More and more consumers are moving online to make purchases. From flat panel televisions to high-heeled shoes, e-commerce continues to flourish on the web. Modern consumers are visiting local retailers to try on and test out products, then they’re heading home to compare prices and purchase online.

Many stores have recognized this pattern and have built e-commerce storefronts to try and make up for lower sales at brick-and-mortar locations. But consumers are extremely wary of data theft and online fraud, so e-commerce sites must be easily found and convey credibility. This takes not only solid web design, security and functionality, but also a web marketing strategy that employs search engine optimization (SEO).

Getting found online takes more than a photo and product link. E-commerce sites should look to add a new page of content to their site daily. This shows the search engines that they’re “fresh” and growing. Storefronts should also create unique product descriptions, rather than just copying from Amazon.com or other major e-commerce sites – because it’s unlikely that you’ll win a battle of search dominance against the large, well established players. Instead, focus on creating product descriptions that target slightly different search phrases and work to convert those leads.

Content is huge when it comes to SEO, but your e-commerce site should also have built-in SEO functionality. At a minimum, be sure your web development firm is using the latest web standards and offers a dynamic method for setting and adjusting page titles and meta tags. Quality firms also offer filtered navigation, search engine friendly URLs, dynamic XML sitemaps and social networking integration.

E-Commerce is highly competitive, no matter the industry, service or product. So take the time and make the investment in a web development company that employs SEO strategies to help your business rise to the top of the search engine results pages. Call or email Baytech Web Design today for a free consultation about your e-commerce website and SEO needs.

Most people turn to Google when searching for something on the web. While other search engines may slowly be reclaiming some of the search market share, no one commands authority in the online search space like Google. More than 60 percent of internet users in North America turn to Google for their searches. In August 2009, that amounted to nearly 7 billion queries – in just one month, and in N. America alone! Globally, Google receives over 80 percent of internet searches.

While it’s important to not forget about other search engines like Yahoo! and Bing, most companies are interested in optimizing their website to perform well in Google. At Baytech Web Design, we’ve found that many companies haven’t even used one of the simplest techniques available to improve their organic SEO – claiming their business listing on Google’s Local Business Center (LBC).

The LBC lets you enter key information about your business or service, including address, hours of operation and product/service category. You then verify the information manually – this prevents Spam listings and adds even more credibility to the information’s accuracy.

Once you’ve claimed your listing at Google’s LBC, you just might find that you’ll start climbing the search engine results pages for your targeted keywords. It’s really a win-win situation. The LBC provides Google with more accurate and verified search results, and your company gets to piggyback on Google’s search dominance.

Baytech Web Design can help your company get listed on the LBC and can also help you put together a full web marketing program that includes SEO, linking and PPC strategies to help your company in its quest for top search ranking.