E-commerce Carts

Our ecommerce solution is trusted by thousands of successful business owners nationwide. Web-based administrator area and installation wizard make setup and maintenance of the shopping cart as easy as point and click.  No programming knowledge is required to run our ecommerce solution. Our shopping cart has no logical limitations on the number of products you can enter. Our cart is optimized for smooth performance with up to 20,000 products.

Below are some of the features our ecommerce solution has to offer:

• Wide range of ecommerce features
• Flexible “tableless” design
• Easy text content modification using WYSIWYG tools
• W3C XHTML 1.0 compliance
• SEO friendly product catalog
• Web-based administration
• On-line payment gateways support
• Real-time shipping cost estimation based on product dimensions
• Inventory management
• Full multilanguage support
• Reports management
• View Full Ecommerce Features

The Expanded World of Ecommerce

Ecommerce has thoroughly revolutionized the way commerce is conducted. The expansion of Ecommerce that coincided with the growth of the internet has made Ecommerce industries into multi-million dollar economic powerhouses. Part of the reason for this is that Ecommerce allows even the smallest, local company the ability to conduct business on a global scale. It is humorous, to a certain degree, when one realizes that Ecommerce is merely an updated version of the weird world of mail order purchasing that was en vogue in previous generations.

Remembering Old School Mail Order Purchases

Allow six to eight weeks for delivery. That is a lengthy amount of time to wait for a package. Then again, it is being shipped all the way from Battle Creek, MI. In fact, there will a million mail order products that were delivered from the mysterious, far off land known as Battle Creek, MI.

Comedian George Carlin once opined that there were no human beings living in Battle Creek, MI and that the area consisted of little more than a humungous amount of post office boxes that magically delivered products to all those strange people who enjoyed purchasing things through the mail. Yes, at one time in popular culture, it was considered “odd” to purchase things through the mail.

Conventional wisdom at the time seemingly wondered why people would send away for items in the mail that could be purchased in a store. Because of this, some of the most successful mail order items were also among the most bizarre items one could imagine (sea monkeys, anyone?) possible.

Web-based Control Panel

• Password-protected administrative access
• All changes are real-time
• Control the cart from anywhere in the world using your web browser
• Unlimited number of admin accounts
• Support for restricted “shipping/fulfillment” admin accounts
• User-defined date/time format
• Ability for administrator to act on behalf of other users (e.g. to place phone orders for customers and use X-Cart as web based point of sale system)

Design and Layout

• 100% template-based design with separate template sets for the storefront and back end
• Fully customizable CSS-based design & layout
• W3C XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliant code
• Intuitive navigation
• WYSIWYG editor for product/category/manufacturer descriptions, language variables and static pages
• Automated product thumbnails generation with a sharpness filter
• Category thumbnail images
• Side-bar “mini-cart” viewable at all pages
• Build-in template editor: preview, edit and restore templates
• WYSIWYG text editor (webmaster mode)
• Debug console: displays a tree of templates for all pages
• The possibility to find, create and modify static HTML pages
• Customizable heading tabs
• HTML emails

Product Catalog

• Unlimited number of products
• Unlimited number of categories
• Unlimited category nesting
• Products can be assigned to unlimited number of categories
• Ability to modify multiple products simultaneously
• Members-only categories
• “Featured Products” box
• Automated display of bestsellers
• Related products, up selling and cross selling
• 1-click enable/disable switch for products and categories
• Support for up to two different currencies in the products catalog (NOTE: payment processing is possible in one currency only!)
• Automatical currency conversion
• Configurable search by title, description, category, SKU, price and weight
• “Stop words filter” for product search facility (a special filter ensures that service and link words occurring in the search pattern are ignored when search by individual words is performed – available for English language only)

New York SEO

SEO can be defined as positioning your site for maximum search engine visibility. Maximum visibility can be reached through obtaining top rankings on search engines. Many people would be inclined to think that achieving top rankings on search engines is just about the creation and addition of meta tags, and the submission of your site to the major search engine indexes and directories.

But it’s a lot more than that. Internet directories are managed by Human Editors, while search engines depend on crawling “spider robots” as well as index pages, based on the specific engine’s algorithms.

