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Getting Ahead in Voice Search Optimization

Voice search was one of the top trends in 2018 in the digital world and that will not change in the years to come. In fact, by 2020, it is expected that 30 to 50 percent of all search will be completed using voice search.

This means that if you are not getting optimized for voice search, you will fall behind on this trend.

Today, we will look at some strategies that will help you get ahead in being optimized by voice search. At Genius eCommerce, this is who we are and what we do, helping you stay ahead on the latest trends in eCommerce.

Before you can get into strategies on how to be optimized for voice search, you have to know why it is important and how voice search is used. Chances are you have used voice search yourself and completely not realized it.

There are dozens of smart devices, including phones, tablets, speakers and more that have been introduced into our lives over the years. These devices include voice speakers like Amazon Echo, Google Assistant and Siri and can take care of simple tasks like setting an alarm or getting direction.

So how can you get yourself prepared to be a part of this continuously growing trend? Here are five steps that you can take to be optimized for voice search.

Get Your Business Listings Optimized – Setting up your business listings can be fairly easy. You just need your name, business address, phone number, the usual information about a business. But so many times this information can be accurate in one place and inaccurate elsewhere, or just simply missing. This weakens your results because the information isn’t congruent.

Add Speed to Your Website – Google ranks off of website speed now, so you want your website to load quickly. You want the mobile landing page to land almost immediately, within three seconds. People want immediate results, so if you aren’t a result in a Google voice search due to speed issues, you risk losing opportunities.

Put Questions in Your Content Strategy – If you are optimizing for voice search, you need to cater your content to voice search. That means using keyword phrases. Think about your use of one of these devices. You don’t ask it for keywords, you ask questions. By using more natural language and conversations questions in your content, you will get more natural answers that help provide better quality content for business.

Provide Answers to Those Questions – One area where your answers can matter is in featured snippets on posts and articles. Roughly 40 percent of answers to voice search questions come from snippets on content. What else can you do to help build up answers that can get results? Keep creating content and making things fresh. Update the subjects of your content, mark language that you expect to be spoken, like questions in <h2> headers and answer any questions on your Google My Business Q & A section. One of the best starting points for creating content like this is to check out your FAQ page if you have one or check out reviews with what others are talking about.

Test Yourself for Voice Search – Once you have started to take these steps, test out your voice search function to see what is working so far or what needs improvement. Try this strategy on smart speakers, mobile devices, the difference between Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri. Test what results are generated. See how many listings each device offers. See where you rank. All of these things matter to your success with this strategy.

Do you feel ready to try to optimize your website and business for voice search? With Genius eCommerce, we focus on keeping you caught up on the trends of the eCommerce world. Check out the Genius eCommerce blog for more updates, trends and news on things happening around eCommerce.

December 28, 2018

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Digital Marketing, Ecommerce, eCommerce SEO, Latest eCommerce

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Tips for Optimizing Your BigCommerce Website

BigCommerce is one of the top eCommerce platforms available. If you are using one of the top platforms, you want to get the most out of it.

At Genius eCommerce, we stay up to date on the top eCommerce platforms so you can find the right one for you and utilize its features for maximum capabilities. This is who we are and what we do.

Today, we will look at ways you can optimize your BigCommerce website.

Put Your Smartphone to Use – If you are running a business through BigCommerce, you need to be able to access information at all times. What if there is a customer that has a question about an order? Make sure you can access orders from your mobile device. Using the BigCommerce app, you can access individual orders and can review orders to get the information you need, even when you can’t get to a computer. You can’t make any changes to an order through the app, so you’ll need a computer to do that, but at least you can address a customer’s concerns or answer a few questions by getting the information, and it can be done on the go or away from a computer with the app.

List on eBay – Through the BigCommerce platform, you can access eBay easily. You can take the items listed in your BigCommerce store and also list them on eBay, placing you in one of the largest online marketplaces. Using this feature will allow you to accurately list items on eBay and add categories for where the products should appear in eBay.

Utilize Live Chat – Customers like to communicate in all sorts of ways and if you don’t want to tie up phone lines, adding live chat could be a great solution. With BigCommerce, it is easy to add the live chat feature. You can add a chat widget to your store after creating an account with live chat client platform Zopim.

