What We’ve Been Up To Lately

Posted on March 25, 2013, 12:15 pm, by Robert Mangiafico and add to the discussion ».

All of us here at LexiConn have been keeping ourselves quite busy these past few months. From ecommerce add-ons to new hosting features, and a number of new partnerships, we’ve introduced a slew of features and services.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the highlights…

ShopSite add-on: Alt Tag Module

This free add-on module for ShopSite merchants allows a store owner to easily assign a field to be used for the image alt tags. No more manually editing alt tags. Set it to the product name, an extra product field, whatever you’d like.

Then sit back and reap the benefits of enhanced SEO for better image detection and searches.

ShopSite Version 11 SP2 r5

A maintenance release from ShopSite fixes a number of bugs and adds a few minor features.  Released at the end of January, all version 11 SP2 merchants were automatically upgraded to 11 SP2 r5.

SEO Services from Netsmartz

SEO is only getting harder these days. Google is rapidly changing the rules, and penalizing sites for using questionable tactics for ranking. That’s why we’ve partnered with Netsmartz to offer small business SEO services.

Netsmartz offers a number of affordable SEO packages to fit any budget. They are also familiar with ShopSite for ecommerce specific SEO.

Not interested in hiring an SEO company? Make sure you at least take advantage of their Free SEO Analysis report that can show you how you stack up against your competitors.

Stop The Hacker – Malware detection and removal

Not a week goes by without at least one of our clients’ sites being hacked and malware inserted in their pages. From FTP passwords being scraped from compromised PCs to running older vulnerable software on their sites, these type of attacks are increasing in frequency.

Worst of all, once hacked, Google, Bing, and most computers will outright block your site until it’s cleaned up.

We’ve partnered with Stop The Hacker to offer both malware scanning and removal services. Starting from only $10 a month, this is an invaluable service to quickly catch and clean up after a hacker strikes.

New Web based File Manager

Our old tried and true file manager in the Account manager has finally been retired (although it’s still available for those that want to use it). We’ve upgrade to a more modern Ajax enabled file manager (based on Ajaxplorer.info).

This new file manager provides an advanced html What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor, improved file browsing, and a more stable upload feature. It is very similar to using a standalone FTP client.

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Just a little recap of what’s new at LexiConn. Look for more ShopSite add-on modules in the near future, and improved features and partnerships to help you get the most out of your website.

ShopSite Merchant Proves Mobile Commerce is Only Getting Bigger

Posted on March 14, 2013, 1:31 pm, by Robert Mangiafico and add to the discussion ».

mobileI was excited to see one of our clients recently featured in Internet Retailer. The online magazine wrote about WebUndies.com and how well they did with mobile commerce (mcommerce) this past year.

WebUndies was able to almost triple their mobile sales in 2012 as compared to 2011. Mobile accounted for 5.4% of total sales, as compared to 3% in 2011. Traffic from mobile devices doubled from 10% in 2011 to 20% in 2012.

What was their secret?

WebUndies uses ShopSite as their ecommerce solution. All they did to cater to the ever-increasing mobile customer is enable ShopSite’s built-in mobile commerce support. A few clicks, some configuration of categories, links, navigation, search, and their site was optimized for mobile viewing.

They also hired a ShopSite designer to help them customize the mobile templates for a more personalized mobile experience.

That’s it. Those changes alone helped them capture more mobile sales in 2012, and likely even larger numbers this year.

Mobile Commerce in ShopSite is Easy

Just a few clicks to enable it in ShopSite (Preferences -> Mobile), a header and footer, navigation, and some default colors…

Mobile Settings (click to enlarge)

Mobile Settings (click to enlarge)

If you haven’t done much with mobile, I wrote a previous blog post all about mobile support in ShopSite. It covers where to start, what to look for, and the all important TEST, TEST, TEST after you have it set up.

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Ignoring the mobile consumer these days can result in lost sales. As mobile continue to gain on traditional desktop/laptop purchases, you want to get ahead of this before you’re left behind.

