Ecommerce Sales Tip: Crowdsource Customer Photos

Free People's "#myfpdenim" Campaign

Selling products online can be a challenge, but the best way to showcase those products and make more sales is through photos. Yes, having a detailed product description is great, but people also want an accurate visual depiction of what you’re selling.

In a previous post we talked about how to tell the story of your company through photos, which is something that many businesses are now doing through sites like Pinterest and apps like Instagram. There’s something about a picture that can convey what words or text on a web page cannot. According to an article posted at GetElastic.com, websites that include photos of real people seem to convert more than those without photos of people. However, keep in mind that using stock photos of models may not be as effective either.

Are You Losing Sales Because Your Website Is Slow?

Have you ever visited your website to see how fast it loads? In this day and age where people have more things to do and more articles to read, they just don't have the time to sit around for even 10 seconds and wait for your website to load in their browser. This could adversely affect your sales and readership.

An article In the August 2012 issue of Website Magazine breaks down the intricacies of what is called web performance optimization (WPO). This concept of WPO came about as more and more companies wanted to publish a variety of media on their websites. The bottom line is that WPO enhances the user experience, thus increasing traffic to your site, which ultimately means more sales for you. What website would you rather buy from: one that is slow to load or one that allows you to find what you want and to be able to purchase it quickly?

Why You Can't Ignore Mobile Marketing Any Longer

As we’ve mentioned before, mobile is changing the way we think about web design. Along with that comes changes in how companies will market themselves for mobile users.

Consider a couple of these statistics about mobile marketing:

• 70% of all mobile searches result in action within 1 hour. 70% of online searches result in action in one month. (Mobile Marketer, 2012)

• 61% of local searches on a mobile phone result in a phone call. (Google, 2012)

Mobile marketing doesn't just mean buying ads on Google, it encompasses other channels of communication such as Facebook, Twitter, and even mobile apps. Most people who do own a smartphone typically have Facebook or Twitter on their phone. As they're waiting at the doctor's office or standing in line at the grocery store, they're on their phones. They search for apps that help make their lives easier or apps that entertain them.

Could your business develop an app that could provide value to your customers?

How to Nurture Relationships With Customers

In our last post we talked about how to create trust with potential customers who visit your website. So when they do become a customer, then what? How do you continue to nurture that relationship and create deeper connections with the people who buy from you, subscribe to your blog, or subscribe to your newsletter?

Ted Rubin wrote a great article about how to create real relationships with social marketing which inspired this post. Ted talks about being real and authentic, which can be a challenge when you're interacting online, but as he points out, there are ways to show people who you really are.

The first step in nurturing relationships is to follow up with customers. This is one thing that many businesses forget to do. It's like sleeping with someone on the first date and not calling them afterwards...or ever.

How to Create Trust With Potential Customers

Source: Uploaded by user via Tammie on Pinterest

With so many websites and businesses out there today, it's a little more challenging to figure out the scammers from legitimate businesses. If a person is on your site for the very first time, how do you go about enticing them to stay on your site? How do you build trust with these potential customers?

How do you get people to purchase your products or services if all they know about you is the information you’ve shared on your website? Here are a few tips...

3 Marketing People to Follow on Twitter

One of the biggest challenges for most business owners is marketing their products or services. In this social media world where we’re constantly bombarded with marketing messages, it’s become even more of a challenge. The old days of marketing are gone, so how do we keep up with all these new trends in marketing?

Well, we turn to Twitter for inspiration and ideas about all things marketing. Instead of simply listing a bunch of names and doing the standard “Follow Friday” using the #FF hashtag on Twitter, we thought it would be more beneficial to share with you via a blog post the 3 marketing people we follow on Twitter and why we follow them...

3 SEO Changes You Should Know About

SEO has been one of the biggest enigmas of the online marketing world. The industry of SEO (search engine optimization) is an ever-changing field. As you read this article, the search engine algorithms have probably changed a million times. (Ok, maybe just a few thousand times...)

If you don’t keep up with SEO, your business may not be as successful, but if you over optimize your site, you can be penalized. It’s a double-edged sword that companies like us have to deal with on a daily basis. Even if you have a firm working on the SEO of your website, it’s still good to be in the know of the latest changes.

Here are three changes in SEO that you should be aware of: