We are glad to announce the release of two new extensions versions – Ultimate SEO Suite 1.1 and Blog 1.0.21. The point here is that now URLs from Blog will get in the sitemap and Google sitemap. Moreover, since version 1.1 the Ultimate SEO Suite extension counts the quantity and size not only of product and CMS pages but the Blog URLs as well.

You can find the updated versions of the extensions on the Ultimate SEO Suite, Blog – Community Edition and Blog – Enterprise Edition pages.

Stasia News, Updates Blog, Ultimate SEO Suite

SEO is the ongoing process of structuring web pages so that they are found, read, and indexed by various search engines in the most effective manner possible. The better optimized the page is, the higher ranking it will obtain in major search engine results. To be on the first pages and, thereby, get the highest traffic – isn’t that you are aiming at?

URL rewriting is one of the ways how you can optimize your site for search engines. As you know, the feature of SEO-friendly URLs has been already implemented in our Product Questions v.1.3, but it was greatly improved in the just released minor version.

Now, if you enable the URL rewrite option, the “-question” will be added to the product page link, e.g. http:// example.com/cell-phones/nokia-questions.html. It looks more friendly for search engines and memorable for your store visitors, isn’t it?

You can look how this new option works in our demo on the Product Questions page.

Stasia News, Updates Extensions, Product Questions

If your site has similar or even identical content accessible through multiple URLs, it can be defined as duplicate content. Search engines penalize such websites by clearing them up. To avoid such unwanted problem, use the Ultimate SEO Suite extension which adds a small piece of code (i.e. canonical links) to the head of each product page. Thus search engines will know the preferred URL that the duplicate content refers to.

Duplicate content is one of the biggest headaches for every SEO expert. Even if there are two different URLs for one page, the search engine is never definite which page to show on this or that keyword, which page to give the PageRank to, and which page to consider as the main. Eventually, it divides the authority and page rank on its own what makes the page you are trying to promote far enough in the search listings.

Identical content can seriously hurt your website page rankings, but using the Ultimate SEO Suite extension you can reduce the amount of duplication. When crawling and indexing your site, search engines adopt canonical URLs and single out the main among the duplicate pages. In other words, if there are two different URLs for one page, a canonical tag implemented by the extension tells the robots which page it should promote. This gives you more control over the URL returned in search results.

You don’t have to optimize the functionality of your website, eliminate self-created duplicate content, or change the code – just use the power of canonization.

With the Ultimate SEO Suite extension you get:

• Canonical URL at the head section of the product page
  The extension adds rel=”canonical” URL’s to the head of your product pages what allows search engines to avoid crawling the same page more than once.
• Canonical URLs in sitemap
  The usage of canonical URLs in your sitemap is the best insurance that the pages you want will be found and indexed by search engines bots.
• Canonical URLs in Google sitemap
  Submit automatically generated canonical URLs to Google – allow this search engine to crawl and index your site more intelligently.

 



 

• Ability to split Google sitemap
  Google accepts only up to 50’000 URLs per sitemap or a file size of 10MB – rather inconvenient for large websites. The Ultimate SEO Suite extension allows you to split your sitemap into smaller more manageable files that get approved by Google.
• Google sitemap images support
  If you allow including images in your sitemap, Google indexes these images and adds them to the image search attracting more traffic to your site.

 



 

• Auto-change to canonical URLs
  The extension automatically replaces short product URLs with canonical URLs all over the store. You can either leave default categories used in the canonical URL or easily change them for every product.

 



 

• Complete multi-store support
  Don’t worry if you are running a multistore – with this aheadWorks extension you can easily set different canonical links for every product for each store view.

Please, find more information on the Ultimate SEO Suite page.

Note: the extension is compatible with Enterprise Edition 1.8 and Community Edition 1.4.1.0

Stasia News Extensions, Ultimate SEO Suite

On June 13, Magento have released the 1.4.1.0 version of the Community Edition. As we always try to keep our extensions up-to-date, we worked strenuously and have finally managed to make all of them compatible with this version. Moreover, we released new extensions packages compatible with Magento Enterprise Edition 1.8.

