There are positives to both of these options. Both provide customers with the ability to view, shop, and interact with your online web presence, whether it is a blog, like E-Commerce Gorilla, an E-Commerce storefront, or an online community forum.

So what are the main differences from an upkeep and optimization perspective?

Individual Mobile Website or Theme

Pros:

Ability to generate device-specific interfaces

Ensure customers can navigate and interact in the most seamless way possible. We know people hate typing on mobile phones so perhaps your mobile theme would act more as a personal shopper based on a series of simple questions addressed to the visitor.

Content can be optimized to increase conversions based on device trends

If people are using the device more for research than purchases, prior to purchasing from a desktop you can increase the presence of reviews and testimonials.

Cons:

Increased expense in platform development and maintenance

Every platform is unique. To accurately target all major mobile devices would take a sizable budget/time commitment.

Increased time in analytical review

In essence, utilizing a mobile-specific website or theme is creating another website. Even if you are dynamically adding content from a CMS, each web presence should be monitored and treated as a separate entity when it comes to monitoring social interactions.

Responsive Design

Pros:

Single development and maintenance costs

While it is a newer concept for many entering into the web field, it provides the ability to focus budget on global improvements versus having to optimize on a platform by platform basis.

Automatically adjusts to new and emerging form factors

A responsive design is a design that automatically readjusts its content based on the dimensions of the device/browser viewing it. This is usually done through CSS, JavaScript, or a combination of the two.

Cons:

Limited device-specific customization

With the ability to cater to such a wide variety of device form factors comes the need to make generalizations. Yes, you can limit types of information seen and the placement on devices. Depending on dimensions, these are still done through estimations and content placement.

Inability to target specific device interactions

So this is a little bit of a misnomer. Yes, you could target specific devices, but at this point we are talking about a hybrid between a responsive and mobile website. Again, you are now beginning to make modifications on a device-by-device basis. So for this discussion, the answer is that you can only target based on screen dimensions.

Bringing it together

So which direction is best for you? Without trying to take the copout route of saying it depends on your needs, it really does. However, I will make some generalizations that will allow you to more adequately discuss your options with your web developer.

What is your overall web budget? Can you afford to have maintenance on multiple platforms? If you are a smaller business, the answer is generally no. If you are a small e-commerce website, this can go even further in the no category because individuals making purchases on a purely online entity will generally do so from a desktop platform. Yes, this is a generalization and yes, this trend is changing. However, for the moment it holds true.

Are you a brick-and-mortar store with an online presence? If so, do you need customers to interact with your brand in a local market, such as with store locators? If yes, then perhaps a mobile website/theme is right for you. It really comes down to your customers needs. How do they need to interact with your brand or website to maximize its value?

Email marketing is one of the best ways to reach your customers where they are without spending a lot of money. Here are some tips to help you maximize the lifetime value of each of your customers:

Make it easy to subscribe

Post a signup form on your homepage, blog, Facebook page, and wherever else your customers and fans are already active. You might want to collect names and birthdays (for a special offer or gift) or invite readers to join groups, but don’t go crazy with the required fields. A subscribe form that is too long might scare people off.

Tell subscribers what to expect

Whether you plan to send company updates, corporate updates, e-commerce sales, daily deals, or weekly tips, it’s important to tell your readers what to expect and how often to expect it. Give them as much information as possible on your signup form, so they can decide whether they want to be on the list or not.

Send a welcome email

It’s always smart to remind people why they’re on your list and reassure them that good things are in store. You might even send new subscribers a special offer or exclusive content, as your way of thanking them for their loyalty.

Make sure your newsletter fits your company/brand

Your email campaigns should match your desired brand image. If you’re using a template, you might want to customize it to include your company’s colors and logo in the header. If your emails are consistent with the rest of your company’s content, readers will feel more familiarized from the start.

Send people content they want

Email newsletter services offer features like groups and segmentation to help you make your content relevant to the people reading it. If you’re sending different emails for different groups then you can ask people to check a box to join a particular group on your signup form. However, remember you need to make the sign-up as simple as possible. Don’t ask too many questions as you can always segment subscribers later by directing them to a landing page. Segmentation allows you to target certain subscribers on your list without assigning them to group. If your store is having a sale, you could send a campaign only to people near a particular zip code because subscribers who live in other parts of the world don’t need to know about it. You can also segment by activity, email clients, e-commerce data, and more. Sending relevant content will keep your readers engaged, and engaged readers look forward to your next email and will be encouraged to share the content with friends.

Keep to a regular publishing calendar

A regular newsletter is a commitment. If you go several months without sending anything your subscribers will forget about you and they’ll be more likely to delete the next email, or worse, mark it as spam. Make time to plan, write, design, and send your newsletters regularly.