Get Social with Facebook – Want an easy way to connect with customers? Add a like button that connects people to your Facebook page so they can follow you on social media. This is a great way to invite people to engage with you and shows your dedication to building an audience through social media networks.

Link to a Blog – Keeping up with content is a great way to get in front of more eyes. Wherever you are posting content, link up your blog with BigCommerce to make it easier for visitors to your blog to reach your eCommerce website and cross between each website without leaving the navigation.

Remind Customers of Abandoned Carts – One of the biggest reasons for lost sales is people abandoning their shopping cart after they start browsing a store and adding items. Don’t let them get away. Present one more offer that prompts customers to finish their purchase and turn browsing into a conversion. You can do this by creating a custom email that reminds customers of their abandoned cart and reminds them to finish their purchase. You can also set up additional emails to remind customers of their abandoned cart or to finish their purchase after they leave the website.

Now that you have some tips on how you can better optimize your BigCommerce website to reach more customers, engage with them and turn that into more conversions. With Genius eCommerce, we provide tips, trends and updates to help you get the most out of your eCommerce experience. This is who we are and what we do. Keep reading the Genius eCommerce blog for more.

December 21, 2018

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BigCommerce, Digital Marketing, Ecommerce, eCommerce SEO, Latest eCommerce

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The Top eCommerce Trends of 2018

The world of eCommerce is always evolving, and the end of the calendar year is a good time to look back and see the areas where things evolved, changed, and shifted in eCommerce trends.

This is who we are at Genius eCommerce, keeping up on the trends as they happen and informing you on ways you can make your eCommerce experience better. As the year of 2018 starts to near its end, today I will take you back to five of the top trends that happened in eCommerce this year.

Customer Experience – In previous years, customer experience has been about giving the customer something that draws them in. This is typically known as the “Wow Factor.” This was usually done with a great presentation, high-quality service or great prices. In 2018, localizing and personalizing the experience is even more important though, and that’s the eCommerce trend that dominated the year. Personalized merchandising was a big advancement, making product recommendations based on customer searches, previous purchases or items they have placed within their shopping cart. Localization was also important, the recognition of where a customer is shopping from and targeting to the customer’s location. These experience enhancements have helped some eCommerce websites reach a completely new level.

Customer Engagement – For many eCommerce companies, a customer relationship management platform, also known as a CRM, is used to monitor communication. Why is this important? If you aren’t actively trying to engage your customers regularly, you run the risk of losing them. However, it isn’t just how often you engage with the customer, it’s what you say and how you communicate. It can be over a shipping issue or another customer service inquiry. It can just be prompting them to check out new inventory. It can be following up on a purchase to make sure it arrived and that the customer has no questions about the product. These small steps of engagement and communication go a long way.

New Content and SEO – Content has always been important, but eCommerce companies are putting less emphasis on how paid campaigns are performing and more on organic traffic because that is what drives conversions. That means there is a greater importance to rank for keywords that draw organic traffic. Content has to be geared toward SEO and work hand in hand with search engines so that you can maximize your organic reach.

Mobile Optimization – There are many layers to being a mobile-optimized website. Yes, it does mean that your website should be responsive to mobile devices, but it also means that you should be optimized for mobile search, be able to accept digital payments and make it easy for customers to navigate and purchase through your eCommerce website on a mobile device. More people are browsing through stores and making their purchases online. If you don’t have your website mobile optimized and fully capable, you will fall behind.

Social Media Campaigns and Advertising – Running campaigns and advertising on social media has always been popular, but with social networks continuing to grow over the years, it’s even more important now. Social media offers businesses a space to re-target customers, especially if they spend a lot of time browsing through social media. It allows you to put other forms of media and marketing forward, such as posting a new video or having customers leave reviews, and it gives you a forum, a place where common customers can be in a community.

Trends will continue to evolve in 2019 and there are many new and exciting things that are sure to come in the new year. However, before you focus on the new year, make sure you are all caught up and up to date with the most popular trends of this year.

At Genius eCommerce, we are all about eCommerce trends and keeping you up to date. It’s who we are and what we do. If you liked what you read today, keep reading the Genius eCommerce blog for more updates and trends.

