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Wireframes

The team at Web Design Solutions firmly believes in the power of planning and strategizing concepts in order to produce a final product of the highest quality. Too often web design companies will put all of their effort into the aesthetics of a website, and worry about functionality after the fact. That’s not how we operate; at WDS we will begin your process by building a Website Wireframe. This ensures that your site will be built efficiently and work properly when it’s time for launch.

Conceptually, a wireframe is like the blueprint by which your website will be designed and built. We work with you, take the creative visions you have for your e-business, and make sure that every page layout used on your site is exactly what you want. Taking the time to wire frame your website allows us to frequently address numerous structural questions and concerns that more than likely would have been overlooked otherwise.

While it’s always possible to use a website wireframe template in order to make sure your website is put together properly, why bother with a template when you can make your vision a reality with our custom wireframes? Created specifically for you and your online business, a custom eCommerce package with WSM will include a wireframe put together specifically for your business plan. This wireframe will include:

• A home page layout complete with explanations on the functionality of the different areas
• Visual representation of key internal site pages
• Map of the structures of your category and product pages
• Page layouts of site modules; such as your news or blog page

Before your website is built you will have the opportunity to give us feedback on the wireframes we have presented to you, and discuss any alterations or tweaks that you’d like to see. After all, our goal is to give you the site you envisioned at the start of the project.

Okay, but what's a sitemap?

A sitemap is an outline of all the pages on a website and the ways in which they are interconnected. It is useful to both users and your SEO value, because search engine bots will crawl the pages and a sitemap makes finding them easier. If your website is relatively new and doesn’t have much interlinking, a sitemap will allow Google to find and crawl pages that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. The reasoning behind this is actually pretty simple; since a sitemap is technically a single page that contains all the links on your entire website, a search engine will hit it and index every single page on your site! Without a sitemap it is very common for certain pages to get skipped over, which will hurt your page rank in the long run.

Building a robust and detailed sitemap prior to launching your website will ensure that your entire site is set up exactly the way you want, from top to bottom. This will guarantee that the layout is as functional and immersive for users as possible. When the time comes to expand your website and add new pages, a sitemap will be a lifesaver. Since it offers a bird’s eye view of the entire site, you will be able to find the most relevant and effective place to insert your new web page. A detailed sitemap is included in the package purchased with Web Shop Manager and includes the following:

• Visual representations of each page and how they are interconnected
• Color coded details, complete with a legend, so you can quickly identify the function of each page
• Descriptions of the content that will be displayed on individual pages

Our team at WDS will work with you every step of the way leading up to launch to make sure that your website is laid out the right way, and represents the vision you have for your online business.

Search Engine Optimization is a complex and intricate process that takes time to perfect. It’s safe to assume that every web page has certain SEO aspects that can be improved upon. Optimizing your site is a marathon, not a hundred yard dash; it’s important to constantly be on the lookout for improvements you can make. Below is a list of a few do’s and don’ts that can instantly increase the SEO value of your website.

• First and foremost, write quality content. You can throw in all the keywords and links you want, but if the writing on the page is subpar it’s a safe bet that any visitors won’t stay very long. This doesn’t mean you need to write with the complexity of a scientific journal, it’s much more important to make your site an easy read. This can be accomplished by catering to the audience your company appeals to; write for who will be reading the information


• For each individual page, choose a relevant keyword or phrase that you want to represent the theme of that specific page, and choose keywords that aren’t too popular. The competition for these phrases is extremely high; Google Keyword Tracker is a great tool for deciding what exact words you want to commit to


• When using keywords, utilize different sized fonts and bolded words. Search engines recognize this as an indication that those words and phrases are more important than the ones surrounding it


• Keyword Density is also a major factor that needs to be considered while writing content. It is possible to use too many keywords and have your site blocked from Google. To avoid keyword stuffing, primary keywords should consist of about 7% of the page, while secondary words should be around 5%


