How to create and manage categories in Magento

In order to create a new category for your products, go to your Magento admin area > Catalog > Manage Categories. On the left you will see the available categories (if any) and above them you will see two options - Add Root Category and Add Subcategory. Since we have the Magento data installed, we have several categories. Let's create a new subcategory of the root category by clicking Root Catalog and then Add Subcategory.

You should fill in its Name and Description, add an image, fill in some Meta data for search engines, set it as Active so that it appears on your front page and include it in the Navigation Menu.

The last option is URL key, which, if set, will be used in the links to this category. This is useful for SEO purposes - when sites are indexed, it is considered a plus to have as many relative keywords as possible in the URL. If the category is called "PC", you may want to set this field to "personal-computers" to include two additional keywords in the link.

These are the General Information settings for the category. From the 3 other tabs available you can also manage:

• Display Settings - here you can set category Display Mode, its CMS block, whether it is Anchor (i.e. whether or not it should inherit the products in its subcategories) and the product listing sorting options;
• Custom Design - from this tab you can select the design for this category, as well as its layout;
• Category Products - this tab allows you to add existing products to the category

When you are done with your new category, click Save to create it.

How to add a category image in Magento

Adding a Magento category image is simple. From the Magento admin area > Catalog > Manage Categories select the category which you want to add an image to. Then click the General Information tab and click Browse next to the Image field.

Locate the image you want to set for this category on your computer and then click Save Category to save it. The image will appear as a small thumbnail next to the Image field. You can also upload a thumbnail image for the category.

How to list all available categories in Magento

If you want to get a list of all available Magento categories, go to your Magento admin area > Catalog > Manage Categories. From the Categories menu on the left click Expand All and your whole category tree will be displayed.

7 Common Mistakes While Building Online Ecommerce Stores

Are you running a digital online store or planning to go for eCommerce Store Development? If that is the case, then you must be aware of these dumb mistakes which can ruin your profit-making and popular eCommerce store. The number of online stores is rising, but with these soaring numbers we all see a lot of sites making similar fundamental errors. These errors cause poor user experience, eventually decreasing the number of booming sales going through your online shop.

Moreover, none of the online store is flawless, particularly when it first goes on a live mode. No matter even if you pick an apparently the best or comprehensive eCommerce solution, challenges are bound to be faced. Still, the set of common "Mistakes" that most of the companies' merchandizing goods and services online frequently do, are listed down.

Avoid Below Pitfalls While Building Online eCommerce Stores.

Lack of Research

Do not ever forget, that commencing any new business needs a lot of research. Whether it's a retail store or an online store – a meticulous research should be carried out to gain details about the behavior, habits and preferences of your target audience. Always keep in mind the in eCommerce technology is never a problem; it's the selling which is BACK-BREAKER. However, poor or no research might lead to disappointment and anxiety when nothing sells from your store. So better research well!

Selecting Wrong eCommerce Shopping Cart

Think and research properly before you choose any eCommerce Shopping Cart, don't just select the first cart that you think would be sufficient. It is advisable to consider everything from the functionality needs, feature requirements, budget, integration requirements and requirement of Customizability to design/theme needs. Do not worry; you can get a holistic support from an experienced Ecommerce Developer, who can also personalize your needs.

Fake Product Descriptions

The elaborated product description is a common cardinal "SIN" online store owners make. It is very important to provide correct and comprehensive product description without copying the manufacturers' description for the product.

No Easy Access to Contact Page

Contact pages should be made easy to find. Consumers will not get confidence to buy products from your website, unless they are sure that they can contact someone with questions or in the case something goes wrong. You might Look Spam if you do not evidently mention your office number or e-mail. Thus, contact page should be easily accessible with all the necessary contact details.

Poorly Loading Sites

Several eCommerce shopping carts take a lot of time before visitors are even able to see them. This Problem occurs generally due to Bad Design or since the owner makes use of a slow server. It is also an important factor for the search engines, so build your eShop double-quick.

Unintuitive Site Navigation

If your online store is not having easy and smooth navigational functionalities, the visitor is surely going to Leave Quickly. Therefore, you have to certainly have a clear-cut navigation menu which can be directive using least number of clicks.

Poor Product Images/Photo

For the people shopping online it is their tactile ability to examine the product that they are using to buy things online, due to this reason your eCommerce shop must have great product images. You must portray multiple angular images, classified into various options such as Zoom, Color, Appearance etc.

Lengthy Checkout Process

Holding your customers for asking irrelevant information and pathetic checkout design can result in high abandonment rates leading to Low Conversion Rates. So, do not keep any such field which isn't necessary for the checkout process. Keep it as simple as possible for the customers to check out and do not muddle up the process for them.

No Online Mobile Store

It would be the biggest mistake of your, if you have no mobile eCommerce site to support your online eStore.  As per the latest statistics people are doing their research and shopping via their mobile devices. In reality, 57 % of buyers will not suggest a business with a sickly designed mobile site. And likewise 40 % of consumers will go to your competitor's online store after an ill mobile experience. So, if you want people to shop more and more from you, "Do not ignore mCommerce!"

Hope, you would eliminates these blunders while choosing to create an eCommerce Shopping Cart or make amendments in your existing eShop. Plus, amongst all the eCommerce Platform, Magento is the best with all the cutting-edge features and functionalities, which any eStore would require to make rapid sales.