Imagine walking into an electronics or jewelry store with some of the most amazing products you’ve ever seen. Everything this store offers is unique. The people seem kind. The prices are right. But the store itself is very drab and almost looks like a warehouse, and you can’t find anything. It makes you wonder where these people came from and if their goods were stolen or not.

A template is like that brick-and-mortar storefront. If it doesn’t live up to your products, you could be selling your store short. What is a template exactly though? The template is the frame of your website. It contains the categories and navigation. You can see an example of how templates vary in structure here.

What are some things to consider when choosing how and where your categories will be displayed?

1.) Color scheme: Different colors solicit different emotional reactions. Understanding what emotions your site is conveying is key. Since you will probably choose more than one color, it can be very helpful to be familiar with different color schemes together first before putting together a design. This color schemer gallery is very helpful in making this choice.

2.) Navigation: Do you want your navigation to be on the top, the left, or the right? Do you want both top and left navigation? Laying out information in a clear manner is key. Since navigation is ultimately controlled by you and your shopping cart software, making this choice before choosing a template can help give your store a more deliberate, unified feel.

3.) Having an About Us page, a prominent return policy, and contact information will determine if people can trust you or not. We don’t buy from people we don’t know. Where can you display this information so that people can find it?

4.) Customers who use your search functionality to find products are much more likely to purchase than those who are simply browsing. Make sure it is prominent for your users somewhere in your template.

Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
http://www.volusion.com

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Your logo seems like such a small part of your online store. After all, your customers are looking at your products, right? A logo is an afterthought.

Your company’s logo is the most prominent form of branding your store will have. A logo can go on a receipt, a letterhead, a t-shirt, banner, as well as every page of your online store. It is also typically in one of the more prominent places website users look according to eye-tracking studies. It’s how your customers identify you.

What should you consider when choosing a logo?

Your customers can’t see if you choose to wear a suit or t-shirt, cargo pants, and Birkenstocks. They don’t know if you or your employees are country or city dwellers. They see your site. Ensuring your logo matches what you are all about will set the cornerstone for creating a solid brand people will be able to trust.

If you are a Volusion customer, you can purchase a logo design for $495.

Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
michelle_greer(at)volusion.com
http://www.volusion.com

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After graduating from UC Berkeley, Adam Guthrie realized that he would not be happy with his career working for someone else. “Since I had some bartending experience (mostly as my fraternity’s social chair for a couple of semesters), I decided that retailing bar supplies for the at-home enthusiast was an underserved niche that I had the potential to take advantage of. After visiting a variety of discussion boards frequented by other storefront owners, and doing some research on my

own, I concluded that the Volusion platform would suit my needs best due to its professional appearance, flexibility, and automation features.”

Adam started off by listing his products on higher traffic sites while his search engine rankings were being built. “In the early stages of HomeBarSource.com’s launch, we relied solely upon price comparison sites such as Shopzilla, Froogle, and Shopping.com to provide leads to potential customers. Within a few months, the major search engines began to provide the website’s pages with higher page ranks in the search results due to the SEO capabilities of the Volusion platform. As revenue increased, we began to purchase ad-space and links to our store on high ranking websites, which within a few more months helped HomeBarSource.com reach top-10 (and in some cases, top-3) rankings for our major targeted keywords. We’ve also added a Drink Recipe informational section on our website, which has helped our site become indexed for even more related keywords and to increase our page rank due to an increase in the text:code ratio.”

Adam’s had so much success with homebarsource.com, he decided to open another store using Volusion’s platform, kitchenandrestaurant.com. Adam is optimistic about his new prospect. “While the sales and product line of HomeBarSource.com continue to increase, Kitchen and Restaurant appears to be gaining enough momentum to indicate the potential for an even greater success than our first venture.”

Michelle Greer
michelle_greer(at)volusion.com
http://www.volusion.com

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Although the two took their first scuba lesson by accident, Phil Ellis and his son Brad quickly fell in love with scuba diving. “As soon as I went underwater for the first time, I was hooked. Both Brad and I began immediately thinking how we might make a living doing that great sport,” said Phil. After becoming a more active diver, he decided to quit his job in industrial quality improvement and manufacturing process control to open a scuba shop in Decatur, Alabama. When the travel industry came near to a dead halt after

September 11th, their brick-and-mortar store ended up not fairing so well.

Rather than just close up shop, Phil decided to take his business online with Dive Sports. He and his son had some success with a website they had built from scratch in 2002. After experiencing some growth, they soon realized they needed something more robust to maintain a sustainable business model. A friend had recommended Volusion and they set up the live store in January 2008.

Since opening their Volusion store, Phil and the crew at Dive Sports has since reached out to the online community in scuba forums, chat boards, and blogs. Phil even started his own blog to discuss scuba products and tips. By reaching out to the community online, Phil developed an edge over his bigger, less personable competitors. “No matter how much our internet business grows, we are still just a bunch of scuba divers that love the sport and love sharing our knowledge and information with our customers. We like for our customers to think of us as their local scuba store, no matter where they live,” says Phil.

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James “El Tigre” Booker felt robbed back in 2001 when his four putt putt wins in one year was dubbed “the Booker Slam” rather than a Grand Slam. “It shouldn’t matter that they weren’t all in the same calendar year. I held all four titles at once. That should count for something,” he said then.

Tigre faces an uphill battle, as he has not proven as dominant as in previous years. Some speculate that his putt putt skills have declined since leaving his first coach and marrying his bikini model/nanny girlfriend. Some say he’s lost his swing. Tigre vehemently denies anything of the sort.

Booker decided that 2008 would be the year to prove his critics wrong. However, after the first day of the Volusion Masters, Booker’s name is nowhere on the leader board. “I just lost my concentration. Tomorrow is another day.” At one point, geek/marketing ninja Michelle Greer took a picture of the golfer in midswing. The incident triggered an outburst by Tigre, who demanded that Greer be escorted out of the tournament.

“He’s been doing this crap for years. If I let it get to me, I wouldn’t be doing my job,” she said.

Will Tigre come up with one of his legendary comebacks this weekend? We shall see. Check out/comment on Day One’s highlights on Flickr.

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