CuddleWorks founder Jim Richardson did his homework before selecting Volusion as the e-commerce platform that provided the best fit for his business. Emphasizing great prices and excellent customer service, CuddleWorks specializes in high quality, plush and stuffed animals ranging from teddy bears of all sizes to farm and jungle animals. “For just over three months, we researched several e-commerce packages, ranging from “A” to Zen-Cart. Many had a good feature here, or useful process there, but none met the strict requirements we had for price and flexibility, until we found Volusion,” says Richardson.

The CuddleWorks online store at www.CuddleWorks.com has relied on the Volusion platform since it went live in December of 2007 with what Richardson describes as “instant success,” breaking $10,000 in sales within 10 weeks of launch. Richardson credits the Volusion support team for the seamless and quick launch of his online store, which enabled him to immediately capitalize on the holiday shopping season. “The transition between free template and fully functional e-commerce solution was quite seamless, and saved us some startup capital at the right time,” says Richardson, adding “truth be told, the free tech support over the phone, via email, and surprisingly enough, over live chat, were essential to our store going live so quickly.”

Free support and a combination of robust features led Richardson to choose Volusion as the right ecommerce solution for the CuddleWorks online store. Features such as real-time inventory control, coupon ad functionality and campaign tracking have proven invaluable to CuddleWorks’ business operations. Richardson is also pleased with Volusion’s advanced import and export features, which allow for integration with QuickBooks and feed submission to online shopping portals.

Having spent two months ensuring that CuddleWorks has detailed and vibrant product photos to represent its high quality stuffed animals, Richardson is particularly enthusiastic about Volusion’s vZoom feature, which displays a real-time, up close view of any part of a product when you roll over the product photo. The vZoom feature gives CuddleWorks shoppers an up close view of the company’s stuffed animals, emphasizing their quality craftsmanship and making for a rich shopping experience. “With the new vZoom feature - only offered by Volusion - and the quality of our photographs, we have positioned ourselves for even greater success,” Richardson says.

Richardson’s short and sweet advice to other online store owners stems from the months of extensive research he did before choosing Volusion to host his online store: “do it right the first time.”

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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Keeping your site current lets your customers know that your site is up-to-date and that you are open and ready for business. Show your spirit with some Halloween décor, created just for you by our design team. It will only take a moment to get your site and your customers in the spooky spirit!

To save a graphic for uploading, right click on the image and hit Save Image As.

Uploading your New Homepage Graphic
From the admin area of your site, click on the Settings Wizard button, located to the left of the Instant Help button. Then under the Design Wizard section, click on Your Content. Under the Home Page Article section, you can now upload your previously saved image so that it is displayed on the homepage of your site.

The History of Halloween
Halloween dates back to Celtic rituals performed thousands of years ago. On the night of October 31^st, the Celts believed that the ghosts of the dead would revisit the earth. Many moons later, the first official Halloween celebration took place in the United States. That cold day in 1921 set the stage for many celebrations to come and Halloween quickly became a holiday donned with costumes, parties and an over indulgence in candy!

These copyrighted graphics are intended for the sole use of Volusion clients only. Use of these graphics by other sites or competitors is strictly prohibited and can result in legal action against the offending parties.

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Halloween is just around the corner but if you are thinking of starting Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your company it does not have to be a frightful time. The biggest challenge in managing your website’s SEO is simply motivating yourself to tackle something that seems so intangible and insurmountable. By breaking SEO into pieces, it makes the process a little easier to stomach. An article titled “Overcoming Your SEO Fears” in the March/April 2007 issue of Revenue magazine suggests four key steps:

1. Determine Which Keywords to Use

Keywords are what are going to drive customers to your website. You may have great products but unless you can lock into what customers are searching for, your products may never be seen. Here are some suggestions on what to consider when developing keywords.

• The Right Keywords
  • Get recommendations from individuals in your target market
  • Research your competitors
  • Use words that are important to your business
  • Use keyword tools to research potentials and get suggestions for new keywords
  • Be specific
• Creative Keywords
  • Target various uses for your products
  • Include phrases used in the research stage (i.e. before a customer purchases)
  • Think about alternatives to your products
  • Consider the level of expertise of your market
  • Keep keywords current- seasonal, sale related, etc.
  • Use slang expressions/common jargon where appropriate
  • Include misspellings
  • Consider regional language differences
  • Focus on the features of your products

2. Have a Great Website

This step may be the hardest to accomplish but it is also the most important. There is no need to work on driving traffic to your site if it is not going to stand out and get customers excited about purchasing your products; after all, traffic does not mean much without sales! One important thing to remember though is that your site does not need to be the best it will ever be before you go ahead and start working on SEO. Your site is like any other business- it is dynamic. You can develop your keywords and start tracking the progress you are making with SEO while you work on making your site great! This is not a linear process. Working on the “wow factor” of your site is not something you will need to check off before moving on to another stage of SEO. Some great tips include:

• Make sure your domain name is logical and uses your site’s keywords where possible
• Showcase quality product images
• Use color well
• Provide quality information
• Have an about us section
• Utilize customer reviews and testimonials
• Display contact information
• Have a quality homepage
• Make it easy for repeat visitors
• Show what is new- with the company and it’s products
• Get feedback about your site through forums, focus groups, conversations with customers, etc.

