SEO and SEM, Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing should be 2 subjects at the forefront of the mind when launching any kind of Ecommerce project. SEO forms the foundations of success but is not something that can be switched on like a light. It takes time to research and to put in place the elements required and then continued work to maintain position. However, without it, there will be no substantial traffic to the website.

SEM is very nearly something that can be ‘switched on’. Paid Placement with the likes of Google Adwords can generate traffic quickly and is often a great service to use while SEO work is taking place.

But writing the right Ads, testing which work and which don’t is essential but time consuming.

Use your competitors, look at their websites, try to analyse what they have done. Will it work for you? Look at the text they use, what they say, what their headings are? Where do they appear for the searches you want to appear for? Look at their Adwords Adverts, what words and phrases are they using and where are they appearing? Are they at the top of the right hand column, or in the light yellow box at the head of the natural listings?

Write it all down, you can put this info to very good use, and if you can't Ape Red Media can on your behalf!

Actinic are one of the UK’s longest running and best known Ecommerce solution providers. Their CMS Software which we design for is available in a number of levels to match the size and style of your business. They are called Actinic Catalogue, Actinic Business, Actinic Business plus and Actinic Enterprise.

Actinic have recently launched an Online version of their service again available at a number of levels.

Paypal is now one of the most commonly used methods of payment on the internet They transact millions of payments every day, log onto their home page and check it out. Don’t be surprised if you check in the evening to see the figure up in 3 millions!

Why do people use it? It’s easy and relatively cheap and quick, and in the internet world, cheap and quick are important terms!

Using Paypal as your payment service provider makes complete sense, customers don’t even need a Paypal account to use it.

So you think you want an online shop? Writing out a brief will help you see clearly what it is you’re after and will help a web design business like Ape Red Media, identify the size, functionality and content requirements that will help make your site a success.

If you need a guide to help you write a brief you’ll find one the testimonials page, click here