With Google’s much publicised Caffeine update Google is shepherding in new rules and algorithms regarding how it will rank websites, again. But what does this mean for Internet Retailers? How can you gain the competitive edge?

The latest issue to surface is surrounding Google’s Page Speed. Google  is striving to reduce page load speed and “speed up the web”. The logical outcome is that Page Speed will be a factor in determining ranking and search engine placement. This means websites need to look to maximise Page optimisation, server hosting speed, browser caching, Javascript minifying, gzip compression, parallelize downloads and many other facets within web technology!

In today’s ultra competitive marketplace the difference between winners and losers can be slight. With so many online retailing companies looking for that competitive edge there is often a feeding frenzy surrounding the latest rumours and announcements about any Google ranking algorithm changes. Often business owners can feel pressured to jump on an already unbalanced band-wagon, lost in the trees, instead of stepping back and taking a good look at the woods.

So what do you, as a business owner, need to know, and what should be your focus?

Relevant, compelling content effectively optimised should still be the priority for all websites. Targeting your market and the search engines with pages filled with relevant content, well laid out and well presented should still be the priority.

There are many, many other factors that you should be aware of when it comes to designing, populating, hosting and promoting your website. Tackling all of these at once can be overwhelming, so we recommend a step by step approach.

If you use any outside assistance for your website, for hosting, design, software etc make sure they can qualify their knowledge and experience regarding search engines and internet marketing. You do not want to have to undo work you have paid for.

OK – so let’s assume your website is online, fully propagated with thoughtful, well written, relevant content aimed at your customers and target audience.After all that should be your priority…..

… and then we can tackle this website speed issue.

Page Speed
Your website should be designed with speed in mind. That means optimised images, optimised HTML, CSS and Javascript. Your web designer should build your website with this in mind, using all the available tools including:

- WebSite Optimisation
- Google Page Speed Browser plugin

If you feel your website is not up to scratch then get in touch. We can certainly help.

Hosting Speed
Your website should be hosted on a fast server with fast hardware, housed within a fast data-centre with fast networking. This gives your website the best chance of being delivered quickly to the browser, well…. fast!
In your Google Account you can view your website speed performance (including network speeds).

Hosting Configuration
Your hosting company should have enabled all the relevant speed optimisation modules e.g. gzip and deflate.If you are unsure about this or want to see about getting a host that is optimised and ready for these challenges then click to see teclan’s Ecommerce Hosting

If you are needing any further assistance with this then feel free to get in touch with teclan and see how our design team, our hosting team or our marketing team can assist.

Link Building
Another vital element in the Search Engine Optimisation tool box. Getting the largest number of quality inbound links to your website is an essential ingredient in search engine ranking (Page Rank) and in footfall through to your website.
If you don’t want to expend the time and effort yourself, then allow our team of experts to deliver professional link building for your business.

Above all, remember and focus on the most important priorities first, and don’t always throw yourself straight onto the internet “fad” bandwagon. It might be the difference between a good decision or a waste of your valuable time.

Interspire Email Marketer 6.0 was released late in 2009 and is proving to be a very affective product.

The email marketing software includes everything you need to create, send, track and profit from email marketing – but it doesn’t stop there. It also includes powerful tools to completely automate your follow up marketing and customer feedback loops too:

	Follow up with prospects automatically using autoresponders. Send a series of personalized email messages to new leads at intervals you define. It’s like having your own dedicated sales team working for you around the clock.
	Optimize your email click thru rates with split testing. Send a few variations of your email to a sample of your list and have the best performing one sent to the rest automatically.
	Automate your list management with triggers. Automatically convert leads to opportunities when they open a specific email, remove inactive leads from your list or even send a follow up email when a particular link is clicked – automatically.
	Keep your lists clean and up to date with automated bounce processing. Invalid email addresses can be removed from your list automatically based on “smart bounce rules”, helping keep your deliverability rate high.
	See the complete activity of a lead with event logging. Every time a lead opens your email, clicks a link or performs any other activity, it’s logged against their history making it easy for you sales team to qualify their desire to purchase.
	Solicit and track feedback with surveys. NEW! Using the drag & drop editor you can create customized surveys and feedback forms which you can link to from your email campaigns or autoresponders and then blast to your list in minutes.

