Location: USA, CA
Remote: yes
Willing to relocate: yes
Technologies: python , r ,sql
Résumé/CV:https://github.com/yuelinzhou/resume
Email:yuelin666@gmail.com
Just graduated this year with an Statistics major from UC Berkeley, I’m looking for data analyst role within California.
A/B testing is crucial to developing a robust digital marketing strategy. However, not all tests result in valuable data.
What do you do if a variation you thought would rock ends up flopping? Or what if your test results are inconclusive?
Don’t throw in the towel just yet!
There’s a ton you can do with inconclusive or losing A/B testing data. We’re going to cover how to put that information to good use—but first, let’s cover why A/B testing matters in digital marketing.
Why A/B Testing Is Crucial to Digital Marketing Success
A/B testing helps marketers understand the impact of optimization methods. For example, it can show how changing an ad headline impacts conversions or whether using questions in titles drives more traffic.
A/B testing provides hard data to back up your optimization techniques. This allows marketers to make better business decisions because they aren’t just guessing at what drives ROI. Instead, they’re making decisions based on how specific changes impact traffic, sales, and ROI.
How Do I Know If I Have a Losing or Inconclusive A/B Test?
After running an A/B test, you’ll see the results in your own data dashboard (such as Google Analytics) or in the testing tool you use.
Optimizely, a popular A/B testing platform, provides data in an experiment results page, which tracks each variation, number of visitors, how many people completed a specific action, revenue, and other metrics.
The example above shows variation number one had fewer visitors but drove 5 percent more revenue, making it a clear winner.
Other times, the numbers might be much closer. An inconclusive test might mean the numbers are less than a percent off, or neither variation got any traffic at all.
When your tests don’t have enough data or if the numbers are too close, they are considered inconclusive or statistically insignificant.
Then, use these tips to make the most of your data.
6 Ways to Leverage Data From Losing or Inconclusive A/B Testing
You’ve run your A/B tests and are excited to get the results. Then, something unexpected happens: The variation you expected to win performs worse! Or you find the variations don’t actually impact the metrics you are tracking at all.
Now what? Don’t assume your test failed. There are plenty of steps you can take to leverage that data.
Try Something Really Different
Inconclusive test results could mean your variations are too close. A/B testing can help you see if a small change (like using red versus green buttons) impacts conversions, but sometimes those tiny tweaks don’t have much impact at all.
Remember that you may need to run the test with several similar variations to see what caused the change.
Rather than getting discouraged, consider it an opportunity to try something totally different. For example, change the page layout, add a different image or take one away, or completely revamp your ad, asset, or CTA.
Analyze Different Traffic Segments
So, your A/B test came back with almost identical results. Does that mean nothing changed? Maybe not. Rather than looking at all the data, try segmenting the audience to see if different people responded differently.
For example, you might compare data for:
new versus returning customers
buyers versus prospects
specific pages visited
devices used
demographic variations
locations or languages
Overall, your test might be inconclusive. However, you might find specific segments of your audience respond better to certain formats, colors, or wording.
Conversions matter, but they aren’t everything. You might have hidden data in your losing test results.
For example, you might find conversions were low, but visitors clicked to view your blog or stayed on the page longer.
Sure, you may rather have sales. However, if visitors are going to read your blog it means you’ve connected with them somehow. How can you use that information to improve the buying process?
Say you run two variations of an ad. If one variation drives massive traffic, and 30 percent of visitors from that variation convert, this could mean more revenue. Obviously the winner, right?
Not necessarily. Take a glance at your “losing” ad to see if it drove less traffic but had higher conversions, for instance. If you’d only been looking at traffic and outright revenue, you might not have noticed the second ad works better statistically, if not in rough numbers.
Now, you can dig into the data to find out why it drove less traffic and use that to improve your next set of ads.
Remove Junk Data
Sometimes tests are inconclusive not because your variations were terrible or your testing was flawed, but because there’s a bunch of junk data skewing your results. Getting rid of junk data can help you see trends more clearly and drill down to find crucial trends.
Here are a few ways to clean up junk data so you can get a clearer understanding of your results:
Get rid of bot traffic.
If you have access to IP addresses, remove any from your company IP address.
Also, make sure to double-check tracking tools you use, such as URL parameters, work correctly. Failure to properly track testing can skew the results. Then, verify that sign-up forms, links, and anything else that could affect your data are in working order.
Look for Biases and Get Rid of Them
Biases are external factors impacting the results of your test.
For example, suppose you wanted to survey your audience, but the link only worked on a desktop computer. In that case, you’d have a sample bias, as only people with a desktop will respond. No mobile users allowed.
The same biases can impact A/B tests. While you can’t get rid of them entirely, you can analyze data to minimize their impact.
Start by looking for factors that could have impacted your test. For example:
Did you run a promotion?
Was it during a traditionally busy or slow season in your industry?
Did a competitor’s launch impact your tests?
Then, look for ways to separate your results from those impacts. If you can’t figure out what went wrong, try rerunning the test.
