Web Site Building & eCommerce Resources
We're constantly adding new resources we have found to be beneficial to our clients.
Bookmark this page so that you can return to if frequently and discover new resources.
Web Site Building and eCommerce Resources
We're adding resources here almost daily!
Be sure to return frequently to check for newly added resources.
Resources were last added to this page:
Saturday, June 28, 2008
We are currently building a much more robust resource center under our blog location: blog.WMSmerchantservices.com -- where we are posting more in-depth articles. Meanwhile, this page will continue to be a valuable resourse.
Basic Site Building Tutorials
While there is a plethora of software applications you can use to build a site without knowing any code at all, it is actually very helpful if you understand at least the basics of HTML and CSS. Here is a list of some good, free tutorials:
Developer Resources
For the more advanced crowd, here is a list of "go to" hot spots to get geeked out on:
Site Analysis Tools
Ok, you've built it and it looks good to you . . . but how does it look to others, including machines? Here is a list of analysis tools:
Bells and Whistles
Looking for gadgets and gizmos to add interactivity to your web pages? Here is a list of some popular places to find them:
Search Engine Optimization Tools
WMS will be taking up Search Engine Optimization in much more depth over the course of 2008. In the mean time, we do offer all core SEO services ( see: WMS SEO Services ).
-
Google's Webmaster Guidelines
When was the last time You reviewed Google's Webmaster Guidelines? They do add to and update their info regularly. It's important to review these guidelines once in a while..
-
WordTracker
FREE Trial!
People use different words when they search for your products online. Use these 'keywords' in your website copy and people will find your site when they search.
No matter what business you are in, Wordtracker will tell you the words people use when they search - and how popular each word is.
- MarketLeap's
Search Engine Saturation Tool
Learn how many of your pages are indexed in each of the different engines.
- MarketLeap's
Keyword Verification Tool
This verification tool checks to see if your site is in the top three pages of a search engine result for a specific keyword. It's important to be in the top 3 pages of a search result because most people using search engines don't go past the 3rd page.
-
GoodKeywords
Good Keywords is a Windows software for finding the best keywords for your web site pages. It also includes a link popularity finder that finds the number of sites that link to your site and a site popularity meter to measure your relative traffic.
-
Search Engine Positioning Tool
This utility can be used to check search engines (currently supporting Google, Yahoo and MSN) for search engine ranking and track those ranking historically, which as you probably know is critical when doing Internet marketing for your website(s).
-
GoLexa Search Tool
Golexa is a free SEO tool with Complete Page Analysis for each result it brings up. Quickly analyze your competition.
-
Keyword Density & Prominence Tool
-
LinksManager
Manage one way links, link exchange, and reciprocal links with the original, patented, editor-based link management application service. LinksManager's comprehensive, cost-effective and intuitive set of link building tools give you the power to organize and maintain links between your site and other sites.
-
Keyword Suggestion Tool
This is a handy little tool will show you the results of your query from both WordTracker and Overture for determining which phrases are searched most often.
-
Duplicate Content Checker
Avoid penalties for duplication content under different URLs -- a.k.a. "spamdexing"
Search Engines are known to penalize websites that contain Duplicate / too similar content. If your content is too similar to other web pages on the Internet, or pages on your own website are too similar to each other ( often the case with dynamically generated product catalog pages common with most all shopping cart applications ).
This tool allows you to determine the percentage of similarity between two pages. The exact percentage of similarity after with a search engine may penalize your pages is not known, it varies from search engine to search engine; however, you should do your best to keep your page similarity as LOW as possible, or at least below 50%.
-
Google Fight
At Google Fight, you can type in two competing key phrases and see which one is listed more often in the Google database.
Internet Marketing
-
The Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet
course
The #1 best-selling Internet Marketing course online for more than 7 years running, the "Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet" . . . .
Well . . .For many merchants -- especially those with online shopping cart stores, Derek Ghel's marketing strategies must be taken with a grain of salt, and a good dose of creativity to ingest his proven strategies and digest them for a shopping cart environment . . . . but have no fear, WMS is here, and working on a manual for just this vary thing. However, we don't expect a first draft until at least May . . . . so, you may want to jump in ahead of us.
