Tag Archives: online

ShoutCast / Icecast web radio – CastHost – Streaming Made Easy

Posted on April 26, 2019 by Hosting

If you are hunting for a provider for your online radio stream hosting then your search is over. We provide the good services at low afforda… | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1762256&goto=newpost Continue reading →

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Streaming Made Easy = ShoutCast * Icecast services at casthost

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Hosting

We’ve decided to make it simple for our clients to run their online radio channel. With our unmonitored bandwidth we offer superior radio st… | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1761056&goto=newpost Continue reading →

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The Benefits of a Digital Marketing Agency

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Hosting

Are you planning to take your online business to an elevated level? If yes, then make sure you have hired a suitable digital marketing agenc… | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1754815&goto=newpost Continue reading →

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How to Create Shipping Guidelines for Your Online Business in 5 Steps

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Hosting

The post How to Create Shipping Guidelines for Your Online Business in 5 Steps appeared first on HostGator Blog . Your new online store may have the coolest design, the greatest products, and the most reasonable prices, but does it have the one thing shoppers really want? We’re talking about a great shipping policy—one that gives your customers free options and fast options and provides delivery tracking—can seal the deal with today’s e-commerce customers. Here’s how to create shipping guidelines that can help your store compete.   1. Give Your Customers Multiple Shipping Options People are particular about shipping when they shop online, and they like to have choices. A 2018 international survey of e-commerce shoppers found that half have ditched an online shopping cart because they didn’t like the merchant’s shipping options . It’s a good idea to offer at least two options—a free option for people who aren’t in a rush, and a faster, paid option. Depending on what you sell, where your inventory is stored, and where your customers are, you may also be able to offer local same-day delivery through a third-party service. 2. Calculate Your Shipping Costs The most complex part of creating your shipping guidelines is comparing rates from different shippers and figuring out what shipping will cost, so dive in and get it done first. Your shipping costs will include not only the rates you pay to the carrier but also the cost of packing material and time spent handling and packing the orders, printing shipping labels, paper and ink for labels, etc. All these costs should be built into the shipping charges your customers pay or built into your product pricing if you’re offering free shipping. To keep your shipping-related costs as low as possible, spend some time with different carriers’ rate tables and package classes. See who offers free boxes and envelopes for flat-rate shipping. Compare the rates for those containers with what it would cost to provide your own packaging and pay based on weight. A lot depends on the weight of your products and how far they must go. You’ll also need to figure out the costs your customers will pay at checkout, and it’s almost mandatory to offer some sort of free shipping option, because shoppers expect it. “75 percent of consumers surveyed expect delivery to be free even on orders under $50 , up from 68 percent a year ago,” according to the National Retail Federation’s data. That doesn’t mean every customer wants free shipping every time, though. The same survey found that 35% of online shoppers are willing to pay more for faster, more convenient delivery options when they need them. Whatever you choose to offer, you don’t want to lose money through your shipping choices. Keep in mind that most carriers raise their rates at the beginning of each calendar year because demand is so high. That means you’ll need to review your shipping policy and product pricing each fall—those rate hike announcements usually appear during or just before the holiday season, so don’t miss them amid the holiday rush. 3. Set Up Shipping Security Best Practices If you offer same-day or next-day delivery, make sure your payment processor provides thorough screening for transaction fraud , especially if you sell expensive or rare but popular items. Faster shipping options are popular with scammers because they can sometimes get their merchandise before the bank or the merchant discovers their payment fraud and stops delivery. Always track your shipments, no matter how small. Why? If the item is lost, you’re out the purchase price, and if the customer charges back the purchase through their card issuer, you’ll also have to pay a chargeback fee to your payment processor , which can run anywhere from $20 to $100, depending on the size of the transaction. Tracking keeps your customers happy, cuts down on inquiries to customer service about deliveries, and gives you a way to prove your packages are delivered. Finally, work with a shipper who won’t re-route packages from your store without consulting you first . Scammers sometimes use an unsuspecting consumer’s card and delivery address data to make a purchase, and then call the shipper directly to have the item sent to their lair instead. The result for your store is a loss of merchandise, the value of the sale, and a chargeback fee. 4. Plan for Holiday Season Shipping Changes The holidays are the peak season for most retailers, and they’re crunch time for shipping carriers, too. Every e-commerce store owner needs to keep tabs on holiday season shipping surcharges and timetables to avoid getting stuck with unexpected shipping costs, delayed deliveries, and unhappy customers. Most carriers announce their peak surcharge rates at least several months in advance. You can search your carriers’ sites for surcharge information and use it to adjust your pricing and shipping deals during the holiday season. For example, UPS peak surcharges during the 2018 holiday season ranged from 27 to 99 cents per package, depending on shipping speed and date. If you’re planning a holiday special that cuts your profit margin on a popular item in order to sell more, make sure holiday shipping surcharges won’t push your deal into money-losing territory. Shipping windows and cutoff dates are important for store owners and shoppers alike. Once your shippers publish their cutoff dates for the season (the last dates by which you can ship an item for delivery by Christmas Day), you can add the time it takes to process and pack orders to come up with your store’s cutoff dates. Post them on each page of your site during the holiday shopping season. 5. Share Your Shipping Policy After you decide on your shipping policy, feature the basics on every page of your site along with a link to the fine print in plain English. Put it up high on the page so visitors don’t miss it. And if you have a special shipping deal, include that information, too. Nike does this by promoting its free-shipping offer in exchange for customers’ social media info and/or email address. “Free Shipping for Members. Want it faster? Upgrade for two-day or next-day delivery. Join now.” And just in case shoppers miss that message at the top of each page, Nike also includes a free-shipping dropdown info box on each product page. Set Up Shipping for Your Online Store You can create shipping policy notices on your store pages easily with Gator Website Builder’s drag and drop tools. Gator also gives you a choice of e-commerce templates, coupon tools, inventory management, and other features to help your store run smoothly. Be sure to add an SSL certificate to protect your store from hackers and data thieves, and to help your store do better in customers’ search results.   See how easy it is to get started with Gator now . Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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Why Your Online Store Needs Omnichannel Marketing

