What is best strategy for getting traffic for Ecommerce?

SEO optimization/Content or PPC which one comes first?

[karim0028]

Hi E-Commerce people ;)

Awsome site and very vrey useful information ;) I would firstly like to say hi to everyone ;) I have a question that hinges on everyones collective experience with respect to ecommerce. I am starting a new website and am kind of confused as to the best strategy to go about doing it.... I have read alot of the info here about Ecomm and all of that.

What i am trying to understand is what provides the best ROI? Should i hire someone to do my SEO first or try PPC to get the initial traffic?

Now i understand that SEO optimiazation is what brings in organic traffic. Do you guys use both strategies when launching a site? Do you use PPC while your site is still sandboxed in order to get traffic?

What i dont understand is how do you guys test the market before plunking down money for either option? My fear is that this will become a sinkhole; i would like to get to a point where i see some sales to at least of set the expenses.... Is that a reasonable thing?

I am not afraid of loses; i would just like to make an informed desicion so as to limit my downside ;)

Thanks,
Karim0028

[8foldpath]

Start small and progressively make larger moves. Test, Analyze, Change, Re-Test. I find E-Commerce to be a pretty precise science with a bunch of surprises down the road... But as long as you keep Analyzing, most of the surprises i've found have been positive.

Just be careful.. One surprise you don't want is fraudulent orders. That's just not fun.

[Harry]

Before trusting another e-book, I would trust common sense. Instead of say investing all your efforts in one strategy, develop and multiangle strategy inside and outside the Web with multiple ways of getting that elusive customer. It's like having a varied investment portfolio - it reduces the risks.

[RedWolf]

I personally build my sites with basic SEO as standard practice. I don't go into fancy (questionable) tactics that may get me a temporary boost but hurt me big time later. Look up Brett's article [webmasterworld.com...] for some good hints on how to do it.

PPC can be a good income bringer while you are starting out and don't have much natural search engine traffic, but it seems to be getting harder and harder to do it profitably. I have cut my Adwords spending by about 75% verses a few years ago because it just doesn't bring the ROI that it used to. I have pretty much dumped Overture completely, but am looking at adding a bit more to MSN because my tests on it are looking fairly good.

[karim0028]

Awesome! I read Brett's post on building content. When it comes to ecommerce, how do you guys build content. I mean one per day, wont you exhaust your topics list or start becoming redundant?

I can hire content writers but, how tangential can you get with your content before you start getting the wrong kind of traffic?

Karim0028

[ItsAllBallBearings]

Hey Karim - Welcome to the forum.

As for your last post, if your traffic is driven by content, and hence organic SE results, then there is no such thing as the wrong kind of traffic.

I'll tell you what one of my first bosses in the office world told me-K.I.S.S.-Keep It Simple Stupid-thats not an insult directed at you or anything, thats what he really told me:o

It holds true in ecomm and, as a previous poster mentioned keep it very basic at first, make sure you come to an understanding of why certain things are working and why others arent. When you feel you have a free minute, add something new to the site. You dont have to do daily updates with an ecomm site. But, you do want new stuff up there every so often.

Every site is different and what works well for one, might not work at all for another. good luck, have fun, and enjoy the roller coaster ride.

[edited by: ItsAllBallBearings at 5:13 pm (utc) on Nov. 17, 2006]

[RedWolf]

Content for an ecom site can be several things. On is general articles about the prodcts you are selling. Maybe something on care or use of the products. I have often wished that sites have more articles on using the products they sell. Especially if they are complex or there are tricks and tips to using them more effectivly. This will get people coming back after the first sale to look at the articles again, and maybe decide to buy somethign else while they are there. If not, they probably will remember you when they are in the market for something else and remember that you have such good reference materials available for your products.

Another type of content is to expand the descriptions on the products themselves. Don't just go with a couple lines of text and consider it done. This can also help your customers decide to buy as well. If you don't want it all on the product page, maybe add a second or third product detail page with this info.

Are your products made in a special way or from special materials? If so, write pages describing the processes and materials and why they improve the product, are good for the environment, etc.

[qualitycm]

We are finding that it is increasingly difficult to make a profit with Pay-Per-Click advertising. The rates are increasing without any increase in conversions. Achieving any kind of good ranking in organic search results is also not for the faint of heart.

Anyone want to write a summary of best practices for getting decently ranked by the engines (Google!)?

Rick