osCommerce Webmaster's Guide to Selling Online. Increase your sales and profits with expert tips on SEO, Marketing, Design, Selling Strategie

osCommerce Webmaster's Guide to Selling Online. Increase your sales and profits with expert tips on SEO, Marketing, Design, Selling Strategie - Opis

If you have an osCommerce-based online business, you need this book. Packed with expert guidance on all aspects of building a better online, this book will make your store stand out from the crowd.All approaches and techniques described here are proven to have worked well for successful osCommerce-based online businesses among the, over 650, all around the globe with which the author has been actively involved as developer, project manager, or online business consultant.osCommerce is an open-source e-commerce solution written in PHP and MySQL that can be set up on various platforms. More than 10,000 businesses and sole traders all around the world benefit from its features and flexibility. The importance of the osCommerce community consisting of over 100,000 can not be stressed enough as this is where both online merchants and web developers can communicate and find solutions. There are many contributions ?˘‚Ǩ‚Äù modules for osCommerce that further extend its functionality ?˘‚Ǩ‚Äù making it suitable for almost every business's requirements. Spis treści:
osCommerce Webmasters Guide to Selling Online
Table of Contents
osCommerce Webmaster's Guide to Selling Online
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
Preface
What This Book Covers
Conventions
Reader Feedback
Customer Support
Errata
Questions
1. Increasing Profits and Sales with osCommerce
Why osCommerce?
What is the Book About?
Profits First
The Strategy to Profit
Summary
2. Advertising an Online Store
What can be Advertised?
How (...) więcej to Advertise
Tracking Efficiency of the Advertising Efforts
Advertising in Search Engines
Paid Advertisements
Useful Tips and Best Practices
Banners
Banner Exchange
Positioning in the Page
osCommerce Banner Managements Facilities
Pop Ups and Pop Unders
Link Exchange
Value the Links
osCommerce Link Exchange Facilities
Getting Backward Links
Tracking Link Efficiency
Affiliate Programs
How it Works
Getting Affiliates On Board
osCommerce Affiliate Program Solutions
Popular Third-Party Affiliate Program Solutions
Commission Junction
Newsletters
Tips and Best Practices
Designing and Sending a Newsletter
Forums and Blogs
Price Comparison Directories
Export Data from osCommerce to Froogle
Summary
3. Search Engine Optimization
Why SEO?
Balance between SEO and Usability
Ethical SEO
New Site SEO
Expected Time Frame
Page Rank
Ageing Delay
Plan Ahead for a New Online Store
Google "Sandbox"
What is a "Sandbox"?
What is the "Sandbox" For?
How the "Sandbox" can be Useful for Your Online Store
What can be a Reason for My Store to be "Sandboxed"?
Is My Online Store in the "Sandbox"?
Google Supplemental Index
What gets an Online Store into the Supplemental Index?
How to Get Out of the Supplemental Index
SEO When Switching to osCommerce from an Existing Website
Preserving Good Page Rank
Understanding External and Internal SEO
External SEO
PopularityWhat it is and How to Measure It
Listing in Online Directories
Backward Links
Internal SEO
Content and Keywords
How to Define Keywords?
Avoiding Duplicate Product Page URLs
Same Product in Multiple Categories
Product Listing and Product Information Pages with the Same Content
Multiple Front Ends Linked to the Same Back End, Even when Using Different Domain Names
osCommerce Online Stores Using Product Feed Coming from Suppliers
Other Websites Using osCommerce Store's Product Feed
HTML Validation and Page Structure Optimization
What should be Validated in osCommerce?
How do we Validate and What are the Most Common Issues?
Optimized URLs in osCommerce
Page Title and META Tags in osCommerce
Main Page
Category Listing Page
Product Information Page
How to Do It in osCommerce?
Main Page URL and Redirects
Internal Linking between the Pages
Site Maps
osCommerce site map
Google and Yahoo! Site Maps
The robots.txt and .htaccess Files
Navigation gets Optimized
Contexts
How to Write Context that Works
osCommerce Contexts Authoring
SEO for Contexts
Hiring an SEO Specialist
Tracking SEO Campaign Results
Web Traffic Analysis
Summary
4. Dynamic Content to Improve Sales
Dynamic Content: What and Why?
How Can We Make Users Participate?
