Cyber Monday and Search Engine Optimization for

Shopping Carts

Today is Cyber Monday, which means the shopping frenzy continues on the internet of many office computers. According to the National Retail Federation, 11 million more people are expected to shop online this year than last, bringing the total number of online customers to 100 million. When it comes to online shopping, search engines are the most important source of information. So, what features should a shopping cart system have in order to promote a merchant’s products across the web’s search engines?

(1)Customized Page Titles – A common mistake ecommerce sites make is starting product page titles with the site name. It is better to put the key words most relevant to the page first. Some carts offer a feature known as the “automatic URL rewriting.”  What this does is change long webpage addresses into keyword-filled search-engine-friendly addresses to boost your product pages in the rankings

 (2)Customized Meta Descriptions – Customized meta descriptions are the descriptive paragraph found below the page title in search engine results. Meta description is the an online merchants chance to advertise in the natural search engine listings.

(3)Customized Photo Tags – Having images with text descriptions provides merchant with many benefits because it encourage Google to index your images and make your page more relevant for the key-word term

(4)URL Redirection and Rewriting – Many carts are now making it easy to alter product page URLs, without affecting existing page rankings.  Furthermore, links should all start with http:// or www and end either with or without a slash,” All links need to be consistently in that form. That makes the most sense for the search engine.

(5)Automatic Keyword Writing – Many carts now offer automatic keyword writing.

(6)Fast, Friendly Design – Offering CSS formatting where coding is kept to a minimum through ASP.NET, where any JavaScript is condensed and where large header blocks are eliminated.

(7)eBridge Web Store Integration Solution – With an increase in sales volumes it will become paramount for online merchants to implement a web store Integration Solution.  eBridge’s web store Integration will assist web stores with the high volume of demand by eliminating manual data entry and accompanying errors, improving information flow, increasing efficiency, and achieving savings in time and money.  Click here to see all 37 supported accounting systems/ERP packages that eBridge integrates with. 

Reference:

Meacham, Jennifer.(2008). Shopping Carts and Search Engines. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/761-Shopping-Carts-And-Search-Engines

Integration, Webstore Integration, eBRIDGE Blog Cyber Monday, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, web store integration, Webstore Integration

If you would like to reprocess a document that has been Archived, you will need to Restore the document to your Active Inbox or Outbox. To do this you will need to log into your ePortal Account.

Step 1. Go to the Performance menu and click on your Archive Inbox or Outbox (depending on whether you are restoring an inbound document [Inbox] or outbound [Outbox]).

Step 2. Locate the document you would like to restore to the Active Inbox or Outbox. You can use the filters at the top to narrow down the documents displayed by selecting the Trading Partner, Type of Document, and the Document Date (please note that the document date is the date on the document and not the data the document was sent, which is the transaction date).

Step 3. Click on the box to the far right of the document (a green check mark will appear in the box).

Step 4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on the “Restore” button.

Your document will now appear in the Active version of your Inbox or Outbox.

EDI - Our Customers Trading Partner Series

New and Updated Integration Connections

Good Afternoon Everyone

I hope everyone had a good week. During the week of November 23^rd, 2009, eBridge Software, Inc. managed to published and update the following integration connections:

• Basics Office Products LTD 4010

• AAFES 4030
• Academy Limited 4010
• Ace Hardware 4010
• Amazon Books 4010
• Basics Office Products LTD 4010
• Brady Varatronics 4010
• Cabelas 4030
• Cintas Corporation 4010
• Columbian Logistics 4010
• Costco Canada 4010
• Do It Best 4010
• Fleet Farm 4010
• Fred Meyer 4010
• Gander Mountain 4010
• General Maps
• General Motor D97A
• Hancock Fabrics 5010
• Home Depot US 4060
• JC Penny Catalogue 4030
• LLBean 4010 VICS
• LMC 4010
• Lowes 4010
• Magento
• McKesson 3010
• Meijer 4050 VICS
• Nippon Express 4010
• Office Depot 4010
• Overwaitea Food Group 4010 VICS
• REI 4010
• School Outfitters 4010
• Sears Canada SMART 4030
• Sears US 4010
• Sports Chalet 4010
• Stage Stores 4010 VICS
• Target Com 4010
• The Forzan Group LTD 5010
• TruServe 4010

Be sure to stay tuned weekly for new EDI, webstore, CRM and supply chain management integration updates and additions to the ePortal.

