PP ECommerce Guide

8/14/2019 PP ECommerce Guide

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PayPal Business Guide – How to Create an E-Commerce Website

© 2006 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved.PayPal, Payflow, and the PayPal logo are registered trademarks of PayPal, Inc.

Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

Notice of Non-Liability

PayPal, Inc. and the authors assume no liability for errors or omissions, or for damages, resulting from the use of this

guide or the information contained in this guide.PayPal is not affiliated with the third parties mentioned, nor does it endorse or guarantee the products and servicesthey offer.


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/pp-ecommerce-guide 3/20How to Create an E-Commerce Website - 3

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Elements of E-Commerce .........................................................................................................4

Step One: Establish Your Online Identity ...............................................................................................................5

What’s in a Name? .......................................... ........................................... ........................................... ........................................... .. 5

How to Get and Manage Domain Names ..................................... ............................................ ........................................... ........ 5

How to Buy an Exist ing Domain Name ......................................... ............................................ ........................................... ........ 6

Step Two: Build a User-Friendly Site .......................................................................................................................6

Plan Your Site Carefully ......................................... ........................................... ........................................... ...................................... 6

Choose the Right Site-Building Tools ...................................... ........................................... ........................................... ................ 6

Build an Attractive E-Commerce Site ..................................... ........................................... ............................................ ............... 7

Step Three: Select an ISP to Host Your Site ..........................................................................................................8

What to Look for in a Web Hosting Company .......................................... ........................................... ..................................... 8

Step Four: Minimize the Risks of E-Commerce .....................................................................................................9The Risks of E-Commerce ......................................... ........................................... ............................................ ............................... 9

The Trust Solution : Authenticated SSL Certificates ........................................ ........................................... .............................. 9

How Authenticated SSL Certificates Work ........................................ ........................................... ........................................... 10

What You Should Know About Fraud .......................................... ........................................... ............................................ ....... 10

The Best Ways to Mitigate Risks of Internet Fraud ........................................ ............................................ ............................ 11

Your Privacy and Security Statement ....................................... ........................................... ........................................... ............. 11

Step Five: Accept and Manage Payments .............................................................................................................12

The Payment Processing Network ........................................... ........................................... ............................................ ............. 12

How Online Payment Processing Works ..................................... ........................................... ........................................... ........ 13

Payment Processing – Authorization ....................................... ........................................... ........................................... .............. 13

Payment Processing – Settlement ..................................... ........................................... ........................................... ..................... 14

What to Look for in an Online Payment Processing Solution ..................................... ............................................ ............. 14

PayPal’s Payment Processing Solutions ........................................... ............................................ ........................................... ...... 15

• Website Payments Pro ........................................ ........................................... ............................................ ............................ 16

• Website Payments Standard ...................................... ........................................... ........................................... ..................... 16

• Payflow Pro ....................................... ........................................... ............................................ ........................................... ...... 16

• Payflow Link ...................................... ........................................... ........................................... ........................................... ....... 16• PayPal Email Payments .......................................... ........................................... ............................................ ........................... 16

• PayPal Virtual Terminal ......................................... ........................................... ............................................ ........................... 16

Comparison Chart ........................................ ........................................... ............................................ ........................................... . 17

Step Six: Promote Your Site ...................................................................................................................................18

What’s Next : Measure Your Success .....................................................................................................................19

How to Get Started Today ......................................................................................................................................19

For More Information ...................................... ........................................... ........................................... .......................................... 20



Introduction

Your business may be small – but the internet lets you think big. Whatever product

or service you offer, the internet levels the playing field and lets you compete withbigger businesses, reaching customers around the world who can conveniently

buy from your online storefront 24 hours a day. But growing your business and

increasing your profits online requires careful planning and important steps.

To take full advantage of the e-commerce opportunity, make sure you base yourweb business on a solid foundation that covers every element of e-commerce:

1. Establish your identity. The right domain namecan make the difference between a memorable online

identity and getting lost in the crowd.