Different Types of Dynamic Content in osCommerce
Reviews
Third-Party Reviews Solutions
Testimonials
Attracting Customers to Read and Write Reviews and Testimonials
Polls and Lotteries (Surveys)
Attracting Customers to Vote in Polls and Participate in the Surveys
News and Newsletter Archives
Newsletters
Text versus HTML
Attracting Customers to Subscribe and Read Newsletters
CMS, Blogs, and Online Magazines
Existing Content Management Solutions
osCommerce Information System and News Desk
Third-Party Content Management Systems
Built-In and Third-Party Blog Solutions
Attracting Customers Read and Write Articles
Forums and Galleries
Integration with Third-Party Forums
Integration with Built-In Forums
Photo Galleries
Summary
5. Building Customer Confidence
Ensuring Server and Database Safety
Information about the Business
Information on the Main Page and Landing Pages
Business InformationAbout Us Page
Contacts (Addresses and Phones)Contact Us Page
Visual Image behind the Business Name
Memberships and Regulating Authorities
Seals and Awards
Security (SSL) and Business Identity
Where Should We Place the Images?
What Makes the Difference?
Multilingual Aspect
Customer Information
Terms and Conditions, and Policies
Policies: Privacy Policy, Billing Policy, and Shipping Policy
Help and Assistance
Buying Guides
FAQ
Live Support
Product Catalog
Category Tree
Page Load Speed Issues
Search and Search Results
Information in Product Listing
Products Per Page
Product Information in the Listing
Product Comparison
Individual Product Page
Name, Price, Descriptions, and Attributes
Images
Product Reviews
Placing Orders
Security and Confidence
Registration and Checkout Process
Simplifying osCommerce Checkout Procedure
Order Processing
Charging Practices in osCommerce
Notifications, Order and Dispatch Statuses
Printable Documents
Summary
6. Design to Sell
Main Principles of E-Commerce Design
Main Principle: Design for Sales
Design Accompanies Products
Page Load Speed Optimized Design
Multiple Platforms and Browser Compatibility
Unity of Design throughout the Online Store
Design that Helps Sales
"osCommerce" DesignPros and Cons
General Recommendations for osCommerce Design
Product Information Presentation
Prices and Purchase Facilities
Design Matches Products
Choosing Style
Layout of Product Listing and Information Pages
Design Matches Target Audience
Design Compatibility
Web Browser Compatibility
How to Ensure Web Browser Compatibility
Screen Resolution Compatibility
Multicultural and Multilingual Designs
International Sales
Benefiting from Cultural Diversity
Technical Aspects of Multicultural Design in osCommerce
Design Recommendations
Main Page
Category and Search Results Pages
Product Listing
Product Information Pages
Variants of the Shopping Cart Page Design
Checkout Pages
User Account and Order History Pages
Important Design Elements
Logo
Font Styles and Sizes and Colors
Quick Search Box
Shopping Cart Box
Currency and Language Boxes
Breadcrumbs and Navigation Panels
Category Tree
Filter Box
Login and Account History Links
Control Button Colors and Positions
Standard osCommerce Images
Messages (Information, Warnings, and Errors)
Fast Design
Why Speed is Important
How to Measure Page Load Speed in osCommerce
How to Optimize Page Load Speed
Branding
Email Templates and Newsletters
Downloadable and Printable Documents
Downloadable Product Catalog and Brochures
What to Include
How to Generate Product Brochures
Banners
Updating osCommerce Design
Why Change a Design
Design Templates
Summary
7. Improving Product Catalog
Making Navigation More Obvious
Category Tree
Tree Levels
Online Sales without the Category Tree
Products in Multiple Categories
Alternative Categories
Shop by Brand
Additional Filters
Filters by Price
Filter by Free Stock
Filters by Additional Properties
Product Listing
Top Offers
New Products
Expected Products and Pre-Order
Sorting Options
Search
Quick Search and Advanced Search
Relevancy of Search Results
Found NothingWhat Should We Do?
Product Information
Product Name and Description
Additional Images and Image Galleries
Associated Video Clips
Manufacturer Information (Brochures) and Category Information (Buying Guides)
Product Reviews
Product Price
Stock Levels
Additional Features
Recently Viewed Products
Report Better Price
Price Monitoring Feature
Going International
Auto-Detection
Descriptions
Currencies and Prices
Shipping and Payment Methods
Summary
8. Increasing Order Value
Increasing Order Values for Customers
Increasing Order Values for Store Owners
Offers Being Reasonable
Increasing Profits and Not Necessarily Order Totals
Determine the most Profitable Products
Determine the Best-Selling Products
Selling Related Products Together
Cross-Selling Products and Categories
Cross-Selling Product to Product
Cross-Selling Categories
Cross-Selling Based on Customers' Choices
Cross-Sell by Email
Minimum Order Amount Strategy
For Payment Methods
For Shipping Methods
Giveaways
Freebies
Complex Products
Configurable Products
Product Bundles
Design of the Bundled Product Page
Stock Control
Design of the Shopping Cart Page
Summary
9. Increasing the Turnover via Promotions and Special Offers
Which Products to Promote
New Products
Best-Selling Products
The Most Profitable Products
All Clearance Stock Must Go!
