By Ian D Spencer

Selling online has become a very popular thing to do for companies of all sizes. This popularity has led to many market places becoming very competitive which is turn making it harder to create sales. There are however many things you can do to increase your market share online which will increase your sales.

Here are some top tips to make sure that you are getting the most from your website:

Competitor research

Regularly check out what your competitors are up to with regards to special offers and the products they are offering. By checking your competitors you can also compare prices to make sure that you are competitively priced at all times.

Also take the opportunity to see how your competitors are ranking within the search engines result compared to yourself. If you are ranking a lot lower then you could be missing out on traffic so it would be a good idea to consult an SEO company specialising in improving your positioning on the search engines.

Pay Per Click Campaign

If you haven't done this yet Pay Per Click is a great way to achieve new levels of traffic to your website. The most important thing is that the traffic is well targeted because you get to choose the keywords which you feel best suit your website and its products.

The search engines that offer this service are currently Google and Bing. Your adverts will appear in the sponsored section of the search engine results page which can attract high volumes of traffic, all of which are users who specifically searched for your key terms.

You can easily cap the budget of how much you would like to spend by limiting your spend to daily. This way you will not exceed your budget and be in complete control. For many it could be a good idea to employ the services of an SEO company who will be able to take over the management of your Pay Per Click campaign and keep it at a manageable level cost wise.

Get Your Website Linked To A Price Comparison Website

Price comparison websites achieve high levels of traffic from consumers looking to get the best prices available. The main price comparison websites are Ciao and Shopzilla. In a competitive marketplace it is a very good idea to link your website up to one of these, it will help you to achieve more click through's especially if you are the lowest price for a certain product.

By doing this you can also see how your prices compare against your competitors and what you can do to make yourself more competitive.

Consult An SEO Expert

If you feel your website is underperforming and not achieving the levels of visitors it could be or not ranking highly enough within the search engines then consulting an SEO expert could just be the answer.

An SEO expert will review your website thoroughly and make recommendations on the following:

• On Page optimisation - Keywords, page titles and page descriptions
• Links - How many inward links your website has
• Design - Is the design right for your market

From this they will be able to recommend a suitable campaign designed to help your website which will cover some of the following:

• Link building
• Social bookmarking
• Press releases
• Article releases
• Sitemap submission
• Website analytics
• Keyword research
• Social media marketing
• Competitor research

Consulting an SEO expert can dramatically increase traffic and sales so is well recommended, try and stay away from SEO companies who guarantee top of the search engines in no time as in SEO terms there are no guarantees just hard work.

Use Social Media

Social media is a great way for you to connect to your customers. By using applications such as Twitter and Facebook you can drive your company message across to existing customers and potential new ones.

Social media helps to spawn an idea out to thousands of people if used correctly. Setting up a Facebook business page and loading it with images and content not only attracts fans but it also gets indexed by Google so will rank within the search engines.

Twitter is great for micro blogs containing links to your website, this helps you to gain access to many people who are within your market place and also interested in your products.

Social media can also help you to understand what is new in your trade such as exciting new products and offers.

By following these simple tips you can increase the performance of your website and the sales of your products.

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Ian Spencer works for Clear Web Services, a SEO Web Optimisation and Web Design company serving the Forest Of Dean, Gloucestershire and South Wales.

He has worked in the SEO and Internet Marketing world for many years, and working in partnership with another company has launched the new SEO business.

http://clearwebservices.com/ For More Information, please call 01594 835 857 or email info@clearwebservices.com

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Your website needs a system to be able to sell your products and services and collect the cash. The problem is, the myriad of services and options is hugely confusing. Indeed, type in the phrase "best shopping cart" into Google and you end up with more than 44,000 results. And if you go to the collection of review sites or directory listings you discover two things; most of the review sites are not true reviews, since they are affiliate programs and secondly the directories have widely varying listings. Indeed, one Top 10 listing of shopping carts presents an entirely different list to another so-called Top 10 directory. Confusing isn't it?

So, how can you go about choosing the right ecommerce system for your business? There are several questions you need to answer to help make your decision.

1. Do you need a "merchant account"?
A merchant account is a special kind of banking system that has verified you and your organisation, using high levels of security. A merchant account is NOT necessary to conduct business online and take money. However, you will need a merchant account if you want to:

• Take orders by phone or fax
• Take orders "in person" such as in a retail store
• Receive the money quickly
• Reduce your monthly fees and commissions
• Sell certain products or services (such as "adult" items)

If any of these apply to you, then you need a merchant account.

2. What type of "merchant account" to you need?
There are two types of merchant account - one where you "own" the account on your own basis, with a direct relationship between your business and the bank issuing the account. A second type of merchant account is a "third party" account. Essentially they are renting you space on their merchant account. PayPal, for instance, has "third party" merchant accounts as part of its business offering "Website Payments Pro". The difference in the merchant accounts is largely around pricing. Third party merchant accounts are usually free to set up and can be started quickly, sometimes immediately upon signing up. However, they charge much higher commission fees and monthly on-going charges; some also keep your money for 30 days before you can access it. A standard merchant account has lower monthly fees and low commission rates on each transaction. They also give you access to incoming funds within three days. However, they tend to charge start-up fees and they take longer to set up because of the security checks needed on you and your business. The standard merchant account, though, provides you with the greatest flexibility.