Also, take a look at how your test was run. For example, did you randomize who saw which versions? Was one version mobile-optimized while the other wasn’t? While you can’t correct these issues with the current data set, you can improve your next A/B test.
Run Your A/B Tests Again
A/B testing is not a one-and-done test. The goal of A/B testing is to continuously improve your site’s performance, ads, or content. The only way to constantly improve is to continually test.
Once you’ve completed one test and determined a winner (or determined there was no winner!), it’s time to test again. Try to avoid testing multiple changes simultaneously (called multivariate testing), as this makes it hard to see which change impacted your results.
Instead, run changes one at a time. For example, you might run one A/B test to find the best headline, another to find the best image, and a third to find the best offer.
Losing and Inconclusive A/B Testing: Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve covered what to do when you have losing or inconclusive A/B testing results, but you might still have questions. Here are answers to the most commonly asked questions about A/B testing.
What is A/B testing?
A/B testing shows different visitors different versions of the same online asset, such as an ad, social media post, website banner, hero image, landing page, or CTA button. The goal is to better understand which version results in more conversions, ROI, sales, or other metrics important to your business.
What does an inconclusive A/B test mean?
It can mean several things. For example, it might mean you don’t have enough data, your test didn’t run long enough, your variations were too similar, or you need to look at the data more closely.
What is the purpose of an A/B test?
The purpose of an A/B test is to see which version of an ad, website, content, landing page, or other digital asset performs better than another. Digital marketers use A/B testing to optimize their digital marketing strategies.
Are A/B tests better than multivariate tests?
One is not better than the other because A/B and multivariate tests serve different purposes. A/B tests are used to test small changes, such as the color of a CTA button or a subheading. Meanwhile, multivariate tests compare multiple variables and provide information about how the changes interact with each other.
For example, you might use multivariate testing to see if changing the entire layout of a landing page impacts conversions and which changes impact conversion the most.
What are the best A/B testing tools?
There are a wide range of testing tools based on your needs and the platform you use. Google offers a free A/B testing tool called Google Optimize. Paid A/B tools include Optimizely, VWO, Adobe Target, and AB Tasty.
You may also be able to run A/B tests using WordPress plugins, your website platform, or marketing tools like HubSpot.
A/B testing shows different visitors different versions of the same online asset, such as an ad, social media post, website banner, hero image, landing page, or CTA button. The goal is to better understand which version results in more conversions, ROI, sales, or other metrics important to your business.
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The purpose of an A/B test is to see which version of an ad, website, content, landing page, or other digital asset performs better than another. Digital marketers use A/B testing to optimize their digital marketing strategies.
One is not better than the other because A/B and multivariate tests serve different purposes. A/B tests are used to test small changes, such as the color of a CTA button or a subheading. Meanwhile, multivariate tests compare multiple variables and provide information about how the changes interact with each other.
For example, you might use multivariate testing to see if changing the entire layout of a landing page impacts conversions and which changes impact conversion the most.
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Conclusion: Make the Most of Losing or Inconclusive A/B Testing
A/B testing is crucial to the success of your online marketing strategy. Whether you focus on SEO, social media, content marketing, or paid ads, you need A/B testing to understand which strategies drive results.
Every A/B test is valuable—whether your new variation wins, loses, or is inconclusive, there is important data in every test result. The steps above will help you better understand your A/B testing results so you can make changes with confidence.
Have you used losing or inconclusive A/B testing before? What insights have you gathered?
Content Llama | Web or full stack developer | Remote, EU preferred
I need a great web developer and a full stack developer to join the product engineering team of 8 in Content Llama. We take the diverse product information and photos provided by brands and make it amazing and easy to use for online retailers. We’re doing that by building powerful user interfaces for human curators, and assisting them with machine learning and automation.
We’re a scaling start-up, with funding and customers. Our product roadmap is huge so you’ll be able to find a challenge that interests you. We don’t have a 24/7 service so we don’t have the on call requirements of many tech companies.
Tech stack is React+Redux, Spring Boot, and MariaDB on Azure, but experience with those isn’t necessary. Location is Dublin, Ireland, but our team is distributed between Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Ukraine so remote is certainly possible.
Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.
Do you want to build a website? Luckily for you and the tens of thousands of online businesses out there, a digital website builder makes it easy to create professional sites that function beautifully in no time.
The best part? There are many free website builder options.
Website builders make it possible to create a responsive site optimized for SEO without having to invest a ton of money or time, which is perfect for small businesses.
But you have to learn what features to look for first.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the best free website builders on the market today, as well as which one can build the best site in your niche—whether you’re selling painted rocks, are a freelance writer, or want to bootstrap a dropshipping business.
The Top 4 Options For The Best Free Website Builders:
WordPress – The best for blogging and content creation
Site123– The best for quick and easy landing pages
How to Choose The Best Free Website Builder For You
What is your site’s end goal? That’s the first and most important question you want to ask yourself when choosing a site builder.
Do you want to start a blog to share your extensive knowledge and thought leadership with the world?
