Using Favicons
The Importance of Having a Favicon for Your Website
What is a Favicon?
Favicon stands for “Favorites Icon”. It is a very small image, only 16px by 16px. This little images shows up in three places: next to the website name in the URL bar, in the bookmarks or favorites section (thus the name), and on the left of each tab when you have multiple tabs open. A favicon is basically a graphical representation of your business and website.
Why is the Favicon Important?
This little image plays a big role in branding. When a visitor comes to your website they will see your favicon. This is important because most people look at graphics before noticing text. If you have a favicon, and it is memorable, you are building brand recognition with your site visitors immediately.
Your favicon will also display next to your website link in Bookmarks, if there is no favicon for your site then a blank white page image shows. When scanning for the site I want from my Bookmarks, I often first search for their favicon as it stands out more in my mind than the text does.
As I mentioned before, if no favicon is present than a blank white page icon shows instead. Having a custom favicon for your site makes it look complete and professional. You don’t even need anything fancy. A lot of the time your logo will work fine as the favicon; as long as it looks okay reduced in size that much. Talk with your web designer for suggestions on a custom graphic for your website.
Now that you’ve read about favicons you will probably start noticing them, and the lack of them, all over the web!
Why A Website?
Why Does Your Business Need A Website?
If you are wondering whether or not your business needs a website, this article should help. To start with, most people search online for services, entertainment and information. If they need a plumber they’ll look online. If they want to try a new restaurant they’ll look online. They also look online for contact information, office hours, and directions.
Your Competition
If your business is not online today those potential customer that are surfing the web will find your competitor’s businesses instead of yours. A great way to see if your business needs an online presence is to search for your competition and see if they have a website. If they do it may be time to take that leap and contact a web designer.
Professionalism
Many consumers judge businesses based on the appearance of their website. If you don’t even have a site, potential customers may not take your business seriously. By not having a website it can look like you’re not even taking your business seriously.
Always Open For Business
One of the greatest advantages of having a website is that you are open for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With my web design business my office hours are 9am to 6pm, but I receive inquiries at 10pm and 2am. My website is always there for potential customers to find needed information and submit their quote requests.
Yellow Pages Business Listing
One way to know for sure that your business needs a website is if you, or your competitors, are listed in the Yellow Pages. People search Google now for everything they used to look for in the phone book.
Customer Comfort
With your website you can post pictures of your office building, store front, interior, or even your self. This helps potential customers know what you look like or the color of the building they are trying to find. Pictures create a sense of comfort and familiarity for customers. This allows customers to get a feel for you and your business before you even meet!
Do you have any other reasons why all business should be online? Post your comments below!
Paypal Alternatives
Is There a Good Alternative to Paypal?
Paypal is the biggest and most popular payment processing company for online sales. Paypal helps individuals purchase goods and services online using their debit/credit card or Paypal account. Most shopping carts have Paypal installed as their payment processor.
Paypal has no monthly fee or set up fee for their regular services. They charge 2.9% plus .30 of each transaction for both credit and debit cards. Their Virtual Terminal service, allowing businesses to manually input payment information online, is about $30.00 per month. For most of these services, paying customers do not even need a Paypal account!
So why are we exploring Paypal alternatives? For several reasons, including: looking for lower transaction fees, wanting to support a smaller company, not wanting to fall victim to the Paypal horror stories, needing a simpler interface, or better customer service.
Alternatives
After doing quite a bit of research, I finally found a suitable alternative. Most payment processing companies charge ridiculous fees from 4.9% plus .25 and up. The company that I recommend is Merchant Warehouse who pairs with Authorize.net. Here’s a little about them:
Since 1998, Merchant Warehouse® has maintained a distinguished reputation as one of the largest, most reputable merchant service providers in the payment card industry. Merchant Warehouse has enabled over 50,000 businesses nationwide to accept electronic card payments by offering the best deals on merchant processing solutions and by providing unrivaled service and support.
Merchant Warehouse is Your One-Stop-Shop for:
- Discounted Credit Card Processing Services & Equipment
- Customized Business Processing Solutions
- Competitive Merchant Account Pricing & Value-Added Programs
- Reliable, Accessible, & Knowledgeable Support Teams
Their rates for credit cards are about the same as Paypal but for debit cards the fee is only .69%. And, unless the card is specified as a credit card most payments default at the debit card rate. Their customer service has been very good. Another nice piece of their service is that transfers to your bank account occur automatically and daily.
Check them out if you are looking for an alternative to Paypal.
