The eBiz Blog

We’re now in the year 2012 and it seems as if the Internet is advancing by the minute, never mind the year.  As time goes on people are realizing the amount of money that one single visit to a website is worth.  Which brings the spammers and scammers into the mix very quickly.  Having a little bit of knowledge about the subject could possibly save you hundreds of dollars for a new computer or worse, several thousands due to identity theft.

Most people do their best to watch out for shady links that are sent out via email but every once in a while they click one and have to watch their computer disintegrate in front of them.  Recently there has been an ironic complaint about a SPAM BBB (Better Business Bureau) email going around (see here) that tries to entice the recipient to click a link by telling them there has been a “BBB Complaint” on their business account.  The hope of this scam artist is that the business owner will click the link to find out what the complaint was in order to fix the problem as soon as possible.

Why does this happen and how can you avoid it?

This particular scam artist could be the owner of a website trying to get more visits in which case you might not have too much to worry about.  Their hope is to get thousands of people to simply visit their website and a percentage of them will click on an advertisement to make them money.

The second possibility is that a virus will begin downloading immediately after clicking the link which of course crashes your computer to the point where you will need a new one or you can purchase software to cure the virus.  It is believed that shady software companies will purposely harm your computer in order to sell you the software afterwards.

A third possibility is the scammer is actually a thief who hopes to trick you into giving them personal information about yourself or your company.  They then use the information to steal your identity or drain your bank accounts.

Some ways to avoid this from happening to you is to obviously avoid clicking the links in your email.  You can hover your mouse over the link and it will show the web address in the bottom left hand side of your monitor.  Be sure that the address is the exact same as the link you are clicking or even just type it into the address bar yourself to avoid clicking the link.

If you have already clicked the link and had to watch your computer crash, then turn your computer off right away. Turn it back on and hopefully you can get to your desktop to restore your computer back a few days before this happened. Look online for details of how to restore your computer, it’s very easy.

Remember that we’re all very busy in 2012 and someone who tries to scroll through emails at a rapid pace is the exact prey these scammers are looking for because a high percentage of these clicks are accidental. Be very careful of what you are clicking even if you think it’s a reputable company such as the BBB.

The goal of your Ecommerce site is to sell and make a profit; before you can make a profit you must first invest time and money on an ecommerce website. Custom Ecommerce website building is usually left up to the experts who are well versed and experienced in the matter. However, for those who would rather have a more hands on approach to building their ecommerce website, there are programs that are basically Ecommerce website builders. They are programs or solutions to your ecommerce site building needs and include a package of features and customizations that enable you to be more personally involved in your site building.

Software is basically a program that instructs the computer about a certain course of action. An ecommerce site builder is a type of software that helps you build your own ecommerce website. You may be asking why you should go and buy this software when the services are available from professionals, why would you invest your time and money in something you are not that well versed in when you can simply outsource the work to a professional? There is no direct answer to these questions because the programmer might have varying motivations. However, the important thing that you must know is that it is much cheaper to do it on your own than having it done by professionals.

There are some programmers who even though are not experts in programming and building an ecommerce website have nonetheless ample knowledge on the matter and thus would prefer to use an ecommerce website builder. They may prefer to create their own ecommerce website because they want every aspect of the site to be according to their taste. These programs are cheaper as well and due to the user friendliness of the programs it becomes very easy for the programmer to navigate through it and make one himself. These site builders also include templates and built in tools to help the programmer with designing their website.

The convenience and ease the ecommerce website builders provides is attractive to those knowledgeable in programming and is usually cheaper than hiring a professional to do your work. If you know about search engine optimization and know a thing or two about programming then this may be a more viable option for you. It includes all those other features that a professional may offer you such as web hosting, your own email and security only this time it comes with the whole package. This approach is also perfect for those who want to meet a certain deadline, if they outsource the work to a professional who also has a lot to do then it may take sometime whereas they can do the work themselves and save time and money.

Lastly, you may not need a fancy website like the professionals provide. You may only need a very basic layout and basic design that you can easily do yourself. These are the reasons why people resort to ecommerce website builders.

