During a recent project, our customer required their new website be developed on top of the WordPress platform.  Generally, we like these projects because WordPress is flexible and easy to work with (At least in our experience).  They already had a design developed, and what we needed to do was to implement it into the WordPress framework.

With the release of WordPress3.0, there were many welcome additions that made this project that much more smooth.  Features such as the custom Menu options that can be built into the themes came in very handy, as the site’s structure didn’t rely on posts, but rather on pages, which were related to other pages, sometimes up to 4 levels deep.  Creating a theme based on the new TwentyTen default theme in WordPress3.0 became the way to go for this latest project.

Even though things were going smoothly on the theme and site structure integration, the design called for using Flash on the homepage in 2 spots.  First, the design had a vignette of “value propositions” rotating center stage on the home page.  Second, there was also a Flash scrolly thingy for rotating through customer logos.  These were also pre-developed and our job was to simply stick them in the appropriate places on the homepage.

We decided to use the swfobject code (http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/) in order to display our Flash pieces.  Seems like an easy enough endeavor.  But let me tell you about the Flash components a little more before describing the challenge we faced, and how we solved it…

Each Flash file was fed data externally.  There was an XML component that provided the text, url’s for links, and referenced images to be sucked into the Flash.  As such, there was an images folder for each of the SWF files.

This is where it got a little dicey and took some trial and error, but we also found some good information on several blogs, such as on “Lost in Time: How to correctly include SWFobject within WordPress”.

The problem was that once you insert the swfobject script into your page.php code, and then plug it into the WordPress framework, the path’s can get all messed up.  Especially when you have ReWrite on and SEO URL’s turned on.

It took a little time to track the issue down, but in summary, the path had to be relative to the page and SWF file loading the dependencies.  First, the SWF loads the XML, and then the XML loads the JPG’s or GIF’s, but those files have to be located relative to the Page calling the XML.

Solution?  What we found that worked quite well was to stick the SWF file inside the Template directory, but place the XML in the Root of the website.  Additionally, we also had to place the images directories for the Flash pieces off the Root of the site as well.

All in all, looking back at it, it wasn’t that much of an issue, but it did take some trial and error as we were sure we had the paths correct.  Once we placed things in their right spots, the animations loaded without a glitch!

Facebook Applications – Recommendations For Owners and Designers

By Dmitriy Kharchenko

Facebook applications are an innovation aimed to help their owners to make the most of one of the largest social networks. But like any other popular novelty, this Facebook option raises a lot of questions too.

In this article you’ll find tips and recommendations which can be helpful when planning, designing, and developing Facebook applications.

1. Facebook Development Platform – Innovations and… Volatility

Facebook is growing fast now. The number of Facebook users escalates in thousands and millions. It means that Facebook apps owners get increasingly more potential users every single day.

But this coin has a reverse side too: due to Facebook rapid evolution tools for the application development – Facebook API (Application Programming Interface), etc – are changed quite often as well. Owners, designers, and developers should keep track of such new features because they can affect appearance, functionality, and operability of existing applications.

a) So, before starting planning a Facebook application make sure you have read Facebook Privacy Policy and Facebook Developer Principles and Policies. These documents contain lists of limitations that should be taken into account while designing and developing your Facebook application. If your application doesn’t correspond to them, the Facebook team may not approve it for using on Facebook.

b) Read Facebook Developers Roadmap (wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Developer_Roadmap) to be aware of the upcoming changes and to forecast respective modifications of your application in advance.

Frankly, documents mentioned above are not bedside literature. If you outsource their reading and learning to programmers, just remember that there are some constraints and internal rules on Facebook which can change with time, and your FB application should follow them.

