Configuration: Auctori can be configured based on what you want your buyers to see or accomplish at the time of purchase. This includes:

• displaying prices
• using 1 or more promotional codes
• checking out as a guest
• modification of cart products
•  presenting taxing and shipping

Payment Options: Auctori provides a number of payment gateways that will integrate with the company bank account. These Payment Gateways can also be tested prior to the live site to ensure everything is in order. Payment options for consumers include:

• Bill Later (invoicing)
• Credit Cards
• Purchase Orders

Promotions: Promotions engage consumers and lead to higher conversion rates. Auctori allows more control by offering choices for promotion types, codes and usage. It also offers diversity in:

• Expiration dates
• Whether or not a promotion can be used more than once
• If it is implied for everyone that orders within a specific time range
• Free shipping
• Promotions that apply to certain products
• Promotions that go in effect after a certain amount of money is spent or number of items

Reports: All of the above is critical to ecommerce and user experience. Reports might top them all by giving you the feedback you need as to the effectiveness in your ecommerce strategy. Auctori can generate reports delivering the follow information:

• Past website searchers
• Most viewed products
• Reviews, which the administrator can approve for publishing
• Used promotions
• Abandoned carts
• Submitted orders

There are many content management systems available, however not all offer easy to configure options such as Auctori. With these as well as many other characteristics that can be added to your website, you are sure to bring in visitors and prospects. To learn more about what we can offer through ecommerce or other Auctori modules, contact us to schedule a demo.

Some businesses may want to keep their customers local, but many people want their companies to continue to grow and reach out to potential clients, maybe even becoming internationally known. The first step in getting a multilingual website in place, is hiring a translator. Yes, this can be pricy at times, but this is where you weigh your pros and cons. If you end up with higher conversions, more traffic and international clients, would the cost be worth it?

In the process of building multilingual pages or websites, continuously ask yourself “will web users be able to find this?” If you go to extent of creating multilingual content, it’s of your benefit to make sure the search engines can find it. It can often help to have multiple languages on a web page if you decide against building a separate website. In this case, if users are searching for you in an English search engine in their own native language, they will still be directed to your website.

Not everyone has the budget to hire a translator and build web pages or websites. Sometimes looking at other options such as a web CMS (content management system) is the best way to get more bang for your buck. A web CMS allows you to be creative without understanding back-end development. Many different web CMS’ exist including open source and proprietary. Open source is free allowing you to access code and build the site yourself. If you would prefer a platform which is already built and ready for content, proprietary would be the way to go.

First to consider when creating online forms is what you want to ask your prospect. You can ask as many questions as you want but you’ll also want to ask yourself if you need that information. No one wants to fill out a two page questionnaire when they visit websites. After about three or four fields, people tend to quit. Keeping your forms short and sweet is the best way to turn prospects into business.

Online forms often display ‘required’ fields. This isn’t necessary, however it does guarantee you information from customers. If you make the ‘First Name’ and ‘Email’ fields required, this allows you a way to contact visitors and personalize that attempt with a name. Many visitors may find it alarming if too much information is required of them. For example if you require their first and last name along with address and phone number, users may feel threatened that you could potentially sell their information to marketers.

DESIGN. If the emphasis on this word snatched your attention, then you know what I’m about to say. Design is also an important part of your form and should grab the attention of your audience. The website the form is built in should do the same, but visitors will find more interest in a form if it’s just as visually stimulating as the content around it.

For those of us that use and need websites to represent our business but don’t have the ability or team to develop them, a web CMS (Content Management System) is the answer. Not only can you build your website using a web CMS, but you can build forms using it. With just a few simple clicks, a form is created and then added to a web page. The code is automated and understanding it to build a successful website and form isn’t necessary. Contact Auctori to learn more about a web CMS that makes forms simple and successful!

ASP.NET stands for Active Server Pages. In the past, there was a need for dynamic websites that could be quickly developed and ASP.NET was a solution created to address this problem. Many web CMS developers utilize the code for that fact. It simplifies updates and keeps platforms current to trends and customer needs. Here is a list of additional benefits when using the ASP.NET platform:

1)      Allows different development languages making coding simpler for a broader range of developers to implement and reducing the work and time going into it.

2)      ASP.NET is based on a powerful server side scripting technology, which means custom HTML is processed on a web server before being delivered to a user over the Internet.

3)      Pages are compiled and cached allowing frequently accessed web pages to pull quickly from the server.

4)      The web application framework is safe and secure when used with native Windows security and has the ability to trust other authenticated users.

5)      As a Microsoft product, it is integrated into Visual Studio allowing for robust design capabilities including WYSIWYG.

6)      Provides tools to easily create custom controls and data-driven visual elements.

ASP.NET is an easy framework to use and provides developers with flexibility which can make customization possible to keep consumers happy. Doing your research before choosing a web content management system can be difficult, but hopefully this information clears up what some of the tech jargon is trying to convey.

Auctori is one web CMS that utilizes ASP.NET which provides an easy mechanism to customize your website. Contact Auctori to find out more about ASP.NET and how Auctori customers benefit from the enhanced capabilities it provides.

