Generation Z encompasses anyone born between the mid-1990s and the mid- to late-2000s (roughly speaking). This is the latest generation to experience its coming-of-age, and as such is the one marketers must look to when making key strategy decisions for the future.

In this post, we’ll introduce the buying habits of Generation Z. We’ll then outline a few techniques you can use in your marketing efforts to connect with Generation Z-ers, both on your website and via social media channels. Let’s get started!

GENERATION Z BUYING HABITS & PURCHASING POWER

As is usually the case, Generation Z’s buying habits and purchasing power differ significantly from the generations before it. Perhaps the greatest distinction is how many in Generation Z rely on their mobile devices when making purchasing decisions.

In fact, up to 46% of Generation Z-ers research a product on their mobile devices before making an in-store purchase. That’s not where the mobile influence ends, however. 73 percent of Generation Z-ers also say they would make a purchase based on a social media recommendation.

Of course, purchasing power is equally as important to marketers as buying habits are. Purchasing power is the amount of money that a generation has at its disposal to spend on goods and services.

According to Uniquely Generation Z, the purchasing power of this group is $44 billion per year. However, other reports claim that Generation Z-ers have spent more than $143 billion, which is significantly higher than Millennials and other generations spent at the same stage of life.

HOW TO REACH GENERATION Z

In order to get Generation Z-ers to convert, marketers needs to understand how this demographic operates. Let’s look at a few of the strategies that are most likely to be effective.

TACTIC 1: FOCUS ON MOBILE-FRIENDLINESS

On the whole, Generation Z-ers are more technologically inclined than previous generations. They’ve grown up with smartphones, tablets, and laptops, and they’re much more adept at using them at a younger age than their predecessors were.

This translates to a more mobile-friendly generation, as we’ve discussed. What’s more, this is a generation that relies heavily on their devices to deliver the information they need.

If you run a website aimed at attracting Generation Z-ers, it’s important to focus on responsiveness and mobile-friendly design. You’ll want to create websites that can adapt to any screen size, for example, and add features to your site that can be easily used on any device.

TACTIC 2: SERVE BITE-SIZED CHUNKS OF CONTENT

Due to their tech-savvy nature, those in Generation Z also tend to have a shorter attention span. They expect quick, bite-sized content that catches their eye and gets to the point quickly.

Therefore, you’ll want to focus on delivering easy-to-digest text content that is interspersed with images, videos, and other media. This is especially important to keep in mind when developing your sales funnels, if you want to convince Generation Z-ers to buy.

TACTIC 3: EDUCATE & ENTERTAIN SIMULTANEOUSLY

Also because of that shorter attention span, as a marketer you have less time to make an impact on your Generation Z audience members. To increase the time they spend on your website, and to improve their odds of converting, you’ll need to focus on educating and entertaining simultaneously.

‘Edutainment’ isn’t a new concept, but it’s one that marketers must begin to leverage if they hope to make an impact on the younger generations. One of the easiest ways to combine education and entertainment is through short video clips. These can be used to provide information in the background, while viewers focus on the entertaining aspects (such as visual elements) in the foreground.

GENERATION Z’S SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS

Social media has already become hugely significant to marketers, as this is where most Generation Z-ers spend a significant portion of their time. In fact, over half of Generation Z-ers spend more than six hours on their mobile devices every day.

To better understand this trend, let’s take a closer look at some of the more specific data that’s available about Generation Z and social media.

HOW MUCH TIME DOES GENERATION Z SPEND ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

It may not surprise you to learn that Generation Z spends a significant amount of time on social media every day. According to the Global Web Index, in fact, Generation Z-ers spend an average of three hours per day on social media. This is increased from the amount of time Millennials spend on social media daily, which comes in at two hours and 39 minutes.

More important than how much time they spend, however, is where they spend it. Unlike Millennials, who tend to frequent a large array of social platforms, Generation Z-ers prefer to use fewer platforms on a more regular basis. This fact sheds some light on their habits and preferences.

HOW DOES GEN Z INTERACT WITH BRANDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

Another interesting thing about Generation Z is how they interact with brands. Instead of communicating directly – by posting on a company’s social media pages and commenting on its posts – they prefer to interact with a brand’s influencers.

These are individuals who have built a strong following on social media, and who endorse an array of brands through their profiles. In this way, influencers act as the middlemen between brands and Generation Z-ers. This is an important distinction when you consider the more direct interactions between brands and previous generations.

WHAT CONTENT DOES GEN Z INTERACT WITH ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

By now it should be clear that, when compared to the previous generations, Generation Z-ers use social media quite differently. For example, one of the primary motivations for their extensive use of social media is the desire to be entertained.

This means that Generation Z-ers tend to interact more extensively with video content, and 81 percent of the generation has said they watch at least one hour of online video per day. This predilection towards video content is further supported by the high percentage of teenagers and young adults on Instagram and Snapchat.

The post Marketing to Generation Z Online appeared first on Akimi Technologies.

Ecommerce Blogs

#1 Shopify

By far this is the best blog for ecommerce players. From business ideas to customer satisfaction strategy and tutorials, their team of expert writers have tips and advice for any budding as well as established entrepreneurs in need of some guidance. Oh, and how can we forget the amazing customer acquisition/conversion/retention tips and ecommerce trends they publish regularly!

#2 TechCrunch

Although TechCrunch is more popular for their exceptional coverage of the latest technology, trends, and gadgets It would be unfair to not list them as our favorites. What most of you may not know is that they cover ecommerce news and stories quite extensively! Go subscribe.

#3 Ecommerce Platforms

Ecommerce Platforms is a review site founded by Caitlyn Zorzini. He undertook this project after his own struggle in finding the best ecommerce platform for himself. Through his website, he helps people understand “the good, great, bad, and ugly of online store building software.” The articles are comprehensive yet fairly easy-to-understand. One of the resources we most loved is the comparison chart of 10 ecommerce websites across nine variables. Check it out here.

#4 Practical Ecommerce

Practical Ecommerce has been in business since 2005 and has stayed true to its mission to provide ‘down-to-earth’ articles and commentary to help ecommerce businesses grow. Their staff includes ecommerce practitioners, journalists, and consultants whose advice you don’t want to miss! From data analytics, marketing and advertising to conversion, finance, design, and development, they write about it all.

#5 A Better Lemonade Stand

Richard Lazazzera began ABLS to document his own experience. He writes about complicated aspects of building, launching and growing an ecommerce business. He also shares resources that can supercharge every entrepreneurial journey. Today his website serves 100,000+ entrepreneurs and is considered to be one of the most comprehensive online resources and active communities of ecommerce entrepreneurs.

#6 BigCommerce

The BigCommerce blog is a blend of data-backed ecommerce strategies, new insights and interesting and inspirational case studies. Whether you are venturing out from retail to e-tail, preparing to launch your website looking for inspiration, BigCommerce is the one-stop-shop for anyone who wants a slice of fresh perspective and practical advice. You up for it?

#7 Get Elastic 

In the past, this blog has been voted as one of the most influential and readworthy blogs by the Wall Street Journal. It has also been ranked #1 ecommerce blog worldwide by PostRank. 20,000 subscribers worldwide benefit from Get Elastic’s blogs on various topics like the impact of economic changes on ecommerce business, latest trends and technology, customer experience and many more. Go on and dig their archive, expert advice, and news on all things ecommerce!

