Web Design Discussion

An online store enables you to sell your products 24 hours a day 7 days a week from a single computer. This means you hardly have any overhead fees. The difficulty is to actually create your ecommerce store because it contains many more variables than an informational web site.

There are so many options for building an online store that it is easy to be confused. In this series of articles I will discuss the requirements and options that are available so you can quickly and easily get your store set up.

Requirements

1. Product or service to sell

Select a product or service you are passionate about so you don’t get bored promoting it. Make sure there is a demand for it. Before spending time and money on what you think is a good product, do the necessary research. It will save you a lot of headaches down the road.

2. Merchant Account

This is a “bank account” established with a payment processor for the settlement of credit card transactions. If you are selling products online you will need a “Card Not Present Merchant Account.”

3. Payment Gateway

This is an online system for real-time charging of credit cards when a customer places an order. It normally requires a merchant account.

A common example of a payment gateway is authorize.net where customers are taken to the authorize.net secure server for making payments. After a successful transaction they are returned to your store.

4. SSL Certificate

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. SSL certificate is an electronic key that encrypts transmissions between two computers on a public network, providing privacy and security to the session. An SSL certificate confirms that a message that you receive actually did come from the person identified. SSL certificates are used for secure e-commerce communications, protecting information such as credit card numbers and personal data.

Most payment gateway providers include an SSL certificate however you can easily obtain one from a 3rd party.

Shared SSL certificate

Some web hosting companies use shared SSL certificates. This means that the certificate is shared by all web sites on that server. The benefit is that it’s free (included with your hosting account) and many shopping carts allow you to use it to process secure transactions online.

Shopping cart

This enables you to manage the products of your online store. It allows to create categories, add, edit or delete your products. With a simple shopping cart you copy and paste some html code into your web page and all the processing is done on the 3rd party shopping cart account web site. A more comprehensive cart contains many other features such as creating web pages on the fly without having to learn html, and managing your products from an admin panel from your own web site.

Domain name

If you are serious about creating a real business online you should register your own domain name ie www.domainname.com. It will help brand your business so your clients can easily identify your business.

Web Site

Create a professional web site by getting it custom built by a professional web site designer. It will help your web site stand out from your competitors and allow you to create a design that fits with your product.

Web Hosting

Select a web hosting company that has great customer service, enough space and bandwidth for hosting and marketing your site. It should also include a database, shared SSL certificate and site stats.

*****************************************
Get 1000s of NEW visitors to your website without spending
a dime on advertising.

Read my new ebook “Article Marketing Strategies“…
to learn one of the most effective ways to drive 1000s of visitors to your online store.

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Design, Web Hosting, SEO

Recently a client of mine suddenly received a huge number of requests (approx. 5000) for a free sample he was offering from his web site. I had installed Master Form v4 which is an anti-hijacking form. I was surprised when I checked the admin section of Master Form to find several sites had stolen this secure cgi mail form by copying and pasting the form code from my client’s site to their own site.

The form was being used on several unauthorized domains so my client received lots of traffic to his site and a large number of illegitimate requests for his free product.

How to Prevent Your Mail Form From Being Used on Unauthorized Web Sites

1. Login to the Master Form administration panel and delete unauthorized form locations.

2. Turn the auto-submit protection on in the admin panel. Two things need to be done to make this happen:

a) Paste certain JavaScript into the authorized forms.
b) Check a certain checkbox in the Master Form V4 control panel.

This page provides step-by-step instructions for auto submit protection

This will only prevent automatic submission. If people fill out the forms manually and submit them, the software probably won’t detect that.

3. Another thing that can be done is to put Form location (if known): [[REFERRER]] into the email the client receives. That will provide the location of the form being used unless the browser suppresses the information. Those requests can then be ignored or sent an email with the official location of the form.

The software is designed so the site owner can put the Master forms on any and all domains he owns. So it doesn’t have restriction by domain.

How to Prevent Your Forms From Being Stolen
(if the person is copying and pasting the form on their own site)

I contacted the creator of Master Form (Will Bontrager) and he wrote a great article on how to use javascript to stop forms from being stolen. The article is titled Forms Copied And Pasted To Unauthorized Web Sites

Master Form V4 will be upgraded in the future to allow the site owner to specify the domains that can use the form.

How do you know if your sales letter or web page is converting viewers into buyers?