3. Do you need a "payment processor"?
A payment processor is a service which takes credit card information from your customers and extracts the money from their account and pays it into your merchant account. Some companies that provide merchant accounts, such as RBS WorldPay, include a payment processor within their service. Other organisations, such as SagePay are only payment processors and so you need a separate merchant account from a second supplier. PayPal Business is a complete package of payment processor and merchant account all wrapped up together. If you already have a merchant account for an existing offline business, such as a retail store, you will need an online payment processor. However, if you only operate online you can use a combination service - you do not need a separate merchant account and payment processor, unless you want to have future options. For instance, if you have a merchant account and payment processor combined you stand a risk - albeit small - of not being able to take money if their service is broken, or ceases operation. However, if you have the services separated you can more quickly re-establish your online payment options.

4. Do you need a "virtual terminal"?
If you want to take money on the phone, by fax or from people who email you their details, rather than using a web page or shopping cart, you will need a "virtual terminal" unless you have a full, standard merchant account. A virtual terminal is a secure web page which you log into and then enter the credit card details of your customer by hand. Some payment processor companies, such as SagePay, provide a virtual terminal as standard. RBS WorldPay charges a one-off set-up fee for this service. PayPal includes it within the "Website Payments Pro" service or as a stand-alone service.

Separate Systems	Combined Package
Existing merchant account Flexibility Future proofing Cost controls	Rapid set up Higher on-going costs Ease of use Virtual terminals

 

 

 

 

 

For most people the decision comes down to PayPal OR another packaged provider such as RBS WorldPay. Going the separate systems route with your own merchant account and a payment processor is more cumbersome and technically difficult; however, this is often the preferred route for larger businesses.

5. Are there alternatives to the "merchant" route?
It is possible to sell your products and services online without requiring a merchant account or payment processor. Many web hosting companies offer complete e-commerce packages such as "web shops". There are also specialist firms which provide online "shops in a box". In both these instances you can set up your account, usually for a monthly fee and sell your products and services using the system's payment processing and merchant account. The advantages to this route are the fact that you can be up and running within minutes. All you need to do is sign up, use a pre-formatted template, add your products and away you go. However, there are limitations; firstly you are restricted to the designs and layouts on offer from the shop system. Many of these services include hundreds of possible layouts and the ability to include your own graphics and logos. But they are not as flexible as using your own website. Those that also offer payment processing tend to charge relatively high rates of commission and keep any income for a long period of time before you can extract it into your bank account.

6. Do you want to take "subscriptions"?
If you want to charge monthly subscriptions, for instance, or you have some kind of "membership site" where you charge regular fees then take special care over the merchant account or payment processor you choose. Make sure they offer this feature; some do not. Others charge extra - for instance RBS WorldPay Gateway Plus requires a one-off set-up fee to be paid for regular payments. Be sure also that any shopping cart software you use can also handle subscriptions or regular payments. Some can, but only with certain payment processors and not others. The lesson is, if you want to take subscriptions you need to check what is available very carefully indeed.

7. Do you need a shopping cart?
Shopping cart software is in plentiful supply online. A shopping cart allows people to place orders for your products and services and then visit an online "checkout" where they pay, usually with a credit card. However, you don't always need a shopping cart. If you sell several products and people will be potentially buying several items, then a shopping cart is convenient. However, if you are only selling a single product or people only buy one product or service at a time from you, a shopping cart can be an unnecessary diversion. Simply adding a "Buy Now" button and connecting that to PayPal may be all you need. Indeed, if you sell digital goods such as ebooks or software, you may not even need that as you can use direct selling systems such as ClickBank or PayDotCom. Even so, shopping carts do have attractions. Firstly, many of them connect with online payment processors automatically. If you use PayPal buttons, or similar easy services, you have to code the buttons each time. With a shopping cart you usually only set up the connection once and then each time you add a product or service, the shopping cart software automates the process for you. Furthermore, customers are comfortable with shopping carts because they are everywhere on the web. Having a shopping cart service on your website can improve customer confidence, over and above a simple "buy now" button.

8. What kind of "shopping cart" do you need?
There are three main kinds of shopping carts:

• Hosted
• Stand alone software
• Scripted

A hosted shopping cart, such as 1ShoppingCart, is where the service is on the company's servers and you rent usage. Usually, you are allowed a limit in terms of the numbers of customers or the amount of products and transactions you can have. A stand alone shopping cart is a software program you download, such as ShopFactory or Coffee Cup Shopping Cart Creator. A scripted shopping cart is a system you need to install on your own web server. Such services include things like VirtueMart or ClickCartPro. The hosted services are best if you are not very technical, the scripted services are the ones that require technical knowledge. Hosted services are usually less flexible compared with the alternatives, though.

