1. JavaScript or other crawler-unfriendly navigation that may impede indexing

This one is best avoided at design-time, by including Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 Level A in the design brief, but if you’ve ended up with JavaScript-based navigation on your site (check by doing “View Source” and searching for the code for your home page link and so on - if you can find it, then it’s probably not javascript) and it’s based on some template system, a webmaster can probably do a whole-site edit to put the navigation links in the page properly - or at least add a useful <noscript> tag.

2. Navigation that buries important pages within the site architecture.

The structure of the website’s files and the structure of the link menus do not need to match, so if there’s a page that you feel is important, get your webmaster to add it to the navigation links across the whole site.

3. Duplicate “pages” getting indexed under multiple URLs.

This usually happens for one of two reasons: one is inappropriately-parked domains, which is mistake 6 below and often fairly easy to fix; the other is a misbehaving web application, which you’ll need to get a programmer to fix.

You can do a simple test of your web application by starting at your homepage and following links to a particular page; then open a new browser window and try to reach the same page by different links (or a site search) and compare the address bars (the bit of your browser showing http://) - do they match? If not, you’ve got this problem.

4. No keyword phrase focus in the content or conversely, keyword phrase stuffing

You can use a good word-counter on the text to see how common different keywords and keyphrases, or use the “webmaster tools” section of some search engines to see what they’re focusing on.

Keyword-stuffing can be fairly easy to see. If you “View Source” on a page and there’s a large block of keyword-intensive text somewhere in it that doesn’t appear it when viewed in a browser, then it’s probably stuffing. Many sites regard stuffing as a sort of spam, so you don’t want to be found doing this.

To fix these problems, rewrite the page text appropriately.

5. An optimized home page, but that’s it

Repeat your checks from problem 4 on a few pages other than the home page to discover whether you suffer from this. Also, see whether your website statistics show search engine visitors arriving at a variety of different pages (these are sometimes called “Entry Page” statistics).

6. Additional domains owned by the company are not properly redirected

If you usually use .co.uk, but you also have a .com domain, try visiting a random page on your website, then click in the address bar and replace the .co.uk with .com - what happens?

If the page is Not Found, then your domains aren’t properly redirected and you need a Redirect adding to the second one.

If the page displays but the address doesn’t change itself back, then your domains are probably pointing at the same webspace but aren’t properly redirected, which will mean you’re probably making mistake 3 above. Usually, the simplest way to fix this is with a conditional redirect. On Apache webservers, you can add a .htaccess file containing something like:-

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.yourdomain\.co\.uk$ [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.yourdomain.co.uk/$1 [R=permanent,L]

That even works on BT Business web hosting, by the way. If it doesn’t work, try asking your web hosting provider to enable mod_rewrite for you or ask them to suggest how to achieve the same result.

The above list of mistakes was published on Search Engine Land last week. The correction methods are all things used by my webmaster cooperative.

Keep your customers engaged with frequent changes to your eCommerce website. Add incentives by providing special offers, price discounts and even design changes.

Have you ever frustrated when your local Tesco or Asda move products around or wondered why they display things in a different aisle? If you knew exactly where everything was there would be more chance for you to go into the shop, collect only what you want, pay and go.

The leading supermarkets are great at turning passive shoppers into positive customers.  Have you ever come out of your local Tesco or Asda supermarket with more than what you went shopping for?

When managing your eCommerce store, consider the frequent changes these stores make and how it keeps you looking around the whole shop, and possibly spending more time and money. From this perspective, you will start to see things differently.  Now, if you understand and mimic this style of proactive push marketing, you will be one step ahead of your nearest competitor, unless that is Tesco!

Finally, by way of concluding this series of 10 tips for better eCommerce success

If you are adding an eCommerce shop to your existing business then it will compliment your business strategy as long as you undertake the advice I have given you over the course of this series of blog posts. Online business success is no different to any other forms of business success. Good development and design, professional management and marketing, and ongoing research and analysis will bring you eCommerce business success.

And remember… it doesn’t matter how successful you are, your nearest competitor is only a click away!

Don’t spend too much time deliberating on whether you should try this or that.  To err is human, but failing to exploit opportunities on the web can be suicidal and is a major threat to your internet success.

