11 Sites to Learn More About eCommerce

I got an interesting question this weekend that I thought would make a great post to share today. I was asked which sites I find useful for learning more about eCommerce, and I have a list of several that I enjoy reading and that consistently post good content.

We typically write articles that teach you to do more with your WordPress eCommerce site, or how to create the site you want. We’ve shown you:

• how to add custom order statuses or sales statuses
• how to effectively use affiliate marketing
• what you should know if you want to sell services with WordPress
• options available to create a membership site with WordPress
• which hosting companies you should consider and what features are needed
• which eCommerce platforms are available to use

While we sometimes write about tips to help improve conversions, create effective shipping methods, or A/B test your site, this isn’t the core focus of our content. There are enough strategies on improving shipping, marketing your products, and pricing that you could write about those topics exclusively and never run out of content.

Since there are a lot of sites that do just that, I figured I’d share my 11 favorite eCommerce sites, which provide excellent tips on improving your conversions and content, strategies for marketing, shipping, and design, and teach you about selling more effectively in general. Let’s start with my top 5, as I follow these more closely and find most of their content useful:

KISSmetrics provides excellent, details site analytics that are far easier to use (and better) than Google Analytics. The KISSmetrics blog is a fantastic source for research-based strategies and tips. They write about a broad range of topics, from design and testing to content and marketing strategies.

---

CrazyEgg is another product from Neil Patel, founder of KISSmetrics. It’s a great tool to analyze heatmaps on your site for improving conversions, and the CrazyEgg blog contains all sorts of tips on A/B testing and conversion optimization.

---

Andrew Youderian blogs about running an eCommerce business at eCommerce fuel. Andrew has started a successful dropshipping store (among other eCommerce ventures) that nets over $1 million in annual revenue, so he shares lessons he’s learned from running successful eCommerce businesses.

---

ConversionXL is run by Peep Laja, a conversion optimization specialist. The thing I love about these posts is that they’re research-backed and extensive — statistics are cited with real studies and examples, and the entire focus is on earning more with an existing eCommerce site.

---

Bootstrapping eCommerce is a site that I recently came across, so I haven’t read it as long as I have others. Shabbir posts helpful tips on eCommerce topics like marketing and shipping, but also writes a mix of tutorials for several eCommerce platforms, such as Bigcommerce and Shopify.

---

So what about the other 6 sites? I read the sites below, but not as often as the first five.

WooThemes consistently posts content on their blog about running an online store or using WordPress. Sometimes articles are mixed in about WooThemes product updates (such as Sensei or WooCommerce), but the rest are tips on running your store, information on helpful plugins, or case studies.

---

Practical Ecommerce has a pretty self-explanatory name 🙂 . Not every article will be useful or actionable, but it covers several different areas of running an eCommerce site, including marketing, reviewing different shopping cart platforms, using social media, optimizing for search engines, and others. More noise than the others but also a far higher volume of content.

---

Shopify is a massive hosted eCommerce platform, but you can still use it to sell with Shopify on a WordPress site. While the Shopify blog sometimes posts content specific to selling with Shopify, they also post a lot of general advice and some great case studies / research based on over 100,000 stores using the platform.

---

My Wife Quit Her Job is a blog run by Steve and Jennifer Chou and details what they’ve learned from running a 6-figure eCommerce store. The blog contains information on customer service, entrepreneurship, and case studies. I don’t find something new to learn / try from every post, but I do like the customer service stories that make you think about how you run your own store.

---

SteamFeed posts a ton of content on everything from SEO to design. If you want to pare down the amount of content you’re getting from the site, I’d recommend checking out the Sales & Marketing, Business, and Blogging content, as these are my favorite categories. There are usually solid tips that will keep you thinking about how you run your site and prompt you to constantly improve.

---

The PropelAd blog is focused on marketing for eCommerce stores. There are usually a couple of articles posted each week, and they include case studies, branding and marketing tips, as well as social media marketing and selling strategies.

---

Have some of your own favorites? I would love to hear about them if you have other eCommerce sites you enjoy reading!