2. Successful Facebook Applications Start from Successful Design

Design is extremely important for Facebook application success. In order to provide good look and feel of your FB app take into account the following points.

a) Design should be an integral part of a general application concept and convey ideas and feelings behind it.

b). Design should be user-friendly, intuitive, and of playing style to some extent, because Facebook apps are entertaining by their nature. That extent depends on your application niche.

c) Design should be social-networking and viral – and give a user a supporting environment to socialize with other users. Does your design encourage people to communicate and make invitations? Does your design help people to express themselves and show them in a favorable light among their friends? Will users say each other “Wow, just take a look at that app!” ?

d) Design may impose certain restrictions on a Facebook application and, therefore, cause problems when programming the app and afterwards when adding new functional features. As a result, a FB application design should be flexible and simple enough to be able to reflect that constant Facebook growth we’ve discussed above.

e). Also remember that potential users are spoilt by numerous already existing applications competing for their attention. So, analyze your competition to understand what and why is popular and how it can be overcome.

3. Facebook Apps vs. Facebook Connect – What Is the Difference From a Development Viewpoint?

Basic-level components of Facebook Connect are scripts which help to realize such options as sharing a piece of content or a link from your website onto Facebook, driving fans to your Facebook Page, etc. Such scripts are ready-to-use and easy-to-install onto a website.

Unlike it Facebook apps are software applications which are developed from scratch using Facebook Development Platform (Facebook API), as well as PHP, AJAX, MySQL, and other programming languages, libraries, and so forth. No wonder Facebook applications development and integration require designers, programmers, testers to be involved, and it is very similar to the creation of any other piece of conventional software. This is also true for Advanced Facebook Connect options and their tuning.

Facebook applications shouldn’t be confused with ordinary websites too. Usually FB apps are complex web-based systems with a lot of back-end (server-side) modules which, actually, provide app functionality and make the application attractive for users.

Facebook applications and Facebook Connect are all the rage now. What your FB app will be – just an attempt to follow the fashion or an effective tool to make the most of Facebook – depends on many factors. The deeper you learn and understand them, the better your result will be.

About the Author: Dmitriy Kharchenko is the CEO of Acceptic Ltd, a software and custom web development company. Among other services, Acceptic provides Facebook Connect integration and Facebook application development – FB apps that win a lot of fans.

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=503418&ca=Internet

I ran across an article discussing a podcast from 2006 that interviewed some lawyers and web designers about the importance of having the right approach to launching their law firm web sites.

Although it was pod-casted 4 years ago, I found that many of the themes are still applicable. Here is a quick recap of the main points of the podcast:
• In the past year, there has been a dramatic change in the importance of the Internet in finding local products and services (vs. the yellow pages);
(This is still very true. Over 74% of Americans are online, which means that the majority of them will turn to the web for doing their initial research)

• Having a website, even for solo’s, is a “necessity;”
(Again, we agree with this as most people will use the internet as their primary research tool. Having your website address on your business cards allows potential clients to read more about you and your services at their own leisure)

• Content is still king, but emphasis should be on helping visitors (checklists are very useful). People are searching for answers/solutions to problems, and may not even realize they need a lawyer;
(Using Articles, and News items can vastly improve your presence on the internet and let visitors identify that they need a lawyer. Since they may find the solution or suggestion on your law firm web site, they are more inclined to reach out to you.)

• Emphasis should be on content of interest to your audience, rather than on SEO (search engine optimization);
(We find this particularly interesting. SEO has become a buzzword and people want to be #1 on Google. What most people don’t realize is that you can’t achieve that by simply putting up a website and expecting some magic. The point below emphasizes what needs to be done to help with search engine rankings, but its going to take some time before you see the benefits. Over time, as you build content via News or Articles, search engines will take notice and people searching for information you’re writing about will find you. Further, if you focus on your local area, such as writing about local topics of interest, it will help you even more)

• Yet, search engine “ranking is very important” as it indicates the popularity of your site, and being ranked in the top ten in results can make or break your site. Improve your ranking with: Inbound links, Content, Title tags, Keywords, Longevity of your site, Domain name registration.