You could ask some of your friends and each could have a different opinion of what headline design to use. That’s not a very solid method of testing. A more scientific way is to split test your sales letter. This is also called A/B testing.

A split test is when visitors get sent to two versions of your sales letter or web page. It creates 2 different versions of your page. One would be your control page (index.html) and the other your test page (index2.html).

Steps for Creating Your Split Test Page.

1. Create your sales letter page

You must have a live web site which you drive traffic to.

2. Tracking software

I use Adtrackz to split test my web pages. Adtrackz creates one split test link. You then direct visitors to this link. Adtrackz will automatically split visitors between index1.html and index2.html. If your visitor orders, you will know which version of the sales page produced the sale.

3. Change one factor on the test page.

Only test one thing at a time then observe the affects. Factors test may include:

headlines
keywords
first paragraph
header graphic
price
bonus
testimonials

4. Analyze your results

After generating traffic to your split test page (you can use Google AdWords for this) you can determine which version performed the best. In Adtrackz you click on Split Test Statistics in the Split Test menu.

Continue testing different factors of your sales letter to increase conversion rates and make more sales. Creating a Split Test is the best way to quickly see what works and what doesn’t.

*******************************
If you are looking for a fast way to market your products,
then Google AdWords is a great solution. You can set up
an AdWords campaign within a few minutes and start
making good money within a few hours.

Read: The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords.

Do you want to increase the sales from your web site or ad?

You could randomly try different things hoping to increase conversion rates however this is like throwing mud at a wall and hoping it will stick.

A more scientific method is using split testing. This allows you to monitor small changes to your ad or web page. You can test different headlines, graphics, navigation or content. Often one small change can result in a higher conversion rate.

How to split test your Google Ads

1. Create a Google Adwords account

This can be done in 15 minutues at: http://www.adwords.google.com

2. Create 2 ads that are slightly different .

One can be the control ad where nothing is changed and the other is the test ad where you’ve changed one keyword. Only change one thing at a time when testing so you can observe which factor makes a difference.

3. Create a landing page

This could be the home page of your web site or a sales page. Since you are only testing which ad works best the landing page should be the same for both ads.

If you were testing landing pages you would create 2 different URLS then split the number of visitors you receive from the ads between the 2 URLS.

4. Track your ads

Place a tracking URL within each ad to monitor which ad pulls best. I use AdTrackz.
It enables you to test any URL, do split testing and shorten long URLS by cloaking them. You can then monitor all your tracking campaigns within AdTrackz with one click.

5. Analyze your results

By split testing these 2 ads you can clearly determine what information works best. Simple changes to the ad such as changing the headline or altering one word may result in a higher click through rate.

Split-Test Your Adwords Ads In 2 Minutes Or Less

A/B spit testing your Google Ads

*******************************
If you are looking for a fast way to market your products
or business, then Google AdWords is a great solution. You
can set up an AdWords campaign within a few minutes and be
making good money within days.

Read: The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords.

One of the best ways to test your ad, web page copy or generate immediate sales is to create an AdWords campaign. It’s quick to set up and easy to track your ads.

What is Google AdWords?

These are ads that run down the right side of the search engine results when you enter a keyword or keyword phrase in the Google search box. They are Pay Per Click (PPC) which means you pay a small fee every time someone clicks on them. The more clicks you receive the more you spend.

The key to success with Google AdWords is to make more money than you spend on the ads. You do this by continually trying different versions of your ad. Often one word or even capitalizing one word may increase your conversion rate.

Other factors affecting your conversion rates may include:

Ad quality
Ad placement
Keyword choice
Landing page design, copy, navigation

Benefits of Google AdWords

1. Fast set-up

It takes less than 30 minutes to set-up your Google AdWords account.

2. Immediate traffic

You can begin receiving traffic almost immediately after your account is created. This beats trying to get organic listings (search results listed in the middle) which may take months to even appear on the front page. If it’s a very competitive term you may never rank on the first page.

3. Fast test results

With a couple of ads you can quickly test if your copy attracts any traffic. If you don’t receive any clicks it means you probably won’t get much traffic to your web site if you use the same copy.

4. Make money

Creating several ads that convert well can make you a lot of money particularly if your product is in high demand and has little competition (not many competing ads).

