With the Free Joomla Content Managment System and VirtueMart, you are able to design a website that has a “backend” fully functional eCommerce suite

VirtueMart features include:

• Secure Sockets Layer (https)
• Tax Models
• User Accounts (registration required)
• Shipping Address Management
• Order History: Shopper can view all their previous Orders (and Order Details)
• Order Confirmation Mail (customizable!) is sent to Shopper and Store Owner

Catalog Features

• Powerful Web-Administration Interface (Javascript-powered)
• Manages an unlimited Number of Products and Categories
• Can be used as a Shop or just as an Online-Catalog
• quick Search for Products, Categories and Manufacturers; filter by features or discounted Products
• Product Ratings & Testimonials
• feature specific Products or Specials
• Product Availability: show how fast a Customer can expect delivery
• Handles downloadable Products

Administration Features

• multiple Images and Files (like Spec Sheets and Flyers) per Product
• Product Attributes (like Size or Color) can be added to Product
• Shopper Groups for Customers (allows different Price Levels and Payment Options),
• multiple Prices per Product (Quantity-based and/or Shopper Group-based Prices)
• flexible Price Display (number & currency formatting; including or excluding tax)
• Shop Statistics / Control Panel with a Summary of new Customers, new Orders
• Stock Level Control for Products and Item
• Order Management with Order History, Customer Notification and Order Edit Functionality
• basic Reporting Feature: sold Items, monthly/yearly Revenue
• Order Status Management

Shipping and Payment modules for realtime shipping UPS, USPS, FedEx

Visit the VirtueMart website for more details

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George Susini Joomla Tips 3 Must have plugins for your Joomla Site

Selecting the right shopping cart shopping to sell your products online is a very important step to starting you online business. There are many products to choose from, some of which are free open source.

Zen Cart is a robust open sourced program, that can handle high volume.Zen has built in SEO capabilities and additional modules for Google Analytics and sitemap. Should your store require expanded management , there are affordable software management programs that are a big improvement over the admin interface of Zen Cart, allowing you to manage your store from your PC.

Read the entire post by George Susini of Raleigh Tech Web Design

George Susini provides information for the Small Business owner to start getting ready to setup your companies online store

Topics covered are:

• SEO and Marketing
• Website address and domain name
• What email accounts to use

Read the entire article by George Susini

Blogs are mainstream these days, and they have quickly become a very affordable marketing tool for businesses.

Benefits include:

• You can establish yourself as an expert
• Blogs give you a way to reach out to clients
• You can provide news, events, specials and other information
• You can offer technical support/documentation through your blog
• You can build a following

Read the entire Summary by George Susini

Planning in Web design, just as in any other design process, is essential. Not only does careful planning cut your development time considerably, but it makes it far easier to achieve a uniform look and feel for your Web site-making it friendlier and easier to use. This section briefly covers some of the basics of Web site design: what to focus on, what options to consider, and what pitfalls to avoid.

This road map from webassit will get you started in planning your new web site.

Read the entire article from webassist

George SusiniSimilar Posts:

• 10 ways Small Business can benefit from a professionally designed website

A content management system is software that keeps track of every piece of content on your Web site Content can be text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. A major advantage of using a CMS is that once it is setup and implemented it requires almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage. This enables the Small Business owner to easily add products, services or update their web site .

Content management systems can be used for

• Small Business Web sites or portals
• ecommerce or online selling
• Online magazines, newspapers, and publications
• Online reservations
• Non-profit and organizational Web sites
• Community-based portals
• School and church Web sites
• Personal or family homepages

Joomla is one of the most popular Content Management systemsSimilar Posts:

• George Susini | Joomla VirtueMart Affordable eCommerce for Small Business | George Susini

Google Page Ranking

Google utilizes a technique called page ranking to determine as one of the factors to determine organic search engine results for a website. Pages on your website that are believed to be important to Google, receive a higher page rank.

Do you know what the page rank of you small business web site is in Google and why is it important ?

The answer is pretty straight forward, the higher your web site ranks over your competitor, the higher your placement in the Google listings.While there are many other factors that contribute to you Google placement, page rank is very important.

So how do you check you page rank ?

Easy, download the Google toolbar, each site you visit it will tell you what the page rank of that site is in the center of the browser bar. This is an easy way for you to determine you competitors page ranking as well. Should you have a page rank of 0 or n/a, you will need to improve that ranking.

1. Save money on advertising! A website is easier and quicker to update than printed brochures and price lists. Its capacity is almost limitless, so you can provide more comprehensive information. You can also save money on printing and mailing costs by referring potential customers to your website.

2. Your business is open 24/7! Improve customer service by providing answers to frequently asked questions on your website. Sales and information requests can be processed automatically and immediately, whether there’s anyone in the office or not. Online forms can be used to allow customers to request quotations or ask for further information.

3. Set up an online shop – rents in cyberspace are much lower than they are in the real world! Providing secure online ordering is now affordable even for the smallest business.

4. Expand your market. If you want to trade internationally, or even nationally, and your customers have access to the internet, the Web may be the most cost-effective way to do it.

5. Gather information about your customers at minimal cost – using online surveys or simply analysing the traffic information collected by your web server can provide valuable information about who your online customers are and what they want.

6. Provide personalized information to individual customers based on their preferences. No other medium allows you to do this so cheaply. Your website can add value by providing something extra for your customers.

7. Get ahead of your competitors! If they don’t have websites yet – get in there first! If they do, study them and think of ways to make yours better!

8. Boost your image. For small businesses, a well-designed website is a great way of instilling trust, and looking professional and bigger than you are!

9. Keep in touch with existing customers by sending out a monthly HTML e-mail or e-newsletter. Announce new products or services or offer useful advice and industry advances to motivate customers for repeat sales or to upgrade their existing equipment.

10. Advertise your business. Think of your business website as an online brochure. What makes it different from the traditional print brochure is that your existing and potential customers can access it anytime and anywhere.

George Susini of Raleigh Tech – Web Design