In general, during the last month there were tens of releases – minor and major, bug-fixing and feature-added. Every our extension has been improved, but today we’d like to concentrate your attention on the most meaningful updates and new extensions only.

Promotion of the Month

Only during this week you have a chance to get our new extension – Video Testimonials – with 35% off! Besides the discount, you get the opportunity to upload your service/product demonstrations, allow your customers to post their own video, and promote your site in YouTube.

Just add Video Testimonials to cart (either Community or Enterprise Edition) and use the following coupon code:

VIDT35OFF

The Video Testimonials cost (for CE): $83.85 (Original price: $129.00, you save $45.15)

The Video Testimonials cost (for EE): $317.85 (Original price: $489.00, you save $171.15)

Hurry up! You have only 7 days to save 35% — the offer lasts till July 20, 2010!

Updated Extensions

Subscriptions and Recurring Payments v.1.4 – configurable products support

The Subscriptions and Recurring Payments extension from aheadWorks Co. adds a host of features to native Magento capabilities so that you can accept recurring payments and sell subscription products more easily and efficiently.

You can find more about this aheadWorks extension on the Subscriptions and Recurring Payments page.

Search Autocomplete and Suggest v.2.0.1 – core enhancement

Search Autocomplete and Suggest makes it simple for your customers to find exactly what they need. With customizable search item layout, product thumbnail dimension, search delay, header & footer of the search result list, etc. you can make searching more convenient, quick, and easy.

View the complete list of new features on the Search Autocomplete and Suggest page.

AJAX Cart Pro v.2.1.1 – with Subscriptions and Recurring Payments support

The AJAX Cart Pro extension effectively removes those annoying page reloads that frequently occur when users click “add to cart” and “delete from cart” options from category, product Compare Products or Wishlist pages. Instead of reloading, items are added instantly with appealing animation effects, and the confirm dialog box is automatically closed after defined time.

You can find all new features added on the AJAX Cart Pro page.

Product Questions v.1.3.1 – with Advanced Newsletter integration

Product Questions lets your potential customers ask you product-related questions on the product page itself. And moreover, the Advanced Newsletter extension support allows them to subscribe to newsletter segments exactly from the “Ask a question” form.

You can view the complete changelog on the Product Questions page.

Stasia Newsletter, Updates Extensions

In search of effective ways of product advertising and introduction, you can come across various ideas – either outdated and hackneyed or new and progressive. It has been already said and written a lot about time-proved, popular methods. So let’s consider the spin-ups, namely video testimonials – short video clips demonstrating products’ features, your services provided, and whatever else.

We have found this idea really valuable and decided to give Magento-based store owners an opportunity to use it on their sites. We have thoroughly learnt this way of information presentation and come to the conclusion that video testimonials should serve several purposes at once:

1. Product demonstration
Item introductions bring items to life. It is the key element while selling your products as it demonstrates their capabilities and the best features. One video can easily replace or supplement the many-lines description as it possesses the strong effect of visualization clarity.

2. Service demonstration
A video is an effective way of demonstrating the service your company provides. A creative, vivid, truly absorbing promo video influences watchers’ emotions (and – as consequence – decisions) much stronger than verbal description. It has been well said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

3. Express customers’ impressions
Testimonials are quotations from satisfied customers and clients. Let people tell of their experience with your products and post their own video testimonials for the others to see. Potential customers are really interested about already-triers’ experience.

4. Promote your store in YouTube
YouTube is one of the biggest and most popular video-sharing sites on the web. A possibility to make video from your site available on YouTube as well means the constant flow of new-comers to your store – people will search video clips and come across you and your site.

5. Increase sales
Whether you upload video introductions by yourself or allow your customers to do it, the “WOW” factor produces an indelible impression on prospective customers, makes your site memorable and sets you apart from the competition.

Having analyzed the information collected and singled out the key features required, we implemented them in the newly released Video Testimonials extension.

If you want to know how all the above-mentioned goals can be achieved with this aheadWorks module, please visit the Video Testimonials page where you can read detailed description, watch screenshots and try how the extension works as if it had been installed on your store.

