Top 2024 resources on web
Best web resource in 2024.
Learn more about web to improve your e-commerce strategy.
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10 Digital Style Guide Examples from Famous Companies such as Apple, Google & Starbucks
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If you've ever wondered how designers at Apple defined every little element in iOS as they were building it, then you're in the right place.
As technology is constantly evolving, web design continues to become more formalized. Web designers and developers need to create code that can translate seamlessly from PC to mobile devices, make easy to understand site navigation, and innovate other site capabilities — these are all elements that companies standardize in digital style guides.
Topics: apple, design, web, guides, typography, google, color, elements, examples, guide, digital, companies, style, famous, starbucks. -
11 Best WordPress Development Agencies (2024)
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Choosing the best WordPress development agency can be an important task for business leaders. If you want to create a compelling branded website that stands out from the crowd, delights customers, and offers an amazing user experience, a development company…
Continue reading 11 Best WordPress Development Agencies (2024)
Topics: best, development, agency, website, custom, wordpress, agencies, company, web, digital, services, support. -
11 Free Websites to Learn Code in 2022
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Learning code has never been easier. Many free resources can help a beginner master a programming language or build a new web project. For online merchants, a better understanding of code means less reliance on third-party developers. Here is a list of resources to learn code in 2022.
Topics: code, courses, learn, coding, free, offers, online, programming, web, learning, websites. -
11 Website Page Load Time Statistics [+ How to Increase Conversion Rate]
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Page load time is a critical metric that influences your entire site’s performance.
Topics: increase, sites, rate, load, study, page, mobile, web, conversion, speed, statistics, site, website, average. -
12 Bad Link Building Practices & What to Do Instead
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Gaining inbound links from other websites is one of the best ways to improve your website’s rankings on search engines. However, link building can require a significant investment of time and resources and it may be tempting to take shortcuts.
Topics: links, way, website, instead, practices, site, bad, web, content, building, link, websites. -
15 Best Shopify Experts for Web Design, Marketing, And More
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The Shopify Experts marketplace provides a way for you to connect with Shopify professionals from multiple categories. It's Shopify's way of offering a simple hiring website where merchants can seek out assistance, filter based on expert type, and check out…
Continue reading 15 Best Shopify Experts for Web Design, Marketing, And More
Topics: store, marketing, content, web, setup, best, custom, development, design, experts, services, shopify. -
15 YouTube Channels for Design and Development
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Interested in improving your web design and development skills? There are many options to learn — for beginners to advanced users. Here is a list of YouTube channels for web design and development.
Topics: youtube, channels, recent, web, design, illustrator, include, learn, tutorials, videos, development, photoshop. -
16 Top Website Mistakes to Avoid in 2021 [+ 16 Easy Fixes]
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Since 86% of consumers rely on the internet to find local businesses, having a website is a no-brainer regardless of your business type.
Topics: content, search, page, keyword, avoid, web, fixes, mistakes, fix, text, visitors, easy, website, title. -
17 Free Tools for Color, Code, SEO, UI, More
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Rarely do small-to-midsize merchants need to spend a lot of money to improve the appearance and performance of their ecommerce sites. Here are handy, free tools for color, code, SEO, much more.
Topics: free, search, snippets, ui, tools, web, seo, tool, code, icons, color, lets, user. -
20 Free Courses to Advance Your Design Skills
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Here is a list of free, online design courses. There are courses on design thinking, web design, graphic design, user experience design, logo design, color theory, and more. Some of the courses are multi-class programs, while others are short tutorials.
Topics: graphic, advance, free, learn, explore, fundamentals, skills, color, course, responsive, courses, web, design. -
20 Free Web Design Tools from Fall 2020
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Free resources from the design community can add value to an ecommerce site. Here is a list of new web tools and design elements from fall 2020. There are designer and developer apps, coding resources, graphic tools, fonts, and more. All of these tools are free, though some also offer premium versions.
Topics: fall, website, tools, svg, websites, users, font, code, using, free, web, design. -
20 Free Web Design Tools from Summer 2021
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Here is a list of new web tools and design elements that can enhance an ecommerce site. There are page builders, design collaboration tools, gradient generators, video apps, coding tools, fonts, and more. All are free, though some also offer premium versions as well.
Topics: tools, free, web, video, color, font, create, design, share, tool, waves, summer. -
2022 Marketing Benchmarks: Web Traffic and Conversion Trends for 150,000 Businesses
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In 2022, the marketing world continued to evolve.
Topics: saw, traffic, conversion, web, emails, benchmarks, open, marketers, businesses, marketing, email, rates, likely, trends. -
21 Free Web Design Tools from Summer 2020
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Free resources from the design community can add value to an ecommerce site. Here is a list of new web tools and design elements from summer 2020. There are designer and developer apps, coding resources, color tools, fonts, and more. All of these tools are free, though some also offer premium versions.
Topics: summer, tools, collection, icons, site, free, design, tool, web, resources, font. -
22 Free Web Design Tools from Fall 2021
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Improving the design of an ecommerce site doesn't have to cost money. There are many free resources from the design community. Here is a list of new web tools and design elements from fall 2021. There are color and gradient generators, image editors, coding tools, design collaboration tools, fonts, and more.
Topics: tool, free, design, product, tools, web, svg, color, display, fall, text, serif. -
22 Free Web Design Tools from Spring 2021
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Here is a list of new web tools and design elements from spring 2021. There are icon libraries, gradient palettes, project boilerplates, feedback and collaboration tools, fonts, and more. All of these tools are free, though some also offer premium versions.
Topics: spring, tools, images, design, tool, modern, icons, teams, free, web, font. -
23 Search Engine Alternatives to Google
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Google Search dominates global search with a market share of approximately 90%. However, alternative search engines offer many benefits, such as enhanced privacy, niche content and users, and new growth areas. Here is a list of alternative search engines.
Topics: web, results, content, engine, users, search, alternatives, track, google, privacy, does, doesnt. -
25 Best Slack Alternatives for Working Effortlessly in 2024
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For more than 32 million people, Slack has become the tool they open first thing in the morning to get the workday started. And it’s become the leader of the team collaboration industry, simplifying people's work and boosting their productivity.
Topics: slack, plans, sourceavailable, web, best, effortlessly, android, macos, working, free, price, windows, ios, alternatives. -
25+ Best Ecommerce Website Designs for Inspiration (2024)
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For any business that wants to sell online, having a well-designed website is vitally important. Pick up any ecommerce sales or marketing strategy, and the first thing you’ll notice is that they will all talk about the importance of good…
Continue reading 25+ Best Ecommerce Website Designs for Inspiration (2024)
Topics: inspiration, site, using, ecommerce, website, designs, page, product, best, web, design, really, youll. -
25+ Web Design Statistics that Are Essential to Know in 2023
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Did you know that website design can improve time on site by 84% and YoY online revenue by 132%?