This may sound harsh but if you are not prepared to spend a reasonable budget on your eCommerce plans, then don’t be surprised if you fail!

Too many times I have been asked to manage a business’ online development, only to be told that there isn’t enough money!

By enough I mean the going market rate.  Too many times a business will be wasting marketing money and time on offline advertising such as Yellow Pages and Thomson Local, and when it comes to developing and marketing an eCommerce website, expectations outweigh a budget.

If you build it they will come

That’s not to say, if you throw enough money at an online business it will succeed.  Like any other part of a successful business, you will need the correct budget, time, management, expertise, website, software and team.  Just don’t try to fit your plans and expert advice into a tight budget.

Learn hard and fast

Always have an unbiased assessment of your online business and be prepared to spot your mistakes. Learn the art of covering your mistakes and rectify them before your competitors come to know about them.

Business is all about speed. Speed is essential in identifying and rectifying mistakes, but also in being there at the right time with the right products and services. Being positive but not frivolous will reap eCommerce business success.

Backend operations are the backbone of your online storefront. Spend time analysing and getting to know the backend administrative area provided by your eCommerce software.

Features such as inventory management processing, customer history, credit card processing and the reporting systems. The backend functionality is as useful to you for managing the system as it is for the frontend to be aesthetically pleasing and easy to use, for your customers.

All your backend operations are expected to be accurate, scalable and provide real time data. Your choice of eCommerce solution should largely depend on the strength of your backend operations and how much information it will provide you with on your customers, and how customisable it can be in helping to manage selling your products or services.

A potential threat to your eCommerce operations is systems failure owing to faulty backend operations. Ensure the existence of a strong backend platform before opening for business.

As before, I am going to recommend OS Commerce as the software package that fits with all your requirements to set up a successful eCommerce site.

Make a bigger web footprint by managing an ongoing internet marketing campaign.

Make sure your developers are well versed in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).  Don’t be surprised if they’re not!

Many companies offer website design & development, while others simply concentrate on online marketing.  It is preferable to deal with one company who are experts in both, or at least will oversee the whole project, as both are necessary for a successful eCommerce business.

It’s no good having the best looking eCommerce website on the Internet, offering the best prices in the UK, if no one can find your site!

To be successful online, make your eCommerce website visible

Since a large majority of your new customers are going to be introduced to your website via a search engine such as Google or a directory such as Yahoo, you will necessarily need to spend time and money on getting your eCommerce site seen in the major search engines.

It is difficult to break into competitive online markets, but the longer you lave it the harder it becomes. You can either hire a professional internet marketing company to manage this for you or carry out Internet marketing by yourself.

Associate your web site with others providing complimentary products or services

This will again help you in increasing your web presence both for search engines and for your customers.

It should be a vital part of your strategy for business growth to keep a record of all your existing customers and others who may have visited your online store but left without buying anything.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is of the utmost importance.  It will help to build your customer base. Develop innovative ways to inform past customers about new products and the latest updates to the eCommerce store. As recommended in my previous post, Better eCommerce Business Success #5,  you can send newsletters to both customers and potential customers who have requested email notification of special offers, new products or services etc.

Some eCommerce solutions include a CRM system but a bespoke CRM system may be more suitable.   To get ahead of your competitors, try different ways of communicating with your customers.  Be sure to keep a record of any campaign results.

Always remember the point I made earlier, it is easier to make money from existing customers than find new ones, so look after your customers and make them feel special.

This is called push marketing. It is when you go to a store for one thing and come out with another!
Don’t create an online shop and expecting your customers to browse your eCommerce site in the same way they may walk around your bricks & mortar shop, looking for bargains or whether you sell their size in a particular colour.

The quicker they can find what they are looking for, the stronger the impulse is to buy.

Design your online store in such a way that the customer is left in no doubt what you sell and what your selling points are, whether it be free delivery, tax free or low prices. Your customer may not have been ready to buy, but when they are, you want them to think of you first.

Offering a free newsletter sign-up is a good way of continuing to push your products and services at customers and potential customers alike, while they are not actually on your website.

Place your best products or services, or those you want to promote, on your home page. Make them stand out so visitors to your online shop notice them.