5. Generate sales for affiliate programs

If you don’t have your own product, you can create ads to sell other peoples’ products through affiliate programs. The beauty of this method is that the company does all the work for you in terms of converting visitors into sales. You just need to generate traffic from your ads and collect commissions for every sale you make.

6. Set a maximum cost per day

You can set your AdWords campaign spending at a predefined amount per day. If you receive a lot of activity, you can tell Google not to display your ad after you’ve spent a certain amount. Once this amount has been reached, your ad won’t display until the following day.

7. Stop or pause campaign at any time

You can pause or stop a campaign at any time if you want to edit your ad.

For a complete guide read to Google Adwords read:
Definitive Guide to Google AdWords

Tips for Google AdWords Success

*******************************
If you are looking for a fast way to market your products
or business, then Google AdWords is a great solution. You
can set up an AdWords campaign within a few minutes and be
making good money within days.

Read: The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords.

Have you ever tested the copy of your web page?

If you don’t test it you’ll never know if your conversion rate can increase. It’s easy to get comfortable with what you currently have if you are already getting a lot of business however the top marketers are always testing things to improve sales.

If you’ve ever tried Google AdWords you’ll know that changing or capitalizing one word in an ad can result in a higher conversion rate.

If you want to test your web page copy set up a Google AdWords campaign.

For example if you want to test a new keyword create 2 different ads for this keyword, then view the number of clicks it gets and observe how it converts. This is known as split testing.

If the new copy converts at an equal or better rate than the old and you think there’s a good chance it will improve your rankings, give it a try. You can always restore your old copy if things go badly.

Don’t completely change your web page copy if you are already getting alot of business. One customer paid a lot of money to get his copy rewritten and his conversion rates decreased.

Make only one change at a time, then monitor your conversion rate to see if it improves.

*******************************
If you are looking for a fast way to market your products
or business, then Google AdWords is a great solution. You
can set up an AdWords campaign within a few minutes and be
making good money within days.

Read: The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords.

Recently a customer asked if I could do some customization on his Word Press blog. based on the downtown-java-3column theme. (I had customized the design for him earlier).
His current theme placed the date and filed under category under each post. He wanted these 2 variables placed under the post headings.

Here’s what I did:

1. Created backup copies of the theme files.

2. Edited the php in the theme files below by searching for something similar to OR

index.php
home.php
archives.php

3. I moved the div class containing the time and category underneath the title (H1) tags.

4. Here is the original php code:


<div id="contentleft">

</div>


Here is the edited php code:


<div id="contentleft">

</div>


5. Upload the all edited theme files to the server.

6. View the edited theme to verify the changes have been implemented correctly.

7. Tips

When modifying or moving php code always:
-Make a backup of the original files in case you mess up.
-Check all theme files in case the php code occurs in more than 1 file.
-Check all edited files have been uploaded correctly.
-Test the modified theme so it now displays the date and category under the post headings.

If you want to be sure your product will fly, you need to research your market otherwise it won’t get off the ground. You may lose hope and conclude that online marketing doesn’t work. The key to market research is to find the people related to your product and ask them for feedback.

Here are 7 areas to determine if there’s a demand for your product:

1. Surveys

If you have an email list ask them a series of questions related to the product you’re selling then publish the answers. Use a service such as surveymonkey.com.

2. Polls

If you have a forum or blog run a quick poll then publish the results. Some forums allow polls even allow visitors to create polls.

3. Google Adwords

Create an ad based on your main keyword. For instance if your keyword phrase is “wrinkle cream” create an ad about wrinkle cream that offers a free report for answering your question.

Read
“The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords”
to learn how to set-up a highly effective adwords campaign and receive instant traffic.

4. Google alerts

Create a google alerts account based on your topic. You can then monitor the discussions taking place in press releases and blogs.

5. Use Google to monitor online discussions

Enter these terms in the Google search box to find your target audience:

keyword+blog
keyword+forum
keyword+discussion groups

6. Hottest trends

If you create a product based on the most popular trend you can be sure you will get a lot of visitors to your product web site. Be aware that these trends are often short lived and very competitive.

eBay pulse
This service provides a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay

Magazines.com
Look for the most popular magazines related to your topic.

Amazon.com
Find out if there are books written about your product. If so, this is a good indication your product is in demand.