Have A Great Weekend,

CRM Integration, EDI Integration, General EDI, Integration, Integration as a Service, SCM Integration, The ePortal Web-based Transaction Engine, Webstore Integration, eBRIDGE Blog CRM, CRM Integration, edi, EDI Integration, Integration, SCM, SCM Integration, web store, web store conneections, web store intergration, webstore, webstore connections, Webstore Integration

The eBridge Portal 

The All-in-One Integration Solution

ePortal puts your business transactions at your fingertips by allowing you to transact with your trading partners and other business systems anywhere at anytime! The eBridge ePortal is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that enables for the remote exchange and viewing of business documents with a web friendly interface.  The ePortal supports a wide range of documents used in business operations, such as EDI, CRM, web store, SCM, logistics and warehouse management.

Impressive Statistics

The ePortal on average exchanges 11,000 documents daily, but on November 24th there was an astounding 39,840 documents exchanged (See Chart Below). The annual Thanksgiving pilgrimage to visit family and friends is under way which could explain the sudden increase in documents exchanged. The important fact to make note of is that these numbers prove that the eBridge ePortal is capable of handling our customers’ needs and much more.

Regards, 

Integration, The ePortal Web-based Transaction Engine, eBRIDGE Blog ePortal, The ePortal Web-based Transaction Engine

Common Web Store Mistakes 

Having One Payment Method- Customers not only want a selection of products, they also want a choice in payment methods. It’s not a good idea for a web store owners to isolate a percentage of customers especially when this problem is a easy fix.

Failure to Use E-Mail Effectively or Hidden Contact Info –Some Web store have no salesperson making the web stores owners e-mail address the only link for consumer’s assistance. Companies that delay responses to customers questions lose a degree of credibility and loyalty.  Additionally, contact information should be linked from every page in the web site.

Poor Web Site Design- Customers do not want to click five to ten times in order to find what they are looking for. Web Store owners should make it their goal to build a website in which the entire contents of the web site are only one click away from the web page.

Lack of Web Store Integration Solution- Web store owners are aware of the time and effort needed to enter order and customer data while at the same time keeping the Web store up-to-date with product and pricing information.  eBridge’s Webstore Integration can eliminate this administrative burden by eliminating manual data entry and accompanying errors, improving information flow, increasing efficiency, and achieving savings in time and money.  Click here to see all 37 supported accounting systems/ERP packages that eBridge integrates with.

Home Page Overload- Web store owners don’t have to display everything on the home page. Creating a homepage that is overloaded with content, pictures, and links can result in making potential customers give up and never enter your web store. Ideally a web store home page should have all the vital information or links appear at the top of your home page.

Content Update- Long after a site’s launch, your website has accumulated a plethora of pages. Some of these pages may have become old and outdated. Web store maintenance requires continuous reviews of static content that may require updates or corrections.

Reference:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/avoiding-mistakes-with-your-web-store.html

 http://www.asaresearch.com/ecommerce/mistakes.htm

Integration, Integration as a Service, Webstore Integration, eBRIDGE Blog web store, web store integration, web store mistakes, web store tips, webstore, webstore connections, Webstore Integration, Webstore Maintenance, webstore mistakes, webstore tips

New and Updated Integration Connections

Good Afternoon Everyone

Its been very busy here at eBridge – during the week November 16-20, 2009, eBridge managed to update the following integration connections: 

