Your Ecommerce Prep Checklist

Congratulations! You’ve given the green light to implement ecommerce for your small business! Good call; global ecommerce joined the trillion-dollar industry club in 2012.

This number will only go up in 2013 (projected at $1.2 trillion) and a chunk of that is yours for the making. But where the heck do you start? Short answer, get organized. Long answer, read on.

Start with a Spreadsheet

Yes, the dreaded spreadsheet. Where ever your product information is stored (in Quickbooks, on paper or in your head) start breaking it out via data export or a fresh new Excel doc.

Your web developer needs your best and most thorough understanding of your business according to your existing printed catalog or other collateral. All criteria you want assigned to your products online require their own column in the spreadsheet:

• Product Categories and Sub-Categories
•  Unique Product Name/Product Number or SKU
•  Price
• Keywords and Detailed Product Description
•  Product Image Name
•  Sizes & Colors
• Shipping Options and Fees

Remember, your list must be written and structured based on your business and your products or services. Your ecommercesystem needs to fit your business, not the other way around.

 

Organize Your Product Images

Ever comb endlessly and aimlessly through your hard drive for that one family photo you want to print and frame? Nothing is named, nothing is organized, and you’re ready to lose it. Spare your ecommerce developers the same torment.  

Label every product photo that will be part of your ecomm system. Establish a consistent and simple labelling formula of words and numbers. Don’t get too cute or carried away with underscores and hyphens. This isn’t just for the sake of your web guy’s sanity; it keeps your ecommerce project on track and on budget.

 

Getting You Paid

As a small business owner, you’ve swiped your share of credit cards. You know which cards you take and turn away. Your to-do list on the credit card end of ecommerce is a short one:

• Know what credit card associations (Visa/Mastercard etc) you plan to take
• Compile your merchant account info and reach out to your account contact person

If you’re unsure of what you need, your web developer can advise you on the requirements. From there, you just need to make the call to get started.

When you reach out to your account rep, ask them to establish a “payment gateway.” This makes your account person the gatekeeper between your customer and the credit card company in the payment process.

From the Web to the Customers’ Door

Order packaging and shipment is another common occurrence in your small business’ day-to-day. Yet again, your preferences simply carry over to your ecommerce system.

The shipping options you offer customers over the phone are plugged into your ecommerce system. It’s your call, from shipping method (USPS, FedEx, UPS) to delivery time (Standard, overnight, 2-day etc).  

Let’s Get Selling

Considering the potential customers and revenue, you can’t afford to exclude ecommerce to your small business. Think of a successful, profitable ecommerce system as a roadtrip destination. Your web design company is behind the wheel, and you’re supplying the GPS.

There might be some annoying “re-calculating” moments and wrong turns, but if you punch in the correct information, you’ll get there via a relatively smooth trip.  

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Ecommerce: The Next Necessity?

The small business world and its customers are constantly changing, so you are always changing. Your company has kept up with the trends and changes in how customers pay for products and services.  From cash-only to checks to credit cards - you've adapted your business & systems accordingly.

Everything came down to a business decision. Is the money there? Is the timing right? Will this keep my existing customers happy AND bring in new ones? The new question - is adding ecommerce capabilities to your website the next necessity?

Beyond Ebay & Amazon

Ecommerce is a product of economic and tech evolution. In most minds, ecommerce = Ebay and Amazon. As these companies boomed, people started trusting their credit card information to the web. With their popularity, Ebay and Amazon blazed the trail for any product based company to sell online.

Consumer acceptance has now opened the door for service-based companies to add online payments to their repertoire.  Gym memberships, insurance instalments, account / bill payments, donations; now you can accept payments for any service with an ecommerce system.

Keeping Up with Convenience

Our need for convenience set off the ecommerce boom. This accessibility brings benefits to both your company and customer. Ecommerce takes the sales & customer service pressure off your business. The customer in turn controls the buying & payment process on their terms. It’s a win-win:

·         Your win: A crucial selling tool and added revenue.

·         Your customers’ win: Getting what they need, when they need it, on THEIR time.

The Consumer Has Spoken

The trend is clear and the statistics are staggering: US consumers will spend an average of $1,472 per year online between now and 2016. Ecommerce has done nothing but grow in recent years: 

·         In 2011, the total tally of US online receipts hit $202 billion

·         It climbed to $226 billion in 2012

·         Ecomm spending projects to spike another 45% to $327 billion in 2016

·         In 2012, total worldwide ecommerce spending reached $1 TRILLION 

Is Ecommerce right for your business?

There is no better time than right now to weigh your options.  Start by researching ecommerce systems that are specific to your industry.  Look at your competitors' websites to see if they have incorporated online purchasing or payments.  Print up an Accounts Receivables report to see if ecommerce can help streamline the payment process.  Get input from employees & customers.  Ultimately if you determine that now is NOT the right time for ecommerce, it's something that should stay on your radar to be re-evaluated every couple of years if not more frequently.