Topics: design, essential, statistics, website, visitors, consumers, colors, know, small, mobile, designers, color, web. -
29 Best Google Chrome Extensions for 2023
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Discover the top Chrome extensions of 2023, handpicked to boost your productivity, enhance your browsing experience, and make your online life easier. More
Topics: specific, extension, page, best, extensions, youre, google, free, lets, chrome, web. -
302 Status Code: What It Is + Its Impact on SEO
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If you've spent any time on the internet, chances are you've encountered an HTTP status code.
Topics: users, redirect, impact, temporary, ranking, http, code, page, web, status, seo. -
33 Free Online Design Tools for Creating Stunning Visual Content for the Web
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Who doesn't love free stuff?
If I can find a free tool to do something I'd otherwise have to pay for in my marketing, I'm going to try the free one first. As long as I can achieve the same quality result from the free tool, there's no need to waste budget.
Topics: web, templates, create, youre, content, stock, font, tool, design, free, online, fonts, tools, visual, stunning, creating. -
68% of Web Analysts Don't Think SGE Will Negatively Impact Traffic: Are They Wrong?
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SGE is Google's move to transform the search experience by integrating generative AI. With this massive change to SERPs, many marketers wonder if— or how — it will impact traffic.
Topics: impact, aiintegrated, content, experience, users, analysts, user, traffic, sge, negatively, think, web, dont, ai, wrong, search. -
7 Call-to-Action (CTA) Tools to Help You Increase Conversions
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When you create and add a compelling call-to-action (CTA) to any content — such as a website, blog post, or social media profile — you have the potential to convert more visitors into qualified leads and customers. That’s because a well-crafted CTA helps increase conversions and, therefore, prospects, customers, and revenue.
Topics: button, add, increase, help, landing, create, ctas, web, calltoaction, tool, tools, design, cta, conversions. -
8 Online Tools to Get You More Ecommerce Customers in 2021
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These 8 tools can change the way your ecommerce store interacts with the world. Try them out and see what they can do for your business!
Topics: ecommerce, tools, need, customers, marketing, web, video, customer, way, store. -
8 SEO Challenges Brands Face in 2023 [HubSpot Blog Data]
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In the 1990s, SEO success relied on keywords. In 2023, new SEO challenges have emerged.
Topics: videos, titles, data, hubspot, search, challenges, video, content, mobile, seo, google, blog, ranking, brands, web, face. -
8 Ways to Make Your Website Faster (and Why It Is Critical to Your Business)
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Many factors contribute to a successful SEO strategy, and page speed is one of the most important ones.
Topics: page, things, faster, business, pages, webpage, critical, ways, experience, website, load, speed, user, content, web. -
9 Quick Ways to Reduce Page Loading Speed
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When it comes to your site's performance, page speed is of the utmost importance.
Topics: quick, pages, sites, speed, loading, reduce, plugins, load, page, site, ways, web. -
9 Web Design Trends This Year You Can Apply Today
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We’ve created this list of 9 web design trends most likely to have a big impact this year. These trends will help make your store more modern & inviting!
Topics: today, apply, better, design, trends, product, video, sites, serif, 99designs, site, web. -
99 eCommerce Acronyms
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If you've ever found yourself scratching your head at a 3-letter acronym in an ecommerce related article or document, this post is for you. We've compiled 99 of the most common 3 letter acronyms you'll find in online business, from a wide range of functions including IT, marketing, web development, SEO, web analytics, web design and logistics. Roll over any acronym to see its title, or click its link to see a full definition. Or quiz yourself, and see how many of these acronyms you know off the top of your head!
3PL3rd Party Logistics
AOVAverage Order Value
APIApplication Programming Interface
B2BBusiness-to-Business
B2CBusiness-to-Consumer
B2EBusiness-to-Employee
BOMBill of Materials
BPABusiness Process Automation
BPMBusiness Process Management
CDNContent Delivery Network
CMSContent Management System
CODCash on Delivery
CPACost Per Action
CPCCost Per Click
CPICost Per Impression
CPMCost Per Mille
CRMCustomer Relationship Management
CROConversion Rate Optimization
CSCCard Security Code
CSEComparison Shopping Engine
CSRCustomer Service Representative
CSSCascading Style Sheets
CTRClick Through Rate
CVCCard Verification Code
CVVCard Verification Value
DFOData Feed Optimization
DIMDimensional Weight
DNSDomain Name System
DOMDocument Object Model
DTPDays to Purchase
EAIEnterprise Application Integration
EDIElectronic Data Interchange
ERPEnterprise Resource Planning
FAK Freight All Kinds
FAQFrequently Asked Questions
FTPFile Transfer Protocol
FUDFear, Uncertainty and Doubt
HCIHuman Computer Interaction
ISPInternet Service Providers
KPIKey Performance Indicator
LPOLanding Page Optimization
LSALatent Symantic Analysis
LSILatent Symantic Indexing
LTLLess Than Truckload
LTVLifetime Value
MMSMultimedia Messaging Service
MP3MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3
MVTMultivariate Testing
NLPNatural Language Processing
OOSOut of Stock
OPMOutsourced Program Management
ORMOnline Reputation Management
PCIPayment Card Industry
PHPHypertext Preprocessor
PIMProduct Information Management
POSPoint of Sale Terminal
PPCPay Per Click
QSAQualified Security Assessor
RDFResource Description Framework
REPRobots Exclusion Protocol
RFIRequest for Information
RFPRequest for Proposal
RFQRequest for Quotation
RFTRequest for Tender
RIARich Internet Application
ROIReturn on Investment
RSSRich Site Summary
SASStatistical Analysis System
SEMSearch Engine Marketing
SEOSearch Engine Optimization
SKUStock-keeping Unit
SLAService Level Agreement
SLR
SMOSocial Media Optimization
SMSShort Message Service
SOAService Oriented Architecture
SOWStatement of Work
SSIServer Side Includes
SSLSecure Sockets Layer
TCOTotal Cost of Ownership
TLDTop Level Domain
TLSTransport Layer Security
TOSTerms of Service
TPLThird-Party Logistics
UCEUnsolicited Commercial Email
UGCUser Generated Content
USPUnique Selling Proposition
UVPUnique Value Proposition
VARValue Added Reseller
VATValue Added Tax
VTPVisits to Purchase
VTRView-Through Rate
WAIWeb Accessibility Initiative
WAOWeb Analytics Optimization
WAPWireless Application Protocol
WMLWireless Markup Language
WMSWarehouse Management System
W3CWorld Wide Web Consortium
XMLExtensible Markup Language
Topics: service, logistics, value, system, rate, management, ecommerce, optimization, acronyms, security, protocol, web. -
A Beginner's Guide to HTML5
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HTML5 was designed to do virtually anything you want to do online without having to download browser plugins or other software. Want to create animations? Embed music and movies? Build advanced applications that run in your browser? You can with HTML5.