• Embrace the power of linking. Whether it’s interlinking to other pages on your own website, or getting other companies to provide inbound links to your page, the importance of quality links cannot be overlooked


• Make sure the pages you’re linking to are related to what is being discussed. Search engines recognize the relevancy of links within your website, and using them correctly can drastically improve your page rank


• Contact companies in the same industry as you and try to get them to link to your page from theirs. If competitors are linking to your site, Google will come to the conclusion that your website is relevant and useful

Getting your online eCommerce website up and running is a huge step for you and your growing e-business, but it’s not the only step that needs to be taken. The work isn’t done just because you have some sort of online presence. Just like a brick and mortar store, your site needs to be constantly growing and evolving with the flow of business in your industry. There are so many different options nowadays for people who are browsing the web that a kind of “browsing impatience” has become the norm. If your website doesn’t deliver something relevant and important right off the bat, people will simply move on to the next one. Here are some tips for keeping your eCommerce website fresh and interesting:

Tips On Growing eCommerce Success

• The only constant in any industry is change. In other words, the only thing you can be sure of is that information, techniques, prices, and ideas in general will always change. It’s tremendously important to keep your website up to date for two reasons; you don’t want a customer who is up to date on industry information to read your outdated site, and you don’t want an uninformed customer making bad decisions based off of your website


• Focus on the quality of content written for your site. Utilizing the talents of someone who can put together easy to read content that is also full of valuable eCommerce SEO content is a huge advantage. If the writing on your website is not only grammatically advanced, but easy to read and personable, customers will feel encouraged to come back. Don’t be afraid to occasionally use some kind of witty humor as well, it will do nothing but good for building relationships with clients


• Blog! Not only does a consistent eCommerce blog keep people coming back to your page, it also provides you with an easy way to generate SEO rich content. Recently Google introduced a new system in the way their search engine crawls web pages, and how recently/often the site has been updated is now a major factor. The reasons for keeping a regularly updated and relevant blog just keep stacking up!


• Keep dead links off of your page. Linking is a vital component in keeping your page rank for search engines as high as possible, but the links need to work and be relevant. Clicking on a link that takes the potential customer to an error page will be a huge deterrent in continuing to browse your eCommerce website. It’s frustrating and it makes your site look as if it hasn’t been updated in forever, and if it seems like it isn’t being updated, why not go find one that is?


• Communicate with your customers by sending out information on any new updates. Whenever a new feature, product, or site function is launched, make sure people know about it! This will keep your e-business on peoples’ minds, and keep them coming back to your website. Stay updated on new features in your CMS (Content Management System), and maximise how much use you get out of it.


• Update Visuals that are displayed throughout your website. You need to give visitors a reason to stay on your page, and the unfortunate reality is that a lot of people do not have the patience to read through pages of written content, so visuals are important. Often times, good visuals will influence people to stay longer and delve into your website a little more, simply because they are curious as to what the pictures represent. Constantly updating and changing your visuals will also give returning clients a reason to keep coming back.

For any kind of business, it is much easier and more cost effective to maintain returning customers than it is to bring in new ones. For an eCommerce website, it is especially crucial. Marketing, ad campaigns, and the numerous other advertisement strategies that are necessary to bring in more business consume a massive amount of resources. Even after spending all this time on generating more clients, it is entirely dependent on timing. A new prospective customer will only bring their business to you if it’s something they happen to need at that moment. Not only is it cost effective to you and your growing e-business, but a repeat customer is like your own personal promoter. If someone is bringing their business back to you, they obviously liked what they got the first time around. Chances are they will spread the word to anyone they know that might be looking for a similar service. Here are a few tips to maintaining a solid foundation with your clientele:

• Be reliable. Offering a quality good or service is obviously essential in drawing people back to your business, but being consistent with this quality is just as important. Your online store will keep people coming back if they know that they will be satisfied every time they come to you.


• Hire positive, energetic people. Anyone that might be interacting with the customers has the opportunity to either attract them or push them away. Let’s face it, everyone has had a bad experience with someone from a customer service department, and few things will repel you faster than an unpleasant employee. A friendly staff will allow clients to feel comfortable calling you, and often times are the deciding factor in whether or not that person comes back.


