to promote mobile sales.

Learn more about how to add Google Analytics to your storefront to help you understand and grow your business.

Happy selling!

You have a business idea that you believe in. The pieces are starting to come together, and you’re ready to kick things into gear with a virtual storefront. As you develop your online store, your pricing will be fairly fluid before it settles in the right place. Here’s a quick overview of the things every e-merchant should keep in mind.

Check Out The Competition

The easiest way to get a radar fix on where your prices should be is to shop around for similar products. See who else is out there, and see what prices are working for them. After all, if
they’ve been in business for a while, then they’ve already done the hard work for you. No need to reinvent the wheel. It’s never a good idea to copy your competition too closely, but there’s no harm in seeing what the market can sustain for your product.

• Google search. Do you make the best Doohickey around? Search for Doohickies. If you get few local results, try “Doohickies near San Diego” or “Doohickies in Austin, TX.” Do the same with other search engines like Bing and Yahoo as well.
• Dig a little deeper. Search again in online marketplaces such as Etsy, Amazon, eBay, and even Craigslist. Take note of how their products differ from yours, any special discounts and promotions they offer, and any details you hadn’t yet considered.

Understand Your Cash Flow

It’s nice to think that for every product you sell, you can afford to make two more, and still put a chunk of that profit in your pocket. It seems almost too good to be true. And it is. Once you start selling online, you’ll have incidental costs to take into consideration. But don’t worry, this is not all bad news. Some of these costs will be yours to cover, while others may fall to your customer. Either way, these may have an impact on how you choose to price your products.

For example, selling online means that your customers could be anywhere. Shipping fees are generally handled by the customer (along with a choice between various shipping options — see our related blog post.) On the other hand, some vendors pay for shipping themselves as a promotional hook. Some of these vendors bump up their prices slightly, so that in reality, the shipping fees are split between the customer and the vendor.

Another factor to think about is sales tax. This has less of an impact than shipping fees, for instance, but it could still influence your fine-tuning. Be aware that local tax rates can swing by several percentage points, which may put you over the edge of where you want your final prices to be. To learn more about managing your tax rates with Ecwid, visit this article in our Knowledge Base.

Use Sales and Promotion

Just because it’s President’s Day, Boxing Day, Flag Day, or Thursday, that doesn’t mean it’s a good time for a store-wide sale. Frequently offering special sales may seem like a great way to attract new customers, and sometimes it is. But it can also backfire. There are many ways to offer special prices without earning an unwanted “discount” reputation. Remember that Ecwid supports these promotional features:

• Coupons. Offering percentage discounts for orders over a certain amount can boost your larger sales, especially for regular customers. Or, you can email coupon codes to your existing customers, giving them a nudge to come back. To find out how to include discount options into your Ecwid cart, here’s our tutorial.
• Bundles. If products X, Y, and Z are commonly bought together, putting them in a bundle deal can often lead to higher conversions. If each product is sold at $10 individually, try selling all three together for $25. This can be a great way to upsell at checkout, rather than making it your standard price.
• Loyalty programs. There are many ways you can offer special pricing using Customer Groups. These groups can include frequent shoppers, business partners, and wholesalers.

Be Resilient

A lot of factors can affect your sales. If customer traffic is coming in more slowly than you expected, don’t panic; it may be temporary, seasonal, or indicative of a problem other than your price point. It will be tempting to slash prices in order to gain sales, or to raise prices to make up for the recent drop in your earnings. These are almost always the wrong first step.

Obviously, it is best to establish your prices as well as you can before you open your virtual doors. Having said that, the above-mentioned tools can help you to adjust your pricing strategy at any stage in the growth of your business. Experiment. Track your results. Be patient. Try enabling features in your shopping cart to get a clearer picture, like Customer Reviews through Yotpo and Shoppilot, or track your traffic with Google Analytics. The Ecwid App Market is here and will help you find the apps and integrations you’ll need to optimize your sales!

As a small business merchant, you’re challenged with using marketing as effectively as possible in order to attract customers. Creative content like videos, photos, and stories for your website and social media channels can be a great way to connect with customers that’s personal and doesn’t require you to pay for costly ads. Here are five inspirational ways that Ecwid merchants have effectively used content to connect with their customers.

Become a Resource

Customers have a lot of choices when it comes to buying online. But, when you become a trusted resource, you build a stronger connection and loyalty with your customers.  Offer visitors to your site useful information like videos and tips to draw them into your store.

Ecwid customer, Suzie’s Farm is a great example of integrating useful content throughout the entire website. They offer quality information that their customers value such as news through their news feed, stories about the farm, recipes, and more. Together with compelling visuals, the site’s content helps to establish their credibility and gives customers a reason to return and share some of the valuable information with others across their networks.

Differentiate Your Content

Identify what’s unique to you and your store to set yourself apart from competitors. Then apply what makes your store different to create content to reflect that image. Use high-quality photos to show off your products and how they’re used, provide product guides, share real-life testimonials from customers to show how your products have helped them, or highlight awards or accolades from press coverage in order to make your store and your products stand out.

Some great examples from Ecwid merchants include 28 Black, who share video and images on their Facebook page to generate excitement around the energy drink and show off their lifestyle brand. Everingham & Watson effectively showcases press coverage on their Facebook page to build product credibility.

Keep Your Messages Simple

An effective social media post relies on how interesting the message is. The message must relate to the customers and give them a reason to pay attention to what you’re saying. Not to mention, you want to create posts that encourage your followers to share the post with others. However, you need to keep it short and simple with a strong call to action. Valkee does an excellent job of capturing all of the necessary components of a great post.

Use Great Images

A picture really does say a thousand words. Strive to use only quality images that are unique to your brand to capture the attention of your followers. A great image has the potential to boost engagement and encourage social media shares. Avoid using stock images if possible. Instead focus on images that are specific to your brand to capture the appeal of your products as Karakoram’s Split Board Bindings features on their social media accounts and on their website.

Be Consistent on Social Channels

When it comes to social media, the key component to success is consistency. Not only must you post often, but maintain brand consistency across all social media platforms to build brand recognition. This is equally applicable to your logos, tone, images and posts.

As each social network is different, you’ll need to analyze your social media data to determine the most effective means to generate engagement. There is no set time to post content as each industry is different. As a general rule of thumb, create 3-5 posts throughout the day to be featured at various times. However, by reviewing your social media data, you’ll discover when your accounts have the highest amount of engagement. Then, tailor your post schedule around those engagement times.

Content you create and post to your website and social media channels can make a big impact on your business when done right. To survive in today’s world you need a solid presence online, especially when your business revolves around selling online. With Ecwid, we’ll help you establish and maintain a positive social media involvement to survive in today’s competitive digital world.

Happy selling!