To really get a feel for the ease and power of this software we recommend you check out our

Demo Site
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More Features Than Any Other Email Marketing Software

Interspire’s email marketing software is fully featured and was built specifically to help automate your follow up marketing, giving your sales team more motivated leads in the process. It will turn more leads into buyers – interspire guarantee it, or your money back.

Completely browser based No monthly or per email fees Perpetual, lifetime license No list size limits or fees No “powered by” link in your emails Runs on YOUR web server Use your mail server or 3rd party 100% unencrypted PHP code Private label in 5 minutes Surveys and feedback forms NEW!

Dozens of built-in templates Step-by-step campaign wizard Custom fields for personalization In-email dynamic content blocks NEW! Unlimited autoresponders Split test email campaigns Powerful XML-based API Powerful, automated triggers Full campaign statistics Google Analytics integration

Automated bounced email processing Full WYSIWYG campaign editing Per user email throttling Easily import/export contacts Pause and resume sending Automatic event logging Built-in CRM functionality Google Calendar integration RSS email campaign archive User groups with permissions NEW!

teclan are offering interspire’s email marketer at the discounted price of £295 plus Vat as we feel it will prove a definite advantage to all our customers.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further details.

This simple video guide takes you through some basic steps on how you can get your valuable customer email information into the powerful email marketing tool that is Interspire Email Marketer.

This video will demonstrate:

• How to extract customer CSV’s from Actinic
• How to Create a Contact List
• How to Import contacts to that list
• How to Create an Email Campaign
• additional features

With Actinic and Interspire Email Marketer you have a VERY powerful combination to help you market and promote your business.

You can play with our online demo of the Interspire Email Marketer at the following link:
URL Link: Demo website
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You can also buy the Email Marketer from our web shop here
Please check out the rest of our website for more ideas on how you can increase and grow your online business.

Show your customer’s some Love this Valentine’s Day.

It’s not just chocolatiers and rose sellers that should be busy this Valentine’s day.
You should use this opportunity to re-ignite your relationship with your customers and start talking to them.

With a well thought out email marketing campaign you can do just that. Follow our 10 step guide to email marketing success and make sure you entice your customers back to your store.

1. Get Prepared

The first step is to collect your images and decide on special offers right away. Within a day you should be able to draft out a campaign that will take you from now through to Valentine’s Day, and include the follow-up after February 14th.

You don’t want to overpower your potential customers, so we recommend that you run your campaign like this:

E-mail 1: Wednesday, January 20: first Offer
E-mail 2: Wednesday, February 3: Offer reminder
E-mail 3: Wednesday, February 10: Second offer reminder (e.g. “Only a few Days left!”)
E-mail 4: Wednesday, February 17: Thank customers who took advantage of the offer and extend a new offer to these loyal customers.

2. Use a Valentine’s Day Theme

Use a good balance of Valentine-specific copy and imagery to put subscribers in a Valentine’s mood.  Re-use the resources on your site and landing pages to keep the same tone.

3. Market by Gender and the product They Buy

Separate your subscriber list by gender and send female-oriented product offers to the men, and vice versa.

4. Keep Affordability in mind

Remember that many people are still paying off Christmas bills this time of year.  Your offer should be convincing, but affordable enough to encourage potential customers to act on it.

5. Target Valentine’s Day Customers from Last Year

Send an select e-mail to customers who purchased from you last year around Valentine’s Day with an even better offer this year. If the offer is right, they are likely buy from you again.

6. Make Offers Easy to cash in.

Make it easy to cash in your offer.  Make sure the button or link stands out. The offer should be placed in the top left-hand corner of the e-mail for maximum visibility.

7. Include Customer Reviews or Testimonials

People are more inclined to purchase a product or service when they know previous customers have had a positive experience.