You should put alot of thought and effort into web designing and development of your website as this can be a crucial aspect of your business. You may not even know it but people are actually judging your business all the time based only by your design and layout. Thus, it can make or break your business. If you want a website that can really entice your audience and keep the attention of your visitors, it might be best for you to purchase professional website design services to help with your quest. Also, with hiring professionals for the design and layout of your website, you can expect extra features that can be the fundamental element of success of your business such as e-commerce functionality. This feature can usually be performed only by professionals. Free web services usually do not offer such features. If you want your business to reach more people across the globe, the e-commerce functionality can prove to be vital.

You can definitely select an e-commerce web development company out there but remember that choosing the best company for your business can be confusing. Here are some tips that can help you when choosing becomes tedious for you already.

• Price should not always be an option. The cost of the services of an e-commerce web development company should not only be your criteria for comparison. It can be that one company offers more services and features to people that’s why their prices are more expensive than others. The cost of their services is very relative thus you need to weigh in all other aspects as well. Decide if you need all the features and services that one company provides but costs you more as well or you need just the basics with less features and services but cost you less.

• Be specific with everything that you want in your website. By having an idea of what you want, the company can provide you with the costing and if such services or features are available to them. With an idea in mind, you can also ask pertinent questions to the company and have specific demands as to what you want so they can deliver the quality that will satisfy you as well. This is advantageous for both parties as you will be satisfied with their work and they won’t have to guess and keep on revising their design proposals to satisfy what you want.

• You need to be open to the suggestions of the company as well. Since they are an e-commerce company, they most certainly have done a job similar to your demands. They can provide you with insights that you might have not thought of before that can be vital to the success and improvement of your business. If you have doubts on a certain proposal neither accept it nor reject it. Ask more time from them to study it, as you never know if it is harmful or helpful to your business.

Hiring the best e-commerce web development company can prove to be essential to your business. Keep these tips in mind when deciding which company to hire to have the best possible website for your business.

We have another new system update that is in the process of being rolled out.  Keep an eye on right side of your Admin page in your account.  You'll see a notice posted there once the update has been installed on your server.  A link will be included to a page that explains all the new features being released. Here are a couple of things we're most excited about.

Content Slider
The new content slider makes it easy to setup animated content sections with your own background images and text. Visitors use arrows or page icons to switch between slider content sections.

Edit any page, click the add button and choose the content slider from the design/layout component section.

Google fonts directory - customize your site with new fonts
Most web browsers now support the ability to download fonts, giving you more control over how your site text looks. Google has setup a font directory to easily allow you to use new fonts on your website.

Every once in a while we have a customer experiencing a problem that is just really hard to solve without us being able to see what the customer is seeing on their computer.  So we've been looking for a cost effective way to provide remote access support and have finally found a great tool to do it.

What is remote access support?  Basically it allows us to access the customer's computer remotely from our location so that we can see what they see on their computer screen.  It also allows us to temporarily control their computer to fix any problems they are having or to show them how to use any software on the computer.

We've been testing GoToAssist for several weeks and it has been everything we have ever hoped for.  We've been able to help customers by demonstrating advanced website building techniques, solving highly technical problems, and even exchanging large files through the interface.  The whole system worked surprisingly well and was incredibly easy to use by both us and some of our less tech-savvy customers.

The service is powered by Citrix Online, which is the same company that offers GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting.  You've probably seen their commercials on TV.  We've been very pleased with the GoToAssist service and will definitely continue to include it in our available support options.  We highly recommend it to anyone needing a direct support option with their customers when email or phone support is not enough.

One way for ecommerce enabled sites to expand their catalog is to sell products made or supplied by a third-party provider who can ship the product directly to the customer.  That practice is known as dropshipping.  The site owner sells the product on their own website at a higher price than what the supplier offers it to the site owner.  When the site owner gets an order for the product they pay the supplier the discounted amount, keep the markup, and relay all the order details to the supplier.  The supplier then fulfills the order and ships it directly to the customer.

This setup has several benefits for the site owner.

1. They are able to offer a wider range or variety of products without having to keep any large inventory of them.
2. The site owner is able to sell the products without having to put out any of their own money upfront. It only costs the site owner after they have already received an order from a customer for the product.
3. The site owner does not have to get involved in the shipping of the product.

Just like anything else in life though, there are some potential negatives to dropshipping.

