Online Conversion Blog Posts

Pit your eCommerce site’s conversion rate against the current average and see how you stack up. According to Fireclick, conversion rates across a large number of sites are as follows:

We’re happy to announce that we’ve recently formed a partnership with website security provider, Scan Alert, known primarily for for their widely-used security platform, Hacker Safe. You can see Groove on their Premiere Partners list here…

How important is having an effective internal site search? Our preliminary data shows us that approximately 5% of visitors use the search function; and that’s on sites where the search box isn’t prominently featured. Even so, 5% is a big hole…and there’s lots of money to be found in it. I’ve picked out what I see as the top 5 internal site searches on the web today You should use these as a benchmark – take what these eTailers have done right and implement it into your own site…You’ll be surprised at the results See my top picks below:

Internal search on any eCommerce site is a beast all on its own. What if visitors searches return no results? Will they continue to search or did you lose your chance at a sale? With Google recently rolling out its Site Search feature, many of us are getting more of an idea as to how many visitors actually take advantage of internal site search, what keywords they use, and of course – the overall conversion rate for internal searches. Now that we have this info readily and freely available, it’s time to start optimizing your eCommerce site’s internal search! Read my top suggestions below:

Last week Mike, from the Groove crew, wrote about on how to measure and estimate what your competitors are doing online. This is a great way to keep track of your space and understand the competitive landscape, but what happens when you lose touch with who ‘they’ are?

In the eCommerce world, everyone is looking for a benchmark, a standard from which they can measure their own site against. Are my 10,000 monthly visits average for my industry or am I at the bottom of the barrel? What’s the deal with my 1% conversion rate? Ideally, you’d like to compare yourself to the competing companies in your industry. So why not figure out what they’re earning? Here’s a great way to estimate what your competitors are making on a monthly basis:

Asking yourself 3 simple questions can help you to increase conversions on your eCommerce web site. They’re easy to ask and easy to answer…the problem is that they’re often overlooked. So what do they have to with? They’re all about trust. Ask yourself these three questions in regards to your company, your products and your website in general. If you address them correctly, you can help boost conversions on your existing site.

1. Why should visitors trust my company?
2. Why should visitors trust my products?
3. Why should visitors trust my web site?

I am excited to announce that I was invited to speak today on panel at the upcoming PubCon this December in Las Vegas!

I will be presenting on the panel “Eccomerce and Shopping Cart Optimization” Thursday December 6th at 1:30pm with Rob Snell and Jimmy Duvall.

Hmmm… What should I talk about?

According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook announced this morning that it is planning on launching a new ad system in which marketers can target specific user profiles. They will soon be able to provide their advertisers with the myriad of information that can be found in a single Facebook profile.

It’s about time! The potential value of Facebook has not even been fully realized because a system like this is not in place. The overwhelming benefits of the social networking giant are in their hierarchical organization and the vast amount of information they’ve compiled on all of their users. What have they been waiting for? It’s time they man up, and start using these benefits to their advantage.

Having two good friends that are sports photographers (here and here.) I have come to learn the value of good camera equipment. Practical eCommerce magazine has a great article posted today about product images for your websites. This is a major issue that we deal with all the time. Your pictures sell your products. There is no doubt that poor grainy, unsharp photos will cheapen your site and your products no matter how great they are. Invest in quality equipment (camera and backdrops) or a service, if not your conversion rate will suffer.

Case in point – View an article by Bryan Eisenberg on how they increase conversation rates by 147%
http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/02/07/how-changing-your-product-image-can-boost-sales-by-147/

Check out the article here:
http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/524/Photography-More-Than-a-Decent-Camera/