PSPINC Official Company Blog

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 123 “Turning Frustration Into a Successful Business”

Jul

7

When marketing your business, a lot of business advice tells you to stand out among your competitors. After all, you want to give potential customers a good reason to choose your product over another. Especially if there are numerous like-products already out there. One thing entrepreneurs might want to consider when developing products is finding a solution to something frustrating.

For example, have you ever tried to attach a file to an email only for it to say that your file’s too big? Every email provider has a file size limit. But for users who need to send over large files, it’s a frustrating experience. It’s why PSPINC created MegaMail, which allows us and users alike to send or transfer large files to anyone. If you’re frustrated about something, odds are other people feel the same way. If you can create a product that does it better than anything else on the market, you’ve got yourself a successful business.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #marketing #marketingdigital #newsletter #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web

How to Market Your E-Commerce Site

Jul

5

If your business sells online, a great e-commerce site isn’t the only thing you need to be successful. Like every sold offering, you also need to market your e-commerce site. After all, what good is an e-commerce site if no one knows about it? According to DataReportal, about 58.4% of internet users buy something online every week. And that figure will only continue rising. To reach those users, they need to know that you offer what they want or need. To do that, you’ll need to market your site effectively.

Optimize for Search Engines

a laptop open to google with a travel mug on the table

Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is a process that will help your site and your products come up on relevant searches. This process involves finding and optimizing your site for keywords related to your business and what you’re selling. And throughout the process, you’ll want to focus on making sure your site is mobile-friendly and doesn’t take too long to load. All this combined will give users a better overall shopping experience, encouraging them to purchase from you.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

letter tiles spelling out pay per click on a desk with a computer keyboard in the top left corner and an iphone in the bottom right corner

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising refers to a paid marketing strategy that helps increase your site’s overall exposure. Specifically to people actively interested or looking for what you have to offer. As the name suggests, you pay every time someone clicks on your ad. These ads refer to paid search, display, or shopping ads, all run on Google’s display network. And because of how popular Google is, you’re almost guaranteed brand awareness. However, you’ll need to use relevant keywords to reach the right people.

Email Marketing

the google, mail, and phone apps close up on an iphone

Another great tactic to promote your e-commerce site is email marketing. On your e-commerce site, you can add a pop-up form where visitors can opt-in with their emails. With this, you can send personalized emails to your customers and/or potential customers about upcoming sales and overall company news. And with email marketing tools like NewsMAIL, creating an effective email marketing campaign is easy. People who sign up for these emails send the message that they’re interested in what you have to offer, increasing the likelihood that they’ll convert into paying customers. You can also use this tactic to personalize offers depending on their interests, send surveys to learn more about your customers, and even recapture those who abandoned their cart.

Social Media Marketing

Then, there’s social media marketing, which can be helpful for all things business-related. Like all the other marketing tactics on this list, it will help increase your brand’s awareness. Plus, it'll encourage people to engage with your content. To better market your e-commerce website, your social media content should not only promote special deals but also spark conversation. And when users engage with your posts, reply to them to build that relationship with them. Over time, they'll convert them from social media spectators to potential customers.

Optimize for Conversions

The focus of an e-commerce business is to generate sales and earn conversions. But sometimes, you might not be converting as much as you’d like to. This is where conversion rate optimization (CRO) comes in. What this entails is making sure that the checkout process is as seamless as possible. The checkout process should be streamlined, with clear and actionable call-to-action (CTA) buttons and attractive visuals of your offerings.

Overall, an e-commerce business needs a good marketing strategy to be successful. But before you can do that, your e-commerce site needs to be in the best shape possible. Luckily, PSPINC has a stellar e-commerce hosting solution, YourHost. And our ShopSite plans are currently on sale for new customers. For the first two years, you can start your e-commerce site starting at just $15/month.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #conversions #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #emailmarketing #google #internet #marketing #marketingdigital #newsmail #ppc #seo #shopsite #smallbusiness #socialmediamarketing #technology #websites #yourhost

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 122 “Flexibility in Business”

Jun

30

Product ideas don’t come easy. But it’s important to remember that whatever idea you have will change as time goes on. And the same goes for your business plans. You may create something with a specific purpose, but customers could find an entirely different purpose. For example, did you know that bubble wrap was initially supposed to be intended as wallpaper? And when that didn’t work, engineer Al Fielding, and inventor Marc Chavannes tried to make it work as insulation for greenhouses. But that didn’t work either.