Regularly test your emails

Different email clients and mobile devices display emails differently. Send test emails to colleagues, or use a testing program to make sure your emails are going to look good on screens, big and small. Testing reveals design mistakes before it’s too late, and testing programs can predict whether or not a campaign will get caught in a spam filter. You could even set up accounts with a few different email services for easy testing. Avoid sending one large image as a campaign, and cover your bases with a plain-text option for every email.

Plan for subscribers to be using mobile

If a campaign doesn’t show up on mobile devices, it’s not going to perform very well. Everything you send should be mobile-friendly. 63 percent of Americans and 41 percent of Europeans would either close or delete an email that’s not optimized for mobile. So, it might be time to start using a responsive template.

Know your spam rules

A lot of innocent people send spam because they don’t know any better. Read up on the CAN-SPAM act to avoid any trouble. Put simply, you’re allowed to send bulk email only to people who specifically asked to be on your mailing list. If you collected email addresses for a lunch giveaway or an event invitation, then you don’t have permission to send marketing emails, unless you made that clear at signup. Include an obvious unsubscribe link in every email, and don’t forget to remind subscribers how they got on your list in the first place.

Make it shareable

Send content that people want to share, and make it easy for them to do it. Sure, subscribers can forward your campaign to friends, but that’s a lot to ask. Include a public link to the web version of your campaign so people can read it outside of their email programs. Consider adding Twitter and Facebook links to your newsletter so readers can share your content where they’re already active. When their friends start sharing and subscribing, you’ll know it’s working.

Keep an eye on your stats

Most email newsletter services offer free reports that contain helpful information. Learn how to read and understand your reports so you can use the stats to improve your campaigns going forward. Pay attention to your open and click rates, and identify any patterns that make those numbers go up or down. If a campaign receives a high number of unsubscribes, then try something different the next time.

Keep it casual and friendly

Feel free to use a casual tone in your email newsletters. Since most emails come directly from one person, people expect human voices in their inbox. There’s a good chance your subscribers are already in a informal frame of mind when they’re checking their email, so an overly formal or stodgy voice might seem out of place. They’ve given you their email address, so you’re already on a first-name basis. If you collect first names on your signup form, you can dynamically include them in your email greetings.

Keep your emails relevant to what people subscribed for

This one seems obvious, but too many companies start email newsletters with no plan and nothing to say. Email is simply a way to publish content—the content itself has to come first. Ask yourself: What’s the goal for this kind of communication? What do we have to say? How will we measure success? Send thoughtful newsletters, and keep the focus on your company’s message.

One of most important aspects of maintaining a Magento e-commerce website is keeping it up to date. Not only does updating allow you to implement new and improved features, but it also shores up any security threats that are discovered and also implements bug fixes. Unfortunately, most Magento websites that we see come in from outside developers or are run by do-it-yourselfers have never been updated, not even for the most important security patches. In the following guide we are going walk you through one method of updating your current Magento installation.

Step 1. Backup your MySQL database and all the website files.

Step 2. Open up your web browser. If your Magento is installed in the root directory navigate to:
http://www.yourdomain.com/downloader/

Or, if it is installed in a different directory, navigate to the Magento installation directory
http://www.yourdomain.com/youMagentoDirectory/downloader/

Step 3. Update all the extensions you have installed via the Magento Connect. Under Install New Extensions, paste the following in Paste extension key to install. 

connect20.magentocommerce.com/community/Mage_All_Latest

Click Install
You will have to repeat this once for each extension that was downloaded via the Magento Connect.

Step 4. Potentially, you will encounter the following error:

CONNECT ERROR: Package ‘Mage_All_Latest’ is invalid

If this occurs, navigate to downloader\lib\Mage\Connect\Validator.php and comment out the following code:

if (file_exists($dest)) {
$this->addError("'{$file}' already exists");
return false;
}

Step 5.  Update all core packages by clicking Check for Upgrades
Under actions, upgrade to the highest version of the package marked as (stable)
Click Commit Changes

Step 6. After all the packages have been upgraded, navigate to your Magento Installation and delete the var/cache and var/session folders.

Step 7. Try loading the website. You will probably encounter a “500 Internal Server Error”. To correct this, set the file and folder permissions correctly. Detailed instructions and an easy Magento Cleanup Tool can be found at the following URL: http://www.magentocommerce.com/wiki/groups/227/resetting_file_permissions

Step 8. If you encounter a Service Temporarily Unavailable error, and you should if you encountered a 500 Internal Server Error on the previous step, in your FTP or via SSH navigate to the root directory and delete the file maintenance.flag

Step 9. Load your website.

To start off, the first step in setting up multi-store functionality is to create the new store(s) in the Magento Admin application. Follow the steps below to create a new store:

Log in to the Magento Admin Panel.

If you want your new store front to use your existing root category, you may skip the category creation step.
Go to Catalog→Manage Categories in the top menu.
Click Add Root Category.

In the Name field, enter your new store name. Under Is Active select Yes.

Click the Display Settings tab. Under Is Anchor, select Yes. Then select Save Category.

