School's out & Summer's coming, but you should hit the books...

With summer vacation plans being made and holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day coming and going, summertime ushers in a slower, more relaxed time of year for online selling. You could take this time to slow down with the rest of the online merchants out there, but the savvy ecommerce store owner (such as yourself) should use this time instead to test changes and make improvements to your store.

Some Summer site tips...

Here's a quick overview of some things you can do to improve your business this summer: 1. Evaluate your site design. Take a hard look at your site while trying to not be too biased. Is it trustworthy? Does it create an atmosphere that matches the products being sold? Is it easy to navigate? Is it current and up to date? Also get an outside opinion to help determine which changes need to be made. The Volusion Forums are a great place to submit site reviews (and also a great place to chat with other store owners about a variety of business issues). Let your peers provide some insight to your site at first glance, then use what you've learned to make improvements.

2. Examine your products.
Are they priced competitively? Do your product descriptions give enough information about the item? How do your product photos look? Based on the answers above, would YOU buy from your store? Remember that online sites need to offer as much information and description about the product as possible (since your customers don't get to physically see that item). For tips on product descriptions, photos and more, visit the Ecommerce 101 Blog.

3. Review your current marketing plan.
Do you use paid search marketing, affiliates or strictly rely on organic listings? Take time this summer to see which campaigns are successful, which ones need to be tweaked and which ones should be added. Paid per click advertising is a great way to get quick traffic to your site. Also since it often takes a few months to achieve good organic search results, this is a great time to start a new SEO campaign to bear some fruit for this coming holiday shopping season. Work hard now and reap the rewards later.

4. Improve your customer communication.
Do customers leave your site after adding items to their cart? Think of ways you can prevent this from happening. Make sure all details of a purchase are highlighted on your site so they don't bail in the spot you've worked so hard to get them to. Giving customers information and answers will help get you a sale. Volusion Live Chat allows your customers to get answers to product questions quickly. This one is a no-brainer (it's free and easy to use). And don't worry, this doesn't mean you have to be online at all times. When you're offline, the chat button will say "Live Help Offline- Click to E-mail" (this provides a quick way for customers to e-mail questions as well).

Keeping the beach ball rolling...

Deep breath...the work load for this "relaxing" time of year may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but remember, no pain- no gain. Keeping the ball rolling in the right direction will help you with future sales. In the words of William Arthur Ward, "Study while others are sleeping, work while others are loafing, prepare while others are playing, and dream while others are wishing." And if you decide you'd rather be on the beach without your laptop, you can always take a break while we Design and help Drive Traffic to your site for you.