Website Redesign for Maximum Conversion

How should I structure my campaigns for the coming season?
What is the best way to merchandise these related products across categories?

What navigational structure will make it easiest for my customers to find what they want?

How do I optimize my website content for both SEO and the delight of my consumers?

Ask us. We can train and guide your team, fill in when you’re short staffed, or manage this work for you. Whatever level of engagement you choose, you have our support, our expertise, and our promise that we share your goals, and we will help you achieve them. Let’s start the conversation.
877.276.2402 or info @ eporia.com

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Turning Shoppers into Buyers ‘Add To Cart’

Elements within your ecommerce site can be skillfully used as conversion points. This means judiciously thinking about every image, hyperlink, and line of text. Every detail on your site ultimately influences whether your visitors will purchase, or look elsewhere.

The following factors will largely determine your conversion rate, which is among most important metrics for a successful ecommerce site.

7 Factors that Influence Online Shoppers to Click ‘Add To Cart’

1. It’s all about the shopper. All copy, navigation, ads, etc. should be customer-centric to create a positive shopping experience throughout your site. Also, make sure your online voice speaks to your visitors in a way that resonates with them.

2. Shoppers are visual. Successful online retailers think about every visual aspect from their site design including text layout, formatting, and imagery, to convert visitors into buyers. Always consider your brand, present a crisp and professional visual experience to create a comfortable buying environment, encouraging your visitor to purchase.

3. Clear Messaging. You want everything about your site, including your content, navigation structure, offers, product details, and policies to be crystal clear. The click ‘Add to Cart’ should be clearly visible with graphics visually appealing for effectively increase conversion.

4. Shoppers often like what they see first. On traditional retail showroom floors, savvy retailers place their bestsellers front and center as you walk into their stores, since  customers are usually attracted to what they see first. This being the case, your best sellers should always be listed as first choices and featured products.

5. Shoppers  like things they can touch. Putting your product in the hands of your customer to touch and feel is among the oldest retail selling techniques – and it works. Of course your site visitors cannot physically touch what you offer on your site. However, through well written, compelling product descriptions zoom, alternate images, and video, you can effectively stimulate the buying process, giving visitors better visualized ownership of your products.

6. Clear and frequent calls to action. Make sure ads, offers, and product detail pages, all have strong calls to action. Provide visitors with reminders about the action you want them to take along the conversion path. As with traditional brick and mortar retail, you have to ask for the order – selling online is no different.

7. Urgency converts into sales. When running promotions you should always have a clear end date. As a rule, the sooner the offer expiration date, the higher the conversion rate. Think in terms of two-day sales and flash sales for a limited number of hours. There’s no urgency to buy unless you create it.

Apply these seven factors to your ecommerce site to help increase the number of visitors that click the ‘Add to Cart’ button. It doesn’t matter how much targeted traffic you drive to your site, unless they’ve had a great experience, easily found what they want, and can quickly purchase. What are you doing to influence your visitors to purchase from you?

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Inside Consultative Sales Position

For the consultative sales professional, this is the chance to grow your career exponentially with a game-changing organization in the world of eCommerce! As an Inside Sales Rep for EPORIA, you are joining a company with a clear vision, meaningful revenues and a proven, scalable business model. For the last decade, EPORIA’s end to end SaaS eCommerce solutions have been providing clients with the power to merchandise, market, drive sales and grow business. We are investing heavily to strengthen our core infrastructure and key position in national markets and your primary mission as Sales Rep is to help spear head this expansion. You will discover a fresh, challenging, sales opportunity as you target top C-level decision makers of mid-sized businesses nationwide, presenting our platform and full service marketing.

Your primary mission as an Inside Sales Rep is to spear-head the expansion of your respective territory.

Your proven success selling SaaS solutions through a consultative process to companies with 500-5,000 employees will enable you to comfortably call on C-Level executives within the mid-market. A hunter mentality and hunger for new business will allow you to reach your quota.

Comfort with CMS,CRM and Microsoft Office assists in getting you up to speed. Above all, your innate desire to learn and expand your business acumen is what will make you a great fit into our culture and team. This is the chance to tap into your entrepreneurial spirit and develop your own territory.

If this position sounds like a fit, apply today. Send your cover letter and resume for immediate consideration. hr @ eporia.com

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Product Photography Amplifies Brand Value and Conversion

More than an online store or informational resource, your website is often the first experience visitors have with your brand and products. The images your site contains directly affect the overall perception of the quality of your products and perceived trust in your brand. This is even more critical for high-end retailers and manufacturers who sell premium and luxury brands.