2. Build an attractive storefront. Creating awebsite is easier than ever – but following some basicguidelines will help make your site simple and fun for

customers to navigate. And that means more sales foryou.

3. Find the right online home. Even on the web,

location is everything. Purchase and set up yourown web server, or find a home for your site with a

reputable internet service provider (ISP) or web host.

4. Let customers know they can trust you. Customers will provide you with private information,

like credit card or phone numbers, only if they’re sureyour site is legitimate and the information they sendis protected. Make sure your site is secure – and that

your customers know it.

5. Make it easy for customers to pay you. Make sure you not only offer customers a varietyof convenient payment methods, but that you can

process them all reliably.

6. Let the world know about your site. Amemorable domain name, a great looking design, and

top-notch products can make your site successfulonly if customers know about it. Promote your site

to drive traffic to it.

PayPal offers a complete set of solutions that make it safe, easy, and affordable for you to receive

payments on your website. This E-Commerce Guide outlines crucial steps that can give your onlinebusiness a competitive edge.



Step One: Establish Your

Online Identity

Your web address (also called a URL or domain name) tells customers who

you are and how to find you on the internet. It is the core of your internetidentity – your online brand. And because no two parties can have the same web

address, your online identity is unique.

What’s in a Name?

Quite a lot, actually. Not only does your domain name act as your address on the

web, it also communicates the name of your business to every website visitor.And it can be used as part of your email address to reinforce your online identity.

Keep these tips in mind before choosing your domain name:

• Make it memorable. “Amazon.com” is more unique and less limitingthan “booksonline.com.”

• Describe your business. Avoid confusion by simply and logicallydescribing your business, like “Flowers.com” for a flower shop. If you aresetting up an online presence for an established business, make sure thename of your site matches the name of your business.

• Keep it short. The best domain names are those that customers can

easily remember and quickly type into their browsers. Complicatedwording like “onlinecdstore.com” doesn’t work as well as a simple

phrase: “cdnow.com.”

How to Get and Manage Domain Names

Once you’ve chosen your domain name, conduct domain name and trademark

searches. If your domain name is available, register it with a domain namecompany or registrar. Registering is easy and inexpensive.

Many businesses register a number of variations, just in case they want to usethem later – or to avoid the risk of competitors obtaining similar names. You

also may want to register common misspellings so that customers who type youraddress incorrectly still find their way to your site. E-commerce businesses most

often register a name with “.com” as the domain name extension (the lettersafter the dot, also called a top-level domain or TLD). But names with “.net” and“.org” (for “organization”) are also common. Other suffixes include “.tv” for rich

content/multi-media websites, “.edu” for schools and universities, “.biz” for small

businesses, and “.info” for resource websites.

Laws governing intellectual property are another consideration. Generally, you

should avoid choosing a domain or business name that is identical or significantlysimilar to a trademark of another party. Even if a domain name featuring anothercompany appears available for your registration, using it commercially could

amount to trademark infringement. None of your domain or business namechoices should include the trademarks eBay, PayPal, or any variation or phonetic

equivalent. For specific guidance, you may wish to consult with an intellectualproperty attorney.



How to Buy an Existing Domain Name

What happens if the domain name you want is already registered? You

can either choose another name or buy your first choice from the current

owner. The fact that the name you want has already been registered doesn’tnecessarily mean it’s not available for sale. A domain-name broker handlesdomains that are for sale by their owners. Brokers include GoDaddy.com,

BuyDomains.com, and AfterNIC.com.

Step Two: Build a

User-Friendly Site

With a domain name in place, you’re ready to start building your e-commercestorefront. But before you begin, take some time to plan.

Plan Your Site Carefully

First, identify clear marketing goals, such as building a database of potentialcustomers or putting a product catalog online to save the time and expenseof printing and mailing. Then, figure out what your potential customers need

to know before buying your products and services. This might include:

• An overview of your company, its products, and services

• Complete product descriptions including features and pricing• Testimonials and success stories• FAQs that answer common questions

Create a site map that outlines how customers get from one page to the next.Your site should make it easy for customers to learn what they need to know,

make purchase decisions, and make purchases. Use tools such as shopping cartsoftware that quantitatively measure site activity – where customers are clicking,

how often, and whether they end up purchasing.

