ECommerce

By Joanna L. Krotz

If you’ve invested a lot in online selling and marketing, you’ll be wasting those dollars unless you also spend some time and money on developing engaging content for your e-commerce site.

Clear, compelling content not only attracts customers who are searching on MSN or Google, or following banners and other links to find what you offer. Good articles, how-tos, product demos, customer success stories, and other resources also persuade customers to stay on your site and to return. When marketing efforts move customers to visit, but the pages are sparse or the content is poorly presented or doesn’t live up to the marketing promises, customers will click away in a heartbeat.

As online shopping grows and businesses and households adopt high-speed connections, the quality of online content is becoming increasingly critical.

For instance, a 2004 study of the Web habits of 18- to 34-year-olds, conducted by comScore for the Online Publishers Association, found that those with broadband access not only spent 52% more time online than their dial-up counterparts, but they used the extra time to visit entertainment and content sites rather than for Internet utilities such as e-mail or instant messaging. The broadband group logged a whopping 72% more time on general news sites. “With an ‘always on’ connection, the Internet rapidly becomes a dominant source of news, lifestyle information and entertainment,” said Michael Zimbalist, president of the Online Publishers Association, when the study was released.

Creating and publishing strong Web site content is a topic for which books are written. In this article, we seek to pass along some basic guidelines to move you in the right direction. Below are 10 dos and don’ts of using e-commerce site content to make the most of your marketing budget. But first, let’s discuss two basic how-tos.

1.

Target your preferred customer.”The most valuable content for your visitors solves a problem or answers a question for them,” says Wally Bock, a content strategist based in Wilmington, N.C. Even so, good content comes in many packages.An insurance broker, for example, might create an online “Resources” channel to host articles about various types of insurance and policies. She might license a few interactive calculators that let potential customers input personal information to figure how much coverage they need — which, by the way, keeps them drilling down into the site, thus driving interest and sales. Plus, a broker needs prominent multi-channel contact information on every page because customers want to meet before they buy.By contrast, a fragrance e-tailer requires much snappier, lighter content that promises very different benefits. He might create or license a news-ticker application to scroll fashion and design trend headlines across the screen. That would not only engage visitor interest but also emphasize that he’s up-to-date. He could post timely reviews of new designer fragrance lines. To satisfy customer demands for signature scents, he needs to showcase a broad and stylish inventory, perhaps with the help of an automated online store tool such as Microsoft Commerce Manager.

2.

Know that there are many logistics to tackle; here is just a sampling.Before creating any content, make sure you have thought-out answers to these questions: • Who is your online customer and what needs are you satisfying? “Try to think like a visitor to the site, not like the owner or creative talent,” advises Miki Dzugan at Rapport Online, an Internet marketer based in St. Paul, Minn. • Do you have a content plan and strategy? Do you have (or know how to get) content that you know is useful for your defined customer? • How will you produce and publish that content? Will you hire a Web writer or perhaps license syndicated content? • What is the goal of each page on the site? • Do you have a publishing schedule? In other words, you can’t, in most cases, put up several pages of content and then just forget about them for several years. Your most prominent pages, at the very least, should be periodically refreshed. How often will you update your content and which pages will you update? • What resources do you need to manage and maintain the content? If you plan an ongoing program, it might be worthwhile to automate content management with a system such asMicrosoft Content Management Server, which allows you to work in Microsoft Office using templates or documents created by Publisher, Word or PowerPoint.

10 dos and don’ts of content programming

Content needs are always evolving, and they vary depending on your market and customer base and how fast your company grows. But these overall rules apply:

