We are excited to announce that we have added PayPal Advanced to the list of supported payment processors within your shopping cart. PayPal Advanced will keep your customers on your site for the entire checkout process similarly to PayPal Payments Pro but at a lower cost to you.

For more information about PayPal Advanced and how it compares to PayPal Payments Pro and PayPal Standard please click here.

If you already have a PayPal Advanced account, you may start using it instantly by logging into your site, and selecting PayPal Advanced from the list of options in the Gateway section of the “Payment Processing” section of the “Edit Store” tab. For more details on setting up PayPal Advanced, check out our article on the topic.

Last week we posted our first in a series of feature posts about website marketing and its complexities. After focusing on SEO and Meta Keywords last week, we’re going to focus on Local Search Results, one aspect of Search Marketing and the benefits of building a local presence on Google Places for your business. These articles were written by our guest host, Adam Steele, who is the CEO at Nightlite Media and has expertise in SEO, social media and email marketing.

1) Google Local Results Changed the Game, Part 1

This post will break down the premise of local search marketing and give you insight on why it is an important aspect of your online presence.

2) Google Places Optimization Checklist, Part 2

This post will break down how Google Places works and offer some simple tips and guidelines to a successful Google Places page optimization.

3) Google Places Local Business Directories, Part 3

This post shows you how to take your Google Places optimization to the next level by learning about off page ranking factors.

All 3 posts above have tremendous insight into Local Search Marketing and should be a great resource when starting your Search Marketing campaigns.

Here are a few practices to help ensure the safety of your online accounts:

Beware of phishing and scams

If an email links you to a site that asks you to type in your password, do not type in your password. It could be a fake site. The only time we or any other provider should ask you to do this would be when changing your password from a “password recovery” link. Make sure to double check that the e-mail originated from the correct source and that it is secure.

Verify you are speaking to an official representative

If someone claims to work for CityMax or any other site you have a relationship with and asks for your password, do not tell them your password. It’s most likely a trick to get access to your account. An agent of a company should never need to ask you for your password.  Also, remember that an actual representative would be happy to answer questions proving that they are an official agent of the company they represent.

Take caution when opening files

Do not download and run software, or open files attached to emails from a source you aren’t completely sure about. Malicious software can install a keylogger on your system to record your passwords and transmit them.

Use a strong unique password

Keep the email address associated with any online account secure, just like you keep your CityMax account itself secure. Use a strong, unique password which you’ve never used anywhere else. A combination of letters (including one or more capital letters), numbers and special characters makes a strong password. For example:  WebZ1te*33.  Also, do not use the same password for several different accounts and change your password from time to time.

Remember, security is all about the little details. I hope these tips helps ensure your passwords are safe.

When something goes wrong, it’s natural to want to ask for help from someone you feel is an expert especially when it comes to computers and software programs. However, there are a few simple tricks for fixing some problems that anyone can do. Below, I’ll go over how to do each one and why they can make a difference.

1. Undo a previous action

If everything had been working fine for a long time, but suddenly stopped working, think back to the last action you did before things broke. If possible, try and undo it. I’ve seen this commonly happen when a person tries to copy in code or some other information that they found on another site and put it on their CityMax.com website. Try to go back to your editing page and remove the code or snippet of information.

If your editing button isn’t working, it may be the new code you put in has broken the button. If this happens, go to “EDIT SITE” -> “MY PAGES” -> click the “EDIT” button beside your page. The code only breaks the page it’s posted on, but “MY PAGES” is a different page and may therefore get you access to edit.

2. Delete your cookies

A cookie is a small file that saves information like your login, so as you navigate your website, you don’t have to log into every page. Without a cookie, your computer wouldn’t be able to remember any information you might want to carry forward to other pages.

Why would you want to delete your cookies? Sometimes cookies become corrupted and cause problems with login or other actions, so they need to be deleted. Corruption can happen when your computer is trying to save a cookie file, but your browser crashes (e.g. Internet Explorer stops working suddenly), you lose your internet connection or for many other reasons. Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal and you can fix the problem.

How you delete your cookies depends on which browser and version you’re on (e.g. Internet Explorer 7.0). To find out which one you’re on, go to http://www.thismachine.info. Next, do a search on Google for “delete cookies” and your browser and version number.

3. Clear your browser cache

Your browser cache is a folder on your computer that keeps copies of pages (images, text, etc.) you’ve already visited online. If you go back to an already visited page, instead of having to download the page again, your computer will draw it from your cache. This makes your page display faster.

As your cache grows with more and more saved items, it may start slowing down your browser. In other cases, you may want to see a newer version of a page, but your computer keeps drawing the page it saved instead.

From time to time, delete everything in your browser cache (this is also called “emptying your cache” or “clearing your cache”). Depending on your browser and version, the instructions vary. Go to http://www.thismachine.info to find out what browser you’re on. Next, do a search on Google for “clear browser cache” plus your browser and version number.

4. Restart your computer

Sometimes the best fix is to turn your computer off and then turn it back on. When computers haven’t been restarted in a long time, sometimes they start to act oddly:  programs are slow, pages freeze, clicking on something doesn’t work, etc. Restarting your computer clears out everything in your trash and all your programs by default have to be reloaded. This can fix a lot of issues.

Hopefully, these fixes may help you troubleshoot some of the problems you encounter on your computer. If you’re still stuck, contact the support team and remember to follow the 7 tips for better customers support.