December 18, 2018

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Digital Marketing, Ecommerce, eCommerce SEO, Latest eCommerce

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Tips for Starting Off Right with BigCommerce Development

The design and development of an eCommerce store are two of the main factors that turn visitors into customers. People visiting a website want to see a polished product, a design that is welcoming and warm and gets to the point with its brand. They also want a website that functions well and doesn’t take more than a few seconds to load.

So many little aspects can be the difference between a conversion and a customer abandoning your website for another from a competitor. How can you build up your website so you can be competitive?

That is the question that Genius eCommerce is here to answer today. We stay up to date on everything in eCommerce from the latest trends and news to tips to help you. This is who we are and what we do. Today, we will look at a few development tips for starting off strong with your website.

Branding – If visitors want to see a professional website, there needs to be branding involved, most notably a company logo. People need to be able to identify you and know what your brand is and what it stands for almost instantly. For many businesses, a logo and a brand are very similar to a reputation. It represents the business and gives people a reason to believe you care. Having a professional logo shows that you care and can be trusted to customers.

Display a Favicon – Having a logo and showcasing your brand is important, but it’s not as big a part of the technical development side of things. However, having your logo also be in the form of a favicon is part of the development. A favicon is a small icon, usually of the company logo, that appears in the browser of the website next to the URL. Have a favicon version of your logo made when it is being designed and add it through BigCommerce.

Social Media Icons – There are two purposes for social media icons. First, you want people to see the icons on your website to show there is also a social media presence. This encourages people to check you out on social media. But make sure the icons are linked to the correct platforms and pages and that they open in new tabs or windows. The last thing you want to do is distract potential customers by taking them completely off of your page to go to your social media and negate a potential purchase.

A Simple Checkout – Just like with loading speeds, customers want to complete their purchases quickly and easily. One of the biggest reasons people abandon their shopping carts is because of a long and complicated checkout process. Have your website developed to make checkout quick and easy, limiting the steps needed for customers to complete a purchase.

Product Images – If you want to make an impact with shoppers in the eCommerce space, you need large, high-quality images to show off your products. One of the difficulties of online shopping is that customers cannot physically see or hold the product until they receive it. With that in mind, give them as much detail as possible in their photos. Don’t just make the photos large and clear, make them as detailed as possible so it feels like people can see the product as if it were right in front of them.

Reviews – One of the reasons new customers come to a new store, or any other business for that matter, is because it was recommended by a friend or by people leaving reviews online. One of the best ways to persuade a customer to purchase a product from you is to leave a review on the page from a customer who previously purchased the product. This cuts down on the research the customer has to do and makes the decision-making process of choosing to purchase go quicker, too.

Did you find these development tips helpful? At Genius eCommerce, we stay up to date on everything in eCommerce. This is who we are and what we do. Check out the Genius eCommerce blog for more tricks, tips, updates and more.

December 13, 2018

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BigCommerce, Digital Marketing, Ecommerce, Latest eCommerce

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Outdated SEO Techniques You Should Avoid

With any website, SEO is important to achieving a noticeable online presence. There are many different techniques for website owners and eCommerce merchants to use to try to boost their SEO and have a greater presence on search engines.

As technology advances and progresses, techniques to making a greater impact on search engines can become stale and outdated.

At Genius eCommerce, we keep you informed on all the latest trends, tips and tricks to achieving better results in the digital space. Today, we’ll inform you on a few things not to do with your SEO efforts.

Keyword Stuffing and Density – Producing content for your website is no longer as simple as just writing a bunch of posts specifically targeting keywords or overloading your content with one keyword. Keyword density and keyword stuffing are tactics that no longer work with Google’s system. Keywords remain an important part of SEO, but instead of trying to insert a specific keyword a number of times into content and trying to load up web pages with keywords, content quality is more important, meaning you need to have well-constructed and well-thought content to really make an impact on search engines.

Writing for Search Engines – This is also known as writing for robots. Again, it’s the quality of your content that is more important. Don’t use some writing robot to construct content that is unnatural. Taking a keyword and writing it in all variations in your content isn’t going to work with search engines. Give your content a human element; write like a human for humans. This will certainly increase the quality of your writing and give you a better chance to make an impact with search engines.