Topics: version, attribute, browser, create, html, video, guide, html5, web, beginners, using, add. -
A Beginner’s Guide to Web Analytics
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Pageviews, unique pageviews, new visitors, and returning visitors — they all sound similar, but these metrics are not the same. If you don’t know the difference, you could be misinterpreting your website analytics and making some ill-informed decisions. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.
Topics: analytics, beginners, guide, website, visitors, page, traffic, data, user, site, web, google. -
A Look Back at 30+ Years of Website Design
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Web design has come a long way since 1991, when the first ever website was published. Exclusively text-based, this site marked the beginning of what would become a digital revolution.
Topics: today, look, websites, web, elements, user, todays, content, design, website, way. -
A Practical Guide to Ethical Website Analytics – Top Solutions Reviewed
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As technology evolves, so does the power of digital surveillance. One area in which this has become particularly prominent is web analytics. A website that isn’t using ethical website analytics will collect data on where you are, how you use…
Continue reading A Practical Guide to Ethical Website Analytics – Top Solutions Reviewed
Topics: analytics, web, website, solutions, business, practical, gdpr, free, compliant, reviewed, ethical, google, guide, data. -
Ask an Expert: What Is ReactJS?
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“Ask an Expert” is an occasional feature where we pose questions to ecommerce practitioners. For this installment, we’ve turned to Rajesh Bhimani, founder Skynet Technologies, a web development firm. He addresses the purpose and popularity of ReactJS.
Topics: page, ecommerce, web, user, expert, released, ask, development, facebook, reactjs, mobile, react. -
August 2020 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts
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Our mission since 2005 is to publish articles, webinars, and podcasts to help ecommerce merchants. What follows are the 10 most popular articles that we published in August 2020. Articles from early in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.
Topics: read, articles, video, web, merchants, posts, ecommerce, updates, popular, product, list, google. -
Best No Code Platforms and Software for 2022
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Building new business processes used to be a complicated system of APIs, app development, and endless integrations. But we’re well into the 21st century now. There has to be a better solution for building amazing and automated business systems without…
Continue reading Best No Code Platforms and Software for 2022
Topics: build, software, marketing, youre, code, email, platforms, features, business, website, web, best. -
Best Online Course Platforms in Australia (Updated for 2023)
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After months of testing, we have chosen the safest, quickest and simplest to use online course platforms available in Australia, to help you create and start selling courses . You'll be able to start selling within a few hours –…
Continue reading Best Online Course Platforms in Australia (Updated for 2023)
Topics: best, testing, platforms, australia, service, online, youll, course, selling, simplest, statement, web, start, subscribe, updated, sons. -
Brian Beck on Documenting Objectives When Choosing a B2B eCommerce Platform
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This post is an excerpt from Brian Beck's Billion Dollar B2B Ecommerce: Seize the Opportunity, available now
The process of choosing an Ecommerce platform can seem overwhelming, particularly for B2B organizations that have little internal expertise or experience in Ecommerce.
However, there is a well-documented process that I share in my book Billion Dollar B2B Ecommerce that breaks platform selection down into manageable steps.
In this post, I share the first step: Document Objectives.
Before you even think about what technology platform will be best suited to your company, you have to define business objectives. Objectives should tie to your expected Return on Investment (ROI) model, and can also include intangible benefits that you expect from Ecommerce. Objectives can include:
Increased share of wallet from existing customers Incremental revenue from new customers
Shift of sales to more efficient channels (particularly repeat orders)
Higher gross margins obtained through online selling
Increased customer loyalty obtained by making buyers’ jobs easier, as evidenced by increased lifetime value of each customer
Enhanced competitive advantage vs. non-Ecommerce enabled competitors
Improved organizational effectiveness, particularly in the sales and support functions
Overall enhancement of enterprise value
Your business objectives need to be translated into technological requirements; that is, the technology platform you choose must be able to support the objectives.
Too often companies seek to deploy technology for technology’s sake, but this is backwards. Objectives are the foundation upon which technology should be constructed.
Fundamental to this effort is acquiring sufficient customer feedback that will provide you with a thorough understanding of their needs and expectations. By putting the customer first in this process, your requirements and ultimate system selection will be based on a foundation of meeting the customer’s needs, making it more likely that you will gain adoption after you launch your new web site.
I strongly recommend taking the following steps to understand both your customer and your business needs:
1. Interview your sales and customer support teams
Look for common areas where your customers are seeking to use a web site to both buy online and receive support via your site (such as re-ordering products, checking order status, looking up inventory availability, finding product and compatibility information, administering accounts, and other tasks).
Seek out ways that the sales and support teams can be made more effective by using online tools.
2. Interview your customers
Identify a group of customers that you can talk with in person or by phone (or both) to understand their expectations of your Ecommerce web site. Explore areas such as:
What are their expected purchase patterns online?
What are their expectations from a digital usability standpoint?
Which products will they purchase online (e.g. what products do they regularly buy from you on a repeat order basis)?
Are there any categories which they don’t want to buy online, and if so, why not?
Which other web sites do they use to research and buy similar products?
What parts of their current offline workflows would they most likely want to move online?
For example, obtaining order status, finding delivery information, researching product details prior to making a purchase, or paying invoices or open credit balances.
Look for repetitive tasks that will be made easier by bringing them online. Do they need support for “punch out” (ERP-based) ordering?
How do customers want to interact with you across device types (mobile, desktop, etc.)?
Ultimately, you want to discover which customer interactions will become easier via online channels, and focus on building these into your technology requirements. Making these actions easier will be critical for you to drive adoption of your new Ecommerce site. Be sure to talk with at least 20 customers and survey different types of customers across industry segments, including customers of different sizes.
3. Form a customer advisory board
This can emerge from the group you interviewed and will help you through the Ecommerce development process. The most successful B2B Ecommerce implementation I have seen have leveraged a group of customers that can be involved at every stage of the web site development process, providing feedback as you build. This team of customers can be called upon to review your web site creative designs, provide a test panel for usability of the site, and be used as a sounding board for features you are considering adding.
Trends are working in your favor. Twenty years ago, if a B2B company wanted to build an Ecommerce presence, they would need to develop the technology from the ground up, building it mostly in-house and usually spending tens of millions of dollars in the process. In contrast, today there are many platforms that offer a wide variety of functionalities, at a lower cost and with more implementation resources available than ever before.
The challenge in having a wide variety of options, however, is that there are a wide variety of options. Finding the best platform can be exhausting and confusing, but getting smart about the process is the only way to successfully develop and implement an Ecommerce technology, while also limiting the risk of failure.
Elastic Path is proud to sponsor Brian Beck’s Free Virtual Book Tour series featuring a breakdown of key concepts from the book along with real-world success stories from eCommerce leaders at Johnstone Supply, Illumina, Pella, Cardinal Health, and more. Register today
Topics: site, platform, online, ecommerce, choosing, objectives, customers, technology, beck, web, support, brian, customer, process, b2b, documenting. -
Can social and e-commerce transform the future of the open web?
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WooCommerce began life as WooThemes, a small design firm that didn’t look very different from the many others that created WordPress themes.