When you need help with an online application, a customer support representative can be your best friend. Your expectation is to have speedy help and a solution that works. But, did you know that you can greatly improve the service you get?  You might be thinking:  “This is where they tell me to be more courteous.”  Sure, that’s always greatly appreciated, but I’m actually referring to providing information in your help request that will make fixing your problem faster.

Here’s information that will help customer service agents help you:

1. Include the web address of the problem page

This will save the support agent from having to look through all your pages for the right page and prevent any misunderstandings about which page is the problem. To get the web address, you will want to copy (highlight and press CTRL+C) and paste (press CTRL+V) the web address into your request for help. Usually it starts with http.

The web address of a page is near the top of your browser window

2. Include your login name

This information may help the support agent verify you are the owner of the website. Although they may have a way to look up your login name through your web address, it’s just another way to save them time so they can help you more quickly. On CityMax.com, you don’t need to include your login name if you have logged into your site and clicked on the SUPPORT link at the top.

3. Describe step-by-step what happened

Specifically, what actions did you do just prior to the problem occurring?  What did you click on? Were there any options that you selected? Make it possible for the support agent to do the exact same steps as you to recreate the issue so they can see it firsthand.

4. Explain what you did to try and fix the problem

In some cases, you may have extra information that will help the support agent.  You do not have to test your problem thoroughly, but it may be helpful to know the following information:  Does this problem happen on more than just this one page? Has this problem occurred before? Did you change anything on the page recently before the problem occurred on it? Did you try to delete your cache or cookies or restart your computer (more on this in my next blog post)?

5. Copy and paste in any error messages

If an error message comes up whether directly in your web page or pops up from your computer, copy and paste exactly what it says into your message to your support agent.

6. Indicate which web browser you’re using

Web browsers are what you use to access the Internet. The most common ones are:  Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. They do not operate the same and on the programming side sometimes require special snippets of code to deal with different tasks. In addition to telling the support agent which one you’re using, the version of your browser also matters. Every now and then, a browser will be updated with new capabilities and improvements and they’ll go up a version from say 2.0 to 3.0. You can find out which versions you’re on by going to http://www.thismachine.info. As soon as you go there, it will automatically tell you your browser and version number.

7. Attach a picture

In some cases, a picture of what’s on your screen may be helpful. To do this on a PC, while the problem page is showing on your screen, press SHIFT+PrtScn to take a screenshot of everything that you see. Then, open Microsoft Word (also ok on Graphics programs) and paste (CTRL+V) in your screenshot.  Save and include the file in your request for help. On a MAC, press COMMAND+SHIFT+3 and this will save the screenshot as an image file on your computer.

Here’s an example of a support request with just the right amount of details:

Hi,

I uploaded an image (tourist.jpg in my Tours Folder) without any problems, but when I posted it on page http://www.newyorktours.citymax.com/about_us.html, it looks distorted. I tried resizing it to 400 x 300 but the image looks stretched out. I left the image up there for you to take a look at it.

I didn’t have problems resizing and posting another image this way at http://www.newyorktours.citymax.com/testimonials.html (tourgroup.jpg in my Tours Folder).

login:  newyorktours
browser:  IE 7.0

Thanks,
Emily

As a former customer support agent and manager, my goal is to make sure you get timely help and walk away a happy customer. Hopefully these tips will help you get better and faster customer support.

In my next post, I’ll go over some common fixes so you may not need a customer support agent at all.

Last week, we introduced Call to Action buttons (CTAs) as a great tool to help increase conversions on your small business website. This week we will give you some techniques to maximize effectiveness and boost sales! Read on for some great tips from our Brand Manager and Creative Director, Joe Deobald.

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Group the Elements

Grouping elements together is a great way to help emphasize the importance of the CTA button. In the example below, the text above the button helps earn the visitor’s trust – giving a sense of “it’s safe to click.” The whitespace to the right helps to separate blocks of elements from each other, allowing for a clear indication that they are different.

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Emails. Twitter. Facebook. Blogs.

We live in an age of infinite information and perpetual data. It’s easy to waste an entire morning reading Tweets, watching YouTube and checking your LinkedIn. Sometimes there’s just so much incoming material that it is easy to feel overwhelmed and lose productivity.

So – how do you get anything done? How do you take action and regain your sanity?

Here are three ways.

1. Check your email just twice a day.

Yes, that’s it. Unless it’s a medical emergency or the Wall Street Journal calling to put you on the front page, do NOT stop what you’re doing to even scan it. Studies have shown that it takes as long as 20 minutes to recover focus if you are interrupted while in the middle of a task.
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Since our Support Team gets asked this question a lot, we thought that it might be worth a blog post!

It’s something that PC users take for granted, but for a long time there was no such thing as a right-click on a Mac. To access those right-click mouse menu options, you had to hold down the control button on the keyboard and then click the one-buttoned mouse.

If you’re running Mac OS X 10.2 or older, you still do.

But for those of you running Mac OS X 10.3 or newer – the right-click is now yours. You can set preferences for the right side of your mouse and easily do things like:

• Copy
• Paste
• View Source
• Bookmark
• etc!

To set up your Mac to right-click:

1. Go into the Apple menu and select ‘System Preferences’.
2. Ensure that the right side of your mouse is set to ‘Secondary Button’.

For more detailed instructions visit Apple Support.