SEO is a complex blend of variables comprised of research on keyword popularity, clear and easy navigation, marketplace research, website design, call-to-action, conversion ,measurement , metrics analysis and reporting. It is a procedure that makes one’s website content more search engine friendly, thereby pulling relevant traffic to your site via the major search engines and directories.

Our full range of services include search engine registration, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing, monitoring of search engine activity, screening of websites for search engine readiness, and intense search engine directory marketing campaigns for large corporations and small businesses alike.

• Keyword matching options
• The 80/20 Rule of Search
• How to avoid duplicate content
• SEO Glossary
• Google News & Ranking Stories
• Google Analytics Features
• 100 Google tips
• Yahoo Dropping Paid Inclusion Program at End of Year
• How A Small Company Becomes Big – Tips To Grow Your Retail Business
• Evolution of Search Engine Optimization

Commercial video production entails all aspects, from pre-production and scriptwriting, to providing actors, music, and graphics. When choosing a company to create your professional video, you’ll want to ensure that key factors will be focused on that will ultimately result in a video that best represents your company or message and meets your expectations.

Video Production

Commercial video production needs to focus on strategy, and how best to portray your company or product in a way that makes the consumer care and act. Creativity is also important, as your video must engage the consumer uniquely, so as not to appear similar to other commercial video, especially those produced by your competitors.

Ten Ways To Improve Video Production

Toronto wedding videographers are specialized in wedding video production, and here at Babylon Productions Wedding Center, we offer exceptional video production. We have listed below some keys to a proper video production:

Choose the Right Gear
Toronto video production video equipment becomes obsolete very quickly because of the constant advancements in technology. You don’t need the highest-end gear to shoot great wedding videos; the basics will do just fine. The basic equipment that you’ll need to shoot wedding videos includes a fluid head tripod, remote microphone system and an audio mixer. Oh, and a digital format camcorder, of course.

Back up your audio
Toronto video production audio for wedding videos can be touchy. Remote microphones may pick up some voices better than others and last minute glitches could prevent you from getting any audio at all. This is why many wedding videographers are investing in Sony Mini-Disc recorders to back up their audio. The recorder allows you to back-up your audio from the ceremony and the reception. The MD recorder is easily carried in the groom’s pocket, with a lavaliere microphone.

Understand LUX Ratings
Toronto video production understands LUX is a measurement of camera sensitivity that is important to consider when purchasing a video camera. Cameras with lower LUX ratings produce better video in low light situations than cameras with higher LUX ratings. For wedding videography, which most often takes place in low light situations; churches, synagogues, reception halls, it is necessary to use a camera with a low LUX rating. The more sensitive to light your video camera is, the better quality wedding shots you’ll get, and the more professional the finished wedding video will be.

Attend the rehearsal
Toronto video production knows that unless you can attend the wedding rehearsal, you probably shouldn’t book the job. Attending the rehearsal and planning ahead can easily avoid problems with lighting, microphone placement, and blocked views. The rehearsal also gives you another chance to consult with the bride and groom. Any last minute requests for their wedding video that they, or you, may have can be discussed before the wedding day rush is on.

Get “B-roll” coverage
Toronto video production “B-roll,” (which stands for “Before-Roll”) coverage is of critical importance to the professional quality of your wedding video production. To get B-roll footage, simply use a tripod to take exterior shots of the building in which the event will take place, stained glass or other architectural features, the food and flower arrangements and any other special touches you notice. In addition to these still shots, begin videotaping about 20 minutes before the wedding is to begin, in order to get shots of the guests being seated, and audio of the music played before the ceremony.

Test your audio
Toronto video production testing your audio before the ceremony is the best way to avoid common audio problems. To test your audio, make sure to arrive at the wedding location at least two hours early, in order to set up your equipment and check it out, and have time to fix any problems that you find. Another good tip is to monitor the audio with your headphones to be sure that it has a professional quality.
Concentrate on close-ups.

Toronto video production it is extremely important to get close-up shots at the wedding. Close-ups make your images look sharper and they allow you to capture emotion in your wedding video. Be sure to get close-up shots of the bride and groom, the wedding party, and the parents throughout the wedding and the reception, and use them frequently.