8. Offer Tips and facts

Help your customers by offering Valentine’s Day tips in your next newsletter.  It could be centre round your top selling items from last year or one you want to promote.

9. Include Send-to-a-friend

Don’t miss the opportunity to turn your customer’s friends into new customers. Persuade subscribers to forward the offer to their friends.

10. Remember to Say Thanks

On or shortly after February 14th send a greeting to customers and thank them by offering a small gesture of gratitude — like incentive points or a free gift with there next order.

Need help choosing  email marketing software, then give us a call on 0845 868 9380 or click here

Stopping only between 1pm and 4pm for Dinner, the last-minute rush to beat the Jan 1st VAT rise saw an online purchase made every 10 seconds on Christmas Day!

With UK shoppers spending £5.3bn online in November 2009 – sales up by 25% on October, 11% compared to November 2008 – predictions for 4 million UK buyers going online saw the actual average purchase up by 94% at nearly 4 items per order.

The above figures clearly show that an increased number of UK consumers feel more confident than ever to make a purchase, securely online. For the online business owner, this can only be a good sign for continued eCommerce growth in 2010, despite the prolonged recession.

And indeed, as the ‘January’ sales play out into Spring, every business, organisation, service and supplier needs to keep looking further forward in order to maintain their web presence as both internet and mobile technologies march relentlessly forward.

This coming year already promises to usher in a decade where inevitably, potential customers will be demanding and expecting even more in terms of instant accessibility and interactive engagement.

It is now of supreme importance for website experience to be truly worthwhile and meaningful for both the first time and repeat visitor. Regular traffic will only occur if a website has been bookmarked for relevant, genuine content, and updated almost daily to increase the potential for sales enquiries and conversions.

This also applies to those companies who still only retain a basic website for contact enquiries only, as the belief still persists that they can survive mostly by traditional trading and marketing methods with their customer base because their particular business just would not benefit by being active online.

This attitude is going to be even more severely tested in this decade. Website design is rapidly evolving to reflect the needs of live search, mobile access and social media applications.

It is almost certain that online marketing will expand to appropriate the emerging platforms which the consumers themselves will opt to use to find and engage with your site. Unless you are ready to serve, one click or wave of their finger will instantly show if they will be buying in or bailing out!

via Online Marketing News, Articles and advice » Welcome to 2010 and the Online Business Boom!.

Here are some worthwhile tips from various e-commerce experts gathered over the last month. Tips are in no specific order, we hope they will help give you some ideas for your business in 2010.

Shop Payment Gateways
“Shop around to find the best deal in credit card processing gateways. Even a penny more per transaction will eventually add up to big bucks over the life of your shop.”

Calculate the Discount That Brings the Biggest Profit
“It’s important to double check the math behind your online promotions. A 60 percent discount will bring you more customers than a 40 percent discount, but keep in mind that the 40 percent discount might actually bring you more profit and even better customer retention.”

Use a Favicon to Promote Your Brand
“Promote your brand with a favorite icon (or, “Favicon”), a square 16 pixel graphic that appears next to your website address in the address bar, next to the web page’s title in the web browser favorites, in tabs, and desktop shortcuts. To implement, place the favicon.ico graphic file in the root of your URL, and then link to it with:
.”

Offer Additional Payment Methods
“When you offer additional payment methods (e.g., PayPal, Amazon and Google Checkout) you can lock in customers that may be worried about trusting your online store. Millions of customers that already have accounts with these secure payment methods know and trust their checkout systems and buying experience.”

Keep Social Media Strategy Relevant to Your Business
“Connect to customers through social media outlets, but develop your own strategy relevant to your particular business. Just because Dell, Best Buy or other large corporations are using a particular site or a particular strategy doesn’t mean it is relevant or feasible for your business.”

The Advantage of Up-selling
“Up-sells increase average earnings per sale, and a properly executed up-sell can even increase your conversion rates. Compelling up-sell offers should cost no more than 30 percent of the price of your primary product. And, when choosing your up-sell offers, always select products that complement your primary product offer.”

