Websites for Small Businesses

Written by graphicsxpress1January 15, 2018
Business , Customer Service , E-commerce , Graphic Design , Web Design

In first World countries the Internet is now a huge part of our everyday life. We use it at work and we use it at home. It is all around us. A person from a First World country would be in a minority if they said they had not paid for anything across the Internet or bought a product or service online through an eCommerce store. In a August, 2017 study it was found that in Europe, in 2016, residents in European Nations spent $132 Billion Euros (USD $180 Billion) through eCommerce Websites. In the next 5 years the amount spent through eCommerce Websites is set to increase by 25% per annum to an estimated $406.8 Billion Euros (USD $554 Billion) by 2021. It should be noted this only covers Europe and does not factor in the US, Asia and other emerging regions, which would easily double or triple those figures.

So, clearly there is a huge market place online that needs to be serviced by online shops and websites selling products and services. As a business owner I can see a huge market for established businesses in the real World to move into the World of eCommerce and sell online.

ECommerce Website Partners should be assessed for their suitability to deliver a quality ongoing relationship that will be to your company’s best benefit for the long term.

1. A strong history of developing eCommerce Websites with a good portfolio and testimonials
2. Hosting with reliable and strong Internet connections
3. Good design and development team with >5 people to ensure adequate support in the future
4. Online Marketing Professionals with proven history of success and a good portfolio of established clients – THE single most important feature of any shop – getting visitors through the doors!

As a business owner I would describe an eCommerce store with Search Engine Optimisation implemented as a store with many, many different doorways into it. ECommerce websites owners should recognize that the more people you get to come to your website the more sales you will make. Search Engine Optimisation does exactly this, targeting certain phrase that when searched on in Google your website shows up for. Now it should be noted that the higher to the top you finish the more website visitors you are likely to get. It has been shown in studies that 80% of all people who search on a term go to one, or more, of the results on the first page (the top 10) results. So the goal with SEO is to get on the first page and in the top 10 results shown for a given search term. So your goal in choosing a partner should be focused on good website design but more on online marketing and how they can help you spread the word and get visitors to your website.

An E-Commerce website provides many benefits to the underlying business. It gives the business an extra dimension and as mentioned above if implemented with SEO, many doorways into the shop. With more customers comes more revenues – everyone recognizes this fact. An eCommerce Shop also provides Interstate, National and even global reach for your product or service. With a Global eCommerce system you can reach the farthest reaches of the World and supply product, creating a Global Brand Name in new emerging markets.

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Steps to Flip a Website Successfully

Written by graphicsxpress1December 9, 2017
Design Trends , Graphic Design , Web Design

Determining a profitable website is not easy especially if you are looking to flip it for higher profit within a short time frame. However, with the correct steps and procedures, it is possible even for a beginner to pick up a good site with great potential to start off. Here are some tips to Flip a Website Successfully!

1. The first step to determine if a website is worth the investment is by the number of income streams it has. Most websites have more than one income channel such as Pay-Per-Click advertisement (Google Adsense etc), Pay-Per-Action programs (AzoogleAds, ClickBank etc) or selling of own products. Basically, this step is to analyze the current profitable channels and see if you can expand or add in other  sources of income. Never rely only on one income source for a website.

2.  The second step is to find out where are the traffic coming from. Most websites should have a healthy amount of constant traffic from the search engines followed by social bookmarking sites or regular visitors. If the majority of the traffic is coming from the search engines, proceed to ask the owner what are the keywords that brought in the traffic. Try out the keywords in the search engines and check out the search engine rankings of the site.

You should also check with the owner what are the top search engines that direct the traffic to the site. With these information, check the on-page optimization effort of the site and you may have more ideas for improvements after you have bought it.

3.  The next step is to highlight the areas of possible improvements of the site. If you can come out with at least two quick fixes to the site that can increase the value created to the visitors, the traffic to the site will increase to the next higher level eventually. For example, if you can include an online tool to calculate the financial networth of a person in a financial blog, that would most likely benefit all your readers in a long run.

4.  The fourth step is to check for back links to the site that you are interested to purchase. It is highly recommended to use Yahoo backlink analyzer to check for backlinks since it displays almost all the pages that linked to the site. You may want to use the Yahoo powered analyzer at USESEO.com.

With the above four steps, you should have no problems choosing a profitable website that can generate a stable income for some time. You are advised to check on the seller’s history as well to know more about the seller’s background before confirming the transaction.

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4 Great Reasons to Love Online Shopping

Written by graphicsxpress1September 30, 2017
E-commerce , On-Line Marketing , On-Line Working

More and more people are shopping online today than ever before, especially with the holidays just around the corner.  We’re looking for gifts for our kids, gifts for our family, and gifts for our friends.  But is  online shopping safe?  Is our information secure?  Is it convenient?

For as many of those who are on-line shoppers (and I am a big on-line shopper myself), there are just as many, or more, who don’t or won’t shop on-line.  They cite various reasons for their reluctance.  Believe me, it can be scary to try new things.  So, I  have considered the reasons for their fear and apathy and have come up with what I believe are great reasons you gotta love on-line shopping.

Online Shopping Advantages

  1. Security Issues

Many people are worried about putting their personal information out into “cyberspace”.  Personally, I feel safer on-line.  Identity theft actually occurs more in the malls and department stores than on-line according to a recent report on CNN.  They report that there are far more opportunities available in a mall.

The truth of the matter is that through the process of encryption, the internet is actually a safe place to shop.  Encryption is like coding.  The only one who knows what is being coded is the one with the key.  Secure socket layers, or SSL, is the protocol that most browsers and web servers use to protect our personal information while it is being transmitted. Keys are created with each transaction and then discarded, with each new transaction producing a new, unique key.  There are so many combinations possible with 128-bit, for example, that is has been likened to trying to find one particular grain of sand in the Sahara Desert.  You can tell that you are using encryption when you see the padlock symbol on the toolbar.  And you should see an “s” appear after the http in the address window.

  1. Save Money

These days it is a lot easier to save money on the internet.  Shipping and handling can get pretty pricey.  However, today many of the stores you can shop at on-line are offering some great shipping deals.  In some instances, shipping and handling are waived entirely, if you spend a certain amount of money.  Many of the book clubs and stores are offering a low fee for S&H, too, when you purchase a specific dollar amount.  The price of gas alone is well worth the cost of S&H.  And, although the price of gas has come down some, it can still get pretty costly as you run from mall to mall in search of the newest, hottest, gotta have item.

  1. Convenience

This one is a biggie for myself.  Rather than fight the throng of mad shoppers, I can shop in the comfort of my own home and buy, compare, research anything I want.  You can find just about anything on-line, too, no matter how obscure.  I also love the fact that I don’t have to beat the traffic to get my shopping done.  I don’t have to run from store to store to store to try and purchase the items and gifts I know will please everyone on my holiday list.  One stop gift shops are perfect in that you can shop for everyone on your list in one place and still get that special something for each person on your list.

  1. Comparison Shopping

There are a number of sites on-line where you can comparison shop and get the best deal.  The holidays are about giving.  That doesn’t mean you should break the bank in order to do so.  Look at sites like froogle.com, yahooshopping.com, or pricegrabber.com to buy at the best prices on-line or even in your area.

There you are.  No more reasons not to avail yourself of the convenience and safety of shopping on-line.  I hope I have been able to help you become more comfortable in cyber space.  You should enjoy your holidays and shopping on-line gives you that extra time to spend with family and good friends.  Happy Holidays and Great Wishes to all of you and yours!!

Copyright 2005 Patricia Tomaskovic

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