Do you have a graphic design portfolio you want to show off to gain more freelance clients? Are you a non-profit that needs to display annual achievements and your mission statement?
When creating your site with a free website builder, your end goal will determine what capabilities you need. Once you have your site’s end goal in mind, here are additional criteria to narrow down your choices.
Design Capabilities
If you’re a freelancer, a designer, or a photographer wanting to create an online portfolio, consider the design capabilities of each builder.
Customization: How deep do their personalization and customization features go?
Templates: Do they provide eye-catching site templates you can use, so you don’t have to start from scratch?
Media storage: Does your site builder give you a lot of image storage space? Depending on how big your site will be, this is a key question if you want to keep things free.
When thinking about how to present your portfolio or brand, this is the site builder criteria you most want to pay attention to.
Learning Curve
How fast do you need your website built? This determines how much time you’re willing to spend learning the ins and outs of your website builder.
Intuitive design: Some builders are pretty intuitive to learn, while others might have a larger learning curve.
Ease of use: Do you want a drag and drop builder to make building and configuring your site easier? Or do you prefer writing in HTML and coding the site yourself?
Tutorials and technical support: Do they have a robust support options where you can find answers or get a timely response from the company?
If you’re pressed for time and want something built fast, you might not want to pick a hefty builder with lots of capabilities to learn. A more straightforward drag-and-drop builder can get the job done faster and easier.
Long-Term Options
As your business grows, your website will inevitably need to grow with it. Your site needs are going to change over time. When choosing your site builder, it’s a good idea to look into what their paid features include and if they fit the bill in terms of what your site might need as it grows.
These can be things like:
Additional hosting capacity: Once traffic to your site hits a certain threshold, you’ll likely need to purchase additional hosting to sustain your traffic growth.
Additional plugins and design features: If there is ever a need for additional plugins and features, does the free builder provide that?
Personalized support: Once you hit a wall creating your own site, do they have sufficient support to help you take things to the next level with CSS and HTML modifications?
Type of Website
What type of website do you need to build? As mentioned, determining your site’s end goal and working backward can help you answer that.
To give you a better idea, the internet is generally made up of five kinds of websites:
Blog: Are you going to continually publish content that informs, entertains, or inspires a particular audience?
Portfolio: Are you showcasing your work to sell your services to potential clients?
E-commerce site: Are you selling products or services with an online storefront?
Small business/organization site: Are you rounding out your brand with a public mission statement or publishing general public business information for the world to access?
Online application: While this is technically a website with more complexity, it’s beyond a free builder’s scope since it would need serious developer chops to build well.
For most businesses, the type of site you need is a pretty basic question. But an important one to answer.
For example, most site builders have blogging capabilities, but this shouldn’t be the only thing you base your decision on. Once you’ve figured out which type of website you need to build, then we can move on to learning about the different kinds of site builders on the market.
The Different Types of Free Website Builders
Now, there’s a slew of free site builders out there, and they tend to fall into three general groups.
Basic Website Builders
I’ve yet to come across one good reason not to build a website for your business. Non-profit organizations, informational sites, and even public speakers with a personal brand can all benefit from creating a professional website found by anyone online.
Basic web builders tend to have multiple functionalities. They don’t cater to one specific category. For example, suppose you’re looking to set up a portfolio site that’s low maintenance and simple, with a general contact form, a home page, a portfolio page, and an about page. In that case, a general website builder can be a great option.
E-commerce Platforms
Are you currently selling products in a physical location? You’ll want to go with a website builder specifically made for e-commerce. Today, it isn’t enough to display your goods on a physical storefront. You need a digital storefront, too. Or maybe you want to open an e-commerce site without a physical storefront. E-commerce website builders make it easy to do that.
As an e-commerce business, you want capabilities that let you list products, accept multiple types of payments, categorize goods, and allow you to track backend inventory in real-time.
Blogging and Content Creation
The web isn’t much without content. And if you want your site found by your audience, you want to make sure to use a website builder made to enable that end goal.
If you’re a thought leader, want to build your online brand, be an aspiring blogger, or create a community around a service or product, then a website builder geared for content generation is your best bet.
You’ll be better off in the long-term as your business grows, and you won’t run into the problems you’d have if you choose a web builder meant for e-commerce.
#1 – Wix — The Best For E-commerce Sites
If you’re looking for a free website builder that does everything a real-life store manager would do and then some, Wix makes that a reality.
The thought of building an online store can be paralyzing. But once you create a Wix e-commerce site, you have access to perks like real-time tax calculations and adding several payment channels that you wouldn’t have with a builder geared toward content or portfolios.
As a product seller, Wix helps you create beautifully designed storefronts with a selection of over 800 pre-built themes and templates ready to personalize at the click of a mouse.
There’s no doubt e-commerce businesses are in good hands with Wix. It is a builder that goes out of its way to advertise themselves as such, instead of being a jack-of-all-trades. Still, as with every site builder, there can be some drawbacks. For example, if you ever want to move your site to another provider, you can’t do that with Wix’s builder because of how it’s configured. You’ll have to completely recreate it on a new platform.