Topics: transform, acquisition, automattic, know, web, social, techcrunch, woocommerce, themes, future, billion, wordpress, open, automattics, woo, company, ecommerce. -
Cumulative Layout Shift: What It Is and How to Measure It
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We’ve all had it happen to us: we try to choose an option on a website, and right before we click, the page jumps away and we end up clicking something we didn’t mean to. Doh!
Topics: experience, cls, performance, layout, content, web, cumulative, shift, page, site, website, measure, user. -
Data Tracking: What Is It and What Are the Best Tools
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When data is surfaced, organized, analyzed, and applied effectively, you have the power to delight more customers and improve your business’s bottom line. But first, you need to obtain all of that valuable information.
Topics: tools, web, page, tracking, best, track, tool, website, product, data, user, customer. -
Does Google Think Your Website Is Spam?
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Everyone who uses the internet knows the frustration of web spam, where you find a promising page in search results that is useless. And we all know Google hates spammy websites, probably even more than we do.
Topics: website, page, does, spammy, search, content, site, pages, spam, web, users, think, google. -
E-commerce infrastructure startup Nacelle closes $18M Series A
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Consumer online shopping habits have led to a windfall of revenues for these web storefronts, but COVID-era trends have also breathed new life into the market for developer tools that help e-commerce sites operate more smoothly for shoppers. LA-based Nacelle is one of many e-commerce infrastructure startups to earn attention from investors amid COVID. The […]
Topics: web, trends, techcrunch, 18m, services, storefronts, websites, startups, ecommerce, infrastructure, sites, nacelle, series, startup, closes, shopping. -
Entrepreneurs Should Embrace Web 3.0
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This once-new technology initially made people nervous, but now virtually all businesses are reliant upon it, and it's set to become even more crucial to the way companies function.
Topics: decentralized, entrepreneurs, embrace, blockchain, web, technology, supply, data, businesses, insurance, applications. -
Entrepreneur’s Page-builder Tools Attract Outside Equity, 100 Employees
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Finbarr Taylor moved to the U.S. nine years ago with a goal. "I moved from Scotland to Silicon Valley with the express intent of starting a tech company," he told me. Taylor's tech company is Shogun, which provides innovative page-builder tools that enhance ecommerce sites. He is co-founder and CEO.
Topics: attract, employees, tools, progressive, content, pagebuilder, entrepreneurs, web, ecommerce, shopify, product, page, pages, outside, im, equity, shogun. -
Everything You Need To Know About Google Web Stories
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Google is not a social media channel per se, but one of its features, Google Web Stories, is similar to the stories format that you’d see on popular sites like Instagram.
Topics: know, web, text, interactive, google, amp, pages, wordpress, video, add, need, seo. -
Evolving Tech Stack Enables High Performance Ecommerce
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The technologies powering the web and mobile applications never stop evolving. Each new phase creates opportunities for businesses. The latest iteration is the expansion of so-called edge network capabilities, which help online merchants improve performance and user experience. Both are fundamental to Google's new "web vitals" initiative.
Topics: enables, performance, rauch, frontend, react, product, high, stack, developer, edge, ecommerce, tech, web, evolving, page. -
Friday Website Builder Review 2024: Is This the Easiest Web Builder on the Market?
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You're in the right place if you're looking for a whistle-stop Friday Website Builder review. Stick with us as we explore Friday’s Website Builder key features, customer support, and pros and cons. Hopefully, by the end of this review, you'll…
Continue reading Friday Website Builder Review 2024: Is This the Easiest Web Builder on the Market?
Topics: options, text, builder, website, search, market, review, web, image, builders, store, easiest, dont. -
Google Cache: How to View Cached Pages
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Cached pages is an undeniably useful tool when you come across a web page that is performing poorly, or temporarily down for some reason.
Topics: slow, cached, pages, cache, google, page, youre, check, view, website, web. -
Hamlet Batista
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All of us here mourn the death last month of Hamlet Batista, our friend and contributor. Hamlet first appeared in Practical Ecommerce in an interview. A mutual acquaintance, an SEO practitioner, had suggested that we publish his views. “He’s really smart,” said the acquaintance. “He’s applying for a genius visa.”
Topics: told, practical, received, seo, ecommerce, genius, technical, web, hamlet, visa. -
How AI Search Pushes the Commercial Web to its Edge
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Today, online commerce is centered around driving traffic and conversions to websites. Lately, I’ve been thinking, what happens when ChatGPT-style search engines send people answers, rather than links?
In recent months, both Microsoft and Google released chat-enabled, question-answering search offerings powered by generative AI. Google also recently announced a conversational integration into its Shopping Graph. While some AI chat answers seem cut from the movie “Her,” others are surprisingly useful, compiling information from multiple sources. Frankly, chat answers take some getting used to for experts in “Googling” as we know it. But, it’s not hard to imagine how this change could be useful for high-intent shoppers.
Case in point, a friend of mine was looking for a booster seat for her six-year-old son and spent hours trying to figure out whether he met the height and weight requirements of specific seats. She finally found the answer, embedded deeply within Amazon’s Q&A results, and bought that seat right away. This is a perfect example of a high-intent search that could have been drastically shortened by chat, leading to an immediate purchase.
Microsoft aptly named its ChatGPT-powered browser “Edge.” I believe the commerce world will need to respond to AI with edge commerce. We're already seeing how edge commerce can play out in edge checkout, with social and email “buy now” buttons removing friction from the customer’s point of discovery. Push that a level further, and we may see the commerce website and commerce platform as we know it “unbundle” in response.
AI as an extension of the API economy
Developments such as plugins for ChatGPT fit neatly into a trend that’s been happening behind the scenes in tech — the API economy. While APIs are nothing new, these interfaces are what make modern software components integrate with one another. APIs share information across multiple technologies, many times from different providers.
As venture capital firm A16Z predicted, “traditional, large programs are being broken down into and being offered as — or with data exposed to — services. But more importantly, these pieces and services are being recombined by other companies to create something new… it’s combinatorial innovation in action.”
The problem is most underlying commerce systems are not set up with this connectivity and innovation in mind. Commerce platforms are often walled off and deeply entrenched. They frequently require a middle orchestration layer between APIs and legacy systems operating behind the scenes. These legacy systems might control order management, payments and other business-critical tasks.
This technology workaround manifests itself to the shopper via a broken user experience. For example, a social media user might try to transact on an ad, finding that inventory is sold out on a social platform but available on a website. That’s a lack of integration on full display.
Other user experience issues abound — from irrelevant product recommendations to “shop the look” pages that don’t redirect shoppers to the exact items and colors in stock. Merchants that want to take advantage of AI chat-based search engines will need to think about the flexibility of their backend commerce systems. Think of the website as a “hub” of information that must be disseminated to a variety of different distribution channels as “spokes.” AI is just one of those channels. APIs must push and pull data efficiently and effectively to each distribution channel.
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What will these changes look like for shoppers?
