My mom currently runs a really good business online selling tanning lotion and I was just looking at some analytics for her site today and realized, as someone with a lot of experience in affiliate-based marketing and search engine optimization, that she could be doing a lot better. Her site has been up since 2008. I noticed the Alexa on her site is nearly 1.3 million, which seems to be really bad when you consider the length her site has been around. Her PageRank is 2, which isn't terrible. I decided to run through Google to see where she ranks for these keywords: buy tanning lotion buy tanning lotion online buy indoor tanning lotion indoor tanning lotion tanning lotions cheap tanning lotion discount tanning lotion best tanning lotion The only keyword she ranks on the first page for is "buy tanning lotion online", which is probably the worst of that bunch. Basically, I want to either do some basic SEO myself or convince her to invest some money each month and go with a professional SEO team who can help her rank better. Other than that, she is using Zen Cart. Zen Cart is a great free shopping cart, but to me it looks and feels really unprofessional and maybe even untrustworthy to some customers? She doesn't have Google Analytics set up so I can't see her bounce rate, but that'd be interested to look at. I really want to set her up with a cart that has add-ons that are relevant in 2011. A lot of the Zen Carts mods I see are things to change the scape of the design or to add checkout features, that's great, but that cart system needs some real power tools. I want to have her cart integrating with Twitter and/or Facebook so people know when new products are coming out, I'd like to have her a newsletter set up either internally or through AWeber, she just needs something that is more feature rich. Zen Cart has been good for her because (other than the fact she's used to it), it's very easy to navigate. She isn't a professional designer or anything, but she manages to do her own logos and stuff so she doesn't need some $2000 design work being done, I think that overall she just needs a cart that can do me, that can integrate with social media platforms, etc. Any recommendations?
Hi there, I have read your description and have almost found your mother's website which might be www.lotionsgalore.com as there was only 1 website made with ZenCart using that keyword on google first page. Please give me the correct URL if i am wrong. Let me suggest few things in general which can boost that website... 1. You can use www.opencart.com as a free solution to build a new website. - It is really nice in terms of managing products, orders, customers, and all. The default design it comes with, is also perfect if you do not want to change it. check it here... http://demo.opencart.com/ - check full admin and front demo at here... http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=demonstration/demonstration - It has several plugins and addons available fro free and also have a wide range of templates to buy in affordable rates. - It is also very SEO friendly and helps you rank higher with minimum efforts. I can say this as i already have worked on OpenCart development as well as SEO and it did fantastic. - If i will be the person to setup open cart, migrate all products, customers data from zen cart to new website, than i would charge very affordable rates. 2. When you save some money on new website migration as you have nice solution available, you can use that money in basic SEO marketing and see your website doing wonders in search engines. I would be glad to help you in all way i can. Just drop me a message. Looking forward to hear from you.
Hi Friend, Thats a great idea starting an ecommerce business online, High revenue earning platform. I would like to suggest 3 things for ecommerce as my experience will help you. 1. If you are planning to buy a ecommerce script, then AJ Shopping Cart Software ,will be the right choice with plenty of user friendly facilities. 2. If you worry about hosting issue, you can get Zscart - SaaS Ecommerce solution with easy monthly payment option and free trial too. you can make your shop with in five minutes. 3. If you are looking for free source means, Zeuscart will be right choice. Highly downloaded open source script online. Good luck ...Choose one for successful ecommerce business.
Before making overhaul changes to the cart software you're using, you'll want to get the Google Analytics software installed on all the pages. That way you can see what visitors are doing once they get to the site. Are you using Webmaster Tools (Google free tool) as well to learn more about her site? WT will tell you if there are any problems, keywords being used to find her site (and how deep in SERPs), etc.
It will look unprofessional if she is using the classic template of ZenCart. However, if she customized it and created an entirely new theme - that's another case. I will give you a sample website we built using ZenCart - berryunique.com. tell me if that looks unprofessional? RE: Google Analytics. Yes, ZenCart has no built in Google Analytics BUT again, the script can be added on the back-end. Only developers can do it. For open-Source eCommerce platforms, I can say that OpenCart, ZenCart & OSCommerce are the good ones for the reason that they highly customizable (developer side) and easy to navigate (user side). For paid platforms, Big Commerce and Volusion are the best ones - in my opinion as developer.