Some of their e-commerce features designed to drive sales are:
Sales and customer behavior analytics
Displaying prices in international currencies
Easily creating subscriptions and discount coupons for customers
Integration with all social channels for greater visibility
Automated email marketing and abandoned cart recovery
Let’s face it. You might not need a free site builder with all the bells and whistles. And that’s okay. That’s why Weebly exists. It’s the best site builder for general sites that need to do their job well.
It’s perfect for information businesses, non-profits, small portfolios, mission statements, or landing pages. This is because they make it easy to bring your site together with a no-nonsense dashboard and with options like built-in image editors and professional design options that let you create video backgrounds.
As a general site, you don’t want to deal with the technical stuff like SSL certification, encryption, and often costly third-party domain shopping. Weebly integrates takes care of all that for you right on their platform.
One of their best features as a site builder is that you have the option to fully customize their HTML and CSS if you choose to do so. While it might not be something you need right away, it’s nice to know you have that capability as a future option. Weebly is built for site design with a more structured approach. If you’re looking for a builder with a bit more design flexibility and freedom, this might be a downside.
Their best site builder features include:
Easy-to-use dashboard
Drag-and-drop site builder
Additional integrations like payments and product search with upgrade
Integrated analytics that kills the need for additional plugin installation
#3 – WordPress — The Best For Blogging And Content Creation
If I had to introduce WordPress to you, I’d say that it’s the top contender for blogging and content creation.
Thankfully they provide a free site builder to get you started (in addition to paid options).
For years, bloggers and companies like Disney, Dropbox, Spotify, and NBC have leveraged WordPress.com’s powerful site-building features to build audiences, expand their brand, and drive sales worldwide.
If you’re looking to blog, share your knowledge with the world, or create loads of content around your business, you’ll want to start with their free site builder. It’s designed to be straightforward and easy to use without any confusing and unnecessary features. This way, you can get started creating and publishing your content in record time. To help you if you get stuck, they provide free webinars that walk you through creating your site step by step.
Their free site builder’s biggest downside is that you might grow out of its limited blogging toolbox. But if you want paid access to fully customize your site in the future, WordPress makes it easy to upgrade without the technical hassle.
Some of the WordPress site builder’s best content creation features include:
Optimized for search engine results
24/7 live chat and support
Free subdomain that you can upgrade later to a custom domain
Free hosting without having to use a third party
Large selection of free themes to choose from and customize designed for sharing and creating content
Sign up with WordPress and start building your website for free.
#4 – Site123 — The Best For Quick And Easy Landing Pages
Easy and quick are the two best words to describe Site123. With its no-brainer features, it’s the best site builder for simple sites that don’t need many internal pages.
In other words, it’s great for landing pages.
Your business might not need a blog, robust e-commerce features, or top-notch design capabilities, but it’s still in need of a place online it can call home.
Site123 helps you check that off your list by being the most no-nonsense site builder possible. You can avoid frustration and a big learning curve with Site123’s optimally designed web building process, especially if it’s your first time building a site.
Their best landing page buildeing features include:
Free speedy hosting
Built-in media gallery with free professional icons and video
Compatible with third-party plugins
Beautiful pre-made landing page templates so you don’t start from scratch
If you ever plan on finding investors, partners, or employees for your e-commerce startup, you’ll need to know how to create a business plan. A lot of people make this process out to be more complicated than it needs to be. When you do it right, creating a business plan doesn’t have to be so difficult.
In this guide, I’m breaking down step-by-step everything you need to know about creating a powerful e-commerce business plan.
What is an E-Commerce Business Plan?
Have you ever thought about something you wanted to accomplish in your business? You’d likely jot down a few lines discussing strategies, costs, and methods behind the steps you would take to achieve those goals.
If you’ve ever done that, you’ve created a basic business plan, and there isn’t too much more to it than that. An e-commerce business plan is a strategy for how your business will work, how you’ll fund it, who your audience will be, and how you plan to succeed.
Understanding how to create a business plan is key. It requires research, understanding your audience, budgeting, and more.
The overall key to writing a business plan is to create something comprehensive enough, so you never have to wonder what step is coming next. As you navigate the sometimes challenging process of starting an e-commerce business, don’t leave anything to chance.
When you’re struggling or having a hard time envisioning the next step, you don’t have to worry because your business plan thoroughly outlines everything you’re going to do, when you’ll do it, and how much it’ll cost.
Another aspect of business plan writing is looking for investors or partners. You need to pitch your e-commerce business in a way that is easy to understand. Investors aren’t going to jump aboard something that lacks vision or appears unorganized.
Having a thorough business plan that gets straight to the point will show investors that you know what you’re doing and you have a concrete strategy for success.
How is an E-Commerce Business Plan Different From Other Kinds?
The way e-commerce businesses reach their customers is much different. At a brick and mortar store, for example, foot or vehicle traffic will contribute to a lot of free advertising for the business.
E-commerce stores, on the other hand, can very easily get buried in the SERPs, never to be seen by anyone if you don’t know how to get the word out. You need to keep these types of things in mind when putting together your business plan.