1.	Don’t fall for fancy. Whether it’s product descriptions, white papers, search function copy or customer testimonials, stick to basics. Don’t use a lot of jargon or technical language that users may not understand. “There is still no substitute for Keep It Simple, Stupid,” says Alan Canton of the Adams-Blake company, a contract publisher in Fair Oaks, Calif.
2.	Do stay tech-savvy. Make sure you test new content on every platform, operating system, browser and channel that your user might try. You’ll be glad you did, because users won’t always tell you. “Users rarely report Web site errors and even when they do, their reports are typically vague,” says David Jilk, chief executive of Xaffire, a Web management company in Superior, Co.
3.	Don’t write the content yourself. Many small-business owners try to contain costs by writing their own Web copy. Just as you wouldn’t cut corners on products or customer service, don’t cheap out on content. Invest in professional copywriting (unless, of course, that’s what you do). Plus, make sure every word is proofread – several times. If you think customers will forgive typos and misspelled words because of the great products you sell, think again.
4.	Do consider graphics as content. Text-heavy pages can be tedious and boring, no matter how compelling the text. Put the best face you can on your site with professional artwork that enhances your pages, breaks up text, and illustrates and complements the written content you are publishing.
5.	Do carefully consider Flash. Web experts have lots of opinions about Flash animations and graphics. Some love Flash; others love to hate it. In fact, Flash is a tool, just like any other Web-building application. While Flash graphics tend to be screened out by search engines (and therefore may make it harder for customers to find you), such design may also be just the thing to make customers delighted or impressed. Surf around, check out competitor sites. Then decide whether Flash content is right for your business.
6.	Do plan to refresh, refresh, refresh. “With digital cameras and Web-building software, there’s no reason why your site should look like the same old clothes hanging on the line month after month,” says Daniel Pearson, a marketing copywriter based near Research Triangle Park, N.C. “Every two to three weeks is ideal.” Programs such asMicrosoft FrontPage make updating content easy.
7.	Do be upfront about fees or policies. Consumers don’t want surprises. “Let them see your toll-free phone number, your shipping fees and your return policy,” says Andy Beal, vice president of marketing at WebSourced, a Web services company in Morrisville, N.C.
8.	Don’t clutter your home page. Many business owners tend to pack all their product information and services onto the home page, which makes the user dizzy or confused. Use the home page to define your company’s products and point of difference. Then make sure your navigation design easily directs visitors to the detail pages.
9.	Do give visitors a reason to return. You can post monthly news or reports, send e-mail marketing for special offers, create calendars and reviews of industry events — whatever works for your business. Use your content to drive repeat traffic.
10.	Last, but not least: Don’t publish content that will disappoint your customer. Many Web sites offer channels that promise responses, such as e-mail replies to customer comments or queries, or boards with ongoing discussions, polls or surveys that are supposed to post results. If you can’t effectively manage the responses, don’t set up such channels.

E-commerce site content is designed to make life easier, better, faster and more satisfying for your best customer. Keep that in mind and you won’t go wrong.

Joanna L. Krotz writes about small-business marketing and management issues. She is the co-author of the “Microsoft Small Business Kit” and runsMuse2Muse Productions, a New York City-based custom publisher.

By Monte Enbysk

So you’re planning to sell your products on the Web. Know that it’s not enough that your graphics are sharp, your content is fun and easy to read, and your online catalog is pretty darn spiffy

Your overall site design and infrastructure count, too.

How fast do your pages load? How navigable is your site? What about server capacity and browser compatibility?

Brent Melson is a senior technical designer for NTSL (National Software Testing Labs), a Philadelphia-area company, who makes his living testing Web site architectures and related Internet technologies. Here are his five most-common e-commerce site boo-boos.

