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Woocomerce vs Shopify, which is the best E-commerce platform?

WooCommerce and Shopify are the two most common platforms in e-commerce, currently Woocomerce has approximately 1’000.000 downloaded online stores while the Shopify platform is used by about 800.000 users worldwide.

When an entrepreneur decides to create an online store, different factors about which is the best platform that fits his/her business model and needs need to be considered.

For instance, WooCommerce is an e-commerce plugin that helps to become a WordPress website into an online store. This platform is open source, which allows to be easily modified and also can be installed for free. However, users must pay for security and hosting.

Likewise, Shopify is dynamic, easy-to-use and a reliable platform with great design themes and templates. However, its premium versions and add-ons come at a cost. In the following analysis, I will show both platforms main features and advantages:

Themes and Flexibility.

Shopify has its own template store, which includes 180 designs both premium and free that are easily adaptable and customizable without the need to touch a line of code.

Similarly, Woocommerce templates are easy to tailor and modify thanks to its open source, functional structure and lightweight which allows the pages to look attractive and load quickly.

Ease of use.

Shopify is considered by UX/UI design experts as one of the easiest solutions available for online stores.

Shopify didactic installation instructions, guide users through a step by step process about all the necessary functions needed for each particular store, avoiding undesired technical coding details that could make its installation difficult.

Also, Woocommerce user friendly environment, allows a high degree of flexibility to create a versatile virtual store without coding skills needed for its installation.

Product presentation.

Both platforms offer easy options to upload images, add videos, create product descriptions, enlarge images and to add variations such as changing the color or size of the products.

However, as WooCommerce operates “inside” a personalized WordPress theme, some images or galleries may not work as well as in Shopify, which can create a negative user experience.

SEO Optimization.

Shopify automatically performs SEO optimization which can be ineffective in terms of improving the quality and quantity of the organic traffic because it displays some elements of the metadata such as article availability or user ratings which can lead to a loss of control over the SEO strategy.

Moreover, Shopify assign URLs to each page, avoiding users to choose the structure of the URLs and limiting accurate web page descriptions of strategic keywords.

Similarly, WooCommerce requires paid plugins such as MOZ or Yoast SEO to achieve optimal functionality and thus rank high in the search engine results page.

Finally, both platforms are the best ecommerce solutions for those who wish to create an online store because of their flexibility, diverse themes, price and ease of use.

Shopify vs Woocommerce

How big data makes Google and Facebook the most popular digital advertising platforms?

Google and Facebook are the top two advertisement platforms and leaders of the digital market landscape.

Moreover, both platforms offer the most detailed demographic and behavior targeting thanks to the amount of big data they have about their users, allowing them to convey very specific and accurate commercial messages. But let’s define first each Ad platform:

What is Google Ads?

Google is the world’s most popular and largest PPC advertising platform. Paid ads, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) ads, appear at the top of Google search results. They are labeled with the word “ad” to designate it as paid content.

The main Google Ads networks are:

Google Display Network
Google Play
Google Search Network
YouTube
Google Maps

What are Facebook ads?

Facebook is the largest social media platform for paid advertisement. Usually, Ads in this platform are labeled with the word “sponsored” to indicate the content is paid. The following are the networks where Facebook ads appear:

Instagram
Facebook
Messenger
Audience Network
Marketplace
News feed
Stories
Instant Articles
Suggested video
Right column
Instant Articles

What kind of big data Google and Facebook collect from their users?

Both advertisement platforms store large amounts of demographic data from their users such as their gender, age, hobbies, career, interests, relationship status and income.

Also, they collect technical information such as users’ location, when and how long they have been in a certain place, installed applications, when such applications are used, downloaded programs in users’ computers or mobile phones, users’ contacts, call history, access to webcams and microphones, emails, calendars, messages sent and received, downloaded files, played video games, shared photos and videos, comments and reactions left in such videos, the music they listen and store, their search and browsing history.

What Facebook and Google do with the big data they collect from their users?