As for research and development of your business plan, standard businesses need to factor in local licenses, ordinances, building codes, and other factors that may influence where and how they can conduct business.
Luckily, e-commerce doesn’t have to worry as much about that, but it doesn’t mean you can ignore it either. It’s your responsibility to understand any restrictions or requirements that may prevent you from sourcing and selling your products.
Why E-Commerce Business Plans Are Important
Understanding how to create a business plan means nothing if you can’t see the importance behind it. While I believe there are more important aspects of starting a successful business, every e-commerce venture should have a stable foundation, beginning with a business plan.
Business Plan = GPS
You’re the driver of this business, but you’ll end up going in circles, wasting time and money, if you don’t know where you’re going. Having a solid business plan guides you through the steps of starting and growing a business. Think of the plan as the GPS of your business. If you ever get lost, you can fall back on your original plan.
It Helps You Generate Ideas
This process is much easier than it seems. It might seem like this looming dark cloud of horror, but once you dive in, the juices will start flowing, and you’ll find out that you probably have a lot of great ideas. This may be the first project of your new venture, so business plan templates and how-to guides can help.
It Can Help You Understand the Market
Getting your audience right is the most important aspect of an e-commerce business. If you’re trying to reach everyone, you’ll reach no one. A big part of your business plan needs to be the development of a customer avatar. This avatar is your perfect customer. They’re the ones that buy everything you sell because they love you and your brand.
It Helps with Funding
Whether you’re looking for funding or business partners, you’ll need a business plan. Having a strong strategy shows investors that you’re confident in what you’re doing, you understand the business, and investing with you is a smart choice for them.
It’s a Great Way to Keep Track of Accomplishments
What better way to look back and see everything you’ve dreamed of come to life? You can map out the next few years in a business plan and look back as everything comes together, and keep track of everything you’ve accomplished. A business plan acts as a “to-do” list for your new venture.
What Does an E-Commerce Business Plan Look Like?
If you’re wondering what a business plan should include, it might look a little different than you originally thought. The days of massive 15-page business plans are over; you don’t need a super complicated plan to find investors and sell your products.
Lean business plans are growing in popularity. This e-commerce business plan involves a one-page “pitch” of your business. You’ll document the problem you’re solving, your unique solution, your market, the competition, your team, and a little information about your company culture.
Part 1: Executive Summary
Think of an Executive Summary as an overview of your company’s goals and objectives. If you had to hand someone a piece of paper explaining as much about your business in 250 words or less, what would you say?
It should include information such as:
A description of your products and what you sell
Your goals as an e-commerce provider
Identifying your target audience
Explanation of your competition and how you stack up
Overall growth potential
Funding requirements
While you’re not going in-depth in any one area here, this is the most important aspect of the business plan because it’s your overview. When people think of your e-commerce brand, this is what they’ll think.
Part 2: Description of the Company
Who are you, what is your experience, and why should you have the right to sell products to other people?
The company’s description is a lot less about what you want it to “be like” and more of what “you’re like.” You’re pitching yourself, your experience, and your ability here.
A great business example here might be:
In this description, we covered what we’re selling and provide the credentials of the owner, which will create confidence in potential investors and partners.
Step 3: Market and Industry Research
If you don’t understand your audience or the industry you’re working in, you’re doomed. Researching the market is critical, and there’s a big difference between standard business and e-commerce here.
When you’re researching the market for a retail store, you’re very limited in who your audience is, so it’s a bit more cut and dry.
As for e-commerce, the world is your audience, but you need to narrow it down to a specific demographic to cater to your products and marketing to those people.
Ask questions like:
What problems do my customers have?
How can I solve these problems?
What products solve those problems?
When do people shop for these products?
How often do they purchase them?
Step 4: Operations Plans
Forget learning how to create a business plan; we all go into business to profit, right? Having an operations plan helps ensure you remain profitable by keeping all your costs in line. This section of the business plan discusses managing, staffing, preparing products, fulfilling orders, inventory management, customer service, and more.
This part is where you get to start outlining what a typical day will look like in your business. How will it run, how will people convert, and how will you fulfill those orders?
Start thinking about things such as:
What equipment and supplies do I need?
What is the chain of command; who is in charge?
Do I need to develop products, or am I reselling others?
What are my staffing needs?
Will my operations change or remain the same as I grow?
Make sure you keep your industry, market, and target audience in mind as you prepare your operations plan. You don’t want to venture off in the wrong direction as you dive deeper into it.
Step 5: Marketing Plans
It’s a no-brainer that you’ll have to market your business if you want to have success, but you need a plan. In e-commerce, you have a few different options, and the choices you make will determine a lot.
You need to highlight the methods you plan on using so partners and investors can see that you have a clear path to success. Some of your choices may be:
PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
SEO/Content Marketing
Guest Posting
Social Media
I recommend using a combination of all of these because they each have upsides and downsides. For example, SEO is a relatively low cost to get started, but it takes time, and if you don’t possess the knowledge yourself, you’ll have to hire an agency to do it for you.