• A good Internet presence (especially with a blog) can be the “great equalizer” between large and small law firms.
(This is the point that all lawyers and law firms should have a web presence. No matter how small you are, if you have some information on the web about yourself or your law practice, it will help)

We’ve taken the key points of the podcast and inputted our take on the important items. Many of these themes are the reason we launched LegalWebbie for all your law firm web design and hosting needs. You take control of your site!

There are a lot of factors to consider when thinking about a new website for your law practice. Doing your research is one of the most important aspects of searching for a provider for your new website. Depending on your comfort level with technology and your knowledge of web site principles, you can choose several paths to having your own web site.

One of the paths you may choose is to have a fully custom web site developed for your law firm. If you have special requirements and needs, this may be the most viable option for you. Sometimes, you just cannot get all the features you need in an “out of the box” solution. Working closely with a web development company that understands your needs and can also suggest ways to achieving your goals can be very important for this type of project. A fully custom law firm web site will provide you the freedom of having a totally unique design as well as functionality that is suited specifically to your needs. Of course, one of the downsides to this is that the cost of this type of project may be high. When web design firms take on such projects, you need to consider all the components that need to come together to make a site for your needs. The designers have to come up with a design you are happy with. The developers then have to translate this design into a functioning web application. Finally, it all has to come together and work! There is no sense in having a pretty looking web site without it working properly. Hence, custom law firm web design projects, although very flexible, may not be for everyone.

Another option you can choose is the “Do It Yourself” approach. Whether you actually pick up a template and do some HTML coding, or whether you sign up for a hosting service that promises you a website you can build in 5 minutes, you generally get the same result: A basic website with little or no functionality and a design that looks as though your 8yr old niece designed it. Although a very cheap option, this may not be the best approach to properly promote your business. Today, web sites not only have to be informative but they have to appealing to the eye. Hosting options are limited and a computer can only do so much. The human input can provide more value to your site and tailor it even more specifically to your needs.

Hence, this brings me to our LegalWebbie offering. Yes, the name is quirky, but it is meant to grab your attention and it’s working! LegalWebbie is a hybrid concept between a full custom law firm web design and a DIY approach. As outlined in the LegalWebbie process, you can see that it merges the out-of-the-box approach of an eye catching design while customizing it to fit your law practice. Once that is done, you have a hybrid of a web site that is unique to you, without going through the steps of a fully custom web design project. This helps you save money, get a uniquely designed web site for your law firm, and take control of your site.

What is unique about LegalWebbie beyond the design? Once you have your law firm web site up and running, you have total control over the content. By simply logging on to your site, you can edit each and every page, add or delete new areas of practice as well as update your clients with news. The news articles could also be used as your own law blog, which would help you get noticed by search engines when you write targeted articles for your audience. Just watch this quick YouTube video to learn more about LegalWebbie.

This hybrid approach is a blend of DIY and fully custom web design. If you want options added to your site you can easily add additional features such as Twitter, Facebook, and RSS feeds. As your law practice grows the site can grow with you.

To learn more about LegalWebbie and the law firm web design services, please visit www.legalwebbie.com.

Web hosting is a term that gets thrown around rather loosely these days. Web hosting is not really a term that should be used generally as there are many different levels of web hosting that can range from fairly simple, to extremely complex.

In the most general terms, web hosting refers to the housing of a website. Web hosting basics, or web hosting 101 if you will, requires four basic components. These basic components are as follows:

1.Administrator: The administrator is the individual who is responsible for a number of duties in the web hosting process. The administrator will monitor variables such as the server, security, and site responsiveness and will also run traffic reports and make sure that the website is properly backed up.

2.Software: In web hosting there are several types of software that could be required. Of course you will have to have an Operating System or OS like Windows and a web server, but you may also need software that tracks web traffic, accepts credit cards, or even software that has digital encryption.

