July 30, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

As Twitter continues to grow faster than Facebook, MySpace, and other social sites, online merchants are still struggling to find the best way to harness its power. While many have found good ways to use Twitter, one popular avenue can be learned from the mistakes of Horizon Group Management.

Horizon Group Management is a Chicago-based rental agency that has recently gained an infamous place in the hearts and minds of Tweeters throughout the world. While this sounds like a good thing, for Horizon it is not. Everything started when a tenant put up a simple tweet announcing that her apartment had mold. Amanda Bonnen’s 140 character or less comment was “Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon really thinks it’s okay.” Horizon responded by filing a $50,000 defamation suit.

While Bonnen’s Twitter account is currently shut down, it is Horizon who, many feel, will learn the hard way in the end. The Internet has created a space for consumers to find safety in numbers and anonymity when it comes to complaints. Merchants that rely on the Internet for any part of their business should take this into consideration and harness it to their benefit. Merchants should create a Twitter account and let consumers hold them accountable with this online tool. By publicly solving a consumer problem, a merchant has a better chance of gaining positive recognition and improving their reputation. No matter what, consumers will talk about companies online. Since the discussion is already happening, it’s best to get involved but with an understanding that there will be many complaints to face and few positive accolades. By proactively dealing with each complaint in a public way, merchants can earn consumer trust.

Currently, Horizon’s reputation is tarnished, and they didn’t help their cause by tweeting “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization.” To avoid a similar situation, merchants should anticipate complaints and deal with issues in the same venue they are first brought up.

July 30, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

In mid-July, a company called Lifestyle Lift reached a settlement with the State of New York over consumer trust violations that Lifestyle had participated in. Because the company felt that negative reviews on the Internet did not properly reflect their product, they paid employers to flood the Internet with false positive reviews. The company agreed to pay $300,000 in penalties to the State of New York and stop publishing anonymous reviews on web sites.

While this may be big news to some, a company attempting to trick consumers with made up reviews is not an uncommon occurrence online. In fact, the need to obtain positive customer feedback throughout the Internet has led to the rise of a new form of online optimization called Reputation Management Optimization (RMO). RMO firms a form of online PR firm. They will work with the company to create a positive image, but their main goal is to get negative comments off the first 3 pages of Google search results. Because they measure success based on how a company is painted in search engines, they differ from traditional PR.

While RMO is an industry still in its infancy, bad economic times might help catapult it to a popular maturity. As businesses continue to feel the hurt of a sore economy, many turn to the Internet and rely on “AstroTurf” marketing — the act of placing anonymous positive reviews throughout the net in the voices of satisfied customers. This action is less than acceptable and, if caught, can lead to large fines and possible penalties in search engine results.

So what is a company to do when their reputation gets tarnished online? RMO firms are springing up everywhere to answer this question.

By choosing the proper RMO firm, an online business can grow without losing the trust of their always important customers. Merchants looking for an RMO firm should request a thorough explanation of the tactics they will take. Skilled optimizers will be able to boost your positive customer reviews without solicitation or AstroTurfing.

July 29, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

A little over a month since the launch of Bing, Microsoft’s latest search engine, Yahoo has bent to the whims of their Microsoft suiter and agreed to a new partnership. If this new partnership prevails (anti-trust laws could halt it), Yahoo will adopt Microsoft’s search algorithm in exchange for 88% of all ad revenue from the combined engines. Critics are seemingly “underwhelmed” about this new deal because it will take about 2 years to implement and provides no up-front monetary benefit for Yahoo. This skepticism also shows through in Yahoo’s stocks as they took an 11% hit shortly after the announcement while Microsoft increased by only .7%

In the wake of this announcement, many look to Google wondering what will happen next. Google remains strong with 65% market share while Yahoo and Bing combined makeup less than 30%. Some believe that Google will use their lobbying resources to halt the deal entirely, just as Microsoft did in 2008 when Yahoo and Google tried to establish an advertising partnership. In the end, if this partnership achieves success, Google still has 2 years to implement necessary changes and innovations that will keep it on top.