Link Buying – Years ago, it was fairly routine to see offers and deals to purchase more links to point to your website and many website owners would do it. Even all this time later, there are still people who pay to have more links point to their website. The problem with this tactic is that buying links and taking shortcuts does not achieve any success. Google can easily identify a low-quality website that will be carrying a purchased link. If you want to really generate more buzz on search engines and build up links, you have to earn them.

Poor Keyword Research Strategies – There are many different categories and data that can be reviewed when it comes to researching keywords. Many people try to use tools like Google’s free Keyword Planner to try to replicate keyword data. Some of the features and reports from their tools is not an accurate representation of the industry, the competition and the overall market for your business. The best way to do that is for a business owner to get their own evaluation and understanding of these areas and build a strategy based on that.

Exact Match – The practice of targeting for exact matches of keywords and search queries just for the traffic is another tactic that is doomed to fail. Google is smart enough as a search engine to determine if there is a relevance between the business and search term and thwart any chances that a keyword displays for an exact match just to increase click-through rates. Similarly, having keywords of greater value in your URL makes some sense, but isn’t foolproof. Keep your domains consistent with your brand and instead of trying to attract other keywords just to build traffic.

Now that you know how some of these practices can hurt your SEO efforts, consider these tips and stay informed on the best practices from great content to an effective and well-researched keyword list that can help you get better SEO results.

With Genius eCommerce, we are your source for the latest tips, tricks, trends, and updates in the eCommerce space. This is who we are and what we do! Continue reading the Genius eCommerce blog for more updates.

December 12, 2018

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Ways You Can Take Advantage of the Holiday Season

The main shopping rush with Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now in the past behind us, but the holiday season is alive and well as the calendar turns to December.

This can be a busy month for eCommerce, with so many people making purchases for their loved ones and trying to get it done as quickly and easily as possible. It’s why more and more people each year are turning to online shopping to make their purchases.

At Genius eCommerce, we are here to tell you ways that you can prepare for this hectic time of year and the holiday shopping season. We are always here to offer you tips, tricks, updates, trends and more in eCommerce. It’s who we are and what we do.

Let me tell you a few ways you can make sure you are prepared for the holidays as a business owner.

Be Optimized for Mobile – We’ve mentioned previously that things are going mobile-first now more than ever and will in the future. During the holiday season, time can get away from the best of us, so many people want to do their holiday shopping on their time and on the go. Having your website optimized for mobile is an important step. More people are doing online searches through mobile devices and completing purchases through mobile as well.

Update Your SEO – As the holiday season nears, it’s a great time to evaluate any SEO campaigns you have and make sure you are targeting the right audience with your keywords and getting the return you want on your investment. Analyze the keywords that gave you the most success and push those even more during the holiday season. Consider voice-related searches. Add holiday specific keywords to your content to draw in customers who are specifically there for the holiday season with the intention of purchasing a gift.

Step Up Your Campaigns and Promotions – Black Friday and Cyber Monday are known for deals and discounts, which is why shoppers flock to the stores and various websites on those days looking for the best prices. But discounts and deals don’t have to be a two-day thing around the holidays. Create a calendar of promotions. Consider your strategies in email or PPC and update them accordingly to enhance performance over the busiest time of year.

Tune Up Search Results – In addition to making sure your search results look good on Google, make sure the search feature on your own website works properly and is prepared for anything. People often step up their searches around the holidays, especially for specific items they know they want to purchase for their family and friends. Factor in misspellings that are common for items on your website. Create a dedicated landing page for any holiday gift ideas or stocking stuffers. Make sure there is nothing left that will give a customer the “no results found” message, thus chasing them away.

Take Care of Your Customers Post-Checkout – This is supposed to be your busiest time of year, so prepare for it as such. Stock up on inventory so you can get items out to your customers quickly and easily. Offer shipping options that will work for your customers and give some variety based on when your customers may need their order. Stay up to date on everything else like processing orders, shipping orders and more.

This may sound like a lot to look at or keep track of but it is all to ensure that you will have an effective and successful holiday shopping season as a business. At Genius eCommerce, we are here to help you with tips year-round. Be sure to check out the Genius eCommerce blog for more.

December 07, 2018

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Digital Marketing, Ecommerce, ecommerce platforms, eCommerce SEO, Latest eCommerce, social media