Blogging and Site Search – They Go Together Like Root Beer and Ice Cream

eTaildTail friends at SLI Systems weigh in on how Blogging and Site Search go hand-in-hand; we hope the following commentary helps grow your ecommerce business.

Best -

Chip Arndt

SPECIAL GUEST COMMENTARY

Blogging and Site Search – They Go Together Like Root Beer and Ice Cream

By Geoff Brash, VP of Marketing at SLI Systems, specialists in Webstore Site Navigation and Search. Geoff can be reached with any questions at geoff.brash@sli-systems.com ...and let him know that eTaildTail sent you.

"Whether or not your company already has a blog, you probably know the benefits of blogging and how it will help your business.  As explained in this recent E-Commerce Guide article, a blog linked to your online storefront can help build visibility for your brand and educate customers about what you offer. 

So if you’re going to spend the time necessary to maintain a blog, then you want to do whatever you can to get your blog noticed – and bringing the blog content into the search results on your site is one way to do that.  Just like root beer and ice cream, which taste great individually – blogging and site search are each valuable tools for getting your online business and the products and services you offer more attention.  But when you put them together, even better!  You now have a much more powerful way to get your customers excited and educated about your offerings.

Now, you might be concerned that blog articles would be a distraction to your online shoppers – after all, aren’t they using your site search to find the things you’re selling, and not to catch up on your blog?

However, if you do your blog right and create informative, interesting posts that relate to your shoppers’ needs, then they should WANT to read your posts – and you should want to make the posts easy to find. Here are some approaches you can take to make blog content searchable:

• Show the blog content in a separate section of the search results – for example, on the left, or below the regular search results.  This ensures that products have prime position on the results page.
• Create refinement options so visitors can restrict the results to just blog articles, or just product listings.
• Allow product and blog content to appear based on highest click-throughs, showing the most popular (or relevant) items first – regardless of whether it’s from the blog or a product listing.  You can adjust your settings so that products generally show higher – although if you do this, I recommend allowing the blog articles to move higher if people click on them more often.
• Put a search box on your blog so that visitors can search just blog articles – and also show product listings in your blog search, perhaps along one side of the results.

If you’re not sure how to integrate blog content into your site search, you may want to ask your customers (perhaps through a blog post), try some options, and measure the impact on your conversion rate.  And of course, feel free to email me if you’d like any tips at geoff@sli-systems.com ."

- Geoff Brash

eTaildTail Named A Top Resource For Ecommerce News

 eTaildTail stives to be your source for and gateway to ecommerce and mcommerce news, information, resources, companies, and people to help grow your online business. 

We also know that we are not your only gateway to that information and that other resources provide you with excellent and pertinent information that you need right now.  If you are in involved in ecommerce or mcommerce in any way, I found a great site that lists many of those "top resources" in one place. 

May I recommend book marking this site for for future reference - and yes, it is free and they don't ask for you to sign up for anything.

The site is called "AllTop" and I happy that eTaildTail was named one of their top resources!  eTaildTail looks forward to continuing to educate and thanks you all for making our job fun by providing us with questions and insights from around the globe everyday.

Check AllTop out <<<HERE>>>; it will prove useful to you all as you grow your online business into the future.

- Chip Arndt

MerchantAdvantage Speaks About Comparison Shopping Engines With ECMTA

Your authors of eTaildTail and senior management at MerchantAdvantage had some fun last week participating in a lively, forum discussion with Ecommerce Merchants Trade Association ("ECMTA") and its members regarding the general topic of:

How To Use Comparison Shopping Engines, Consumer Shopping Engines, and Shopping Destination Sites, collectively CSEs, Effectively and Increase Return on Ad Spend.

Many online merchants had excellent questions that I hope we answered adequately and thoroughly.  I thought it would be helpful for eTaildTail ecommerce merchants to have a peek at the discussion thread, as I am sure many of you have similar questions and concerns when using CSEs.