July 29, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

A little over a month since the launch of Bing, Microsoft’s latest search engine, Yahoo has bent to the whims of their Microsoft suiter and agreed to a new partnership. If this new partnership prevails (anti-trust laws could halt it), Yahoo will adopt Microsoft’s search algorithm in exchange for 88% of all ad revenue from the combined engines. Critics are seemingly “underwhelmed” about this new deal because it will take about 2 years to implement and provides no up-front monetary benefit for Yahoo. This skepticism also shows through in Yahoo’s stocks as they took an 11% hit shortly after the announcement while Microsoft increased by only .7%

In the wake of this announcement, many look to Google wondering what will happen next. Google remains strong with 65% market share while Yahoo and Bing combined makeup less than 30%. Some believe that Google will use their lobbying resources to halt the deal entirely, just as Microsoft did in 2008 when Yahoo and Google tried to establish an advertising partnership. In the end, if this partnership achieves success, Google still has 2 years to implement necessary changes and innovations that will keep it on top.

July 28, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

Bi-annually, MailerMailer.com releases a thorough analysis of the email marketing space which includes important stats like average Click Through Rate (CTR), abandonment rate, best days to send an email, and much more. The latest report was released in late June and, due to its focus on email marketing in a recession, it should not be overlooked. “This report, more so than previous editions, shows how societal and economic trends are reflected in the email performance of several industries. Given the state of the economy, it may not be a surprise that Banking/Finance and Real Estate dropped from their top open and click rate positions. Yet it’s not all doom and gloom. On the other side of the spectrum, others, such as the Religious/Spiritual industry, for example, continue to see growth in their subscriber response,” the report states.

The 38 page PDF is a free resource for anyone willing to take the time to read it (View Here). The report allows merchants to compare email stats with others in their industry, as well as see what industries are expanding in the space. It provides up-to-date statistics, informative graphs, and is sprinkled with a variety of email marketing tips as well. Some key learning from this report include:

1. Mondays are the best days to send an email because of higher CTR and Open Rates

2. Deliverability continues to increase and bounces continue to decrease

3. Unique open rates have fallen slightly from H1 2008

The only downfall of this report is that the data is already 6 months old as it covers only H2 of 2008. As the recession continues, it is likely that H1 of 2009 will report slight downward trends in factors like CTR and open rates. If last year’s release dates of this report are any indication, we will not know the results of H1 2009 until November of this year.

July 22, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

If you are an e-tailer, or plan on starting an online store, it’s important to utilize online marketing tools to make your eCommerce store stand out from the competition. Online marketing (SEO, SMO, PPC, etc) helps you drive traffic to your site and get more customers to your shopping cart purchase page. Because it is so important, most eCommerce shopping cart solutions stress SEO friendly URL’s and other SEO tools as top features. While these are great tools to have, you need to know how to use them to ensure you get the best bang for your buck. Because of this, Internet marketing experts host multiple conferences every year for a wide range of online marketing gurus. Consider the following events which have something for everyone, from novice to expert:

Omma Behavioral – San Francisco – July 30, 2009

OMMA stands for Online Media, Marketing, and Advertising. The conference focuses a lot on traditional advertising and brand awareness, and then takes that message and shows how to utilize traditional methods in an online space. The conference is usually for someone just getting into online marketing, with an audience that is broadly traditional print and television advertisesrs. This upcoming 1 day event will focus on behavioral targeting to increase sales.

Affiliate Summit 2009 East – New York City – August 9-11, 2009

If you use affiliate partnerships with your online store, then this conference is for you. Learn how to improve your ROI, manage your affiliate relationships, and gain new partnerships to bring your eCommerce store great success!

Search Engine Strategies – San Jose – August 11-14, 2009

SES is quite a popular conference and one of the oldest search conferences as it’s now in its 11th year. “The conference will be packed with 70+ sessions covering PPC management, keyword research, SEO, social media, local, mobile, link building, duplicate content, multiple site issues, video optimization and usability, while offering high-level strategy, keynotes, an expo floor with 100+ companies to help you grow your business, networking events and more.”

Check back soon for Part 2 which will list out even more industry events in Q3.