Anticipate and follow the action
Toronto video production in order to shoot a professional wedding video, you must anticipate and follow the action throughout the wedding, especially if you’re doing a one-camera shoot. You only get once chance to capture the action at a wedding ceremony, be prepared for whatever is coming. Talking to the couple and attending the rehearsal ceremony will help you to know what’s happening next, and your camera moves will be more fluid. Anticipating and following the action is key to shooting a professional wedding video.

Focus on capturing the event, not creating a special effects film
Toronto video production there are many opportunities and options for special effects when creating a wedding video. However, special effects such as slow motion, layering graphics, and editing backgrounds work well in wedding videos only to a point. It is very important to remember that shooting a wedding video is all about capturing an important event, not creating a video with the most special effects. Remember to keep your focus on the couple, the ceremony, and the emotion of the wedding, and use special effects wisely.

Finish the job on time
Toronto video production after you’ve shot the wedding ceremony and the reception, it’s time to produce the finished video. Make sure to allow at least a week of postproduction to finish the job on time. A week should give you time to transfer footage to your system, catch up with other possible clients, editing the ceremony, the reception, and the pre-and-post ceremonies, as well as transferring to tape or DVD and preparing the packaging. Remember that the MOST important part of post-production is delivering the finished video ON TIME. The married couple will be anxious to see their wedding video, and are depending on you to deliver it on the date and time that you promised. Your reputation, and your future clientele, depends on your ability to finish like a pro by producing a professional wedding video on time and on budget.

Toronto video production is an important component in producing Toronto wedding videos. Babylon Productions Wedding Center produces great wedding videos. Have a look at our website for sample videos.

Babylon Toronto Weddings Photography Dj Video Limo Services Wedding Photography & Video Productions Toronto we specialize in individually tailored Wedding Photography, Videos and DVD’s, offering an experienced, highly professional and affordable service.

Voice Over Recording

It is easy for the uninitiated to assume that voice over recording is a relatively simple process and not worthy of much thought, but it is exactly the opposite. A professional voice over recording requires not just a good voice, but a healthy dose of creativity, talent, and in many cases, voice training to ensure that each and every word is properly enunciated, and the proper timbre is reached for the desired effect.

A voice over artist understands all these factors and more, and must also possess a good technical understanding of how their voice is captured during the recording process. Knowledge and training is very important for both the voice over recording artist and the consumer that is requiring a voice over for a project.

A professional voice over recording is often a critical factor in the success of many projects. While each project might be unique, it is always important that the voice over recording is clear and commanding, easily capturing the attention of the audience and capable of exhibiting a wide range of emotions that best befits the mood and focus of the project.

Contact Voice Overs.

Mark Russak: Professional Voice Over Artist

Commercials:
Voice Over for television and radio commercials, advertisements and spots.

Television Promotion:
Voice services for television promotions and station identification.

Radio Imaging:
Radio station voice imaging or sweepers, liners, promotions and station identification.

Narration:
Audio books, corporate presentations, documentaries, CD rooms, training and tutorials for both corporate and industrial markets.

On Hold Voice Services:
For auto attendants, voice prompts, narration over music for “on hold” services, voice mail trees, answering machine broadcast messages or advertisements.

Character Voices and accents:
For film, television, animation and radio

NY Times Building

The New York Times says it will start charging for online content next year, dropping a big shoe in the debate over whether newspapers should — and can — get paid for something they’ve been giving away for free for years. Instead, it plans to offer a certain number of articles for free before charging a monthly price.

“This is a bet, to a certain degree, on where we think the web is going,” said Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. in an internal memo sent to employees. “This is not going to be something that is going to change the financial dynamics overnight.”

Speaking of those financial dynamics, the Times needs this plan to work — as does, arguably, the rest of the newspaper industry, which has been crushed by debt from financial restructuring, the recession, a weak ad market and intense competition from the same online medium this plan hopes to embrace. The Times‘ cash flow appears to be fine for the moment, although its new 52-story Manhattan high-rise and a stock price that lost about 75 percent of its value over the past five years surely pressured it to make the internet — quite literally– pay.