PPC can be costly if you don’t know what you’re doing, but the results can come quickly because you’re leapfrogging over a lot of the competition.
Regardless of what marketing methods you choose for your e-commerce business plan, you need to highlight them and explain how you plan to use them.
Step 6: Costs and Revenue Predictions
Now you need to wrap up your business plan and put a nice bow on top. Based on everything you’ve included so far in your business plan, what are your costs versus your revenue? Keep in mind that first-year revenues aren’t always extravagant, but you need the potential to gain more revenue in the future.
As long as investors and partners see that you have the growth potential, they won’t worry too much about first-year losses. The goal should be to keep your costs as low as possible and your revenue as high as possible (makes sense, right?).
Predict the total cost of operation in your business in the first year or two and include that in the plan. Then, anticipate the revenue prediction as well and include that.
If you’ve followed everything in this guide, there should be a clear path that brings you to those numbers. You should know how much everything will cost to get started and operate the business for a year.
Based on your market and what your competition is doing, that’s where you get your first-year revenue predictions.
Make it transparent and keep it simple.
What Do I Do With an E-Commerce Business Plan?
Now that you know how to create a business plan, what are your next steps? What do you plan to do with the business plan? Most people will use their business plan to find investors, partners, and employees when they’re getting started.
If you’re thinking about pitching to investors, you’ll want to choose carefully because not all investors are the right choice for you. Even if someone is willing to give you what you ask, they might not be the right fit, and taking their money will lead you down the wrong path.
First, you want to look at an investor’s expertise. When they have experience in a certain area, it makes it easier for them to understand your potential, and they can offer guidance to help you succeed.
Second, in what stage is your business? Different investors specialize in different stages. Some invest in pre-seed, while others won’t even hear your pitch until you have revenue.
Third, how much do you think you need? What you think you need and what you need are two different things.
Lastly, how do you plan on involving your investors? Some investors will back you financially and offer nothing more, while others will demand consistent financial updates and reports while offering guidance and assistance. You need to determine how involved you want your investor to be in your operations.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to create a business plan, the rest is up to you. Remember that gathering information and understanding something is important, but it’s nothing if you don’t implement what you learn. Take the steps outlined in this guide and put them to work.
If this seems a little daunting, we have plenty of resources to help you. Your business plan doesn’t need to be this elaborate essay; you can complete it in a day with the right strategy.
What do you think is the most important part of creating a solid business plan?
Salarybox | New Delhi, India | Onsite | Full time | Sr Backend Engineer
At Salarybox, we are helping 170M+ blue-collar workers avail Salary Advance & other financial services. The founders are financial industry & tech startup veterans; having worked at several Fintech & Enterprise SaaS startups, including YC backed startups after studying at IIT Roorkee & Carnegie Mellon.
We are looking for Senior Backend Engineers with at least 3 years experience. You will be an integral part of building the backend architecture and developing core systems as our first backend hire. Furthermore, you’ll get a front-row seat to the entire startup ecosystem – ranging from fundraising to partnerships to exit strategies.
Looking for experts in Python / Node.js; experience with databases (MongoDB, Redis etc.); good understanding of platforms (Docker, Google Cloud, Azure etc.) & a basic understanding of Dev Ops.
If you are interested in working with us, send your resume to peeyush [at] salarybox [dot] in.
Location: Florida
Remote: Yes, preferred
Willing to relocate: Yes
Technologies: 3D CAD/CAM, Model Maker, UX design, Non-coder
Résumé/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephmdwyer/
Email: (message me via linkedin)
Researchers at Womply analyzed 200,000 small businesses in every state, looking at a few dozen industries.
They found that businesses with more than 82 total reviews earn 54 percent more money. It isn’t just about getting reviews either. Businesses achieved moderate to large jumps in revenue from the simplest tasks. Claim your profile on at least four review sites? You earn 58 percent more revenue. Businesses that reply to their reviews 25 percent of the time earn 35 percent more revenue.
Here’s the problem many businesses run into.
They don’t know what they’re doing. Most know how to ask customers for reviews, but they’re unsure how to handle the other important parts of reputation management.
This is why it’s important to get help.
If you have the right reputation management company, you’ll have the help you need to improve your company’s online reputation.
The 5 Top Reputation Management Companies in The World
Here’s a shortlist of some of the best reputation management companies in the world. You can use review sites like Clutch.co, HubSpot Agency Directory, or Sortlist if you’re looking for something more specific in the reputation management industry.
1. NP Digital – Best for Local SEO and Reputation Management
NP Digital is my agency. If you’re familiar with my work, you know that I have a strong background in search engine optimization and digital marketing. I built an agency called Pronet Advertising more than 17 years ago, while I was still in high school.
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been a marketer for more than 20 years! That’s given me a lot of time to learn how reputation management integrates with local search, content marketing, social media marketing, and advertising. I took all of the lessons I’ve learned from the companies I built — Kissmetrics, Crazy Egg, Pronet, Quicksprout, NeilPatel.com, and now NP Digital.