Stasia News Extensions, Video Testimonials

We are glad to announce that today AJAX Cart Pro v.2.1 has been released. In the new version, a feature of Configurable timer to close pop-up confirmation dialog has been implemented. It means that now you can define after what time the confirm dialog box will be automatically closed.

Since version 2.1 AJAX Cart Pro has expanded its “sphere of activity” – now this aheadWorks extension works on the Compare Products and Wishlist pages as well. Thus having compared products or having gone to the My Wishlist page, customers can add appealing items to cart and avoid additional pages loading.

Moreover, a minor bug has been fixed and now downloadable products are added correctly on Shopping Cart page.

Please, find the latest version of AJAX Cart Pro on the extension page.

Stasia News, Updates AJAX Cart Pro, Extensions

With the Video Testimonials extension both you and your customers can easily upload video from your computer or YouTube exactly on the product page. Provide your store with additional video and audio information – product demonstrations, services supplied, sales promotions etc., and let your customers share their impressions of the items bought!

Video Testimonials is the next, innovative step in the advertising development. People are fed up with traditional ad – it is obtrusive and annoying. Testimonial is more reliable – nothing is more reassuring than customer’s obvious endorsement of a product or service. Let your customers say good things about you and your products – it looks more persuasive than when you do it yourself.

Video Testimonials are really attention-getting – people are curious about other customers’ personal experience, and would rather click-and-watch a video than surf store pages. Let your customers tell of their experience with your products and thereby make your store content more appealing!

The Video Testimonials extension keeps your site always updated. Videos can be easily added and rated, so there’s always something new about the product. A constant fresh stream of new videos gives an aura of newness even if nothing else changes.

The more video testimonials are uploaded in your store, the more socially proved it seems to be, and the fewer factors can influence sales resistance. If come-at-first-time people see customers admiring your products, all the uncertainty just self-eliminates.

Moreover, with Video Testimonials you can promote your store in YouTube – all the videos uploaded in your site automatically appear on YouTube under your store account. People find your video when searching for them and visit your site giving you a free permanent flow of traffic.

The Video Testimonials extension offers you a number of powerful features:

• Easy and fast 2-way video uploading
  Both customers and admin can upload video from computer or YouTube exactly on the product page.

 



 

• YouTube API usage
  All videos uploaded in your store are available on YouTube as well.
• Flexible extension settings
  Define which customer groups are able to upload video, whether it will be shown immediately or after admin’s approval, and make Video Testimonials block shown on certain product pages only.

 



 

• Rating system
  An ability to rate testimonials allows displaying the most popular videos in the first turn.

Please, find more information on the Video Testimonials page.

Note: the extension is compatible with Enterprise Edition 1.8 and Community Edition 1.4.1

Stasia News Extensions, Video Testimonials

The Blog extension from aheadWorks is reckoned among the best buzz and word of mouth marketing tips. It not only provides your regular customers with up-to-date information but brings additional visitors to your site, builds relevant SEO-friendly text links, and serves as assistance in building sales strategy.

A blog gives you a noteworthy opportunity to communicate with your regular customers and casual visitors. With the Blog module you can create an interactive two-way communication platform to provide official information on your store news, upcoming products, promotions, and get customers’ feedback.

Blogging has proved to be called one of the best effective marketing tactics. If your customers feel that they are listened to and their needs are responded to, they are more likely to come back to your store again and again.

Want to learn more about your customers’ choices, views, and preferences? Just let people leave comments and listen what they say! Being a part of the blog community, your customers will openly exchange their thoughts and express their opinions. A blog, with its readers and their comments, forms a real “live” environment where people feel free to communicate.

aheadWorks is happy to announce that Blog has become compatible with Magento Enterprise 1.8 and now you can set up Blog – Enterprise Edition or Blog – Community Edition on your store.

Stasia News, Updates Blog, Extensions

Today we have hot news for those website owners who run their online stores on Magento Enterprise. We are ready to announce that the majority of our extensions are now fully compatible with Enterprise Edition 1.8.

Several major versions of the following modules have been released:

Subscriptions and Recurring Payments v.1.4 – with configurable products support.

Search Autocomplete and Suggest v.2.0 – with customizable search item layout, product thumbnail dimension, search delay, header & footer of the search result list and much more.