July 20, 2009
OpEd By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

A successful PPC strategy can sometimes double your online sales. What is hard to grasp at first, is the tried and true saying “you have to spend money to make money.” Rather than just spending and hoping that the money will come, our ZippyCart Op Ed team has come up with 4 tips to help increase your ROI so that your money is used wisely:

1. Focus on Cost Effective Keywords and Avoid Super Competitive Keywords

Operating an eCommerce store typically means a lower profit margin which means you want to be efficient with your PPC spending. Therefore a good approach to take is to target cheaper keywords where you do not have a lot of competition. This will allow you to gain more visitors for a lower cost and give you a better chance of having a successful PPC campaign. Avoid pricey competitive keywords as they will deplete your budget very quickly and possibly not give you the best visitors unless you can afford to constantly be in the top positions.

2. Research Your Competitors Advertising Strategy

PPC advertising involves a lot of testing and work to ensure that campaigns are popular. A great way to save you time and money is to study what your competitors are bidding on and where they are buying ads. There are a lot of great tools you can pay for online to help you figure all of this out so that you can make smart choices on your PPC strategy.

3. Constantly Test and Analyze Your Ad’s Performance

Having a great ad with a high click through rate will help give you higher ad positioning at a lower cost. You want to experiment and analyze what is working and what is not so you can only put out your best ads. It may not be the most exciting task but it is part of a smart PPC strategy.

4. Explore Keyword Variations and Match Types

You want to play with the keywords in your campaign to make sure you are covering different word orders, match types and negative keywords. Broad match keywords allow your ad to show up on similar phrases and relevant variations. Phrase match keywords allow your ad to show up on searches that match the exact phrase exclusively. Exact match keywords means that your ad shows up for that exact keyword exclusively. Negative keywords are used to prevent your ad from showing up on specific keyword searches.

July 16, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

Online shopping is fun, but it is even better when you are getting a discount. Coupon codes are being offered by the majority of big online retailers and have even become a standard feature provided by many eCommerce shopping cart providers. In an effort to capitalize on the popularity of coupon codes, many online shops have added sections to their sites devoted to coupons and sometimes there are entire sites created just for these codes. Users flock to these sites to hunt for deals before they make a purchase and some customers use a coupon code for almost every purchase they make online. Here are 4 of the top sites you available if you are looking to get a deal the next time you go to shop online.

Retailmenot.com specializes exclusively with coupons and discount codes and claims to have a selection from 30,000 stores and 150,000 individual codes. The best part about this site is that it focuses on the social side of things by allowing users to submit codes, interact with friends, and the ability to connect via Facebook or Twitter.

Ebates.com was founded in 1998 and is one of the oldest coupon code sites on the Internet. It is an all around solid site that will provide you with a variety of deals from popular Internet retailers.

KeyCode.com came onto the scene in late 1999 and has been providing users with many coupon codes and discounts for almost 10 years. They have a wide variety of categories and feature top online merchants.

CouponCabin.com is a new comer to the space with a Web 2.0 design and user friendly experience. They are already entrenched in the social scene with Facebook and Twitter and are expected to come out with an iPhone app soon.

To improve the customer experience for your online store, consider placing your coupon codes on the sites listed above.

July 14, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

Lyris HQ, a firm well known for email marketing, has released 10 free “tried & true” email templates to help improve ROI and consumer interaction. These templates have a proven success rate according to the Lyris release form and include 3 email templates, 2 newsletter templates, 1 B2B newsletter template, 2 consumer newsletter templates, and 2 transactional email templates. Along with this offer comes an HTML Basics How To Guide.

The catch, as all free products seem to have a catch, is that you have to supply them with your contact information, making you a possible lead for future purchases from them. Considering Lyris has gained many positive accolades from industry experts like Jupiter Research, it may not be that bad of a catch in the end. Those hoping to get these email templates and end the conversation there should just be warned that they may be contacted by a Lyris sales member in the future.

For those hoping to improve their online email marketing, taking a cue from Lyris is a logical next step. By adding a free offer like a free eBook, coupon code, or email templates you have the opportunity to engage current customers and gain new customers. One great way to boost ROI is to integrate your email marketing with your shopping cart solution. Consider using an email provider that can easily combine with your store, or an eCommerce shopping cart that has email marketing built in like Nexternal.

July 14, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

Lyris HQ, a firm well known for email marketing, has released 10 free “tried & true” email templates to help improve ROI and consumer interaction. These templates have a proven success rate according to the Lyris release form and include 3 email templates, 2 newsletter templates, 1 B2B newsletter template, 2 consumer newsletter templates, and 2 transactional email templates. Along with this offer comes an HTML Basics How To Guide.

