Ecommerce Web Site Design And Internet Marketing (3)

Ecommerce Web Site Design and Internet Marketing Louise Rijk Vice President of Marketing and Sales Advanced Media Productions, Inc.

Overview

- Ecommerce Opportunity

- Ecommerce Web Site Design

- Online Sales Strategy

- Advanced Ecommerce Functionality

- Product Listings

- Internet Marketing

- Word of Mouth Marketing

- Social Media Marketing

US Ecommerce Spending – 2006 ($ Billion)

2005 2006 Change (%)

Jan. 1 – Dec. 31 82.3 102.1 24

Holiday Season (Nov.1 – Dec.31) 19.6 24.6 26

Source: comScore Networks, January 2007

Ecommerce Growth

- In 2010 Ecommerce will influence 50 percent of consumer sales

Source: Jupiter Research

Ecommerce Opportunity

Ecommerce Opportunity What is Stopping Online Consumers From Buying More? Source: Marketing Sherpa, Inc. 14% 12% 41% 36% 49% 21% 53% 39% Sites/Carts too complicated Return/Exchange policies Fraud/Identity Theft Sharing Personal Info

Components of the Ecommerce Enterprise

- Marketing and Advertising

- Online and Offline

- Ecommerce Web Site

- Converting Visitors to Buyers

- Fulfillment

- Inventory Management and Shipping

- Customer Support

- Warehouse/Drop Shipping

- Product Acquisition

Ecommerce Components

Ecommerce Web site

Ecommerce Web Site Basics

- Home Page

- Support Page

- Information Pages

- Site Navigation and Design

- Product Catalog

- Category Pages and Detailed Product Pages

- Shopping Cart and Check Out

- Site Hosting (Infrastructure) and Security

Ecommerce Web Site

Ecommerce Website Home Page

- Identity - Logo and visual appearance

- Purpose

- Messaging and Value Propostion

- Trust and Credibility

- Manufacturer brand logos, SSL security certificate (Verisign/Thawte) logo,

physical address, BBB Online, ScanAlert HackerSafe, TrustE

- Findability

- Navigation and Site Search

- Customer Communication

- Toll free phone number

Ecommerce Web Site

Support Pages

- How To Order/Help

- Shipping and Handling

- Return Policy

- Clear instructions, RMA labels included with delivery, cross-channel returns

- Customer Service

- About the Company

- Privacy Statement and Security Statement

- Store Locator

- Store locations(s), map, directions, phone number, hours, store photo and store events

Ecommerce Web Site

Information Pages

- They allow customers to educate themselves about products

and markets

- Enhance credibility by showing expertise and genuine

motivation to help

- Help customers differentiate between alternative products

- Act as keywords optimized content to enhance organic search

engine visibility and increase search engine traffic

- Other helpful information pages: How-to-Guides, Glossaries

and Tips can provide a “link bait’ SEO-benefit

Ecommerce Web Site

Site Navigation

- Global Site Navigation

- Logical groupings of product categories and information

- Quick Links

- Allows visitors to find and identify important information with a single link from the home

the home page instead of drilling down through the navigation tree.

- Bread Crumb Navigation

- E.g. Bottles > Plastic > Square – Helps visitors identify their location within a Web site at

any time.

- Site Map Navigation

- Winnowing

- Category pages – Allows users to pre-narrow down product selection according to

attributes of interest

Ecommerce Web Site

Site Search

- Convenience Tool for User Who Know What They Want

- Search Box

- Make available on every page – Label with “Search” - 25-29 character wide

- Search Keyword Capture

Internal Search Conversion Rates Source: WebSide Story, January 2006

Ecommerce Web Site

Product Catalog - Category and Sub-Category Pages

- Category Description

- Keyword-rich, category description of approximately 400 characters placed at the

top of the Category page

- Product Name

- Product Description

- Short, unique keyword-rich product description

- Product Image

- Clickable thumbnail image

- Add To Cart Button

Ecommerce Web Site

Product Catalog – Detailed Product Pages

- Product Name

- Product Description

- Unique keyword-rich product description

- Product Image

- View larger image

- Send-to-a-Friend

- Design Principles

- Place important information “above-the-fold” on 800 x 600 resolution screen

- Large “Add to Cart” button placed “above-the-fold”