3.Hardware: Like with software, there is some hardware that is required for web hosting and some that is optional. Required hardware is servers and networking devices such as switches and routers that allow the connectivity to take place. Optional hardware can range from firewalls to uninterrupted power supplies, and even load balancing, all of which are nice to have but not mandatory.

4.Connectivity: Put simply, connectivity is the manner in which your Internet Service Provider or ISP provides access to your website. Typically, the faster the connectivity the better.
Now that you have a grasp on what web hosting basics entail, you need only choose which level of service is going to be right for your website. Web hosting services are broken down into four categories as follows:

1.Shared

2.Co-Location

3.Managed

4.Developed

Each category will have different levels of administration, software, hardware, and connectivity and as a general rule of thumb, the high up the list you go, the more you can expect to pay. That being said, the most basic for web hosting is shared.

Shared web hosting is common for personal websites that are not very complex. With this basic web hosting it is your ISP that manages the software, hardware, and the Internet connection to your website. This is a good solution for many sites that do not require a lot of bandwidth but generally runs into problems with bigger websites mainly for security reasons. For example, if a company accepts credit cards and then stores those credit card numbers the integrity of those numbers can be compromised as the machine that house those numbers is used by a group of websites. Still for the more basic and personal websites, shared web hosting often does the trick.

Whether you are first starting out in the world of web hosting or you are a seasoned pro, it pays to know what web hosting basics are. If you just looking to establish a personal and rather simple website, then shared web hosting is probably a good route to take, but if your website is going to get more complex, then it is in your best interest to look into one of the other three types of web hosting and deciding which one is right for your website and your wallet.

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=466687&ca=Internet

About The Author:
Find a cheap web hosting service.

For immediate release – (Feb 7) Ottawa, ON – Brata Web Media Inc, a provider of web design headquartered in Ottawa, ON, Canada and New York, NY, USA, has recently launched a new service for lawyers and legal professionals. LegalWebbie is part of the BrataWebbie platform that helps attorneys get their practice online and in front of their clients.

In this digital age, it is a requirement that every lawyer and legal practitioner have their own web site and online presence. 74% of Americans use the internet to research a service before they pick up a phone book. With such high usage rates, all lawyers and legal professionals need to have their own website.

LegalWebbie allows attorneys and small law firms to have their own website which is professionally designed. An added advantage of LegalWebbie is that it allows attorneys to take control over their own web content.

By using LegalWebbie, lawyers no longer need to wait long periods of time for edits to occur to their web pages. Using a simple interface, LegalWebbie allows for individuals to quickly edit their own web pages without web programming knowledge.

Professional law firm web designs matched with easy editing is what sets LegalWebbie apart from traditional websites for attorneys. Whenever a law firm has some news, changes their address or offers a new service, they can easily add this to their website in less than 5 minutes.

To learn more about LegalWebbie and view a demo of professional legal web designs, lawyers can visit www.legalwebbie.com.

What makes you log into social bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit and Stumbleupon?

Most of the people will answer that it is to share, organize and manage bookmarks of content that interests them. What would someone in the SEO world answer? Obviously, that they invite many visitors to his/her listing in these sites. How do they manage that? It’s not magic. Just get your site on the front page of any of these bookmarking sites and you’ll be amazed by the number of visitors you get. Let’s check out some of the ways in which you can use bookmarking sites to increase your traffic.

Give a catchy headline

Needless to say, the first thing that any reader would see in your site content is its headline. So, it needs to be crispy, short and attention grabbing. There are a few things that you could do to get this done. For one, start it off with a strong action oriented verb. Adding “how to” can also invite readers. Avoid articles. For example, take the headlines “The three steps to put an elephant inside a refrigerator”, “How to put an elephant in a refrigerator in three steps” and “Put an elephant inside a refrigerator in just three steps”. Obviously, the second and third would attract more readers.