The first step in deciding upon the most effective web design is determining your target audience. Background research on the interests of your audience is great information that will help you move forward. Is your audience more visual? Do certain fonts or images grab their interest over others? Analyzing habits can help answer these questions and provide a design strategy. Check out what your prospective clients follow on Facebook or what they retweet on Twitter.

After you determine your target audience, the next step is understanding the purpose of the website. Are you selling something? Are you providing information? This is crucial to how the layout and design of a website come together. The website of a graphic design company is much more visual than that of a law firm. A graphic design website establishes creativity through imagery where as a law firm’s goal is to provide information.

As the final stage of designing the website approaches, it’s important to keep the website clean and cohesive. Look at competitor sites and take-away different approaches on layout to decide what is best for your visitors. Balance the web pages out by utilizing white space without overwhelming your audience with too much content. A good color scheme and selection of fonts goes a long way.

Not every individual or company bears the resources available to design a website. An option for website development and design is a web CMS, or web content management system. A web content management system allows users to build and design websites with little knowledge and experience of technical code. Auctori is a scalable, secure, SEO-friendly web CMS that allows users to layout their website according to their needs. With visual consistency and tools to build out a website with articles, rotating content, biographies and more, Auctori can save time and resources while providing a website fit for an audience.

There are two types of breadcrumbs. User Generated Breadcrumbs follow the user’s path and illustrate where they have been in the site. Sitemap Breadcrumbs illustrate where the visitor is in relation to the architecture of the website. They may not have visited each of the pages associated with the breadcrumb links as they would have in User Generated Breadcrumbs.

Implementing breadcrumbs doesn’t mean you should get rid of other site navigations. Breadcrumbs act as an additional way to better serve your web traffic and guide customers through websites. One site that uses breadcrumbs is the Van Gogh Gallery. This image shows the breadcrumb path of a visitor who started on the Van Gogh Gallery Home page and ended on the Landscapes page.

Here are a few reasons to add breadcrumbs to a website:

1)      Breadcrumbs can provide visitors with a trail of links, reminding them what sections they have viewed and how they got there. Many times people forget this so having a reminder is helpful along with the links to return to previous pages.

2)      Breadcrumbs can influence visitors to view additional pages. When you get website visitors, you want to keep them on your website. Having breadcrumbs can allow them to click, leading them to other areas of a website.

3)      Breadcrumbs require little coding and can easily be added to a website. With as much as they get used by visitors, it’s worth the work!

Visitors recognize breadcrumbs now that they get used more often. Adding them will provide guests what they think should be available.

A web CMS (Content Management System) makes building websites easy, especially navigation. Some systems even generate the breadcrumbs for you, like Auctori. By simply checking a box in the Meta data, pages will generate the breadcrumbs and this saves time in the implementation process. Contact Auctori to learn more.

Website development, whether outsourced with an individual or developed with a website CMS (Content Management System), needs administrators to make updates. Security is a necessity especially when numerous people hold administrative roles, and it’s also getting harder to maintain these days. Web technologies aren’t the only thing evolving, so taking the steps to secure information is just as important as developing the next best website.

User security permissions generate one way to control user access and user capabilities, while adding to website security. Website owners often assign more than one person to control website changes, content or designs, especially larger corporations. User security permissions eliminate the idea of one password and login, and create the opportunity for multiple logins, one for each administrator. They also allow head administrators to control the tasks other admins can complete. For example one admin may need access to edit web page information, but another admin may need access to that and the ability to publish. This can also minimize chances of hacking because if a hacker attains the login information, they may not be able to manipulate the website without a password and login granting access to the whole system.

Password security plays a role with administrators as well. The ability to change your password regularly is important when keeping a site protected. It’s recommended to change your password often in case a hacker acquired it. Of course if your website was attacked by a hacker, there’s nothing you can do to fix it with a password change, but creating a new one will prevent them from continuing their damage. The best password combines letters, symbols and numbers making it harder to crack.

Backup security in an important part of managing sensitive data as a website administrator.  Backup tools include the computer and external hard drives, servers and any clouds you may use to store information online. It’s best to utilize more than one of these options in case one may fail. The more the better and if you feel it necessary, encryption is an additional way to provide a secure environment in your backup systems of choice.

If you built your website in a web CMS, many providers should offer security already built in to the website development tool. This is important to look at before purchasing since it will optimize your performance. Auctori is a web CMS that is SEO-friendly, scalable and secure. Auctori offers the Users and Security Module with opportunities to implement user security permissions, passwords changes and assign governing roles. Contact Auctori for a free demonstration.

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, increases the effectiveness of a website and its content. The more links that back track to a website, the more information search engines can gather about the value of content. Backlinking to your website through blogs, newsletters and other internal marketing efforts is great, but the best way to gain credibility with search engines is with backlinks from other websites. One way to begin implementing this and getting others interested in your content, is to push content through social media.