The primary look and feel of a commerce website might not change for shoppers overnight. Incremental changes tend to happen first. In fact, some commerce websites have already begun experimenting with ChatGPT integrations to help shoppers find what to buy, or to enhance product descriptions for better conversions.
It’s not hard to imagine that as search habits change among consumers, chat-based search capabilities will be embedded into every commerce website. I The structure of information behind the scenes will change, so that when a consumer asks a question, it’s not hard for the AI system to retrieve an accurate answer.
As a result, I imagine that Q&As become more prominent parts of every website. Digital storefronts will be able to replicate the store associate interaction - can I help you today? Data embedded within user reviews might pop up more readily for chat-based searchers. Customer service requests might be more easily resolved online, with robust knowledge-bases feeding into AI-powered customer service answer engines.
These things all exist today but are cumbersome and most often deliver an unsatisfactory experience because they just respond with a link to some other data source that is barely relevant. Suddenly, the AI technology that powers them has become more powerful and accurate, and, most importantly, more relevant to the inquiry, all in real time.
I also expect commerce sites to be able to push and pull their data to various services (powered by social commerce, search, brand partners, marketplaces, and more), so that shoppers can ask questions anywhere and get consistent answers. Shoppers should also be able to check out at the point of discovery, meaning that transactional technologies and underlying catalog infrastructure must be flexible and API-powered, as well.
AI search is still early in its development, and there are plenty of flaws. Chief among the challenges is misinformation, which makes it hard to trust the results of AI search. Today, it’s still messy. But, much like any technological shift, change happens gradually, then suddenly.
A few decades ago, we couldn’t have imagined that smartphones would work their way so prominently into our daily lives. We’d never bark orders at a speaker to buy paper towels. That’s why it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine shoppers choosing the lowest-friction path toward finding what they need on an increasingly crowded and competitive web. For many, that may mean chatting with machines.
Topics: today, commercial, ai, shoppers, website, change, search, data, user, commerce, systems, pushes, edge, web. -
How HubSpot's Report-Based Acquisition Campaign Hit 150% of Our Lead Goal in 30 Days
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This post is a part of Made @ HubSpot, an internal thought leadership series through which we extract lessons from experiments conducted by our very own HubSpotters.
Acquisition marketing campaigns are critical to bring in new customers and revenue. At HubSpot, we run these campaigns quarterly.
Topics: campaign, acquisition, content, goal, lead, experience, hit, reportbased, channels, web, report, data, survey, days, hubspots, wanted, marketing. -
How Many Visitors Should Your Website Get? [Data from 400+ Web Traffic Analysts]
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If you run a website, then you've likely spent time creating and optimizing a marketing strategy to drive traffic to your website. But how many visitors should you aim for your website to get?
Topics: rate, analysts, visitors, data, monthly, total, websites, traffic, web, content, unique, website. -
How SGE & Other Google Search Changes Could Impact Your Traffic [Data + Predictions]
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How you use Google will change as the search engine rolls out Google Search Generative Experience (SGE). SGE is Google's way of efficiently using AI to answer complex or multi-step searches.
Topics: ai, users, changes, web, traffic, predictions, information, impact, google, generative, content, data, sge, search. -
How Your Audience Could Shift in Web 3 [Executive Insights + Podcast Episode]
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If you work in tech, media, or even marketing, you've likely heard a lot of buzz around Web 3.
Topics: podcast, business, episode, audience, product, internet, marketing, feedback, customers, going, executive, shift, community, platforms, web, insights. -
How the Internet Works: An Explanation Even Non-Techies Can Understand
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The internet is a marvel of modern technology, connecting people and information across the globe. But have you ever wondered how it actually works?
Topics: understand, web, network, wide, world, nontechies, protocol, internet, youre, computer, works, layer, data, explanation. -
How to Blend Web Analytics and Digital Marketing Analytics to Grow Better
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Measuring the effectiveness of digital marketing is one of the greatest challenges facing organizations today.
Successfully evaluating the impact of marketing campaigns requires the use of comprehensive digital marketing analytics. When most marketers hear the term "digital analytics," however, they tend to think of the web-based metrics typically associated with familiar analytics like Google Analytics which analyzes traffic, bounce rate, and unique visitors.
Topics: leads, web, data, analytics, social, blend, metrics, number, email, better, total, marketing, digital, grow. -
How to Create Your First Web Form (Tutorial)
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So you have a great product, created an excellent offer, designed your landing page, and you’re fired up to attract customers. Sounds like a winning plan, except that a core element for lead generation is missing — web forms.
Topics: lead, template, right, free, builder, web, click, create, tutorial, forms, form. -
How to Create a Writing Style Guide Built for the Web [Free Guide]
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Businesses pump out content at a staggering rate these days — and as that volume increases, more inconsistencies are bound to creep in. Whether due to lack of clarity about the style in which you'd like to write or disjointed communication across the multitude of content creators in your organization, failure to decide upon and document accepted editorial guidelines is a recipe for inconsistent messaging.
Topics: free, content, vs, tone, create, writers, rules, guide, writing, include, style, web, built, editorial. -
How to Install WordPress: The 4 Methods
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WordPress is known for being one of the most popular content management system (CMS) software options available to date. One of the main reasons for this is that WordPress is easy to use and meets the needs of almost any type of website and business.
Topics: website, youll, install, sourcestep, click, need, web, installation, wordpress, methods, process. -
How to Make Your Shopify Store ADA Compliant in 2024
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Learning how to make your store ADA compliant is more important than you’d think. Not only does it ensure you adhere to crucial web accessibility regulations, but it could also be the key to attracting and converting more loyal customers.…
Continue reading How to Make Your Shopify Store ADA Compliant in 2024
Topics: accessibility, users, content, website, shopify, store, text, compliant, ada, web, ensure. -
How to Use the Rule of Thirds in Web Design [Quick Tip]
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To understand the "rule of thirds" as it relates to web design, let's start with an example.
Topics: image, left, grid, create, quick, web, thirds, right, design, rule, page, tip, website. -
Mark Cuban and former Oculus CEO back 3D e-commerce startup VNTANA
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As Facebook and Apple charge headlong into a more 3D future for the consumer web with big plans for mixed reality headsets, most web content out there is still firmly 2D. And while some are pushing for a completely separate “metaverse” where 3D content lives, that’s likely going to be a hard sell for existing […]
Topics: startup, ceo, view, techcrunch, reality, web, augmented, ecommerce, 3d, products, startups, software, content, oculus, cuban, vntana, mark. -
Perch acquires Web Deals Direct for $100M+ to boost to its Amazon roll-up play
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On the heels of raising $775 million earlier this year, Perch has made a big acquisition that will bring on a number of new brands and operations infrastructure to enhance its position in the race to roll up smaller merchants that sell and fulfill sales through Amazon. The company has acquired Web Deals Direct, an […]
Topics: acquires, perch, web, sales, team, deal, bring, play, deals, million, techcrunch, rollup, amazon, boost, brands, direct. -
SEO: Common Fixes to Core Web Vitals
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Google stated in November that Core Web Vitals would become a ranking signal in May 2021. When Google announces such a change, heed the warning. The sooner you prepare, the better the chance of preserving or improving your organic search traffic.
