I’ve been on haitus for the past two weeks or so, between ramping up for a go-live on one of our eCommerce sites and the holidays its been a bit tough to get in front of the blog. I’ll have more information soon regarding the new site just launched and some of the preliminary results of the beginnings of our SEO efforts. Stay tuned for more.

As an eCommerce Consulting firm, Blue Acorn strives to achieve success for eCommerce merchants by critically assessing the features, functionality, and performance of retail websites. From time to time, we will be randomly selecting websites to feature in our Website Reviews category. So, here is our disclaimer: The owners of these websites have not been solicited, contacted, or informed of their inclusion of these reviews unless specifically noted in the review itself. The review is neither an endorsement nor a discouragement of the website being reviewed.

These websites are chose at random (as we come across them) to be used as examples to illustrate a particular point - be it a positive example or a negative one. If you would like your website featured in a review, please feel free to submit your website using the form below. If your website has been a featured eCommerce Review and you have any concerns, please contact us to address them.

The intention of this website is to provide resources to eCommerce website owners and managers that cover a variety of topics that affect to the world of eCommerce retailing. Over time, we’ll be covering a number of issues both from a business and technical perspective that affect eCommerce merchants. Whether you’re a “do-it-yourself” eCommerce manager, a business just starting out in eCommerce, or an individual looking for tips and advice on how to improve your existing retail website. Among the topics we’ll be covering:

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Marketing & Public Relations (including PPC marketing, affiliate marketing, email marketing, search engine marketing, offline marketing, public relations strategies, and more)
• Technical Issues (including programming technologies, shopping cart functionality, custom development, etc.)
• Design (web design, usability design, conversion optimization, logo design)
• Integrations (integrating your eCommerce website with backend office systems for streamlined framework)
• Business Issues (legal issues, business strategies, competitive strategies)
• Online retail topics (order fulfillment, purchasing, customer service)
• and anything else having an effect on the world of eCommerce

Due to the variety of topics that affect Internet retailing, our objective is to collect, research, and analyze in-depth information regarding each of these topics, but present them to you in a format that’s easy to understand, and more importantly, easy to act on. And while the information presented here is targeted towards Internet retailers, much of the subject matter will prove helpful in other areas as well. So, just because you may not be an Internet retailer, don’t rule yourself out just yet.

If you don’t know much about SEO for example (or are confused by the wealth information that you may come across), there are already numerous blogs out there that do a great job in handling the intricate details of that practice. We are not here to replicate their work, but what we will do is provide our own insight, our own examples, and provide real life situations of the application of SEO. We’ve owned eCommerce websites, we’ve spent the countless hours every week for years researching these topics, and we’ve learned a LOT along the way! But what we’ll try to do is save you some time in your efforts, time is money and you can spend 40+ hours a week for weeks researching SEO alone - but that leaves little time for everything else that affects your business. Because of the many factors that affect eCommerce merchants, there are so many things to look at, but such little time to do it. And on top of that, the playing field is constantly changing, what may be in today is old news tomorrow. We’re going to stay on top of the trends, the technologies, what’s hot, and what’s not. And we’re going to share that with you. Why? Because we’re a fan of the underdog, the go-getter, the do-it-your selfer. We want to help businesses succeed.

You’ll find that our articles will range from very the very basic, to very detailed. We want to provide a resource to all eCommerce merchants, from start-ups to heavy hitters. We promise we won’t discriminate (except maybe if you’re Wal-Mart). But at the end of the day, if you’re an eCommerce merchant, we’re here to help you. So, sit back, absorb some information, and jump in if you have a question - and of course, thanks for reading!