Missing Links in Your Search Engine Marketing Strategy

Back before the dawn of Google, backlinks ruled the web. Through internet natural selection, the search engine evolved into the dominant species. Despite its authority, the search engine has yet to phase out backlinks; they are a crucial tool for small businesses.

Background on Backlinks

A backlink is any link that is directed toward your website from another website. Examples:

• A blogger raving about and linking to a newly discovered site
• A link posted to Facebook or Twitter

Backlinks lost their corner office, but are still an important cog in Google’s grand scheme. The more quality backlinks your site has, the more popular Google considers it, improving your search engine rankings. Think of backlinking as a petition for Google to recognize your site. Quality links are the signatures.

Digitize Your Networking Efforts

You’re always in networking mode for your business. This means a steady stream of business cards flowing from your wallet. Backlinks are digital business cards leading back to your company.

Research and interact on popular blogs or forum sites relevant to your industry. Contact the blogger and let them know about your business and the quality, relevant content you can add to the conversation. This tactic can get the link train moving.

Keep it Relevant

Like with their paper counterpart, be conservative in distributing your backlinks. You don’t pass your card to everyone in sight; you strike up conversations to see who might want your services.

When working the room that is the web, seek out blogs and forums related to what you offer. Like chatting it up with potential customers in person, you’re seeking quality business interactions, not a saturation bombing of your company information.

When playing the good cop, “quality” is Google’s favorite word. If you blindly unload a dumptruck of links (known as linkspam) on irrelevant sites, they send in the bad cop. This side of Google could slap your site with the “spam” label for snubbing their quality guidelines. Even if you’re sharing your link to a relevant site, don’t get carried away; over-linking can also incur Google’s wrath.

Lean Toward Natural Links

Actively backlinking your site is useful, but can become a crutch. These backlinks are lab-grown; focus on the organic equivalent. Cater to your visitors with your site content . This includes filling your site up with:

• Well-written, detailed content
• Attractive photos, layout and visuals

Work toward a site with a strong base of visitors. This will spur organic link-building through these dedicated traffic drivers. Web devotees post at every opportunity, EVERY day. Whether it’s to their own blog, Twitter, Facebook etc, if they like your content, the links will be there. 

Beware the Black Hat

At this point you might be saying, “This sounds time-consuming, I’m gonna farm it out.” Not a bad idea, but be careful.

Many SEO services offer backlinking, but some known as “black hats” will build yours with spam. Google’s spam bloodhounds will sniff out these links, blow them off the web and impose punishment on your site. 

Market, Market, Market!

In the end, you win with a good website. Refine and perfect your content marketing techniques, and with quality web content comes quality backlinks. Inject content into the web that demands interactivity and the backlinks, and improved Google rankings, will come.

What is 'Quality Content?'

Google is the Alpha search engine; your best play is to follow its lead. When stumped, I consult Google tutorial videos, often featuring search guru Matt Cutts. A cardinal rule preached by Cutts is populating your site with “quality content.” So just what is “quality content?”

This vague instruction is like your parents kicking you out when you’re 18; we’ve given you the basics, figure out the rest yourself. Challenge accepted, Papa Cutts. I packed my things and took to the web for answers.

Write for People, Not Google
Google has stated: “High quality content is content that you can send to your child to learn something.” “Your child” could be 7 or 40. One wouldn’t write a biting opinion piece for your first grader like they wouldn’t tailor elementary school learning content for your adult child.

What appears to be a non-answer provides some insight; write content for YOUR audience, not Google. Ask yourself; “What would I type if I were looking for my service?” Build out a list of words and phrases for your target audience from there. Distributed evenly throughout detailed written content, these keywords will bring relevant visitors to your site.

Scout Your Competition
Your most successful online competitors are doing something right. Do a little online reconnaissance. Punch up top-ranking sites and skim for keywords or phrases that jump out at you. You know your business, and you’ll know what to look for.

Whether it’s content you’ve already considered or a new revelation, take notes and apply your findings to your own site.

Write It Like You Mean It
Running a small business website, your primary goal is to sell your service. What emotion do you feel best sells what you’re offering? Urgency? Sentimentality? Humor? Whatever it is, convey it in your writing.

Visitors are being asked to make an investment in your company; it has to go both ways. Potential customers need to know you’re as committed as you’re asking them to be. Backing your service with enthusiastic content tells them you’re in.

Don’t Play Fast & Loose with Content
Quality content needs emotion, but don’t let punchy writing turn to aimless haymakers. Stay structured and on point:

• Is your content focused and informative?
• Is your content tight and filler-free?
• Is it applicable to your service and customer needs?
• Do you present a consistent message and tone throughout the site?
• Does it accurately describe your company and services?

Get Cracking on Quality
These principles are a starting point. There is no exact science behind producing quality content; there’s a lot you have to find out for yourself.