Add a meaningful description

Your description has to be related to what you say in the content. You can exaggerate to some amount but never lie. Also, avoid long sentences where you go on and on about what you intend to say. Remember that some of the bookmarking sites even have set limitations in the number of characters.

Make the first paragraph captivating

You might have caught the attention of the readers with your headline and description. But the first paragraph helps you retain that attention. The headline and description that you provided have already given an idea of your content to the readers. And that’s the reason they are in your page. A first paragraph, which normally is the introduction, poorly written can make your visitors leave your site even before they come to the real matter.

Create relevant and original content

Content is king. Yes, here too. Its not search engines alone that give importance to good content. Bookmarking sites also place high priority for quality content. Make sure that your content provides the required and relevant information for the readers. Never post junk to cheat them. It can in fact get your site banned.

Use English language

This is not to sound linguistically biased but the reality is most readers follow English than any other language. Exotic languages like the ones that have non-latin alphabets have the disadvantage of being legible to only a selected group of people. Languages like French, German and Italian might be more common; still the fact is they are not English. If you really need to submit content in any language other than English, submit it in bookmarking sites meant for that particular language.
Insert your keywords

Keywords matter here too. After all, just like search engines here too people give the keywords to find what they need. Insert them not only in your body content but also in your headlines as well as descriptions.

Confirm the facts before submitting

Never fail to countercheck the facts that you provide in your content. Finding yourself wrong in any of the details given can make you look silly and ignorant. Adding to this your site will lose its credibility. Consider yourself in the readers’ shoes. If you find anything wrong in a website you visit, will you ever go back to it again? Well, the same point applies here. Get all the right information. If needed, get it checked by a subject expert before submitting.

Proofread your content before submitting

Grammatical or spelling errors can make you end up look really dumb. It could be either a mistake from you or a typo. But ultimately the reader would think your language is poor. So proofread the content carefully and correct all the mistakes before submitting.
Submit your link in the right category

If you are looking for information on weight loss you are definitely not going to check the sites on beauty or skin care. Obviously, the only common point among these topics is that they all apply to the human body. So if your content is on weight loss make sure that you submit your content in the health and fitness or other similar category instead of that which is only vaguely connected.

Submit articles in article directories

If you have been optimising your website for search engines, you are of course familiar with the practice of submitting articles in article directories for more viewability. This can help in the case of bookmarking websites too. Links from article directories can be a good source of more traffic, provided the content is good.

Avoid old news and boring topics

Sometimes, however good your content is, it might be some information that has been dealt with by many people before. Or the topic that would interest none. Imagine some content on creating good content for SEO. The topic has been so much written upon that most of the readers would overlook the content, even if it is first-rate and perfectly error-free.

Include related articles

Adding related articles to your site can glue your readers to your site even if they reached there following another piece of information. If they like your content they may end up not only reading the other content in your site but also returning for more later.
Provide RSS feeds and newsletter subscription options

If your site is interesting and relevant, visitors would like to hear more from you. Providing options for RSS feeds and newsletter subscriptions let them return to your site more often. Hence, provide these options at easily visible places in your site.

Be friendly and courteous

Online presence is not possible without support. You cannot singlehandedly manage your social bookmarking without the cooperation from others who do the same thing. Similarly, keeping a friendly and courteous approach to all can be really helpful. Reply to the comments that you receive, be it negative or positive. Be amiable when you do that. Drop in comments for others in the bookmarking sites.

Help the users to bookmark your site

Users spend very small amount of time in a website. Within that short time you need to your point across and impress them. If you want them to bookmark your site, a little bit of help from your side wouldn’t hurt. After all, the benefit from that is yours, right? Hence, provide the bookmarking button where it is easily seen.

Timely submission

When you make it to the front page of a social bookmarking site you are not going to be there forever. Its 24 hours that you get to be there. So, if you submit your link when half the population, who is your target audience, is sleeping, by the time they check in you would’ve reached on the 10th page. Hence, submit the link when your readers are awake. However, this is problematic if you aim for a global audience. You cannot, after all, wait for readers in all parts of the world to be awake at the same time.