It was only until a marketer at Sealed Air, Frederick W. Bowers, found the perfect use for it three years later in 1959. At the time, IBM came out with a new computer. Bowers thought bubble wrap would keep it safe during transit. And he was right. If you’re unwilling to budge on your original idea, your product won’t be successful. As an entrepreneur, you need to listen to your customers to see where to improve. With a business, you don't need to plan everything. Innovation is messy. But perfection is overrated. As long as you’re constantly testing, learning, and improving, that’s all anyone can ask for.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #bubblewrap #business #businesstips #marketing #newsletter #pacificsoftwarepublishing #packaging #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sealedair #smallbusiness #wallpaper

Announcement: Dreamersi WebdeXpress Update

Jun

23

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve now updated the admin panel within WebdeXpress that encourages customers to switch over to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) from Universal Analytics (UA). Earlier this year, Google announced they’d phase out UA. Because of this, it’s recommended for website owners to switch to GA4 sooner rather than later. That way, users can start accumulating data as your historical data from UA won’t move over to the new system.

screenshot of the new google analytics panel in dreamersi webdexpress

In line with this, we updated the WebdeXpress admin panel, a website creation tool our hosting service provides. The new changes are as follows:
• Added GA4 as an option.
• A notice on the side encouraging UA users to switch over to GA4 if they haven’t already.

screenshot inside data streams settings in ga4

screenshot inside data streams settings in ga4

To switch over from UA to GA4, you’ll first need to open Google Analytics. Then, you’ll see GA Setup Assistant under the Property column. From there, it’ll give you instructions on how to set up your GA4 for your website. After that, you’ll want to find the tracking ID on your newly updated GA4 property. To do that, open your new GA4 property in Google Analytics and go into the admin settings. Then, click on Data Streams which you can find under the Property column. After that, click on the web data stream icon (looks like a white globe against a blue background). Once you do that, you’ll see the measurement ID in the far right with a G in front of it. To add it to the new admin panel update, copy and paste that code and put it in the Tracking ID input box.

How to configure settings in WebdeXpress:
1. Click on “Site Settings Management” on the WebdeXpress admin panel.
2. Click on “Basic Settings” and then “Google Analytics”.
3. Select “Google Analytics 4” from the “Analytics Version” drop-down menu.
4. Enter the measurement ID for your website in the form of "G-XXXXXXXXX" in the input form.
5. Click “Save” at the bottom of the page.

If you’re not a Dreamersi WebdeXpress customer but need to update your embed code to support GA4, we have an incredible support team who'd be happy to help. To contact our support team, you can call us at 800-232-3989 or email us at support@pspinc.com.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerservice #customersupport #dreamersi #googleanalytics #marketing #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #universalanlytics #update #web #webdevelopment #webdexpress #webhosting #website #webtools

PSPINC What's New Newsletter Vol. 121"An Elevator Pitch"

Jun

23

Have you heard of an elevator pitch? It’s the idea that if you got into an elevator with an investor, what would you say to try to sell to them? It should be short, concise, but still compelling enough to introduce yourself and showcase your expertise in a way that will convince the other person to invest in you. Like marketing yourself or whatever you’re trying to sell in a short amount of time. But what components do you need to make a good elevator pitch into a great one? You want to sell effectively, but you also want to stand out amongst others who are also trying to sell to this investor.

While every elevator pitch will undoubtedly be different, there are components you want to ensure you include. For example, say you’re trying to sell a specific product. The first and obvious thing you need is the name of that product. Then, informing them about what market category it fits in and who the target customer would be is also an important detail to add.

After that, the investor needs to know why a potential customer would need this product, at least one key benefit, what similar products already exist on the market and what makes it different than everything that's already on the market. While it seems like a lot to fit in a 90-second window, if you know your product well and truly believe in it, it’s easy. Making an elevator pitch go successfully can be tricky, but it relies on making sure you include the most crucial details. The rest is up to you.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #business #businesstips #digitalmarketing #elevatorpitch #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #pitch #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sales #salespitch #smallbusiness #tech #technology

PSPINC What's New Newsletter Vol. 120 "Cultivating Meaningful Business Relationships"

Jun

16

A vital part of maintaining a successful business is cultivating meaningful relationships. Loyalty from your customers is essential to build a truly sustainable brand. Sales transactions are great, but what you’re really looking for as a business owner are customers who continually come back. It shows people that your brand and the products you sell are reliable. And it’s a big reason why the most successful companies in the world are as successful as they are. When our customers call PSPINC, they know they aren’t just calling our company. They know exactly who to ask for because our support team is full of experts who know how to build that relationship with them.