Guides

#1 The Ultimate Guide to Increasing Ecommerce Conversion Rates by Peep Laja, ConversionXL

If you’re worried about your ecommerce conversion rates, Peep is your man! He breaks down every single point and gives supporting examples to show how you can bump up your conversion rates. Everything is backed by statistical data which is why we ask you to bookmark it right away! What we loved most is his plea to not copy Amazon. He says, “What is permitted to Jupiter is not permitted to an ox” and then sends readers off to a blog explaining why.

#2 A Simple (But Complete) Guide To Ecommerce SEO by Joshua Hardwick, AHREFs

Right in the beginning, Joshua announces that this guide is noob-friendly but we believe even established sellers can pick something new from this really simple (and comprehensive) guide. What should you do with deep orphaned pages? How to fix duplicate content issues? How to apply schema markup? This guide explain points like these in excruciating detail. In short, this guide has you covered on all fronts!

#3 The Ultimate Guide to eCommerce Email Marketing, by John McIntyre, Digital Marketer

This guide may be a whopping 15,000+ words but most marketers will vouch for its effectiveness. John covers every aspect (even the basics) of launching an ecommerce email marketing campaign. He lists out tools you’ll need to analyze campaigns and with examples shows how you can run different campaigns based on the ecommerce email funnel. Also, this guides includes case studies of brands like Amazon, Bonobos, Envelopes.com that “drive millions with email marketing.” You sure don’t want to miss out on the free lessons!

#4 Ultimate Guide to eCommerce Google PPC in 2018 by Brittany Curie, Visiture

PPC can be challenging and nerve-wracking but Brittany makes it easy for you. Beginning with defining the key terms, she goes on to explain everything with an excruciating detail. From how to write a perfect ad copy, using PPC ads for landing pages, useful tools within AdWord to bid management, there’s a lot of ground covered for you.

#5 Social Media Ecommerce: The Complete Guide to Social Shopping by Jennifer Beese, Sprout Social

Is it absolutely essential to have a social media presence or not? What or who is your biggest marketing asset? How do you come up with a winning social media strategy? Are there some social platforms better suited to your business? This guide answers all these questions and more. One thing’s for sure, it’ll definitely help you grow your brand and influence on social media.

#6 The Definitive Guide to Referral Marketing

Referral marketing is an extremely powerful tool that ecommerce players can exploit. Unfortunately, it needs perfect execution which is brilliantly explained in this comprehensive guide. They discuss every single detail and share their learnings of having themselves run thousands of referral programs for retailers and merchants. Go, get it!

#7 Get Inspired: 50 Ecommerce Sites with Beautiful Product Photography

40% of online shoppers in the US rate high-quality product images as the most influential factor when considering a product to buy. Moreover, 50% of them like to see a minimum of 3-5 photos. Clearly, photos make a huge difference in ecommerce sales! This is why we have this ultimate learn-in-pictures guide on our list! We are sure the mind-blowing photography will get your creative juices flowing and lead you to ecommerce success!

Bonus

The Ultimate Guide To Starting And Scaling An Ecommerce Business

By Foundr

Since you’ve reached this far, we have to give you a bonus point! If you want to start a new digital storefront, or you already have one and want to up your game, this guide by Foundr is the one for you. They talk about how to set up an ecommerce business, from pinpointing an idea to finding a manufacturer to growing a customer base. Throughout, they don’t just talk theory—but give concrete tips on what to do to make it happen.

Podcasts

#1 My Wife Quit Her Job

Host: Steve Chou

Steve Chou interviews small business entrepreneurs who are totally nailing it online and basking in retail success. This podcast has over 200 episodes and showcases how other bootstrapped business entrepreneurs hustled to make it big without risking their savings or relationships! He also provides insights from his own experience of launching Bumble Bee Linens.

#2 Shopify Masters

Host: Felix Thea

Felix gives out some interesting and actionable tips to drive traffic and sales. He also lets podcast listeners in on some of the winning product ideas and inside scoop on which apps and tools the successful ecommerce merchants use. That’s quite a bit, eh?

#3 Nerd Marketing

Host: Drew

Although there aren’t as many podcasts (40 and counting) on Drew’s website, those he has hosted so far are enough to give you an idea that he knows ecommerce business inside out. You will be glad to have him ready you with all the nuts and bolts for your store. He trains you how to set out with ‘the million dollar mindset’, reveals the secret sauce of running a million dollar ecommerce business and also explains how his peers who, like him, have been able to successfully run a 7-figure business. Lots to learn, don’t you think?

#4 eCommerceFuel Podcast

Host: Andrew Youderian

It’s a podcast exclusively for the six-to-seven figure plus ecommerce merchants who want to take their business to next level. Andrew interviews ecommerce experts and the who’s who of the ecommerce industry so that you learn only from the best!

#5 The Fizzle Show

Hosts: Corbett Barr, Chase Reeves, and Caleb Wojcik

The Fizzle Show is a training ground for all the new ecommerce entrepreneurs “who want to earn a living doing something they care about”. The show is super fun, peppy, sprinkled with humor and obviously have what you are looking for: real practical business advice!

#6 Smart Passive Income

Host: Pat Flynn

Pat calls himself the “crash test dummy” because he teaches you from his own successes and failures. He conducts weekly interviews and talks not only about selling products online but also SEO, SMM, marketing automation all of which can help entrepreneurs stay ahead of their competitors.

#7 Ecommerce Influence

Host: Austin Brawner

Every week, Austin shares advanced customer acquisition and retention strategies for online brands. His passion and knowledge comes through in the podcast. You are sure to walk away fuelled with ideas to grow a profitable business at a tremendous rate!

YouTube Channels

#1 Scaling Retail

Selma brings to you years of experience of working with luxury brands like Gucci, Barneys New York and Macy’s. She gives her subscribers a better understanding of the market, pricing strategies, and more irrespective of whether they come from a retail tech, brick-and-mortar background or ecommerce. Each one gets a slice of the same expertise she used to facilitate the expansion of global brands!

#2 Flying Start Online

Ritoban makes video tutorials, does product reviews, interviews entrepreneurs and talks elaborately about all things online marketing. Recently he also took up a Shopify Dropshipping Challenge where he built a student store from scratch and attempted to drive the first sale within 7 days! The twist? He did it LIVE for his subscribers!

#3 Travis Marziani

Travis publishes one video every Tuesday and covers a gamut of topics including ecommerce trends, profit plans, and strategies. Apparently, he started this channel to help others gain the same freedom in ½ the time as he did when he quit his full-time job in 2013 to start and grow his own ecommerce business. So far, as he says, he has made over $700,000 in revenue! Need we say you’re in the right hands?

#4 Rules For Rebels

Like Johnny says in his channel description, he gives out “real tactics and strategies.” No fluff!

He makes videos about ecommerce and starting businesses. Do check out his ‘Side Hustle’ series where each week he talks about side-hustlers who are running successful businesses and making so side money!

#5 Casual Ecommerce

You will find tonnes of Shopify tutorials and discussion and Facebook ads related videos on Casual Ecommerce, a channel run by Jake Alexander. It is indeed a helpful resource for anyone who is either running or plans to run a store on Shopify.

The post 26 Ecommerce Marketing Resources We Love appeared first on Akimi Technologies.

You might have looked through your data at some point. But have you considered how you use them to enhance your business? data-driven marketing

How can we use these figures to create a data-driven marketing strategy for your eCommerce business? Let’s see how!