With the big data collected from users, Google and Facebook organize and classify such large volume of data using multiple layers of algorithms. Then, it is analyzed by their systems to create customers’ profiles that help to develop very precise behavioral marketing and advertisement strategies.

Finally, the processed big data is offered to Google and Facebook customers, from retail and consumer brands to governments and politicians, who pay millions of dollars to show products or ideas to audiences who are willing to participate.

Facebook and Google data

Facebook new compelling advertisement formats.

Away from the traditional advertisement formats developed in the beginning, Facebook has created new compelling ad formats that are changing the social media marketing landscape and its impact in brands, customers and advertisers.

Facebook Instant Articles ads

When a brand is looking to promote different kinds of content using mobile as an ad placement, the Instant Article ads enables publishers to create fast-loading and interactive content through Facebook’s app.

Moreover, advertisers can choose to place different ads within articles that communicate relevant information about the different products or services they offer.

The two available formats for Instant Articles are video and image in can be placed both in Facebook and Instagram.

Facebook Instant Article ads Format

Banners and interstitial ads on Audience Network.

Audience Network is a way to extend publishers ads beyond Facebook and Instagram social media to website and mobile apps.

The banners, interstitial and native ads of Audience Network, allow advertisers to use relevant ad spaces in other digital media outside of the Facebook network.

Also, this ad format, helps Facebook publishers to increase their reach, lower their cost per result and use multiple platforms and devices.

Moreover, it allows publishers to exclude some digital spaces that can damage their brand reputation such as websites related to Gambling, Dating, Debatable social issues or where mature content is promoted.

Facebook Audience Network, works similar to Google Ads Display. The two advertisement formats used in Facebook Audience Network, are images and video.

Facebook Audience Network

Facebook Collection ads.

Collection ads are an immersive format that allows customers to explore and discovery different products in a unique visual browsing feature all in one ad placement.

Similarly, Collection Ads are available in Facebook and Instagram and they feature a main video or image together with four smaller images below in a grid-like arrangement.

If a customer taps on any of the images or the video of the collection ad to learn more about a product, he/she will immediately go to a visual post-click experience triggered by an Instant Experience or Canvas.

Facebook collection ads format

Facebook Marketplace ads.

Facebook Marketplace is a space similar to Kijiji or Craigslist where customers can browse and buy different products.

However, listing an item for sale does not necessary means it will sell immediately. As a result, Facebook has created a business tool to help businesses reach more customers through paid ads.

Facebook Marketplace ads promote relevant products and services on Facebook Marketplace.

Thus, customers interested a certain product or service can click to an app, a website, or view details of the product for more information.

Marketplace is available as a placement option only for certain campaign objectives such as Traffic, Reach, Catalog Sales, Conversions, and Video Views objectives.

Facebook marketplace ads

How to optimize a product page ranking in Amazon’s search engine?

To optimize a product page in Amazon ecommerce platform, sellers need to consider factors such as product relevance and performance. Improving the quality of those two elements, can help to increase the visibility and position of the page in Amazon’s search engine ranking.

Similarly, Amazon’s search engine technology is based on an algorithm called A9. that helps to determine the relevance, performance and position of a product page in the search results ranking.

Effectively executing the following strategies will help to optimize a product page in Amazon and to convert more leads into sales in accordance to A9 algorithm technology.

Which strategies can help a product page to a have better position in Amazon search engine?

Price optimization: Amazon’s A9 algorithm anticipates which products more likely will convert. Therefore, the price factor is crucial to decide where a product ranks in the search results. Usually, optimizing a product price helps merchants to rank on top in the search results.
Product description: A product clear and specific description positively impact the number of conversions and the ranking position. Descriptions emphasizing the benefits of the products, using bullet points, improve a product page position in Amazon’s search engine.
A/B test for images: Amazon has an A/B testing tool called Splitly designed to assess which image has the best impact on conversions. Consequently, Splitly optimize and improve product page ranking.
Titles: Amazon product pages require user-friendly titles that include product’s main keywords and relevant information about its main features.
Customer reviews: A9 algorithm classifies customer reviews by its quality helping to trigger higher conversion rates and better keyword relevance, especially for long-tail terms.
External traffic: Driving traffic from sources such as email marketing campaigns, social media product accounts or call to actions from the product websites help to improve the position in search engine, gain more relevance.