But this doesn’t just go a long way toward potential customers. The business community is enormous so having solid connections within it is also important. Business relationships help establish your reputation in the business world. And the best part is that they can also foster long-term and even lifetime friendships with others. From that, beneficial partnerships can form and bring in new and repeat customers. Meaningful business relationships open the door to incredible opportunities for success. And it’s why we value it so highly at PSPINC.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #branding #business #businesstips #customerfeedback #customerservice #customersupport #digitalmarketing #marketing #networking #pacificsoftwarepublishing #partnerships #pspinc #relationships #smallbusiness #technology #whatsnewnewsletter

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 119 “ShopSite Plans on Sale for New Customers”

Jun

9

YourHost is PSPINC's easy and reliable e-commerce hosting solution. With the power of ShopSite, customers get resourceful e-commerce tools to help build and maintain your online store. We’re excited to announce that we’ve just reduced our price plans specifically for new customers! For the first two years, new YourHost ShopSite customers can start selling online with an impressive e-commerce site starting at just $15/month! After the first two years, standard rates will apply.

shopsite plans with pricing and features included in all 3 plans

shopsite plans with pricing and features included in all 3 plans

With our ShopSite plans, customers get incredible web hosting features! All ShopSite plan customers get access to our YourHost Neo web and email features, an SSL certificate, an initial setup by a trained technician, over 50 themes to choose from, over 25 payment methods, and U.S-based support from our team! Those who choose our Pro plan will also get many more features such as:

• Unlimited products
• Store search
• Real-time shipping rates
• Coupons
• Quantity pricing
• Cross-selling
• Product reviews
• Facebook store

This will be an ongoing promotion for new customers, and the new prices will be in effect for customers’ first two years on one of our YourHost ShopSite plans. Plans are billed monthly. Grow your online business by creating a stunning e-commerce site with one of our YourHost ShopSite plans.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #ecommerce #hosting #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sale #shopsite #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #websitebuilder #webtools #yourhost

What Makes a Great E-Commerce Site

Jun

7

For small businesses that sell online, a great e-commerce site is essential. While there’s still something to be said for brick-and-mortar stores, the ease of purchasing online is unmatched. And it’s only become more popular during the last few years as online shopping revenue grew by 20% in 2021 (according to Retail Insider). It’s also important to acknowledge that much of that website traffic comes from a mobile device. The number of people shopping online with a mobile device increased by more than double since 2018 according to a 2021 survey of global consumer insights. This only means that creating effective and user-friendly e-commerce sites is even more important today than ever.

While every e-commerce site builder is different, there are still a handful of features that every good e-commerce site needs. Without them, it’s unlikely that users will complete the entire purchase cycle. For a customer, these aren’t things they actively seek in an online shopping site. Rather, they’re what they expect to see. Without them, customers find it blatantly obvious and if it’s an important enough feature, they may find the site unreliable. So, here’s everything you need to create an exceptional e-commerce site.

Necessary Features

someone holding a phone open to an e-commerce site

First and foremost, making sure the interface is user-friendly is the most important aspect of any website. But even more so for a shopping site. What this entails is a simplistic as well as responsive navigation menu. Especially given that so many website visitors will be using a mobile device. Users expect to see categories with some subcategories, all of which should be clear as to what they mean. The last thing you want is to confuse your customers all because you wanted to use a more creative yet unhelpful category name. Your navigation bar should also include:

• A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page
• A Contact Us page
• A way for shoppers to view their cart, which not only incudes product names but also an image with it

Additionally, with it being a site where payment’s involved, the checkout process shouldn’t just be streamlined but also secure. The easiest way to ensure this is by purchasing an SSL certificate, which PSPINC offers in addition to our web hosting. Other vital security features include an address verification system (AVS) and a credit card verification value (CVV).

Regarding the purchase process, additional costs, shipping details, and return instructions should be clearly outlined before users check out. And they should have multiple payment options as well. While product pages should include images of the product itself, they must be high-quality images. And seeing products from different angle as well as how it works in action through multiple photos or even a video will make them more attractive to customers. Lastly, product descriptions shouldn’t just include physical attributes but also the benefits they can provide your customers.

