Shopping cart providers normally offer their software in one of 2 ways…

Licensed – You can purchase the shopping cart software, download the software to your website host server and allow your host server to “run” the software.  These are often called “licensed” shopping cart solutions, as you purchase and own a license of the software that resides on your server.  By the way, if you hear the words “e-commerce software,” we’re talking about the same thing.  Although, licensed versions of shopping cart software can offer an additional level of html or php code customization, they offer some limitations in terms of upgrades, features, and cost.  Good software provider licenses, like Interspire, typically start at $1,000 or more, and some of them are much higher, like Magento, whose recommended Enterprise software license starts at $12,900 per year.

Hosted – Hosted shopping cart software is different.  Hosted shopping cart software providers like BigCommerce host the software for you on their servers.  Sometimes called SaaS (software as a service), hosted software providers offer you the ability to build your website by logging into a store control panel account you have with the hosting provider.  There are several nice benefits for using hosted vs. licensed shopping cart software.  Version upgrades are often more regular and much, much easier.  Cost is also a very big benefit.  BigCommerce plans start at $24.95 per month, and include many of the deluxe features that you would normally find in the best of the best shopping cart software licensed versions.

BigCommerce, in fact, includes over 400 features that include elements to help you build a great online store and to use the latest social media and mobile marketing tools to build traffic and sales for your store.  BigCommerce stores offer over 96 professionally built BigCommerce templates to make your store look good.  You can offer your customers coupons, gift certificates, wishlist, gift wrapping, account login for rapid checkout.  BigCommerce has a really cool feature called SuperZoom that gives the store visitor the ability zoom way in to your product pics just by hovering their mouse.

With BigCommerce, your customers can buy from their phones.  BigCommerce stores look great on the most commonly used mobile devices, including iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Droid, and Palm.  And the best part is, you don’t have to purchase a completely separate mobile website system…it’s built right in with BigCommerce.

BigCommerce SEO Features – BigCommerce was developed and optimized by the number 1 SEO expert in the world, Aaron Wall.  The shopping cart includes many do-it-yourself SEO tools that you can use right out of the box.  Search Engine Optimization gives you the best chance of landing on the front page of Google.  If you want to know more about the BigCommerce SEO tools available through your BigCommerce store, click here.  Also, check out the BigCommerce YouTube channel to learn from the many training videos provided by company co-founder and e-commerce expert, Mitchell Harper.

BigCommerce allows you to sell all over the world, with multiple currency support and worldwide shipping provider integration.

Sell on Facebook, eBay, and many other shopping sites all from within your BigCommerce store.  You can even create auctions.

BigCommerce has all of the latest and greatest features that you see on sites like Amazon.  Side panels that include: top sellers, you might also like, mini-cart, newsletter signup, brand tags, most popular products, customers also viewed, add this to your wishlist, 5-star reviews, new products, you recently viewed, compare products.  BigCommerce also has dynamic dropdown search, like Google, social AddThis buttons, Facebook like button.

Do-it-yourself online stores are a reality with BigCommerce.  If you are willing to invest the time to build out your store, you can do everything yourself using easy-to-edit features within your BigCommerce control panel.  Add products, create web pages, upload photos, create discount coupons, process orders.  It’s all very user friendly.  You can even design your store, using drag-and-drop to move panels around, unheard of with other shopping cart software vendors.

Sell wholesale and retail with one BigCommerce store. You can create a professional wholesale e-commerce website using BigCommerce.  Using customer groups within BigCommerce, you have the ability to hide wholesale products from customers who are not in your approve wholesale groups.  Set different pricing structures for different groups of customers.  You even have the ability to set the pricing to “Call for price” or to use your BigCommerce website as a catalog only.

BigCommerce even supports digital download products.  So, if you want to sell an e-book, software download, music download, or any other downloadable product, BigCommerce makes it easy.

The possibilities are endless when starting a store online with BigCommerce.  If you have an idea, an established product, or a store that you want to transfer, contact Redhead Web Development, or start a free trial store right now to take a test drive.

Redhead Web Development is not only an e-commerce consulting firm, but it is also a Certified BigCommerce Reseller, specializing in custom BigCommerce template design, as well as, complete store setup, and ongoing SEO and store marketing.  Here are samples of some of the latest custom BigCommerce template designs by Redhead Web Development.

Redhead Web Development is a Certified Reseller and Design Partner for BigCommerce.  If you need help with online store setup, Big Commerce template customization, BigCommerce SEO, or e-commerce consulting, contact Redhead for more information.

Big Commerce

This article discusses 10 ways 20 ways that YOU can increase traffic to your BigCommerce online store.  High search engine position, means more traffic which in turn means higher sales.  If you want to get first page Google results, take full advantage of all Big Commerce SEO tools and incorporate some external Search Engine Optimization and marketing strategies to boost your web store’s rankings.