What is Data-Driven Marketing?

In the old days, marketing was done with limited research options and by relying on experts’ opinion.  They focused on trending topics and future marketing development. You can see how this approach wasn’t reliable and this was the reason many companies failed.

Data is the foundation of the new age marketing. This is the process of making decisions based on facts and data gathered from various sources. In fact, there is no space for guessing here. Your business collects data about your customers from their email subscriptions and their behavior on the website. Moreover, it focuses on customer shopping, social media, demographics and so on in order to conclude what they would like.

In ecommerce, this mostly means gathering information on customers’ behavior and feedback, sales trends and product insights. When you collect all of this data and analyze it, you will be able to predict future trends.  You can also adapt to expectations and create a customized shopping experience. Moreover, it will help you improve your sales and ROI and be more effective in your business overall. data-driven marketing

Take a look at this simple example of data-driven marketing.

GreenPal markets itself as the “Uber of Lawn Mowers” and does business mostly in Nashville. They ran ads titled “Local Lawn Pros in Nashville are a click away”. They were satisfied with the results but wanted to improve further. This is where data-driven marketing stepped in to save the day.

They found out that the area they were marketing their services in is populated by mostly price-sensitive people. Hence, they changed it to “The Cheapest Lawn Mowing in Nashville. Lawn mowing from $20” for certain zip codes and they created a landing page for them.

Consequently, they saw a big change in click-throughs and conversions. data-driven marketing

Identify Your Target Audience

The most important aspect of using data in your eCommerce store is the ability to identify exactly who is visiting and making purchases. While you may have an idea or a niche that you want to fit in and target with your marketing strategy, accessing your data will give you a clearer picture. data-driven marketing

Some of the analytics and data you’ll want to look into include;

1) Gender

2) Age

3) Geographical location

4) Spending habits

5) Browsing history

6) Amount of spending

7) Traffic source/channel

“By looking into these statistics, and more, you’ll be able to create a highly accurate image of who is visiting and spending money on your eCommerce store. This helps you further identify your niche and, therefore, optimize your content to have the best return,” explains Kyle Day, an eCommerce marketer for Elite Assignment Help.

You need to analyze all of the aspects of your audience’s demographics, behavior, shopping habits and so on to come up with a clear image of who your customers are. Most probably, there will be several segments. If that’s not the audience you are looking for, consider doing a bit of rebranding and marketing specifically for those audiences, based on data and research.

If your existent segments are your desired target audience, then you should start – if you haven’t already – customizing each element of the experience for those specific segments.

Your emails, for one, need to be segmented and customized to fit each segment specifically – so, if you have some buyers which are price-sensitive, send them cheaper offers or discount reminders.  data-driven marketing

Customize the content as well. The same goes for ads or CTAs. “One size fits all” is not a good strategy here and you have the data – and the possibilities to do differently.

After all, you’ll need to communicate and market to 18-year-old girls in New York far differently than you would a 60-year-old guy from Manchester.  data-driven marketing

Focusing Over Channels

By taking a look at your store analytics, you’ll be able to see exactly where your customers and leads are coming from and what sources of traffic people are using. This is ideal because you’ll be able to see what channels you should be focusing on and what’s going to bring in the most people.

Look at your analytics and see what’s going on. Are people finding you through organic searches, paid advertising platforms, email links, referrals or social media? If you’re using a paid advertising campaign, you’ll be able to see whether it’s paying off and getting the results you’re looking for. data-driven marketing

Likewise, you’ll also be able to identify new opportunities that you might not have considered. For example, if you have a lot of traffic coming through social media, you might want to amplify this by investing time and money into an influencer marketing campaign to further bring people to your store.  data-driven marketing

Augment Your Marketing Content

Take a look at the analytics for the content of your website. Are people finding you easily, staying to read it and make a purchase, or is there room for improvement in this area?

Using your analytics, not only will you be able to highlight areas to improve your content, but you’ll also be able to identify what your strong areas are and, therefore, what you should be replicating in the future.  data-driven marketing

eCommerce stores require a lot of content in the form of product descriptions, blog posts, guest posts, social media posts and more; which means you might not have time to get everything done, or to the highest quality.  data-driven marketing

Fortunately, there are many online tools you can use to help;

1) Via Writing & My Writing Way – Use these services as guides to help you use grammar correctly in your content.

2)Write My Paper & Essay Roo – These are two leading online proofreading tools designed to help you ensure perfection in your content, as recommended by Simple Grad.

3) State of Writing & Studydemic – These are two online resources to help you improve or adapt any area of your writing style.

4) Academized & Assignment Help – Use these online editing tools to help you structure and format your content, as reviewed by UK Service Reviews.

5) Let’s Go and Learn & Writing Populist – When it comes to writing online content for your eCommerce store, these two blogs have all the tips and advice you need to know.

Another way to augment your content is to add more to it and make it more inclusive of the reader – interactive content.

This could be a calculator, a survey or a quiz – these are all very popular with users. The user attempts the quiz/calculator, instead of consuming passive content.  In fact, leads are far more likely to divulge information while using interactive content. Talking statistics, 81% marketersbelieve interactive content grabs the attention of website visitors, making it a powerful marketing technique.

For instance, Outgrow Ecommerce has a feature which allows you to create questions andrecommend products based on consumer responses. At the end of your questions, it automatically takes them to the product you linked with specific responses. For instance, have a look at this Ecommerce quiz template created by Outgrow. The user selects an option of his choice and the result page displays the makeup set best suited for his/her face.

This is a good way to introduce something fresh and new as well as handling the promotion of new and old products in a novel way. Because the products are based on their answers, customers find the perfect fit through the power of personalization.

Analyze and Optimize

Continuous analysis of your data is essential when it comes to a data-driven marketing strategy. Why? Because your data doesn’t stay the same. Let’s say you’ve identified your niche and optimal audience using your data and you’ve established the perfect buyer persona.

You then tweak and edit your content, your traffic channels and the way you approach marketing to suit this kind of customer. While this is the case, you’re also going to attract different people from different target markets, meaning your ideal target buyer is going to change.  data-driven marketing

This is why it’s extremely important to monitor your data regularly. Most companies do it once a week in order to consistently optimize their content, so it performs well with their new audience.  data-driven marketing

Typically, you’ll want to go over your available data and analytics about once a week. Just ensure that nothing drastic has happened, and then once a month when it comes to tweaking and optimizing content.

The post What is Data Driver Marketing For My Website? appeared first on Akimi Technologies.

Category #1: Starters

Behold our tantalising appetizers! These books play an indispensable role in ensuring that you have all the information you need to start an online store. Take a look!

1. Janice Reynolds, Roya Mofazali – The Complete E-Commerce Book

Written by Janice Reynolds, a writer, speaker and consultant in information technology – this book is a dynamic one stop shop for all things ecommerce. A step by step handbook, it provides easily implementable solutions to real problems faced by ecommerce entrepreneurs. From design competency and server configuration to public relations and sales – seems like this book delivers detailed and useful information to tackle all aspects of ecommerce. A must read for those starting their e-store  from scratch. For this very reason, it ticks of all the boxes in our checklist!

Goodreads Rating: 3.3/5

2. The Startup Owner’s Manual – Steve Blank, Bob Dorf

This book took the startup world by storm with its proven, reliable advice and lessons. Allow your ecommerce business to flourish using the detailed, step by step information provided by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf on the massive work behind setting up your business.