Online merchants depend on social media to survive in today’s virtual world. With 74 percent of adults using social networking sites, it’s important to communicate with your customers, and potential customers, to develop a relationship and strengthen your customer base. It’s the simple things can make all of the difference in growing your leads and conversion to sales — here are few ways to boost your visibility on social media.

Benefit from Trending Topics

The majority of social media sites offer a list of trending topics. Incorporate the trending topics into your content strategy to give customers the information they crave. In addition to the hot topics, find industry influencers to also use in your content strategy to boost the buzz surrounding your content. It’s a win/win as you’ll give customers what they want while increasing your visibility.

Use Hashtags

Too often e-commerce sites underestimate the power of hashtags. Hashtags are an incredibly important tool — particularly when it comes to trending topics — to increase exposure, organize content, and set your posts apart from others. Make full use of hashtags, but don’t overdo it. Limit your posts to include two or three hashtags each.

Example: at Ecwid we use different hashtags, for instance #ecwid_store to see all our merchant’s shops.

Stay Engaged and Responsive

Consumers turn to social media to provide reviews, feedback, and seek advice; therefore, a constant presence on social platforms to quickly address customer issues is vital. All queries must be quickly addressed to maintain positive customer service and brand image. Simply being there for your customers is a game changer for e-commerce sites.

Social Media Ads

Social media ads produce high conversion rates as you’re able to increase your visibility to relevant customers by creating content that targets a specific audience. A number of social platforms now allow for social media ads, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Use the ads in your favor to turn more leads into conversions.

Utilize Social Data

Analyze your social data to leverage the information you gather in your favor. You’ll learn a lot about your customers and their interests. You’ll also find weak points in your marketing campaign, as well as strong suits to make necessary adjustments to create a more effective strategy.

For example, Facebook Insights lets you see what type of content works best for your audience. Once you have determined what your followers find most engaging, you can share more of that content. Another interesting report is “All Posts Published.” Go to FB stats → Insights → Posts → All Posts Published and you can see which posts got the most reach and engagement. With this valuable information better manage your content calendar.

Sell From Your Social Channels

You can optimize your online reach even further by adding a shopping cart directly onto your Facebook page, so your customers are able to shop and purchase without ever leaving Facebook. You also can add a store to your WordPress blog or any other online site where you promote products.

Example: See how Royal Bakery takes advantage of this feature below.

Events and Promotions

Social media is the perfect option for highlighting special events, promotions, discounts, and giveaways. Not only will you benefit from an increase in sales, but your customers love great deals. Customers are more inclined to share your information with others and it will build loyalty to attract and maintain repeat customers.

Tip: Use a unique promo code just for your Facebook fans to encourage more shares and to promote your page as not only fun and interesting, but also practical and money-saving.

There is no better time to embrace new ways to use social media for reaching new and targeted buyers and selling your products online. As the fastest growing segment within the retail industry, your e-commerce business will thrive like never before when incorporating social media into your marketing strategy. With Ecwid and social media, you’re able to sell virtually anywhere to create a lucrative business.

As the third most popular social network, with more than 70 million users, Pinterest is a great way to boost awareness not only for your products, but your store. The social platform, which is based largely on images will strengthen your brand, drive leads and conversions, and allow you to become an authority in your industry.

Incorporating Pinterest into your marketing strategy is a smart move, especially when combined with the top tools to maximize the value of your marketing efforts. Utilizing Pinterest tools increases the success of your Pinterest campaign, while providing comprehensive insight to help manage your strategy more effectively.

Image Creation Tools

A picture says a thousand words and is more engaging than written text. Consumers prefer images because they are simple to scan, easy to remember, and more compelling.

To be successful on Pinterest, you need quality and compelling images to capture consumers. Image creation tools allow you to do just that. Canva is one tool that allows you to create high impact visuals with preformatted layouts, while PicMonkey has flexible image editing capabilities.

PicMonkey

Management Tools

Streamline your business with Pinterest management tools to save time by scheduling pins, managing your presence, and running contests and promotions. The popular tool Hootsuite allows you to build your Twitter presence while promoting your pinning strategy. With a complete scheduling system, you’ll cut time from your already busy schedule.

ViralTag is a management tool that’s similar to Hootsuite; however, with ViralTag, you’ll not only schedule posts but view valuable analytics to monitor your account and strategy. Piquora offers benefits similar to Hootsuite and ViralTag, but is different as it’s a comprehensive tool for running contests and promotions. You’ll launch, track, and analyze your promotions to build engagement and leads.

ViralTag

Analytic Tools

Analytic tools for Pinterest are your secret weapon. Not only will you discover what aspects of your marketing campaign are most effective, but you’ll also gain information about your followers. Then, use the data to customize your marketing approach to generate more leads. Tools like Tailwind provide a deeper scope of information relating to your pins and their performance. You can keep track of your images and how often they are shared with tools like Pin Alerts to help build engagement.

Additional Tools

Sharing quotes in an image form is a huge trend, even on Pinterest. ShareAsImage allows you to create a picture with a quote to share to your Pinterest community. To build your community, WooBox allows you to increase your followers by tapping into your current community on other social media networks by installing the Pinterest Tab.

With Pinterest orders exceeding those of Facebook and Twitter, you’ll unleash a huge sales potential when utilizing the platform in your marketing campaign. With only 60 percent of major brands using Pinterest, there are enormous possibilities for you to jump ahead of your competition by using the platform. The Pinterest tools will help you make the most of your time, while promoting your Pinterest strategy in your favor for a higher ROI.

As a merchant, your products (and selling your products) are the key to your success. How you visually showcase them online can make all the difference in converting visitors into customers.

In general, there are several senses that draw people into a store or experience — whether it’s a bakery that lures people in through the aroma of fresh pastries, a music store playing a cool new album, or a cosmetics counter offering a sample of a new hand cream — all these attributes touch on human senses that can make shopping more enjoyable and convert shoppers into buyers. When you sell online, the visual appeal of your products is your best tool to draw in customers, so it’s important to make your photos look as professional as possible. This not only enhances the value of your products in the eyes of customers, but it also builds credibility for your website.

If you’re just starting your business, buying expensive equipment or hiring a professional photographer may not be in your budget. So we’ve shared a few e-commerce photography tips to help you take great pictures of your products with the equipment you have (even if you’re shooting from your phone).

Use Lighting Effectively

The main secret of good photography is lighting. Without sufficient light, capturing a clear, bright picture is almost impossible. The lack of light causes a long exposure as the camera tries to focus, which will make the image blurry. Instead, you want a photo that shows the details of your products well.

Tip — use the natural light from a window. Winter lighting is ideal with the sky covered by an even layer of clouds. Direct sunlight is less suitable, because it gives too much contrasting variations of bright light and deep shadows. Also, avoid using the flash of a camera as built-in flash provides sharp and unattractive lighting.