1. 1. FIRST, research what keywords or keyword phrases people are searching to find similar products.  Go to the Google Keyword Tool to see the exact phrases people are using to find products in your market.  The tool can be found here – https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.  Make a list.  These will be your target keyword phrases.
   2. On each product page in your BigCommerce store, click on Other Details tab, and enter keyword phrases into both the Search Keywords and Meta Keywords fields
   3. Enter descriptive product tags in the Product Tags field, such as: “dog leashes” or “guitar strings”
   4. Enter the product’s name along with a few keyword phrases in the Page Title field – do not exceed 70 characters for your page title.  Make sure the title is readable and makes people want to click on the link.
   5. Enter a description, starting with your targeted keyword phrase in the Meta Description field – use no more 160 characters in your meta description as Google cuts it off beyond this.  Make sure your description is readable and would entice a person to click on your link.
   6. Use keyword phrases within the first sentence of your product descriptions.  Make some of your keywords in the product description bold.  Don’t repeat, repeat, repeat your keywords.  That’s a spammy technique that is looked down upon by the search engines.
   7. Enter Page Title, Meta Keywords, Meta Description, and Search Keywords on each of your BigCommerce store’s Web page and Category page
   8. Fill out image titles and image descriptions where appropriate on category pages,  product pages and web pages
   9. VERY POWERFUL – Start a WordPress blog. This blog can be hosted on a subdomain, such as www.blog.mywebsite.com.  Make posts often.
   10. Write articles and use your keyword phrases near or at the front of the article headline.  Pay for premium placement that includes at least one link to your site.  I like www.free-press-release.com for immediate results
   11. Start a facebook page for your Big Commerce store.  Add a link to your facebook page on your store sidebar or footer
   12. Start a Twitter account for your business.  Add a link to your twitter account on your store sidebar or footer
   13. Save time by linking your blog to your facebook page by using NetworkedBlogs or a similar facebook app
   14. Save time by linking your blog to your Twitter account by using a tool like www.twitterfeed.com
   15. Use the SocialShop application in BigCommerce to add products to your facebook page
   16. Set up your Google Base Product Feed to feed products into Google Product Search
   17. Start a Youtube.com account and begin uploading videos about your products or services.  Use keywords in video titles and descriptions.  Link some of these videos into your Big Commerce product pages
   18. Get as many quality website links coming to your site as possible
   19. Promote, promote, promote – online AND offline!  Don’t forget the value of marketing your business through any creative means possible.  Run ads, tell your friends, tell your colleagues, tell your friends to tell their colleagues.  Be a cheerleader for your brand, for your business.

Also, make sure that your Search Engine Optimization settings are correct in your Store Settings.  Next to Search Engine Friendly URLs, select “Enable if Available” and enter a page title, keywords, and meta description in the appropriate fields.

When starting your online business, there is no magic wand that creates instant traffic to your store.  You must market, you must sell, you must promote your business to be successful.

Redhead Web Development is a Certified Design Partner for Big Commerce.  If you need help with this or any other Big Commerce customization, BigCommerce SEO, or consulting, contact Redhead for more information.

Search Engine Optimization is a discipline that requires a little bit art and a little bit science, and is a field which is constantly changing.  The professionals at Redhead Web Development practice SEO every day.  We know what it takes to get the job done, we stay current on the latest SEO trends and tactics to make sure our client sites get to the top and remain at the top.

We are not a robot reseller.  Search engines don’t like off-the-shelf search engine optimization and link generators.  We perform SEO services the old fashioned way — manual link building, copywriting, customized tags and a whole host of other tactics.  This insures that your site gets the best indexing and the best position.

Put us to work on your website.  We guarantee first page results and keep you informed of your site’s progress.  You will receive regular reports of updated search engine rank for all of the tracked keywords.

In addition to SEO, Redhead can give you a complete website redesign, e-commerce shopping cart, content management systems, branding, logo design, and other marketing services.  We are a full-service web design and web development company.

Contact Redhead Web Development for a quote today.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a specialized combination of web design, web development, and internet marketing that is used to help websites achieve first page positions on Google.  The goal of any successful SEO program is to put the client’s website on the first page of Google and other search engines.

This campaign started with keyword research to determine the most commonly searched keywords for PFT Diagnostic’s target market.  After these search terms were identified, Redhead put into action an SEO plan that included website optimization, content writing and re-structuring, article writing & distribution, and link building.

In addition to first page results for “pft filters“, Redhead Web Development helped the company to land on the first page of Google for:

• pft equipment
• pft equipment repair
• allflow filters
• Morgan Plethysmograph Simulator
• Body Box 5500

PFT Diagnostics is an authorized distributor for Morgan Scientific and AllFlow filters.  They work in the specialized field of respiratory medicine.

If you would like to give your business a website traffic and sales boost, contact Redhead Web Development today for a free SEO consultation.

Web searchers today are impatient. They are searching faster and narrowing in on their target search terms more than ever before. They want fresh website content and they want it fast!

According to recent studies, if your company does not show up on the first page of Google, you are missing out on 62% of potential customers right off the top. If your website is below the second or third page, your site is virtually non-existent, as only 10% of search engine users venture past page 3.

Web searchers are also narrowing their search terms to zero in on exactly what they are looking for. Do you know what your target market is searching for to find your business? Web users are typing in longer and more detailed keyword combinations to find websites that fit their exact needs. If they don’t first find satisfactory search engine results from a broad search term, they will add more words to refine the results.

For instance, if you have a Branson resort that rents cabins, you need to know the exact word combinations that people search to find websites that rent cabins in Branson. It may come as a surprise that “branson cabins” receives nearly 10 times the number of monthly searches as “branson log cabins.” With this in mind, it would be more beneficial for your website to use the exact phrase “branson cabins” throughout.

To make matters more difficult for your branson website’s search engine rankings, the search engines are always changing their algorithms. As search formulas change, so do the results. Your business needs a focused firm that stays on top of the latest developments in search engine marketing and search engine optimization.

Redhead Web Development specializes in the art and science of search engine optimization. They can identify the targetted search terms and design a Branson SEO campaign to get your website on the first page of Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines. Call them today to schedule a free SEO consultation. They can be reached at (417) 272-1932, or visit their website www.redheadwebdevelopment.com.

Source: iProspect Search Engine User Behavior Study