My agency is a little bit different from other agencies.
NP Digital ties all of our work back to revenue. It’s no different with our reputation management campaigns. If you’re going to put a dollar into your campaign, you want two dollars back, right? My agency focuses on driving real business results, so your company continues to grow; our work has to make money for your business.
Reputation X offers proactive and reactive services, but they lean more towards the reactionary side of reputation management.
Proactive reputation management options include — content development (articles, reviews, news, blog posts, ratings, etc.). Reactive reputation management options include takedown services, including — SERP removal, search result suppression, DMCA removals, reputation protection, and content suppression.
Reputation X has more than 15 years of experience in the industry. What’s significant about their service is the fact that they’re comfortable working with organizations and individuals.
“Confidential clients include Heads of State, Politicians, SMBs, Celebrities, Public Relations Agencies (white label), and just regular folks.”
According to their website and marketing materials, they avoid pre-made campaign templates, which are common in the industry. They build each campaign from scratch, which makes sense when you realize that their service starts at $10,000. As expensive as their services are, they’re not for everyone.
“The Reputation X client acceptance process is unique. Prospective new clients must be approved not only by management but by team members as well. That means many never become clients. In addition, prospective customers whose reputation management problems seem too tough to overcome are always informed of the fact. Alternatives are clearly explained, even if they never become a client.”
They’re pretty picky about the clients they choose and the work they accept.
3. Thrive – Best for Small Business Review Management
Thrive is a full-service agency that offers reputation management and reputation repair services. Thrive offers reputation management and repair services on their website; take a closer look at their website, and you’ll find that they’re really focused on the online review side of things.
If you’re looking for a reputation management firm with the legal and takedown chops to protect your business Thrive isn’t the reputation management company for you. If you’re looking for an agency that can generate a huge amount of reviews, Thrive may be a good fit. If you’re looking for an agency that’s oriented around small businesses, winning new customers over or burying negative press Thrive is a great place to start.
Thrive offers most of the services a full-service agency provides. If you’re looking for a Jack of all trades, their agency has experience in several areas; this works especially well for inexperienced small business clients who need help with multiple services.
Reputation Rhino specializes in online reputation management; they serve small- and midsize businesses and individuals. Since then, they’ve expanded to create a range of brand management and internet marketing services that they offer to companies and individuals.
All of the services they now offer — SEO, PPC, Social media, Web development — they’re all geared around their reputation management services.
They offer reputation management and repair services; One thing that’s surprising about their business is the fact that they’re able to remove negative reviews from online review sites like Glassdoor, Ripoff Report, Google Images, and more.
Their agency is small but so is the price; campaign pricing starts at $1,000.
5. Reputation Defense Network – Best for Reputation Management Specialist
The Reputation Defense Network specializes in one thing: Content removal. They focus their attention on deleting negative or malicious content, protecting client brand reputation, and identifying anonymous hackers, defamers, and attackers. They also include proactive reputation management services, but their focus is geared around takedowns.
“Reputation Defense Network is one of the fastest-growing Internet Content Removal companies in the US. We are the only company to offer guarantees on all of our work. We are not an SEO or marketing firm disguised as a reputation management company. Our focus is your reputation, nothing else.”
They use their 27-point removal audit to remove negative content permanently. They focus first on removal, then suppression. One thing that makes their value proposition unique is the fact that they offer cyber investigation services.
If you’re looking for a reputation management company with a significant amount of firepower and legal muscle, the Reputation Defense Network is a good fit. Their services are perfect for high-stakes reputation management — the kind that includes blackmail, fraud, defamation, etc.
They provide performance guarantees on all of their work: “you don’t pay until we provide you with a favorable result.”
That’s $0 upfront, 100 percent (permanent) content removal with an average turnaround time of 72 hours. If you’re in a competitive industry and you’re dealing with confidential, high-stakes information, this agency is a good fit. The majority of their clients are growing, mid-market firms in the $10M to $1B range.
They serve clients in the following industries:
Business services
Healthcare and medical
Education
4 Characteristics That Make a Great Reputation Management Company
When you’re vetting an agency, you’ll want to find a company that displays the right characteristics. The last thing you want is to choose a reputation management company that makes your reputation worse. When you’re searching for the right agency, here are some attributes to keep in mind.
1. Their agency approach is proactive and reactive
The industry has matured quite a bit since reputation management of the 90s. Back then, agencies were focused on simply burying negative content. That’s still doable, but it’s much easier to guide the conversation from the start.
Asking customers to share their feedback via online reviews. Creating, claiming, and optimizing your review profiles; responding to customer feedback, these are all proactive methods you can use to improve your reputation. Deleting or burying toxic, inaccurate, or misleading content, sending out legal takedown notices, and working with law enforcement are reactive strategies.
You need both, but these strategies don’t provide a complete picture of online reputation management campaigns on their own.
2. They focus on building relationships
Old-school campaigns are focused primarily on silencing critics, enemies, and opponents. New-school agencies still have those skills if they need them, but they choose to focus their attention on building relationships with customers.
