Big Changes are Coming to Google: Algorithm Updates & Semantic Search
The WSJ published an article discussing changes expected to sweep Google, America’s most popular search engine. Several new changes were discussed in the article including more than blue links in the search results, ‘semantic’ search, and a broader collection of results from search queries. According to Search Engine Land, Google has already been providing answers to questions and more information than just the blue links and has also used ‘semantic’ search in order to understand the meaning of words to produce more relevant search results. The third change may involve using a wider collection of entities to create a more comprehensive list of relevant search terms.
Source: http://searchengineland.com/wsj-says-big-google-search-changes-coming-reality-check-time-115227
Content Marketing Strategy Helps Appeal to Customers
Ecommerce solutions continue to advance as the market for online shopping grows at an exceedingly high rate. With so many retailers offering similar products at similar prices, online shopping vendors can use content marketing to stand out from their competitors and intrigue their customers to shop their store. According to ForeSee, many customers explore the Internet for information on products before they buy, and a strong web presence appeals to shoppers as they make their decision. 65% of respondents to a recent survey said that they visit a brick and mortar store’s website before making a purchase, and in order for Ecommerce vendors to stay competitive with large chain stores, a strong content marketing campaign can provide customers with the information that they need before they make their final purchase.
Reduce Shipping Costs in Your Online Store
In an interactive agency, lowering your shipping costs can be the difference between closing the sale and losing a customer to another retail store with lower shipping costs. According to the CEO of Spend Management Experts, John Haber, there are several ways that merchants can ensure that they are paying the best possible shipping rates. Merchants should check to make sure that they are using the best shipping products and carriers. Another common problem is that merchants don’t always choose the best shipping service. For example, if you need to send a package from Atlanta to Chicago in 2 days, many merchants would choose the more expensive two-day air option when the UPS and FedEx guarantee 2 day ground delivery to that location.
Source: http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/3421-How-to-Reduce-Ecommerce-Shipping-Costs
How to Know Who’s Driving Your Online Sales: Google or Affiliates?
Online merchants have the difficult task of tracking all of their sales with an effective ecommerce strategy, especially after affiliates join the team and begin contributing to an ecommerce vendor’s sales. One common scenario that occurs for many vendors is that a customer will shop their products through Google Organic ‘shopping’ and will then go through and search for coupon codes, which are issued in many cases by affiliates. When the customer enters the coupon code, the affiliate will get the commission for the sale, even if the customer found the product through Google organic search. Vendors can try to correct this issue by offering coupons on their website so that customers can easily access the discount codes.
One Quarter of UK Retail Sales Will be Online by 2016
The United Kingdom is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing ecommerce economies. According to projections made by the Boston Consulting Group, a quarter of all retail sales activity will be made online, and the report also cites that the UK has the most internet-based economy in the world. David Dean, coauthor of the report and senior BCG partner said, “If [the UK ecommerce sector] were a national economy, it would rank in the world’s top five, behind only the U.S., China, India, and Japan, and ahead of Germany.” When analyzing the current rate of growth, the U.K. is positioned to become a major ecommerce player in the next few years, and internet marketing will become an integral component to staying competitive in the UK.