Things to look out for – the Business Model Canvas and the Customer Development Checklists developed by the authors using 10 years of experience.

Goodreads rating: 4.1/5

3. Poke the Box by Seth Godin

We all know that the world of ecommerce is highly volatile. If you’re someone who’s stuck at the starting line despite having great ideas, this book is for you. In this short motivational book, Seth Godin talks about the importance of getting off your back and starting instead of waiting for the “right” time.

Favourite quote: Please stop waiting for a map. We reward those who draw maps, not those who follow them.

Goodreads rating: 3.8/5

Category #2: Main Course

Hungry for more? Of course you are. After our delectable starters, we present to you our scrumptious main course. Marketing, website optimisation, conversion, customer care – these books cover all the bases. Feast your taste buds on this essential information to get your ecommerce business running successfully.

4. The 4 Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss

We had to add this New York Times Best Seller to our list. Written at a time when Tim Ferriss was working fourteen hour days at a sports nutrition supplement company, the book gives real-life tips that can make both your business and your life more wholesome. Firstly, it provides you with an extensive and exhaustive list of resources for suppliers, product creators, analytical tools and virtual assistants. Secondly, it gives you valuable pointers that shall surely make your life easier. Most importantly, it helps you make your life more productive. Feel free to check out this blog for how you can apply Tim’s principals to your ecommerce business.

Goodreads rating: 3.8/5

Pro Tip: Don’t have time to go through the whole book? Read the “Quicklet” on the book by David Lowe!

5. What Great Brands Do – Denise Lee Yohn

It’s always good to learn from the best, right? However, while it’s easy to be awestruck by giants like Apple, IKEA and Nike, what you need to do is to break down the seemingly unattainable secrets of their success. So, do you say abracadabra, resort to voodoo or make sacrifices to the Almighty Marketing Gods? Neither, dear friends. For Denise Lee Yohn Reveals the scientific approach and the seven key principles that the world’s best brands consistently implement to turn their businesses into successes.

Goodreads rating: 3.8/5

6. The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk

It’s foolhardy not to focus on marketing and social media when you run an ecommerce business. Gary Vanynerchuk reveals how your ecommerce business can harness all the changes and challenges inherent in the dynamic world of social media and turn them into tremendous opportunities for profit and growth. This book goes beyond dry numbers and mechanical instructions. It explains the benefits of not only embracing the social media phenomenon, but also understanding it fully. It focuses on building genuine relations with your customers and humanizing your business.

Tip: We highly recommend that you checkout the audiobook as well since it is read by Gary V himself! We already know that he is a great speaker, but the frequent off-script moments are priceless.

Goodreads rating: 3.8/5

7. The New Rules Of Marketing And PR by David Meerman Scott

Social media plays a vital role in driving traffic to your ecommerce store. So how does one create and implement a successful social media strategy? Especially one that uses the latest web-based content like online videos, blogs and mobile applications? This bestseller has got you covered. Master marketer David Scott provides you all the information you need to raise visibility and increase sales using modern marketing tools and trends.

Goodreads rating: 3.9/5

Category #3: Dessert

It’s time for the most popular – and important – course. Just like your meal is incomplete without something sweet, your ecommerce business cannot succeed without analysing and learning from your marketing efforts. Driving sales and getting traffic has to be supplemented by an effective analytics plan and therefore we give you just the books you need to implement one!

8. Lean Analytics – Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz

This book’s high rating speaks for itself. It helps you find out what metrics you need to focus on in order to connect to the right market and sell the right product. Learn from case studies and sample business models to get valuable insights which you, as an ecommerce marketer and entrepreneur, cannot do without.

Goodreads rating: 4.1/5

9. You Should Test That – Chris Goward

Just like the book says, conversion optimization is part science and part art. From finding the right value proposition for your products/services to knowing where to test and what to test, this book is a must read for those who wish to create a successful ecommerce website. Chris Goward, the founder of Wider Tunnel, teaches you how great conversion rates are the result of an ongoing process of rigorous testing, scrutinizing and experimentation.

Goodreads rating: 3.9/5

10. Convert! by Ben Hunt

What’s the difference between an ordinary website and a great one? This is the question that web design expert Ben Hunt answers in his bestseller. You not only learn how to craft compelling calls to action and optimise your website but also get a rich understanding of your market in the process. Read along and you shall certainly be converting website visitors into customers in no time!

Goodreads rating: 3.8/5

Compliments of the Chef

Surprise Surprise! Just when you thought the meal was coming to a close! Everyone needs a little inspiration now and then and therefore, we present to you this choicest morsel to keep you going.

Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston

No one starts big and this collection of interviews with founders of famous technology companies teaches you just that. The wise anecdotes and funny discoveries shared in this book shall leave you inspired. Get set to learn and grow as an entrepreneur as you read about the early days – and mistakes – of founders like Steve Wozniak (Apple), Caterina Fake (Flickr), and Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail). It’s rate 3.9 out of 5 on Goodreads!

That’s the end of this meal folks!

In many respects, ecommerce is one of the most lucrative types of business you can get into today. However, it’s a volatile business because it relies heavily on service quality, web design and functionality. Thankfully, there is a lot of good reading material to show you the way. We hope you enjoyed the spread we laid out for you. Do let us know if there are any other books that you’d like added to our list.

The post Top 10 First Read Books For Ecommerce appeared first on Akimi Technologies.

In reality, WordPress is versatile enough to be used for just about any business setup, including an eCommerce store. This means you can create a fully-functioning, all-in-one eCommerce shop with WordPress, along with a bit of help from the platform’s many themes and plugins.

In this post, we’ll discuss the use of WordPress as an eCommerce platform. We’ll then highlight a few of the more popular tools you can use, and talk about how you can choose the right one for your business. Let’s get started!

WHY CHOOSE WORDPRESS FOR ECOMMERCE?

WordPress is an open-source Content Management System (CMS) with an array of uses and functionality. Its most popular use is as a blogging platform, but its customization and extendability make it an excellent option for nearly any type of website.

As an eCommerce platform, WordPress offers much in the way of integrations and customization options. There are a variety of themes and plugins you can use to add eCommerce features to your site, and the platform’s ease of use and scalability make it a viable option for businesses both large and small.

WHO USES WORDPRESS FOR ECOMMERCE?

While WordPress can be expanded to fit almost any eCommerce needs, there are a few types of businesses and websites it works best for. These include stores that offer physical or digital products, services, or subscriptions.

However, businesses small, medium, and large can benefit from the numerous eCommerce features made available to WordPress users. To get access to this functionality, you’ll need to integrate WordPress with one or more external tools.

WORDPRESS ECOMMERCE INTEGRATIONS

One of the best things about WordPress is its ability to integrate with various eCommerce platforms and plugins. These enable you to run a fully-functioning store from your WordPress website, or even integrate certain eCommerce features (such as a shopping cart) into your current blog.

What’s more, the variety of integrations on offer means you can choose the one that’s right for your business needs. The best option will vary based on your business size, product type, and overall goals, but there’s bound to be a choice that’s right for you. Let’s look at a few of the top platforms now.

WORDPRESS AND WOOCOMMERCE

WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress eCommerce integration, and there are many reasons for its status. Foremost, it has an extensive list of add-ons and customization options. It can also be added to your WordPress website in minutes, and getting started is easy thanks to its simple setup wizard.