The catch, as all free products seem to have a catch, is that you have to supply them with your contact information, making you a possible lead for future purchases from them. Considering Lyris has gained many positive accolades from industry experts like Jupiter Research, it may not be that bad of a catch in the end. Those hoping to get these email templates and end the conversation there should just be warned that they may be contacted by a Lyris sales member in the future.

For those hoping to improve their online email marketing, taking a cue from Lyris is a logical next step. By adding a free offer like a free eBook, coupon code, or email templates you have the opportunity to engage current customers and gain new customers. One great way to boost ROI is to integrate your email marketing with your shopping cart solution. Consider using an email provider that can easily combine with your store, or an eCommerce shopping cart that has email marketing built in like Nexternal.

July 13, 2009
Op Ed By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

As the debate rages over whether Yahoo or YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine online, Microsoft’s Bing continues to fight for a chance to even contend. With an ad campaign approaching $100 million in marketing dollars, Microsoft has re-branded their 3rd tier search engine (with a market share of 6-7%) by creating a “decision engine” and suggesting that the days of using search engines are over. In the end, Bing still works just as a search engine would but doesn’t fail to entertain with humorous commercials about “search overload” and the catchy slogan “Bing and Decide.” Unfortunately, with a continuous focus on obtaining more market share in search they negate their goal of being something other than a search engine.

After many years of competing with Yahoo, Ask, AOL, Google, and now YouTube, Microsoft has remained steady with a 6-7% market share. After the launch of Bing, they spent a week hovering around 20% market share and are now back down to 9%. Regardless, gaining 2% market share in only a month is an accomplishment worth noting. It still begs the question: Why remain in the ring in the first place? If they are truly a decision engine, then they should own the market because no other company exists in that market. Apparently this idea is lost on Microsoft as they continue to compare themselves to everything under the sun in an attempt to show shareholders that the $100 million spend is not a total loss. A prime example is the latest report, showing that Bing had higher search volume in June in comparison to Twitter, CNN, and Digg. Blogger Jared Newman, of GadgetCrave.com, notes the irony of this by simply stating “…Bing is more popular than a few high-profile but completely unrelated websites.”

So while Microsoft’s ad dollars continue to deplete, many predict that their ramp in search traffic will as well. E-tailers should not jump the gun and spend a lot of time tweaking their SEO efforts in hopes of ranking on Bing quite yet. The best thing to do in this situation is wait until Bing has been around through the end of Q3. If Bing proves itself, then etailers should consider putting some Q4 revenue into futher analysis and optimization for it then. For now, most websites ranking in Google have similar rankings in Bing, which shows that optimizing for Google should still be number one priority.

July 13, 2009
Op Ed By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

Twitter is the new buzzword, but while its popularity continues to grow, many remain baffled about what can be gained financially from it. The CEO and co-founder of Twitter, Evan Williams, has even admitted to some confusion regarding how he will monetize the site. Considering this, it’s no wonder so many eCommerce gurus are still learning how to best use this impactful tool for their own gain. So, to shed some light on the subject, the ZippyCart Op Ed team has gathered 3 helpful tips that allow you to use Twitter to better manage your eCommerce storefront.

1. Use Twitter as an Extended Affiliate Communications Tool

Not all shopping cart providers feature affiliate management tools, but if you’re lucky enough to have an affiliate management tool, then you should utilize Twitter. The first step is to set up a unique account just for your affiliates. Now you can easily communicate with them via another channel in addition to email or instant messaging. If your affiliates follow you and you follow them, then you can send them quick direct messages to answer their questions or publicly message them. If you have an iPhone, Blackberry or other smart phone, you can download great Twitter apps to help you manage your affiliates wherever you are.

2. Use Twitter as an Easy Way To Manage Your Online Reputation

Twitter is a tool that allows anyone to say anything in 140 characters or less. You have a business and a brand that you want to protect so having a presence on Twitter allows you to reply to anyone who has negative or positive feedback about your online store. In addition your Twitter profile will typically display very high in Google search results when someone is searching for your business online. This will give users another way to learn about you and see that you are a credible online store that they will feel comfortable shopping at.