• Develop a personal relationship with customers whenever possible. This doesn’t mean you have to invite them over on your birthday, but you can still get to know them over time. A repeat customer is someone you get to know, that’s the whole goal here, and connecting on a personal level is a huge competitive advantage; especially in the eCommerce field. Everyone loves walking into their favorite deli and an employee calls you by name and remembers your favorite meal.


• Keep in contact through email and social media. Send emails with special offers that are exclusive to those who signed up. This will separate you from the pack, and give customers incentive to stick with you. Promote discounts and specials on your Facebook page. Not only is this an effective form of online marketing, but everyone loves a good deal. A consistent flow of email blasts and advertising through social media will show your customers that you care, and will do whatever is in your power to make them happy.

The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, is one of those things that sound like a great idea, an idea that will do nothing but good. Piracy is illegal, right? People who make their living in the entertainment industry lose a ridiculous amount of money each year to websites dedicated to pirating and torrents, so it's easy to take a step back and feel sympathetic for them. But is SOPA the way to fix this issue? This is the question a number of online industry leaders have been asking, including Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Twitter. These companies didn't waste any time taking a stance against the bill and it's easy to see why; user generated content plays an important role in their success. With users having free reign to post whatever they want, they could easily be targeted as violators of SOPA.

 

Even A Former Vice President Is Against The Stop Online Piracy Act

Despite some of its questionable applications, the internet is responsible for an almost overwhelming amount of good. It has connected people in a way that never could have happened otherwise, and has been a stepping stone for many positive movements. Speaking out against SOPA, Al Gore recently called the internet the incubator of change movements in our modern society. This statement in and of itself is the primary reason that we need to do whatever we can to protect the freedom of the internet. With the bill, could there have been a revolution in Egypt, or in Russia right now? Would Occupy Wall Street have come to fruition? These are extreme examples, but they all show the kind of power the internet offers to people all over the world.

How Could eCommerce Websites Be Affected By SOPA

SOPA was introduced in the House of Representatives on October 26, 2011 by Texan rep Lamar Smith and a group of initial supporters. The idea is to expand the ability of law enforcement to fight online trafficking of intellectual property and counterfeit goods, a noble cause. The issue that many major online players (Google, Yahoo, etc.) have with it lies in the broad and sweeping nature of the language in the bill, which is the same reason some eCommerce websites might be feeling a little nervous right about now. Technically, if your site has any image or video protected under copyright law, posted by either you or a user, it can be targeted and the DNS address blocked. While the intentions behind the bill are good, it’s this possible collateral damage to innocent businesses that is causing many web based corporations to protest.

Here at Web Design Solutions our primary goal is to help you be successful in your online ventures. Whether this is through industry tips, superior customer service, or quality website management, your satisfaction is of the utmost importance. Recently we posted an article explaining the importance of a Google Analytics account, and some basic information to get yours up and running.

Have You Heard The News? Analytics Tracking, In The Header Is Better

One of the most crucial steps in properly using your Google Analytics account is adding your tracking code into the template section of your site. The format for this widget code is {{google_tracker id='UA-XXXXXX-X'}}, with the X's being replaced with your unique UA number. With Web Shop Manager this is extremely easy, as you only need to enter it once instead of on each and every page. Previously we had instructed you to enter the code towards the bottom of the text on the page, right before the </body> tag. A recent article on Google, however, informs us that the most effective place to put it is near the top of the JavaScript code, in the <head> section. 

Further information on the topic can be found here, in the Google help article itself. If you find any of this hard to understand, or have any questions at all, please feel free to give us a call. We are always more than happy to assist you in any way we can!

