The old cliché among system administrators is that if data doesn’t exist in three places, then it doesn’t exist at all. If your business depends on its Magento store, then you need to be aware that over a long enough time-frame, something is bound to go wrong in a way that corrupts or deletes important data. A backup strategy is an essential part of every business’s disaster recovery plan.
While most web hosting companies will keep a backup of your data, it’s usually not wise to rely on a single backup. It’s much safer to have multiple backups that are kept in different locations: perhaps in the cloud and in secure storage in your offices.
The process of taking a full backup is fairly straightforward with Magento, but there are a few common mistakes that you need to be aware of to ensure that your backups are viable and capable of reconstituting your Magento site should the worst happen. Read More »
There are two Magento editions that those planning to start an eCommerce store can choose from: The Magento Community Edition and the Magento Enterprise Edition.
The Magento Community Edition is a powerful and flexible eCommerce platform. It is available for free, so anyone with hosting can download the code and set up their own eCommerce store. Additionally, the Magento community of developers has created a wide variety of plugins that add almost any functionality a retailer might wish for. So, the question often arises: “Is Magento Enterprise Edition better than running the Community edition plus a set of extensions that provide Enterprise-level functionality?”
In some cases, it’s not worth the extra expense. If you are running a micro-business with very few products, are familiar with Magento and eCommerce, have some development experience, and are prepared to rely on the community for support, then the Magento Community Edition is perfectly adequate. However, for larger eCommerce ventures, there are some distinct advantages to paying for an Enterprise Edition License. Read More »
On July 28, 2013, the United States Postal Service (USPS) rolled-out changes to their API that impact you if your Magento Community Edition store is using USPS Priority or Express shipping methods. If this is the case, it’s important to update your Magento CE store right away with the patch that Magento has made available for versions 1.4.x through 1.7.0.2 at: http://www.magentocommerce.com/blog/comments/magento-community-edition-alert-important-patch-for-usps-api/ The shipping methods patch will also need to be applied for versions earlier than 1.7 if it hasn’t been applied already. You can download the patch from the above links and then upload it via FTP, but it’s easier to just grab the patch via wget after you have logged in via SSH. If you don’t have shell access on your account with us yet, you’ll need it to run the patch(es) and so please contact support to have it enabled. Read More »
WordPress recently celebrated its 10th birthday. In the decade of its existence it has developed from a blogging platform to highly flexible solution for building websites of all kinds: from single-page product showcases to enterprise-level publishing sites.
For those looking to start a new website, it’s important to choose the right foundations and, in the modern era of website development, that means choosing the right content management system. Because of WordPress’s history as a blogging platform, the question often arises: “Is WordPress a CMS?”
The short answer to that question is “Yes, most definitely,” but to answer more fully, it will be useful to develop an understanding of exactly what a content management system is, and how WordPress lives up to the requirements of full-fledged CMS. Read More »
Passwords suck. In theory, they’re an excellent way of verifying identity, provided a few fairly simple rules are followed. In practice, most users follow almost none of those rules, which undermines any identity validation and security functions that passwords are supposed to provide. Users tend to choose simple passwords that are easy to remember and easy to hack.
A recent study showed that 95% of sites can be compromised using freely available password dictionaries. Since WordPress is particularly targeted by botnet owners looking to compromise sites – more as a result of its popularity than any particular vulnerability in WordPress — it’s time that site owners who are serious about security look beyond the password.
A simple password login system is a one-factor identity verification method. Adding additional factors significantly increases the level of site’s security. Multi-factor authentication is available in a variety of forms. You might be familiar with Google Authenticator, which has a WordPress plugin and is available for wide range of mobile devices. The idea here is that a second factor, something the user has, is added to the usual password, which is something the user knows. The app generates a code that is used in addition to the password. Read More »
Onsite search is often unduly neglected. Every site owner puts tremendous effort into optimizing their site for external search engines, like Google, but onsite search provision is frequently left to the default WordPress search box, which works adequately, but doesn’t provide users with the experience they’ve come to expect from search. Google does a great job, so why bother with the complexity and overhead of implementing high-quality search within the site? The strongest reason is that the better search is, the less likely visitors are to head back to Google. Most searchers don’t use Google and its competitors for site specific searches. They aren’t aware of the “site:” operator. If it’s not clear where to find content on a site, visitors may try the site’s search box, but if it returns a hodgepodge of unclear and confusing information that does not replicate the search experience that users have become used to with Google, then they’ll head straight for their browser’s search bar. Read More »
Magento, the world’s most popular open source eCommerce platform, can be used in two major versions. Retailers can either go free with the Community Edition or pay for the Enterprise Edition. The Enterprise Edition is not an inexpensive option, and the cost may constitute a major investment for smaller businesses, so they often choose to stick with the Community Edition. However, while the Magento Community Edition is an excellent platform for building an eCommerce store, there are some limitations that make the Enterprise Edition worth serious consideration.