Attract Customer Attention

3. Set up Link Exchanges

If there are any companies that you are partnered with or you have a good relationship with, it is a good idea to try to leverage their popularity for your own site. If you link to them, many times they will link back to you. This can be a great way to add perceived value in the minds of customers by showing them that you are not just out for their business but you are also plugged into their interests. If you do not have any existing business relationships that you can utilize this is a great way to start trying to form some. Whether it be making some connections within your own industry, or jumping on the bandwagon of supporters of popular sites, link exchanges are a great way to dial into the synergy of the internet.

Do not make the mistake of getting carried away. If you link to numerous sites and they are not linking back, you are letting your hard earned traffic slip away. The last thing that you want is to go to all the trouble to get potential customers to your site, only to have them skip over your products and head to someone else’s site.

4. Collect and Analyze Data

Hopefully, now comes the fun part. After all the work you have done, you will definitely want to measure the results of your toil. Volusion’s “Smarter Stats” and “Reporting” tool, and Google’s “Google Analytics” provide excellent ways to track the progress you have made in your SEO endeavors. It is important to have a way to view statistics about the demographics of the visitors themselves, the search terms they used, where they were on your site, etc. The more information you can get about your site’s performance and how it measures up in your industry, the more informed decisions you can make.

If All Else Fails Hire Someone

If you find yourself at a dead end and need some professional help, you can always hire someone to do your SEO for you. Some important things that you should remember are:

• It will not be cheap; and the more competitive your industry is the more you should expect to pay.
• The company you choose should not make unrealistic guarantees. SEO is not magic. If it seems too good to be true it probably is.
• Some SEO companies have specializations- know if the one you plan on using specializes in your industry.
• Know what the prospective company’s process is (what information they will need from you, what the timeline will be, if any additional fees may apply down the road, etc.).
• Research the company’s reputation and current and past clients.
• Know what you are getting on an ongoing basis.

-Kate Pierce, Ecommerce Specialist

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In a move that multiplies its office space fivefold and paves the way for continued growth, Volusion, Inc. has expanded operations in both its corporate headquarters in Simi Valley, California and its Austin, Texas based office. Modern, spacious new offices in both California and Texas accommodate current and future personnel, giving Volusion the capacity to effectively serve and support a growing client base and enhance its offering through the addition of new services. With added square footage and the infrastructure in place to streamline communication, Volusion is poised to recruit more top talent and grow its award winning support and customer care teams. Volusion provides 24/7, year round support to every client, and was recently awarded the Stevie Award for Best Customer Service Team in 2008.

Volusion has been widely recognized for excellence in the e-commerce industry, including a top 5 rank in Inc. 5000’s Top 100 Software Companies of 2008. The company has experienced a 1,900% growth in revenue over the past three years, a testament to its commitment to providing the most robust e-commerce solutions available. For two years running, Volusion’s e-commerce software has outperformed Yahoo Merchant Solutions to win the title of Best E-commerce Storefront by SmallBusinessComputing.com in 2007 and 2008.

Volusion’s larger offices provide ample space to expand and add talent across all departments, including customer care, support, design, sales and marketing, a plan that underscores the company’s dedication to client satisfaction in all areas of the business.

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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Brainstorming is an essential phase of keyword research for both paid search campaigns and search engine optimization. The goal of brainstorming keywords for a site is to generate a large, diverse pool of potential phrases without regard to search volume, cost or competitiveness just yet. Brainstorming keyword phrases is not a task that should be rushed. Taking the time to thoroughly think through variations that may be used to search for sites like yours can help you uncover potentially lucrative keywords you may otherwise neglect. While the final keyword list for a site is chosen based on research and focuses on quality, brainstorming is all about quantity and allowing your ideas to expand upon one another.

Remember that each page of your site you want to optimize or promote through PPC needs its own set of keywords. Usually you will find the best keywords for the most important pages of your site, but sometimes keyword research may uncover a targeted, untapped key phrase worth building a landing page around. The brainstorming pointers below can help you generate keyword phrases fitting for either situation.

