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While there are several articles out there that talk about Search Engine Optimization in general, very few are tailored to web stores and eCommerce sites. While the basic concepts of SEO are similar, there are fundamental differences in the execution that are required. Over 10 years of building Ignify eCommerce, our focus has not been just to be an eCommerce transaction engine but to be a marketing engine that drives additional revenue for merchants. Hence our mantra – ‘Rev Up Your Revenue.’

Let’s be clear – Investing in Search Engine Optimization for an eCommerce merchant has one and only one primary reason – and that is higher revenue. However, revenue is a function of three factors. At a basic level – here is the formula:

Web Store Revenue = Web Traffic In Unique visitors X % Conversion Rate X Average Size of Order

So for example if my Average daily traffic is 1,000 visitors a day, my conversion rate is 1% and my average order size is $60 dollars then my average daily revenue is $600 (1000 X 1% X $60). Now let’s talk about how we can really Rev Up your Revenue. It’s a little obvious but I have to increase the numbers on all 3 counts. Each of these revenue drivers has different things that influence it though

#2 Revenue Driver – % Conversion Rate: This is a function of two things a. how easy the site is to buy from b. How attractive the products, pricing and promotions are for the end customer to make a purchase. Point a is effectively Usability and the shopping experience. For example in our store deployments we will typically enforce that the buy button is always much bigger in the check-out page than any other button.

#3 Revenue Driver – Average Size of Order: The most effective way to increase your average size of the order is to have great upsell and cross-sell. For example the merchandising functionality in Ignify eCommerce automatically recommends products to a customer based on what they have in the cart + past history of shoppers who have bought those products.

Let’s go back to our example – if I can increase my average daily traffic by 40%, double my conversion rate and increase my average order size by 20% – what does this do to my revenue? Incredibly – it actually more than triples revenue. ( 1,400 visitors per day X 2% conversion X $72 per order = $2016 per day Versus $600 per day prior to the Rev Up your Revenue formula).

In my next blog article, I will go into more details of how you can increase revenue by positively impacting each of these revenue drivers and more than double your revenue by following these simple tips.

Sandeep Walia is the Chief Executive Officer at Ignify. Ignify eCommerce is the only PCI certified eCommerce solution in the market that integrates with the Microsoft Dynamics ERP and Sage ERP solutions. Ignify has been included as the fastest growing business in North America for four years in a row by Deloitte, Inc Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine. Ignify was ranked in the Red Herring 100 finalists for 2010 – this list represents the top businesses in North America with disruptive and innovative technology.

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