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i was wondering if all the trick and rules from SEO, linking, affliate marketing, google adsense, that are so important to generate $$ to webmasters around the world apply to the e-commerce world?
I mean, when you run an e-commerce site, how do you draw in traffic? the same way as those content site? through SEO and linking? Just wondering : ) thanks.
I don't think it's healthy or useful, though, to think of SEO and link building as "tricks." Basically, good SEO is about choosing your search phrases wisely, making your site optimally visible to search engines, and creating content that's relevant to your search targets and good enough that it's likely to attract links.
In the case of e-commerce sites, that means that the more useful information and shopping features you can supply for your users, the more likely you are to attract inbound links.
Be careful of "tricks," in fact. They're likely to get you in trouble.
Here's one of the classic articles on SEO, which suggests ways to build a successful site without tricks.
Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone
26 steps to 15k a day.
[webmasterworld.com...]
There are numerous options for example, to promote one's site in the shopping search engines, that non-commerce sites don't enjoy.
There are also more opportunities for great marketing partnerships with those who provide related goods and services, much like the deals that, for example, TiVo just struck with iPod and Yahoo!
Admittedly the latter example is on a large scale, so to bring it way down ... even a t-shirt site, if the t-shirts are unique and proprietary, has options a non-commerce site lacks. Sometimes I find myself wishing all my sites were e-commerce sites. ;-)
I was wondering.. how come I don't see too much linking when I visit an ecommerce website? Also of course, I don't see too much content building. Why won't these e-commerce site simply put in some content and link building to increase their google ranking in conjunction with PPC?
Thanks.
IMHO, the bigger and more established a site, the less likely it is to do things like link directories, recips, etc., and that especially applies to e-commerce sites, which as you say, often avoid these sorts of tactics altogether.
This is just a guess, but I suspect that some e-commerce sites think it's a bit smarmy to put up link directories. It is true that to an extent, links pages have become mainly marketing devices for sites that are desperate for links anyway. And now that recips are seemingly on their way to being devalued, link directories will probably decline not only in importance, but in presence.
My other guess is that most e-commerce sites are spending their time thinking about marketing in the more classic sense (i.e., not just link dev), and thus are focussing on driving traffic in ways that marketers always have (just adapted to the Web). This, IMO, is wise practice because it leads to greater stability, and insulates sites from the whims of SE's.
Ironically, it also seems to have become the path to glory, for sites of all kinds. Who knew that marketing would eventuallly come to the forefront of Web business? ;-)