Product photography — impacts brand perception

• determines the perception potential existing customers have about your brand and will significantly influence purchase decisions
• influences how long visitors will stay on your site, conversion, and repeat visits
• must speak to your target market and their values to instill trust in your brand
• can make your brand stand out from your competitors and help establish you as a leader in your industry

Ultimately, high quality professional product and lifestyle photography that captures the right look and feel of your products will increase your customer loyalty, brand image, and sales. Do you have current imagery to build brand value? Is it the right message? Our clients tap into on our in house photography studio and digital design services. We welcome conversation, enjoy the creative process, and look forward to any challenge. 877.276.2402 or info@eporia.com.

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3 Tips to Improve Your eCommerce SEO

Organic search traffic is the lifeblood of any successful ecommerce business. However, achieving high rankings in major search engines such as Google can be extremely challenging.

The following tips will help you to quickly improve your ecommerce SEO for increased rankings, visitor traffic, and higher conversion.

3 Tips to Improve Your eCommerce SEO

1. Optimize All of Your Product Pages
   Simply getting your home page and top level pages to rank in Google is not enough. You need to get your product pages to rank as well, since these pages provide the highest ranking and conversion opportunities. If you have thousands of products, the idea of optimizing every single one may sound overwhelming. What sounds even more alarming, is not optimizing these pages and leaving these valuable sales to your competitors. Every one of you product pages needs to be fully optimized with keyword rich page titles, Meta tags, headings, and unique on-page text content to increase their rankings.
2. Avoid Duplicate Content
   Search engines do not like duplicate content and they will penalize sites for it with lower rankings. Sometimes lower rankings due to duplicate content are not as much search engine penalties, as they are a matter of the search engines selecting the best of the crop from hundreds (if not thousands) of pages from various ecommerce sites that offer the same content. No one wants to see search results that contain page after page of results for the same product offering.

   Avoiding duplicate content can be hard to do in some cases, especially if your manufacturers require you to use their “exact” boilerplate product descriptions. If your manufacturers do not require this, you will be best off to rewrite every description in the unique voice of your site. The reason for this, is to create unique content that can out rank your competitors who are using the same boilerplate copy. If your manufacturers will not allow you to change their product descriptions, there are ways to combat this . Things you can do include allowing your visitors to leave product reviews, which will help create unique content. Add cross sells to you product pages to add additional keyword uniqueness. You can also find info to add that your competitors may not be taking advantage of such as product use and care information.

3. Make Use of Long Tail Keywords
   When optimizing your pages think about the long tail, this is where higher search engine rankings and conversion live. For example, if you sell clothing, you will probably have a pretty hard time (if not impossible) ranking for just the word ‘Clothing’. Unless you happen to be a major brand name retailer. Also, the most obvious top level terms rarely best describe what you’re truly selling. This being the case, you need to think about long tail optimization. Let’s say you have a product page for a polo shirt. You want to look at this page and optimize it for exactly what’s being offered, which is not simply a polo shirt, since it has style elements and probably a brand name. For this example, the polo shirt is a long sleeved polo shirt by Fred Perry. Your long tail keywords for this product would include ‘Long Sleeved Polo Shirt’, ‘Fred Perry Polo Shirt’, and others that may be applicable such as ‘Black Fred Perry Polo Shirt’. Even though these keyword phrases by themselves may have relatively low search volumes, they are easier to rank for, will generate more targeted visitor traffic, and result in higher conversion rates.

Following these tips of optimizing all of your product pages, avoiding duplicate content, and targeting long tail keywords will increase your organic search traffic and overall sales.

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Using Social Media to Increase Your Online Presence

If you’re an experienced online marketer, you know the old saying of; “If you build it, they will come”, is not a reality. You will always need to be making an effort to build your brand online if you want to see significant results. Simply having a great website with lots of good content isn’t enough.

Social media offers an incredible opportunity to increase your online presence, website traffic, and ultimately your sales (without the costs of online marketing methods such as pay-per-click advertising). However, making your social media efforts produce results requires ongoing effort, and you should be prepared to set aside at least an hour a day to actively participate in your chosen social media activities.

Your social media efforts should be focused on encouraging others to share in positive interactions with your brand, such as ‘Liking’ you on Facebook, and other sharing methods such as ‘Repinning’ your products on Pinterest. Keep in mind that the more the search engines see others interacting with your brand via social media, the more favorably they will view your site.

Social media can also provide more results for your brand in search results. For example, when someone searches for your company name, they could find your website and your social media profiles such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, your blog, and more. This can be very valuable in gaining new business from people who aren’t familiar with your brand. Searches for your brand name that result in links to your website and your social media profiles can go a long way in instilling trust in your company with potential new customers. This can also result in more ‘Likes’ on Facebook, ‘Follows’ on Twitter, and other valuable social media interactions. All of which further shares your brand with others and tells the search engines that people are talking about you, which will ultimately help your search engine rankings.