Google Traffic 2009

Americans conducted 14.7 billion core searches on the top five search engines in December 2009, an increase of 2% over November 2009, according to the latest qSearch data from comScore, Inc. Google searches accounted for nearly 66% of these queries.

Google Sites led the US search market pack in December with 65.7% of the searches conducted, virtually unchanged from 65.6% in November 2009. Google is followed by #2 Yahoo Sites (17.3%, down 0.2 points), and #3 Microsoft Sites (10.7%, up 0.4 points).

Ask Network captured 3.7% of the search market, followed by AOL LLC with 2.6%, comScore said.

Of the 14.7 billion December searches, Google Sites accounted for nearly 9.7 billion of them, followed by Yahoo Sites (2.5 billion), Microsoft Sites (1.6 billion), Ask Network (545 million) and AOL LLC (383 million).

Bing Moves in US Expanded Search Rankings

In the December analysis of the top properties where search activity is observed, Google Sites led the search market with more than 14.0 billion search queries, followed by Yahoo Sites with 2.6 billion queries and Microsoft Sites with 1.6 billion searches, comScore reported.

Bing experienced significant growth during the month with a 6% increase in query volume to nearly 1.4 billion searches. eBay and Amazon Sites experienced gains in December as retail search activity picked up during the holiday season.

• 

  Fundamentals of a Well-Built SAN

  HP LeftHand SANs use distributed, clustered technology to deliver all of the functionality …  MORE INFO

  

• 

  HP LeftHand P4000 SAN Solutions Family Data sheet

  Your storage needs are growing. You need a SAN (storage area network) for virtualized …  MORE INFO

  

• 

  Confidence in a downturn: Growing revenue fast on an HP BladeSystem and HP LeftHand P4000 SAN

  Deploying a VMware environment on HP ProLiant BL490c G6 Servers with HP Virtual …  MORE INFO

  

• 

  The Storage Paradigm Shift: Surviving the Data Explosion with Disk- and Tape-Based Data Protection

  As data volumes explode, issues around bandwidth and resource constraints, storage …  MORE INFO

  

• 

  Rethinking Virtualization Solutions with HP LeftHand P4000 SANs

  HP LeftHand P4000 SAN Solutions provide industries with storage that is optimized …  MORE INFO

  

• 

  Matching server virtualization with advanced storage virtualization

  In order to meet the challenges of running today’s data centers, an increasing number …  MORE INFO

  

Split testing is a conversion-tracking method that separates your message into two or more variations to see which gets the best response. Different visitors see different versions of the message and the results are tracked to determine the best return.

We wanted to learn more about conducting split tests (also known as A/B tests), and so we corresponded with Paras Chopra, founder of Wingify, a company that produces Visual Website Optimizer, a split-testing tool for ecommerce merchants and other web operators.

Chopra cited the example of a holiday A/B test conducted recently by MedaliaArt, an online art gallery specializing in Caribbean and Latin America art. “MedaliaArt put up a holiday sale where they offered 5 to 55 percent discounts on all paintings,” he said. “They wanted to determine the best location on the home page to put the message so as to optimize for bounce rate.”

The challenge for the company was to determine where to show the message. “Displaying it prominently on the home page will make more visitors notice it, but some visitors may find it too intrusive and leave the site immediately,” said Chopra. “On the other hand, putting it at a not-so-noticeable location may have no effect at all.”

An Example Split Test

For its split test, MedaliaArt created a couple of versions of its home page with “Holiday Sale” displayed at two different home page locations. One version represented what Chopra calls an “in-your-face ‘Holiday Sale’ message displayed in big, red font prominently on the homepage.”

“In-your-face” Holiday Sale message placement.

The second version was a sidebar “Holiday Sale” message in a smaller font.

Sidebar Holiday Sale message placement.

“Usually, split testing tools track conversion rates (percentage of visitors doing desired action). But, to track the bounce rate, MedaliaArt defined a click on any link on the home page as conversion. Thus the conversion rate of, for example, 40 percent corresponded to a 60 percent (100 percent less 40 percent) bounce rate.”

The first batch of conclusive results was available within two weeks.

