E-Commerce for All

E-Commerce Tips, Tricks and Tribulations
Sunday
November 2, 2008
12:11 pm

Does My Online Store have Duplicate Content?

Google is all over duplicate content, your site will suffer for it. But what exactly is duplicate content? The biggest problem is, Google doesn’t always tell you there is a problem, you can set up Google Alerts on your domains and addresses, but that’s no help for code, and template duplication. So I will try to cover the most popular ways to get pages excluded from main search for duplicate content.

  1. Your site uses both plain http://website and http://www.website URL protocol. Use a redirect or mod rewrite to fix this. This canonical redirect will help Google understand that the www & non-www are NOT 2 separate pages. You see, urls are like phone numbers, unique for every user… So Google thinks these 2 versions of your domain’s urls are in fact different numbers, so to speak.
  2. Your site has no standardized handling method for the entry page, or default indexing. This means the index/default/main page can be viewed live & independently of the www.mysite.com. You fix this with a 301 or permanent redirect. For example /index.html is exactly the same page as your domain url.
  3. If you use a template, this dramatically increases th opportunity for content duplication by using dynamic site elements across many or all pages.  To combat this, when page specific text is added, it must be ENOUGH text to make that page stand out and be unique from the other templated pages.
  4. Change your Meta tags and page titles for every page. This one is 100% easy and highly important. Use the <head> elements to properly describe the page and you will be fine.
  5. If you are going to share files across domains, link them ….yes even your own stuff can be duplicate content.
  6. In your Google Webmaster Tools it is advisable the you choose a preferred domain under the diagnostic tab, and by all means while you are there check out your content analysis for duplicate information Google has found in your site.
  7. The #1 duplication issue I see amoung the stores we analyze is product description duplication. You MUST write great unique product descriptions for your product to be successful. Using the manufacturers description creates content that is duplicate in whole or partially with every other distributer… Many time the supplier as well. I’m thinking your site is NOT the authority for this content and Google will not display your products for search.
  8. Your robots.txt WILL NOT block your page from being indexed… You must block them with a noindex, nofollow or other means to specifically DISALLOW indexing of these pages.
  9. In general when adding textual content (product descriptions), paraphrase and add rich text ….that’s really what Google wants.  Unique pages perform well… Duplicate pages never show up.
  10. Be extremely careful with content generators, most times the content is duplicate. Try paying a college student to write the copy for you… Good investment!

We theorize that 70% of your total page must be unique. Here are a few tools to help check it:

How do I know I have duplicate content in Google?

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Thursday
October 16, 2008
10:10 pm

Local Marketing for Ecommerce

There are many great companies worldwide with continental and even global reach and recognition. Most everyone of these highly successful businesses started out in their local market. Certainly, the Internet has opened many doors for businesses to approach the global market in substantially earlier stages of development…. However, that does not mean business owners should ignore local opportunities. Not much is as effective a marketing tool as a great local fan base in your own home town…. Roots!

Business contacts and customers alike worldwide will respect that your community uses your services and products. As a matter of fact… It generates a trust and security factor for your business that is nearly impossible to top. Sure, you can go after those global sales.. But build a local fan club too.

Some very good techniques exist for establishing a local reputation and presence that will generate leads, sales, trust and credibility on a large scale for you. Join your local chamber of commerce….. This is a very hot spot for local sales and networking leads.  Become the authority for your niche in your local market.

Sponsor a youth baseball team and put your web address on their shirts…. Its not very expensive and everybody loves a business that is involved locally. People really do look up to businesses who sponsor teams and events for kids and groups. Consider sponsoring events at the Special Olympics, your local DARE program or a breast cancer walk. Local public exposure is the easiest thing you will ever do, and its priceless. <– And deductible!

Market your business with referrals, reward customers who bring in more customers. Phone the local radio station and donate a gift certificate or a free gift for their contests. Find local clubs and hobbyists related to your business niche and get a booth at their shows or auctions… Or donate a sponsorship or gifts for their raffles.

Marketing fliers are nice, and yes with coupons and discounts they can work… However, business cards work better. People are far more likely to throw away or lose a flier due to its size and related inconvenience. Business cards are more likely make it to the purse or the wallet… They get stuffed in to the desk drawer, tossed on the dresser top or in the car’s glove box. People remember them when a need arises and search them out… Many time before the phone book. Carry business cards with you… Always. Make them personal and professional, do a coupon or a FREE offer on the back.

Become that local business person… “Hey isn’t he the guy from _____”.  Local recognition will build a strong foundation for your business to grow on.

Donate some books to your local school library.. They will happilly tag them with your business name to demonstrate their gratitude. Get involved in your community, be social and be friendly…. Then when you are a trusted local brand… be ready to be a global brand.

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Thursday
September 18, 2008
1:09 pm

Got a Holiday Marketing Plan?