The more you participate in social media, the more places there are for people to discover your brand, visit your site, and possibly become new customers. If social media isn’t already a key element in your online marketing mix – it needs to be.

What are you doing on a daily basis to increase your online presence?

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3 Easy Viral Marketing Ideas for eCommerce Websites

People use the internet for three primary purposes, which are research, shopping, and entertainment. Targeting all three of these search intents (in a manner that fits with your brand) can significantly increase your website traffic and sales. As a rule, the more interesting, useful, and relevant your site and related content are, the more likely visitors will share it with others.

Here are three easy viral marketing ideas for you to consider:

1. Create an interesting or fun community around the topic of your business. Keep in mind that this does not have to be done on your website. Such communities can be created with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or even a blog.
2. Provide content rich research information on your site. Think in terms of info such as how-to information or terms and definition glossaries related to your offerings. These types of information are frequently shared with others online and can help create more valuable traffic and links to your site.
3. Give people something fun to do online. Think in terms of what makes sense for your business. Fun things can be as simple as photo galleries related to events your company participates on your website, to sharing photos on Pinterest of your products and company activities. Both of these are pretty easy to set up and can create more opportunities for people to share you with others.

The ideas above may take a little time to implement. However, they are well worth it considering that they can drive more qualified traffic to your site, encourage people to tell others about you, and help you gain valuable links to  increase your search engine rankings.

What are you doing to get people to tell others about you?

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Creating a Product Catalog on Pinterest

Pinterest is a rapidly growing social media site that is an online pinboard allowing you to organize and share images. Pinterest users primarily include women ages 25-54. The site has an 80% female user base and their male user base is continuing to grow daily.

What makes Pinterest more exciting than most social media sites, is that it is image based. People pin, repin, and ‘Like’ others pins. With each repin and Like a pin receives, the more visibility the pin gains to other users on Pinterest. Also, Pinterest links are showing strong SEO value. The direct traffic from Pinterest can also be very impressive over time in comparison with other social media/networking sites. And best of all, it’s easy. All you have to do to get started is simply visit http://pinterest.com and request an invite. Once you’re accepted, you can quickly learn to set up boards and begin pinning.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s get back to the topic of this post, Creating a Product Catalog on Pinterest. You can quickly and easily build a catalog to market your products on Pinterest. Nordstrom has created good example of a catalog on Pinterest, which can be found at http://pinterest.com/nordstrom/. As in the Nordstrom example, all you have to do is create pinboards for your different product categories and start pinning – it’s that easy!

Quick Start Tips for Creating Your Pinterest Catalog:

1. Plan out the categorization and sequencing of your pinboards. Make sure you place your most popular product categories first. Also, you want your pinboard covers to be best-sellers as well. Make it clear that you have the offerings your audience is actively shopping for.
2. Use high quality lifestyle images whenever possible of the product being used. This will help other Pinterest users visualize themselves using the product and encourage more purchases.
3. Add useful and creative product descriptions to keep your audience engaged. Product descriptions should be simple and clear – and in the unique voice of your brand. Also, make sure to use your descriptions for branding. An easy way to brand your pins is to simply apply a hash tag such as #YourCompanyName. Keep in mind that hash tag use on Pinterest results in the hash tag linking to a search result for words that are tagged. Therefore, you should only apply hash tags to your company name. Another method of branding for those that aren’t hash tag fans, is to simply add the URL of the product you’re pinning at the end of your descriptions.

Once you start pinning, you will find that it’s much quicker and easier than most social media activities, and a lot more fun!

Are you ready to pin? If so, you can learn more at about getting started on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/about/help/

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Tips to Increase Holiday Sales Online

With Black Friday right around the corner, the holiday shopping season is rapidly shifting into full gear. According to Forrester Research, online sales for the 2011 holiday season are expected to hit $59.5 billion which would be a full 13% increase over last year. With this said, the 2011 holiday season offers online retailers significant sales growth opportunities.

The following tips will help you create an online shopping experience that’s conducive to increasing sales for the holiday season. So if you haven’t already applied all of the following recommendations, there is still time to start taking advantage of them.

Dress Up Your Online Store for the Holidays
Adding holiday themed banners and ads to your site can help increase holiday sales since they convey to your shoppers that your site is up-to-date and ready for the holiday season. Dressing your site up for the holidays also naturally encourages your site visitors to think about shopping for friends and family on their shopping list.

