Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and your NetSuite Webstore - NetSuite Webstores Part 3

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the simplest and most intuitive way to improve your website’s visibility in organic search engine results (ie, not through paid advertisements). It is a set of methods aimed at improving the ranking of a website in search engine listings. SEO includes using descriptive keywords and titles in content, ALT tags for images, header tags, META keywords and descriptions, as well as sitemaps, and can target different types of searches such as image search, local search, news search, industry-specific vertical search engines etc.

When creating content and updating your site, consider what exactly your products and/or messages are, and also consider which words or phrases a potential customer would use in order to search for this product or information in a search engine. Clear, descriptive, and accurate content makes it easy for the search engine to pick out content keywords and drive traffic to your site through descriptive searches.

With NetSuite, you can also set up alternative keywords that customers might use to search for items or categories in your web search. This takes into account predictable misspellings and synonyms for the item or content, and enables customers to find and purchase what they are looking for regardless of wording or spelling.

To set alternative search keywords in NetSuite:

1. Go to Web Site > Publishing > Items and select the desired item to set keywords for individual items, or go to Web Site > Publishing > Categories and select the desired category to enter keywords for categories.
2. For each item or category record, enter alternate keywords (ie, misspellings, synonyms, acronyms etc) in the Search Keywords field.

Now, if customers search using a keyword you have entered as an alternative, that item or information will be returned as though the customer had entered the item name.

Akin to providing alternate keywords in regards to simplicity and effectiveness, there are many tips you can follow to optimize your dynamic, NetSuite-generated website:

1. Enter META tag data for your site at Setup > Web Site > Set Up Web Site, and for your individual tabs, categories and items on their respective records using the META tag HTML field (this will require some basic HTML knowledge, or the use of a META tag generator).
   *It should be noted that the META description is NOT used for ranking, but is typically used as the snippet of text that the search engine displays (it is wise to write this like ad copy since this can be the difference between someone clicking through or not)
2. Use the Page Title field on all tabs, categories and items to include a descriptive title of what is included on that page.
3. Name your site tabs using keywords that define what can be found on that tab. For example, avoid the generic labeling of “Products” and use a more descriptive tab name such as “NetSuite Products” etc.
4. Add ALT-text to website images by going to Web Site > Files > Images, selecting Edit next to the image that you want to add ALT-text for and enter the text you would like to appear on mouse-over into the ALT Tag Caption field. Do not forget to save. This is a useful tip when dealing with web store images, and can help improve search engine ranking (in the images section of search engines as well).
5. Use the Descriptive URL feature in NetSuite to construct the URLs for pages in your website using tab, category, and item names. Using descriptive URLs for your item and category pages will make their locations more memorable for customers and helps to achieve better ranking in search engines.

The default format for descriptive URLs is www.SITENAME.com/Item-Name, but can also include the parent category and tab for the item (ie, www.SITENAME.com/Parent-Category/Tab/Item-Name).

To set descriptive URLs in NetSuite:

• An Administrator can enable to Descriptive URLs feature at Setup > Company > Enables Features > Web Presence
• To quickly set your existing tabs, categories, and items to use their display names in their URLs, go to Setup > Web Site > Bulk Set URL Components

• To use URLs that also use parent categories and tabs, go to Setup > Web Site > Set Up Web Site > Advanced. In the Item Drilldown URL Form field, select /tab-name/category-name/item-name
  

*If you publish the same item in more than one place on your website, the default format you choose here is used in addition to the alternate format. This is to achieve better results in search engines.

• You can manually set URL components for individual or new tabs, categories, or items, by going to the record you want to edit and change the name in the URL Component field.
• NetSuite automatically redirects previous URLs to the new descriptive URLs using 301 directs, however it should be noted that the descriptive URLs are case-sensitive and when creating links to item pages with them, you must match the case of the URL component in order for the page to open.

*Note that you must have a domain set up at Set Up > Web Site > Set Up Domains to enable any of these features.

Furthermore, all sites (not just NetSuite generated websites) can benefit from the following SEO tips:

• Keep relevant text and links in HTML rather than graphics; search engines can’t always search for text within graphics.
• Regularly change content and update META tags; search engines bring up sites with the most recent information for a keyword. use the keywords that you enter as META tags frequently in the content of your site; this shows that the keywords are very relevant to the content of your site.
• Include links to relevant, related websites
• Submit your URL, keywords, and an XML sitemap to search engines

Most of these search engine optimization tactics are fairly simple, and can be very effective if done correctly. NetSuite provides the tools to easily, efficiently, and effectively optimize your NetSuite website with a few simple steps.

