Sellers Choice Storefronts: Readers Less Satisfied with SEO

by: The End

AmberCart is THE best bar none. Make your own website. Install the cart. Choose PayPal or Stripe Gateway. Pay a small 3.5% fee per transaction plus $9.00 a month for a few transactions. $12.00 for more transactions.
And the tech support is Great ! But it's so simple to install, you rarely ever need tech support  :o)

by: smallstuff

Very timely review.  Could you provide more detail about how you chose the 22 packages/storefronts and how many survey responses you had for each?  

I did my own search earlier in the year.  I looked at eCommerce frameworks, shopping cart software, and hosted storefronts. I compared my list against the eCommerce frameworks and shopping carts on Wikipedia to be sure I didn't miss anything.  Along the way I looked at most of your top five plus several others.

I concluded that I would not be satisfied with a hosted storefront.  I was looking for a shopping cart and storefront that I could run on my own website.  This gave me more control over my website but it also meant I would have to configure a complex software package and make my own customizations.  

I'm not done yet, so the jury is still out.  I am currently configuring a test site using PrestaShop.  I picked this because they offered the features I wanted plus a default responsive theme, meaning it would display correctly on smart phones and tablets.  So far I am happy with the choice.

by: siva

how do you drive traffic to your listings?

BY means of Social media i promote my products and get traffic

What factors did you use to determine which platform to use?

Usability, look and feel and security. I love to use Cake PHP.

by: KathleenJohnson

1. Create your own website. I use Weebly but NOT the Shopping Cart option. I do not need all that functionality and monthly cost to sell my unique one of a kind items.

2. Explore cart options and remember for "one of a kind" unique handmade items and art - all you need is a "Buy It Now" button.

3. Buy It Now - Amazon Buy It Now buttons are a terrific deal: free and zip code and weight sensitive.
4. Work your Facebook page and your Facebook Business Page

5. Develop an email list: I use Mail Chimp and love its versatility. Free to 2,000 clients

6. Social Networks - critical if you do not "over do" it and drive your "friend base" away with constant spam. Work it creatively.

7. Market locally at your farmers market and "work" that Social Networks and Email List.

8. Network, network, network, and then network some more. Its all about brand spanking your "brand".

9. Get on Google and work that SEO functionality in every way but loose. Sign up, sign on, add, include and apply for every option offered to the web developer.

10. Google Plus - work it to the nth degree. No, its tough to market on there but Google search seems to pick up on the activity there.

11. Get a good Stat Counter and work it - figure out where your hits are coming from, why, and what they are doing when they get to you site. I use StatCounter - simple to use and very functional.

12. Join some of those Marketing groups on Facebook - watch, read, and learn.

Thats it......

by: NeilCapps

Well, a lot of excellent tips given there in this post. I always try to think outside the box. We are always fighting hard to get good ranking at Google while we can get relevant traffic flow with similar kind of effort through different social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus etc. There is no guarantee that you are going to get #1 ranking at Google for sure but if you put your effort, you are definitely going to get a lot of traffic through these sites.

I am not telling anyone to stop doing SEO or stop fighting for #1 rank at Google. What I am trying to say is, do not depend on Google only for traffic.

by: OmiGosh

I used to sell jewelry on eBay.  I tried selling My jewelry on my website with no luck. I was serious about trying to make the break from eBay but going out on my own was about to land me in the poorhouse..  I decided to give Big Commerce  try.  I went with their $79 a month package and paid them to do the import of all my items from my website.  It has been almost 30 days. I paid BigCommerce $79 for the first month and $300 to do the import of my 1,200 items.  They said the import would take about a week.  30 days later my store is still not live, they have imported only100 of my 1,200 items. I have contacted them weekly and they haven't given me a reason for the delay but it is time for them to bill me another $79 in fees. Yesterday I wrote and cancelled my BigCommerce store and requested a refund. I wonder if I will get my money back without having to do a chargeback on my card, or if I can do a chargeback. If I had moved each item one by one myself, I am sure that after a month I would have all my items up by now.  Maybe I will try a Bonanza store. Fingers crossed.