Choose the Right Site-Building Tools

Many e-commerce businesses turn to professional web design studios to create

their websites. But if your budget is limited, there are self-service site-buildingtools like Homestead Technologies that make it fast and easy for you to cre-ate your own polished and professional-looking site. You do not need extensive

HTML knowledge to use these tools.



Build an Attractive E-Commerce Site

Following these basic guidelines will help make your site attractive and easy for

customers to use. A site that’s easy to navigate and understand makes it simple

for customers to buy from you.

1. Explore website design options. Online and printed

materials offer a wealth of style choices, best practices, and tips tohelp you design an attractive and compelling website for maximummarketing effectiveness.

2. Your homepage is your site’s front door. It’s essential for it to

make a good first impression on visitors. Make sure your homepageclearly presents the following basic elements that customers look for:

• Your company name, logo, and tagline prominently displayed• Contact information, including your phone number, email address,

mailing address, and fax number• A link to an “About the Company” page for customers to quickly

learn who you are and what your business offers.• A “What’s New” section for news, announcements, and

product promotions• Your privacy statement, clearly describing your policy for protecting

customers’ personal information

3. Make it easy for customers to navigate your site. Try to

minimize the number of clicks it takes the customer to go from yourhomepage to your point of sale. Four to six clicks is a useful rule of

thumb. Create a site map listing the basic sections of your site; keep a

link to this map in the same place on every page of your site to make iteasy to navigate.

4. Keep things simple. Don’t fill up your site with graphics, animations,

and other visual bells and whistles. Keep the same basic color paletteand fonts your company uses in other communications, such as your

logo, brochures, and signage. Also, make sure the text is easy to read – black letters on a white background is easier on the eyes than orangetype on a purple background. When creating content for your site that

describes your products and services, make sure you utilize the mostappropriate keywords, as this can lead to higher rankings in search

results – and thus drive more visitors to your site. See Step Six to learnmore about keywords, search results, and search engine optimization.

5. Keep download times short. Test pages to make sure they’re not

too heavy with graphics that will slow load times, and minimize the sizeof your images when possible. Most users navigate to another site if apage takes more than eight seconds to load.

6. Test, test, test. You only have one chance to make a positive first

impression on new visitors to your site. Broken links, incorrect phonenumbers, and spelling or grammatical errors tarnish the professional

polish you’re striving for. So take time to review and test your sitethoroughly before going live.



Step Three: Select an ISP

to Host Your Site

Your website is a series of files that reside on a special computer, a web server,

that’s connected to the internet. For customers to visit your site, they mustactually connect to that web server through the internet. Many businesses prefer

the complete control of purchasing, setting up, and managing their own web

server hardware and software.

Other small- and medium-sized businesses prefer to turn to an internet serviceprovider (ISP) or web-hosting company. For a monthly fee, ISPs will connect

your site to the internet at high speed using one of their web servers. The hostprovides your site with space on a server, and offers tools for managing and

maintaining your site, customer support, e-commerce features, and more. Thereare many ISP options to choose from, so use the following criteria to help find

one that meets your needs.

What to Look for in a Web Hosting Company

• Shared hosting or dedicated server. Shared hosting means your siteis housed on the same host server with several other websites. This isan economical solution for smaller sites. Paying the host for a dedicatedserver can provide faster access and more storage space. Does your ISP

or web hosting provider offer both options?

• Hard-disk storage space. Smaller sites may need only 300-500MB (megabytes) of website storage space, while busier e-commerce

sites may need at least 9 GB (gigabytes) of space – or their owndedicated web server. As your site grows, your ISP should be able toaccommodate you with a range of options.

• Availability. If you run an e-commerce business, your site must be

accessible to customers 24 hours a day. ISPs maximize the availability of the sites they host using techniques like load balancing and clustering.