• General Motors 97A

• AAFES 4030
• Amazon Books 4010
• Annas Linens 4010
• Bass Pro Shops 4010 VICS
• Cabelas 4030
• Cintas Corporation 4010
• Contour Products
• Do It Best 4010
• Fred Meyer 4010
• HBC 4010 VICS
• HoltRenfrew 4010 VICS
• Home Depot Canada 4060
• Home Depot US 4060
• Home Shopping Network 4010
• Johnson And Johnson Health Care Systems 4010
• K and N Warehouse 4010
• Kitchen Collection 4010
• Kroger 5010 UCS
• LL Bean 4010 VICS
• Lowes 4010
• Magento           
• Nippon Express 4010
• Orchard Supply Hardware 4010
• Overwaitea Food Group 4010 VICS
• Pubnet US 3060
• Sears Canada QR 4030
• Sephora 4010
• Shoppers Drug Mar 4010 VICS
• Target Com_4010
• Target Corporation 4010
• The Forzani Group LTD 5010
• Trilegiant 4010
• Walgreens 4010
• Wynit 4010

Be sure to stay tuned weekly for new EDI, webstore, CRM and supply chain management integration updates and additions to the ePortal.

Have A Great Weekend

CRM Integration, EDI Integration, EDI Tips and Tricks, General EDI, Integration, Integration as a Service, SCM Integration, Webstore Integration, eBRIDGE Blog CRM, CRM Integration, edi, EDI Integration, Integration, SCM, SCM Integration, web store, web store conneections, web store intergration, webstore, webstore connections, Webstore Integration

Hi Everyone,

eBridge would like to announce that our team will be releasing a free Salesforce.com Integration Solution in the coming weeks on the Force.com platform.  eBridge’s Salesforce Integration Solution is designed to allow you to extract your data effortlessly to the eBridge ePortal.  With the ePortal the user has the option to extend the capabilities by integrating their data into over 37 supported accounting packages including Microsoft Dynamics GP, SL, AX, NAV, SAP, Sage MAS 90, 200, 500, Epicor and more.   (**Note:  additional fees may apply). 

With eBridge’s Salesforce Integration Solution you can:

•  develop a go forward strategy for universal integration to your eCommerce storefront, EDI trading partners or other business systems into your accounting package
• gain access to a community of online integration connections

CRM Integration

When you hear this comment from a developer after isolating a bug, you as a tester, might be surprised at first.  You should always assume that the response is technically correct, and that developer is not trying to avoid solving the problem.

It is important to ensure that your testing environment is not compromised. You should be testing from two standpoints:

1.  As the “existing customer” (having the previous version of software installed) and as the “new customer.”
You should include upgrade testing as well as testing on systems where the software was previously installed but has been removed. This ensures that the current customers can successfully use the new version without issue.

2.  As the “new customer,” you should be performing clean install testing using a fresh machine or image where your product has never before been installed. Also, this machine or image should not have any development tools installed, since they can give a “false pass” when testing, by including for example library that product depends on. On a machine without the development tools your program would fail in that situation.

This approach should eliminate the “it works on my machine” scenario.

Thanks,

Dubravka.

Senior Quality Assurance Specialist.

Technology Corner, eBRIDGE Blog

Social Committee events are a lot of fun and are great way to foster camaraderie amongst employees.  They can also help create a positive work environment, encourage departments to work together and give people opportunities to stretch their skills outside of their particular area of expertise. At eBridge, this includes cooking up something delicious for the potluck, riding the Bike Big for Heart and Stroke, deep frying a turkey for Thanksgiving or carving pumpkins at Halloween.

Here are a few pics from our most recent events.  If you would like to share your Social Committee ideas or stories, we’d love to hear from you

Cheers

Nazma

A team of 6 employees worked together to create this masterpiece which was the winner of our 2009 Pumpkin Carving Contest

Mmmmmm…. Delicious deep fried turkey! We love our deep fried turkey at eBridge, so a little bit of rain didn’t stop this annual tradition.

EDI - Our Customers Trading Partner Series

  Films Presents…

eBridge’s November YouTube video has Mark Gladwish, Product Manager explainintg the extensive custom capabilities of eBridge software. Additionally, Mr. Gladwish discusses the future of the ePortal including the benefits for both current and future customers.

Feel free to leave a comment or suggestion

 Enjoy the video – be sure to visit our eBridge YouTube channel for new updates on integration.

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