Social media was all the buzz 5 years ago, and it still is. It’s no longer a specific generation that utilizes it. In fact, Huffington Post recently announced that Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei is using Instagram. Building valuable content on social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ can generate followers for businesses who could potentially turn in to customers. You could also grab the attention of bloggers or other individuals in a similar industry. If they find your content interesting, it could turn into a backlink in one of their articles. The moral of the story is the more you put yourself out there, the more you will show up in search results. It’s just like everyday life. You don’t make friends by staying at home.

Local Search Optimization will also get the search engines’ attention, while publishing more content online. In submitting directories with search engines and social platforms, the web presence grows and acts as an additional form of content placed on the web. Google Maps, Bing, Yellow Pages and other directories make it simple to create free listings. Many people look for services based on location. With multiple listings serving as content, there’s a better chance you will be found.

Still not sure you can give your audience good content to chew on? Everyone needs a little help sometimes and in this case a web CMS could prove handy. A web CMS, or Content Management System, is a simplified way to manage website content and post it. If you find it hard to keep up a website,you can easily edit and publish web pages to update or build a new or existing website using a web CMS. Auctori is a web CMS that is scalable, secure and SEO-friendly. It offers ManyLingual options to potentially broaden your audience. In addition, Auctori can translate your site to the mobile world, making it accessible on many devices. Contact Auctori for a free web demonstration.

Mobile web design and development is similar to that of websites accessed from a desktop, however a few changes will need consideration. Think about what your audience desires. People on the go need an immediate response and this means simplicity is key. The design of a website can create or break viewer relationships depending on organization, content, imagery and other design and developmental characteristics. If you rush out the door and need to get the address of a restaurant to meet a lunch date, you’ll want that information to display right away in a general search or at least be the first thing listed on the home page.

The mobile website also depends on the type of browser and device it will be used in. Responsive Design is one way you can apply websites to all devices and browsers. Responsive Design uses the same coding as a desktop site, but has dual URLs which scale to fit mobile devices. CSS is used in queries to modify the pages according to the device accessing the website. Responsive Design is a fairly young concept and depending on what your audience is using, there could be a simpler way. Using Google Analytics to identify devices accessing your website is a great way to determine the best solution for mobile development.

Another and possibly easier option is developing a mobile website in a web CMS (Content Management System). A web CMS simplifies the creation of a website for individuals who aren’t tech savvy. A web CMS can develop a site in responsive design if needed, however a web CMS with the ability to create a mobile website by pixel ratio is even better. In using pixel ratio, a mobile website can be customized to fit particular devices. This creates a more catered website according to the devices’ needs. If half of your audience is using an iPhone and half is using a Blackberry, a web CMS can manipulate the pixel ratio, create web pages according to the size of the device, and voila! A specialized mobile website is created to keep users and their handheld friends happy.

Auctori is a ManyLingual web CMS with the capability to accommodate mobile web design needs. Auctori specializes in the pixel ratio technique and offers a secure, scalable and SEO-friendly solution. Contact Auctori for a web demo or to find out more about optimizing your mobile presence.

At SMX 2012 Advanced, we learned some interesting facts on website load time and customer satisfaction. If a web page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, almost half of your site visitors will exit the page. Conversions will also decrease by 7% for every second the site loads. Caching is a useful process which can increase your site load time significantly if a customer visits your website frequently.

Caching maximizes the value of a website allowing computers to store memory to their local drive. Caching keeps sites from loading slowly and grabbing information from a website server over and over again. For example, let’s say you visit our website www.auctori.com. This site will load to your screen quickly, but if you ever leave the website and return later, the computer stores the site in its local memory. Because the memory is stored on your local drive (your hard drive) our website’s information will appear immediately.

Image caching is the same concept of storing images to your cache, or local computer memory. The difference with image caching is when a website is downloaded on your computer with images, the images pull from the server according to their file name. A problem many websites run into with this is if the creator of the website ever changes the image. The image name will stay the same which means your memory will pull the old image. For example, you visit your local county website and there is a picture of the neighborhood pool. Let’s say the file name on the website’s server and web pages is “neighborhood_pic.png”. In a couple days you go back to the website and see the same picture because your cache pulled it from your local memory. This picture is still there even though the image is now shows a playground, because your memory stored the image along with its name. One way developers get around this is by creating an expiration date on the cache. Even if a cache expires after two weeks, this problem could still occur if a website is visited more than once in that time frame.

Many content management systems offer image caching, but they can change an image under the same file name and eventually the server will need to redeliver the website information.  Auctori is a content management system that maintains best practices according to Google’s recommendations. Auctori discovered a way to overcome the road blocks in image caching. In Auctori web CMS (content management system) images cannot obtain the same image name twice. Every image is named uniquely so websites built in Auctori will never deliver the wrong image to their customers. Also, in using image names only once, the server only needs to send the information once to website visitors. This means your cache will always retrieve the site and its correct images. If you manage a website and the same image is ever on multiple pages, you can mass apply these in Auctori. This saves time compared to going through each individual page as you would in other content management systems like WordPress.

Contact Auctori for more information or a free web demonstration.