Amazon’s ecommerce success is based on the premise “the World’s most customer-centric company.” As a result, Amazon require sellers to create efficient product pages that meet A9 algorithm minimum requirements in order to rank high in its search engine.

How to optimize a product page in Amazon

position

What is Landing Page Optimization?

Landing page optimization is the strategic process of increasing the efficiency of a web page designed specifically to generate leads and sales in a digital marketing context.

Landing pages are the target destination of paid online marketing campaigns and usually large amounts of money are invested in driving traffic to these pages.

As a result, there are different methods to make landing pages more efficient and relevant for users, here are some of the most common optimization methods and characteristics:

Main features of a Landing Page Optimization strategy.

Relevance: Optimizing a landing page requires that the message you are delivering is synchronized with the expectations of your target public.

Features such as concise headlines, intuitive layout design, correlation between the ad copy and the landing page copy and visible and clear calls to action help in landing pages optimization process.

Brand unit: It is important that your target consumers find consistency among the brand landing pages and all the pages of the brand website.
Aspects such as images, colors, fonts and navigation help to build brand recognition and make the landing page more usable and optimized.

Texts clarity: Optimized landing pages need clear, captivating and impacting headlines. Moreover, the texts should avoid passive voice, unnecessary prepositions, redundant words and phrases.

Product/service value proposition: Brands need to showcase the advantages of their products over their competitors and highlight what make their products unique to address customers’ needs.
Also, brands must integrate the product value proposition in all the content (images and text) of the landing page.

SEO Strategy: Brands can bring organic traffic to a landing page with the right set of keywords, enhanced links and a precise meta-description that provide value to customers.

Landing page optimization helps not just to increase sales and generate leads but to learn more about targeted audiences, product and services preferences and to design clear strategies that better convey the right message.

Landing page optimization

4 Twitter best segmentation strategies.

When it comes to marketing segmentation, social media allows marketers to take a more detailed control of different audiences. Twitter segmentation strategies, give brands the mechanisms to target marketing budgets more efficiently while improving return on investment.

Moreover, Twitter user segmentation helps to convey ads to consumers in a broader context using multi-screen strategies in real time. Some of the unique Twitter segmentation tools are:

Twitter Segmentation by interests

This Twitter market segmentation feature allows brands to connect with people based on their preferences. For instance, brands can segment person’s interests in Twitter in a comprehensive range of topics from sports and beauty to subtopics such as college basketball or skin care.

Twitter Segmentation by followers

Brands can use Twitter to direct their marketing campaigns to users who follow particular brands @usernames or others similar to those @username followers. For example, brands can target @usernames of influencers who lead the voice of companies in Twitter and target specific messages to them.

Twitter Segmentation by keywords

Twitter keyword segmentation in chronology help to link brands with customers based on the keywords of their latest Tweets or those with whom they have interacted. Hence, search keyword segmentation allows brands to reach consumers who search for a certain phrase or term.

For instance, someone tweets that he/she needs caffeine: @CoffeeBarista, a famous coffee brand segmentation strategy use words like “caffeine”, “latte” and “pick me up”. Therefore, the user who tweeted that he/she needed caffeine could have that Promoted Tweet by @CoffeeBarista in his/her chronology.

Twitter television segmentation

Twitter is the digital mirror of television audiences’ favorite shows. For example, 85% of Twitter users go to the social network during primetime television shows and interact about their favorite programs.

Thus, with Twitter television segmentation, brands can lead certain audiences in relation to specific channels, or programs that fit the brand communications and marketing goals.

If a brand cannot buy advertising within a specific television program, they can reach the same audience on Twitter by creating detailed program content.

Moreover, television segmentation combined with Twitter segmentation strategies help to amplify the brand impact and to connect with viewers in real times. Similarly, brands can develop strategic integrations in relation to major sports events or sponsorships.

