Business Blog

Online Retail

5 Ways Business Owners Can Protect Their WordPress Site

5 Ways Business Owners Can Protect Their WordPress Site

Daniel Foster April 27, 2015 , , ,

An estimated 23% of all websites on the internet are now hosted on the WordPress (WP) platform. And with thousands of plug-ins and templates that make it easy to create a tailored website, WP is extremely appealing to businesses. However, its accessible and the fact that anyone is free to edit its code means that security risks can be high. Lack of training and application of security precautions amongst WP users means they are increasingly becoming vulnerable to threats. WordCamp London welcomed hundreds of WP professionals last month and I was amongst the attendees, and took the opportunity to chat to WordPress experts about how users can safeguard their sites. Check your business website’s coding Phil Wylie, WP developer at ecommerce specialist, iWeb, has come across a lot of premium Wo... »

5 Ways to Build a Strong Customer Base

5 Ways to Build a Strong Customer Base

Jillian Falconi April 14, 2015 , , ,

Customer endorsements and advocacy hold the key to future business growth. Research shows that the majority of a business’ revenue comes from just 20% of existing customers. This is good news for you as the probability of selling to an existing customer is around 60 to 70%, compared to just five to 20% for a new one – and therefore costing your business five times less than acquiring new customers too. So for most businesses, whilst growing your customer base is indisputably important, keeping your existing customers happy is arguably more so. Here’s fives ways business owners can solidify their firm’s customer retention strategy. 1. Showcase your customers’ happiness Businesses believe only a fraction of their customers leave because of poor customer service but in fact the figure i... »

How to Increase – Not Lose – Visitors when Updating Your Business Website

How to Increase – Not Lose – Visitors when Updating Your Business Website

Caroline Betts March 2, 2015 , ,

Redesigning a website is like buying a house: it’s exciting but it often leaves the owner desperately figuring out how to fit old stuff into a new space. In particular, progress you’ve made with keywords related to your business can be difficult to maintain from one iteration of your website to another: while changes to layout and architecture might improve how your website looks, they can also lead to a fall in your search engine rankings if you’re not careful. But it doesn’t have to be this way: the most common reason for plunging SEO value is that the overhauled website simply wasn’t built for it. Designers and developers want to concentrate on design and development; they are not expected to be well-versed in traffic, rankings, and analytics. But a few simple rules will help you mainta... »

How Understanding the Customer’s Journey Can Benefit Your Small Business

September 22, 2014 , ,

Carl Holmquist discusses why the customer journey is not what you think it is and how to maximise the effectiveness of your small business marketing. The future of marketing lies in the understanding of the customer journey. As consumers, we constantly engage with brands through various marketing channels, such as emails, display ads, paid search ads, social media, and direct website visits – but we don’t make purchasing decisions on all marketing channels. »

Why Businesses Need to Re-evaluate Consumers’ Online Path to Purchase

July 3, 2014 , , ,

It’s no secret that customers frequently go online to find services and then contact companies by phone before purchasing. When we are talking about the software tools used by online marketers however, what is a well-kept secret is that they all lack the capability of capturing this offline event in tracking user behaviour. The outcome is websites and marketing campaigns that are not designed for the customer, they are designed based on our tracking capabilities. »

Uniform Approach to Merchant Acquiring Legislation Jeopardises Small Businesses

June 19, 2013 , ,

By Phil Curtis, Managing Director, First Data Merchant Solutions With payment devices now ranging from touch screen point of sale systems to smartphone apps, coupled with the increasing number of customers that are ditching cash and opting for the ease of paying with plastic, the card payment market has risen dramatically in recent years. It has never been more important for businesses of all shapes and sizes to accept cashless payments, but as the marketplace grows, regulation becomes an issue. Consequently the Payment Services Directive (PSD) was devised by the European Commission in 2009 to provide a single regulatory regime for all payment services in the European Union for the first time. »

Keep Your Umbrellas Near the Door

April 30, 2013

By Ben Dyer, CEO of ecommerce software specialist, SellerDeck Picture the scene. You’re a small independent retailer with a shop on the high street. Outside, it starts raining heavily and you remember that you have a large stock of umbrellas in a bucket at the back of the shop. Any sensible shopkeeper in this instance would put a sign in the window advertising the availability of umbrellas and make sure he moved the items themselves to the front of the shop. This is the very basics of supply and demand; identifying trends and taking advantage of the situation. Running an online store is no different. »