By Susan Delly
June 14, 2012
If you own a business with a web presence, you are probably looking for ways attract new customers and make the purchasing process easy for repeat buyers. In years past, eCommerce was easy. There was less web competition, so a company could create a simple web page or storefront and buyers would naturally navigate there. Today, however, nearly every business has a web presence, so you must work a lot harder to reach those customers.
One of the easiest way to promote your web presence in today’s market is to link the shopping cart on your main web page with a mobile website and a FaceBook page. More people than ever obtain information and make purchases through mobile devices so utilizing social networks gives you a stronger connection with your customers. These simple steps will help you stay ahead of the competition when it comes to staying connected.
Mobile Site
A mobile website is a must in today’s competitive marketplace. According to Internet Retailer magazine, over 111 million smart phone users browse the web regularly on their phones. While many normal web pages will display on mobile devices, they do not always load properly. Additionally, the shopping cart software that works on your traditional eCommerce site may fail when a customer attempts to order from a mobile device. To combat these problems, create a separate mobile site and choose a shopping cart solution that works with your traditional web page. Then, place a simple link to the mobile site on your main page, and customers that surf to the normal site can easily access the correct version.
FaceBook Page
A FaceBook presence is more than just a benefit, its nearly a requirement to remain competitive today. There are over 800 million active users of FaceBook and a huge percentage of these users spend an hour or more on the site each day. You can create a simple FaceBook page with no knowledge of HTML. Using that page, you will be able to communicate with your “fans” through posts and comments. FaceBook makes it easy to reach a targeted audience of customers that want to hear your message. Using a qualified eCommerce program allows you to sell to customers on this growing platform. You can easily share specials or provide links to your main ecommerce page through your FaceBook profile.
If you would like more information about which eCommerce solutions provide the technology required to get your storefront on FaceBook and in a mobile application, please check ZippyCart’s Top Ten Comparison Charts.
Susan was raised in Missouri but has lived 'out west' for more than 10 years. She currently bounces back and forth between the Phoenix and the San Francisco areas and is always looking for the next adventure. Susan considers herself a curious soul, which has made research and blogging a perfect fit for her. She especially enjoys keeping up with and writing on local businesses, travel, and eCommerce issues. When she's not running Zippycart, she's probably researching a random piece of information she came across online.
This is a great blog article. Really looking forward to more!
First of all I would like to say terrific blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your mind before writing. I’ve had a tough time clearing my mind in getting
my thoughts out there. I truly do enjoy writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15
minutes are usually lost just trying to figure out how to
begin. Any suggestions or tips? Many thanks!
Here at ZippyCart, we usually read up on current eCommerce news to get ourselves in the mood to blog. Whatever your niche market is, read and watch news to get the words flowing. It works for us!