I am sure others are more qualified and knowledgeable about cart software but I thought I would give a little input. Years ago I messed around with ZenCart but was not a fan. I tried a few others and finally had a custom cart developed for an eCommerce site I set up. Just this past year I went looking again for a shopping cart for a client who ran a jewelry store. I found OpenCart and can say that it was easy to get set up and the extensions were both easy to import and use. OpenCart felt very streamlined and built for the non-savvy eCommerce user. I guess I would compare it to Wordpress in how it is set up - simple to use but capable of very complicated and powerful things. The default design is very attractive, in my opinion. Extensions are plentiful with both free and paid ones available (search filter if you just want to search one type or the other). When I set up the cart, it seemed like every basic requirement for a fully functional e-store was included. I haven't tried creating my own extension or template for it yet so I will have to defer to other DP members for information about the ease or difficulty of working with the system from a development standpoint. If you needed it to do something it doesn't already and there isn't an extension already available, I don't imagine you would pay any more for one to be made than you would for something comparable with ZenCart or OSCommerce. Out of all the free carts I have tried, it seemed to be the most user-friendly. It is free, and a quick install, so if you have a little time I highly suggest at least doing the vanilla install and seeing how it looks and works. Well worth the small time investment in my opinion. If you want to take a look at the extensions, you can check them out on the OpenCart site: http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=extension/extension Regarding search engine placement, you might want to consider getting a WordPress blog set up on the same domain and write up some articles, 2-3 per week, that relate to the products being sold. Not only could the blog provide some Google juice but it could also build up trust with potential buyers. It could also allow your mother to discuss things related to the products that you wouldn't normally see directly on a product page, such as how to choose the right SPF or what all the different ingredients in a lotion do in regards to the tanning process or talk about new developments in the world of tanning. Getting some articles up on sites like EzineArticles may also help by getting you some backlinks and traffic. I would suggest doing some of the basic stuff yourself before hiring someone to do SEO work, or at least hire a consultant who charges a small fee to advise you on what you could do specific to your site before investing larger amounts in having someone do a large amount of SEO work for you. Another way that I believe would be a great way to get some quality backlinks, and targeted traffic, is to find some blogs and sites that relate to the products you sell. Get contact information for them and see if any would be willing to write a review of a product you would send them and post it on their blog/site, in exchange for some free products. You could also offer them a backlink for the review as added incentive. Since you mentioned the ability to do logos, small image badges could be made up and placed on your site as the backlinks, something like "See the review of Product AAA on MrBurnt's Tanning Blog". Well run niche blogs and sites can have some strong followings with very loyal readers who will try a new store just based on the recommendation of the blog/site owner. It can be a great way to get started with building relationships with influential people in the tanning community who could have massive influence on what people buy, and where they but it. From there more doors should open and you could do things like offering a blog/site an exclusive coupon code to share with their fan base or offer free products for a contest on their site. I hope my thoughts were helpful. Good luck to you and your mom!
I have made good experience using Virtuemart. It's free and based on Joomla. It offers lots of good features/modules (different shipping methods, payment options, coupons etc etc). There are almost countless joomla extensions and plugins are available. Most of them for free. Same counts for templates. you can get free templates, pay for templates or just use Artisteer and develop your own templates. In any case before you decide for any changes, install Google Analytics and watch it for a while. There are shops with really lousy designs and layouts but are seo wise really good optimized and they have a good business going. Not that I would recommend a bad design or not to pay the design of a shop any attention, but it's really not the only point if a biz does well or not.
Dont go the Joomla route! Joomla is the tool of the devil i tells you! I had my site professionally built in the end by the guys at altaimage.com.au (based in Australia) they got it up and running within 3 weeks and even done some basic SEO in the build for me. Now i'm running ad campaigns and have had a few sales already. Looking for some advice on SEO so anyone wanting to throw themselves or their knowledge at me feel freeeeeeee!!!
There is nothing wrong with Zen Cart. How professional it looks and how well it works totally depends on you. If your mum is familiar with zencart and the way it operates, i wouldn't really go for a different cart (why make it harder on her?). You can just take care of the design, and any plugins or new features that you think she might need.
Been there, done that got the t-shirt for Zen - imho Zen and OSCommerce are the sort of sites that no one buys from - and I mean - no one!.......
Obviously your prospective customers' didn't like or trust the site for some reason. I highly doubt it's got anything to do with Zen Cart. Zen Cart has worked well for us and my clients.
Not at all - check out my new store - www.allforme.com.au and you can see the professional highly polished finish it has - oscommerce and zen are just very simplistic - severely limited out of the box solutions that have a lot of bad development in the back end, and when you think of your end user it has to be something they not only get to grips with quickly but something they enjoy using as it becomes an integral part of their business!! I hired some the guys at www.altaimage.com.au to piece my project together and they done a fantastic job - they even built me bare shells in os, zen, cube and magento so I could see the different functions and see what one I liked the most - end game was a new solution that was custom built for me. I like the thought of your backhanded compliment insinuating that my stores build quality has something to do with lack of ROI but imho zen and oscommerce stand out as poorly designed stores no matter how you design them - they all look the same and they all look like they've been developed in someones back bedroom which is NOT what your clients are going to want need and or respect when thinking of purchasing! Just trying to give some honest advice here. If you build your stores with zen cart then good for you and your clients - we both know that SEO and developmentally speaking they will lack MAJOR functions and also the .php dev they're built on is about as fragile as can be! All the best with the zencart developments though - sure they'll do someone some good
Just a post note too - I monitor my sites with analytics and a custom mod that my developers gave me too along with a detailed PPC report and google stats and the webmaster tools and have also done extensive marketing - bottom line from all this is that the zen design and builds don't hold any ground over my new site - here's an example of a zencart store.... www.bodybuildinghealthy.com vs my store design and structure allforme.com.au Now tell me seriously - would you go with the zencart build or mine after pairing the two off together?! If you'd like my web guys details I'll happily pass them on - more than happy to recommend good quality when I see it and they really were fantastic (I got my whole store built and implemented for $2000 and then added the live feed and forum in for $500) Not bad considering some of the extortionate quotes I got for ZenCart stores ($10,000 and more?!! Honestly!)