Every small business is different, as will be their content and websites. Build out your quality content like you did your quality small business, with patience and experience.

Print Media is Alive and Well

Contrary to popular belief, print marketing isn’t dead. To even say it’s dying is a stretch. Digital media is the younger, spry rookie versus this aging grizzled veteran, but print isn’t set to retire anytime soon.  

Hit the Mark Every Time

Print defeats digital media hands-down in efficiently reaching your target audience. Take Terrapin's numerous Dave's Marketplace print projects. We have created diverse print campaigns for this RI grocery staple, as well as numerous other clients looking to obtain the benefits of print marketing.

The print advantage is that Dave's customers are in-store for Dave's products. These materials catch customers' eyes to direct them toward more of what they want. On the other hand, how many ads of little or no interest intrude on your downtime YouTube or Facebook sessions? Your cursor has probably worn a pixelated path to the "Skip Ad" option.

Well-targeted print marketing doesn't encounter this problem, like make-up ads in a fashion magazine or discount subscription inserts in a willingly-delivered publication. Your customers will see your print materials and either pick them up or pass them by. 

Leaving No Customer Behind

Let's face it; not everyone has a computer. There's no substantial financial investment or "figuring out this gadget" with print. Customers don't need a smartphone, tablet or any means other than their eyes to absorb your campaign message. 

You have customers who still get their news from the morning paper and only buy products in person or over the phone. They are set in their ways and aren’t likely to take the leap into digital. Print is universal because:

• It communicates to your valuable digital hold-out customer base
• It reaches across the aisle to the tech-savvy
• Anyone who wants print can get it

Print Provides Tangibility & Choice

A physical item and a sense of customer control are print marketing pluses. For maximum effect, marketing needs a personal tone. Add to relatable content the simple act of holding a printed brochure or viewing a sales event poster and you create this sense of connection. 

Customers are also at the wheel with print, while they are at the mercy of digital campaigns. You can read a product catalog at your own pace or flip past an irrelevant item to the next page. There are no uninvited ads or pop-ups standing between the customer and their content.

Building Your Brand

Many of the longest-standing companies still leading their industries today didn't establish their brands with the aid of the web or even television. They relied on consistent printed visuals.

As unique as your content may be from campaign-to-campaign, all of your marketing efforts should be built upon the same foundation of unchanging fonts, colors and tone you have staked to your brand. Print is ideal for solidifying these unique components as your own while incorporating them into your digital marketing product. 

One-Two Punch of Web & Print

Don't interpret all of this print praise as a knock on web; best practice is to combine the two for an optimal campaign. You need to reach the Sunday paper devotees as much as the email newsletter and social media crowds. The key is calculating an effective distribution of your print efforts along with your website, video and other web-based options.

Avoid the Social Media Boneyard

Your small business started a Google+, Facebook or Twitter page; now what? What do you do with it? What do you put on it? Little to nothing is the popular trend.

Too many small business social media accounts are neglected and/or abandoned. It is all too common to see half-baked company Facebook pages with 20 likes, mostly friends and family, last updated 6 months ago. Social media is a business vehicle; it needs a driver. 

What Are Your Goals?

You likely started your social media campaign because everyone else was doing it. Avoid thinking of it as a formality or some “keeping up with the cool kids” trend. Business social media is not going anywhere and is still in its infancy, so you don’t have that much catching up to do. Use social media to your advantage. 

Think about what you want for your business. Is it increased sales? Maximum buzz surrounding a new product or service? Social media is your partner in these efforts; it can grow your business if you let it. Valuable uses of social media include:

·         Starting conversations with customers

·         Building your brand

·         Social media-exclusive promotions

Read up on more social media content ideas from Terrapin >>>

Instant Gratification Doesn’t Exist

The psychology of the failed Facebook or Twitter page seems to be “If you build it, they will come.”  You posted a few photos and status updates, nothing happened, so you threw up your hands and deemed the service useless.

Approach the process with some patience. Sit down with your team and build up your social media ideas. Encourage anyone with a campaign concept to bring it to the table. Look into what your competition or industry leaders are doing on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. It’s a classic team effort applied to a modern forum.

Consistency Wins in the Social World

Business growth is an inherent benefit in starting and sticking to a social media campaign. There are other factors to consider. Inconsistency can hurt your social media presence down the road.

If your Facebook or Twitter updates sputter and disappear from user feeds, then pop up again, you’re not going to be taken seriously. Users will think you’re only interacting with them when it’s convenient for you, or when you need something. You wouldn’t ignore a customer on hold or in your office; don’t overlook them online.

Slow & Steady

Doing the bare minimum in social media will yield minimal or no results. On the flipside, applying effort to a social campaign will pay off in time as you build your audience and determine what piques their interest. You didn’t give up on your small business after a first trying month; don’t abandon social media because it doesn’t provide a quick fix.