A competition comparison page added to the Store Master theme

[Tom Alexander]

Well-balanced web hosting plans and good prices are vital, but how do you stack up against the competition? Now all Store Master users have the option to illustrate that on their web hosting stores and boost customer retention. From today, you will be able to offer your customers the option to compare your offerings with those of the competition. This will help them gain an instant picture of your services’ quality and prices and will surely influence their buying decisions.
Why compare my offers with those of the competition?

When landing on your store, customers have already pushed their way through a ton of providers looking for the perfect host.
Apart from good prices and promising service parameters, you will need a powerful marketing instrument to nail their first impression.
By offering them the option to compare you with the reseller hosting competition right away, you will lower that chance that they will stray away from your store looking for other catchy offers and never come back if they find a better-priced service, albeit one that offers worse service parameters.
By comparing resource quotas and prices on an illustrative comparison page, your customers will be able to make an informed decision about your services and prefer you over the competition.
Also, this option will make your customers look upon you as being a sincere host and will add a note of trustfulness to your brand.
How do I manage the competition comparison option?

Log into the Admin Area of your Store Master theme and open the new Compare with competition page. Then click click on the small edit box appearing on the top right:

From the Plan drop-down list, you can select the web hosting plan that you want to compare against similar configurations offered by the competition.

From the Provider list, you can select the web hosting providers whose packages you want to compare the selected plan with:

Since 4-column tables are supported, you can select a maximum of 3 hosting companies, whose plans will be featured right next to yours:

If you want to compare your plan with 1 or 2 hosts only, select the providers in column 1 and/or 2 and leave the other drop-down option(s) set to None:

Which are the competitors I can choose from?

We have compiled a list of the most reputable hosting providers today, so that your customers could compare you with the best players in the industry.
NOTE: Please keep in mind that the prices offered by the other hosting providers will be displayed only in USD, no matter what the default currency of your store is.
You can change the providers on the comparison list anytime you want and check which comparison chart works best as a signup trigger.
Apart from helping you put your customers in the picture, the plan comparison option will also help you keep track of the parameter/price fluctuations on the competitors’ stores, and, if necessary, finetune your pricing to stay competitive.

[index.html]

Mmmmm

Can't see the link 'Compare Us With Best Rated Providers' Tom ?

[c.ivanov]

Hello,

The "Compare Us With Top Companies" page is a subsection of "Shared Web Hosting" menu.

The URL should look like:

http://yourstoredomain.com/shared-web-hosting-plans/compare-us-with-top-companies/

If you have made changes to the menu of your store, you will need to add the Compare with competition page manually.
Here is how to do that:
– In the Admin Area, go to Organize Pages';
– Navigate to the ‘Organize Sitemap’ tab;
– Click on the Expand button in front of the ‘Shared Web Hosting’ tab;
– Click on the Plus button at the bottom of the expanded list and start typing the word ‘compare’ in the empty field;
– In the drop-down menu select ‘Compare with competition’ page;
– Click on the ‘Save Sitemap’ button;
– Now the new page will be appearing in the Shared Web Hosting section of your store;

Best regards,
Cvetan Ivanov

[index.html]

Thanks Cvetan - found it.

But if I missed the sub pages under the main menu - I think many clients might do the same. Why could we not have had normal 'drop down' links from the main menu rather than what looks like breadcrumb links to me?

[clivejo]

Any chance of making this into a plugin for Wordpress?

A standalone plugin would allow us to add/mod/remove our own local suppliers and compare them with our own brand, in our local currency. The table could then be put on any page we choose via a shortcode.

[doneritehosting]

+1 clivejo both storemaster and the wordpress themes.... I'd like to add my own providers for comparison in a future update...

[tomtwo]

hi-i am using the free reseller template program. can i disable the 'competition comparison page' or do i have the ability to turn it off so it does not display? thanks

[doneritehosting]

hi-i am using the free reseller template program. can i disable the 'competition comparison page' or do i have the ability to turn it off so it does not display? thanks

I had to add my comparison page manually tomtwo... If yours was automatically added.... I assume you can manually remove it by editing the sitemap in storemaster admin

[tomtwo]

oh man-thanks for that one. it seems to have done the trick. wont know for 24 hours. updates arent immediate for me. thanks alot!

[doneritehosting]

Click "Quick Template Update" in the resellers panel @ top of page.... the site and pages should update changes almost immediately...

[tomtwo]

thank you. i wish it was immediate for me-but sometimes can take up to 24 hours. ill see the changes immediately in the 'store master admin area' after i click on 'publish'. when i go back to the main control panel and i click on 'quick template update'-as i always do-the box comes up and says template has been updated-but my live site wont show it normally right away. its no big deal-but thats what im experiencing. and as always-thanks for your help!

[timsmith]

Hello,

If you click on the Quick Template Update link on top of the reseller control panel, this will update any changes you have made through the control panel - plans, prices, etc. In other words, if you activate the Domain Manager plan, for example, and then click on the Buy @ Wholesale button to order such a plan, it will most probably not appear there unless you click on Quick Template Update.

If you make changes through the Store Master admin area, click on the Publish button and then on Clear Cache and Logout. This should update the actual store front (if you don't see the changes, try with another browser or through a proxy).

The Quick Template Update link was used for the older templates and we may have to rename it to avoid the confusion.

Best Regards,
Tim Smith

[tomtwo]

ok-thanks for the info.

[doneritehosting]

thank you. i wish it was immediate for me-but sometimes can take up to 24 hours. ill see the changes immediately in the 'store master admin area' after i click on 'publish'. when i go back to the main control panel and i click on 'quick template update'-as i always do-the box comes up and says template has been updated-but my live site wont show it normally right away. its no big deal-but thats what im experiencing. and as always-thanks for your help!

NP tomtwo
Thats weird though because when I use quick template update the storemaster theme reflects changes almost immediately for custom content. I am not talking about price changes and such.

[index.html]

Hi,

Are there any plans to introduce a Blog page to the RSP Store Master Template?

Thanks

BTW - like the new nav drop down tabs under the main menu - much better than the previous breadcrumb links.