PSPINC Official Company Blog

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. 117 “The Value of Teamwork”

May

26

At PSPINC, we work in teams. Over the years, it’s proven to be helpful in all business tasks. At the end of the day, everyone works together to get the job done. That includes processes from creating a new product or service to marketing it. For example, every new product or service we create must go through a launch checklist before we release it to the public. This ensures that it goes through multiple hands before we publicly release it to the market.

While PSPINC started as a one-man operation in 1987. But the company only became the success that it is today thanks to all our employees. At the start, PSPINC only developed and sold software to a few clients. Since then, the company’s evolved to include web design services and marketing solutions, all to tens of thousands of clients. And that only became possible by creating teams that each have a specific purpose and goal in mind. So, if you need any help with your business website, please don't hesitate to contact us.

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 #hosting #newsletter #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #team #teamwork #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webhosting #website

Upgrading to Google Analytics 4

May

24

If you’re a small business owner or a digital marketer, you’ve probably seen the top banner in Google Analytics telling you that Google Analytics will be phasing out Universal Analytics (UA). Additionally, it tells you to switch and set up Google Analytics 4. Simply put, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a new version of Google Analytics that uses machine learning. By mid-2021, users already started switching over to GA4, less than a year after Google first announced it in October 2020. In fact, 60% of marketing professionals already updated their Google Analytics account by May 2021 according to databox. And an additional 22.7% said they hadn’t done it yet but planned to.

So, why the switch? Other than Google phasing out UA by July 2023, GA4’s use of machine learning allows it to offer new and attractive features. It’s also important to note that GA4 doesn’t use historical data, i.e., all the data users have built up over the years. But it can use data it’s gathered over time, so switching over to GA4 sooner is better than later. That way, it’ll start accumulating data in the new system before the old one gets shut off. Plus, it means you won't be starting from scratch when setting it up after support for Universal Analytics ends. And GA4 will improve over time, resulting in more accurate results when using its new predictive modeling features.

Google Analytics 4 Features

someone pointing a pen towards a tablet with google analytics open

GA4 uses a more sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI), which allows it to provide better insights into understanding the data moving forward. And it uses historical evidence it’s gathered over time to predict future outcomes. But GA4’s use of machine learning is continually evolving so it’s likely that it’ll introduce more AI tools in the future. The hope is that GA4 will eventually allow marketers to identify which users are more likely to convert based on specific website interactions. Other additional features GA4 offers include funnel analysis, tree diagrams, overlapping audiences or segments, and many more.

For users with multiple Google Analytics properties, it can be difficult to track individuals across multiple properties. And if you’ve ever used Google Analytics in a high-traffic area, you’re probably all-too-familiar with the loading bar, which can take several minutes to load. Google has made the process much faster by redesigning it from the ground up instead of relying on what was a 10-year-old data mining process. Additionally, tracking visitors’ overall customer journey as they travel between multiple channels is much simpler with GA4’s “Information Streams” feature.

To switch, all you have to do is connect Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 in the admin panel. Or you can switch by replacing an embed code. If the embed code is particularly old and doesn't reference gtag.js in it, the code will have to be replaced.

If you need any help in switching over to Google Analytics 4, please don’t hesitate to 800-232-3989 or emailing 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.

#ai #analytics #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #crm #digitalmarketing #google #googleanalytics #googleanalytics4 #machinelearning #marketing #tech #technology #universalanalytics #update #web #webdevelopment #website #websites #webtools

Japanese Version of the DENREI App Now Available

May

18

Following last month’s release of the English version of our new DENREI app, we’re pleased to announce that a Japanese version is now available! With this new update, people in Japan can now try our app, DENREI.

With DENREI, users can only exchange messages with other DENREI members. Using the power of email, DENREI is the securest way to send and receive messages. We designed DENREI specifically to prevent the abundance of spam issues traditional email faces as well as non-delivery. Currently, the app is limited to iOS users, but it’s now available for our customers in Japan through the Japanese app store. Download the app and sign up for DENREI today.

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.

#app #appdevelopment #apple #blog #business #businesstools #denrei #ios #japan #japanese #mobile #pspinc #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #update #web #webdevelopment #websites

Announcement: Dreamersi Admin Panel Updates

May

18

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve updated our admin panel for our premiere web hosting service, Dreamersi! As a big thank you to our loyal customers, Dreamersi users will now see that their admin panel now includes a link to a special promotion. When you sign in to your account, you’ll now see a banner at the top for an exclusive opportunity to save more on one of our other online tools. Currently, our Dreamersi customers can save up to 45% on a new eCommerce site with one of our YourHost ShopSite plans:
dreamersi admin panel with promotional banner

dreamersi admin panel with promotional banner

Additionally, this new update also makes it easier to sign up for our other various online business tools. These products not only go well with our web hosting, but they’ll also make it easier to grow your business online.

#blog #business #businesstools #customerservice #dreamersi #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #shopsite #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #update #web #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #websitebuilder #websites #webtools #yourhost

Pass Wizard Mobile Updates

May

9

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve updated the mobile version of Pass Wizard. Since releasing in March, we’re grateful that many people have used it. Recently, we found that there are multiple mobile users, so we’ve made it easier for smartphone and tablet users to use Pass Wizard. We’ve since updated the registration process, making it easier for users to sign up.

Pass Wizard is a password management system designed and developed by PSPINC that allows you to store passwords securely. With the free account, you can store up to 30 passwords. If you upgrade to the paid Pro account, you can save an unlimited number of passwords and gain access to our group sharing features, which include sharing specific passwords with a group.