3. Use Twitter as a Direct Customer Service Tool

Customers are what makes an eCommerce store successful, but with customers comes questions about your products and their orders. Having a Twitter account allows you to easily give them instant responses when they have a quick question. This will help build customer loyalty because it allows you to be attentive to your customers needs. In a sense, it’s similar to Live Chat on your site, but free. A happy customer typically tells other customers about their experience and if they give you a positive mention on Twitter they could have an audience of 10,000, 100,000 or even 1,000,000 people who will see their message.

July 09, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

Internet.com, a popular eCommerce tool, and DevX.com, a popular application development site, combined efforts to release a list of the top 10 most popular eBooks in June. Of the ten eBooks, 3 stand out as resources online merchants can use to maximize profitability, production, and efficiency:

Best Practices for Developing a Web Site

Bulidng and designing websites have become a very simplified process for almost anyone, but building a quality web site is another story. While templates, FrontPage, Apple’s iWeb, and even social networks make it a cinch for any Internet user to create a site overnight, making a site that follows proper coding standards, is well designed, and search engine friendly takes time and knowledge. You can download this ebook for free to learn about the best practices in web design and development.

What to Expect from Tech in 2009

Internet.com sums up this eBook best in one sentence: Internet.com’s experts take a look at the vendors, devices, products, and trends that shape the tech industry as they head into one of the toughest economies since the invention of the transistor.&quote; download this eBook to see what’s ahead for open source software, Microsoft, virtualization, mobile devices, and more.

Developing a Content Management System Strategy

As a shopping cart owner, you may want to build relevant content around your products for both your customers and search engines. Finding or creating the right content management system is the first step you will need to take to build out content. This eBook is geared toward a reader with a strong knowledge of backend code and web development, but is still something that a novice coder could learn a lot from. You can download it for free and decide for yourself.

If you choose to download any of the above eBooks, you may need an Internet.com membership. Membership is free and a helpful tool to add to your eCommerce arsenal.

July 08, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

Jim Lenskold, author of the recent MarketingProfs ROI Study will be hosting a free webinar on July 22nd about increasing your ROI and improving your overall eCommerce performance. In this webinar, attendees will learn how to gain discipline in measuring and analyzing data to improve ROI, how to determine what long-term marketing investments are appropriate, as well as gain immediate tips to improve overall performance and ROI in the short term. The one hour long webinar starts at 11am PST and will cover ideas that can be done on a tight budget as well as some tips that may require a larger investment.

Jim Lenskold is the President of Lenskold Group, Inc., a company that has earned itself the reputation as a thought leader in the world of online marketing and ROI improvements. Founded in 1997, the company has taken multiple Fortune 500 companies under its wing including JPMorgan, MasterCard, and more to cover a diverse range of business models and industries. His book, Marketing ROI, was named one of the top 5 marketing books of 2004. This experience and research culminates into an expert opinion worth getting advice from. To attend this webinar, register for free and clear your schedule on Wednesday July, 22nd at 11am PST.

July 07, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team

1. Design your online store and shopping cart experience with the customer viewpoint in mind:

The customer experience of your online storefront is critical to the success of your business. You want to make sure it is safe, secure, and easy to navigate. Just because you can put a lot of high end technology into your ecommerce store doesn’t mean you should. The ultimate goal should be to give customers the right tools that will enable them to find the product they need and checkout quickly.

2. Experiment with A/B split testing

Google Website Optimizer is a free tool that is easy to use and will help you to have a more successful online store. When it comes to ecommerce one of the best ways to use this is to test out different landing pages for your products. A different layout or combination of text and pictures may convert better and result in more sells. There is a Japanese philosophy called Kaizen that focuses on continues improvement. This is the attitude you want to have because the more you test out landing pages the more you will improve your online sales.

3. Sell Products That Can Utilize Upsell Items

Upselling products has been critical to many online businesses succeeding. Amazon is the best example as they continually try and offer you as many accessories or complimentary items as possible. In fact you should always try and have some products to upsell your customers. Doing the work and research upfront will pay off in the long run wth increased sales.

4. Promote Your Business in Related Blogs and Forums

With so many people selling online it is important to stand out and set yourself apart from your competitors. A great way to do this is network with popular Blogs and Forums in your industry which will not only gain you more traffic to your site it will sometimes build your SEO efforts when you leave your online store link. Once you build a loyal following you will get others talking about you and get a ton of free word of mouth advertising.