Olga Agafonova, the owner of www.long-cats.com often takes pictures of her products — bracelets and pendants — for her store. To get detailed pictures, she uses white drawing paper as a background and a softbox, which can easily be replaced with light from a window.

Whatever you choose as your background, we recommend sticking with a monochromatic fabric, a wooden board, or a simple sheet of paper. Avoid using a background that has distracting patterns or strong textures, which diverts attention from the product.

While white is a universal background color, there are exceptions. If your site has a predominantly white background, then you may want to use a background with a different color. Otherwise, pictures can lose the rectangular border and your items may look like they’re floating on the page. So experiment — try different background colors that complement your products, then grab your camera, turn off the flash, make sure your product is in focus, and shoot!

Keep Photos Consistent

Make sure that the photos of your products have a consistent look and feel by keeping the background, size, and pattern the same. A uniform style ties together the aesthetic appearance of your entire store, as well as provides a simplified view of your products for your customers.

Smooth Sailing shop

Use a Variety of Angles

Most online shoppers want to see and learn about your product before committing to a purchase — so show a few different angles of your products (and provide good descriptions). If you have access to a professional camera, then it’s easy to capture high definition images, but if you don’t, then make sure to take a photo of the individual elements or angles as close to the product as possible.

AFOUR shop

Close-up photography, or macro shots, provide the perfect solution for showing off the details of your items. If you have a smartphone, chances are that you already use the camera to capture great photos of your family and friends. There are certainly limitations, but for macro shooting, the quality of photos can be very good.

Another way to show your product is to place it against something that can show its scale. For instance, a close-up shot of your product in the context of a person, or other object, will give your customers a better understanding of how big or small it is.

Demonstrate the Product in Action

Upload a few photos that show where or how your product is used. For example, if you sell items for the home, take pictures of those products within the context of a home. If you sell fashion accessories, ask your friends to model! Customers will be able to better understand the size and characteristics of your products after seeing them within a familiar context.

By showcasing your products in the ways they can be used, you can shape your unique identity through photographs.

Get Creative

There is nothing better than new, unusual product presentation to help differentiate your products and store from competitors. Take photos with unusual camera angles, use the environment around you, or look for a unique moments to showcase your products.

Olga found herself one day at home, surrounded by her bracelets and pendants, when suddenly her cat jumped on her lap. It was the perfect moment to experiment with photography, so she grabbed a few of her products, placed them on her cat, and snapped a few unique photos that she used to help promote her products!

You never know initially what angles will be the best shot or make the greatest impression, so try different options. With some energy, time and patience, you can create beautiful pictures for your online store that will help showcase your products and entice your customers with compelling visuals.

Take the time to find the right natural light, use a uniform background, take a few pictures of the same product from different angles and in different environments, and be creative! Your goal is to sell — and you can do so beautifully.

Like it or not, blogging has become an essential part of doing business. When you have an online store, it’s the most cost-effective (read: free) way to attract customers who are searching online for exactly the products or services you provide.

Your blog not only helps to increase your store’s online visibility, but it’s the perfect outlet for you to share stories, connect with your customers, and establish trust and loyalty. Learn more about the benefits of blogging and how to get started quickly.

How will Blogging Help My Business?

Blogging not only helps your store become a more credible resource, but it helps increase your visibility online by optimizing your website for search engines. This is an essential component to achieving a high search engine ranking because it provides search engines with more pages to crawl and index. The higher your blog posts are ranked, the more traffic and sales you’ll gain.

A blog is an effective marketing strategy that can drive nearly 6 times higher conversions rates and return visitors can increase by 133 percent!

Blogs Help You Rank In Search Engines

As beneficial as it is, many avoid blogging because they feel they can’t write, but this doesn’t have to hold you back. If you’re still uncertain about where to begin, consider inviting guests to write blogs for you or hiring a professional. Ultimately, blogging doesn’t have to be overly complicated.

Take Simon Carter’s blog as an example — it offers unique content to help optimize the website, while sharing valuable and compelling information to connect with their customers.

So if you have a little time to write a blog post once a week, here are a few tips to keep in mind in order to increase your rank in search engines:

• The linking game. Using links in your blog is important (especially links to your product pages), but more importantly you need to get other sources linking to your blog. Why? This is what helps get your site ranking higher in search engines.
• Key phrases. Articles in your blog are the perfect place for you to naturally use key phrases that people search for. For anyone looking for “the perfect pair of vintage 1970s ear muffs” that happens to be what you sell, telling the story around that product is not only interesting, but more likely to get ranked based on your blog post.
• Use images. Images are a great way to give your blog posts visual appeal, but make sure to name the files in a way that also describes the product or a key phrase. This is also a good way to optimize the article for search engines.

Blogs will Help You Tell Stories

Blogs offer the perfect opportunity to share personal stories about your business, such as what inspired you to open your store, events you’ve attended, and personal stories featuring your products. It acts as a one-on-one connection with your customers to encourage trust for customer loyalty. It’s the personal touch your business needs to earn credibility in the customers’ eyes to keep them coming back time and time again for repeat purchases.

By sharing stories, you offer your customers more value, such as Karakoram’s blog where they share numerous stories related to their store and products.

Blogs and Traditional Media

Your blog will open many new doors to exciting opportunities. A well written blog post has the potential to go viral. Not to mention, it can attract the attention of industry influencers and traditional media outlets for a massive exposure potential. A great post can land your business featured by high profile bloggers, reporters, media outlets, and much more.

Marc Chernoff created the post “30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself,” which ended up receiving over half a million likes, 20,000 tweets, and uncountable shares on social media outlets. If one blog post can offer even half of the success as his post, think of the benefits your business will gain.

How to Create Blog Ideas

The secret to successful blogging is to create posts that are unique and valuable to the reader. You don’t necessarily have to be a great writer, but instead hold that mystery ingredient other blogs in your industry lack. Even one blog post a week with a unique approach that’s delivered to add value and information to your readers will produce benefits.

If you’re not sure what to blog about, create product tutorials to show your products in action. If you can, include real life videos of customers using your products and feature reviews.

Offer advice regarding your products to promote the customer experience. Insider tips and information are excellent to delivering a compelling and informative blog.

In addition to sharing your story, feature announcements about your business, such as the release of new products, events you’re attending, awards, milestones, and any other piece of exciting information. This will help build your credibility and promote a positive reputation.

Customers love feeling like they are receiving a great deal on their purchases, which is why special offers and promotions are effective for producing real conversions, especially during the holidays. According to Ecwid’s quarterly data, 14 percent of merchants utilize discounts, while 16 percent used promotions for the holidays during the 4th quarter of 2014. By only offering incentives during the holidays, you’re limiting the amount of customers you attract and maintain.