Keep Your Message Above the Fold
“If it is important, keep it ‘above the fold’ [middle of screen]. Email or newsletter sign ups, special offers, reviews, and navigation are better served ‘above the fold’ where a visitor is more likely to engage them.”

Include Expert Testimonials
“Customer testimonials and user-generated product reviews are great to provide reassurance for your online store. But, if you can, go one step further and put up any ‘expert’ testimonials or product reviews. An example might be, ‘The head groundsman at Wimbledon recommends this lawn mower…’ and include actual quotes from the expert.”

Create a FAQ Page
“Create a FAQ [frequently asked questions] page that educates customers about your products or services in a concise matter. It should cover a wide range of questions and answers to help customers make more informed decisions on purchases. Customers will be more comfortable shopping with your company and have a better understanding of the way you operate, creating a foundation for repeat customers and referrals.”

Detailed Images Appeal to Sophisticated Shoppers
“As the Internet matures so does the sophistication of online shoppers. Studies indicate that today’s shoppers expect retailers to provide not only textual product information, but also detailed, zoomable images, videos, and alternate product views. A superior customer experience separates the best-of-breed retailers from the rest of the pack.”

Online shopping has risen in popularity in recent years

Thousands of internet retailers may be breaking laws that protect customers, claims a consumer advocacy group.

Which? is warning firms to obey the law, or risk being reported to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and face the threat of prosecution.

It said too many online sites were ignoring the rules.

Which? is warning retailers to make sure they comply with what are known as the Distance Selling regulations – such as time to return sold goods.

A Which? survey last month claimed that several well-known names, including Marks and Spencer and Game, didn't fully comply with regulations.

Both companies have since altered the wording on their websites, although both deny that they ever broke the law.

The Distance Selling regulations apply to anything purchased via the telephone, the internet or television.

“If you are an online store, it is your duty to stick with the legislation,” said Matt Bath, the technology editor of Which?.

Typical mistakes

The biggest mistake made by retailers concerns the amount of time that customers have to return unwanted goods.

Customers have seven working days, from receiving the goods, in which to cancel the order.

They then have a reasonable amount of time to return them.

Providing cancellation was within that period, consumers are entitled to a full refund.

That means no site should charge an administration or re-stocking fee, unless the purchase was cancelled outside the seven-day period.

Retailers are also bound to refund any postage and packing fee on the original delivery.

However, depending on the conditions, the retailer may not be liable for the costs of sending the goods back.

Breaking the law

The Internet Media in Retail Group (IMRG) monitors the activities of 1,200 websites that are its members.

Andrew McClelland of the IMRG says it is probably “a fair assumption” that at least 1,000 sites may be breaking the law, though not IMRG members, he added.

He believes that few sites will be breaking the law knowingly.

“A lot of retailers new to the business, whilst not deliberately wanting to break the law, probably don’t understand the requirements of the legislation,” Mr McClelland said.

Which? is warning that it will now be hunting out other offenders.

“We will be keeping a firm eye on the big name stores and those smaller independents to make sure shoppers are getting a fair deal,” said Matt Bath.

Any sites found to be breaking the Distance Selling regulations will be reported to the Office of Fair Trading, who could decide to prosecute.

teclan’s advise is to review your terms and conditions and double check your site and policies are fully compliant. Once you are happy everything is above board make sure your customers know about it so they can be confident when making a purchase.

Link to distance selling guide

via BBC News – Thousands of shopping websites ‘could be breaking law’.