SHOPIFY FOR WORDPRESS

Shopify is best known as a standalone eCommerce platform. As such, it doesn’t offer a way to fully integratewith WordPress. However, you can use the Buy Button plugin, which will enable you to collect payments right from your site.

ECWID AND WORDPRESS

Unlike Shopify, which has its own platform, Ecwid is an eCommerce option you can fully integrate with your current WordPress website. Using Ecwid, you can set up your store in minutes, and the Shopping Cart pluginmakes getting started even easier.

WORDPRESS AND BIGCOMMERCE

BigCommerce is a unique eCommerce option, in that it enables you to handle various online shops via one comprehensive solution. Similar to Shopify, it also has limited WordPress integration options at the moment. However, you can still easily run a WordPress blog alongside your BigCommerce store.

WORDPRESS AND MAGENTO

Similar to Shopify and BigCommerce, Magento is an eCommerce platform focused on its standalone offerings. However, a few third-party integration options do exist, which make it possible to add a WordPress blog to your Magento eCommerce shop.

WORDPRESS ECOMMERCE COMPARISONS

WORDPRESS/WOOCOMMERCE VS. SHOPIFY

When determining which eCommerce platform to use, you may find yourself choosing between two of the most popular options – WooCommerce and Shopify. While both platforms do offer similar features, there’s one major distinction between the two. Shopify is an external platform, while WooCommerce can integrate with WordPress fully.

When you choose to use WooCommerce and WordPress, you can handle all of your website’s needs in one place. If you opt for Shopify, on the other hand, you’ll be managing your store on one platform (Shopify) and your blog or website on another (WordPress). This makes WooCommerce a top choice for most users.

WORDPRESS VS. MAGENTO

If WooCommerce and Shopify aren’t the platforms for you, however, Magento is another option worth considering. As we mentioned earlier, this is an open-source software that’s similar to WordPress, but with one major difference. Magento can support eCommerce shops by default, while WordPress websites requires a bit of tweaking to get a store up and running.

Both WordPress and Magento support blog posts and pages. They can also handle eCommerce functions – including shopping carts and customer accounts – although you’ll need the help of plugins to achieve this with WordPress. Ultimately, WordPress requires a little more work to get up and running, but it also offers much more in the way of customization options.

ECOMMERCE PLUGINS & THEMES

ECOMMERCE PLUGINS

As we’ve mentioned, it’s entirely possible to use WordPress as your one-and-only eCommerce solution. This requires a bit of tweaking, which can be done with the help of dedicated plugins.

Some of the more popular eCommerce plugins include WooCommerce (which we’ve already discussed), Easy Digital Downloads, and Shopp. Each can be used to add simple shopping carts and buy buttons, or to create a more robust eCommerce setup.

ECOMMERCE THEMES

To improve the look and functionality of your WordPress eCommerce shop, you can also use an eCommerce-specific theme. There are lots of options available, and they can range in cost from free to hundreds of dollars.

A few of the themes we recommend include Storefront by WooCommerce, Shopkeeper, and Neighborhood. However, there are many to choose from in the WordPress Theme Directory and on third-party sites.

WORDPRESS PAYMENT FORMS

STRIPE FOR WORDPRESS

Stripe is an eCommerce payment solution that focuses on open-source tools and Application Program Interfaces (APIs). This means it can easily integrate with various platforms, including WordPress.

Setting up Stripe on WordPress is quite simple. Plus, there are a few plugins (such as Stripe for WooCommerce and WP Simple Pay) available to make the process even easier.

WOOCOMMERCE PAYMENT GATEWAYS

As the most integration-friendly eCommerce solution for WordPress, it makes sense that WooCommerce would have multiple payment gateways available. Just a few of its options include PayPal, Stripe, and Square.

You can add as many payment options as you like, using both free and premium extensions. After downloading one of these extensions, it will be integrated into your WooCommerce store so you can begin accepting payments immediately.

The post What You Should Use WordPress For Ecommerce appeared first on Akimi Technologies.

Fortunately, it’s possible to better understand the digital journey your customers travel, and improve it to increase the odds of conversion. This will provide them with a more seamless experience, and enable you to meet your sales goals more effectively.

In this post, we’ll introduce the digital customer journey and the various stages it includes. Then we’ll share some ways you can better define that journey. Let’s get started!

WHAT IS THE DIGITAL CUSTOMER JOURNEY?

In short, the digital customer journey is the path your customers take from initial contact to conversion. For strategic marketers, this journey is guided by a ‘map’ with easily distinguishable stages, so as to improve and streamline the process.

A well-defined digital customer journey enables you to deliver the right content at the optimal times, to increase the odds that a lead will eventually convert (i.e., make a purchase). This can be done manually, but technologies such as automated marketing software can also improve the process.

WHAT ARE THE STAGES OF A DIGITAL CUSTOMER JOURNEY?

While the customer journey will differ for every industry and website, there are a few basic stages that just about every consumer will travel through.

STAGE 1: BROWSE

During the browsing stage, the consumer probably hasn’t decided what to purchase, and may not even know what they’re looking for yet. This means they’re likely casting a wide net, with the help of search engines and social media.

This is where your website’s position on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) will play a key role, as will your approach to audience targeting. In this stage, you’ll want to focus on attracting those indecisive consumers to your website, so you can then ‘hook’ them.

STAGE 2: COMPARE

At this stage, the consumer has pinpointed a specific product or service they want, but they’re not yet invested in any particular company. This is where you need to focus a lot of your efforts, with the goal of wooing the potential customer into choosing your business.

While the browsing stage required you to use broader targeting techniques, you’ll now need to segment your audience so you can offer them exactly what they need. This may involve email marketing segmentation, and even geo targeted advertisements.

STAGE 3: CONTEMPLATE

Even once your company has made an impression on the consumer, they may still have some concerns or fears. These may be connected to the product itself, but it’s more likely that the consumer is wondering whether that product is worth the cost involved.

It’s crucial that you address consumer concerns at this stage, so as to put their minds at ease. You can do this by initiating follow-up contact via email or phone, with the sole purpose of answering questions.

STAGE 4: PURCHASE

When all questions have been answered and concerns addressed, the final stage is the purchase. This happens once the consumer has committed to the process, and it constitutes a conversion. However, the customer journey isn’t done at this point.

You’ll now need to consider how you can get the customer to share your product with their friends and family, and how you can get them to return in the future. Surveys and follow-up contacts are useful at this stage, and they can also help you improve your purchase process for future transactions.

HOW TO DEFINE YOUR CUSTOMERS’ DIGITAL JOURNEY

Now you have a greater understanding of what a customer’s digital journey involves, it’s time to create a customer journey map to ensure that process is seamless and consistent. Let’s talk about how to do that.

STEP 1: THINK LIKE A CUSTOMER

As mentioned previously, the digital journey that customers take will vary by company and website. You need to clearly define your own customers’ journey, by taking their thought processes and needs into account.

One way to achieve this is to go through the journey yourself. Keeping an unbiased opinion, begin your ‘customer journey’ on the home page of your website. What steps seem most natural to an indecisive customer, and where do they lead?

Continue through this journey all the way to completion, and make note along the way of any improvements you can make. For example, consider how you can make the steps easier to travel through, and look to pinpoint any obstacles you can remove.