Using promotions and special offers are proven to increase sales with the University of Chicago reporting a 24 percent boost in performance. Whether your goal is to attract new customers, reward loyal customers, or clear inventory, rewarding your customers with special deals will generate the results you want. However, keep in mind that the incentives you offer must not undermine the value of your products.

Attract New Customers

Attracting new customers and generating leads are simplified when using special incentives to encourage customer action. According to a study by Marketing Insights, 71 percent of customers made a decision purely based on the results of an incentive, while a study by Rice University evaluated purchasing decisions and found incentives to be directly successful for attracting customers.

Customers are naturally attracted to great deals, especially in the current state of our economy. Everyone wants to save a dollar or get more bang for their buck, which appeals to customers to get one foot in the door. Then, the details of the incentive will make the customer feel valued to finally influence their choice to do business with a company. As a result, you’ve now earned the trust of a new customer due to the direct influence of the incentive.

However, many businesses fail to implement incentives due to the unknown. But, you’re able to easily set up discount codes to provide customers with an incentive to make a purchase.

As an example, Smooth Sailing offers a 15 percent discount for signing up for their newsletter. This not only attracts more customers and encourages purchases, but offers lead generation to further promote their bottom line.

Reward Loyal Customers

While using incentives to attract new customers, you need to strive to turn those new customers into repeat loyal customers. Customer loyalty programs are excellent for customer retention for repeat sales.

Customers want to feel important; therefore, they will be more inclined to continue to do business with a company that values them as a customer. With targeted discounts rewarding your most loyal customers, you’ll fulfill your customers’ desires while promoting your business’s growth.

The most effective loyalty programs reward customers based on their frequency of purchases or amount of money spent. For example, JC Penny’s rewards customers with $10.00 for every $100.00 spent, while Subway once offered a free sandwich for every 10 subs purchased.

No matter the method, loyalty programs keep customers coming back as Starbuck reported a 26 percent increase in profits after unleashing their My Starbucks Rewards program.

Clear Inventory

Instead of taking a loss for your inventory that hasn’t sold, use the opportunity to feature incentives to clear out your old inventory. Everyone typically expects sales around the holidays, but create a unique approach to offer discounts throughout the year, such as semi-annual sales and making room for new model sales. Retailers big and small, from Wal-Mart to Ashley’s Furniture, use a similar method to clear out last season’s inventory to make room for the new season.

By doing so, you’ll attract new customers and retain your current with great deals throughout the year. To streamline inventory clearance sales, you’re able to set up bulk pricing discounts to seamlessly manage the incentives for maximum performance. You’ll keep your revenue growth steadily increasing without having to take a hit on inventory that’s not selling.

Appeal to More Customers

By using incentives to attract more customers, you’ll help retain new customers by continuing to give them a reason to choose your business time and time again.

Ecwid will help you rise above your competition by offering the simple and effective resources you need to establish discounts, promotions, and special offers to help your customer base thrive.

If you’re looking for a new way to promote your online store and get more exposure for your brand, consider a pop-up shop. Unlike a permanent, physical storefront, a pop-up shop is temporary and gives you the flexibility to test the appeal of your products, meet consumers in-person, promote your brand, and have a new channel for selling that complements your online store.

A pop-up shop may not be for every business, so it’s worth giving yourself time to think about what you hope to achieve by setting up a temporary shop. Would your products make great holiday gifts? Then maybe kiosk at a mall during the holidays makes sense to boost sales. Do you sell organic home-baked goods? Then perhaps a farmers’ market is a good spot to gain local exposure. Maybe you sell parts for specialty cars like ReverseLogic, where selling at car trade shows doubles in promoting your brand within the car enthusiasts community and adds to sales.

Once you’ve decided why you think a pop-up shop might be right for you, understand some of the key benefits:

Sell More Inventory

A pop-up store allows you to tap into a huge potential revenue stream to sell more inventory. Instead of taking a loss, push your old inventory that’s been sitting on the shelves to change the perspective a bit to sell at a new location.

Connect with Customers

Pop-up retail offers the opportunity to engage with customers on a personal level, attracting new customers and building loyalty among repeat customers. As you take your business mobile, you’re able to educate customers about your business and your products to build strong relationships for future business prospects.

Build Brand Awareness

Pop-up shops are known to generate a buzz among customers and media because it allows them to advantage from a new retail channel. Instead of competing among thousands online, you’ll narrow the ranks by soliciting to customers that are right in front of you. You’ll promote brand awareness by connecting with customers who may not have found your store if it hadn’t been for your pop-up store.

Cost Effective

Traditional retail stores are expensive and aren’t always possible for start-ups. However, a pop-up store provides you with a temporary store front that’s about 80 percent cheaper than leasing or purchasing a traditional store. Plus, you’re not limited to one location. You can take your business on the go next month without the confinement of four walls.

Test New Markets

You’re always looking for the next best thing that will boost your business to the next level. A pop-up shop allows you to do just that as you test new revenue and marketing streams to launch products. As you test the waters with a temporary store front, there’s little risk involved due to the affordability of the shops, allowing you to make an informed decision based off of the results.

Market Merchandise Around Cycles

Leverage sale cycles to sell more merchandise with a pop-up shop during the holidays or take your business on the go to attend local events. By strategically picking an event or holiday and the right location, you have the potential to harness the customer shopping craze to maximize your profits.

Tap into Creative Marketing

The physical retail environment is full of window shoppers, offering you the opportunity to get creative with your marketing and advertising. Take a “get it while it’s hot” approach to turn those window shoppers into customers. With a little creative marketing, you’ll generate more customer actions to boost your bottom line.

As a small business owner, it’s important to find effective ways to reach your consumers and understand what products are resonating with them. If you’re ready to setup your pop-up shop, figure out what type of venue would suit your business. You can learn more about temporary spots to setup your shop by visiting online resources like The Storefront, check out the local listing of farmers’ markets in your area, contact the leasing office for a nearby mall, or search for trade show events that are related to your target industry.  Then, make sure you ask the right questions before committing. What’s the cost? What are the terms? Will you need insurance?

Once you’ve decided when and where to setup you pop-up shop, don’t forget to use your Ecwid resources to help you bridge your online sales to in-person sales. Ecwid’s mobile app can turn your phone into a mobile point-of-sale system that synchronizes your transactions with your online store so that you always know how much product you have in stock.  Not only can you accept cash payment, but you can also use the PayPal Here card reader (for US merchants), or iZettle’s PIN and Chip card reader in 10 countries across Europe and South America.

The beauty of a pop up shop is that it’s temporary and is an affordable way to promote your online store, test the appeal of your products, and meet your customers — just be sure to give yourself the time to research and plan the best venue to capture your target audience!

Happy selling!