The holidays are over and now existing and aspiring eCommerce business owners are thinking ‘what can I do to different in 2012?’ A new website can be just what is needed to take advantage of the booming eCommerce web sales. The US census bureau reported that in the 3rd quarter alone, e Commerce sales hit $48.2 billion dollars! A new web site design or a brand new website could be just what you need to get your part of the pie. With the economy on an upward trend and eCommerce showing greater growth than retail sales, new websites have an amazing chance of being profitable in 2012. What type of new website are you looking to launch this year?

What Type Of New Website Do You Wanted Designed?

• A new Automotive Website using a year make model look up can help customer find parts that they are looking for faster than ever. Do you have all of the product information for your new automotive website? No, not a problem! WSM can help populate your new website with millions of parts. A new website needs to be using the latest website search functions and all of WSM new websites are designed to offer the latest and greatest features out there. No matter what part of the automotive industry you are a part of, Off Road Websites, Truck or 4x4 eCommerce or Power sports & Motorsports e commerce WSM has a content management system that will easily work with your new website design! 

 

• Do you have an Action Sports eCommerce business that you want to expand with a new website? Specializing in skateboard ecommerce, WSM can create a new website that is edgy and appeals directly to your consumers. Skateboard websites are booming and surfboard sales are on the rise. Transworld surf reported that in just the first half of 2011 action sports sales had a 9.4% sales increase! Get your new website started by contacting us today!

 

• Travel booking eCommerce websites  have been using WSM for years! Everything from helicopter tour companies to Segway tours companies have been booking travel & tourism online with an amazing website from the WSM team. Looking to start a new travel website? You can easily promote your business using our blog feature , integrating with your social media sites & allowing customers to reserve directly online! 

 

• If you are looking to grow your restaurant or bar business next year, how about a new restaurant website? More and more people are looking to a venue’s website prior to committing to visit even if a they were referred by a friend! It is great if your company is being listed by companies such as Yelp! or Yellow Pages, but with no website to link it diminishes your brand image! A new website design can be built quickly and affordably by the WSM team just for you.

 

Fill Out This Form To Take The Next Step

Web Shop Manager offers a cost effective solution capable of 100% PCI compliance to anyone looking to start up an online business. Most small business are left to figure out how to be PCI compliant on their own, but here are Web Shop Manager (WSM) we can guide you to operate a successful PCI compliant ecommerce store. Shopping online should be easy, fun and productive. When consumers have to worry about their personal information, it takes away the allure of shopping online. This the basic premise of why you should choose a ecommerce platform that is 100% PCI compliant.

What is PCI compliant hosting?

If you are running an online business it is crucial that you have your shopping cart PCI compliant to ensure that you are helping promote a safe and secure outlet for shoppers. When shoppers feel safe to check out online, the entire e-commerce industry benefits!

Payment Card Industry (PCI) mandates that any ecommerce transaction is completed over a PCI compliant server in addition to all credit card numbers being stored on a different server. Web Shop Manager works with Authorize.net and Sage payment gateways to allow credit card numbers to be store on a different server, making sure your ecommerce website is PCI compliant. Two of the major rules of being PCI compliant is that you 1) do not store CID numbers and 2) you do not store the full credit card number anywhere. WSM ensures that these rules are followed!

PCI online rules and principles are set in place to provide a standard of safety for online consumers. It is beneficial for the ecommerce community to follow and participate in the rules set forth by the governing body to help encourage shoppers to trust online PCI compliant shopping carts.

Easy PCI Compliance With Web Shop Manager!

With Web Shop Manager you not only get our established software that is PCI compliance ready, you also get the knowledge and support of our team that is well versed in how to be PCI compliant. We continue to strive to become experts in complianing with PCI online standards. So what exactly do you have to do to be PCI compliant with us? Make sure to get a free quote from our PCI compliant expert business development team. Once your site is hosted with us, all it takes is your unique Authorize.net or Sage account pin inputted into our system, and bam! you have an e-commerce store that is PCI compliant!

Need Help Checking If You Have A PCI Compliant Website? Complete This Form To Learn

The best Integrated Content Management System just got better...