Topics: vitals, page, layout, fixes, shift, pages, common, seo, javascript, search, web, core, site. -
Selling online, key for entrepreneurs at the end of the year?
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According to data from the Mexican Association for Online Sales (AMVO), 5 out of 10 companies in Mexico are doubling their growth on the internet.
Topics: key, sales, online, ecommerce, web, world, store, entrepreneurs, business, end, stores, mexico, high, selling. -
Sleek wants to be the last shopping check-out form you ever fill out
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Sleek is developing a browser extension enabling one-click checkout and cash-back savings.
Topics: checkout, companies, web, wants, form, shopping, sleek, browser, oneclick, billion, maceachern, capital, techcrunch, works. -
Spree Commerce Review (2023): Everything You Need to Know
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Have you come across Spree Commerce while browsing the web, and are you unsure what it is and whether it'll help your business? If so, you're in the right place. Read our thorough review to get to grips with everything…
Continue reading Spree Commerce Review (2023): Everything You Need to Know
Topics: review, web, website, users, spree, youll, know, store, youre, need, ecommerce, commerce. -
The 13 Worst Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid & How to Fix Them
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We are currently living in the age of the internet, and that means your business must cater to it. Promoting your business, your brand, and your product or service can all benefit from digital marketing.
Topics: social, marketing, having, fix, customers, worst, avoid, site, traffic, business, mistakes, web, website, digital. -
The 29 Dominating Web Design Trends for 2023
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Web design is an important part of any marketer’s 2023 plan. Your website houses the information your customers need to learn about your product and make a purchase. Regularly updating your website with cutting-edge web design trends can help your business stand out in crowded cyberspace.
Experimental navigation, scrolling effects, and kinetic typography are just a few ways you can level up your website. Check out the full list of trends that will dominate websites in 2023.
Topics: website, text, typography, dominating, design, site, web, trends, example, visitors, websites. -
The 8 Elements of Modern Web Design (And Web Design Trends to Watch)
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Every year, we see new elements and styles in website design begin to emerge.
Topics: product, design, modern, images, large, different, image, elements, help, web, website, trends, videos, video, watch. -
The Best Website Builder On the Market in 2021 (Top Solutions Reviewed and Compared)
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Topics: offer, web, compared, builders, reviewed, best, youll, solutions, market, builder, website, youre, upgrade, site. -
The Death of the Third-Party Cookie: What Marketers Need to Know About Google's 2022 Phase-Out
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What do marketers and Sesame Street monsters have in common? They LOVE cookies.
Topics: advertising, cookie, death, thirdparty, user, need, phaseout, web, data, privacy, know, cookies, googles, marketers, google. -
The Emergence of B2B Raw Material Marketplaces
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Business-to-business marketplaces are among ecommerce's leading growth trends, yet many industries remain under-served, especially for raw materials.
Topics: materials, business, marketplaces, emergence, material, buyers, sellers, aminjavaheri, knowde, raw, b2b, web. -
The Exhaustive List of HTTP Status Codes & What They Mean
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We've all been there: You're mindlessly scrolling the web, clicking on a variety of links from Google, social media, or other sites, when suddenly — you're prevented from continuing a search due to an HTTP error code.
Topics: web, server, request, browser, list, code, mean, codes, resource, status, http, exhaustive, response. -
The SEO Benefits of Web Scraping
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In "SEO for Google Shopping," I addressed the need to optimize product feeds. I stated that including keyword product descriptions and titles in the feeds was scalable with "scraping." But I didn't describe it further. In this post, I’ll explain scraping.
Topics: scraper, google, search, web, example, website, scraping, page, tools, seo, benefits, results. -
The SEO Evolution: Expert Insights into the Future Landscape of Search
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At HubSpot, we are optimistic about the future of SEO — but we're also preparing for many major shifts over the next year.
Topics: googles, seo, future, ai, web, analysts, expertise, insights, google, expert, content, landscape, evolution, social, search. -
The Top 3 Mistakes Companies Make in Implementing B2B Ecommerce
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B2B ecommerce has exploded to become a major force in the US Economy, and an exciting new selling channel in many traditional industries. Forrester Research reports that the B2B ecommerce market totaled $889 billion in 2017. By 2020, that number is projected to eclipse $1.2 trillion. B2B ecommerce has quietly grown to surpass the size of the more visible B2C ecommerce marketplace, today accounting for 2.5 the volume of B2C online purchases. While surprising to many people, the fact is that selling fasteners, medical equipment, electrical components, and other business-specific products online dwarfs the volume of shoes, make-up, and music to consumers via the Internet.
Recognizing this volume, more and more manufacturers and distributors in traditional industries are launching B2B ecommerce efforts. Unfortunately, many companies don’t do their due diligence ahead of launching an ecommerce initiative. This results in less than optimal ecommerce platform deployments, ineffectively structured organizations, and missed opportunities - which all create inefficiencies and stifle growth. This typically leads to the need to replatform which can be an extensive endeavor.
By understanding these common mistakes, you can avoid the common pitfalls associated with implementing B2B ecommerce. With this in mind, let’s look at three of the most common mistakes companies make when implementing B2B ecommerce—and what you can do to avoid them.
Mistake #1: Failing to Define Your Requirements in Detail
All too often, I see companies fail to put in the time required to create a thorough set of requirements for their ecommerce system, grounded in a solid understanding of business objectives. In doing so, these firms drastically increase the likelihood they will choose the wrong platform —which prevents them from being able to take full advantage of their ecommerce opportunity.
Taking the plunge into ecommerce for the first time is an extremely time-consuming process. The last thing you want to do is have to replatform shortly after launching because you made the wrong choice to begin with.
Because so much is at stake, it is imperative that you choose the right platform the first time—one you can live with for five to ten years, or even longer. The only way you can ensure this is done correctly is by extensively documenting your requirements up front. Be sure to include information about features, workflows, pricing, contract support, flexibility, integrations, and more.
Your company is not likely an expert in ecommerce, so choosing the right platform from the start can be a tricky and taxing process. Because of that, many companies outsource these responsibilities to companies that are experts in the space. Yes, this requires additional upfront investment and time, but the ROI and risk reduction make it worthwhile.
Mistake #2: Underestimating the Importance of the User Experience
I have observed that B2B companies tend to have a nasty habit of putting up ecommerce storefronts that are difficult-to-use, bolt-ons to their existing ERP (Enteprise Resource Planning) systems, and simply expecting orders to come flowing in. When they don’t, they either blame their customers or figure that ecommerce won’t work for them.
They’re wrong on both counts.
When implementing an ecommerce system, it’s critical to focus on the user experience (UX). Today’s B2B buyer expects the digital user experience to make their jobs’ easier, and reflect consumer-like online shopping experiences. If the UX is poorly executed and the resulting web site is difficult to use, how can you expect customers to actually use it?
