May 2019 Top 10: Our Most Popular Posts

The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to publish independent content — articles, podcasts, seminars — that helps ecommerce merchants. What follows are the most popular articles that we published in May 2019, recognizing that posts published earlier in the month are more likely to make the list than later ones.

Analyze Click Paths in Google Analytics to Improve Conversions

Monitoring the navigation of visitors can help ecommerce merchants identify bottlenecks to the checkout page. There are two ways to analyze paths in Google Analytics: Behavior Flow and Navigation analysis. Read article…

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13 SEO Takeaways from Google’s 2019 State of the Union Address

Every year at the “State of the Union” address, representatives from Google Search announce new features, drop tips, and give hints to the things that matter to the company. This year’s address at last week’s “Google I/O 19” conference is worth watching. Read article…

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5 Content Marketing Ideas for June 2019

In June 2019, content marketers should have no shortage of potential topics to attract, engage, and retain customers. In much of North America, the weather will be grand, and almost any article or video that promotes outside activities can be a winner. Read article…

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SEO: Can Ecommerce Sites Win the Answer Box?

The “answer box” is Google’s way of responding to questions directly from the top of the search results page so that searchers don’t need to leave that page to get answers. Each answer box contains a link to the source site, and usually an image as well. Read article…

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20 Tools for Content Marketing

Here is a list of tools to assist in your content marketing efforts. There are idea generators, language tools, stock-element libraries, content analysis apps, distribution platforms, and more. Most of these tools are free or have a free plan. Read article…

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4 Steps to Discover an Ecommerce Product Niche

Amazon sells everything, seemingly, as does Walmart. And they do it well. But most ecommerce businesses are not Amazon or Walmart. For those businesses, attempting to sell everything to everyone can lead to failure. Read article…

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Comparing SEO to PPC

Search engine optimization is different than pay-per-click advertising. While they share the goal of driving searchers to a website, you can’t expect the immediate results in SEO that paid search often produces. Likewise, approaching PPC with an SEO orientation misses opportunities. Read article…

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3 Immediate Blockchain Uses for Ecommerce Companies

Blockchain technology offers much potential for ecommerce businesses. Payments, supply chain, and decentralized marketplaces are the three main uses, currently. But many more applications are in the works. Read article…

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Building an Ecommerce Business, Part 15: Content Essentials

Content marketing for ecommerce businesses is much more than a sales pitch. Done well, it connects with prospective customers and tells the story of a brand. I’m the founder of Beardbrand, an ecommerce business in Austin, Texas that focuses on beard care and men’s grooming. Read article…

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The Bare Essentials for High-converting Ecommerce Sites

Driving traffic to your online store is one thing. Turning a decent percentage of visitors into buyers is another. A conversion-worthy website focuses on key elements that work together. Call them “essentials.” Read article…