1. Some dropshippers make it difficult or costly to the site owner to have any products returned. Ask about return policies and/or any restocking fees. Also check to see if the customer can send the product directly back to the dropshipper or if it has to be sent back by the site owner.
2. Choose a dropshipper who can provide real time inventory numbers for their products. The whole point in using a dropshipper is so the site owner doesn't have to stock any product. If the dropshipper doesn't keep the product in stock then you want to know about it before a customer places an order, not after.
3. Don't use any dropshipper who doesn't include a flat rate for shipping in the wholesale price to the site owner. You need to know what the base shipping will always be and don't need any surprises. A plus is if they offer upgraded shipping options such as next day air or 3 day select so that you can offer those options in turn to the customer.

Only do business with a reliable dropshipper.  Ask for references and check them out.  If there's any problem with your customer getting their order then you want the dropshipper to be easy to work with to get the problem resolved.

As you all know, we are always working on new improvements and updates to our software.  We'll be rolling out a another system update starting next week that will include lots of great stuff. Two new features we're really excited about and we wanted to give you a heads up about them.

The first is a language translator.  We have integrated the Google language translator into the QuickLinks Bar component.  Now you have the option to let your visitors instantly have the text on your site translated to their language.  The button in the QuickLinks Bar will include a drop down menu with multiple languages available.

The second new feature is an upgrade to the message board system that will enable post approvals by email.  We're really excited about this because it basically makes the message board a complete system now.  No longer will you have to manually monitor the board for new posts to approve them.  The system will send you an email to let you know a new post was made and you can approve or disapprove it from the email message.  This new management option will also make it easier for us to monitor our own message board, so watch for it to be making a prominent come back very soon.

That's it for now.  An official announcement for all the new stuff will be posted on our News & Updates page once the update has been officially released.  As always, if you have any suggestions for new services or updates please let us know at support@ebizwebpages.com.

In case you hadn't noticed, we're rolling out a new design makeover for our website.  There may be a some minor bugs over the next couple days while we fine tune everything.

The reason for the new design is because we have so much content now that it was getting difficult to manage it all in a sensible way using the previous menu structure.  So we figured we may as well just revamp the whole site while we move all the content around.

Everything should be finalized within a few days.  Then we're back to work on future system updates!  Stay tuned!

We have 5 new services now available. We're calling them Extra Value Services because they will add Extra Value to your website by increasing the amount of traffic the site can potentially receive. You can browse through all the services available together here - Extra Value Services - or click the links below to go to each one individually.

First up is a Gift Certificate product. It can be redeemed for any of the other extra value services offered. It's the perfect gift for the person who already has everything. Keep us in mind when you're trying to think of what get friends and loved ones this holiday season.

Next is the "We Build It" Standard Package. This is where we build your site for you instead of you building it yourself. We've had this one available for years and is a great option for those too busy to make their own site.

The next 3 are services we have been wanting to offer for a long time. They are Small Biz Search Engine Optimization Service, Small Biz PPC Management Service, Small Biz Super Marketing Package.

The SEO and PPC individual services are for the small business site that's looking to get more quality traffic and they are priced so that anyone can afford them. Check around and you're unlikely to find any other experienced SEO or PPC management service offers that are even close. Most other companies are charging 2 - 3 times more.

The Super Marketing Package is an allin one option that combines both SEO and PPC management together.

The final new service is our Advanced Domain Research & Registration Service. Whatever domain you're using is probably the first or most obvious choice. However, there could be a better one available. Do you know what it is? We do.

A couple of days ago, we were going around the internet and analyzing some of our competition. We try to do that at least once per year to make sure nobody is blatantly copying our content and to also see what the industry trends are. We happened upon a company that specifically targets churches and couldn't believe how much they are ripping them off.

We're not going to name them here because doing so basically gives them free publicity and would help them in the search engines. They're easy enough to find if you search using the following info. Anyway, they're charging $1,000 upfront for the site + $20 per month.

That price isn't for some specially designed custom site either. It is for a basic, template based, do it yourself site. $1,000 up front! They don't even offer a decent selection of templates. Most were very generic and didn't include any kind of images that were specifically for a church type of design.

It's very disturbing to find somebody targeting churches and ripping them off that way.