1.	Too many dynamic pages that take valuable seconds to load.”Dynamic” pages are those with changing content processed in real time from application servers and other Web servers. Dynamic content often encompasses links to databases that aren’t part of the Web site — for updates in news headlines, stock quotes and sports scores — or ad blocks in which advertiser messages revolve through each time a new user hits the site. For the most part, dynamic content is trendy, popular and valued by most Web users. But too much of it on pages, or spread over too many pages, can slow your site down, unless you have some of the more sophisticated Web software used by larger Internet and e-commerce sites. Pages that take several seconds to load generally send users to other sites. Melson argues that smaller e-commerce sites should confine their dynamic content to a certain number of pages, and make many or most of their Web pages “static,” or without continuously changing content. And they should limit dynamic content to windows or certain portions of mostly static pages. It is particularly important, he says, to keep your home page and many of your intro pages as static as possible. The deeper a user gets into your site, the more likely he or she is to tolerate pages taking longer to load (though some would even dispute this). “It is really a design issue,” he says. “It is easier for many businesses to make their Web pages dynamic. Most sites need dynamic pages. But there are performance issues with them. That’s what Web operators need to keep in mind.”
2.	Overestimating concurrent traffic — and spending too much as a result.Most tech writers like me tell you to plan your site for peak traffic periods, especially those that occur in the last-minute buying frenzy before the December holidays. Melson, however, says the term “concurrent” is frequently misunderstood by Web operators. It doesn’t mean number of customers overall, or even site traffic in a day, but rather the number of users converging on a site simultaneously. Too often, he says, Web operators pay thousands of dollars more for server space and related software because they have been too generous in their estimates on concurrent traffic. “If you aim high and have an unlimited hardware budget, it’s not going to be a big deal. But if you don’t have an unlimited budget, my advice is to think realistically about the number of people you will have using the site at any one time.” Alexis Gutzman, an e-business author and consultant, cautions that spikes do occur for many e-tailers around Dec. 12 or so (one of the last days you can ship packages long distances to arrive before Dec. 25). “In my experience, many people don’t overestimate. They fail to plan for the peak,” she says.
3.	No consideration of resolving performance issues with software rather than buying new hardware.When performance bottlenecks occur, many Web operators quickly conclude it’s a hardware problem — and rush to buy a new server or two to add more capacity. That’s often a mistake, Melson says. “In our experience, about 70% of the time it’s a software issue and 30% of the time it’s a hardware problem. But instead of thinking about how they can fix or redesign their software, they throw more hardware at it.” It may be a case of simply rewriting the software or adding new application software, he says. Perhaps they need to buy more memory for their database server, rather than buying a new server. Often the software solution is cheaper and quicker to implement, he says (although hardware currently is as cheap as it has been in some time). The difficulty here, Melson acknowledges, is that small businesses don’t have information technology (IT) staffs or the time and money to diagnose infrastructure problems and/or rewrite software. Most businesses should have an IT consultant or trusted value-added reseller (VAR) to advise them, however.
4.	Not making the site compatible with more than one Web browser.If you had to choose one browser to support, it would be Microsoft Internet Explorer, the dominant browser with more than 80% of the market. “But what about the Apple Macintosh customer — do you want to turn him away?” Melson asks. “How about the Netscape user?” If not, you need to test your site and system with the other browsers. Some tweaking of the user interface is likely to ensure tables, charts, graphics and functionality work well on the different browsers. “Often these are very simple or minor fixes. You might need to only change some colors, or add new elements. If you don’t ever look at your site on other Web browsers, you won’t ever know that you need to fix it,” he says. Supporting more than a single browser is more important for an online retailer than a B2B company, Melson says, because a retailer’s customers are more random. But if you don’t feel it is important, he says, you should put a disclaimer on your site noting that it supports — or works best with — only one particular browser.
5.	Failure to get outside feedback on usability.”Usability” is now more than a buzzword. It has emerged as a significant metric for how Web sites are viewed today. Usability surveys, usability tests, usability scores and usability focus groups are all part of the research and development of most large Web sites. Melson’s finding is that many smaller e-commerce operators don’t get usability feedback from anyone beyond those on their development team. But those developers and others are too close to the process and biased toward the chosen design and infrastructure. “You get used to your site and used to any foibles.” For small businesses, organizing a focus group to evaluate your Web site is beyond your time and resources. But getting some sort of outside perspective — be it employees not involved in the design, or your spouses or friends — is crucial to the site’s development and performance. “You need to hear from people who aren’t working on it.”

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Monte Enbysk is a lead editor for the Microsoft.com network and writes occasionally about technology for small businesses.

By Kim Komando

Many retailers limp through the year, holding on for holiday sales. A failure of their e-commerce Web site in this crucial period could seriously damage — or even kill — a business.

I’ve learned some pretty hard lessons myself about e-store problems. Most apply to the entire year. But the stress of monster holiday sales makes them more likely to pop up. Hopefully, you can learn from me. There’s no point in both of us making the same mistakes, right?

That said, let’s start with credit-card processing.

Mistake No. 1: Not knowing your limits.

This is funny now, but it wasn’t at the time. One weekend, we got more business than we ever anticipated. My limit on the volume of credit-card transactions that could be processed was too low, and all customers’ cards thereafter were refused. This was all computerized, so my staff and I did not immediately realize there was a problem.