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to enter the free forum and to follow the discussion.  The thoughts expressed will probably "spark" some more questions from all of you, which we would be more than happy to answer either here or at the forum.

Ask away!

- Chp Arndt

Ecommerce Know-How: Social Media as a Marketing Tool

Okay today is a great day as it is a day of learning from industry experts.

I found a VERY relevant (and yes, free) article to help online, ecommerce merchants, and all of our clients at MerchantAdvantage, build sales and brand awareness using free, social media marketing methods.

eTaildTail good friends at Practical Commerce have written a wonderful and comprehensive article with a video overview of how social media platforms as Facebook, Digg, Blogs, MySpace, Twitter, and other social media technologies can help to get your products and brand in front of customers cost-effectively to grow sales.

The article is easy to understand and a must read for any ecommerce merchant thinking about using social media to drive sales, build brand awareness, and effectively communicate with clients = buyers!

Armando Roggio at Practical Ecommerce authored the article, which comes highly recommended from your team at eTaildTail.  Here is the first paragraph to entice you, and don't forget that social media marketing costs you time, not money -- or very litttle money:

"An integrated social media marketing strategy can help you and your ecommerce site increase brand visibility, improve customer loyalty, and gain important insights about the markets you serve. And with the dramatic growth in social media traffic, ecommerce merchants would be smart to invest at least a portion of their advertising and marketing efforts on it." <<<READ MORE>>>

There are so many people involved with Social Media - and it WORKS - that I would find out how and why social media can assist you to increase sales and benefit your online business in a myriad of other ways.

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read full article and view the helpful educational video.

- Chip Arndt

Inaugurations and New Faces....In Washington DC and At MerchantAdvantage

Special Commentary:

No matter on which side of the political spectrum you sit, it’s impossible not to recognize the air of expectation that surrounds next week’s inauguration of a new President. 

Chip Arndt, eTaildtail's originator and most frequent voice, is on his way to Washington, DC to participate as one of Florida’s electors.  

More than an inspiring speech and a formal transfer of power, next week represents what Roget’s Thesaurus says “inauguration” means:  a beginning, a launching, an unveiling.  The “feel good” part we share has great symbolic value but can be short-lived.  What outlasts the moment is the substance of what comes after, the quality and intelligence of the decisions implemented by the new Administration. 

We live in perilous times, with challenges of historic proportions both domestic and foreign.  Whether we voted for him or not, we hope Mr. Obama rises to this occasion and “unveils” programs that move to rebuild our economy and reduce tensions around the world.  We’ll be watching with great interest for the substance that follows the “feel good” moments of the weeks ahead.

The times are challenging in e-commerce as well, of course, though our sector continues to outperform the rest of the economy.  Just as in more traditional sectors, it’s inevitable that the pressures of competing in a weak general economic environment will compel some high visibility changes in internet retailing:  a few powerful players who have not kept up with the evolution of the marketplace will be toppled, and several upstarts with a firm commitment to exceptional quality and service will rise rapidly to the top.

We’re doing some “unveiling” here at MerchantAdvantage as well, because we are one of those firms with a commitment to stay ahead of the curve.  You’ll see some brilliant new tools added to our offering this quarter, for example, and increased communication.  And we have a new Marketing Guy:  me.

So what?  Why should you care if MerchantAdvantage has a new face in Marketing? 

Simple: we exist to make YOU more profitable, so if we’re doing our job well you can measure the results in your own performance. 

In this, my first posting on eTaildTail, I want to tell you a couple of things about how I view the world of Marketing so you’ll know what to expect in the months ahead.

First of all, I’m a fierce proponent of Relationship Marketing.  Just as it’s never about one sale you make (no matter how big), for us it’s never about getting you to make that first commitment to try a month of Channel Management.  It’s always about the value of that customer – yours or ours – for the full life of the relationship. 