Keep in mind that business buyers’ expectations are set by their personal experiences in buying from the most advanced ecommerce sites in the world. Retailers like Amazon continue to set the bar extremely high for online retailers—which includes your company, whether you like it or not. While B2B web sites must accommodate B2B buying workflows and nuances such as customer-specific pricing, custom catalogs, and payment on credit terms, the foundational elements of a B2C web site are also critical to incorporate. If your site search, navigation, product details, listing pages, shopping cart, and checkout aren’t optimized to meet the standards of modern online buyers, your ecommerce site will not be effective.
Invest heavily in building a desirable UX, and customers will keep coming back.
Mistake #3: Neglecting to Involve Your Sales Team
Your sales team is nervous. They hear the word “ecommerce” and they think competition and lost commissions.
Fear isn’t warranted in the vast majority of cases. However, many B2B ecommerce replatforming efforts are launched without input from the sales team—at least when it comes to planning and implementation. As a result, a large amount of value is left on the table, and sales teams will fight against adoption of ecommerce among your customer base once you have launched your site.
In reality, ecommerce is a force multiplier for the sales team by allowing associates to spend more time on strategic issues with key accounts. An effective ecommerce web site eliminates time spent on low value, routine tasks such as entering orders or answering order status questions. And, if sales team members are commissioned for sales made to their accounts via ecommerce, economic incentives are aligned as well.
Don’t keep your ecommerce replatforming initiative isolated to a few top executives or driven solely by the marketing team. Instead, use your sales team strategically. Real value unlocks are available when selling channels are in sync, and getting the sales team involved early in defining your requirements and setting objectives will enhance your return when you launch.
Benefits of Successful Replatforming
The B2B ecommerce market is growing bigger every day. Frost and Sullivan projects that 27% of all B2B transactions will be conducted online by 2020. Think about what this type of sales penetration could mean for your business. Not only are sales transacted via ecommerce more efficient to process, but they often occur at higher gross margins. Online sales also frequently represent incremental revenue – either via increased share of wallet from your existing customers or from new customers.
Capturing these results for your company requires significant investment of internal and external resources. However, real return on investment exists for companies that diligently plan for and execute on this opportunity. Do it right, and you’ll be eating your piece of the pie in the near future.
Topics: sales, mistakes, implementing, platform, site, team, b2b, ecommerce, requirements, companies, online, web. -
The Ultimate Guide to Google’s 2021 Core Web Vitals
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Google’s latest algorithm updates for page experience — primarily the much-talked about Core Web Vitals — will go into effect…
Topics: bigcommerce, ultimate, seo, web, googles, page, core, website, guide, content, experience, google, vitals. -
The Ultimate Online Editing and Proofreading Checklist for Writers
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The writing process is a chance to let creativity fly and tell a story with your own words.
Topics: proofreading, readers, editing, yes, web, online, content, ultimate, writing, interesting, topics, topic, checklist, writers. -
The Way People Search the Web is Changing: 4 Stats Marketers & SEOs Should Know [HubSpot Data]
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Remember when it felt like Google was the only way you could to find information online? Those days are over.
Topics: marketers, data, stats, way, web, search, prefer, engines, z, trends, know, seos, hubspot, changing, social, answers, gen, consumers. -
The What, Why, and How of Canonical Tags & URLs
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"That's canon!"
Topics: url, rel, using, web, tag, urls, pages, version, canonical, tags, page, link. -
Ultimate Guide to Hero Images [Best Practices + Examples]
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Whether or not you realize it, you judge every website by its visual appeal. And it only takes about 0.05 seconds to form an opinion. That means the hero image (the first photo, graphic, or video people see) has to be eye-catching enough to keep people scrolling the site.
Topics: image, html, design, web, practices, hero, guide, best, images, css, ultimate, page, examples, text, size. -
Understanding Headless eCommerce
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Brian Anderson is the CEO and founder of GetNacelle.com, a headless eCommerce solution for Shopify Plus. Today he joins the show to discuss the benefits of using headless commerce, what a progressive web app is (and how it’s related to headless), and the kind of investment you may want to consider before committing to headless. […]
Topics: investment, understanding, anderson, app, brian, youderian, headless, progressive, web, ecommerce, using. -
Web Design for Everyone Pleases No One
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The ages of shoppers impact web design and messaging. Each generation has unique preferences, desires, and habits. Merchants who recognize this will have higher conversions.
Topics: generation, design, good, pleases, web, age, messaging, heavily, friends, born, speak. -
Web Retailer Award 2023 winners announced
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Last week, the winners of the biggest competition for online sellers in the Adriatic region were announced. The main award, Best in Adriatic, went to Slovenian online store Malinca. In total, 242 online stores from Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia entered the competition. The Web Retailer Award show was held on…
Topics: announced, web, malincasi, stores, ecommerce, adriatic, award, won, retailer, winners, best, online. -
Web building platform Duda snaps up e-commerce cart tool Snipcart
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The acquisition was driven by a boost in e-commerce websites as a result of the global pandemic.
Topics: duda, platform, snaps, snipcart, techcrunch, web, ecommerce, acquisition, building, tool, sadan, team, customers, cart, million, companies. -
What Are Core Web Vitals? (+ How to Improve Yours)
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“Core web vitals” — you‘ve probably heard this phrase buzzing in digital marketing. But what are the core web vitals? Picture them as the three pillars supporting your website’s performance.
Topics: performance, core, page, user, improve, vitals, site, load, layout, fid, web. -
What Does HTTP Error 503 (Service Unavailable) Mean & How To Fix It?
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Imagine someone searches for a topic and finds your website on page one of Google. When they click through to your website, though, their eyes land on a bland webpage that says "Service Unavailable".
Topics: service, fix, website, unavailable, mean, does, http, server, firewall, error, web, logs. -
What Google Chrome FLoC Says about Targeted Ads
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A proposed alternative to third-party cookies may provide insights into the future of targeted ads. Modern digital ad targeting relies on individual and personal information. An online retailer, for example, can use networks such as Google or Facebook to target potential customers.
Topics: privacy, web, ads, advertisers, thirdparty, targeting, chrome, advertising, browser, google, floc, targeted. -
What Is a CMS and Why Should You Care?
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There are a lot of acronyms in the business world to keep straight. SEO, CRM, SERP, CDN, and CMS are just a few important ones.
Topics: create, wordpress, content, code, build, builtin, web, care, website, site, cms. -
What is Web 3 & What Could It Mean for the Future of Marketing?
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As we continue to progress into the digital age, a new era of the internet is emerging: web3.
Topics: digital, future, marketers, internet, consumers, tech, web3, hands, content, marketing, data, mean, web. -
What is a Web Crawler? (In 50 Words or Less)
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When it comes to technical SEO, it can be difficult to understand how it all works. But it's important to gain as much knowledge as we can to optimize our websites and reach larger audiences. One tool that plays a large role in search engine optimization is none other than the web crawler.