Can your ISP promise near 100% availability?

• Email accounts. Email accounts that match your domain name areoften available from your ISP. Are they included with your monthlyaccess and hosting fee?

• SSL Encryption. The security of credit card numbers and other

personal information customers send you should be a top concern.Does your ISP or web host protect your site with an SSL server ID?

See Step Four below to learn more about website security.

• Support. Does your host offer 24/7 customer service?



Step Four: Minimize the Risks

of E-Commerce

To turn your online storefront into a thriving business, you must first win your

customers’ trust. Many web users are still uncomfortable sending credit cardnumbers over the internet. Merchants who can prove the security of their

website will gain the loyalty – and business – of consumers.

The Risks of E-Commerce

In traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, consumers accept the risks of

using credit cards because they can see and touch the merchandise and make judgments about the store. On the internet, without those physical cues, it’s

more difficult for customers to assess the safety of your business. Also, seriousfraud and security threats have emerged such as:

Consumer Identity Theft: So-called phishers send fraudulentemails to consumers warning, for instance, of a problem with a credit

card account in an attempt to lure the person to provide personal

information. Once they’ve obtained the credit card information, thesecriminals can use it to steal products outright or open other accountsby impersonating the victim.

Merchant Identity Theft: Just as offline criminals can break intoa cash register, online criminals can hack into the accounts of web

merchants and funnel money to themselves. These criminals mightbe employees or visitors to a building who copy unprotected login

information. They can use the information to hack into a backendsystem and hijack a merchant’s payment gateway account, whichprovides the secure connection between your online store and your

internet merchant account. Once they’ve hijacked the merchant’spayment gateway account, they can steal cash directly from the business

by issuing credit card or other payments to themselves.

The Trust Solution: Authenticated SSL Certificates

Authenticated Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) digital certificates provide crucial

online identity and security to help establish trust between parties involved ine-commerce transactions. Customers must be assured that the website they’re

communicating with is genuine and that the information they send through webbrowsers stays private and confidential.

There are three key elements to inspiring the confidence of your customers and

ensuring secure online transactions:

Encryption: The process of encrypting information to make it

unintelligible to all but the intended recipient forms the basis of dataintegrity and privacy necessary for e-commerce.

Authentication: It’s important to have your website authenticated.Authentication means a trusted authority can prove you are who you say you

are. To prove that your business is authentic, your site needs to be securedby best-of-breed encryption technology and authentication practices.



Digital Certificates: A digital certificate is an electronic file that

uniquely identifies individuals and websites and enables secure,confidential communications. These certificates serve as a sort

of digital passport.

How Authenticated SSL Certificates Work

An authenticated SSL certificate allows the receiver of a digital file to be

confident of both the identity of the sender and the integrity of the message.Before a high-assurance SSL certificate is issued to an online business, three

conditions must be met:

• Confirmation that the organization named in the certificate has the right

to use the domain name included in the certificate• Confirmation that the organization named in the certificate is a

legal entity

• Confirmation that the individual who requested the SSL certificate onbehalf of the organization was authorized to do so

When web visitors connect to sites, they reach one of two kinds of servers.

If they reach servers that are secure, they’ll get messages indicating that fact(a closed padlock icon and “https” in the URL). Similarly, if they reach servers

that are not secure, there will be warnings to that effect, provided that theirbrowser security is set to maximum. A truly secure web server is one that has

an authenticated SSL certificate. The authenticated certificate tells users that anindependent, trustworthy third party has verified that the server belongs to thecompany it claims to belong to.

What You Should Know About Fraud

Because the credit card isn’t physically present during online purchases,credit card associations hold merchants liable for fraudulent transactions.

So merchants must take additional steps against online fraud. Credit cardassociations can impose stiff penalties for fraud – expenses on top of stolen

goods and related shipping costs.

Moreover, American Express, Diners Club, Discover Card, JCB, MasterCardInternational and Visa U.S.A. have adopted the Payment Card Industry(PCI) Data Security Standard developed to protect account and transaction

information of cardholders. The PCI standard requires merchants to adhere to a

set of information security requirements or risk substantial fines.