You worked hard to setup your store, curate your products, build your brand, and share your story — but, gone are the days of “if you build it, they will come”. While it’s important to attract new customers as you start out, don’t make the mistake of prioritizing customer acquisition over customer retention. It can cost up to five times more to acquire new customers — the likelihood of a current customer buying is 60-70%, whereas for a potential new customer, the chances of purchasing are only 5-20%. This is why it’s important to give consumers a reason to come back and give them reasons to become your biggest fans.

Word-of-mouth marketing in the digital age

Word-of-mouth marketing is nothing new. Many businesses rely on word-of-mouth to bring a consistent and reliable stream of traffic and sales. It’s a good tactic and the number one tool businesses can use to get new customers. As consumers become less trusting of brand advertising and marketing, they’re turning to the authentic opinions of fellow consumers to get a better understanding before purchasing. Marketing expert and author of “Contagious: Why Things Catch On”, Jonah Berger shares that “whether compared to traditional advertising, media mentions, or promotional events, word of mouth is more useful in creating new users and customers”.

Yet too many businesses today are forgetting that word-of-mouth marketing, while up to the customer, can be guided in their favor. By taking actions to turn customers into active brand evangelists, businesses can increase the amount of word-of-mouth traffic their customers are bringing.

How to motivate your customers to become brand evangelists

In an ideal world, brands would have a solid base of loyal consumers absolutely dying to share how much they love the brand. Of course, some brands have achieved this. But even though brands like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s have a dedicated base of brand evangelists, they are the minority. The vast majority of consumers are apathetic. Even if they love your brand, they’re probably not evangelizing it of their own accord.

Make them happy, and then keep them happy

Deliver great customer service and an amazing experience both to keep your current customers and also to create extraordinary relationships with customers who will go on to advertise your brands to others. It’s not enough to simply slide along with a good-enough base of happy customers — you need to constantly strive to be better.

Understanding what your customers want is simple: just ask them. Regularly ask them for feedback and reviews about their experience with your online business, and respond individually to let them know you appreciate what they said.  Asking for your customers’ feedback does more than give you a better base to understand how to keep them happy, it makes customers feel involved and know their input matters. When customers feel they are important to your brand, they are more likely to view their relationship as personal and evangelize.

Turn unhappy customers into incredible PR

By handling complaints with tact, an unhappy customer can turn out to be your best brand evangelists. Consider this: people most often write reviews when they had an exceptionally positive or exceptionally negative experience. Lukewarm experiences normally go undocumented. Next time a customer is unhappy, reach out to find a way to right their experience and turn them from dissatisfied into impressed at your exceptional attention to customer service.

For example, if a customer writes a review or calls you out on social media saying their order did not arrive on time, you can comment back publicly apologizing and offering free shipping for their next order. In other words, handling online complaints with tact is a great way to improve your brand image. This not only makes the customer happy, but can be used to publicly show potential customers how much you care. Stores like Zappos and Nordstroms are pros at this — by prioritizing customer service, they’ve earned a dedicated customer base and a solid foundation of brand evangelists.

Motivate Evangelism: Reward and Repeat

You’d be surprised by how many customers are willing to evangelize your brand — you only need to give them the push to do it. Brands normally have a very small segment of extremely passionate brand evangelists who absolutely adore their brand. The much larger segment of customers are those who like the brand, and would endorse them, but most likely not of their own accord. This segment is key for targeting with incentives, such as coupons, VIP programs, discounts, or gamification techniques. People are motivated when they benefit.

In fact, 58% of people say they believe they should be rewarded if they talk positively about a brand on social media. The key to rousing the energies of the masses of satisfied-yet-inactive customers is providing a reason to participate.

Online businesses who integrate coupons in their requests for customers to write and share reviews have higher conversion rates than those who simply ask without incentivizing. And these coupon campaigns lead to higher conversions and sales. Yotpo Analytics has found eCommerce stores who use coupons to ask for users to write and share content have, on average, 7.8% higher conversion rates and 8% more sales than stores who do not incentivize.

Don’t forget that evangelists won’t always stay evangelists. Reward the customers who love you by offering them exclusive VIP specials or publicly thanking them. Consider creative ways to motivate brand evangelists to stay your biggest fans so that you won’t lose them.

Get users involved with user-generated content

Grow an active community by gathering customer created content. Identify customers who are evangelizing in these communities and reward them accordingly. For example, online businesses can offer discounts in exchange for customers writing and sharing reviews with their social networks. The word-of-mouth impact is built in, and they can then track the new traffic that the business drives as a result by studying spikes in general traffic and social media traffic after customers share.

Big brands have shown the efficiency of building up customers’ emotional connection to their company by asking for user-generated content that celebrates their relationship with the brand. Rather than simply asking customers why they love Coke, Coca-Cola asks unique questions, like how Coke tastes to them or how they feel when they drink Coke, to gain an emotional response. Similarly, Dorito’s decade-long, successful Super Bowl campaign fueled by user-generated content puts the freedom of expression in their customers’ hands. They give customers free reign to create commercials showing what Dorito’s means to them. Leveraging emotion not only takes a user-generated content campaign above the level of simply asking for a photo submission, but it also gives brands valuable feedback about what makes fans connect to their brand.

Conclusion

You don’t have to choose between getting new customers or keeping the ones you already have. Engagement and growth can go hand in hand. The key is using your already happy customers to spread the word to bring in highly targeted and qualified traffic. Your customers are your biggest ally. Learn how to use them as natural advocates for your brand and reap the word-of-mouth benefits.

Every day, tens of millions of people look for products in search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. Competition is high when you consider that almost every business has a website competing for top positions of search-engine results pages (SERPs). However, done well, the presence of your website in search results is a great way to attract free targeted traffic. So make sure that search engines know about your website and online store — the higher your site is ranked in the search engines, the more traffic and potential customers you attract. Here’s our simple guide on everything you wanted to know about search promotion, but were too afraid to ask.

To get to the very essence of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), consider how an average person commits to becoming a bodybuilder. If you’re just starting out, you might begin with simple activities like brisk walking, light jogging, jumping rope, etc. Over time, your walks turn into a rhythm of more intense activities, weight-training, and healthy eating — then, after a few months you might notice significant progress in your body’s condition. But, if you suddenly decide to stop training, you might feel yourself quickly get out of shape.

If you think about your website and online store, you can apply the same thinking:

1. Start training — build the foundation from your initial work on your website. At this stage it is necessary to have the components on your website that will effectively introduce it to search engines.
2. Intensive training and buildup of body muscles — work directly above the shop. At this stage, we are focusing on achieving maximum results. Search engines should not just be aware of your website’s presence, they must like it. And if they like it, they will recommend it to your potential customers.
3. Maintaining form — is the work to maintain and continuously improve website’s position in search engines’ ranking, because there is no limit to perfection. At this stage, we are trying to do everything possible keep search engines interested in your store, and always be in a good position in search results.

Your duty as a website owner is to build and maintain interest in your store so potential buyers are easily able to find it in search engines. But first things first.