Fortunately, ShopSite has made it a snap to mobile enable your ecommerce site.

photo credit

Top Ecommerce Blog Posts and Articles for February 2013

Posted on March 5, 2013, 10:12 am, by Robert Mangiafico and add to the discussion ».

Here’s what I found interesting on the web for February. A couple of really good reads in the bunch.  :)

TOP PICK: 4 Steps to Panda-Proof Your Website (Before It’s Too Late!) – Search Engine Watch
Pure gold here. Take this to heart for your site.

Five ways to work with content on ecommerce sites – Econsultancy
Close runner-up to my top pick – Very wise words for any online store.

5 STRATEGIES FOR RETAIL BLOGGING – Remarkablogger
Good tips for writing an ecommerce blog.

A True Story: From A Triple Whammy Google Penalty To $60K/month Revenue – Gary Viray
Wonderfully written article about overcoming a Google penalty.

SEO: Optimal Ecommerce URLs – Practical Ecommerce
All you’ve ever wanted to know about crafting the perfect URL.

 

ShopSite Tip – 3 Ways To Discontinue A Product

Posted on February 28, 2013, 11:41 am, by Rich A. and add to the discussion ».

Every once in a while someone asks why a discontinued product was still purchased by a customer.  It all comes down to how the product was removed from the store.  Here we will review the best ways to remove it and fully stop future purchases.

Option 1: Disable The Product

In ShopSite 11 sp2 the “Disabled Product” feature was added.  This is available on a product’s Edit Product Info screen:

A disabled products

A disabled product

If you enable the checkbox, on the next publish the product will not appear on any pages it’s assigned, nor can it be ordered.  It’s More Info page will still exist but if someone tries to purchase the product they will see a message which says “The selected item is no longer available “.

Option 2: Inventory Tracking

ShopSite Pro’s Inventory Tracking feature can be used to stop products from being ordered even if you don’t normally track inventory for your store.  To use this option, enable the “ShopSite Inventory Tracking” setting on the Preferences > Inventory Tracking screen and then set the following 3 fields to “0″ on the product’s Edit Product Info screen:

  • Quantity on Hand
  • Low Stock threshold
  • Out of Stock limit

Be sure all three are set to “0″ and that will results in a message to the customer that the product is out of stock on the shopping cart screen:

Out Of Stock

An out of stock product

TIP: If you do not currently use Inventory Tracking, we would recommend Power-Editing the 3 fields above and set them to a blank value before you start using it.  If the fields are blank (not 0, but blank) the product will not be tracked by inventory tracking.  If a product has the fields set to other values you could mark a product out of stock by accident.  By clearing them all before you use inventory tracking you’ll be sure all the other products can still be ordered correctly.

Advanced Options

If your product uses Advanced Options, the Inventory Tracking settings above will not work.  Instead, the values must be set for the specific option that you want to make out of stock.  That is set in the Ordering Options section of the Edit Product Info screen as shown in the image below.

Click to view a larger version which shows the Red option is out of stock.

The "Red" option is out of stock, with it's Qty on Hand, Low Stock, and Out of Sock values set to "0".

[Click To Enlarge]

Option 3: Delete The Product

If you are never going to carry a product again, deleting it is a fast and effective way to be sure it can not be ordered.  On your List of Products screen you can select the product and then click the “Delete Products” button to remove it from your store.  On the next publish it will be removed from all your pages, the more info page will be deleted, and the product will not be able to be ordered.

TIP: When you delete a product from ShopSite it will prompt you to delete the More Info file.  Be sure to have it delete that file, otherwise it will remain on the server and people will still find the old page.

301 Redirect: When the More Info Page is deleted a user will see your 404 page if they follow an old bookmark or search engine link which hasn’t updated.  If you have a custom 404 page that may be enough to catch the customer, especially if you don’t carry a similar product anymore, but if you want to forward the user to a replacement product or to a certain page on your site you can setup a 301 redirect.

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If any other method was used to disable the product, such as unassigning it from pages, it may still be found in a search engine or it could still be left in a user’s shopping cart who did not check out yet.  Once you implement one of the methods above that will stop the product from being ordered.