9. Do you sell "downloads"?
If you sell ebooks, software, music, video or other digital goods your shopping cart or payment processor needs to be able to handle them. Many do not. Equally, many do not provide time-limited download links or other security measures which help prevent your digital goods being shared. PayPal, for instance, allows the selling of downloads, but you need to add security software yourself, such as DLGuard. 1ShoppingCart provides good digital security measures, but does not let you arrange subscriptions through RBS WorldPay - hence if you were charging for a monthly downloadable magazine, 1ShoppingCart wouldn't work easily. Usually, if you want to handle digital goods effectively you need a scripted shopping cart system.

10. Are you "technically minded"?
Arranging the taking of money online requires technical skills. Either you need to set up a scripted shopping system including some elements of coding, or you need to be able to connect several different services together - such as a merchant account, a payment processor and a shopping cart. If you are not technically gifted the amount of time you need to spend could be counter-productive; even hosted package systems, such as 1ShoppingCart require some technical knowledge. You have two alternatives if you are not interested in the technology. One is to get a complete shop package from somewhere like 1&1, or you should get technical assistance from Elance.

And what is my final suggestion? For the maximum features at the lowest possible price, you will find it hard to beat "PayPal Web Payments Pro"; you will require some technical skill in connecting to your website, but it can be used with any web hosting system and design software you use. RBS WorldPay Gateway Plus runs a close second to PayPal, but because it charges set-up fees it is initially more expensive than PayPal. It is also somewhat technically more demanding. All you then need is a shopping cart system which will deliver the features you require. If you use Joomla for your website, then VirtueMart is excellent. For WordPress users look no further than WP e-Commerce from GetShopped. If you use any other kind of web development system, then I'd recommend ClickCartPro for the technically minded, or something like RomanCart or Mal's Ecommerce or Coffee Cup Shopping Cart Creator for those with more straightforward requirements.

One final thing - if you want to use a complete system which not only allows you to take money from your customers, but also maintain a relationship with them, you need a packaged system such as QuickPayPro or 1ShoppingCart. But these systems charge monthly fees of $99 on top of your merchant fees and payment processor fees. You need to be sure you will get the maximum value from them.

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Any e-commerce application needs a good shopping cart to handle any purchases and payments for subscriptions. Of course you want the best shopping cart you can get for your blogs or websites, but there are so many options online, all promising you the world, that it can get confusing. Still wondering what a shopping cart is on website?

There are several points to consider, but the simplest description that all of us will recognize is the shopping cart in grocery stores. While that one has squeaky wheels and gets pushed up and down the aisle, the shopping cart on your website is a set of scripts that track what your customers buy so they can pay for the entire selection with one click.

All the shopping cart does is keep track of any items you have placed in it for purchase. Without a shopping cart your customers would have to pay individually for everything they want to buy. After your customers press the “Buy” button on your site, their transaction is transferred to a payment processor to collect the money owed, send it where it belongs and enables the download if required.

It’s not quite that simple, but it is a quick explanation of what happens behind the “Buy” button. There are several processes that are sending and receiving the request for payment on a mouse click that ends with the download instructions for your customer. It gets confusing when you start searching for a shopping cart for your own sites. A simple search will probably send you several hundred choices, all claiming to be the premier shopping cart for your needs.

An excellent choice would be PayPal’s shopping cart. For several reasons, using PayPal’s shopping cart will streamline your customer’s payment processes by letting you accept credit and debit cards and direct bank account payments. Some benefits for your customers include purchasing more than one item at a time and paying for them with a single click of the “Buy” button. It’s good customer service. You don’t want to irritate customers ready to spend money with you.

Other PayPal benefits for your customer include the ability to browse your entire collection of products and check out a list of what they bought before they click on your “Buy” button, which gives them the opportunity to modify the list. Ease of installation which does not require knowledge of CGI scripting is one big advantage of PayPal’s shopping cart. Opening an account is free of up-front costs and you are charged the same fees charged when you get other PayPal payments.

To find the fee schedule, check out the bottom of any page, even the log in page, for a link to “Pricing” or “Fees.” Some of the technical benefits of using PayPal’s shopping cart include being able to set shipping rates, if necessary, and tax rates. You can let your customers make donations to charities of their choice. You can easily convert your “Buy Now” buttons into “Add To Cart” buttons to make multiple purchases seamless to your customer.

Their free 410-page PDF, “Website Payments Standard Integration Guide,” has all the in-depth information you might need about using “Buy Now” buttons included. You can find a comprehensive list of services on PayPal when you click the tab, “Merchant Services.” If you click on the tab, “Products and Services,” you will find a link to the ebook. For your business records, PayPal will keep detailed transaction records on their website for your use when you need them.

You will also find details needed to integrate PayPal with your site, including how to pre-populate your customer’s sign-up forms. It might be a good idea to download their free PDF User Agreement for your records. You can find a link to the document at the bottom of almost every page on the service. Look for “Legal Agreements” and click that link. PayPal is easy to use with whatever application you need. It has been time tested for a longtime as eBay’s payment processor.

Besides being highly recognizable as something that a lot of people use already and have a comfort zone with, another undocumented benefit of using PayPal’s shopping cart is your own peace of mind in knowing that your business income is in good hands.

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Kathy Dobson is a free spirited business owner and entrepreneur dedicated to helping others achieve financial and personal freedom through Internet marketing with an emphasis on membership sites.
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