Twitter segmentation strategies support the creation and delivery of dynamic personalized content, such features can help Twitter to improve its financial performance and help the company to become a profitable enterprise.

Twitter Segmentation

What e-commerce technologies are redesigning the digital landscape?

Ecommerce technologies and online shopping only became a reality when the internet began in 1991. However, those ecommerce pioneers of the 1990’s did not survive the technological changes or did not adapt to the new dynamics of ecommerce.

Amazon.com can be considered one of the first ecommerce sites that has favorably adapted to the always evolving internet landscape until now. The following ecommerce technological developments and trends will influence the future of ecommerce, the way businesses adopt them will determine their success or failure:

Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning.

These two factors are creating a tremendous impact on ecommerce. Machine learning and its applications are improving user experience based on customers’ buyer behavior and previous data. It is helping ecommerce companies to understand customers’ preferences and choices. Similarly, Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning are helping businesses to predict what kind of products and services their customers prefer.

Ecommerce Mobile Apps

Trends and studies about ecommerce consumer behavior show that customers are buying more from mobile phone than from personal computers. As reported by SearchEngineLand, approximately 60% of Google’s total searches come from cellphones.

In the same way, Google is recommending ecommerce businesses to design their websites for mobiles and to design mobile apps as in 2018 consumers browse 286% more products on apps than mobile web.

Animation applied to ecommerce technologies.

Different technology developments are being adopted from the video games design industry and introduced to ecommerce sites. Motions are a key factor to design video games that help to attract players and give them helpful feedback. For instance, the design of video games take into account aspect like when players are doing well, what do they pay attention to and how they could improve.

Such aspects, help ecommerce websites and apps to discover how motion can be a signal of pleasure, personality, or urgency when buyers are interacting in a virtual store. Motion makes buying experiences feel more alive.

Finally, the abovementioned ecommerce technologies, will radically redesign the digital business landscape and make online shopping different and more enjoyable. However, choosing the right ecommerce technology for each specific business need, will improve the user experience and determine its success.

ecommerce technology trends

Virtual reality applied to digital marketing strategies.

One of the most prominent technological developments in the last decade are the devices and software that recreate “virtual worlds” or what is called virtual reality (VR) and its application to different digital marketing strategies.

Virtual Reality can be defined as a computer-generated, three-dimensional environment that is created with a mixture of interactive hardware and software in which users interact in a seemingly real or physical way. Moreover, a person using VR devices can “look and move around such artificial world and interplays with the virtual feature of that world”.

How to apply virtual reality technologies to different digital marketing strategies?

Companies can take advantage of some of the following features of virtual reality in order to improve customer experience, decision-making and relation with the brand.

Plausibility: In virtual reality environments, people experience a “different world”, believing they are in another reality. For example, Jaguar, the luxury car brand, created a brand positioning campaign called ‘Feel Wimbledon’. Jaguar’s strategy was to sponsor the Wimbledon tennis tournament working together with tennis player Andy Murray. The idea was to build an engagement experience where customers enter the body of Andy Murray as he wins a match point in a game. This strategy was promoted during the time of the tournament and increased the brand impressions amongst its customers.

Immersiveness: Is the attribute of virtual reality that makes any experience to be fully believable and interactive, as it engages both mind and body. For instance, Excedrin, the migraine medication company, developed a virtual reality-based symptom simulator to help users understand what the symptoms of migraine are. This kind of symptom-stimulating technology based on virtual reality can help to promote awareness about different diseases. Moreover, it can help to show how a medication or specific treatment provides symptom relief, which helps market the treatment/medication provider.

Explorability: Virtual reality gives customers the possibility to explore a big and detailed picture of such reality, creating at the same time multiple abstract perceptions. For instance, Oreo, the commercial brand of cookies, built an animated virtual world to promote its filled cupcake flavored cookies. The virtual experience recreated an animated world with milk rivers and chocolate canyons in which users interact and enjoy that world. This strategy, had over three million views and increased the brand voice in social networks.