Like this post? Check out the other parts of the Netsuite Webstore blog series:

Part 1 - Using NetSuite eCommerce as a Content Management System (CMS)

Part 2 - Adding Information Items with Pictures and Forms

NetSuite Component for Talend Data Integration

I recently discovered a new component within Talend, tNetsuiteInput. Prior to this components existence, it was necessary to build our own code to pull information from NetSuite in order to send it to other systems. With this solution, it has become far easier to fetch information, thus saving an incredible amount of time and effort. Here is the step by step explanation on how to use the component.

First, you need to open your Talend Integration Suite (or Open Studio) to gain access to a job design. Once there, click the “Talend Exchange” tab that is used to get components from the Talend communities. Under that tab, select the “Refresh” button, this will list the components available from the Talend Exchange (Note: be sure that the Talend studio filter is set to 4.1). To quickly find the component, type “tNetsuiteInput” in the find field and press enter.

There it is! Simply click on the green “Install Component” arrow and it will install the component automatically.

Now that the installation step is done, you can set your preferences. Select from the list of components on the right hand side of the screen; Business --> NetSuite --> tNetsuiteInput. If you go to the Basic Settings on the component, you can change the credential to set the Netsuite WebService URL that you use such as, https://webservices.netsuite.com/services/NetSuitePort_2009_2, the username, the password, the role, and the account number.

Now the fun begins. Select the record type that you wish to fetch the information for. For this purpose, let’s choose an easy one, a Customer record. Select fields from the schema that you want to get information for.

Let’s choose Internal Id, External Id, Email, Entity Id and Company Name. Set as many criterion as you need. In this case, I set a specific customer id to only get one result. If you want to see the results of your search, I suggest that you add a “tLogRow” component so you can see the results in a table view.

Give it a try! We would love to hear your feedback on the component. Feel free to contact us and let us know your thoughts, www.erpguru.com/contactus

Adding Information Items with Pictures and Forms - NetSuite Webstores Part 2

The visual bread and butter of any website is its content. Well-formatted content with images and visual aids helps to create a content-rich and visually dynamic site. NetSuite makes this simple with a WYSIWYG editor (including an optional HTML view), perfect for creating content and media rich information items. Text and image information items in NetSuite allow you to blend information and media together using a simple input form.

To create a Text and Image information item:

1. Go to Website > Publishing > Information Items > New
2. Select “Text and Image” as the type (although there is little difference from the Formatted Text type, as both have the option to include media, as well as the WYSIWYG editor)
   
3. Enter a name in the field at the top of the page. This should be the name that you want your information item to appear as.
4. On the Basic sub-tab, enter brief and detailed item descriptions. These descriptions can include letters, numbers, basic punctuation, as well as basic HTML codes such as bolding, bulleted lists, and underlines (these are also easily inserted using the WYSIWYG editor - to insert HTML manually toggle the input area between the Formatted Text and HTML Source Code options).
   
   
   

NOTE: If you would like the item to be featured on the site, select the Featured Item checkbox and enter a featured description.

5. 5. Select one or more categories under which you would like this item to appear.

6. 6. Click the Media sub-tab (located right beside the Basic sub-tab).

7. Select images in the Item Thumbnail and Item Picture fields.

TIP: NetSuite allows you to set default sizes for images under Setup > Other Setup > Image Resizing. Files must be marked as available externally in the File Cabinet in order to be displayed on your website. All files uploaded into the Images folder are available externally by default.

8. Click “Save”; your website should update automatically. If you do not see your changes right away, this is more than likely due to the fact that NetSuite servers clear their cache at set times.

To add pictures to an existing information item, you would go through the same actions. Select the Media sub-tab, add images in the Item Thumbnail and Item Picture fields and finally save the information item so that it updates automatically.

Similarly to information items, adding forms to your site is a great way to increase interactivity, improve customer experience, and make communications from customer to company very simple. NetSuite offers five form options: Email Form, Search Form, Case Form, Customer Form and File Download with Online Form.