Not only should you be planning for the generally heavier Internet traffic during the winter months… But in the US, the economy has folks tightening their budgets a bit. So today’s question is simple and straightforward…

What are you going to DO, to get your share of the Holiday sales this year?

Certainly, there are always time tested successful marketing techniques that we already know will help us build our sales during these peek periods… But what about some unorthodox and fresh marketing ideas?

Have any?

I do… So I will be adding great marketing ideas here to grow your sales and grasp a larger share of the winter month sales opportunities that exist. Check back, as I will be adding suggestions and other ideas to this brain workout marketing list. One of the things e commerce stores still have trouble bringing to the table is good old fashioned Holiday Cheer… Why is that exactly, its the Holidays, have fun and spread your cheer too!

  1. Any kind of great link / promo bait is going to be very hot… For example, set a press release that Santa himself is at your shop answering your phones. This will get people’s attention and if you have the right product, folks will be happy to spend money in your store… Not to mention all the great links you can grab as well.
  2. Search out and list/advertise with some Holiday gift guides and comparison sites.
  3. Offer gift certificates for customers to refer a friend.
  4. Offer free anything… Free gifts, free shipping, free gift wrapping etc. Free is always good marketing.
  5. Run crazy fun Holiday Pay Per Click Ads… Target some very tight terms and throw up Ads like, Santa dropped the load at our shop! This will get you giggles and get some folks in your door, then grab them with great deals and Holiday offerings.
  6. Submit a Holiday themed coupon to a bunch of FREE coupon database sites.
  7. Offer after purchase 10$ gift certificates for a reduced price (Like 5$).. Many will jump at these and the shrink is very likely to get you out on top anyhow.
  8. Run a contest or give away on your site… Customer # 000XX will receive a $25 gift certificate for their next purchase… Then track the winners and results in a very prominent location for all to see.
  9. Filter the Holiday buzz keywords in to your content… Words like “Holiday”, Gift Ideas”, “Gifts for Men” and other seasonal related terms will be searched… Let them find you this Holiday season.
  10. Get going with Image Search… People will be searching for those same popular gift and Holiday terms in images as well… Or you prefer to name your images like 45grj.jpg? =P
  11. Send a Holiday cheer newsletter and include a coupon for a special deal or product ONLY available to your subscribers.
  12. 9-20-08 Add product bundles to your store, Holiday shoppers are in a hurry and will be more inclined to checkout with a bundle containing everything they need… Like the iPod, case and headphones all in one shot.
  13. 9-20-08 Swap out some website images for Holiday themed, feel good images to get shoppers in the “mood”.
  14. 9-20-08 Run a stocking stuffer giveaway…

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Saturday
September 13, 2008
3:09 pm

Shopping Cart Duplication - #1 Cause

At PRO-Webs we complete a great deal of site reports, and this gives us a unique advantage for research, testing and identifying common mistakes. Today, we are going to let shop owners in on the biggest cause of content duplication we have seen to date… But first lets get in to some background and information about the less than stellar results of content duplication.

What is duplicate content?
Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. Most of the time when we see this, it’s unintentional or at least not malicious in origin: forums that generate both regular and stripped-down mobile-targeted pages, store items shown (and — worse yet — linked) via multiple distinct URLs, and so on. In some cases, content is duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or garner more traffic via popular or long-tail queries.

So duplicate content very simply put, is any content which is too similar to another page’s (any page’s) content indexed in Google. Duplicate content can cause a host of headaches and is certainly not a concrete foundation for a top performing online store. Why should shop owners care about duplicate content?… Simple Google and other search engines care a great deal.

This is really one of those times when you as a business owner needs to walk a mile in Google’s shoes. Google aims to deliver the best UNIQUE content for every search… This is what Google, the business, does for their customers. As I am sure you as a shop owner want the best for your customers, you can clearly understand why Google would not want the same content in 5 different results to deliver their users. So if there is duplicate content… What does Google do about it?

In theory, when Google is presented to 2 pages which are not unique enough to rank independently, they make a decision as to which page to rank for the terms. There is very certainly a very complicated algorithmic computation Google does to determine which page to rank… But that really matters little. Generally speaking, the site which has the greatest authority for the content will rank and the other is shunned from the main search-able index. There is likely a ton of metrics used to determine authority for this purpose, but the largest factors are likely to be PageRank, relevant links, traffic and the age of the page. Seriously though… The simple truth is if you stole it and published it, you are not going to be able to rank it properly.

So back to the purpose of this post…

What is the #1 cause of content duplication in shopping carts?

Many shop owners are distributing or drop shipping the product base from their online store. The drop shipper or main distribution source will nearly always provide product information and descriptions for the products they wish you to sell. In our hast and waste to launch our new store or new product, many shop owners will use all or some large blocks of the distributors or manufacturers product information… UHOH

There are really only 2 factors of concern with regard to this type of content duplication.

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