The main point brands need to understand when implementing a strategy using virtual reality, is how this technology fits into their overall digital strategy. Moreover, brands need to consider what kind of digital experiences can make a difference to consumer decision-making process and how it can help to accelerate this decision.

Virtual Reality experience.[/caption

What are the benefits and disadvantages of the dropshipping business model.

Since the inception of e-commerce as a new way for entrepreneurs and customers to participate in online marketplaces, drop shipping became one of the most popular methods used by consumers to make their purchases.

Drop shipping is defined as a retail fulfillment method in which a merchant sells products without having a physical store or keeping a large inventory but still getting a wholesale price from a supplier. Moreover, when the merchant sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and ship it directly to the customer.

Although this online business model has been expanding exponentially in the last few years, there are some benefits and disadvantages entrepreneurs need to consider before starting a drop shipping business.

Benefits:

Low financial risks: Usually the drop shipping business model offers an inexpensive manner to procure inventory which is not possible otherwise. This makes it less risky than investing large amounts of money on acquiring inventory.
Fast Profitability: If the drop shipping business model is executed following an insightful online marketing strategy, it will convert well, yielding at the same time immediate profits.
Location flexibility: A drop shipping business can be operated from any location that has internet connection. Moreover, it can be run from anywhere as long as merchants can communicate with suppliers and customers.
Wider Product Selection: In the drop shipping model, merchants do not need to pre-purchase items for sell. As a result, they can offer a wide variety of products, increasing the availability of items when suppliers stock a new item at no additional cost.
Time and money saving: As merchants do not need to manage a warehouse, plan the shipping of products or manage stock levels, they can increase their profit margins and save management time.

Disadvantages:

Low Entry Barriers: As merchants don’t need large amounts of capital to start the business, more people want to enter to the drop shipping business which increases competition.
Low Margins: In the drop shipping business, most market niches are highly competitive. As a result, merchants try to drop prices in order to draw customers decreasing at the same time their revenue.
Inventory Issues: As merchants source their products from different warehouses, inventories might change daily, making it hard to synchronize merchants store inventory with the supplier inventory.
Supplier mistakes: Due to the large quantity of business suppliers handle, very often they make mistakes when sourcing to merchants such as missing items, wrong shipments and low-quality packing.

The drop shipping business model comes with several built-in complexities. However, a well-thought digital marketing strategy and a comprehensive business plan, can help merchants to develop a thriving, profitable drop shipping business.

drop shipping business model

How to design effective website homepages?

A homepage is the main page of a website, it is the point of entry that gives detailed information about the purpose of such page and to all the information contained within.

Additionally, It helps to navigate the site by displaying links to other pages and articles. In order to have an effective website homepage, designers must ask the following four questions to get the “big picture” of the purpose of the page.

What is this homepage for?
What do users have here?
What can users do here?
Why should users be here – and not somewhere else?

These four questions help webmasters to design effective homepages with a more user-centered approach. Moreover, they can help to create easy (self-explanatory), efficient, and enjoyable homepage interfaces.

How can designers convey the right message in a homepage?

Homepages need a tagline: It is a brief description of the whole site. It must be coherent and informative. Also, it should communicate differentiation and a clear benefit.
A welcome phrase: It is concise information about the site. It can be a two or three lines paragraph displayed prominently.
Perform a usability test: Usability tests help designers to understand users’ needs and expectations, identify navigation problems, and generate ideas for improvement. Moreover, it helps to evaluate the homepage user interface (UI), and to find out the best way to present information on such page.
Do not hide information that users want and need such as contact information or prices for example.
Do not ask information users don’t really want or need to provide.
Design with professional graphic standards.
Research in advance the main things users want to do on your homepage and make them easy.
Tell users what do they want to know when landing in your homepage.
Save steps to users in every single navigation process.
Make it easy for users to recover from errors.

How to design accesible and more effective homepages?

Include the proper alt text to all the images.
Forms in the homepage should work with screen readers (use the HTML ‘label’ element to associate the fields with their prompts).
All the content needs to be accessible by keyboard.
Use JavaScript just when necessary.

Homepage design wireframe.