Thinking of selling online or wondered why your online shop isn't lighting up the Internet buyers?!

Lots of obvious things are easily overlooked when setting up an online shop, and many of the following crucial online selling fundamentals are still overlooked by a huge majority of online stores!  eCommerce is so easy to get wrong, and today there is serious competition out for the online buyer.  You have to be right on the money in every area in order to realistically compete. 

1.) Publish your shipping, exchange and returns policies on your website and make them easy to find

2.)  Offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount

3.) Capture the email address of shoppers and start a regular email newsletter

4.) Encourage customers to review products

5.) Make a great first impression by having a professional-looking website design

6.) Link directly to the product-pages when marketing

7.) Promote your best-selling products and brand choices on your Home Page

8.) Make your online store secure by purchasing your own SSL certificate

9.) Let shoppers compare products in your store

10.) Keep visitors coming back by publishing regular News and using RSS Feeds

Bonus Tip - Use great Pictures!

Summary

Can your shop do all these?  We know the importance of getting all these elements right when trying to sell online.  As a result, we have released our own Shopping Cart Software, simply called ShoppingCart, which offers built-in and simple-to-use features to address ALL of the above principles.  It is super-powerful and incredibly simple to use.

Totally client-controlled, your online Admin Area will allow you to easily control all functions, from a built in News, RSS & Review Systems though to super-fast Shipping Methods and many others, so you can just concentrate on selling!  Find out more on 0845 226 1033 - and start selling online today!

Does your website pass the test?

Five seconds. That’s how long the vast majority of surfers take to decide whether your website has what they are looking for. Some may take a little longer, as much as ten seconds, before deciding!   It is VITAL therefore that your website has the magic ingredient to stop surfers in their tracks.

The most common mistake made in website design & development, is to build a site that meets your needs.  Sound unbelievable? Well there’s more... Even the majority of ‘professional’ web creators or Agencies will create websites that primarily follow the business owner’s instructions, and even ideas. This is a key reason why websites fail to deliver as expected, and here’s why…

First & foremost, a website must satisfy the immediate needs of the surfer. Not to labour the point, but this is crucial so I’ll say it again; the immediate needs of the surfer. 

But instead, what happens is that by following the direction of a company owner or entrepreneur, more often than not the website satisfies THEIR immediate needs. But they are not the ones that will be using or buying from the website. The website becomes something they would like to portray about themselves or their business, rather than what their customers are actually looking for. Make sense?   As you can imagine, this is particularly dangerous for eCommerce sites. If the customers can’t find – or are not convinced they will find – your products, how will they ever buy them?

Quick Usability Test

A usability test is the only test that really matters. Your website could be full of priceless information or products at irresistible terms, but if it fails this test; most of your surfers will never bother to look or find it!  If you want to know if your website passes a usability test, follow these guidelines.

Step 1: Basic Focus Group
Ask several people who fit your target market or key demographic, to be your focus group. People love to critique so this should not be difficult!  (Preferably not employees and as impartial as possible.)

Step 2: Give your Surfers a Specific Goal
Let's say you sell generic mobile phone accessories. The goal you give them might be "Find information relevant to your mobile phone."

Step 3: Show & Tell
Show your website’s homepage for five seconds, and then ask your focus group to try to remember everything they saw.

Step 4: Write it Down
Once you've removed the homepage, ask your testers to write down everything they remembered about the page.

Step 5: Find Out if you Passed!
Ask a few relevant questions to see whether your homepage allowed them to find what they were looking for. For example,

"What kind of mobile phone accessories does my site offer?" or "Did you think your phone would be catered for?"

Make detailed notes on responses throughout this process. If any of your subjects are NOT able to recall the most important elements on your page, ADJUST YOUR LAYOUT AND MESSAGE then re-test.   This small group is likely to reflect what most surfers will experience on entering your website, so test and tweak until your central message is clear.

Surfers have needs. Remember - almost no-one arrives at your website by accident. But they'll stop at your website only when they are convinced you can help them, and they'll often decide whether you satisfy their needs within this first five seconds. The more you stop in their tracks, the more you can sell to.

Of course the rest of your website must then deliver on its promises and maximise its chances of conversion, but that’s another session. First, they have to stop at your website and not someone else’s…so this test may literally transform your online success.

Obviously, this article applies to existing webistes. The real key is to get it right as part of the creative design process, and not to let personal preferences stand in the way of effective layout, relevant content and powerful navigation. 

Video works wonders! Stand out from your competition...

Video is a magnetic and compelling media - and has universal audience appeal.  Who wouldn't rather watch a broadcast rather than just listen, or have it laid out in paper and slides?

And as far as Corporate Video effectiveness goes, message or content-retention from video is near 80%, compared to around 20-30% from static or slide-based media.   We're all used to TV - and we remember far more of what we see on video, so corporate video is a superbly effective media for companies to take advantage of.

