A Good Time is Blog Time

Never mind all the fuss about Google algorithm changes, what about the new European Union cookie regulations and the impact that it is going to have on webmasters worldwide.

The regulations state that websites have to get permission before placing cookies on a visitors computer. Sound innocuous enough but the impact is very far reaching, mainly because of the fact that there are a huge number of players that rely on cookies to operate. Google analytics for example, ShareThis even the little outfits that create widgets which they offer for free but then pop a little cookie into the code so they can collect information and store it.

There is hardly a website on the Internet that does not use a cookie, which incidentally is a small text file that gets popped onto a visitors computer when they connect to your URL. Some are 1st party i.e. they are generated by your site, these you should know about, but others are 3rd party in that they are generated by someone else’s domain but are resident on your site.  The latter are a bit trickier to sort out because you don’t always know they are there. You may innocently use a widget or some other 3rd party device on your website only to find out later that it uses cookies, that is when you can work out where it is coming from.

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Sponsoring local events is a great way to boost the exposure of your business. It gives you the opportunity to directly access your target market and promote your products and services.

You can sponsor various events and causes in order to engage with the local community. It is also an excellent way to promote your business locally and thus generate positive word of mouth for your business. The best thing about sponsoring a local event is that it gives you the opportunity to get publicity for your business while you are making a meaningful contribution to society.

Which Events to Sponsor to Effectively Increase Leads?

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There are big differences between the two however and Google Checkout is limited in the number of currencies it supports and as a pure online system it only accepts payments in the UK and USA. Plus Google Checkout cannot be used to transfer funds.

Paypal on the other hand operates in multiple countries and currencies and allows easy transfer of funds through their system. Question has to be asked then if having a Google checkout account is really a serious competitor to Paypal or not.

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Google checkout came into existence to become a direct competitor to Paypal who hold the prime position as the go to facility for accepting online payments.

Both Google checkout and Paypal are what are called a 3rd party payment processors, which means when you register with them you are given access to software that places different payment options on your website. When a customer clicks on the payment button they effectively are dealing with a 3rd party i.e. Paypal for example take over the purchase, accept the payment on your behalf and redirect the customer to a page that tells them what happens next. This might be a page where they can download a digital product or a page that simply informs them that the payment has been accepted and that the product will be shipped to them in the next few days.

For a merchant, Google Checkout or Paypal is a great way of handing off the responsibility of dealing with secure payments. This does of course come at a cost, both Paypal and Google Checkout charge for the service and Paypal insist that you have a business Paypal account for providing this service as opposed to a free personal Paypal account.

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