Ok those of you reading this may or may not have setup a few different joomla sites. I have a few different components that I install when I start off building an e-commerce site. If I don't install these right away then its likely I will see the need for them at some point!
I'll try to give a brief description of each product I install and why.
Ok well to start off we need to get ourselves a nice fresh clean copy of the latest version of joomla.
My personal preference is virtuemart for our ecommerce platform.
Ok its not perfect but it has features and extensions that bring it to a new level when choosing a joomla ecommerce component.
The initial install of virtuemart is a good platform to start from. We have a lot of features that most if not all platforms have. My one complaint would probably be the multiple quantity options and the lack there of. (but thats probably due to my personal industry)
The next piece of must have software is csvimproved. Even if you don't have masses of products, the benefits this software gives is instantly noticable. If you don't know how to use excel now, then as a ecommerce shop owner you probably best get aquainted with it. Before I started making ecommerce sites I knew nothing about excel (only what I knew from school) I now feel like I know enough excel to manage the economy of a small country.)
The next piece of software I recommend is ijoomla seo. But only coupled with csvimproved. The reason for this is that csvi gives you the ability to import your meta data. You can use a VLOOKUP command to search for the product name and assign your meta data on a per product basis.
SH404SEF - Ok I was up until 3 months ago using an original free version of this software to create search engine friendly URL's.
Now you have the basic building blocks you can build an ecommerce site and have the ability to maintain it.
Some of the other components that I use are (in no particular order)
Wysiwyg Pro
I install this on all my sites - super efficient editor that will help you out loads.
VM Emails manager
This component gives you the ability to change the emails that virtuemart sends out. I find this a crucial component. In my mind every email that your site sends out should have advertisements and cross selling opportunities.
VM Order Follow up
This component automatically sends out a follow up email to every order that your website receives. Repeat orders should be a no1 concern if you are looking to grow your ecommerce business.
Securelive
For everyone that has had their site hacked by some rascal on the internet. Get yourself some security. I'm sure there are other options, but I have never been hacked since I enrolled upto this system.
Other plugins I use but are not all that necessary.
Tabs & Slides
Cool addon, not necessary but you can see it in action below in the Do's and Don'ts
JV content Links
If you enable plugins in your product descriptions then cross linking is a great strategy to follow. Write detailed product descriptions (100 words minimum) and then export your product categories using csvi and then import keyword links into JV links using excel with links to each of your product categories.
Reset Password Plugin
One thing virtuemart does is block new users if their username or email address is already taken. A quick and easy way to reset the password is available here. This plugin removes the need to copy and paste the password token to reset. (A minor but necessary step I feel)
Tips and Best Practice.
Do's and Don't's when creating your eCommerce site
Do's
- Do give each one of your products a unique name. If they don't have them then use excel to create them (a command called CONCATENATE is your friend. Read up on it)
- Do Upload to Google base. You have csvi installed now make use of it (cron jobs are your friend. Read up on it)
- Do spend some time working on unique keyword rich descriptions (Use these unique descriptions in your google base upload)
- Do cross sell/categorise your items. (Use the related items feature to associate products with each other, alternatively use this guide to automatically associate products form the same category to be similar products)
- Do either employ someone to or yourself fill in every last detail about the product you can. (And then use those fields in your google base export)
- Do add further fields to your database that you can export to google base. (Get a freelancer to do this on the cheap if you don't know how, I'll post a skype address of someone that does it for me)
- Do use a subdomain for all your product images i.e http://productimages.yourdomain.com/fullsizeimages/ and http://productimages.yourdomain.com/thumbnailimages/ (this will really help you with load times and in the future)
- Do offer google checkout on all items. (This gives you lots of benefits. Embrace google and they will embrace you.
- Do link into an external review site. (I use trustpilot.com there are other ones that feed into google base but this one works for me)
- Do try to setup virtuemart with a 1 step checkout process and ask for the minimum amount of data to process the order. (users hate filling in forms)
- Do give as many other ways for customers to buy your products as possible (don't just rely on the system to do it all for you)
- Do provide a secure area for order processing
Don'ts
- Do all of the Do's and just expect sales without actively promoting your products.
- Don't get sidetracked with other projects if this is your main source of income. ;)
- Don't try to con google base at any time with false data or made up prices. (If you get your products kicked you will have a long hard process getting them re-accepted)
- Don't have your products appearing on different URLS with sh404sef
Ok well thats the main things covered.
