91% of American adults own a cell phone.

Of them, 63% are connected to the Internet. And of them, 46% use theirs to search for local products and services.

That, right there, is why local SEO is important.

Although it won’t get your site in front of as many eyeballs, local SEO makes up for it by fixing many of the global variety’s drawbacks.

The competition is nowhere near as fierce – it’s easier to land your widget store on the top page of search results when you’re only up against the other five in your hometown. And, the resulting traffic will be of more use to you – especially if you sell at a brick and mortar location as well as online.

And now that Google’s giving more real estate to local results, e-commerce is quickly beginning to see the benefits in thinking smaller. So if you want to bring in more traffic from your own backyard, these 5 steps will set you well on your way.

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We no longer live in a world where a 12 inch black-and-white TV screen is our only window into the world. Whereas one television screen per household was more than anyone would even dream of decades ago, these days, we live in a multi-display world.

It’s not unimaginable for homes to have 3 or 4 LCD television sets, a couple of laptops, a desktop PC, an iPod and iPad, and a smartphone for every member of the family. Everyone is constantly surrounded by screens of all shapes and sizes.

With so many display screens being used to access websites, it can be a sticky situation for a web developer when designing a site that’s responsive to each type of display. You want your web pages to look fabulous on every screen. But rather than just focusing on one type of display, it’s crucial to design your site so that it appears properly on all screen types and sizes, including mobile devices.

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Customer loyalty is a prized possession in business.

Not only does it mean that someone is loyal to your brand and your products, but it also greatly increases the likelihood of somebody becoming an advocate on your behalf. Customer advocates go out into the world and spread the word about your company and what you offer. They do the selling for you, which is pretty damned cool.

Now does it make sense why you should make building up a loyal customer base a priority?

That may sound like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be – especially with the help of WordPress plugins. With that said, in this article I’m going to list five plugins that can help you to build customer loyalty. Enjoy!

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While a lot of people are excited about the prospect of making a decent living through selling items online, others may feel a little intimidated by the costs related to starting up and buying inventory – not to mention the potential hassle of dealing with orders and shipping out products.

These are legitimate concerns, yes, but there is a way to sell products online for a profit without exorbitant startup costs and massive amounts of inventory to invest in and store.

It’s called dropshipping.

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Thanks to the Internet, you can make money in ways you never could before in the e-commerce sector and even hit the big time if you’re lucky. Selling products through wholesaling is one of those ways.

This sales model isn’t just being used by big businesses anymore. Now just about anyone can harness the power of the net and develop their own online shop through which endless opportunities for profit awaits.

While there are other ways to sell online, in today’s post we’ll look at the world of wholesale products and whether or not it’s the right approach for you.

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When it comes to launching you new online store, coming up with an idea for a product is amongst the first but most important steps towards building a profitable online business.

You’ll need to decide how you’re going to get your hands on the products you intend to sell. There are a variety of options with regards to getting the products you’ll be selling, each with its own set of pros and cons. Should you make the product yourself? Should you have a manufacturer make it for you? Or should you buy wholesale or even dropship products?

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63% of ecommerce sites have a sitemap.

That might seem like a high percentage, but what bothers me is the 37% who are missing out.

Why? Because a sitemap is an integral component in your online store’s success. Thankfully, a missing sitemap is an easily remedied problem. Here’s everything you never knew you needed to know about sitemaps so you get familiar with the concept and implement one as soon as possible. 

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When you’re first getting started in the world of e-commerce, it’s not only expected that you read up on what other people have done, it’s encouraged.

There’s many an e-commerce “guru” out there claiming to know what’s up when it comes to selling online in the most effective way. However, how can you tell who knows their stuff from who’s just making noise?

I’ve put together four of the top things you should keep in mind when evaluating anyone who claims to be an e-commerce expert. Remember: real-world experience trumps theory, so always be mindful to take your advice from those who’ve put their ideas into practice and succeeded.

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Even though the almighty word still rules online, video has been gaining traction, especially over the past few years.

Just think of all the streaming video sites that have cropped up lately. Still, I find it interesting that video is so underutilized on e-commerce sites. Sure, some use it but not nearly as many as you’d think.

When there’s the opportunity ready and waiting to feature your products on video, why wouldn’t you include at least a few clips on your site?

If you want to learn how to make the most of video for your online store, keep reading. I’ll walk you through some helpful tips.

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So you’ve found a great product, put together an awesome business/marketing plan, and built a beautiful ecommerce store – yet sales figures are far from envisioned, and conversion rate is low.

What could have possibly gone wrong? 

Despite the breakneck growth of ecommerce in recent years (projected to reach an astounding USD 1.5 trillion for B2C ecommerce in 2014 alone); the typical consumer still sees online shopping through a stigma-tainted view of substantial perceived risk and uncertainty.

Understanding, addressing and helping overcome these inherent consumer fears of ecommerce is often the key towards changing their (lack of) purchasing decisions, and ultimately garnering success for your store.

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Location-based marketing is becoming more popular thanks to geotargeting. In case you’re not familiar, this kind of marketing works by displaying ads and targeting messages when a customer is in a specific physical location.

Location-based marketing is typically associated with brick and mortar businesses. When a potential customer gets near your business, she’d be presented with a targeted ad that encourages her to come into your store.

But what if your business is online only? Believe it or not, e-commerce stores can benefit from geo-location marketing, too. Here’s how.

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If you plan on selling any products or services via the internet, you need to make sure that people can actually find you.

There’s no sense in having a fancy website with the best products at awesome prices if your site can’t be found after the first page in Google. Few people will take the time necessary to look that far.

This is where your SEO efforts come into play. Rank higher in the search engines and people are more likely to find you. The more traffic you get, the more likely you are to make sale after sale. After all, isn’t that why you’re in this business in the first place?

Here are 10 tips to help you maximize your SEO efforts to help create a strong presence on the internet.

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Color plays a major role in our lives.

Don’t believe me? Think about the last time you were in a physical store that you frequent.

It likely had good aesthetics and a large part of that has to do with the selection of an appealing color scheme. The colors a store chooses should reflect both the products and the emotions the company wants to evoke from its customers. It’s about using human psychology to make a sale.

Is this all sounding a bit confusing? Not to worry. I often find starting with an example to be best.

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Tell me if this sounds familiar: you want to be a dropshipper, but you haven’t quite put your finger on the exact niche or products to focus on.

Not surprising, as this is often the biggest challenge that dropshipping hopefuls face before their online biz takes off.

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The world of retail business is chock full of secrets, one being how to price your products for maximum profitability.

Price your product too high and your customers may shy away from you. Price them too low and you’ll undercut your profit margin so much that you could wind up in a hole.

Finding that sweet spot as far as pricing goes is crucial for making solid profits and places a certain value on your brand.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when figuring out the ideal price to charge for your products.

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When entering into the world of e-commerce – retail, specifically – it might come as a surprise just how important social media really is.

I mean, you probably understand that you need to have a presence on the major sites like Facebook and Twitter, but did you know that recent research shows that Instagram is a serious engagement booster for online brands? I’m talking a 25% boost here, and that’s definitely not something to sneeze at.

Pinterest is important, too, don’t get me wrong. Especially when dealing in tangible, visually-oriented products. But Instagram is a social tidal wave and it would behoove you to set sail, like, yesterday.

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