STEP 2: MAKE INTERACTION A PRIORITY

Once you have a customer’s-eye view of the digital journey on your website, it’s time to offer support during the most critical stages of the process. The best way to do that is via direct customer interaction.

You should always make it easy for potential customers to contact you whenever the need arises. However, it’s also smart to initiate contact at the most crucial points, to ensure that the customer continues through the process. You can do this via phone, email, or even live chat.

STEP 3: IMPLEMENT YOUR CHANGES AND MAKE ROOM FOR GROWTH

This final step requires you to implement the changes you’ve identified, in order to create a more seamless digital journey for your customers. However, you’ll also want to leave room for growth, so future adjustments are possible.

It’s inevitable that your customers’ journey will change over time. This is especially true when you consider that the technologies you use and the best practices for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will continue to shift. For those reasons, it’s important to periodically revisit your customer journey, and update it as needed.

The post What Is Your Customer’s Digital Journey? appeared first on Akimi Technologies.

The answer lies in A/B testing, which is the process of presenting two versions of a web page to visitors and collecting data about which one they prefer. With this information, you’ll be able to create pages that users love, all based on concrete data.

In this article, we’re going to give you a crash course on A/B testing, and explain why you should consider conducting it on your website. Then we’ll teach you how to A/B test your site, and introduce you to some WordPress plugins that can help. Let’s move over to the lab!

WHAT IS A/B TESTING?

A/B (or ‘split’) testing is a process where you take two versions of an element and display each to a random sample of your visitors. The goal is that, with a large enough sample size, you can gain insight into which version your users prefer.

Imagine, for example, that you’re adding a new Call To Action (CTA) to your landing page. You’re not sure what design will work best, but you’ve narrowed the choices down to two options. If you set up an A/B test, you can track which CTA your visitors respond better to, by measuring how many clicks each version gets.

That’s just a basic example, and in practice you can use A/B testing to measure all kinds of variables. In fact, A/B testing is something you can benefit from in a broad range of situations, whether it’s for a website, a product design, an email campaign, or something else entirely.

WHY SHOULD YOU A/B TEST?

If you’re an experienced enough developer or designer, you might be able to rely on your intuition to determine what designs work best. However, if you really want to know what your users want, running some tests is a smart idea.

Let’s break down exactly how A/B testing can benefit you:

• It can provide you with highly-targeted data about what your visitors prefer.
• You can run successive A/B tests to fine-tune almost every aspect of your website.
• Implementing the results of this testing can help you improve conversions across the board.

What’s more, you can use A/B testing for all kinds of variables. In our experience, you can get fantastic results testing variations of copy, color schemes, ads, website layouts, and more. There are some limitations on the type of elements you can A/B test, however, which we’ll talk more about in a moment.

HOW TO RUN A/B TESTS

When you run an A/B test, it helps to think of your website as a lab. If you want to get accurate results, you’ll need to follow strict procedures to make sure the data you gather is accurate. Here’s the approach we suggest you follow.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY POTENTIAL TEST SUBJECTS

Technically, you can run an A/B test for almost any variable you want. However, an ideal test subject should meet several criteria:

• The page or element needs to receive a decent amount of traffic.
• There has to be room for improvement, so you can gauge test results.
• You need to be able to create variations of the test subject.

In particular, without enough traffic, the results you get won’t be statistically significant. A few dozen visits doesn’t make for a reliable sample size.

STEP 2: DECIDE ON YOUR GOALS

Once you have a subject in mind, you need to set a goal for your test. There are several metrics you might use as your goal, including:

1. Clicks
2. Page impressions
3. Mouseovers
4. Bounce rate

For example, let’s say that you intend to run an A/B test for a CTA. In that case, the appropriate metric to track would be clicks. To put it another way, the goal of your test will depend on what its subject is.

STEP 3: CHOOSE A HYPOTHESIS

At this point, you have a variable and a metric to test. Now you need to formulate a hypothesis, in order to run your experiment.

To elaborate on our earlier CTA example, here a few potential hypotheses you might test:

1. Changing the text of my CTA will improve conversions.
2. Using a different color for my CTA will result in more clicks.
3. Changing the location of my CTA will increase its Click-Through Rate (CTR).

All three of these are perfectly fine hypotheses. However, it’s important to remember that you can only test one of them at a time.

STEP 4: RUN YOUR TEST AND ANALYZE THE RESULTS

Now, you can finally put your test into action. To do this, you’ll need to use an A/B testing tool that enables you to show visitors both versions of your test subject (we’ll introduce a few options in a moment).

In our experience, a successful A/B test requires a sample size of at least a few thousand visitors. The smaller your sample pool is, the less reliable your results will be, so you don’t want to rush the process.

Once you have enough data, you can end the test and determine which version performed better according to the goal you set. Then, it’s just a matter of implementing that version on your live website and reaping the rewards!

WORDPRESS A/B TESTING PLUGINS

There are a lot of third-party plugins you can use for A/B testing your website. What follows are two of the best options available.

PLUGIN 1: NELIO AB TESTING

The first thing you need to know is that Nelio AB Testing requires you to sign up for a plan in order to use it. If you decide to pay for the plugin, you’ll get access to an A/B testing tool that enables you to run experiments on your pages, posts, and custom post types.

With Nelio AB Testing, you can compare headlines, widgets, CSS, and even entire themes. Plus, you’ll get access to highly-accurate heatmap functionality.

PLUGIN 2: POPUP BY SUPSYSTIC

Whereas our previous pick enables you to test almost any element you want, Popup by Supsystic focuses solely on pop-ups. With this plugin, you’ll be able to create and A/B test pop-ups that drive conversions. You’ll be happy to know that this plugin is free, and it supports an unlimited number of pop-ups.

A/B TESTING & THE WORDPRESS DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

A/B testing enables you to ‘poll’ your audience without them even knowing. That way, you’ll get access to quantifiable data you can use to improve your pages and provide your users with a better digital experience.

To run a successful A/B test, you’ll need a web host that provides you with rock-steady performance and support in case you run into any issues. That’s something we can promise on all our plans, so check them out today!

The post A/B Testing on WordPress. How To Get Started? appeared first on Akimi Technologies.

The good news is that there are plenty of plugins you can use to simplify – and even automate – your WordPress optimization efforts. You just have to configure the tools you want to use, and let them work for you in the background.

In this guide, we’re going to introduce you to 12 of our favorite WordPress optimization plugins. Let’s get right to it!

SPEED OPTIMIZATION PLUGINS

Excellent performance is essential on all websites. That’s why in this section, we’re going to focus on all-in-one plugins that help you speed up your site.

PLUGIN #1: AUTOPTIMIZE

Even the simplest WordPress website usually has several third-party scripts running in the background, as well as additional CSS. Those scripts can add up, slowing down your site’s loading times.

Autoptimize minifies and caches that code, in order to diminish its impact on your site’s performance. If you’re not using another minification plugin, this one should be at the top of your list.

Average Rating: 4.5/5

PLUGIN #2: HUMMINGBIRD PAGE SPEED OPTIMIZATION

Hummingbird Page Speed Optimization offers a ton of functionality, helping you tackle script minification, file compression, and caching. That means Hummingbird can help visitors load your site’s pages much faster.

Overall, Hummingbird is an excellent all-in-one optimization tool. However, be careful not to set up any other caching or minification plugins, since that might cause conflicts.