Over the last six months Web Shop Manager^TM (WSM) has received some serious improvements. We believe that you will find that our Content Management System (eCommerce CMS) is the most comprehensive, easy to use CMS out there. We are continuously working on adding more features, and fine tuning WSM to help our clients run their shopping carts more efficiently, and to make more money.

Order Management for eCommerce Stores

Order processing and shipping are major component of an eCommerce website's effectiveness. In a continuing effort to help our eCommerce thrive, we spend a considerable amount of time listening to our clients, and responding to their comments and suggestions. Just one example is how we have streamlined the eCommerce order processing function even more. Now you will find that when 'Will Call' is selected as the shipping method for your local customers, tax is added and the cost of shipping is eliminated.

For those shopping cart items that must be shipped via LTL or truck freight, business owners can choose their own custom message to convey how those special circumstances will be handled. This eliminates customer confusion, and will ensure them that they will be contacted, and by whom.

Within the integrated basic shipping configuration you can specify which areas of the world you are willing to ship to, including the choice to ship to the continental US only.

Using the WSM FAQ module you can create a clean looking, content filled, question and answer style page for all your checkout and shipping policies. Effective use of these pages will help minimize customer confusion, customer service inquiries, and can be easily accessed throughout the checkout process.

eCommerce business owners have more control than ever over order processing. They can capture payments or issue refunds for an entire charge from within WSM using Authorize.net. In addition, for special circumstances, charges can be applied to more than one credit card, or, when adjustments need to be made to the order after the checkout process, products can be added, or deleted from the order with a push of a button.

Customer Management for eCommerce Shopping Carts

Insight into your customers buying habits, including first and last products purchased, can be incredibly helpful when you are organizing up-sell/ cross-sell product promotions, and in developing targeted marketing campaigns. Using the CSV Data Import/Export, customer statistics, orders, and inquiries can be easily exported for further examination.

From your CMS dashboard you can now have the ability to not only see a list of inquiries, but to mark them with their appropriate status. The status column will help you to see at a glance what action needs to be taken next.

Our new custom form builder allows business owners to create their own inquiry forms to meet their specific business needs. Each submitted inquiry automatically generates an email, which can be sent to any email address, and can include cc and bcc email addresses.

Email order notifications are more detailed than ever with the inclusion of Product Option information. These product options may include size, color, finish, etc. to ensure that any mistakes within the order can be amended quickly.

Catalog & Product Management for eCommerce

Take advantage of the brand new, advanced Year Make Model Attribute System. Attributes can be utilized in any instance where selecting the correct part or product is critical. They are used heavily in the automotive aftermarket industry to help site visitors find the correct part for their vehicle by first selecting the item they are interested in, and then specifying the year, make, and model for the search query. When the information has been entered to their satisfaction they will click 'shop' and will be redirected to a dedicated landing page for the products that match their search.

The customer entered search criteria selected will be remembered throughout their shopping session even if the customer clicks away from the landing page. This will reduce customer frustration, and will allow your customer to easily modify their search criteria, or easily clear it and continue shopping.

From a business owner's perspective, the attribute system is easy to manage. With one action you can add a range of years for a specific product. In addition, if brand or manufacturer implements a price increase, business owners have the ability to issue a mass price change for that brand or manufacturer.

eCommerce Site & Feature Management

Our e-commerce CMS modules were designed to be multi-functional and an alternative to labor intensive web development. Our CMS modules are not only easy to customize, but are now even more feature packed, including a field for topic descriptions in modules where topics are assigned. The Resources/ Links module has been updated with the inclusion of assigned topics, and the ability to upload files, and images.

Helping to keep WSM organized we have developed expanding/collapsing folders within the content management system which operate very much like they do in your desktop keeping content neatly bundled for quicker navigation.