“Clearly, the in-your-face, prominent promotional message has a dramatically lower bounce rate (60 percent) than the sidebar one (76 percent), said Chopra. “The reduction in the bounce rate of 21 percent is statistically significant (at 95 percent confidence level) so the in-your-face variation obviously represents a better version. The improvement in bounce rate means more interest by visitors in the paintings they are selling and potentially more sales.”

Without split testing the company could have never known the optimal position of its promotional message. And, fears that a prominently displayed promotional message might backlash by irritating visitors proved not to be an issue.

How To Improve A/B Test Results

Chopra had a suggestion for MedaliaArt (and other ecommerce merchants considering A/B testing). “Also include a variation without the ‘Holiday Sales’ messaging. If MedaliaArt had included such a variation, it would have provided a benchmark to see the effect of the sales message, irrespective of the position.”

Chopra said MedaliaArt could also have used different versions of text in addition to different home page positions. “Maybe a message with the word ‘discount’ (such as ‘55 percent discount on paintings this holiday season’) would have worked better than the default message (‘Holiday Sale’). And, optimizing for bounce rate is fine, but a better metric would have been to measure and optimize for sales, which is what really matters to an ecommerce site.”

Conclusion

Chopra said he believes split testing is the only way to really know what will work and what won’t. “It is essential to check assumptions related to promotional messages, checkout process, product category ordering, buy now button, and more.”

He suggested that merchants should be a little adventurous and test radically different home page designs and ideas. “You can always choose to include only a small percentage of traffic and can disable non-performing variations at a click of a button.”

by Kate Monteith

Few people ask the “What is Twitter?” question any longer. Oprah helped take care of that one. However, one that I am asked with great frequency is, “How do I use Twitter for business?”

At the outset let me say Twitter is an amazing application with manifold uses. Companies as large as Dell and Zappos have created business models around it. Small businesses, including ecommerce merchants, are also proving its case as a channel for sales.

In fact, a recent survey said that most users (89%) of Twitter agree that companies should engage their customers there. Over 80 percent indicated they also have a better impression of companies that use Twitter for customer service (81%).

Businesses are using Twitter to:

• Network with others in their industry or community
• Stay connected to customers and prospects
• Monitor what is being said about their company, products, services, industry and competition
• Gather valuable feedback about products or services
• Raise awareness about the company, product or service
• Find answers and get advice
• Offer proactive customer service
• Promote events, products and services
• Drive traffic to the company Web site or blog
• Incite word of mouth among customers and others
• Share helpful content such as articles or blog posts
• Generate leads

As you can see the list is extensive and limited only by your imagination. In fact, due to its amazing simplicity, Twitter can be used in just about any manner you see fit. It is malleable. You don’t have to adapt yourself to Twitter’s use. Instead, it adapts to you.

How to Start Using Twitter for Business

I’m going to begin by outlining a simple, workable marketing strategy that applies to any form of social media engagement, including Twitter. So simple, in fact, it consists of only three words: Listen, Follow and Engage.

Listen

You cannot become an effective social media marketer if you don’t first listen to what’s being said about you, your company, brand, service, industry and competition. Listening is the new marketing, but it’s not something we’re prone to do. Still, that’s where it begins.

Monitoring your online reputation is one of the most significant ways Twitter can be used for marketing purposes and one way do so is to use Twitter search. There are a number of applications suited to this purpose. Here are the two I use most often:

• Twitter’s own search engine
• Tweetbeep

Follow

The way you build your network in Twitter is by following others, then engaging them in conversation. But, whom should you follow?

Keeping in mind that Twitter is another marketing channel, go back to the basics and ask yourself the same questions you’d ask when considering any other form of marketing: “Who is my market?” “Who am I attempting to reach?” “What niche am I seeking to penetrate?”

• Think in terms of demographics and geography
• Follow those you already know
• Follow influentials
• Follow keyword users
• Follow hashtag users
• Follow those who follow you

For a more extensive list of tips on who to follow, see my blog post, Fifteen Twitter Follow Dos and Don’ts.

Engage

Google Rankings

Once you 1) see what people are saying relative to the keyword searches, 2) give yourself some time to gain perspective by reading other’s Tweets and 3) have started following a few folks, the next step is to jump into the Twitterstream and engage them in conversation. But, how do you go about doing so?