Average Rating: 5/5

PLUGIN #3: WP-OPTIMIZE

All the information you upload to your WordPress website goes into a unique database. Over time, that database can become bloated, which may slow down your site. That’s where WP-Optimize can help, by deleting all the data you don’t need anymore.

It’s worth noting that in our experience, WP-Optimize only has a significant impact on sites with large libraries of content. If you just set up your website, it may not make a huge difference.

Average Rating: 5/5

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION PLUGINS

Your site’s speed isn’t the only factor that requires optimization. If you want your website to grow, you also need to optimize its content to attract attention from search engines.

PLUGIN #1: YOAST SEO

Yoast SEO is by far the most popular WordPress SEO plugin. It provides you with an overview of how well optimized your content is, both when it comes to SEO and readability.

With Yoast, you get a clear idea of how well you’re using keywords, and what your content will look like in search engines. If you’re new to SEO, Yoast is a great option, since it provides you with a lot of tips for improving your content.

Average Rating: 5/5

PLUGIN #2: ALL IN ONE SEO PACK

As the name implies, All in One SEO Pack is a one-stop shop for all your WordPress SEO needs. It offers much of the same functionality as Yoast, and is a popular alternative.

What sets this plugin apart is its module system. It includes multiple modules, which enable you to disable functionality you don’t need. If you like flexibility in your plugins, then you might prefer this one over Yoast.

Average Rating: 5/5

PLUGIN #3: THE SEO FRAMEWORK

The SEO Framework is less popular, but provides you with all the SEO functionality you’ll need. It’s also remarkably lightweight, which makes it well worth considering.

On top of that, this plugin uses a similar module system to All in One SEO Pack, which means you get to micromanage its features. If you want to try out an alternative to Yoast, this is a top pick.

Average Rating: 5/5

IMAGE OPTIMIZATION PLUGINS

One of the factors that most affects your site’s performance is its media. High-quality images tend to weigh a lot, which can slow things down. The following plugins come in handy for optimizing your images.

PLUGIN #1: SMUSH IMAGE COMPRESSION AND OPTIMIZATION

Smush Image Compression and Optimization takes the image files you upload, and compresses them so they don’t take as long to transmit and display. It can also enable you to optimize images outside your media library, and resize graphics.

What’s more, Smush offers the most user-friendly interface of all the WordPress image optimizers we’ve tried. If you want a hassle-free experience, then it’s worth checking out.

Average Rating: 5/5

PLUGIN #2: EWWW IMAGE OPTIMIZER

Most image optimization plugins include very similar functionality, so let’s focus on what sets this one apart. Along with compressing your images, EWWW Image Optimizer can also convert them into other file types. Plus, it enables you to choose from multiple compression methods.

In other words, this plugin gives you more control over the way you handle images on your website. It also provides plenty of time-saving automation features.

Average Rating: 4.5/5

PLUGIN #3: SHORTPIXEL IMAGE OPTIMIZER

Like our previous picks, ShortPixel Image Optimizer can reduce your image file sizes. However, it supports more file types than the competition, including JPGs, PNGs, GIFs, and even PDFs.

That last one isn’t an image format, of course. However, the feature can come in handy if you share a lot of PDF content through your site.

Average Rating: 4.5/5

CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION PLUGINS

Finally, it’s also vital to optimize conversions. This can include encouraging purchases, email sign-ups, and so on. Each of the following plugins can help you maximize the number of conversions on your site.

PLUGIN #1: HUSTLE

Collecting as many emails as possible is one of the most important things you can do to boost conversions. If you’re not yet using a plugin to help you do that, it’s best to get started right away.

Hustle focuses on helping you generate leads by creating sign-up forms, exit popups, and social sharing icons. This is one of our top choices because it integrates with all the major email marketing platforms, including AWeber and MailChimp.

Average Rating: 4.5/5

PLUGIN #2: POPUPS BY OPTINMONSTER

As you might expect, Popups by OptinMonster is all about popups. It enables you to use a drag-and-drop builder to create popups of various types, as well as forms.

Popups can be highly effective when it comes to collecting emails and driving other types of conversions. If you want to try a more aggressive marketing strategy, this plugin might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Average Rating: 4.5/5

PLUGIN #3: NELIO AB TESTING

One of the best ways to improve conversions on your website is to test new designs and content, until you land on a winning combination. Nelio AB Testing enables you to set up ‘split testing’ experiments, so you can determine which variations users prefer.

To do this, Nelio uses heat maps, which you can analyze to determine what elements your visitors are drawn to. If you want to use hard data to drive conversions, A/B testing tools like Nelio are well worth your time.

Average Rating: 4.5/5

DON’T JUST DRIVE TRAFFIC, PROVIDE THE OPTIMAL DIGITAL EXPERIENCE TO DRIVE CONVERSIONS

If you’re running a website, one of your main goals will always be to get more traffic. However, you also must strive to provide an excellent experience for your users. If you have a poorly-optimized website, you’ll likely struggle to transform its traffic into actual conversions.

The post Top WordPress Plugin To Make Your Website Unique appeared first on Akimi Technologies.

By conducting some online conversion tracking, on the other hand, you can figure out how effective your marketing is. That in turn will enable you to figure out if you need to switch gears when it comes to your strategy.

In this article, we’ll talk a bit more about why you should track website conversions. Then we’ll discuss how you can go about it, and introduce you to several WordPress plugins that can help. Let’s talk tracking!

WHY SHOULD YOU TRACK WEBSITE CONVERSIONS?

Every website has a goal, and that usually involves convincing your users to do something. Each time you succeed at getting someone to take a desired action, such as buying a product or signing up for a membership, that’s called a ‘conversion’.

There are two primary goals when it comes to conversion tracking:

1. It enables you to determine if your web strategy is successful.
2. You can track changes in performance over time, so you’ll know if adjustments and new strategies are working.

Conversion tracking makes a lot of sense if you think about your website as a business. To determine if a business is successful, you rely on indicators such as sales, foot traffic, leads, and more.

Tracking website conversions is the equivalent of measuring sales, except that in this case, they don’t necessarily involve a purchase. For simplicity’s sake, however, let’s assume you want to increase conversions that bring in revenue, and talk a bit about monetization.

TOP WAYS TO MONETIZE A WEBSITE

There are a lot of ways you can earn money through your WordPress website. Depending on which method you implement, your goals and desired conversions will be different.

Let’s look at some of the most common approaches to website monetization:

• Selling products directly. In this case, each sale is a conversion.
• Affiliate marketing. Whenever someone buys a product through your links, that’s another conversion on your tally.
• Selling services. Some people sell one-off services, whereas others do subscriptions. In any case, each purchase is a win for you.
• Advertising. If you’re running Cost Per Click (CPC) ads on your site, each click becomes a conversion.
• Lead generation. Some people run websites to attract traffic to their existing businesses. In that scenario, each lead you bring in is a conversion.

As you might imagine, those are not the only monetization methods at your disposal. However, they are by far the most common options. If your website uses any of these techniques, then you need to learn how to track the resulting conversions.