1. Go to System→Manage Stores.
   

Click Create Website.
In the Name field, enter your new store name. In the Code field, enter a unique string without spaces.

Then click Save Website.

Click Create Store.
In the Website field, select the website you just created. In the Name field, enter a name for your store. In the Root Category field, select the Root Category you wish to use for the store front. Then click Save Store.

Click Create Store View.
In the Store field, select the store you just created. In the Name field, give your view a name (typically “English”). In the Code field, enter a unique string to identify the store view. Change the Status to Enabled. Then click Save Store View.

Go to System→Configuration.
In the Current Configuration Scope, select the Website you just created.

Select the Web menu option, and expand the Unsecure and Secure sections by clicking them.
For each section, deselect the Use Default box next to the Base URL and enter the URL for your store, including the trailing slash. When you are done, click Save Config.

Configure the Server to Load the New Store

Mage::run('newstore', 'website');

ln -s /home/example/example.com/html/app/ app
ln -s /home/example/example.com/html/includes/ includes
ln -s /home/example/example.com/html/js/ js
ln -s /home/example/example.com/html/lib/ lib
ln -s /home/example/example.com/html/media/ media
ln -s /home/example/example.com/html/skin/ skin
ln -s /home/example/example.com/html/var/ var

Method 2: Shared Directory for All Stores (Using Pointer Domains)

SetEnvIf Host .*newstore.* MAGE_RUN_CODE=newstore
SetEnvIf Host .*newstore.* MAGE_RUN_TYPE=website

If SetEnvIf Doesn’t Work

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} .*newstore\.com [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [E=MAGE_RUN_CODE:newstore]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} .*newstore\.com [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [E=MAGE_RUN_TYPE:website]

The following are methods to get the Magento Base URL, Magento Skin URL, Magento Media URL, Magento Js URL, to get the route URL, use either of the following codes:

Mage::getBaseUrl(Mage_Core_Model_Store::URL_TYPE_LINK);

$this->getUrl();

Returns: http://yourstore.com/index.php/

Magento Store Media URL

Mage::getBaseUrl(Mage_Core_Model_Store::URL_TYPE_MEDIA);

Returns: http://yourstore.com/media/

Magento Theme Skin URL

Mage::getBaseUrl(Mage_Core_Model_Store::URL_TYPE_SKIN); or you can write $this->getSkinUrl();

Returns: http://yourstore.com/skin/

Current Magento Store URL

Mage::getBaseUrl(Mage_Core_Model_Store::URL_TYPE_WEB);

Returns: http://yourstore.com/

Magento JS URL

Mage::getBaseUrl(Mage_Core_Model_Store::URL_TYPE_JS);

Returns: http://www.yourstore.com/js

To remove this feature go to:
app/design/frontend/default/your-theme/layout/reports.xml
And,
app/design/frontend/default/base/layout/reports.xml

Remove the following code. Note that this code might not be present in your theme and only in the base.

<block type="reports/product_viewed" before="right.permanent.callout" name="right.reports.product.viewed" template="reports/product_viewed.phtml" />

One of the powerful features of the Magento framework is that of its short codes. It allows a store owner to quickly retrieve information, URLs and elements and use them within pages.

To retrieve the element URL path in a STATIC BLOCK:

SKIN URL

{{skin url='images/sampleimage.jpg '}}

{{media url='/sampleimage.jpg'}}

{{store url='mypage.html'}}

{{base url='yourstore/mypage.html'}}

Short codes are a simple set of functions for creating macro codes for use in CMS pages or blocks. Magento has its own short codes, which you can use in Magento CMS pages, Product pages, Category pages or blocks. Magento short code syntax is fairly simple to understand as the real short code is placed inside double curly braces.

<a href="{{store url=""}}">Home Page</a>

In this, the {{store url=""}} is replaced by the actual store URL. Apart from that, there are other Magento short codes which I have listed below:

1. DIRECT_URL

Direct URL parameter appends the store’s base URL to your path, which you can use to create category or subcategory pages, i.e.

<a href="{{store direct_url="category/subcategory.html"}}">Latest Products</a>

2. URL

By using Magento’s built in routes, the URL short code generates your Magento store’s URL, which can be appended to create any URL, i.e.

<a href="{{store url="about"}}">About Us</a>

which will result in something like this:

http://www.yourstore.com/about/

3. _QUERY AND 4. _QUERY_[NAME]

Used for generating URLs with query parameters, there are two ways in using the _query parameter, you can add an arbitrary query string to the URL, i.e.

<a href="{{store direct_url="category/subcategory.html" _query="a=param_a&amp;b=param_b"}}">Latest Products</a>

Or, you can use the second parameter syntax, where you define the query parameter name with the parameter itself, i.e.

<a href="{{store direct_url="category/subcategory.html" _query_a="param_a" _query_b="param_b"}}">;Latest Products</a>

This will result in this:

http://www.yourstore.com/category/subcategory.html?a=param_a&b=param_b