So what is the delay? Once you get all these above points done, go ahead and befriend all those bookmarking sites and get your site prepared for a huge number of visitors.

About the Author
The Web Clinic search engine optimisation service helps to increase the visitors’ traffic from a search engine to your websites through the on-page and off-page factors of the website, which influence its ranking in the search engines. For more details visit our SEO Services

Improve your online performance with a website redesign by Diane Forster

If you have a website design and you feel your online performance is poor there may be several reasons. This article will overview the potential problems of your site and how a website redesign will solve these issues. Redesigning your Website for Aesthetic Reasons: One of the most obvious problems of a website is the design itself. You may have come across a website that looks so bad you go elsewhere. It makes poor use of imagery, colour and space. Or it may have been a site that looked good during the early days of website design, but now looks flat and dated. With today’s market, and the rapid growth of the internet, a user has a lot of opportunity to shop around. Unfortunately an out of date, or bad website design can have a negative effect on how your business is perceived by potential customers.
Here at Advansys we follow the latest web design trends, and can re-design your website following the latest web 2.0 styles, tailored for your specific needs.

A well designed website redesign will increase turnover without driving a single extra visitor to the website, by simply increasing the conversion rate of people who are already using your website but not buying.
Redesign to Optimize for Search Engines: Its doesn’t matter how good your website design looks, if the site is not designed to be read by search engines, your unlikely to have much traffic to your site. On the other hand, if your site was optimized for search engines a few years ago, the site will require a redesign due to the changes in the way modern search engines work.

At Advansys we have a dedicated team of Search Engine Optimisation Specialists, SEO Junkies. With this team of experts at our dispose, every area of a website re-design from Advansys is designed with Search Engines in mind, from the design to code, to content.
Redesign to follow user expectations: The internet and technological world is a very fast moving environment where trends and user expectations change from year to year. Because of this its important that your website design follows the trends in user expectations, navigation and technology. It doesn’t matter how well your website is optimized, any website that’s difficult to use from a visitor perspective will give a negative impression on the company, and that visitor will go elsewhere. Here at Advansys we follow and understand user expectations and will integrate this knowledge into your redesigned web site.
Get a website redesign from Advansys: Changing the look and feel of your website design is an important aspect of a websites maintenance, therefore a website redesign should be considered to follow web trends and user expectations. By maximizing the performance of your website design, you will reduce marketing costs and, gaining customer confidence, increase online sales.

A website redesign from Advansys will provide you with a professional website design that will increase customer confidence and convert your current visitors to customers. Advansys are ecommerce specialists who follow the trends in web user expectations, navigation and technology, so you can be confident to get the best advice and results when you come to us for a brochure website re-design.
For more information on website design please contact Advansys.

About the Author
Advansys Limited Building 4 Millars Brook Molly Millars Lane Wokingham Berkshire RG41 2AD Website: www.advansys.com Telephone: 0845 838 2700 Fax: 0845 838 2701 Email: sales@advansys.com