Additional E-Commerce Features

a woman at her laptop while holding a credit card

From a marketing perspective, there are also some other features worth adding. If a product isn’t exactly what they’re looking for, they may want to find something similar. Putting recommendations makes it that much easier for customers. Plus, you can create targeted newsletters based on what customers looked at and/or bought previously. Allowing users to create a wish list of items they want but aren’t ready to purchase yet as well as a guest account option will also result in a better user experience.

A wish list persuades users to come back to purchase later while a guest account allows them to bypass the longer account registration process. There’s also the option of adding newsletter pop-ups or even in-browser notifications to encourage brand loyalty. Lastly, there’s the abandoned cart reminder. About 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned, according to Shopify. To take advantage of that statistic, creating a reminder that sends an email out afterward can be a way to get those users to come back. As popular as e-commerce sites are for businesses today, building them can be a hassle. Luckily, PSPINC has an easy and reliable e-commerce hosting solution, YourHost, to help build your e-commerce site.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #crm #customerservice #ecommerce #marketing #marketingdigital #mobile #onlinebusiness #onlineshopping #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #websitebuilder #yourhost

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 118 “What Problem Does Your Product Solve?”

Jun

2

Your business can make a hundred different products and still generate a meager number of sales. And there can be a variety of reasons why. But an important facet that you should consider when creating and marketing your product is this: what problem does it solve? Truly successful products give customers a solution to a glaring problem that your competitors haven’t figured out how to solve thus far. Take the invention of insulated water bottles, for example. For workers, these bottles keep their coffee warm on cold days. For hikers, it keeps their water cold throughout their entire trek.

But the measure of true success with insulated water bottles is the fact that many refer to them as a thermos. Would you be surprised to know that the term didn’t exist until the company, Thermos, came out with these insulated water bottles in 1904? It didn’t happen on purpose, but Thermos became synonymous with an insulated water bottle. Now, Thermos makes plenty of other products, namely other types of drinkware as well as food storage containers. But Thermos will forever be known for how they revolutionized the drinkware industry. So, if you want to be truly successful with your business, think about what kind of problem your products and services will solve for the customer. If you do, you might find yourself standing alongside successful brands like Thermos.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #brand #branding #business #businesstips #example #insulatedwaterbottles #insulation #marketing #problem #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #solution #success #technology #thermos #waterbottle #waterbottles

The Key to a Good Loyalty Program

May

31

Brand loyalty is what every company wants. While the main goal is to increase sales, it’s much easier and cheaper to get customers that continually come back. In fact, it’s five to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer when compared to retaining an existing one (according to Harvard Business Review). A loyalty program offers incentives (rewards) to build trust and increase customer retention.

From a business perspective, the goal of a loyalty program is to give loyal customers benefits that seem relatively high but don’t actually cost the company that much. In return, they hope the customer will spend on other products/services associated with the brand. But that’ll only happen if your company can build a successful loyalty program. In the end, it’ll be beneficial on both sides. It’ll promote the brand and encourages frequent and valuable transactions. And customers will be appreciative that the company’s rewarding them with exclusive discounts and offers for their loyalty. Like how our Dreamersi customers get InforMakers and WebdeXpress for free as well as exclusive discounts with their web and email hosting plans.

The Key to a Successful Loyalty Program

happy man holding two brown shopping bags

The most important thing to keep in mind when creating an effective loyalty program is the customer’s experience. The goal is to not only inspire and encourage loyalty but also create long-term customer engagement. While many marketing activities generally focus on the brand awareness and acquisition stages of the customer journey, relationship marketing focuses more on the post-purchase cycle. Namely, the customer’s satisfaction, loyalty, and evangelism levels. To do this, you’ll want to avoid the hard sale. Once customers opt-in for your loyalty program, you’re no longer trying to accomplish short-term goals like increasing customer acquisition and individual sales.

To do this effectively, you want to create positive moments that customers will not only remember but praise. Keep in mind that customers will remember the best and worst moments most. To give them the best experience possible, focus on boosting sensory appeal. And if you can find ways where your brand can go above and beyond customers’ expectations, even better. For the brand, it’ll also be important to identify where you can collect more customer data and discover ways to use it to meet (and possibly exceed) customers’ needs, desires, and goals. Transforming that data into meaningful experiences will also strengthen the relationship between the brand and the customer in the long run. All it takes after that is promoting it, which will be much easier if you’re providing true value to your loyal customers.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.