More information about PCI Data Security Standard and compliance

requirements are available from your bank or by visiting: http://usa.visa.com/business/acceping_visa/ops_risk_management/cisp_merchants.html andhttps://sdp.mastercardintl.com/merchants/index.shtml

Fortunately, there are ways to protect against fraud and gain compliance.

The most important thing you can do is choose a reliable and secure paymentsolution that includes basic and advanced antifraud features.



The Best Ways to Mitigate Risks of Internet Fraud

• Choose a secure and reliable payment system. The solution

should take advantage of standard processing level antifraud features

such as card security code, a three- or four-digit number printed on thephysical card, and address verification system (AVS), which verifies theaddress supplied by the credit card holder matches the address on file at

the issuing bank. Both of these antifraud features should execute duringthe payment processing authorization phase. In addition, your antifraudservice should include options to upgrade to advanced fraud protection,

essential for high-value, high-volume, and international transactions.

• Look for solutions that protect you – and save time and money. The ideal solution offers added protection against credit card fraud, cash

fraud, and hacking attempts. It also allows you to manage all of thesefeatures quickly and easily with a single plain-English interface. PayPalFraud Protection Services allows merchants to easily configure the

system to meet their needs. With PayPal, you don’t need technical orfraud expertise to ensure the integrity and profitability of your business.

Your Privacy and Security Statement

A vital component of every e-commerce website is a comprehensive securityand privacy statement that describes exactly how your business secures

information and uses it. This is extremely important to your customers. TRUSTe – a nonprofit association supported by leading businesses such as PayPal, AT&T,

Land’s End, and Wired – regulates the use of data collected on the web. Whenyou abide by the association’s rules regarding the use of information collected on

your site, you can display the TRUSTe logo as yet another symbol of trust.

See http://www.truste.com for more information about TRUSTe’s policies and

how you can join.



Step Five: Accept and

Manage Payments

It takes just a click or two for consumers to complete most online purchases in

seemingly simple and instantaneous transactions. But for merchants, the typicaltransaction weaves through a web of banks, processors, and other institutions to

ensure customer payment information is executed reliably and securely. To earn

and keep customer confidence and trust, working with an experienced and securepayment processing service is essential.

The Payment Processing Network

The payment processing network connects sellers, buyers, and banks to enable

the secure and reliable execution of online transactions. Sellers need an internetmerchant account with an acquiring bank that allows them to accept customercredit cards electronically. Customers need a bank that issues credit cards and

verifies the customer’s credit limit and available cash balance for proposedpurchases. The elements and participants include individuals, institutions, and

processes and services.

Individuals

Merchant: Someone who sells goods or services.

Customer:The holder of the payment instrument.

Institutions

Customer Issuing Bank: The institution providing the customer’scredit card.

Acquiring Bank: Provides internet merchant accounts required to

enable online card authorization and payment processing.

Credit Card Associations: Financial institutions that provide creditcard services in concert with credit card associations such as Visaand MasterCard.

Processor: A large data center that processes credit card transactions

and settles funds for merchants. A processor can be either a bank or acompany dedicated to providing these services. Ceridian is an example

of a payment processor.



Processes and Services

Authorizations: The process of verifying that customer credit cards are

active and have sufficient available credit limits.

Settlements: Processing authorized transactions to settle funds into

a merchant’s account.

Payment Processing Service: A service that connects merchants,

customers, and banks involved in online transactions. A third party, suchas PayPal with its secure payment gateway, usually offers this service.

How Online Payment Processing WorksOnline payment processing consists of two principal steps: authorization andsettlement. Authorization verifies that the card is active and the customer has

sufficient credit to make the transaction. Settlement is the process of chargingthe customer’s card account and transferring money from the customer’saccount to the merchant’s account.

Payment Processing – Authorization

During authorization, a bank verifies that holders of a payment instrument,like a credit card, have sufficient credit or funds to make a purchase.