Of course, this happened on a Saturday, precisely at midnight. At that very moment, customers trying to check out of our electronic mall received this message: “We’re sorry. We cannot process your card at this time.” Nothing irritates me more than vague computer error messages. Clearly, this one could have been better. It suggested the customers’ cards were invalid or out of credit.

I discovered the problem Monday morning, when I found many irate customers’ e-mails. The gist of their messages was, “What do you mean, you can’t process my Visa?!! This card is good!!” Some of the messages were quite, uh, emphatic.

I had the limit removed right away. We tried contacting the lost customers, but most of those weekend sales were gone.

The first lesson is clear: Be sure your system is prepared for a flood of business. Also, don’t be too dependent on automation. Computers are wonderful, but if you have a problem, you want to know early. So, double check often, and every once in awhile, place an order yourself.

Mistake No. 2: Not watching the home front.

The holiday season stresses you, your staff and your credit-card and fulfillment contractors. If you do a big slug of business over the Internet, it stresses your computer systems and network, too.

Don’t assume everything is OK, just because you haven’t had any recent problems. Computer problems are guaranteed to appear at inopportune times. That goes for both hardware and software. Be sure you have people available who can fix things quickly. If you have to, put them under contract.

To monitor our servers, I use the Watchdog service from Master.com. It will send an e-mail message to a pager or cell phone if a server goes down. Watchdog checks the server every 15 minutes. Best of all, it is free.

Other monitoring services offer more, for a fee. For instance, NetMechanic.com, for about $20 per month, monitors servers from different locations. That ensures that apparent server failures are not caused by the monitoring computer, or network problems.

NetMechanic also computes a grade for your server. It downloads a 10-kilobyte file every 15 minutes throughout the day and computes an average download time. That time is then compared with other servers. Your grade is based on how well your server does compared to the others. A poor grade, or a declining grade, might indicate that your server is overloaded.

Numerous other monitoring services are available at reasonable prices, including WebWatchR.com and AlertSite.com.

NetMechanic includes Load Time Check in its HTML Toolbox. It checks the download time for pages. It spots problems with graphics and other objects that can delay load times.

Also, for an additional fee, HTML Toolbox checks your code for problems that can delay loading by browsers. If it finds problems, it generates a corrected page that you can upload. And it will check the site for browser compatibility. Not all pages will work in all browsers. You could be losing money if a segment of your customers cannot see everything on your site.

Mistake No. 3: Not keeping tabs on your site.

This should go without saying, but I’ll belabor it anyway. If your site doesn’t work properly, your customers could conclude that you’re incompetent. A poorly operating site will drive people away.

If you have a site reporting program such as WebTrends.com, and it indicates people are wandering around aimlessly, it may be because the site is poorly designed. Some design glitches are easy to fix. You might do those on the fly during the season. More serious problems would require some site surgery. That will have to wait, obviously.

Site reporting programs can tell you a lot about how your site is working internally. Microsoft’s FastCounter Pro provides summaries of site traffic. It also shows traffic patterns, which can give you a good idea of what most interests your customers. And it will tell you where your traffic is originating. FastCounter Pro costs $19.95 per month, and offers a free 30-day trial.

WebTrends also offers many features. But it is several hundred dollars.

If you haven’t already, check your site for dead links. Things on sites get moved around incrementally, and it’s easy to forget a link that no longer works. Frustrated customers may just go to a competitor.

On my site, I use a search program from Master.com to check the links. The program is free. Numerous other programs will also do the job, but you’ll have to pay for them. Keep in mind that a link checker will only tell you that the links work. If the link goes to the wrong place, they won’t catch that.

Make sure everything else is current, too. Descriptions of products and “Terms and Conditions” can get out of date. And check that all of the people mentioned on the site still work there. You don’t want people sending e-mails to Joe in customer service if Joe is long gone.

Any changes you make during the season should emphasize functionality. That isn’t to say that decorations should be ignored; a festive look will encourage shoppers.

But remember this: Those same decorations could make the site slow to download. Jingle Bells may seem like a good idea, but the file could be quite large. When people open a page, they are downloading all the files that make up that page. Large files could significantly slow the download, frustrating the customer.

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Kim Komando writes about workplace technology and security issues. She’s the host of the nation’s largest talk-radio show about computers and the Internet, and writes a syndicated column for more than 100 Gannett newspapers and for USA Today.