Laying the SEO Foundation for Your Site

Most people start with creating a website before developing their store. This is an important step, because not only does your website serve as a kind of calling card, but you are able to develop your image and identity (or what you would consider to be your brand). The store component of your website can be added later (as in the case of Ecwid, which allows your store to easily integrate into any existing website). But, when it comes to search engine optimization, you should start with your website.

Use intuitive site structure

Everything should be clear. Build your site structure so that it’s simple and user friendly, and give each item some meaning. In other words, make sure you start by building a great site that’s informative and convenient for your visitors to find what they’re looking for, then you can focus on the visual appeal. The last thing you want is for a search robot or, even worse, a real client, to get lost on your site.

One important element on your site is your contact information. All search engines pay attention to whether there is contact information on the site, so be sure to add the address of your office or offline store and include access to a map. Integrating maps from Google will go a long way.

Use original content and include keywords

It should be clear and obvious for your website visitors what your company does, what services you provide and what products you sell. You can also include some interesting content on your website like information or history about the company, as well as something that describes your company on your home page. Original content can also come in the form of a blog, which can help bring more traffic to your site.

Use your own photos

Add keywords or links to your page on to your unique photos. This will enable those images, with links to your store , to be found by Google Image Search. Remember, the more unique your photo, the more chances to get into the search results.

Use links that are easy to understand

Make sure that the pages (or URLs) on your website are readable. For instance, instead a randomly generated string of charters to a particular link on your page like this: www.example.com/xi!m#kci/&&&dwe, take the extra step in renaming pages into understandable words like: www.example.com/about/vacancies. These types of URLs will be more convenient to read and people will immediately understand to which page the link leads. Many website builders will allow you to name or rename the new pages you create for your site.

Remove all references to non-existent pages

Make sure to do a little house cleaning every now and then. There’s no need to send a search robot or user where nothing exists — not only is it frustrating to users, but can make your site look bad. For instance, remove any pages that lead to a “404” or “not found” message or at the very least redirect those pages to your home page.

Apply unique meta elements

Meta tags describe the content of each page of your site, making it easier for search engines to understand what they contain so that they can be displayed on relevant search queries. Still, ranking in Google, for example, has more to do with relevance, reputation and popularity, but when used properly, can still be useful. For instance, a few general tips for navigating meta tags: be sure to add tags to your website pictures, fill out the file “robots.txt” to communicate which pages on your site should or shouldn’t be indexed, and update your sitemap adding new resource pages.

List your site in directories

Website directories are a basic, yet common way for a new website to develop traction in search engines. However, it’s not enough to just get your website listed in high quality directories,  we recommend that you maintain good quality content on your website and constantly update it.

Beyond adding new pages with compelling content, you can also consider creating a feedback form or online chat to give visitors another good reason to stay on your website. The more time they  spend on your site, the greater the relevance of your site — this is one of the criteria that’s also important for search ranking.

Another way to add relevant content is by providing valuable information about the products in your store as well as your policy for processing orders or returns through separate legal pages. Finally, we recommend creating a page to share any updates or promotional items with your visitors — and be sure to add a link to the product page of this product in your Ecwid store.

SEO for Your Store

Once you’ve established your website and put in place all the necessary elements to be found by search engines, the next stage is to make sure it’s tuned just right to gain traction in search-engine results pages (SERPs) and begin driving sales to your store.

Imagine that a potential customer wants to buy a remote controlled toy plane online. He or she types into a search engine “remote controlled plane”, goes on a few sites, and finds your website to have the most compelling and in-depth information on the topic: full product descriptions, images, video and written reviews, price ranges and, most importantly, the ability to purchase a product.

Using a store builder like Ecwid, an AJAX application, allows you to add your store and be mirrored on several platforms (websites, blogs, social networks) simultaneously with a central point to manage each channel. This type of solution is super convenient, however, until recently it has also been a problem, because historically, search engines would only see a store built on Ecwid translated as a few lines of code. The good news is that, Google started to offer the technology enabling content indexing for AJAX-applications, which has been adopted by the major search engines like Bing and Yahoo.

We at Ecwid have implemented this technology to made it possible to help stores get indexed by search engines.

Built-in SEO-function

Ecwid plug-ins for platforms like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and Wix — are adapted so that the content for store pages meet the  requirements of search engines. As a paid plan Ecwid merchant, using  these plug-ins for stores embedded in these platforms will appear in the search results automatically with no additional required steps.

SEO for other platforms

If you have built your Ecwid store on your website using the code integration, you will need to perform some additional steps to get your store indexed by search engines.

Use the Knowledge Base article, which describes in detail each step required for this. Remember that indexing is included on all Ecwid paid plans — Venture, Business or Unlimited.

Beautifying links in Ecwid

Earlier we talked about the fact that the site must have understandable URLs. In Ecwid we have already done that for your links — references contain the names of your products and categories. This format of references has several advantages: first, the links of this type are better perceived by search engines; second, links are easier to spread through social networks; and third, links are more understandable by visitors to your store.

In addition to the above advantages in Ecwid, remember that your store can and should use the same techniques as in the site:

• Use the unique content and pictures. Description and pictures of products should be distinguished from each other. Take for example, Suzie’s Farm Online Shop.

• Link with some other items, such as via related products like interliving.nl.

Search engines pay great attention to indicators such  as the behavior of users on your site. Here are a few tips to get more visitors to your store and help your position in search engines:

Add your store on a separate page

Use your home page as a teaser of what’s in your store rather than showing all your products on your home page. Create interesting banners or ads with a beautiful pictures of your products for your  the main page and mount them with links to pages or categories of products in your store.

Customize the details of your store

Ecwid stores seamlessly blend into any website, but the details can be further changed to better match the design of your website. To avoid the impression that your store is somehow divorced from the rest of your site, consider tweaking your store design. Search engines see how users behave during the transition from one page to another, so a single site design and store not only keep visitors loyal, but also help ranking in the SERP — search engines will not see any major changes to the user behavior on the site when you go to the store page. Read about how to change the design of our knowledge base or use the ready-made solutions.

Use search widgets and categories

Having a menu with tabs can help visitors navigate through a store by showing the main categories of products. While having a search field can help visitors quickly find specific products for which they may be searching.

Support for results

The competition is growing every day and, therefore, to stay in a good position takes maintenance. So, don’t let all your hard work to make it to the top of search results slip away. Keep track of what products resonate with your customers, from where your customers come, and their behaviours once in your store.

In assessing the behavior of users on the site, will find a variety of useful. Google Analytics is a popular tool, which you can easily integrate into your site and Ecwid store.

We hope that some of the basic advice shared in this post will help you adapt your website and store to be well positioned in the search engines. While it may not happen overnight, with a good plan and execution, in time  you’ll see an increase in site traffic and, more importantly, an increase in sales. Train and enjoy the progress!