My Web Design Company Asks Too Many Questions, What Does This Mean? by Bryan Williams
When a student asks questions, he probably is confused and does not understand the concept being told…but when a teacher asks questions, it is to make sure that every bit of the concept is cleared in the mind of student and there is nothing left that the student is not aware of. Similarly, when you hire professional web Design Company to work for you, you are accountable to answer many of the questions they ask. It does not mean they are amateur and know nothing. In fact, more the questions asked from you the better it is to ensure smooth results. When the web designer or a web Design Company asks too many questions, it usually generates two kinds of responses: 1- “They simply don’t know anything!” (The typical response) Or 2- “They want to know everything” (The right response) The first response is the way many people see this concept. For them, too many questions are asked by people who are inexperienced. This is the kind of reaction an average person would show, as many of us are resistant towards answering any questions. The second response, however, is the one that is in the right direction. For the web designers or the designing company to be able to work accurately, it is important for them to know every single little detail regarding your business…because in the end, nobody likes a complaining client anyways! Here are the 3 reasons why your web designing person or firm asks you too many questions before starting with the work:
They want you to be the leaders
The intentions of a web designing company are noble when asking questions from you. They want you to lay the track for them to follow. Isn’t it good if you are able to take decisions, even if you have hired someone else to take care of your business website? You certainly provide web designers the authority to work for you, and take decisions regarding your website–but the ultimate authority is still in your hands, and you are the one who’ll get to decide the wrong and the right, and how you want your website to turn out.
They want to be error-free in their end results, ensuring your satisfaction
Ever wondered what “customer satisfaction” really mean? Every web designer or web design company you come in terms with will talk big about this two-letter sentence. Asking you questions help the designers generate results just the way you want them. It is a measure to make sure the client is satisfied with the end result and there are no issues bothering him. Customer satisfaction means producing excellent and expected results, this can only be possible if you have cleared the designer about what you actually want.
Questions remove confusions
Bombarding you with questions certainly does not put you in a trial of some kind. In reality, it is a great tactic of designers to build good communication with their clients. More questions generate more answers, helping the designers understand you and your ideas very well. Many questions asked by your designer or designing firm make you realize how important these things were that you had totally ignored telling them before. The questions expose the hidden answers and make you both work firmly with each other at a comfort level. A good Web Design Company is the one that listens and communicates with its clients. Effective communication between client and service provider is essential to get things going in a positive direction for business growth.

About the Author
Bryan Williams is an expert outsourcing consultant, and specializes in web design and development outsourcing.

Research suggest that online retailers could be missing out on £’000s in lost sales and revenue by not offering enough choice when it comes to payment methods. John Ryder takes a look at the research and offers his advice.
Two pieces of individual research stood out of the crowd for me over the last couple of weeks and I wanted to share them here in the silvertongue. Both pieces of research highlight the same issue and although one source is a US survey, it shouldn’t be ignored.
Here are the stats…
* 75% of online shoppers have used an alternative payment method when shopping online.
* 54% have actually looked for different payment options when making a purchase.
* 59% said they would be more likely to buy online if Google Checkout, PayPal or other alternative payment methods were available. [Source: Trialpay, May 2008]
* In a survey of 2,000 online shoppers, 9% of respondents ‘strongly agreed’ that they would feel more comfortable purchasing from an online retailer who offers a wide range of payment methods than a retailer who only offers one payment option. 31% of respondents ‘agreed’.
* Only 14% ‘disagreed’ with the same comment and 4% ”strongly disagreed’.
* 42% of respondents ‘neither agreed or disagreed’ with the statement. [Source: YouGov Survey, May 2009]
Yes, one could argue that the questions in the YouGov Survey are a little loaded; but when considered side by side with the Trialpay research I feel that there is enough there to take notice.
The stats suggest that not only are online shoppers willing to use alternative payment methods; there is also a significant proportion of them who would be more comfortable and more likely to complete a purchase when presented with multiple options.
Why is that?
Online shoppers are limiting their credit card use and relying more and more on alternative ways to pay. This is putting demand on alternative payment methods.
Reluctance to use credit cards online could be down to consumer confidence and the perception of increased fraud.
Thanks to eBay (and it’s own recent efforts to extend reach) PayPal can be considered as a major factor in influencing consumer’s awareness of alternative payment options. And let’s not forget Google Checkout of course!
How should online retailers respond?
Simply put, online retailers need to offer as many payment methods as possible. PayPal and Google Checkout are the obvious contenders and are both readily accessible to merchants and consumers.
As always, we’ll be carrying out some testing at Silverbean and report our findings on the Silver Tongue.

About the Author
John Ryder is Head of Client services at Silverbean.