In an article hosted at Practical eCommerce, Amy Africa and I co-author an in-depth website critique on industrial tool supplier Product Tool Supply. Through my critique, I found a number of things that were affecting their overall SEO. Only 20 pages exist in Google of the site PTS-Tools.com (according to a search for “site: pts-tools.com”), […]

In an article I had co-authored for Multichannel Merchant entitled, “Red Envelope’s Website Critique,” I had gone into detail about the site’s functionality and came across this interesting discovery at the time I looked at their site. The category and subcollection pages are not making it into the search engines at all — not because […]

Whether you own a small, online shop or a large retail site, you’re probably scrambling to get some last-minute things done to gear up for a successful holiday season. In my article at CNet, I go into some great last-minute tips to help you achieve the success you want online. One of the tips I […]

Doug Kaye, founder of IT Conversations, is one of the true pioneers in the area of podcasting. His IT Conversations site offers a large array of podcasts from many of the top-most thought leaders in information technology. Listen in on Doug and I discuss podcasting — its history, potential applications, challenges, and best successes to […]

For those who are into search engine marketing, you should definitely be reading Search Engine Land if you don’t already. I am happy to announce that I am now one of five columnists writing their brand new 100% Organic column. I just had an article come out last week called “Good Cloaking, Evil Cloaking & […]

What shopper in their right minds would order “Random Crap” from an etailer who describes the offering thusly: Little do they know, when their packages arrive They’ll open them up and exclaim, “What’s this jive? “I thought I might get a giant-screen TV Or at least a pair of sunglasses that play MP3s.” Instead they’ll […]

I’ve already shared some of the benefits of incorporating discussion forums into your ecommerce site. Now let’s delve deeper into the concept of user-generated product review content. Intuitively it makes sense that your customers would convert better if they could read credible product ratings and reviews from your other customers before buying. Indeed, studies back […]

I’m not usually one to submit suggestions via feedback forms. For so many sites, it’s like sending your well-intentioned ideas and criticisms into a black hole. Never to see the light of day again. Heaven help you if you need some sort of acknowledgement or response. I have plenty of suggestions for Google. But I […]

An effective way to recapture the potential customer who has abandoned their shopping cart is to send them a reminder email. Don’t do it right away. JupiterResearch recommends waiting at least 24 hours. I’d wait a few days. In the email show a photo of each item along with the product name, price, etc. just […]

In a way, a good ecommerce website is a work of art. Form and function working together. An intersection of intuitive navigation, usable information architecture, an appealing look-and-feel, and attention to detail. An experienced web design company is more likely to have the skills necessary to deliver on that promise. When sites are developed by […]