Ecommerce Web Site

Shopping Cart

- High Flexibility for Adding, Deleting and Editing of Items in the

Shopping Cart

- Change color and sizes – Change quantities – Delete items

- Provide the user with a link back to the product page for product verification

- Save Shopping Cart Content When User Leaves

- Design Principles

- Place all shopping cart and related information “above-the-fold”

- Show related items below the shopping cart items

Ecommerce Web Site

Check Out and Registration

- Voluntary Customer Registration

- Corporate Registration (B-to-B only)

- Shipping and Billing

- Allow data interchange between shipping and billing forms

- Payment Systems

- Credit Card, PayPal, Google Checkout

- Design Principles

- Avoid requesting excessive information at check out

- Place important information”above-the-fold”

- Implement “progress indicator” for multi-step check out process (“Next Step and

“ Step 2 of 5”)

Ecommerce Web Site Payment Processing – Workflow (I)

Payment Processing (II)

- Merchant Accounts

- Payment Gateways

- Up front set-up fee

- Fixed transaction fee - $0.10 - $0.20 per transaction

- Bank Processing Fees

- Discount rate – percentage of sales

- Fixed transaction fee - $0.20 - $0.30 per transaction

Ecommerce Web Site

Site Administration

- Order Management

- Search for order(s) by name, company name, date, order id, order status

- Process order(s) for further processing

- Delete order(s)

- Product Management

- Manual product entry

- Bulk upload (product feed)

- Product shipping info (drives carrier shipping tables)

- Out of stock notification

- Sales Statistics

- Sort and display sales revenue by date range, by product category, by product,

and by customer

Ecommerce Web Site

Site Hosting and Security

- Shared Hosting versus Dedicated Hosting

- Site Performance

- Web site conversion rates jump dramatically once pages load faster than 8-10 seconds

- Security

- Secure SSL Connection

- PCI compliance (AMEX, DiscoverCard, Visa, MasterCard requirement)

- Hardware Firewall

- Data Center

- Bandwidth

- Data back-up

- RIAD

- Server maintenance, hardware/software upgrades and ongoing support

Ecommerce Web Site

Business-to-Business Ecommerce

- Payment Models

- Open Terms/Purchase order

- Credit card Payments

- Whole Sale Pricing

- Corporate Account Management

Ecommerce Web Site

Ecommerce Web Site Options (I)

- Ecommerce Networks

- Yahoo Shopping Network, Monster Commerce, Miva

Merchant (high-end)

- Inexpensive, easy-to-use and set up for entry-level solution

- Need professional site designer and copywriter for credible Web site

- None or limited customization, integration and search engine

optimization options

Ecommerce Web Site

Ecommerce Web Site Options (II)

Integrated Ecommerce Software Suite

- Cube Cart, CandyPress, OS Commerce

- Hard to tailor to customer workflow and functional requirements

- Requires web developer/programmer for front-end to

back-end integration and customization

Custom Ecommerce Web Site

- Tailored to customer workflow and functional

requirement

- Requires web developer/programmer for Development and customization

Email from a merchant you didn’t know Shopping Comparison Site Search Inquiry Email from a merchant you know and trust 7% 32% 37% 38% Online Sales Strategy What’s Motivating Consumers To Buy? Source: MarketingSherpa/Directions Research, January 2006

Online Sales Strategy - Merchandising

Merchandising Options (I)

- Communicate the Value of Merchandise

- List product prices – Highlight product benefits – Use high quality images

- Show price and feature comparison with competition

- Cross-selling and Up-selling

- Suggest additional items on the product page and shopping cart page (Not check Out page)

- Consider Free Shipping

- Large Product Inventory

- Provide large product inventory (selection), variety, uniqueness

Merchandising Options (II)

- Product Guarantees and Policies

- Show visible links to product guarantees and policies

- Return Policies

- Explain return policies and process

- Payment Options

- Accept a wide variety of credit cards and alternative payment options

- Highlight Special Offers

- Spotlight the best products/deals, highlight specials, free gifts

- Provide Extra Services and Discounts

Merchandising Options (III)

- Offer Gift Features When Appropriate:

- Gift Certificates

- Gift Wrapping

- Gift Card Message

- Multiple Recipients

Advanced Functionality

Advanced Ecommerce Web Site Functionality (I)

Dynamic Imaging (Primarily Retail)

- Zoom pictures, Hot spot zoom

- Flip between front and back views

- 360 Product views

- Color and Pattern swatching

- Mixing and matching outfits

Advanced Functionality

Advanced Ecommerce Web Site Functionality (II)

- Video Hotspotting

- Isolate actors, products and other elements within video with a hotspot overlay

and link those to product details pages to encourage purchase

- Shipping and Item Cost Preview

- Shows total item cost, including taxes and shipping on detailed product page

- Combined One-Page Dynamic Shopping Cart and

Check Out (Flash – Flex – Ajax)

Product Listings

Copywriting – Product Names

- Combining Manufacturer Product Names with

Generic Keywords

- Sony Cyber- Shot DSL-T 7

- Sony Cyber- Shot DSL-T 7 Digital Camera

- Writing Unique Product Names

- Write short and descriptive product names

- Choose a naming convention and use it consistently

- Include major generic or brand keywords: “Creed (manufacturer) Miraculous

Medal Blessed Mother (product)”

- Use consistent capitalization

Product Listings

Copywriting – Product Descriptions

- Rewrite Manufacturer Descriptions

- Retool product descriptions to describe benefits, rather than relying on the

manufacturers’ feature-focused descriptions

- Provide Clear and Detailed Product Information

- Provide keyword-rich, detailed descriptions to give people a good sense of the

product and help them differentiate among choices

- Includes brand names in the descriptions

- List information on pricing, promotions or anything that underscores a competitive

position

- Use short bulleted descriptions to highlight top features

Product Listings

Copywriting – Product Descriptions (II)

- Provide Clear and Detailed Product Information

- Include Power words: “great”, “huge”, high quality”, “latest”

“ excellent”, massive”, “expert”, “experienced”, “specializing”,

“ outstanding”, “wonderful”, “stunning”, and “guaranteed”

- Include time sensitive elements “Don’t miss this opportunity”,

“ As long as supplies last”

- Add an availability statement: “In stock, ships immediately”

- Embed a trust building element: “Life long warranty”,

“ Money-back guarantee”

Components of Internet Marketing E-Mail Marketing Search Engine Marketing Affiliate Marketing Contextual Advertising Fixed Placement Display Advertising Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Advertising RSS Marketing Online WOMM and SMM Marketing Online Reputation Management Blogs Consumer Product Reviews Online Forums

Search PPC (text ads)

Shopping Comparison (PPC)

Social Media Sites

What is Internet Marketing?

Strategies and Techniques Applied on the Internet to Support an Organization’s Overall Online Marketing Objectives

Goals may Include:

Driving targeted traffic to a Web site or landing page and c onverting visitors to customer s at the highest rate

Customer retention

Establishing brand awareness recognition

Internet Marketing Benefits

Accurate Campaign Reporting and ROI Tracking = Accountability

Allows for Frequent Testing and Quick Updates of New Online Promotions

Better Targeting and Segmenting Than Traditional Media

Track online user behavior

Gather geographic user information

Relatively Inexpensive Way to Generate New Business and Build Brand Awareness

Average customer acquisition cost - Search Advertising: $7-$10; Printed Yellow Pages: $15-$25; Direct Mail: $60-$80

Source: Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy, February 2005 Forecast

Search Engine Marketing

Two Methods Within Search Engine Marketing:

Search Engine Optimization

Designing web pages within a web site that rank high on the “natural” search results page of search engines and directories for a specific keyword research

Search Engine Advertising

Various ways for advertisers to pay a fee in exchange for guaranteed placement on the search results page of search engines for a specific keyword search.