On the occasion that you need to delete a file, blog post or image, utilize the new 'quick delete' icon. Another time saving feature is the Multi-Image Uploader. This fabulous CMS feature is now available in the product section of the eCommerce CMS. Putting multiple images to good use, the product image view allows images to be swapped without the need for a slide show.

eCommerce SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Over the last 6 months we have increased the opportunities for eCommerce business owners to combine their SEO efforts with our automated SEO. We have made SEO improvement to Categories & Brands by including an extended description field for you to load up with search engine optimized copy.

Part of a good SEO strategy is to use Blog/News articles to further your efforts and optimize your site with relevant content enriched with even more keywords and phrases. Because of this, WSM has added customized SEO fields. Your eCommerce blog isn't the only thing to benefit from these additions, now your content pages can be assigned topics for categorization, and SEO flexibility.

WSM your eCommerce Solution

If you are currently using the WSM Content Management System you know how powerful, and intuitive it is to use. If you have yet to experience its power, and flexibility we encourage you to take a look at a few of our satisfied customers in our eCommerce Portfolio.

Our goal is to provide amazing eCommerce sites with customized hosting solutions that matches your goals, and budget. Contact WSM today to find out how we can become your e-Commerce partner for the life of your current project, and the next one.

We may begin to see the sun peaking through the recession clouds, but we are not of its shadow quite yet.  However, the quickest companies to rebound will be those that are willing to invest in the technologies that allow them to increase market share.  And where has the market turned?  The Internet.    

“When the recovery fully takes hold, the growth will be driven by the web, and retailers that want to survive and grow need to fish where the fish are. eCommerce Merchants with worn-out old systems won’t be the ones getting the business online. The ones that will are making a sound investment in better e-commerce technology now.” Kasey Lobaugh, retail analyst and principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP

Solutions for a Newbie or an eCommerce Veteran

As business owners we need to ask ourselves what our customers want and need.  Listening to our market, Web Design Solutions developed an ideal solution, Web Shop Manager™ (WSM™).

Recently, an article was published in Internet Retailer entitled “Internet Retailer Survey: E-retailers are ready to buy new technology, and they have long shopping lists.”  Reading this article reminded us just how big the need is for an all-encompassing eCommerce platform.  We provide many of the mentioned features in the article as part of our standard product offering, and we couple all of that with custom eCommerce web design. 

Built in response to our clients ever evolving needs, WSM™ offers a feature packed arsenal including – but not limited to:

Automatic SEO - WSM™ optimizes every page of content for you by generating your Google XML sitemap, URL list and robots.txt file every night. 

Target Marketing - Using customer statistics gathered by WSM™’s Content Management System (CMS), site owners can pinpoint exactly what customers are interested in, in order to develop highly targeted marketing campaigns.  Imagine knowing exactly which customers would be most likely to take advantage of an offer and exclusively providing them with an enticing coupon code. 

Robust Content Management System - The WSM™ CMS is every bit as powerful as it is easy to use.  From first time eCommerce site owners to veterans, there is something for everyone.  There are a myriad of eCommerce features, but here are just a few that are included in your WSM™ site: 

• Resources and Links
• Dealer Locator
• Event Calendar
• FAQ Pages
• Photo Gallery
• Blog/ News
• User-Generated Content  
• Customer Ratings and Reviews

WSM™ for an Ever Evolving Marketplace

Web design and eCommerce platforms have come a long way from their inception years ago.  Web Design Solutions/ Web Shop Manager™ are continually adding more eCommerce features and modules to provide flexible technology for our discerning clients.

eCommerce platforms may vary in size and prices, but as far as we are concerned WSM™ provides the best answer for those that require customized web design with an incredible CMS.  

After a lot of fussing we are finally able to show the world our new site. Along with all the new eCommerce features we have been launching we felt the need to our website to the next level as well.

Please let us know what you think!

The new eCommerce checkout system for WSM3 is now live! Completely redesigned and enhanced, this new system features a much easier and faster checkout experience for your customers needs.

After a 2 years of planning and 1 year of web development it's finally here. If you are currently using V2.3 please contact us to coordinate your free upgrade to Web Shop Manager V3.0. The list of new eCommerce features are endless!