1. Customer decides to purchase online and inputs credit card information.

2. Merchant’s website receives customer information and sends it topayment processing service.

3. Processing service routes information to processor.4. Processor routes information to bank that issued customer’s credit card.5. Issuing bank sends authorization (or declination) to processor.

6. Processor routes transaction results to payment processing service.7. Processing service sends results to merchant.

8. Merchant decides to accept or reject purchase.

1 2 3 4

8 7 6 5

Customer Merchant Processing service Processor Issuingbank



Payment Processing – Settlement

Once the merchant has shipped the product or authorized the download of

merchandise, the merchant may request the payment processing service settle

the transaction. During settlement, funds are transferred from the customer’saccount to the merchant’s bank account.

1. The merchant informs the payment processing service to settletransactions.

2. The payment processing service sends transactions to processor.

3. The processor checks the information, and forwards settled transactioninformation to the card association and card-issuing bank.

4. Transactions are settled to the card issuers and funds move between theacquiring bank and issuing bank. Funds received for these transactions are

sent to the merchant’s bank account.5. Acquiring bank credits merchant’s bank account.6. Issuing bank includes merchant’s charge on customer’s credit card account.

What to Look for in an Online Payment ProcessingSolution

Finding a reliable, secure, and flexible payment processing solution for your

business is critical, so it’s important to take the time to investigate and assessthe options available to you. A payment processing solution should be:

Secure

• Backed by an established, trustworthy company• Comply with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard

• Provide comprehensive and standard antifraud features• Store customer financial information with state-of-the-art encryption• Supply password-protected account management

Customer

Merchant Processor

Acquiringbank

Issuingbank

Credit Cardassociation

Processingservice

1 2

3

4

46

5



Reliable

• Provide reliable and cost-effective acceptance and processing of a

variety of payment types

• Authorize credit cards in real time• Scale to thousands of transactions to meet peak demand• Based on a fault-tolerant network of redundant servers to ensure

uninterrupted operations

Easy to Use

• Provide easy, flexible integration with merchant’s website

• Scale rapidly and seamlessly as transaction volume increases• Work with leading internet merchant account providers

• Provide easy-to-use tracking and reporting system• Store transactions records securely• Process offline transactions via a virtual terminal

• Provide recurring billing payment for services• Offer upgrade options to accommodate future growth

PayPal’s Payment Processing Solutions

PayPal’s payment processing solutions are designed to meet the demanding

and diverse needs of a variety of online merchants. By providing affordablepayment connections among merchants, customers, and financial networks,

PayPal’s solutions take advantage of the latest technical resources to streamlinetransactions while preventing fraud. Products including Website Payments Pro,Website Payments Standard, Payflow Pro, and Payflow Link allow everyone from

mom-and-pop online retail stores to enterprise-level businesses to processtransactions easily, reliably, and securely.

What’s more, additional options will allow you to scale quickly and seamlessly

as your business grows. PayPal’s Fraud Protection Services and RecurringBilling Service for Payflow, along with other customer service packages, include

professional integration support. Most importantly, Payflow offers one of theindustry’s few payment processing services with immediate connectivity to allmajor processors and most shopping carts. Note, however, that you do not need

a PayPal account to process credit cards on your website.

Once you have your own website, determining which product is right for you is amatter of asking a few simple questions:

1. Do you need an all-in-one solution that includes an internetmerchant account and allows you to process credit cards online?

If you don’t have your own internet merchant or business bank account, PayPal can

provide a total solution with its Website Payments Standard and WebsitePayments Pro solutions.

Website Payments Pro: Website Payments Pro is an all-in-one paymentsolution that allows customers to shop and pay on your site. You can

accept credit cards directly on your site and get the features of a merchantaccount and gateway through a single provider at a lower cost. Website

Payments Pro allows you to control your checkout from start to finish.



Website Payments Standard: Website Payments Standard lets

customers shop on your website and pay on PayPal. It offers a pay-per-use model with no set-up or monthly fees. Like Website Payments Pro,

it includes shipping and tax calculators, reporting tools to measure your

business, and support for international currencies.

