Aren't they they same thing?
Well, yes and no, but mainly no.
Yes they are both on the web - so technically they are both websites but...
Stores have a product focus, it means that the traffic you will receive has to compete at a product level for a good Google ranking. That can be tough - can you imagine how many sites are selling things like cosmetics, electronics, everything?
A website is generally about content and information. A productive website should allow you to add content that relates to your business. Blogs/News/Commentary in particular are great ways to be listed for particular topics and for Google to start to see you as an authority within your field.
IMPORTANT POINT!
A lot of people search Google for the answers to questions - not just products. E.G. How to make bread?
If you're selling bread makers, then a few stories on bread making tips could be useful for getting relevant traffic to your site. If you just have products listed, your site is probably going to miss this traffic.
I'm not sure where I got bread making from, but you get my point....
Efront's Online Store System is a great start for product based rankings due to the built in Google optimisation. It means that store owners just need to focus on the external search engine optimisation tactics of quality inbound links while the online store engine takes care of quality page titles, meaningful keyword rich URLs, dynamic sitemaps and META data embeded within the HTML.
WHY NOT HAVE BOTH!
We've gone even further with our latest version of our online store which gives store owners the best of both worlds!
The new Efront Online Store has the same control over product management and sales but is now combined with an integrated content management system (CMS). This gives store owners the ability to add pages, blog stories or news items using the same "Efront Backstage" control system. The best part is, the store and CMS are both underpinned by the same search engine optimisation (SEO) system - so the technical bits of SEO are taken care of automatically.
KEY LEARNING
We've learnt if your site can help people solve a problem or give meaningful answers to a question, it not only helps build traffic - it can be the starting point for building a great relationship with your visitors and you'll have a much better chance of turning them into customers.
If you'd like to learn more just drop us a line or give us a call - we're web people you can talk to!
David
Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2008