Happy Selling!

You believe in your products and have an amazing story to tell (or at least you think you do). So how do you convince journalists to share your story or talk about your products? We all know that getting into the right news publication or mentioned by an influential reporter can propel your business by raising awareness for your brand, products or services — and all it costs is some time, energy, and a little bit of patience.

But with thousands of other small businesses competing for attention from reporters, how do you break through? And where do you even start? As a small business, it may be out of your budget to hire a full-time publicist or public relations agency; but, with a little bit of time, patience and creativity, gaining some publicity for your business isn’t out of reach. Here are a few ways to get you started.

Figure Out Your Story

Journalists are always looking for interesting stories. But, before you do anything, think about yours.  Maybe you’ve already done this by creating your “About Us” section of your website. This is a great place to start. You don’t have a lot of time when you run a business, but before you set out to conquer the hearts and minds of reporters, think about what you find so awesome about your store, products, or services. Reporters may not be interested in writing about the fact that you sell paper clips, but they may be compelled by the story of why and how you ended up doing so. Find that personal hook that makes your store and your journey so special. Once you figure that part out, then you have something to work with!

Identify Media Outlets

Your story may not necessarily appeal to the New York Times (or maybe not right away), so be realistic about the publications where you see your story being told. This may mean considering publications like local news outlets (perhaps your neighborhood daily or weekly newspaper/website) or specialty blogs (like those that appeal to parents or a niche market). Do a search online to see what blogs come up that might report on your particular niche.

For example, if you sell specialty car parts, build a list of blogs and other media outlets that cater to car enthusiasts.  Start your list with publications that interest you as a merchant of car parts; once you’ve exhausted what you know by heart, then do a search for “top car parts blogs”. This will undoubtedly provide a list of sites that may not be a perfect fit, but spend a little bit of time culling through the results page to find 2-3 possible targets that look interesting — you never know what gems you’re bound to discover.

Develop the Right Contacts

This may seem harder than it sounds, but it’s easier than you think to identify reporters who write about your market or products. You can do this on a parallel path identifying media outlets, or, take your list of media outlets and hone in on the writers who most fit the story you want to tell.

The easiest way to do this is to read relevant articles in your target publications and understand who is writing about what. This is an important step because writers are constantly bombarded with story pitches that may not be relevant to what they cover. You want your first exposure to a reporter to be positive, so make sure you understand their interests above everything else. In the end, a reporter will be much more responsive and amenable to engaging with you.

Understand the Needs of a Reporter

There are certain universals about what a journalist may find interesting for a story. Reporters are not only a part of the media, but they also monitor the latest trends and news. For instance, if a movie about ballroom dancing comes out and becomes a huge hit, there’s a good chance that news outlets may be interested in covering stories that focus on ballroom dancing — this could be an opportunity to offer your expertise on all things dancing (and your dancing accessories) to a reporter who writes about lifestyles.

Media also like unusual angles — so if you sell iPhone accessories, it may be more difficult to come up with a compelling story. However, if you have a unique story, service or product, you could get the attention of a journalist willing to share it like the piece on Forbes.com titled “8 Weird and Unique Products from Startups and Small Businesses”.

Reporters are drawn to stories that have an emotional component. Who doesn’t want to read an inspiring story? Take for example the 9-year-old founder/entrepreneur of Zollipops, Alina Morse who created a “clean teeth pop”. Entrepreneur.com shared her interesting journey that started when her father warned that she shouldn’t eat candy on account of sugar being bad for your teeth.

Size matters to a reporter — so if you’re the largest supplier of fish restaurants in your city, feel free to talk about it. Whether your business has grown significantly in recent years, you have a large share of the market, or you have a huge jump in orders — if there’s a good story behind the size, then it may be interesting to a reporter.

Pitch Your Story

Once you decide on your angle, and identified your list of media and specific reporters, prepare to reach out. Most reporters provide a myriad of ways to contact them — magazines have a masthead (usually the first pages that list the editors and/or writers along with their information), or online publications will often feature media contact information right on the articles they publish. Remember to not be too pushy — simply start out with an introduction of yourself and a brief reason for why your story might be compelling to the reporter based on their interests.

Reactive Publicity

While pitching your story cold may be too time consuming or daunting, consider positioning yourself as a resource for media to come to you for quotes on topics that may be related to the market you serve. One well-known, free resource is Help A Reporter (HARO). You simply sign up as a resource and respond to reporter requests as appropriate. There are several other resources that connect journalists with experts like ProfNet and Muck Rack, but may come with a fee. The drawback is that you still compete with many others who are similarly pitching themselves or products, but it doesn’t require as much of a time investment up front.

Share Your Media Coverage

It may be obvious, but after you see your name and story in print (or online), then thank the reporter publicly (and privately) by sharing the news through your social channels and on your website. By then, if you don’t have a press page, you can start one! Also, check the comments section of the piece once it’s published — this is a great place to engage with readers and encourage them to visit your site.

Good luck and happy selling!

At the beginning of a new year it’s only natural to reflect on your key takeaways and set new goals: maybe you’re thinking about launching a new product, or it’s time to finally think through your marketing strategy?

If you have too many ideas or, on the contrary, don’t know where to start from, Ecwid is here to help you plan your New Year’s resolutions so that you can track your progress all year long.

Launch a New Product

Start 2018 with a new product, and not only because of the nice symbolic meaning. If you haven’t added to your product line in a while, doing so can sparkle customer interest. Consider the trends and your buyers’ feedback, or analyze your bestsellers — what can you do to repeat their success?

Eco-friendly products like CeeCee & Bee were a huge trend in 2017, and it seems like it’s going to last

To help you fulfill this goal, the Ecwid blog has prepared some useful tips:

• How to Find Trending Products to Sell Online
• How to Price Your Products? A Science-Backed Answer
• How to Find a Manufacturer for Your Product Idea

Learn to Work Remotely

It is high time you stopped giving envious looks to the Instagram profiles of your favorite travel bloggers and started to use your business to fulfill your dreams. No matter what you’re up to — traveling, spending more time with your loved ones, or managing more tasks at a time, remote work can help you do that. And Ecwid Mobile lets you manage your business even when you’re on the move.

These posts will help you embrace this new lifestyle:

• The Enhanced Ecwid Mobile App: Take Your Online Store With You
• Sell on the Go: Create Orders on Mobile
• Elon Musk’s 8 Time Management Principles to Work Like a Machine

Work on Your Photography Skills

Having beautiful product pictures is essential for steady sales. Customers can’t touch the things you sell, so all they are left to deal with is photos. Start with the pictures in your store and don’t forget about photos on your social media, especially Instagram. Don’t be afraid to try something new, for example, working with models if you own a fashion brand.