Helping you take care of your customers
Requesting reviews from customers
Building reviews up on the right platforms
Generating publicity and increasing visibility
Responding to unfair attacks
If you’ve made a mistake, they’ll help you earn a fresh start
You need an agency that understands both sides of reputation management.
3. They realize reputation management is ongoing
This doesn’t mean that your agency is trying to lock you into an unnecessary contract. Customers feel reviews older than three months are irrelevant. Agencies realize customers want to see consistent proof that you’re still performing well.
Reputation and reviews, they decay over time.
Your agency should provide you with an ongoing service that’s optional; they should provide you with the people, processes, and tools you need to manage your reputation well. They should have a team in place to manage outreach with customers, publications, and press.
4. They’re local search experts
Your reputation management agency should have experience in running and managing local search campaigns.
You want this because local searches are growing 50 percent faster than mobile search. As far as Google is concerned, online reviews are part of the local ranking factors that determine your rank and performance.
When it comes to local search, your reputation management company should have expert-level knowledge. They should know how to increase search engine and social media visibility. The easier it is for them to integrate local search, the better your reputation management campaigns will perform.
What To Expect From a Great Reputation Management Company
Here’s a shortlist of the things you should expect from your agency.
They’ll show you the plan ahead of time: Your agency will provide you with an A to Z plan, outlining the macro and micro level components of your campaign. You should know exactly what you’re getting into — what your campaign costs, what their goals are, how long it will take to reach those goals and the reports they’ll provide.
Openness and complete transparency: Your agency should answer all of your questions and concerns; this isn’t optional or negotiable. Your agency isn’t writing copy or designing a website. They’re working with your reputation, so the impact on your business is huge. You need to know exactly what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.
Consistent communication: Your agency should provide you with constant communication, feedback, and reporting. You’ll need to provide them with the decision-makers and influencers who need to be part of the conversation.
You should see evidence of this before you sign on the dotted line. If agencies hide behind proprietary software or secret processes, you’ll want to walk away.
Conclusion
Reputation management is easier when you have the right company behind you. Many businesses don’t know what they’re doing. Most know how to ask customers for reviews, but they’re unsure how to handle the important aspects of reputation management.
If you feel the same way, it may be a good idea to get help.
Businesses that handle reputation management will see consistently large jumps in revenue. Completing simple tasks — claiming your review management profiles, responding to customers online, and requesting reviews — good reputation management leads to more revenue.
Use our guide to find the reputation management companies that are right for your business. Set your values, expectations, and needs ahead of time, and you’ll find choosing the right company is easy.
By utilizing Advertisement Networks for advertising your Internet promotion you must realize that a great deal of these networks use this kind of promo to lots of people. The identical Internet Advertisement might originally be raised throughout a search, your own being amongst thousands. This is a large number, as well as in some cases its also larger than that.
As soon as again you are amongst the highest possible competitors on the Internet, advertisement Networks make cash assisting you advertise your Internet promotion yet. To put it simply, there is a large possibility your Internet ad might not also be watched for rather time.
Web promotions on specific internet sites by the use Internet ad agency appear to be the largest and also one of the most prominent in the Internet marketing sector today. Those that pick to make use of Internet ads to advertise their items or details desire others to see it when they get on an internet site, either in banner kind or message web link type. Possibly, also in their very own Internet ad.
Bear In Mind Internet Advertisement Networks are bent on make their share of the earnings too which is specifically what they do. They consent to place your Internet promotion on their network no matter the number of various other comparable promotions are currently on the network to start with. In this manner, its even more of an initial preceded offer kind circumstance, those seeing the network results make a decision which Internet promotion to in fact click and also take a look at.
This isn’t to state do not attempt to place your Internet promotion on these advertisement networks yet it does indicate you must be mindful of simply exactly how lots of Internet promotions they deal with day-to-day, on a day to day basis. In some situations, they are taking Internet promotions off while in various other situations they are including to the numerous ads that currently exist on their network.
As well as, you do not understand that or what Internet promotions are being eliminated or included to the advertisement network. The network does not have to expose to you if any kind of various other Internet promotions on their network are comparable to your Internet promotion.
You recognize, lots of people that have actually currently managed advertisement networks and also their Internet ad will certainly inform you they really did not have much success. While others will certainly inform you that advertisement networks and also making use of their Internet advertising and marketing made their revenues rise.
When it comes to your Internet promotion as well as just how you desire it to reveal up on the Internet is most definitely up to you. Whether you go with an advertisement network or not.
Web promotions on private internet sites by the usage of Internet marketing firms appear to be the largest as well as the most prominent in the Internet advertising and marketing market today. They concur to place your Internet ad on their network no matter of exactly how several various other comparable ads are currently on the network to start with. In some instances, they are taking Internet ads off while in various other situations they are including to the numerous promotions that currently exist on their network.
The network does not have to disclose to you if any type of various other Internet ads on their network are comparable to your Internet ad.
When it comes to your Internet ad as well as exactly how you desire it to reveal up on the Internet is absolutely up to you.
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