2. Do you have your own internet merchant account or business bank

account that allows you to process credit cards online?

If you do, consider PayPal Payflow Gateway products:

Payflow Pro: Scalable and fully customizable, the Payflow Pro solution

is recommended for merchants who require peak site performance anddirect control over payment functionality on their site. Merchants using

this service can enhance the customer experience by allowing shoppersto complete the checkout process without ever leaving your site.

Payflow Link: This service is designed for merchants who requirea simple solution to selling on the web. In order to use this service,

you need to add only a small piece of HTML code that will link yourcustomers to order forms hosted by PayPal. This simple package allows

you to process payments by credit cards, debit cards, and checks both onand offline. It also works with most major shopping carts.

3. Do you need a basic payment processing service?

Look first to a basic PayPal service for processing credit cards payments.These include:

PayPal Email Payments: Email Payments lets you send customersemail invoices that they can pay on PayPal. This simple solution does not

require you to have a shopping cart or an internet merchant account.

PayPal Virtual Terminal: Virtual Terminal provides your businesswith the same functionality as a stand-alone credit card-processing

terminal, but allows you to accept credit card payments by phone, fax,and email. You can use Virtual Terminal on any computer with an internetconnection and a web browser.

Also, you can use PayPal as an Additional Payment Option. This option allows

merchants to put the PayPal logo on their own website to accept PayPal as analternative payment source, in addition to credit cards such as MasterCard or Visa.

* Q1 2006 PayPal phone survey of businesses doing a minimum of $120,000 USD in annual online sales.

Our research shows

that small- to medium-

sized businesses get an

average sales lift of 14%

by accepting PayPal in

addition to credit cards.*



In addition, all PayPal products accept major credit cards and bank transfers,include industry-leading fraud protection services, and offer online, phone,

and email support.

I need an

all-in-one solution.

I have an internet

merchant account.

I need basic payment

processing.

Additional

payment

option

Website

PaymentsPro

Website

PaymentsStandard

Payflow Pro Payflow Link Email

Payments

Virtual

TerminalPayPal

Customer Experience

Where

customersshop:

Shop

on yourwebsite

Shop

on yourwebsite

Shop

on yourwebsite

Shop

on yourwebsite

Varies

with yourbusiness

Varies

with yourbusiness

Shop

on yourwebsite

Where

customerscheck out:

Your website

or on PayPal PayPal

Your website

or on PayPal PayPal PayPal

Phone, fax

or mail PayPal

Customers

need a PayPalaccount:

No No No No No No No

Integration

Internetmerchantaccount:

Included Not needed Required Required Not needed Included Required

Shopping cartsupport:

Yes Yes Yes Yes Not required Not required Yes

Technical

skills:APIs HTML

APIs or

HTML

APIs or

HTMLNot required Not required

APIs or

HTML

Ability to

accept phone,fax, or mail

orders:

Included Upgrade Included Included Upgrade Included Upgrade



Step Six: Promote Your Site

Now that you’ve established a compelling, secure, and easy-to-use webstorefront for your products and services, it’s time to let people know about it.Here are a few tips for driving traffic to your site:

• Make the most of search engine optimization. Search engineoptimization refers to designing your website so that it gains the highest

possible ranking in search engine listings. When consumers enter akeyword or keyword phrase that is relevant to your business, you wantyour site to be listed prominently in the search results. Higher rankingscan drive more visitors to your site. Unfortunately, there is no surefiremethod for improving your natural search rankings. That’s becausesearch engines do not reveal their criteria for determining the relevanceof a particular web page to a particular search query. You will need tospend time investigating which keywords to target for your business.

In the course of your research, you should identify which keywords aremost relevant to your business and then determine their popularity

– i.e., how often they are used in searches. From there, you will need tocreate content to support these keywords. There are lots of websitesthat discuss search engine optimization and provide additional resources.