Watch for my three-part series upcoming on this blog about how you create and nurture these relationships, and why it’s the most valuable time and money you’ll ever spend.

Second, I am convinced that every department in the company – yours and ours – is a Marketing Department.  From Tech Support to Accounting to the person who answers the phone, every interface with a customer is another opportunity to create and reinforce the value of the brand, or not to.

I believe in playing strong defense as well as offense, never sacrificing one for the other.  For us, marketing on the offense means bringing in new clients and increasing their frequency of purchase.  Defensive marketing means hanging on to existing clients and increasing their loyalty to us.  Neither one is enough alone.

I hesitate to admit that I’m a Marketing Guy who does not believe in sizzle.  It’s all about quality – if you don’t have that at the core of your business, you need to find something else to do.

Finally, I believe in marketing (and in life, actually) as a totality.  We’re better at our jobs, and ultimately more successful, if we acknowledge and nurture the parts of our emotional and intellectual lives that are not defined by work.  

That’s why you’ll see a new section on eTaildTail that offers brief “words of wisdom” and inspiration from great thinkers both inside and outside our normal frames of reference. Sometimes a single provocative thought can change your perspective on a problem you’ve been struggling with or provide just that seed of motivation you need to take the next big step forward.

I’m looking forward to working  with you and to helping create a successful 2009 for the whole MerchantAdvantage family of friends and clients.

- Chris Barr
EVP Marketing, MerchantAdvantage and newly minted eTaildTail weekly contributing author!

How to Drive More Traffic to Your Blog on Weekends: Marketing Sherpa Expert Analysis

I thought that this was a great way to go into the weekend, as the title of this blog entry says!

I, of course, am interested in this entry as I write a blog and I think anybody who writes a blog would be interested in some of these insights.

Some of the insights below are obvious, others are not so obvious, but all insights are helpful.

This is an excellent report, and you all might want to join Marketing Sherpa, as they have other excellent reports weekly.

Have a great weekend.

-- Chip

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read more and find out much more information regarding best practices to blog and related information form the experts at MarketingSherpa. Happy reading.

From Marketing Sherpa, February 2008

"SUMMARY: Many B-to-B bloggers have a problem: Most of their readership disappears on the weekends. Who wants to read industry news and analysis when they could be skiing, golfing or going to the beach?

Does your website need a shot in the blog on the weekend? Here are seven tips from Marketing Sherpa:  <<<CLICK HERE>>> to read more and find out much more information regarding best practices to blog and related information form the experts at MarketingSherpa.

Happy reading.

Comparison Shopping Engines and Their Value to Online Merchants: eTaildTail friend Kevin Packler Comments

My close friend Kevin Packler, an executive at Mercent and friend of eTaildTail, has had nice run of commentary at his blog Channel Dollars on using shopping comparison engines, which I think are relevant and very helpful for online retailers.

eTaildTail is committed to be a daily stop for online merchants to get industry news, daily commentary, and helpful links to commentary from indusry experts for free. 

I do this so online merchants don't have to waste time surfing the web for information and spending money on tabloids, which you probably don't have time to read.  You can come here daily and find much of that information with a click of buttong that can help you grow and manage your business.

To that point, please see the right hand side of this site, for daily posting of industry news from all media outlets and the left hand side of this site for other excellent e-commerce related blogs.  To find past commentary related to areas of interest, just click on the categories link on the left hand side and read away!

So in keeping with my attempt to put you all in touch with valuable commentary from colleagues in e-commerce and m-commerce, I post the relevant links to Kevin's thoughts below.

I trust that his insights help, they did for me!

Thanks Kevin.

-- Chip

from Kevin Packler, Channel Dollars

Read the Directions: Optimizing on Shopping.com
posted February 16, 2008

Building Focused Traffic Using Comparison Shopping Engines and Marketplaces
posted February 14, 2008

Solution Providers and Alternatives for Management of Shopping Comparison Engines and Marketplaces
posted February 1, 2008