If you’re a LexiConn client, please contact us if a product was still mysteriously ordered.  Let us know the order and product details and we’ll take a look at what happened for you.

Just How Big of a Deal is Malware on PCs and Macs?

Posted on February 21, 2013, 9:23 am, by Robert Mangiafico and add to the discussion ».

Computer BugMany people think malware and viruses are things other people’s computers get who aren’t careful.

Maybe you think it’s not that big of a deal, or it isn’t too common.

You might be surprised to know just who is being hacked, and what the hackers are getting…

Facebook, Apple, and Web Hosting Companies

If you missed the news lately, high level engineers in both Facebook and Apple have had their laptops and computers infected with Malware (Both PCs and Macs). This has allowed hackers to obtain important and highly guarded information from these companies.

Hackers have figured out it’s easier to break into a laptop or desktop owned by a person than try to hack into a server or website. Once the computer is hacked, they then search for passwords, logins, etc… that gives them the keys to the castle to get the information they desire.

In addition to these high-profile companies, hundreds of servers operated by web hosting companies have had their servers “root” compromised and used to send spam and distribute malware in the past few weeks. A root compromise is the worst kind, as this means the hackers have access to everything on a server. Based on the evidence so far, this looks to be from infected PCs and Macs that the hackers used to obtain root passwords.

NOTE: We have not had any of our shared or managed dedicated servers root compromised from this latest malware attack. We take extra precautions with regards to passwords and how our computers are used when it comes to server related issues. Since we fully manage servers for our dedicated clients, root access is locked down considerably.

How’d the hackers do it?

What we’re seeing of late is hackers are putting malicious code and software into breached websites around the internet. Visiting one of these infected sites is the first step. They then take advantage of security problems in software on your computer like Flash, Java, or your web browser itself.

Most people aren’t always running the latest patched versions of software, and these websites silently compromise the computer undetected. The hackers then install keylogger software (they see every key you press), scan your computer for FTP and email passwords (even in the programs themselves like Outlook and Filezilla), and check emails for login credentials.

This data is then passed back to the hacker network, where they store it in a database and use it to further their agenda.

It’s not just big companies at risk

The examples above are great for headlines and ratings. The more common thing we’re seeing is webmasters and email users getting their computers infected with malware, and their websites being defaced, malicious code inserted into their web pages, or their email accounts being used to send phishing and spam emails directly.

If this happens to your site or account, your website will likely be blocked by Google, Bing, and virus protection systems. People won’t be able to get to your site, and they’ll see your site as a dangerous place. Emails being sent directly from your account can get the entire mail server blacklisted. It’s a pain to try and get de-listed. Not good stuff…

What can you do to protect yourself?

There are TWO things that everyone should have on their computer:

1. A virus scanner
This would be virus scanning software like Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, Comodo, etc.. that is not only installed and running, but set to both update automatically each day, and set to automatically scan your computer each day.

2. A malware scanner
This is software that is designed to find and get rid of malware. This is meant to compliment your virus scanning software, and should *NOT* replace it.
We recommend Malwarebytes as the malware scanner to use. It’s worth purchasing the full version so it can automatically scan and run in the background.

Because the latest threats to big companies like Apple and Facebook have involved hacking in through vulnerable software such as Java and Flash, you need to insure your Java and Flash software is fully up to date.

Here’s how:

For Java, it’s easy. Just go to:
http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp

and the website will tell you if the Java software on your computer is up to date. This applies to both PCs and Macs

For Flash, if you use Firefox, just go to:
(edit 4/29/13) http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/find-version-flash-player.html
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/

and Firefox will make sure all of your plugins (including Flash) are up to date.

If you use Internet Explorer, you can go to:
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

to download the latest version of Adobe Flash. Google Chrome should auto update its plugin for Flash.

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Malware infected computers that lead to malware infected websites IS a big deal. It’s a growing problem that affects every website owner. Make sure you take the necessary steps to keep your computers safe and free from malware.

photo credit

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