You may want to have the Facebook like / recommend button on every page of your website. The standard code works great unless some of your pages are secure, using the https:// protocol. Ecommerce websites are the most common example.

This is an easy fix for domains, such as Facebook that support SSL. To avoid browsers SSL warnings that create high anxiety for your website visitors, don’t specify the transport protocol.

In plain English: instead of using http:// or https:// in the code that Facebook gives you, use // instead.

While on LinkedIn recently I saw a question about increasing sales on an ecommerce website. I wanted to share my response as I think it is one of the keys to figuring out how to sell more online.

Here is the question:

We have a website that sells art prints, sculpture and photography, but have only sold one piece. Any ideas? We already had a company help with keywords, still only one sale…

Now most of the responses fell into the technical realm. From traffic, process, stats, SEO, to order processing. I believe you have to take a step back and look at things such as positioning and niche target market.

Here is my response:

All these comments are good but most are on the technical side, I’ve found most Ecom issues have to do with positioning and reaching the target market–not traffic.

First step would be to find one niche that you can dominate in. Create unique positioning for that product line and focus on reaching the core influencers within that niche.

Let’s say you pick sculpture… take a look as a consumer of these items and see what they see. Search with the SE’s, real time search engines (like SocialMention.com), and social media.

Once you have a deep understanding of this then focus like a laser on reaching this core audience in a unique and engaging way. Might be via social media, might be with forums, targeted ad buys, or increased search engine optimization. The key is focus and positioning.

Position your product line in a completely different and engaging way compared to the competition. Introduce personality and uniqueness.

Integrating Social media in Ecommerce Report (PDF)

Social media undoubtedly has a presence in eCommerce. If you spent any amount of time in social media you will find that conversations around brands, companies, and services happen all the time.

New research indicates that more than 75% of consumers trust peer recommendations of products and services, while less than 15% trust paid advertising. The opportunity to tap into this trusted form of communication to market your e-commerce business is huge, so it’s important to think beyond your immediate network and find creative ways to encourage fans to spread the message about your business.

One important aspect of integrating social media into eCommerce is giving your customer or potential customer the ability to easily share your products. We recommend the below services for all eCommerce driven websites:

• Integrate Facebook Like button into each product page and category
• Provide easy way for someone to share via email
• Integrate Twitter share
• Integrate Facebook share button
• If your target market is younger integrate MySpace
• Integrate social bookmarking sites such as De.Lecious.us

While integrating social media with your e-commerce presence may be free, it may still come at a price: your valuable time. Maintaining multiple online presences, pages and feeds can be extremely time consuming. Fortunately, with the right e-commerce platform, you can easily integrate—and automate—these efforts to save time.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Social media has made your average user sophisticated enough to know the difference between “customer care” and PR. Corporations that try to confuse the two could confuse customers, and potentially suffer even more in the long run.
Customer service isn’t a silo; it requires excellence across multiple channels and still excludes non-social media consumers. (Shayon, 2010)

Some American companies that have been early adopters in the space have witnessed measurable benefits. One such case is Frank Eliason’s turnaround at Comcast. Another example is at the end of FY 2009-2010, Dell’s ‘chief blogger’ Lionel Menchaca announced that Dell is not only servicing customers through social media but made revenues of the tune of $6.5 million, double the preceding year. (Nandi, 2010).

If you are considering building an eCommerce website one element of your plan should include how you will provide customer relations within social media.

Special Report

We’ve put together a special report on the social media and eCommerce. You can find the report and a quick video presentation here at eCommerce Social Media Web Design.