-
Article Marketer
Reach thousands of editors and publishers all around the net. Build your business and get more traffic. Free Expert Review of Your Articles before they are submitted.
Email Marketing
One of the most effective ways to drive repeat business is to stay in touch with your customer based via email newsletters. Build a mailing list and "work it" efficiently and easily with these great services:
Or, if you prefer an alternative to subscription services, try Xigla Software's Absolute Newsletter.
Product Development
-
Generator Software’s eBook Generator
eBook Generator is a very useful piece of software created by Armand Morin’s company Generator Software. The software not only walks you through the steps to creating your very own eBook, but it compiles everything for you in a very professional finished product.
-
Generator Software’s PDF Generator
Need to create PDF documents -- white papers, catalogs, ebooks, etc. -- but don't want to shell out the big bucks for the full Adobe suite needed to produce them? No problem. Use Instant PDF Generator.
Instant PDF Generator is a piece of software produced by the team at Generator Software which creates PDF files compatible with Adobe Acrobat and other third party PDF tools. The major difference between this products and many of it’s competitors is it’s reasonable price and ease of use.
If you can use any word processor, such as MS Word, you can start creating PDF documents immediately.
Startup Capital
Frankly, most small internet businesses do not require much in the way of startup capital, but nonetheless you may find more capital is needed for either startup or expansion then your current cash on hand affords.
Not a problem; there are a couple of easy ways to get the capital you may require: Get a business line of credit through your bank, or borrow from a social network of lenders.
- Business Line of Credit
No matter how small your business, and even if you are a sole proprietor structure, you absolutely should have a business bank account with your favorite bank.
Once you have your business bank account, you should easily be able to secure a $10K - $20K+ "Business Line of Credit" from your bank IN ADDITION to a business credit card account from your bank.
-
Prosper.com
Prosper is an online community where people come together for lending and borrowing money. By bidding on loans, lenders get great returns by offering borrowers great rates-and that helps everybody.
http://www.prosper.com/loans/business/
-
LendingClub.com
Lending Club is a social lending network where you can borrow money at better rates because loans are being funded by other people like you, who don't have the administrative costs of banks.
http://www.lendingclub.com/info/borrow.action
Computer Configurations
If you are running a relatively small business, you really need to take some special precautions to keep your business data safe.
Larger businesses may have networks and backup systems in their office, but most smaller businesses tend to work from just one to a very small number of computers, often without an adequate system for protecting their data.
Read More
For small businesses operating with one to any number of un-networked computers, we seriously recommend that you keep your data separate from your Operating System and programs ( things typically residing on your C: drive - the main drive that runs your computer ) while keeping your data on another drive -- for most folks, an external hard drive is the simplest option.
There are several reasons that you should want to keep your data on a separate drive from your Operating System and your applications:
- The drive most likely to crash on an computer is its C: ( most likely to be your primary ) drive -- the drive running the Operating System and applications. This is because it is the most likely drive to become contaminated because of use and/or fragmented because of use. However, it is the easiest to recover from as a catastrophe here only requires a reinstallation of your applications.
- So, only use your primary drive to run your Operating System and your applications. Keep your data an a different drive.
- Keep more of what you earn:
- See our whitepaper (.pdf)
We know the ins-and-outs of shopping carts as well as how they perform in various server environments.
We have solutions for a merchant selling one product/service to solutions that provide virtually unlimited options.
Whether you are new at eCommerce or you are well experienced -- we have the solutions to meet your needs.
Web Merchant Services™ provides a complete range of graphic design services for eCommerce merchants and other small businesses
If you can imagine it, we can build itWe'll take your idea and make it real . . . Just tell us what you need to happen on your site.
Building your web presence is simple -- driving sales online requires experience and a wide variety of approaches. Let us juggle all of the options to funnel traffic through to your bottom line.
You have an online presence, and are marketing it well via natural and paid listings -- but is that enough to drive all of the traffic your business is worth?
WMS™ Provides 24/7 Support 365 days/yr.
Including:
- Phone Support 9 AM to 7 PM
- Email Support 9 AM to 10 PM
- Emergency Support 24/7 - 365
Our server monitoring systems will alert us within five minutes if there is any issue with our servers.