Years ago, my father took a rather direct approach at teaching me to swim. One summer’s day we boarded in our small boat and paddled out to the middle of the pond on our property. Dad grabbed me up, threw me in the water and stated matter-of-factly, “swim or drown.”

Looking back, I’m sure he would not have allowed the latter. At the time, however, I determined the best course of action was to make for the shore, which I did with all haste. And, guess what? In the process I learned to swim.

I’m a bit like dad when it comes to Twitter in that I think the best approach is to joining or starting conversations is “swim or drown.” Just jump in and start conversing.

OK, for the faint of heart, here are some “rules of engagement”:

• Respond to what others are saying by adding your two cents
• Provide information those in your target market would consider valuable
• Engage in casual conversation with your followers

One thing you don’t want to do is solicit business or “pitch” people. You know the type: “Thanks for the follow. Check out my blog at _.” It’s okay to let people know what you do, but Twitter is a medium for conversation, not solicitation. Include a link to your Web site in your Twitter bio. Those who have an interest will check you out.

Conclusion

Hopefully, that’s got you started down the path to using Twitter. If you’d like more information, I offer a free ebook (no registration required) which you can download here. You may also wish to check out my new book The Digital Handshake, which includes an entire chapter on the subject.

There are many other great books on the subject too. Check them out at Amazon or other bookseller.

Next time, we’ll talk more about how to use Twitter for business and discuss some of the rules of the road. In the meantime, feel free to comment on this post.

Comcast’s $30 billion acquisition of NBC | Universal, announced on December 2nd, has drawn interest from Washington regulators, concern from NBC employees, and speculation from bloggers about how the deal will affect others in the industry.

Here at Compete our first thought was “wow, that’s a lot of web traffic!” Looking at 54 leading web properties, such as Weather.com, Hulu.com, and Eonline.com* that are owned in whole or in part by NBC | Universal or Comcast we found that Comcast properties receive 30 million visitors each month while NBC domains host almost 44 million monthly visitors. A combined reach of 74 million web users would put this new behemoth ahead of AOL, MySpace, and Disney’s Go.com as one of the most trafficked companies on the internet. But, will this acquisition help Comcast reach a new audience, or is there a significant overlap in those that already visit both Comcast and NBC properties?

The chart below captures the overlap between the NBC and Comcast domains we examined.

What we found was that only 30% of current NBC web visitors also frequent Comcast properties. Comcast is adding over 30 million new web visitors with this acquisition, doubling its online audience reach.

This finding has a host of implications. Comcast can now sell advertisers on this increased reach in cross-channel marketing agreements, demand better ad rates from online marketers, offer special access on more sites to Comcast cable or internet subscribers, and the implications for net neutrality could be part of the imminent regulatory hearings on Capitol Hill.

While it will take considerable time and effort to get all of these different constituencies moving in unison, the opportunity to leverage this huge new online audience will not pass Comcast by. When this deal is completed, expect Comcast to exert its influence as an ISP and as a leading content provider.

*The complete list of sites includes – Comcast: Comcast.com, comcast.terra.com, comcastsportsnet.com, csnbayarea.com, csncalifornia.com, csnchicago.com, css-sports.com, csnne.com, web.sny.tv, csnphilly.com, themtn.tv, csnwashington.com, dailycandy.com, eonline.com, exercisetv.tv, fancast.com, fandango.com, fearnet.com, g4tv.com, thegolfchannel.com, golfnow.com, movies.com, sproutonline.com, plaxo.com, mystyle.com, tvoneonline.com, versus.com, and NBC | Universal: nbc.com, ivillage.com, neversaydiet.com, momtourage.com, astrology.com, gardenweb.com, petside.com, healthvideo.com, travelskoot.com, bravotv.com, televisionwithoutpity.com, syfy.com, cnbc.com, usanetwork.com, oxygen.com, universalsports.com, weather.com, hulu.com, msnbc.com, holamun2.com, universalhd.com, chillertv.com, sleuthchannel.com, accesshollywood.com, nbcsports.com, nbcolympics.com, telemundo.com (Source: www.nbcutransaction.com)

Written by Steve Schuler