One good site to reference is Search Engine Watch at: http://www.searchenginewatch.com

• Purchase keywords. Another way to reach prospects who are activelysearching for products or services your business offers is to purchasekeywords on search engines and directories. You can purchase one ormore words and phrases related to your business, and when a customersearches for any of those words, an advertisement for your site willappear. The placement of your ad, relative to other advertisers, is basedon what each advertiser is willing to pay (sometimes referred to as a bid)for each keyword click.

Highly searched keywords can be expensive to purchase, but because

these types of programs are run on a pay-per-click model you don’tactually pay for your ad until a visitor clicks on it. This gives smallbusinesses more flexibility in controlling costs and maximizing theirinvestment by allowing them to adjust their bids as needed. Keyword-based ad programs are great for small businesses as they typically cost

just a few dollars to get started.

• Advertise. Placing a banner ad on other high-traffic sites can attracthuge numbers of prospective customers – and doesn’t have to costa fortune. You might also consider using some offline methods of advertising like radio and newspaper. Every business is different so youwill need to evaluate what advertising methods would work best for you.Be sure to include your website URL in any advertising you do.

• Register your site with search engines. Registering your site withpopular search engines and web directories is a good way to draw trafficto your online storefront. Make sure your business is listed in searchresults when customers look for the products and services you offer.Manually submitting your site to search engines and directories can betime consuming, so easy-to-use search engine submission services likeSubmitWizard can help you automatically submit your site to hundredsof search engines including Yahoo!, Google, and Lycos.

• Put your domain name everywhere. Brochures, advertisements,business cards, press releases, and even hats, jackets, and T-shirts can beeffective ways to promote your site and establish your corporate identity.



What’s Next: Measure Your Success

Now that your online store is open for business, it’s important to monitor how

well you’re doing. Of course you want to know how much you’re selling. But youalso want to be able to track the number of people who visit your online store,

where they come from, and which search engines and directories they use to

find you. This information is vital to your business because it will help you assesswhether your marketing activities are succeeding or failing.

If you’re hungry for traffic statistics and detailed reports, consider using

shopping cart software or signing up for a third-party website analysis servicelike WebTrends. These can be useful tools, especially since two-thirds of all

consumers abandon the online shopping process before making a purchase.These tools can help you understand what paths consumers are taking through

your site and what’s causing them to leave so you can minimize shopping cartabandonment. You can also track sales activity on your website and create

reports showing how much your site is generating from repeat customers.

How to Get Started Today

You can acquire everything needed to begin accepting online purchases in threeeasy steps:

1. Choose a payment processing service.

• Website Payments Pro• Website Payments Standard• Payflow Pro• Payflow Link • Email Payments• Virtual Terminal

2. Set up an internet merchant account, if you don’t already have one.

All online businesses need to operate with an internet merchant account,primarily for depositing and refunding online payments. PayPal’s Website

Payments Pro and Standard feature an integrated internet merchant account andgateway to make it quick and easy for you to begin doing business online.

If you register for either PayPal Payflow Pro or Payflow Link, PayPal will provideyou the option to apply for an internet merchant account with our preferred

merchant account provider.

3. Customize your payment processing service with additional services.

Help protect your business and your customers from fraud:

• Fraud Protection Services. From simple automated credit card fraudscreening to enterprise-grade perimeter security services, PayPal cansave you time and money while protecting your business.



• Express Checkout. Provides your customers a secure and convenientpayment flow because they don’t have to re-enter information alreadystored in their PayPal account.

Accept repeat payments from your customers:

• Recurring Billing Service for Payflow Gateway. A fast,cost-effective way to accept repeat payments for installment plans,monthly fees, or subscription-based services.

Offer your customers an alternative to credit card payments:

• Providing customers with a variety of payment choices, includingcredit cards and PayPal, has been shown in several industry studies to

contribute to an increase in revenue.

For More Information For additional PayPal product and pricing information, please call us at

1-888-847-2747, send us email at [email protected], or visit the PayPalMerchant Services section of the PayPal website at www.paypal.com.

PP ECommerce Guide

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