Support
For online retailers, their site is their business. Dealing quickly and efficiently with problems and finding solutions that maximize sales are crucial for maintaining a healthy growing revenue stream. That means having the support of experts who know Magento inside and out and will respond without delay.
The Magento community is a great source of information, but it can fall short when compared to professional support packages. With the Community Edition, store owners are on their own or reliant on finding the answer they want among the disparate collections of advice that exist on the web. Read More »
In a move that further signals Google’s intentions to move away from the standard ten blue links approach and towards more meaningful search results, the search giant has introduced a new section to the SERPs for what it terms “in-depth articles”. The idea is to provide links to articles that Google considers to provide particularly rich and substantial content about some topics.To qualify for inclusion into the new section, articles have to satisfy a number of conditions. Naturally articles should be lengthy examinations of the subject in question, but Google also has requirements regarding schema.org markup and authorship.
Using Schema.org Markup
Schema.org is an agreed standard for semantic markup that is used by all of the major search engines. To qualify for the in-depth article sections, content must include a subset of the schema markup for articles, including markup for the title, alternative headline, and description. Read More »
Simple Steps any Magento merchant can take (today!) to tap into the Facebook commerce platform and start boosting profits!
Importing your Magento store to Facebook can now be done in 2 minutes. With the right marketing tools and the right approach this can become an amazing channel of revenue for you.
Facebook is far more than a social networking site these days. In fact, it’s become a driving force in e-commerce, so much so that it has coined the term “f-commerce” to describe its impact. Maybe you’ve seen the advertising and branding efforts big companies invest in the platform and wondered if such efforts might work as well for your small to medium-sized business. Absolutely! In fact, let me lay out a few quick examples of how Facebook has transformed a variety of business just like yours:
One Piece, a Scandinavian fashion brand, experimented with Facebook promotions by putting up a particular product on discount for fans. The result? They sold so many that they had to shut down the promotion within 24 hours. They’d run out of stock and gained thousands of new followers in the process!
Nava Zahavi brought her mid-sized jewelry design business onto Facebook and started selling products there. With a mere 100 fans at the start, within a couple of months, she’d seen a 400% increase in both her client base and sales!
The New York Times even reported on the “f-Commerce” factor, showing how f-commerce had tripled the annual sales of ‘The Polkadot Alley’.
Still curious if these examples can apply to your Facebook presence as well? Here are ten clear steps you can take to enact your f-commerce strategy today:
Begin with the basics: Import your Magento store to Facebook!
You already have a Magento store (or another kind of store) setup for your company. Maybe you’ve also got a Facebook page. Now, you could try and funnel clients through Facebook to your website—but this would necessitate many more clicks on their part, and it’s been showing each required click or action on the user’s part lessens the likelihood of them continuing to the final sale.
But if you import your web store directly to your Facebook page, then you cut out all the middle sections and optimize your chances of actually turning a profit for each visitor you have. Importing your store onto Facebook can be a 2 minutes process if you use an existing service for it. StoreYa.com is the most trusted Facebook-commerce solution for Magento with popularity score of 8,267 and it would keep your Facebook store synced with your Magento store, so you don’t end up managing more than one store.
Did you know Facebook stores average 20% conversion rates? That’s a major investment selling point, right there!
Let’s get your Facebook store looking good!
How can any visitor to your Facebook page tell if the store there is actually yours? Well, does it share any graphical elements with your brand or website? Your Facebook store should be another touch point to build customer loyalty, but if it just blends in with every other store out there, it’s not living up to its potential. Facebook’s formatting options allows you to upload photos, logos, and other graphics that can make identifying your store with your brand easier than ever.
What do you say now?
Even as you get your Facebook store setup, don’t forget the reason Facebook exists in the first place: conversation and interaction. People are coming to your page wanting to talk and comment, not to have endless advertisements shoved in their face. It’ll be a huge turnoff if your wall posts are just sales announcements.
So what to tell your audience?
If you want customers to become more loyal to your company and return for repeat sales, why not tell them everything they might want to know about who you are and how you work? Provide fun insights about your business, your philosophy, and the passions that drive your company. Tease new products, post images of upcoming items, and post plenty of videos and jokes (if humor fits your brand). Plus, respond to comments so your audience knows you’re engaged.