Irresistible product photography from Julián Ángel

With these tips you’ll create such pictures that your online store will be able to beat even a physical shop:

• The Beginner’s Guide to 360º Product Photography
• How to Create Cinemagraphs for Product Pictures With Your Smartphone
• Simple Product Photography Tips to Beautifully Showcase on Your Store

Redesign Your Store

If you haven’t updated your store design since the day you’ve started it, you might be thinking about making some changes, but why not act bigger? A new look is a nice way to attract new customers and make the current ones enjoy shopping at your store more. Moreover, you can not only work on the style, but also make your website more user-friendly. The latter might be even more important.

Big companies like YouTube understand the need for a new look to match new capabilities: "Our new look applies material design to YouTube and delivers a fresh, simple and intuitive user experience that lets content shine."

Check out some of these articles to take the most out of redesigning:

• Emerging Trends in Branding for 2018: Transparency, Authenticity, and the "80s
• A Comprehensive Guide to Customizing Your Ecwid Store Design
• Is Your E-Commerce Business Making One of These 10 Design Mistakes?

Improve your Customer Service

Customer service can never be too good, so consider improving yours. It is that simple: a pleased buyer is a steady buyer. Master your answers to the feedback, and learn how to deal with complaints and how to prevent them.

It’s fine for customer service to have fun too

These tips will guide you through the secrets of customer service so that you will forget about negative feedback in the coming year:

• The Art of Positive Communication in Customer Service
• How to Provide Excellent Customer Service: Advice From 5-Star Ecwid Ninjas
• How to Gain Your Customers" Lifetime Loyalty and Value

Hire People to Work for You

Your e-commerce store is growing, hurray! To keep on track with a bigger business you might need a helping hand. Have you thought about hiring employees? Delegating some of your responsibilities will improve your working process and boost profits. If the size of your business lets you manage it alone, don’t give up on this idea: you can still hire people like models or influencers.

Here is some advice for sellers who are ready to expand their team:

• How to Hire and Manage Staff for Your Growing Online Store
• Staff Accounts: Give Your Team Administrator Access to Your Store
• How to Find the Right Models for Your Fashion Brand

Strive for Perfect Shipping Process

The final stage of selling influences your customers’ impression a lot. If shipping takes too much time, is too expensive, or messes up the order, it will scare away even the most hardcore fans of your high-quality and beautifully wrapped product. The shipping process involves more people than just the seller, so chances are it has some weak points, which you don’t have to tolerate in 2018.

Ecwid’s got you covered! Check out these articles for a perfect shipping experience:

• 6 Free Shipping Strategies and Their Alternatives
• How to Set Up Shipping Rates in Your Store Using Ecwid
• An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Understanding Shipping Labels for E-Commerce Stores

Go International

Though it may sound a bit challenging, global selling is a big step for your business. If you’ve been thinking about it already, don’t hesitate. When planned well, it can lead to huge success. It is essential to analyze your product and how it will stand out in the new environment, and to research the foreign marketplace itself.

Statista shows how the number of digital buyers worldwide is growing

We have described the whole process in our articles and are happy to guide you through this new stage of your business:

• International Business Online: How to Start Selling Globally
• How to Optimize Your Store for a Global Audience
• International Shipping: Picking a Provider & Shipping Around the Globe

Clear Up Your Finance

Business finance is one of the crucial parts of your work, so take it seriously and get ready to puzzle out sales tax, accounting, and all the legal matters. Improving your financial literacy will serve you the good turn in all the years to come. If you feel taxes are still odd to you, or you’re going to take out loans for your business, make sure you have learned everything you need first.

Here are some articles that can help you make finance matters a piece of cake:

• How to Pay Yourself When You Own a Business
• Accounting, Finance & Legal E-commerce Blueprint
• How to Make Your New Business Attractive to Lenders

Pay More Attention to Promotion

This is the land of unlimited work, opportunities, mistakes, and results. There can never be too many sales, so this goal is good for your business no matter what stage you’re in. Think about where and how you want to promote your store, and analyze your experience so far: what needs to be changed and which moves have been the most profitable.

There are a lot of ways to promote your business, and these are just some of the examples you might be interested in:

• How to Promote Your Online Store With Content Marketing
• 15 Practical Ideas for Promoting a Small Business Locally
• How to Promote Your Brand Outside of Social Media

Nice touch on promotion from sephora.com

Add a discount wheel to your store →

Improve Your Copy

Even if you don’t have a blog, the art of writing should on your "to master" list. Customers do read your product descriptions, your bio, or "about us" page. In the golden age of social media everyone expects to see well-written content, so make your customers happy by presenting them with an informative and understandable copy.

Start creating your best texts with this advice and see how much impact words can have:

• How to Write an "About Us" Page if You’re Not a Copywriter
• Sell the Story: How to Get Started With Storytelling for Your Brand
• How to Write Awesome Product Descriptions That Sell

Try Videos for Your Store

Even if you’re not planning to become a YouTube star, you need some basic video skills anyway. People love video content, and they love to see products in real life. You can start with short Instagram videos, or if that’s too simple for you, try making some video ads.

Check out our tips for creating video content that sells:

• How to Use Video in E-Commerce Marketing
• How to Create a Professional-Looking Promotional Video With Your Smartphone
• Facebook Video on a Budget: Create and Run Ads in No Time

Work on Email Marketing

Email marketing helps to communicate with your existing or potential customers, and it is one of the most effective tools for your e-commerce business. When done right, it can boost profits no worse than sales season, so pay closer attention to your mailing list and newsletters.

Salesforce illustrates The DMA’s data

If you want to master your email marketing, some of our articles might be handy, for example:

• How to Build the Best Mailing List Possible
• 22 Things That Make Your Newsletter Look Like Spam
• 10 Smart Ways to Increase Email Signups for Your Store

Make Sense of SEO

SEO is still important for any e-commerce business. Making your stores indexed better in Google will eventually get more organic traffic to your site, and that means more sales. Good reason to spend some time on SEO, isn’t it?

Look through some of our SEO articles and find the one that suits your goal the most:

• New Clean URLs for Every Ecwid Store: A Simple Way to Better SEO
• How to Get Your Local Online Store to Rank Higher in Search Engines
• The Power of SEO and SEM for E-Commerce

Protect Your Business

No one wants to be the victim of cyber attacks or piracy, and the good news is that Ecwid conforms to the highest international safety standards. However, it won’t hurt to take some precautions anyway, especially if you have embedded Ecwid on a third-party website.

Learn more about web safety and improve your security with some of these tips:

Online Store Security: 8 Must-Complete Steps Against Web Threats

How to Protect Your Digital Goods From Piracy

HTTPS: How to Increase Search Engines’ and People’s Trust

***

Set your big goals, divide them into smaller tasks, and track your success. Hopefully, by the end of the year, all your resolutions will transform into an even more prosperous business.

Happy selling in the year 2018!