HOW TO TRACK WEBSITE CONVERSIONS

Since conversions don’t come in a single shape or size, it stands to reason that there’s more than one way to keep tabs on them. Here are the most common conversion tracking methods:

• Trackable URLs. These are links that include tracking parameters, so whenever someone clicks on one of them, the data is reported back to you.
• Using third-party tracking tools to set up goals. Most analytics tools enable you to set up custom goals for your website (i.e. sales, time spent on site, or pretty much anything else) and measure their success, often by using trackable URLs.
• Monitoring email sign-ups. If you use an email marketing tool or plugin, you’ll be able to monitor new sign-ups to your list.
• Measuring sales. This approach is the simplest, because every WordPress eCommerce plugin enables you to keep track of sales (some in more detail than others).

The good news is that you probably don’t need to figure out how to track all these types of conversions. Instead, what you’ll want to do is focus on your site’s primary goal, and find the right tool to help you measure its success.

PLUGINS TO TRACK WEBSITE CONVERSIONS

For this section, we’ve rounded up our top picks when it comes to WordPress conversion plugins. Each of these tools will help you measure different types of conversions on your website.

PLUGIN #1: ANALYTIFY

Google Analytics is by far the most popular free analytics tool. With it, you’ll be able to measure a lot of important data on your website, including conversions. However, to set up conversion tracking in Google Analytics, you’ll need to create custom goals.

What Analytify does is enable you to connect WordPress to Google Analytics, so you can track those goals on your website. Plus, it also supports eCommerce goal tracking for WooCommerce, making it the perfect pick if you’re using that plugin to run an online store.

PLUGIN #2: PIXELYOURSITE

If you run ads on Facebook, then you’ll want to use the Facebook Pixel. This is a tracking code that can help the social media giant measure goals on your website, which you can customize depending on your needs.

Usually, adding the Facebook Pixel to WordPress can be a bit of a chore, but PixelYourSite simplifies the process. Plus, it also enables you to integrate Facebook with WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads to track sales.

PLUGIN #3: WOOCOMMERCE ADWORDS CONVERSION TRACKING

AdWord campaigns are one of the most powerful tools at your disposal if you want to drive paid traffic towards your products. However, to measure the success of your campaigns, you’ll need to set up conversion tracking.

WooCommerce AdWords Conversion Tracking enables you to set up tracking for WooCommerce products you’re promoting through AdWords. With that data, you’ll be able to figure out which campaigns are pulling their weight, and which aren’t.

MEASURING YOUR DIGITAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Tracking conversions is vital if you want to use data to improve your website. However, that strategy only works if you’re getting plenty of conversions in the first place. To get there, you’ll need to design a positive digital customer experience, and your hosting provider plays a significant role in making that happen.

The post Conversion Tracking in WordPress appeared first on Akimi Technologies.

The biggest upcoming change is the official addition of the Gutenberg editor. That’s the name of the new editing interface that’s at the core of WordPress 5.0, and it’s going to completely alter the way you use the Content Management System (CMS).

At the time of this writing, WordPress 5.0 is just around the corner. That’s why in this article, we’re going to talk about the changes this update is going to bring, and help you prepare for the release. Let’s get to it!

WHAT’S NEW IN WORDPRESS 5.0?

Gutenberg might get the most attention when people talk about WordPress 5.0, but it’s far from the only change this release brings to the table. First of all, this update marks a shift in the way the platform tackles releases.

It used to be that you would expect a couple of significant WordPress updates per year. Now, the team behind WordPress plans on reducing the quantity of updates, and making each one count for more. In other words, you can expect future versions of WordPress to be less frequent, but to bring more significant changes.

On top of that, WordPress is adapting the way users tackle content creation, in order to make the entire process easier for people with no experience. To do that, it’s moving in the same direction as website builders like Wix and Squarespace. Don’t worry, however – the platform will still offer a lot more features and flexibility than those competitors.

Finally, the WordPress 5.0 release will also bring some changes to the Rest API. This means that if you’re a developer, you’ll have an easier time building apps on top of the platform, which means we’ll probably see some exciting new projects soon.

WHAT IS GUTENBERG?

Now, we come to the core of WordPress 5.0. As we mentioned earlier, Gutenberg is the name of the new WordPress editor that will ship with this update. The core of the Gutenberg experience relies on ‘blocks’, which are pre-built elements you can place on a page or post via a drag-and-drop system.

The idea is that by giving you full control over which blocks you want to use and where to place them, you’ll be able to build content more intuitively. By making this change, the WordPress core team is hoping to keep the CMS competitive, and make it more appealing to new users.

Page-building tools are getting better and better every day, and lots of WordPress users already rely on them (via plugins). For some people, this shift provides a more user-friendly and flexible editing experience.

On the other hand, there’s been a lot of controversy around this radical change, and other people prefer the old editor. Fortunately, you can avoid using Gutenberg if you want, by installing the Classic Editor plugin.

WORDPRESS 5.0 RELEASE DATE

The WordPress 5.0 release date has kept everyone on their toes during 2018, as it’s been moved back multiple times. The hope was that it would be released during November 2018, but the update will likely not go live until December 2018 or January 2019.
Since there’s no knowing exactly when WordPress 5.0 will release, it’s best to stay on top of the latest news. You can do this by periodically checking the WordPress 5.0 Development Cycle page on the Make WordPress website.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR WORDPRESS 5.0

Although WordPress 5.0 isn’t out yet, you can still get acquainted with the new editor and prepare for the changes to your website. Let’s talk about how to get started!

STEP 1: BACK UP YOUR WORDPRESS SITE

Before you start playing around with the new editor, you’ll want to back up your website. If you’re a WP Engine user, you can do this by logging into your hosting dashboard, and following these steps:

1. Select the account you want to back up from the Installs menu.
2. Pick the Backup points option, and then choose Backup Now.
3. Set a description for your backup (so you remember why you made it!) and click on Create production backup.

That’s it! Now you’ll be able to restore your site from the Backup Now screen, just in case anything goes wrong. If you’re not a WP Engine user, there are several other methods you can use to back up your website, both manually and by using plugins.

STEP 2: DOWNLOAD GUTENBERG

Next, you can head to the WordPress Plugin Directory and download the official Gutenberg plugin:

The plugin itself is still in beta, but at this point it includes most of the functionality that will be present in the final WordPress 5.0 release candidate. Therefore, you can expect the experience to be very similar. With that in mind, go ahead and install the plugin on your website.

STEP 3: CHECK YOUR PLUGINS & THEMES

Once Gutenberg is active, you’ll want to make sure it plays nicely with your active theme and plugins. As a rule of thumb, you may run into problems if you’re using any third-party tool that affects how the editor works.

Fortunately, a lot of popular WordPress plugins have already been updated with Gutenberg compatibility in mind. However, it still doesn’t hurt to make sure your website is working normally after activating the new editor. If some of your plugins and themes aren’t compatible, you might need to look for replacements.

STEP 4: UPDATE YOUR CURRENT CONTENT TO THE GUTENBERG MODEL (IF NEEDED)

As you might expect, there may be some issues with old posts and pages you built using the previous editor. After enabling Gutenberg, if you try to edit any of your previous content, it should open using the classic version of the editing interface.

In theory, therefore, all your content should still look the same. However, you can also convert those old posts and pages to the block system, so you can edit them using Gutenberg:

Keep in mind that you don’t have to do this for all your old content. If you have a large library, we recommend that you focus only on the posts you want to update, and leave the rest of your content as-is.

WORDPRESS 5.0 & THE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

WordPress 5.0 will significantly change the way a lot of users interact with the CMS. However, if you take a peek below the hood of this update, you’ll find the core functionality that makes WordPress such a fantastic platform is all still there.

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