The most popular books indicate what people are currently buying. If you’re stuck on for an idea this may be a topic you can pursue.

7. Spyfu.com

This service displays what advertisers are willing to pay for your keywords. If they are paying $10/click you know this product is in high demand. If there are no advertisers for your particular keyword, I’d suggest choosing another topic.

By asking and finding people online related to your product you get a clear idea if your product will sell. The more time you invest in market research the greater your chances of making multiple sales. Most folks don’t research their market enough before trying to sell a product then wonder why it doesn’t fly.

You will be many steps ahead of your competitors if you spend time on market research.

*****************************************
Get 1000s of NEW visitors to your website without spending
a dime on advertising.

Read my new ebook “Article Marketing Strategies“…
to learn the most effective ways to write and submit articles.

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Design, Web Hosting, SEO

There are many dead products being marketed online because they did not do the necessary keyword research. The product was dead before it was promoted. Don’t let yourself fall into the same trap. Many folks get so excited by their new idea they don’t even bother to check if their is a demand for it.

The purpose of doing the keyword research before you build a web site and market it by writing and submitting articles is to see if their is a demand and to determine how competitive your market is.

So how do you determine if there is a demand for your product?

1. Use the free wordtracker tool (Google “free wordtracker tool”)
Enter any of your primary keywords in the search box to find how many searches are being done for that term. The free tool will return 100 phrases you can use. If you wish to dig deeper try the monthly subscription.

2. Copy and paste these phrases into an excel spreadsheet labeled WordTracker at the top of the column.

3. Enter the title Google in the second column. Insert each phrase in the Google search box with quotations around them and press enter. This will give you the number of web sites returned for that term.

4. Enter anchor+keyword in the Google search box. The anchor text is the text used in the link for your phrase. It will return how many web sites are using that keyword in their anchor text.

5. Enter title+keyword in the Google search box. This provides all the web sites that contain your keyword in their title meta tags…a crucial element for optimizing your web site.

6. Enter url+keyword in the the Google search box. This returns web sites that contain your keyword phrase in a URL on their web pages.

7. Research the number of backlinks of top competitors. Take the top 10 web sites that appear in Google for your keyword, then do a backlink check for each of them.

Enter link:www.domain.com in the Yahoo search box then click the web search button. In the inlinks drop down box select “except from this domain” This will show you the number of backlinks this particular site has. If you want to rank higher than this site you will need to get ore backlinks than them.

Ideally you want to target the keywords that have the highest demand and the least number of competitors. For example if the keyword phrase “web site design maryland” produces a large number of searches, has only a small number of sites that contain that phrase in their title, anchor text, url and the top sites contain only a few backlinks, you stand a good chance of achieving top rankings.

If there is no demand for this phrase or it has too many competitors, choose another one. This is why you need to create a large keyword list at the beginning of your research.

Resources

WebCEO
Enables you to do all the above research with one tool

Free WordTracker Tool

*****************************************
Get 1000s of NEW visitors to your website without spending
a dime on advertising.

Read my new ebook “Article Marketing Strategies“…
to learn the most effective ways to write and submit articles.

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Design, Web Hosting, SEO

It’s easier to write about something you’re passionate about than a topic you have no interest in. Then how do you go about finding that passion? This takes some reflection especially if nothing immediately comes to mind.

Here are some ways to help you identify your passion:

1. What do enjoy doing or have you enjoyed doing in the past?
It could be a sport, hobby, interest, friendship, sickness you’ve overcome or task you accomplished.

2. Childhood memories

Is there something in your childhood you vividly remember e.g. hiking, surfing, camping, traveling, gardening, fundraising?

3. Problem solving

Do you enjoy fixing things e.g. cars, radios, houses? Many folks would love to know how to repair certain things but have no clue how to go about it. If you create an information product giving detailed instructions you could have a winning product.

Identify the people who are desperately trying to find something online then offer them that product or service. If there is no demand for your product, you will not make much money.

Create a long list of topics so you have a large number of choices. One topic is not enough. If there is no demand for it you will have no other topic to choose from.

My next post will discuss keyword research to see if people are searching for your keyword phrase in the search engines.

*****************************************
Get 1000s of NEW visitors to your website without spending
a dime on advertising.

Read my new ebook “Article Marketing Strategies“…
to learn the most effective ways to write and submit articles.

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Design, Web Hosting, SEO