Book Image

Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition

By : David Mercer
Book Image

Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition

By: David Mercer

Overview of this book

<p>The book can be read from front to back, but each chapter is self contained so the reader can skip chapters to read those that they are interested in. Each chapter will move from basic to advanced where applicable and also relate what the administrator (reader) is doing to how this affects what the client sees on the site.</p> <p>So, for example, the customization chapter will start off with a discussion on the concept of design and how to relate this to your business. Once the reader has a clear idea of what they need to do, we look at some really simple changes such as modifying the site's language, before moving to some advanced modifications which may involve some PHP programming. At the same time the discussion will demonstrate how the changes made affect the site.</p> <p>Throughout the book, much consideration is given to the "right" way to doing things. Readers will have the great advantage that they begin, from the very start, doing things properly. This will save them a lot of time and effort in the years to come as they build on and modify their site. Utilizing best practices and sound methodologies is a great asset for beginners and experienced users alike.</p> <p>At all times, the coverage given in this book pays homage to the fact that, ultimately, the reader has a business goal in mind. To this end, the material never gets bogged down in technical issues or long discourses, but rather focuses on what is practically important for the online business and then moves on. To complement this, there are plenty of suggestions and hints as to how and where to look for further information.</p>
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
Foreword
Introduction
Index

Search Engine Optimization


One of the most common goals for today's e-commerce community is to appear high up on the big search engine rankings. As you should know, having a high ranking increases the chances of potential customers finding your site among the mass of other sites. So what is it that you can do to make your site rank as highly as possible without actually having to pay anyone to do it for you? Well, there is no straight answer to this, unfortunately, and many people will give you just as many different answers. However, there is a core set of things you can do that are known to help—they might vary in importance, but it is probably worth performing all of them. The following table highlights the most important optimizations or tasks, which you should consider performing:

Optimization

Explanation

Write web-enhanced copy

IMPORTANT: Think about how your target customers would find your store. What type of words would they use to find a shop like yours? Once you have come...