Search Engine Marketing

Benefits of Search Engine Marketing:

Potentially Reaches a US Audience of 100 Million People a Month

Generates Highly Targeted Traffic to a Web Site

Accurate Performance Tracking by Search Source,

Keyword Phrase, Click-through Rate, Conversion Rate and ROI

Higher Brand Recognition Value Compared to Other Media

Free Listings – Organic or Natural

Free Listings - Editorial, Natural or Organic

No Guaranteed Inclusion and Ranking

No Control Over Ranking Positions

Ranking is Determined by Search Engine Algorithms

Limited Control Over Page Titles and Site Descriptions in the Listings

Organic Results are Trusted - 60 Percent of Searchers Select Free Listings Over Paid Search Advertisements

Web Sites Need to be Optimized In Order To Rank on the First Two Results Pages

Free Listings – Organic or Natural

Free Listings – Search Engine Optimization

Content Development

SEO copywriting, page titles and meta tag descriptions

Code Optimization

Remove crawler barriers

Navigation/Link Structure Optimization

Site Infrastructure Optimization

Resolve Web server issues

Link Development

Link acquisition

Paid or Sponsored Listings (PPC)

Advertisers Agree to Pay a Fee When Someone Clicks on the Listings or Text ads

Ranking is Based on a Combination of Ad Relevancy and Auction-type Keyword Bidding System

Guaranteed, Instant Inclusion and Ranking

Tight Control Over Listings Content

More Challenging to Manage - Bid Management, Budgets, ROI

Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing Have 90% of Pay-Per-Click Market Share in U.S.

Creative Development – Landing Pages Sponsored Results Landing Page

Specialized Landing Page (PPC) Product Title Large “Add to Cart” Product name and major keyword in description

Landing Pages – Ineffective Landing Page Display Ads

Landing Pages – Effective Landing Page Display Ads

Landing Pages – Ineffective Landing Page Display Ads

Comparison Shopping Engines

Consumers:

Allow Consumers to Compare Product Types, Products Features and Pricing at One Location Before They Buy

Most Comparison Shopping Engines Use the Pay-Per-Click Model

Merchants:

Comparison Shopping Engines Attract Highly Qualified Buyers Who Intend to Buy

Upscale Merchants Usually Do Not Do Well in Shopping Comparison Search Engines

Comparison Shopping Engines

Online Versions of Traditional Printed Yellow Pages That Contain Local Business Listings

Cost Effective Solution to Businesses Seeking to Attract Local Customers Via the Web

Free Basic Listing and Extended Paid Listings

Major Yellow Page Directories:

YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, Yahoo Yellow Pages, Switchboard.com, AOL Yellow Pages

Internet Yellow Page Directories

Promotion of Products and Services via Email

Variety of Formats: Text Messages, Graphics-based Ads, Rich Media (Multi-Media ads)

Self -Service or Full Service Email Programs Include:

List building

Creative design

Message delivery

Campaign results tracking

List management

Permission-Based Email Marketing

Precision Targeting Through Email List Segmentation

Builds, Retains and Strengthens Customer Relationships

Builds Brand-awareness

Campaign Results Tracking through Website Analytics

Open Rate, Click-through Rate, New Subscribers, Subscribers Opt-out

Retargeting Visitors Who Did Not Buy With Targeted Offers

Lower Cost and More Flexible Than Direct Mail

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliates are Web Sites That Send Traffic to an Another Web Site (Merchant) for a Commission Fee

Merchant Affiliate Marketing Programs can Generate Between 10 - 20 Percent of a Web Site’s Online Sales

Affiliates use Several Tactics

- Organic search engine optimization, PPC search ad networks, email

marketing and online display advertising

Affiliate Compensation based click through, pay per lead, or percentage of sale or any combination

Merchant Affiliate Marketing Programs can be Managed In-house or Through an Affiliate Network Provider

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliates often specialize by content category

(e.g Health Products, Mortgages, Real Estate)

Merchant Affiliate Marketing Program Management Typically Includes:

- Affiliate performance tracking and compensation

- Affiliate commission payments

- Affiliate account management

- Affiliate advertising

- Affiliate recruitment and enrollment

How It Works

Affiliate Marketing

Managing Affiliates

What do Affiliates Want:

- Typically 30% Commission

- They Want to Get Paid Bi-Monthly

- They Want to Bid on Brand Terms

- They Want to Build Their Own Landing Pages

for PPC and Organic Search Engine

Optimization

Affiliate Marketing

Managing Affiliates

Aspects of Affiliate Marketing Merchants Need to be Aware of:

- Affiliates can Confuse Customers by Altering the Experience

of Finding Your Site

- Affiliates Up the Ante for Keywords You Must Bid on,

Including Your own Brand Name

- They Easily Jump Ship to Your Competition if Your Program

isn’t Lucrative Enough

- Affiliate Marketing Requires and Affiliate Marketing Agreement

with a TradeMark and SEM Policies

Affiliate Marketing Outsource SEM, free reign with brand names Outsource SEM, Weighing negative impact on brand use by affiliates Restricting brand use to top-affiliates Don’t Allow affiliates to use brand names with SEM 29% 15% 23% 24% 16% 39% 51% Source: Marketing Sherpa, Inc

Fixed Placement Advertising – Display Ads Display Ads

Fixed Placement Advertising

Placement of Text Ad Links, Banner Ads, Expandable Banners, Rich Media Ads, Sponsorships in Pre-Defined Locations on Web Properties

Flexible Price Models (CPM, CPA, CPC)

Extensive Reach Through Vertical Web Properties and CPA Networks with Thousands of Web Sites (Publishers or Affiliates)

Generates Targeted Sales, Leads and/or Builds Brand Awareness

Placement Mechanism: Direct Ad Placement Through Ad Server and/or CPA Ad Networks

CPC: Cost-Per-Click

Advertisers pay Ad Networks and Web Site Publishers based on the number of clicks a specific ad gets

CPA: Cost-Per-Action

Advertisers pay Ad Networks and Web Site Publishers solely based on qualifying actions such as sales, leads, or registrations

CPM: Cost-Per-Thousand

Advertisers pay Ad Networks and Web Site Publishers solely based on a certain number of impressions (number of times an ad banner is completely downloaded and presumably seen by visitors)

Online Advertising Pricing Models

Placement of Ads (Text or Display) on Related Content Pages Across Web Sites Through On-The-Fly Relevancy Keyword Detection or Past Behavior (e.g. Keyword Searches)

Works Well for Informational Sites (News, Entertainment, Sports, Blogs)

Content Advertising Networks: Yahoo Content Match and Google Adwords

Blog Ad Networks: Pheedo, BlogAds.com

Contextual Advertising

How It Works

RSS Marketing

RSS Marketing/Content Syndication

Website content syndication through an RSS feed

- Create an RSS feed for your News and Events page

- Provide an RSS feed for Specials and product updates (E-commerce websites)

- Send your RSS feed through email to an opt-in email list – E.g. using Feedburner (RSS Management System)

RSS Marketing RSS Publishing

Subscribe to RSS Feed

New RSS file is created each time content is updated

Web site is pinged for RSS feed updates

When new version exists it is downloaded

Consumers Are Gaining More Control Over Media They Consume?

- Control of the brand, messaging and advertising is moving increasingly from the marketer to consumer

- Consumers are gaining more control over how content is delivered

- “Ad skipping”, ad and pop-up blocking, email filtering, cookie deletion

- Internet technologies are allowing consumers to communicate better and define the message around products and services

- Blogs, online forums, user review sites, podcasting, email

www.advmediaproductions.com

Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) and Social Media Marketing (SMM) www.advmediaproductions.com SMM Characteristics WOMM Characteristics Generates brand-awareness, buzz and web site traffic Generates brand-awareness, buzz and web site traffic Online only Online and Offline (20% online) Message needs to be cool, outrageous or provide exceptional value to attract attention and be passed along Requires excellent product or service “influencers” can use be excited, and talk about Spreads by itself through the social web and relies on passing messages along from friend to friend Relies primarily on targeting “evangelists/influencers” to spread the word

Consumer Generated Media (CGM)

- CGM is created through an online dialogue consumers/users are engaged in using online forums, blogs, wikis, podcasts and product review sites, social networking sites

- CGM is spread by “Influencers” (WOMM) or travels by itself through the social web (SMM)

- CGM is relevant to the product and service experiences of consumers/users

- CGM is frequently archived online and indexed in search engines for access by other consumers or others looking for information

- CGM can be influenced, but not controlled by marketers

- CGM can be monitored and measured

- Word of Mouth Marketing

- Finding and empowering the “influencers” who are already successfully using products and services

Online Word of Mouth Marketing

- Evolved from spoken communication to include online consumer activities using Internet technologies to create Consumer-Generated Media