Helping you sell more online, increase customer conversions, beat your competitors and grow your business.
Information
Online retail continues to buck the downward trend
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Whilst the tectonic plates of the global economy continue to shift and jolt around the world, a closer look at online retail shows a positive trend which is giving online retailers steady ground in these shaky times.
Read More

offer
Exciting New tecMail features
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- Actinic Email Marketing Sales Conversion tracking!
read more
tecMail’s latest feature now allows you to send emails to your customers AND see how many of them buy from you AND see how much they buy.
As well as tracking the success and penetration of each email message you send, tecMail now also allows you to chart the cost effectiveness of your email Marketing campaign.
Email marketing is key to a successful online retail business.
The most successful E-retailers are doing it! Are you?
tecMail – Email Marketing Solution
Information
351 days till Christmas!
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Christmas Makeover results
After a large amount of applicants requesting entry to our Christmas makeover competition we had to extend the closing date in order to process all of the entries before announcing the winner.
We have now chosen the winner and we will be announcing the results of their makeover in an upcoming newsletter.
Thank you to all those businesses who entered and for the unsuccessful entries our team will be getting in touch directly to see what we may be able to assist you with.

Information

New Browser on the block – Chrome
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Google, the Search Engine Giant, has entered the internet browser market with their latest product offering in the form of a brand new internet browser, Google Chrome.
read more

We want to help you sell more products online, increase your customer conversions, beat your competitors and grow your business.
Information
351 days till Christmas!
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It’s getting closer and the countdown has begun!
Greenwich Meantime Christmas Countdown
Do you want a Christmas countdown installed on your web retail site?

Does your site need a Christmas makeover?
teclan want to demonstrate the benefits of implementing seasonal web effects and features into a live trading website to assist with the seasonal sales. We will be shortly picking a shortlist of applicants to undergo this process in the lead up to Christmas.
Click here to apply now!

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New Actinic Plugins available online
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We are pleased to announce that teclan have added more plugins to the hugely popular free plugins pages.
These plugins are designed to improve and add functionality to your store by adding non standard features to Actinic.
The new plugins are now live and we will be adding more in the coming weeks.
(VIEW CURRENT PLUGINS)
Information
Two-thirds of UK homes now online.
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Almost 16.5 million households in the UK now have internet access, an increase of 1.2 million since 2007, the latest official figures show.

Read more about this and what it means to your market growth.
(read more)
Information

Important dates for online retailers
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It is important to make sure that internet retailers are able to act and react effectively to key seasonal dates and events.
Following is a list of upcoming dates for you to review:
- 22nd Sept: First day of Autumn
- 26th Oct: Clocks go ‘back’ one hour.
- 28th Oct : British Summer Time Ends
- 31st Oct: Halloween
- 5th Nov: Bonfire Night
- 30th Nov: St Andrews Day
- 25th Dec: Christmas Day

We want to help you sell more products online, increase your customer conversions, beat your competitors and grow your business.

With that in mind we are increasing our newsletter publication to twice a month to allow us to update you with more relevant information, in a more efficient format for you to utilise in driving your business forward.

Information
With Christmas fast approaching, are your potential customers finding your online store?
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For the month of August, teclan are offering you the chance to take advantage of our FREE Optimisation and Marketing Consultation. During this consultation you will be able to see how well your optimisation efforts are doing, and also discuss potential marketing strategies.
(BOOK YOUR CONSULTATION TODAY!)
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Featured Site of the month… www.kids-partyshop.co.uk
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Kids-partyshop.co.uk is an Actinic site selling party supplies for children’s party ware and accessories. They sell a range of themed party supplies and specialise in First Birthday party-ware.
The Kids Party Shop has seen fantastic results through the Internet Sales Program, and within 12 months of starting the site had improved rankings and boosted traffic to the site…
(READ MORE)
Information
Major retailers add PayPal to their payments options
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More and more retailers are adding PayPal to their list of payment options as one in three UK online shoppers say it’s their preferred payment method…
PayPal is on a bit of a roll. Its share of consumer internet payments is up 5% over the last year, from 16% to 21%, 30% of UK online shoppers now say they prefer to use PayPal over any other form of payment online and over 120,000 retailers in Europe now accept PayPal. (read more)
offer
COMING SOON… NEW Actinic Plugins on www.teclan.com
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We are pleased to announce that teclan will be adding more plugins to the hugely popular free plugins pages.
These plugins are designed to improve and add functionality to your store by adding non standard features to Actinic.
The new plugins will be live www.teclan.com in a few weeks.
(VIEW CURRENT PLUGINS)