Before publishing forms, you must first create the form with the fields that you intend to use. To do so, navigate to Setup > Other Setup > Online Customer Forms > New. You have the option of using either a Default Form Template or a Custom HTML template (this is discretionary - for the custom HTML template simply upload the HTML file you wish to use). Once you have created a new form you will be able to give it a title and select the fields that you wish to include. Save your form; you will then be able to publish it to the website.

To publish your new form, go to Website > Publishing > Publish Forms > New. You will then have to choose which type of form you wish to publish, and fill out the starred fields (these differ based on the type of form you wish to create). Save to publish.

Adding information items with images as well as forms is an easy way to make your content visually appealing and interactive for customers. With NetSuite you have a variety of easy-to-use options designed to make these additions as simple and comprehensive as possible.


Check out the other parts of the Netsuite Webstore blog series:

Part 1 - Using NetSuite eCommerce as a Content Management System (CMS)

July: Tips & Tricks

1-Choose which Countries you ship to

It is possible to limit which countries you ship to (ie, if you are unable to ship to a specific location.) To do so:

1. Navigate to Setup > Website > Set Up Web Site > New
2. Select the Shopping tab
3. Deselect the “Web Store Ships to All Countries” check box
4. In the “Countries Web Store Ships to” drop-down list, select whichever countries customers are able to have their items shipped to. Use [ctrl] + click to select multiple countries.
5. Click “Save”

2 - Enabling Terms and Conditions

For some businesses, it may be necessary to set Terms and Conditions with regards to return policies, contract details or warranty information. This feature can be enabled in NetSuite to ensure that your customers agree to the terms before they submit an order.

To set this up:

1. Navigate to Setup->Web Site->Set up Web Site
2. Select the Shopping Tab
3. In the “Review & Submit Page” section, check the “Require Terms and Conditions” checkbox.
4. Paste the HTML of your company’s legal terms and conditions into the box.
5. Click "Save"

3 -Unable to find that field or option?

Sometimes you will see different settings depending on which role you’re using in NetSuite. There are also differences between standard and custom forms, features that may not be enabled in your account, or specific customizations available through add-ons.

If you can’t find an option and you have the permission to do so, you may have an option just below your tabs in the top-left of the screen, to select “Customize” and change the available fields in a form. Voila!

Using NetSuite eCommerce as a Content Management System (CMS)

There are multiple aspects to an ecommerce business: account management, inventory management, warehouse management, customer relationship management (CRM) as well as innumerous spreadsheets and paper systems. There are many software packages and programs designed to address each of these aspects individually. This multiple-program approach can be immensely overwhelming to manage and frankly, trying to consolidate information across three or four different software programs is neither practical nor sustainable, particularly if a company experiences a growth cycle.

NetSuite eCommerce provides a single solution business application to manage and grow your ecommerce businesses. A single system with a range of functionality, it includes all the elements required in the modern business, including fully integrated applications for ecommerce, marketing, order management, inventory and accounting. These integrated applications involve specialized features such as up-sell and cross-sell configuration, secure registration, partner management for B2B, promotional tools, back-office inventory, and many others to provide the most cohesive, transparent and effective management tools possible.

Specifically, NetSuite’s web hosting and content management option provide the simple functionality to create and customize multiple websites from a single integrated account. The ability to upload custom style sheets and HTML pages allows for a range of freedom in the look and feel of your ecommerce site, and with the CMS features available, even the non-computer-savvy can add simple updates like custom forms and images. Some of the CMS features include:

• Ability to manage product lists, images, product availability, languages and more easily with NetSuite's powerful database-driven capabilities
• Host your own customized HTML pages using NetSuite's customizable publishing tools
• Quickly make changes to your site—just type in the content and select images
• Upload your own style sheets and tailor site elements such as headers, footers, tab bars, sidebars, buttons and content wrappers
• Create personalized content and pricing for each customer: display different items, pricing and content to different customers based on their price level, customer grouping or purchase history
• Help your visitors get to relevant content instantly with NetSuite's built-in site search.

From a practical standpoint, the vertical and horizontal process integration capabilities are a huge catalyst for increasing efficiency, smoothing process links, and promoting clear and precise information connections between different sections of the company. The benefits of this are huge, specifically from an operational perspective; less time spent connecting programs and piecing together information means that more time can be spent promoting and selling product. Ideally, single Content Management Systems are formulated to make web maintenance simple; NetSuite eCommerce is formulated to make your entire ecommerce operation as simple and cohesive as possible.

For more information on NetSuite eCommerce and Content Management System, visit ERP Guru.