www.miogps.net Build a Niche Store Site Review

August 30, 2007 | 19 Comments

Since this is the first Build a Niche Store site review for one of our readers, I will likely get into some detailed descriptions of each section. The goal of these reviews is for the BANS community to grow as a whole and realize success with each site. Please keep in mind that the suggestions below are only what I would do to further develop a BANS store, from its already strong, “Out of the Box” capabilities.

Build a Niche Store Site: www.miogps.net
Target Niche: GPS Products
Date Reviewed: 08/29/2007
By: Mark Hansen

Overall Score: 5 out of 10 (10 being the best)

• Domain Name: 9
  (This would have been a 10 if it were +1 years old, and strictly focused on the Mio brand GPS systems)
• Use of Keyword Meta Tags: 3
• Use of Description Meta tag: 3
• Use of Targeted Articles and Information: 8
• BANS Default Menu Optimization: 0
• Niche-Specific: 6

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Popularity: 5% [?]

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Change the Default eBay listing logo to Promote Sign-Ups!

August 29, 2007 | 18 Comments

Promote eBay Signups with your BANS Store! (Skill - 2) 

In the setup process of your Build a Niche Store, you have the option of displaying the eBay logo on all your page listings. In general, it is the standard eBay logo and you can see it by turning the feature on.

I decided to upload a different eBay logo as you see above, and go into the code that controls the display section and add the referral tracking code to the FrontControl.php file

Disclaimer - ALWAYS make a backup of any of your BANS pages before making changes. If something goes wrong, you can just save it back in one minute and have your store running while you correct the issue!

How Can you do This?
First, right-click on the above ebay image and choose “Save Picture As” and save into your /themes/yourtheme/images/ folder. (Change the “yourtheme” portion with the name of the theme you are using) After you have it saved, upload it to your server with the ftp program.

Now that the image is on your server, open your /cont/FrontControl.php file and scroll to about line: 345, you will see function logodisplay() code. Find the section that has:

•  $f = ”
  <img src=”.URL_PATH.” mce_src=”.URL_PATH.”/themes/”.$temp.”/images/ebay.gif>
  “;

Replace with: (Replace the PID to your CJ PID number)
Download this text file

• $f = “<a href=’http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-1751-2978-71/1?AID=5463217&PID=000000&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fscgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FRegisterEnterInfo%26_trksid%3Dm37′ target=_blank>
   <img src=”.URL_PATH.” mce_src=”.URL_PATH.”/themes/”.$temp.”/images/ebay.jpg border=0></a>
   ”;

Save the file, upload it to your server… turn on your new eBay referral link!

Popularity: 14% [?]

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Add a Trackback link to each Page of your BANS Site

August 28, 2007 | 12 Comments

Add a Link-Back to the Bottom of your Store (Skill : 4)
The whole reason behind the link back is for search engine spiders. One of the methods I have used for years is to try and get the FIRST and LAST bit of text a spider reads, in line with the meta and content of the page itself.  When the opportunity presents itself to have the LAST bit of text in the form of a perma-link, or link back to the same page… why not invite the spider to that info as well?

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Popularity: 17% [?]

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Change the Default Build a Niche Store Link

August 28, 2007 | 1 Comment

Change the Default Store Link (Skill : 2)
As you navigate you live BANS site and click on one of your main categories - you will notice the main link to return to the parent category is listed as “Catalog Home“. This link really tells nothing about the site, so you may want to change it to something more descriptive, that represents what you parent menu is about! For instance… if your site is about “Blue Widgets” why not change the default “catalog home” to “Blue Widgets Home”.

How to do it!
In the cont/ folder of the BANS site, open the “FrontControl.php” file and look around line number 1057 or search for the string: “function getMainParent” Within the getmainparent function, you will see a line that calls the parent url path: “$f .= “<strong><a href=”.URL_PATH.” mce_href=”.URL_PATH.” class=navlink>Catalog Home</a></strong><br>”;”

Change the “Catalog Home” portion to something more fitting!

Save your file, upload it to your server - Done!

Popularity: 2% [?]

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Questions and Answers about Build a Niche Store

August 26, 2007 | 11 Comments

There has been quite a few emails lately from Build a Niche Store users. Some of the most common questions are listed below with very general answers. If you have other questions about BANS - feel free to ask!

Q: How much time does it take to install a Build a Niche Store site?
A: Assuming you already have the domain name registered, installing the BANS script to a site can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. I have the ability on my server to keep a default copy in a unpublished folder. When I add the domain to my hosting account, I simply copy the ghost directory over to the new BANS address structure and start the install.

Q: How do you track sales for each Build a Niche Store site?
A: During the setup of the site, I use a unique PID for each different site. This allows me to track sales through commission junction at the site level. Go into your CJ account, and add a new website. Once you have described and categorized your site, a unique PID is generated., but it is still related to your primary account. Use the unique SITE level PID for each BANS store.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

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