• Consider the level of expertise in your target market.
  One common problem with brainstorming keywords is that we become constrained by the vocabulary and industry jargon familiar to us, when in fact consumers are using totally different phrases to search for products. Let’s assume we are brainstorming keyword phrases for a website selling a highly technical product, LED signs. Some search phrases obvious to those in the industry are:
  • LED signs
  • LED display
  • scrolling LED sign
  • outdoor LED sign
  • programmable LED sign

  While the above phrases are common to those in the industry, consumers often search for LED signs using their own vocabulary, such as:

  • LED moving message sign
  • electronic LED sign
  • scrolling sign
  • moving message display

  Sometimes, layman descriptions that would make industry insiders cringe may be exactly what users are typing in. Even better, your competitors may be focused on the obvious keywords, giving you the opportunity to capitalize on less competitive but frequently searched terms with minimal investment.

• Include phrases used in the research phase, before the purchase process.
  Let’s say we are brainstorming keywords for a website with the primary purpose of selling supplies for making paper. Our initial brainstorming session may generate something like:
  • papermaking supplies
  • paper making supplies
  • paper making equipment
  • paper making kit

  Once we have a few phrases on the list, mental block often kicks in and tempts us to move to the next step armed with only the most obvious key phrases.
  Instead of quitting there, we decide to brainstorm phrases we can target on our informational pages to attract consumers who are researching papermaking. Including original, informative content on your site adds tremendous value for both users and search engines, and can boost your conversion rate since consumers are more likely to purchase from a company they perceive as an authority on the subject.
  We add “how to make paper” to the list. Now for demonstration, let’s take a look at the approximate monthly search volume for each phrase on the list, based on data from Google’s keyword tool:

  • papermaking supplies 390
  • paper making supplies 720
  • paper making equipment 210
  • paper making kit 590
  • how to make paper 201,000

  Wow, one informational keyword accounts for a big difference in potential targeted visitors to the site. While search numbers from any tool should not be taken literally, they can give us helpful clues about the search volume for certain keyword phrases relative to others. In this case, “how to make paper” appears to get thousands more searches than any of our other phrases so far, and is definitely worth keeping on our brainstorming list.

• Think about keywords that describe alternatives to your products.Maybe you sell bamboo floring but you also want to get your brand in front of consumers in the market for wood floors. Or perhaps you want consumers searching for dog training services to find your new book on the subject. Marketing for alternative or competing products is usually more efficiently accomplished through paid ad campaigns, but can be an effective SEO strategy under the right circumstances. If you are publicizing a new-to-market item for which no one searches, for instance, you may build awareness by writing about products your innovation replaces or supplements so that people searching for existing products may find your site.
• Target specific uses or desirable features of your products.When searching for products, people often have in mind specific uses or features they want. Include in your brainstorming list adjectives or descriptive phrases that point out specific selling points for your products. Here are a few examples:
  • Storage chest vs. Waterproof storage chest
  • Cell phone vs. cell phone with GPS
  • Coffee table vs. wooden coffee table
  • Toaster vs. Mickey Mouse head toaster (seriously)
• Develop seasonal or current event specific keywords. Depending on your product offering, promoting seasonal keyword phrases or those related to current events or trends can bring an influx of qualified traffic. Here are a few examples:
  • Father’s day gifts (or other gift-giving holidays)
  • Superbowl party ideas (or other sporting/special events)
  • Back to school clothes
  • Snow shovels
  • Thanksgiving tablecloths

  If your products fill a need for a specific season or event, brainstorm how you can work that angle into your PPC campaign (or SEO campaign if the return is worth the effort).

Some other considerations to point you in the right direction when brainstorming key phrases are:

• Language differences among geographic regions (think soda vs. pop vs. coke)
• Commonly used slang expressions
• Differences in jargon used by people in different age groups
• Acronyms and abbreviations for phrases
• Common misspellings (generally for PPC)
• New words or phrases that emerge with new technology (like “webinar” or “ringtone”)
• Targeted long tail phrases for which there may be little competition
• Alternate ways your products may be used (“tennis balls for walkers”)

One final tip: Ask your customers, friends, family, colleagues and anyone who may fall into your target market what keywords they might use to find a business like yours, which can give you valuable insight into the language that is commonly used by those inside and outside your industry. Only when you have an exhaustive list of brainstormed keyword phrases should you move into the next phase of researching which of these phrases will attract the highest volume of qualified traffic to your site. Starting with a well thought out list of brainstormed keyword phrases will provide a solid foundation for the rest of your search marketing efforts.

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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