Topics: search, page, web, engines, crawlers, words, pages, crawl, site, crawling, crawler. -
What's a Blog & Why You Need One
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Even if you‘re not sure what a blog is, you’ve no doubt come across one at some point in time. Perhaps you‘ve stumbled across a blog when you’ve searched “healthy dinner recipes”. In fact, if you're reading this, guess what? You're on a blog. (Very meta, I know.)
Topics: post, marketing, blog, web, help, need, content, website, posts, whats, rank, youre. -
Which Social Media Metrics Are Marketers Tracking? [New Research]
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Social media metrics are imperative to social strategy. They give you an inside look at your channels' performance and how your target audience perceives you. They can also provide you with ways to improve upon your strategy.
Topics: track, content, tracking, strategy, media, metrics, traffic, measure, marketers, web, social, research. -
Why Site Performance Matters and How to Improve It
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Site performance (or lack thereof) is one of the biggest pain points eCommerce businesses face today, due in part to its direct correlation to conversion rate. If you don’t think site performance matters to your customer - your revenue, and your reputation, are at risk.
I’ll cover why site performance matters and how best to improve it if you find yourself on the slower end of the speed trial.
Consider this:
It takes about fifty milliseconds, or .05 seconds, for users to form an opinion about your site and determine if they will stay or go. Think about your personal experience with a slower-paced load time on a site. How many times have you bounced off as quickly as you found it? From ordering a pizza to buying a couch, today’s consumer simply does not have time to wait.
Fifty-seven percent of internet users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed web application on mobile.
Given the miniscule timeframe to make a good first impression on a consumer, plus the hefty influence of word-of-mouth first impressions by those same consumers (either favorable or less than), site performance is not a “nice to have,” it is critical.
Poor site performance is expensive. Industries may vary as far as numbers, but let’s see on average what the damage looks like when it comes to what slow site speed will cost you. For example, if you’re running an ecommerce site that makes $100,000 per day, a one second page delay could cost you $2.5 million per year in lost sales. To put that in eCommerce behemoth terms, let’s take Amazon. Performance tests showed they would lose $1.6 BILLION every year if they slowed down by just one second.
What is the Benchmark for Optimal Site Speed?
The Google-recommended page load time is under two seconds. Two seconds is the threshold for ecommerce website acceptability, while Google aims to keep load time under a half-second. Additional food for thought: 47% of consumers expect a page to load in two seconds are less, while studies show for every 100ms decrease in home page load speed results in a 1.11% lift in session-based conversion.
Other factors that affect site performance to keep in mind: mobile device usage, bandwidth, and variable internet speeds by user region.
So now that you’re aware of the high stakes of slow site speed, the good news is you have options for improving it. First things first, always be testing.
Web Application Performance & Speed Testing Tools
There are many products and services in the market to diagnose web application speed and performance. It’s important to have a clear picture of how your site is performing and be able to make tweaks quickly and easily. More benefits to these tools include:
Find out how your site is performing across devices. Most users are visiting through a mobile device so optimization is key
See how your site is performing across regions and countries
Analyze and optimize for better rankings and UX
Triage bottlenecks and make optimization decisions based on ROI and conversion rates
Interested in Learning More About Elastic Path Commerce Cloud?
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See the Future of eCommerce
The Top Web Performance/Speed Testing Tools:
Pingdom Speed Test
GTmetrix
Google PageSpeed Insights
Yellow Lab Tools
WebPage Test
KeyCDN Website Testing Tools
DotCom-Monitor
Dareboost
IsItWP Website Speed Tool
GiftOfSpeed
Figure 1: A typical Web Performance Tool interface Source: Pingdom
Next Steps: How to Improve on Speed and Overall Performance
Now that you’ve invested the time in the proper tools to monitor and improve site speed, and understand the slim window to keep a user engaged and on the path to purchase, here are a few things to consider that affect speed:
Dynamic vs. Static Content Management – The difference between the two is dynamic content is anything subject to change based on user input such as product, pricing, or descriptions. This content is stored in a database and is fetched when the user engages with it, otherwise known as async communication. Static content on the other hand is anything remaining the same in the experience such as the navigation menu. Both types of content have distinct yet crucial functions on a site but are managed differently.
While static content typically loads faster there are ways to manage dynamic content to alleviate issues and slower load times. As you edit dynamic content you want to avoid editing the HTML code as this will cause breaks in your site. Additionally when managing dynamic content use proper caching and Content Delivery Networks (CDN) to bridge the gaps between dynamic and static content.
Use a Faster Website Host – upgrading your website host can significantly affect your site speed. While you’d also be looking at site uptime, traffic volume (especially the ability to manage spikes during peak activity), customer support, and of course price. Here is a helpful Top 10 list of vendors to get started. You’ll want to review many providers and continuously comparison shop especially as you scale your business.
Image Optimization - no surprise that visual content engages users. However, high quality imagery means larger files that eat up load time. Using resized and compressed files is a lighter lift for the server to load the image.
Within imagery you’ll want to pay attention to the file format. There are four file types: PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, and SVG. A general rule of thumb is to avoid GIFs since they do drag on site speed. When choosing between PNGs and JPEGs, PNGs work well for graphics and screenshots, while JPEGs are ideal for photographs. The newcomer is the SVG file format, or scalable vector graphic that renders well in web applications and across other use cases. Lazy load plugins are also useful to only render photos where the user is browsing.
Reduce HTTP Requests – HTTP requests occur when the browser sends a request to the server for information. The fewer requests a website must make the faster the site can load. The amount and the size of the requested files affects load times, however most engaging sites have both multiple and larger files. The best way to address this issue and is to run a full report on your site and assess what images are taking the longest to load and if in fact you need them. After you assess what’s needed, you can reduce the file size.
Web Application Optimization is a Team Effort
Web application design and management is a collaborative effort between IT and marketing teams. You’ll want to consider the user experience but also look at the technical load of what you’re providing to the user. Poor site speed results in bounce rates; essentially all the work you put into an engaging interface is null and void if the load times are sluggish. It takes the unique roles and goals of each side to create a memorable experience that consistently drives conversion.
Topics: user, website, site, web, load, dynamic, matters, performance, content, application, speed, improve. -
Why You Need a Responsive Web Design and How to Do It [+ Examples]
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The insights from this article came from the HubSpot Academy's Free Website Optimization Course. Take the full course to learn more about responsive design and how to optimize your website's performance.
Topics: website, mobile, users, device, responsive, web, websites, devices, screen, design, examples, need. -
Will Web3 Change Ecommerce?
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The concept of a decentralized web could lead to new forms of ecommerce. Web3 — sometimes called web 3.0 — is a popular buzzword. Queries on Google for the phrase peaked in early December with search volume about 20 times that of just a year before.
Topics: facebook, economically, change, web2, applications, million, ecommerce, trust, strong, web3, web.