Try to be as original as you can, but still in order to have a daily interesting/ funny post you can get assistance with services that provide you with fresh and viral content related to your industry like this one.
Cut the constant chatter
While steady communication on Facebook is good, there are certain times that receive more engagement than others. Early morning and late night posts often get 20% or more engagement than posts at other times. Thursdays and Fridays are more active days on Facebook—but this also varies depending on what industry your business is in. Tuesday is great for food and beverage companies. Thursday is awesome for fashion. And for retail, Sunday is prime time. In fact, take a look at this big list of different industries what times work best for you to be active on Facebook.
Like it or not…
Let’s face the facts: In Facebook, exposure and interaction is mostly driven by the number of Likes a particular page receives. No Likes? No exposure—which means almost no likelihood of you getting any sales. Now, before you run off to one of those services offering to sell you Likes, let’s clarify that you need “real” and authentic Likes. Only those are going to make any difference in the real run.
Here are some ways to get started getting Liked:
Don’t be afraid to ask friends, family, and peers to drive some attention your way. Have them Like your main page and spread the word whenever you post an update. Hopefully, they’ll be happy to support your efforts.
Other companies may already have more fans than you, but you can get them on your side as well! By liking other business pages, commenting on their posts and otherwise, you can get your presence out there and attract attention.
There are services which help you find other interested merchants that keep interacting with your page after liking it. (this one charges $5 for lifetime).
If your brand is already established on Facebook, any promotion you run on Facebook would drive further users to become your fans —a tactic that has helped some companies get 4,000+ likes in mere 24 hours.
Social network synergy…
If you already have accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram – import them all to your Facebook fan page. By using the content you post in those channels, you would make you Facebook appearance more appealing to your fans.
Every time someone makes a purchase from you, it’s a chance for you to engage them socially as well. Whether they’re going to your website or your Facebook-based store, you can tag items with Like buttons, or request that the customer announce their purchase to their friends and family upon checkout.
Turning a onetime potential customer into a Facebook fan enables you to keep in touch with that customer and get him/her to buy at your shop again.
What’s in it for your fans?
Want to generate excitement around your Facebook store and fan page? Get some promotions going! Host little contests, offer discounts in exchange for Likes, and give new fans special deals that encourages them to stick around and spread the word all the more. The more unique engagement you offer, and the more it’s incentivized, the better.
Have you got a deal for them?
There’s a reason Groupon, LivingSocial, and other community deal hubs have become so popular. They offer amazing products and offers at incredible discounts. If you offer such promotion within your Facebook store, you can have thousands upon thousands of customers talking about it in no time at all—which means they’ll be Liking you and sharing your links with abandon. It’s a great investment that often returns far beyond expectations.
Connect directly with your target audience
Facebook has gathered an immense amount of user data, which makes it incredibly easy for them to send messages and ads directly to specific customer groups. You can tap into this data through their advertising platform, ensuring your posts and special offers are shown to people who are likeliest to engage with you in return. It does require upfront payments, but practically every company that invests in such has never doubted its effectiveness.
These 10 steps to f-commerce success are enough to get you started, helping you enjoy initial Facebook-based profits—but they’re just a sampling of techniques and tactics you can employ to achieve even higher ROI. Maybe you’ve even tried some of these, enjoyed the results, and are looking for further ways to grow your company’s Facebook presence.
If so, let me point you towards a FREE eBook you can download and read today!
Based on two years of Facebook business running, this eBook presents and summarizes critical data from various f-commerce businesses and shows you how you can emulate their success. I hope it proves a cornerstone of your company’s Facebook profit campaign!
P.S.
If you don’t like to read – you can learn more about Social-Commerce by playing a game of MonopolYa (which is also free).
Web apps have come a long way in recent years, both in their design and user experience. However, web apps still have trouble offering the kind of user experience that a native application can. That’s particularly true of applications that have been around for a long time and haven’t yet overcome the clunky interface of their early days.
While the WordPress admin dashboard and text editor have improved enormously, and there are signs that they’re going to get even better, writing and publishing are still not as smooth and trouble-free an experience as they might be. Fortunately, for WordPress users who care about using aesthetically pleasing and well-designed applications, there are a number of apps in the Apple ecosystem that make writing and publishing articles to a WordPress blog a more pleasant experience. Read More »
To qualify for inclusion into the new section, articles have to satisfy a number of conditions. Naturally articles should be lengthy examinations of the subject in question, but Google also has requirements regarding schema.org markup and authorship.