Special Purchase Price
Product Bundles
Products That are Too Expensive
Recommended Retail Price and Purchase Price
Special Prices
Sale Manager Contribution
Quantity Discounts
"Buy One Get One Free" Discounts
Discounts Based on Order Value
Special Shipping Offers
Giveaways
Discount Coupons and Gift Vouchers
Effective Use of Discount Coupons
Making Customers Aware of Discounts
Rebates
Avoiding an Addiction to Discounts
Winning Market Share
Affiliate Program
B2B Program for Trade Customers
Making a Difference for Trade Customers
Multiple Front Ends (Online Mall Solution)
Summary
10. Improving Conversion Rates and Customer Experience
Why Improve Conversion Rates?
Conversion Rates in osCommerce
Visitors to Customers Conversion Rate
Customers to Repeat Customers Conversion Rate
Conversion of Referring Sources, Media Types, and Advertising Campaigns
Conversion of Certain Categories, Brands, and Individual Products
Conversion of Pages and Page Elements
Conversion of Website Navigation and Search Facility
Paths that Convert Visitors into Customers
Conversion Rate Drop during the Checkout Process
Conversion Based on Browsing History
Page Elements that Improve Conversion Rates
Main Page/Landing Page
Banners, Special Offers, and Featured Products Announcements
Product Listing Page
Product Information Page
Shopping Cart and Checkout Pages
Checkout Confirmation Page
Checkout without an Account
Wish Lists and Quotations
Discontinued Products and Changed Prices
Payment Methods
Error Handling and Confirmations
Customer Registration
Payment and Shipping
Order Confirmation
Customer Account
Back End Improvements
Search Features
Order Management
Live Chat Support and Answer Phone
Summary
11. Understanding and Using Reports
Tracking Visitors
Using Day-of-Week and Time-of-Day Statistics
Using Statistics by Page Popularity
Using Third-Party Solutions to Track Visitors
Monitoring Day-to-Day Conversion Rates
Reports on Referring Sources
Reports on Keywords
Tracking Sales
Sales Forecast Reports
Bestselling Products
Bestselling Brands and Categories
Most Profitable Products
Report on Sales by Region
Report on Best-Buying Customers
Report by Net Profit
Tracking Stock
Report by Stock
Turnaround Report
Tracking Customers
Report by Customers Who ...
Using Reports when Sending Newsletters
Summary
12. Repeat Customers
Why Repeat Customers?
Customers and Repeat Customers
How to Keep in Touch with Customers
Gathering and Using Personal Information
Using Order History InformationCross-Selling
Using Order History InformationRe-Ordering and Subscriptions
Unfinished Orders
Loyal Customers
Summary
13. Afterword
Index O autorze: Vadym Gurevych holds a Masters of Software Development degree from Kharkov National Technical University (Ukraine) and has been creating commercial software products for businesses for 10 years. His interest in learning more about the management and business side of the process led him to join the DataLink UK Ltd. in 2001 as Project Manager. Based in the UK, Datalink (which also trades as Holbi) concentrates on providing a wide range of bespoke e-commerce solutions to its local and international customers. In those days Vadym didn’t imagine managing open-source projects, but since 2002 he has been creating osCommerce-based sites and this has become Datalink’s main source of revenue since 2004. Now Managing Director of DataLink UK Ltd., Vadym is responsible for strategy development and business decisions, and for ensuring that his team of 30 provides customers with the most efficient solutions. Since he finds it exciting and sometimes challenging, he still personally supervises major sales deals and manages major projects. He has been happily married to his wife Elena for almost eight years now, and also finds time to write/maintain a popular blog, osCommerceBlog.com, and contribute to DatalinkUK.com and Holbi.co.uk. Vadym writes: “Talking to a customer, finding out the best solution for the business, making sure that solution is properly implemented, and seeing the business improving – is what brings satisfaction and makes me happy about the way my career has developed to date.” mniej