AJAX Cart Pro v.2.0 – with Subscriptions and Recurring Payments extension support.

In order to give every Enterprise-based store owner an opportunity to maximize the potential of his website, we have released a number of minor updates compatible with Magento Enterprise 1.8:

Home Tabs Pro v.1.0.1

Automatic Product Callouts v.1.0.2

Previous/Next v.1.0.2

Easy Categories v.1.0.3

Advanced Reviews v.1.1.1

Product Questions v.1.3.1

On Sale v.2.1.3

Z-Blocks v.2.2.1

Featured Products v.2.2.6

Checkout Promo v.1.1.1

Who Bought This Also Bought v.1.1.2

Advanced Menu v.2.0.2

Review Rotator v.1.2.4

Follow Up Email v.3.2.1

Refer a Friend v.1.3.4

Customer Purchases v.1.2.1

Advanced Newsletter v.1.3.1

Frequently Bought Together v.1.1.9

Delivery Date and Notice v.1.0.1

Product Updates Notifications v.1.1.3

Help Desk Ultimate v.2.6.1

The list of compatible extensions is constantly increasing, so you will be able to set up any of aheadWorks modules for your Enterprise-based store in the nearest future.

Stasia News, Updates Extensions

It is high time for aheadWorks Co. to provide you with regular overview of our last month’s achievements. We did our best to perfect the quality of our products developed for Magento platform. We are glad to admit that our efforts have been estimated at their true worth by Zend Technologies – the leading provider of products and services for developing, deploying and managing PHP applications:

Zend has been using the Follow-up email extension for a few months now. By utilizing the abandoned cart email feature, we managed to bring a significant amount of lost sales back to the store. The extension is easy to install and easy to use and the support is timely and helpful. Good work, aheadWorks!

Nili Gafni
Marketing Programs Manager
Online store & Website
Zend Technologies

And now YOU get a chance to learn all the advantages of this module at a special price!

Promotion of the Month

Due to the growing popularity of the Follow Up Email extension, we are delighted to offer you this module at a discount of 35%. Enhance interaction with your customers and gain perfect tracking capabilities – create your personal strategy of customer care and support.

Just add Follow Up Email to cart and use the following coupon code:

FUE70OFF2010

The Follow Up Email cost: $129.00 (Original price: $199.00, you save $70.00)

Don’t hesitate to make a good buy — the offer lasts till July 12, 2010!

Updated Extensions

Previous/Next v.1.0.1 – multistore support

The Previous/Next extension allows visitors to seamlessly navigate between Product pages with a single click and then come back to the Category page only when necessary. The multistore support implies that the extension works with reference to product settings for separate store view and displays proper product names for each store view instead of the default value of the item title.

Please visit the Previous/Next page to find more information.

Subscriptions and Recurring Payments v.1.3 – new product types and payment methods support

The Subscriptions and Recurring Payments extension from aheadWorks Co. adds a host of features to native Magento capabilities so that you can accept recurring payments and sell subscription products more easily and efficiently.

To find the whole list of supported product types and payment methods, visit the Subscriptions and Recurring Payments page.

On Sale v.2.1.2 – bug fix release

The On Sale extension allows users to add visually-appealing labels to any product images. The labels can then be displayed in both the product and catalog views.

If you want to learn more about On Sale, visit the extension page.

Market Segmentation Suite v.1.1 – speed and performance considerable increase

Market Segmentation Suite offers you a powerful and sophisticated targeted selling platform so that you can plan and execute your marketing and merchandising strategies with pinpoint accuracy.

Find more on the Market Segmentation Suite page.

Advanced Reports v.2.0.7 – bug fix release

Improve the functionality of native Magento reports and create a complete picture of your business situation with the Advanced Reports extension! It’s the perfect solution for all your reporting needs whether you want to display data from various charts, aggregate information by week or anything else.

Need more information? Find it on the Advanced Reports page.

That was a brief review of our updated extensions. We are always happy to get all kinds of feedback. If you need a new feature in our product or some extension — just let us know — it has good chances to be implemented.

Stasia Newsletter, Updates Extensions