- Does not dissipate after a conversation as in the offline world

- Online WOMM is growing – 20 percent of all WOM is currently happening online

Word of Mouth Marketing

Making Online Word of Mouth Marketing Work (1)

- Give “influencers” and consumers something exciting to talk about

- Good product or service, excellent customer service

- Place product or services in the hands of “influencers”

- Target the right people – the “influencers"

www.advmediaproductions.com

- Start with “listening” online about what people are saying about your product to get the unfiltered insights

- CGM Monitoring

- Blog Monitoring (Blog Pulse, Technorati), News Alerts, Online

Discussion Forums, Del.icio.us Tag Analysis, RSS Feed Monitoring (PubSub, Technorati)

- “Listening Services” – CGM Analytics Vendors

- Cymfony, Nielson Buzz Metrics, Umbria, BuzzLogic and Intelliseek

- Customer Service department (CRM System)

- Choose the appropriate online WOMM channels

- Actively engage with online WOMM channels through participation and dialogue to earn consumer respect

- Use “traditional” offline and online marketing and advertising to build initial awareness

- Test and improve the effectiveness of all channels

What is Social Media?

- Online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other and can be used to build and rally a community around

- Social Media is built on user generated content that can take many forms: text, images, audio and video

- Social Content Aggregators - Voting for content

- Shared Bookmark Sites - Voting for content through bookmark sharing

- Social network sites - Sharing of personal profiles

- Social media tools and platforms are websites where you can place and spread your marketing message

Social Media Tools and Platforms

Social News Web Sites

Digg

Reddit

Newsvine

Collaborative Content Aggregators

Wikipedia (text)

Flickr (photos)

YouTube (video)

PodcastAlley (podcasts)

iPodder.org (podcasts)

Technorati (blogs)

Social Network Sites

MySpace

Facebook

LinkedIn (business)

VisiblePath (business)

Shared Bookmarks

Del.icio.us

Furl

Shadow

Diigo

The best sites for Social Media Marketing are those that have achieved popularity enough to attract visitors, links and search engine rankings.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing Campaign:

- The Creation and Distribution of Compelling Content and

Messages Through Social Media Tools and Social

Media Web Sites

- Connecting with Customers Through Social Media Tools,

Engaging with Them and Generating Content and Discussion

- SMM Campaign Spreads by Itself with the Creation and

Initial Planting of the Campaign

Social Media Marketing Campaign Benefits:

- Drives Large Amounts of “Free” Traffic to an

Ecommerce Web Site

- Online Marketing Diversification – Additional

Channel for Branding and Traffic Generation

- Can be Used to Test a Start-up, Business or Idea

Tips for Social Media Marketing (1)

Blog Search Engines (Technorati)

- Keyword-optimize the page title and content of your blog post for

high ranking relative keyword searches

Social News Web Sites (Digg, Reddit, Newsvine)

- Write useful content like “Tip lists” and How to’s” tag those with

keyword rich tags to gain “diggs” from other users

Shared Bookmark Sites (Del.icio.us, Furl Shadow, Diigo)

- Have your friends bookmark your site or blog with keyword- rich tags

so that others will see your link

Collaborative Content Aggregators (Wikipedia, Flickr, YouTube

Podcast Alley)

- Post an article or create a video, photo image, podcast about your

web site, business or specialty and include a link back to your site

Tips for Social Media Optimization

Forums

- Find industry specific forums and online message boards (boardtracker.com,

forumfind.com), participate and become a respected member and suggest your site

wherever appropriate

Photosharing Sites (Flickr, Google Images)

- Post a product image or company logo to Flickr, keyword-optimize the image tag

and include your website URL

Video Sharing Sites (YouTube)

- Create a video about your service or business, post it to YouTube, optimize your entry and include your URL

Podcast Directories (PodcastAlley, iPodder.org)

- Produce a podcast about your products, service or business, optimize the tags and list, include your URL and list it in podcast directories.

Thank You

Louise Rijk, Vice President, Sales & Marketing

888-755-5151 x17

or

sales@advmediaproductions.com

Ecommerce Web Site Design And Internet Marketing (3)

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Notes on slide 1

15 Favorites & 1 Group