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Hosting

The post Why Your Online Store Needs Omnichannel Marketing appeared first on HostGator Blog . Your online store is up and running. You’ve got a blog, an email list, and social media accounts on the platforms where your ideal customers spend the most time. You’re marketing your store through lots of channels, but are you coordinating those efforts or missing opportunities? Omnichannel marketing can help you connect all your marketing pathways for better results. Here’s a primer on what omnichannel marketing is, how it can help you grow your business, and how to begin. What Is Omnichannel Marketing? Despite the “omni” in the name, omnichannel doesn’t (and shouldn’t) mean marketing in every channel in existence. And it’s not the same thing as multichannel marketing, which is—you guessed it—marketing in multiple channels. Instead, omnichannel marketing creates a single, holistic view of customer behavior by collecting and analyzing data across channels to create customized offers and consistent customer experiences in every channel where they encounter your business. For businesses, the benefits are more and better data for more effective promotions, more conversions, and a greater likelihood of attracting the kinds of shoppers who make more purchases. SAS found that consumers who shop in more than one channel spend “ three to four times more than single-channel customers do .”     Imagining Omnichannel Marketing Here’s a simple way to think of the omnichannel approach to building customer relationships. Let’s say the owner of your favorite restaurant knows your name, your favorite table, and your partner’s favorite dessert order. When you see her in your neighborhood, she always says hi and asks how you’re doing. That’s roughly analogous to an omnichannel customer experience—the restaurant owner always recognizes you and keeps up with how you’re doing and what you like, even when she’s not actively trying to sell you dinner. You’re probably going to dine at her place often and enjoy it. But what if she only sometimes gave you a warm welcome at the restaurant and didn’t recognize you at other times, or made it weird at the grocery store by telling you about her restaurant like you’d never been there? How likely would you be to dine at her restaurant again? That’s the kind of awkwardness and lost business that omnichannel marketing can help avoid. Think about how your marketing channels work together and where you can improve.   How Can You Make Your Marketing Omnichannel? The first step is to gather all your data in one place, or as few places as possible, so you can get a good view of how people find your store and shop there. Using the same payment service provider across all your sales channels—web, social media, in-store—can go a long way toward setting up your omnichannel marketing situation. That’s because payment providers (like Square) collect data you can use in your marketing efforts. This omnichannel sales data can help you get started by providing the same types of data in the same format so you can easily track customers’ purchase behaviors in each channel. It can also streamline your loyalty program so customers can earn and use points online and in-store if you have brick-and-mortar or pop-up locations. Once you’ve got your sales data centralized, check in on your web and social media analytics. Google Analytics is the best-known tool for website traffic analysis , and you can use it to analyze your email and social media data, too. To keep things simple, you can use a WordPress plugin like MonsterInsights to bring your Google Analytics data into your WP dashboard . You can also use the Google Analytics tracking code for your site in your marketing emails. For example, Constant Contact walks its users through the process of adding the code , checking links for known issues, and gathering data from email campaigns to see who’s opening your emails, what they click, and what they buy. Google Analytics can track your social media traffic, too. Neil Patel’s walkthrough of Google Analytics’ social media reports is filled with details you can apply to your omnichannel marketing program. Maybe the most important thing is that Google Analytics can report on conversions sorted by your goals. And it breaks down conversions into last-interaction and assisted categories, so you can see whether a particular visitor from social media to your site bought during that visit or later on. With all of this traffic data and your sales data, you’ll have a better map of how all your channels work together (or don’t yet) to bring customers to your social media channels, your email list, and your store, and what those customers do along the way. Then it’s time to start refining and testing your efforts so that the journey from potential customer to loyal customer is as easy as possible. For example, you can use your data to improve your customer segmentation for more highly targeted and specific email and social media campaigns. You can also use this data to create more effective retargeting ads —another way to ensure that your customers and site visitors see the things that interest them and make them want to return to your store.   The Omnichannel Marketing Takeaway Discussions about digital marketing and data analytics can get very detailed and technical. If you’re interested in going down that path, there’s a world of information online for you. If you’d rather keep things simple, here’s the takeaway: Omnichannel marketing uses data from all your channels to show you where your customers go and what they do so you can get to know them and keep up with them. Omnichannel marketing uses data from all your channels to make your customers feel recognized and welcome through personalized and targeted email, social media, and other campaigns. Omnichannel marketing tools that collect and analyze your data are inexpensive or free. With good data and and a carefully thought-out omnichannel approach, you can give your customers what they want, earn their loyalty, and grow your business. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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