Enticing Holiday Promotion Offers
Actively promote your holiday promotions by email and with on-site ads that reinforce your offers. Make sure that the products you promote are popular items that will convert into sales and that they include strong offers such as free shipping or percentage off discounts, since these types of offers convert at higher rates. Also, make sure your holiday promotions have strong calls to action and that they direct shoppers to landing pages where they can immediately take action and make the purchase. Keep in mind that many holiday shoppers turn to the internet for both simplicity and savings. Make sure you’re giving them a great reason to buy from you now and make it as easy as possible!

Promote Suggested Gift Ideas
Develop a department on your site that’s focused on gift suggestions and promote it throughout your site. The reason for this is twofold. First, many of your visitors will come to your site to shop for themselves and by seeing the suggestion of gift ideas they may be further influenced to make gift purchases for their friends and family as well. Second, many visitors will land on your site who are actively gift shopping and the easier you make it for them to find gift ideas quickly, the more likely they will be to buy.

Product Images & Content that Sells
Review your product images to ensure they showcase the perceived value of your products. Consider adding additional product images as applicable that offer alternate views of the product. Lifestyle shots can also help increase your online sales. People naturally relate to products they see other people using and enjoying. Also, make sure your product descriptions are well written and address the questions your site visitors are most likely to be concerned about before making a purchase.

Up Sells & Cross Sells
Suggestive selling is a powerful marketing tool that can increase your online sales immediately. Up selling and cross selling should be applied year-round and further refined for the holidays. For example, if you offer a product and related up sell products are available, make sure to offer the up sell items as suggested items. Also, if you have products that have add-on accessories available, make sure you’re offering the add-on products as cross sells. Don’t leave these valuable sales opportunities on the table.

Work Your Social Networks
Let your social networks, such as your Facebook friends and Twitter followers see that you’re in the holiday spirit. Add holiday related content to your wall posts and tweets. Consider updating your profile pictures and backgrounds (where applicable) to incorporate holiday themes. You may be pleasantly surprised by how many people will end up connecting with your site due to creating this top of mind awareness that you’re there for them for the holidays. Also, don’t be afraid to occasionally promote offers through your social networks such as special coupon codes for your Facebook friends or Twitter followers. You might be surprised at how many of them will appreciate this and share these with others.

Dressing up your website for the holidays and providing enticing holiday promotions will generate more interest in your site during the holiday season and ultimately more sales. Make sure you’re maximizing your selling opportunities by suggesting great gift ideas, refining your product content, applying effective cross sells and up sells, and actively cultivating your social networks. Creating an effective holiday presence requires some extra planning and work, but the potential rewards are well worth it. And if you’re doing it right, it can be a lot of fun for both you and your customers.

Happy Holidays!

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5 Steps to Writing Product Descriptions that Sell

When a potential customer visits a product page of your website, the page must act as a salesperson that is prepared to convert your site visitors from just looking to buying. Just like a salesperson’s presentation in a retail store, your product page must clearly answer the most important questions a customer would want to know before deciding to purchase your product. The following 5 steps will help you write product descriptions that will increase both visitor satisfaction with your site and conversion rates.

1. Determine your audience and make sure you are speaking directly to them. For example, if your site sells home décor products that are popular with adults between the ages of 40 and 60, you would want to use a different writing style than you would if your site sold skateboards to a primarily teenage boy audience.
2. Write in terms of features, advantages, and benefits. Surprisingly most eCommerce websites don’t do this, which can quickly put you ahead of your competition if you do. Remember, your customers want to know why they should buy the product from you and not a competing website. So make sure you tell your visitors what they want to know and what’s in it for them.
3. Keep your product descriptions clear and easy to understand. Avoid industry jargon unless it is relevant and important for your customers to use in making a decision to purchase the product. You want to make sure you are informative, but at the same time not confusing or boring your site visitors in the process. When in doubt, keep it simple and straightforward.
4. Do not copy and paste product descriptions provided by manufacturers. It is common for most eCommerce sites to sell products that are made by manufacturers that also sell to competing online retailers. Even though it is tempting to simply copy and paste the product descriptions provided by manufacturers – don’t do this. In order for your product descriptions to be effective, you need to rewrite manufacturer descriptions to ensure they contain all of the information you think they should and reflect the unique voice of your site. This can also benefit your search engine rankings due to having unique content in comparison with your competitors who simply copy and paste the same exact boilerplate product descriptions provided by their manufacturers.
5. Include a strong call-to-action. Just like professional salespeople, great product descriptions always ask for the sale. Make sure your calls-to-action are clear, enticing, and tell your customers what action to take.

If the above steps sound like too much work, think again… Well written product descriptions can increase online conversion rates by 100% or more. After all, if you visit a website and their product information doesn’t answer your questions you will click your mouse and look somewhere else – and so will your visitors. Make sure you’re not giving your visitors a reason to go to another site for information due to your product descriptions not answering their questions and asking for the order with strong calls-to-action.

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