To safely protect your data, Pass Wizard uses a two-step verification (2FA) system via SMS, designed with ultra-high security and encryption technology. If you still haven’t signed up for Pass Wizard, please try the free plan first. We will continue to not only improve Pass Wizard’s easy functionality, but also its security measures. Pass Wizard is available on our website and is free to try.

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 #businesstools #cybersecurity #pacificsoftwarepublishing #passwordmanager #passwords #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #security #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #update #web #webdevelopment #website #webtools

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 113 “Dreamersi Customers Earn More”

Apr

28

Did you know that Dreamersi, comes with exclusive access to other PSPINC products? For example, Dreamersi customers also have WebdeXpress and InforMakers at their disposable. And they even get special discounts whenever we discount any of our products or services.

WebdeXpress (WDX) is PSPINC’s intuitive website builder and comes with all sorts of great features. WDX makes it easy for customers to design their website, with the option to use a pre-defined template or fully customize it with HTML and CSS. All it takes is one click to download WDX to get started building your website.

InforMakers is another additional tool that’s available for free for our Dreamersi customers. With it, users can easily create custom online forms. It’s usually priced at $8/month for everyone else, but to thank them for their loyalty, Dreamersi customers get it for free. It’s a great feature for businesses because it can be a way to generate more leads and collect data on their customers.

Dreamersi is our premiere web and email hosting service. We developed and designed it in-house, which means we have full control over the digital environment. That then makes it easier to create custom development for customers looking for website features that aren’t offered by other website builders. So, please consider hosting your website with Dreamersi.

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 #customersupport #dreamersi #hosting #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #seo #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #webdesign #webdevelopment #webdexpress #webhosting #website #webtools

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 112 “DENREI’s New Mobile App”

Apr

21

Last week, we announced that one of our online communities, DENREI, just launched a mobile app! We still have the browser version available, but we’ve created the app specifically to improve users’ experience. With the app, the sign-up and account set-up process is simpler, eliminating the need for an email client. It also comes with some additional features, making it easier to connect and converse with other members.

On the new DENREI app, users can easily send messages to their followers and read other community members’ broadcasts. DENREI was built for users looking to build and connect with unique and exclusive online communities.

For a full breakdown of some of the amazing features with DENREI’s new mobile app, please check out our announcement blog post.

So, download the free DENREI app today! Only available in the U.S on iOS.

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.

#app #apple #blog #business #community #denrei #email #ios #mobile #mobileapp #online #onlinecommunity #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment

DENREI – App Now Live!

Apr

14

We’re excited to share with you that our online community platform, DENREI, now has an app available to download for free in the app store for U.S users! We still have the desktop version available, but we specifically developed the app to improve usability for the user. With the app, users will no longer have to configure an email client. Instead, it’s already built into the app, making account set-up easier.

What is DENREI?

DENREI is our all-new social platform that uses email to leverage conversations with others, which offers the security and privacy that other platforms may not offer. The name, “denrei”, comes from the Japanese word for messenger. Using the power of email, DENREI allows users to build their own unique online communities and connect with like-minded users on your favorite topics.

What can you do with DENREI?

A Man Sitting Wearing Eyeglasses while Using His Mobile Phone

After signing up and verifying your email, you can start setting up your profile. All that’s needed is your name, language, a unique username, and some information about what kinds of content you’ll be broadcasting. There’s even an option to moderate your new followers by requiring your approval before allowing others to follow you. After that, you can:

• Compose messages to send out as broadcasts to your followers.

• Attach photos and documents to your broadcasts to provide additional forms of media to your followers.

• Search the DENREI community listing to find members that share your interests.

• Receive content from members you follow in your inbox.

• Review, reply, favorite, move, and delete messages within your inbox.

• Manage, organize, and archive your messages by creating sub-folders.

• Disable replies if you choose to use DENREI to share news rather than conversing.

How much does DENREI cost?

someone opening up their wallet and starting to pull out a five dollar bill

Absolutely nothing. DENREI, as well as its new mobile app, is completely free to use and download.

Benefits of using DENREI

a group of people in an office space talking, with two of them holding tablets

• Reliable message delivery: DENREI messages will always deliver to your members unlike traditional email, where content can get flagged as spam or leave things undelivered.

• Exclusivity: only DENREI members can send and receive messages from other DENREI members.

• Community: grow your personal and/or professional network by connecting with other members.

• Connection: discover new online communities to find other members whose interests align with your own.

So, download the free DENREI app today! Only available in the U.S. on iOS.

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.

#announcement #app #apple #blog #business #community #denrei #email #ios #mobile #mobileapp #online #onlinecommunity #pspinc #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 111 “10% Off All YourHost Plans”

Apr

14

YourHost is PSPINC’s hosting service that uses award-winning ShopSite tools to create easy and reliable e-commerce sites. This month, we’re running a promotion for customers to get 10% off on all our ShopSite plans.

Our YourHost page on the website now shows the discounted prices for each of our three plans and it will stay that way until the promotion ends at the end of the month. To get this deal, choose choose one of our three plans (Starter, Manager, or Pro) on the YourHost site. Then, enter the promo code, “SHOPSPRING10”, at checkout.

This promo code will only work until the end of this month, so get this deal while you can. For additional help on getting everything set up, we have an amazing support team who is always ready for your call.

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.