Your website needs to give a great first impression, and leave visitors wanting to return and possibly even telling others to visit the site because of the good experience they have had, whether that be the usability, cool design, available product range, competitive prices or better still, a mixture of all of the above.

The other important thing to consider is that to be successful, your eCommerce website needs to be found. Unless someone knows your website address they are more likely to be introduced to your site via a major search, such as Google, than any other way. It is therefore critical to consider making sure your online shop has been ‘optimised’ to gain the highest ranking possible. This is called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

You should make sure you know if your eCommerce developers are undertaking SEO as part of the development, or whether you will need an online marketing company to undertake the work once the website goes live.

I have already suggested that OS Commerce is by far the best eCommerce software you can use. It comes with its own awful templates. They do the job but you can spot an OS Commerce template site from the other side of cyber space.

Always use a bespoke design, one that will attract your target audience. It will be more expensive but worth every penny. If visibility is the first rule of having a successful online presence, then a visitors’ first impression must be the second rule.

Your website needs to be professional looking, appealing and attractive to your desired customers. A professional looking, well designed website will give an impression that your website is safe and secure. Not just your website, but more importantly, your company.

Users will feel more obliged to do business with you if your eCommerce store is easy to use, allows the customer to find what they want and feel in-control of their actions. This last point is very important. If the customers feels in control of the situation, they are more likely to proceed and buy your products and services.

Learn more about your customers and create unique branding by using distinct colour combinations, site layout and an innovative and appealing logo.

Get your designer to create an attractive display logo that will help distinguish your eCommerce site from your competition.

Choosing the right eCommerce software:
There are many eCommerce solutions to choose from and every “expert” will have their own opinion. I believe this is the best independent and impartial advice I can give.

When you are choosing your web developers ask them what eCommerce software is best for you and your business and why. If they say any of the following, I would consider they are thinking of themselves, and not your business:

a) We have built our own eCommerce software
b) We use an off-the-shelf “Shop-in-Box” solution
c) Not sure, this is our first eCommerce site
d) We were hoping you wouldn’t ask
e) What’s eCommerce?

I recommend using OS Commerce (OS stands for Open Source) for the following reasons:

a) It is free to use
b) There is no need for a license
c) It is open source and therefore you are not tied to one particular company such as Microsoft.

OS Commerce is developed in PHP and uses a MySQL database, both of which are industry standard and the most commonly used programming language and database for website development. Therefore, if you become disenchanted with your developers you will have no problem finding someone else who should be able to understand and undertake management and further development of your eCommerce site.

Furthermore, there is a world wide community of web developers who are continually adding new modules and plug-ins for OS Commerce.

Always remember you need the best team and the right software to make your online business a success.

A good business plan

Whether you’re a thinker or a doer, behind all successful business ideas there’s a great business plan.

Your business success will rely heavily on managing your revenue source, knowing where and when to expect your break-even points and most importantly, by making your business plan a rolling plan and not a static one. To create a successful eCommerce business you need a well written business plan. But to continue managing the expected growth of your online success, your business plan needs to show your next 12 months, at all times.

One client I worked with at Buzzin’ Fly a few years ago, came to us after having a real nightmare with their eCommerce developers. After an initial meeting I explained that we would only work with them if they put their ideas into a business plan with time frames attached to their aims and goals. The meeting appeared to end rather abruptly though I was contacted again by the client two or three weeks later and we agreed to move forward as they had written a business plan.

They are now running a very successful online home furniture eCommerce website and agree, not only was the success of their online business due to writing a solid business plan, but also blamed the breakdown of relations with the previous web development company on the lack of focus and vision that only became clear when writing a business plan.

By setting regular aims and goals and monitoring your progress and results at all times, you will always be in control of your business success. Don’t leave anything that matters unchecked. Don’t leave anything down to luck. You will make your own luck by being in the right place at the right time. But that won’t be down to fate, luck or the stars. It will all be down to your business planning and your business growth control.

By being 100% in control of your business you will be more confident of your business success. eCommerce needs a good idea, a solid business plan and the right software and developers.

I will discuss software & developers in Better eCommerce Business Success #3