And once you have added a video production in your armoury, you can use it on DVD, Website, at events, on TV, emails and much more - increasing your exposure and certainly your company's profile.

Dynamics Media offer professional production services to make that happen quickly, and cost-effectively. See our show-reel by clicking below.. 

So what is Print Management, and what does it do for you?

Well let's say your company has completed a design project; a brochure for example. The most common next step is to contact a local printer and get a quote for delivery and turnaround times etc. There can be some potential issues when doing this..depending on the amount of knowledge and experience you have in-house.

If you know a bit about print, you may have already decided on a specification for the brochure, such as the paper thickness etc.  So when you ask fir a quite, the printer will simply submit one base don your spec.  They won't normally suggest a 'better' or even more cost-effective option, or choices such as spot UV on your pics. They certainly won't ask who your target audience is and where the brochure site in your sales process, they'll simply respond to your command assuming all this has been considered.  And they are right to do so.  They often have dozens of quotes - some very complicated- to wade though every day, and your choices should have already been considered.  But often they are not...

The second danger area is that you don't know a lot about print. So you may ask the Printer that cracking leading question 'What would you suggest...?' You certainly won't encourage them start spouting strange terms like flood UV, machine varnish, B2 press, bleed, run to waste, saddle stitch, perfect bind etc. etc. because you'll instantly feel out of your depth and wont understand the implications of your answers.  Result? So the appropriateness and quality of your company's outward marketing material - a brochure in this case - is then determined and produced according to that five-minute conversation; with a Printer. Mayday!

This is where our Print Management comes in.

We will ask the questions, we know what size and orientation fits on which Press size and will source accordingly. We understand all the terms and technicalities of printing and the most optimal layouts, spec and stock to print on. We can organise multi-location deliveries, stages runs and monster projects if required. This could cut your bill by 20-30%, and still get you a better job, more quickly, and save you hours of backwards and forwarding with a Printer. It's worth its weight in gold!

For example, we have produced 10,000 six-page flyers for LESS than the client was quoted for 5,000 items. And this was a local government client!  Small but crucial recommendations were made and a fast, accurate and far cheaper job was the result. It's a great feeling.

So, what could you be missing out on? Talk to our team and we'll show you the way...

OK, let's talk about small business advertising.

Well, as those of you who deal with us may know, I'm not a huge fan of small-business advertising. Partly because of its 'hit or miss' nature and partly because it's often gone in a flash. It's mainly guess-work on the part of the advertiser, and in my experience commonly represents the biggest waste of your SME's marketing spend.

By that I mean, some firms 'design' an advert, then just sticks it in week after week or whatever, and that's it - accepting the cost and rarely measuring the results. What a waste! Also, it's almost always standard Response Advertising, the least effective kind, so who's to know? (there is another way!). And the Ad Sales people are very good at convincing you to advertise, and have the perfect set of responses for when it doesn't work! Like 'Give it more time' ' Place a bigger advert' or 'Go in more publications and extend your reach' blah blah... and they're generally highly-trained and very good at it - so don't feel bad to have been taken in! We've all had the 'normally this would be £550, but as it's last minute it's yours for £295..' call.

Anyway. it CAN and does work for some of course, I'm not saying always pull the plug.  I'm saying if you are going to do it, get proper advice (just changing to a better headline can increase chances by response-rates 30%+) and whatever you decide, don't leave the design and copywriting to the papers free design studio! Then, most importantly, test, test and test again. The test some more. If you KNOW it works, do more: if it's not working at least you'll know, and you can stop and regroup - and maybe look at other marketing options.  SME ads are normally so badly done, and so disproportionately expensive, it seems mad not to absolutely maximise your chances of success. There are golden, proven rules to follow.

Below are some of the reasons why Adverts fail; so if you insist on doing advertising yourselves, avoid the following...

ADVERTISING PITFALLS

Top 10 Reasons Why Adverts Fail!

1. Using an inappropriate image which does not clearly show, explain or visibly enhance the product / service being offered.

2. Not emphasising the unique selling points (USP’s).

3. Too much reach and not enough frequency.  Effective advertising ensures that a significant majority of the target audience see the advert an appropriate number of times.

4. Too much copy. Filling it with clutter that will drown out your message.

5. Selling the features of what is being offered, rather than the benefits.

6. The business owner does not necessarily know best! (Owner/Director Syndrome). Too much product knowledge or even passion, does not allow the product to be viewed afresh - and often results in adverts that are too feature-rich.

7. Giving up on an advertising campaign too soon, before it has had a chance to work. Avoid the expectation / quest for instant gratification and results.

8. Choosing the wrong publicity media. What performs for one business or service does not always work for others.

9. Changing your copy too frequently, diluting your message and central value to the reader.

10. Too much priority on selective targeting. When done properly, high coverage and frequency tends to yield better results.

Want it done right? You know who to contact!