Zen Cart FAQs - How do I configure for Canadian Taxes?

http://tutorials.zen-cart.com/index.php?article=75

Vendors operating in Canada need to accomodate numerous tax configurations to support proper tax collection on sales to customers in provinces where they are registered to sell. There's a Federal GST , HST, and provincial PST/RST.

Tax Zones / Rates configuration can be a little confusing at times, as the terms are easily and accidentally swapped ... by mistake... thus it's sometimes hard to follow the process through completely.

Hopefully this short article will help clarify.
Some contents originally written by Peter Mosier
Revised for clarity by drbyte (drbytezen AT yahoo DOT com)
=========================
Understanding Terminology
=========================
TAX CLASS = A setting assigned to PRODUCTS and to SHIPPING that's used to calculate final taxes.
TAX ZONE = A regional setting used to help determine tax rates by geography.
TAX RATE = A rate calculated by combining a product's tax class and shipping zone with the relevant tax percentage.

Zen Cart uses SHIPPING ADDRESS to determine appropriate taxes, i.e. which TAX ZONE you are shipping into. NOTE: this is the shipping address, and *NOT* the billing address.

A TAX RATE is determined by comparing SHIPPING ADDRESS to the Tax ZONE set up for the TAX RATE; and also by Tax Class assigned to each product.

You can only assign ONE TAX CLASS to a product.
In many stores, you will only have one TAX CLASS (GST/HST/PST) since all goods are either taxable or non-taxable.
When would you use different rates? One example would be if, say, CLOTHES were taxed at a different rate than BOOKS which are in turn different from DVDs. You could create a different TAX CLASS for each family ("class") of product in that case.

In the following examples, we will be dealing with only ONE tax CLASS for products.
You likely want the GST for SHIPPING to show up seperately, so we will make a separate "TAX CLASS" for "GST on Shipping".

========= PROBLEMS:
=========

The method below shows the GST and PST totalled together on the same line (see sample output below).

Having said that, the only problem is that the two taxes are summed together onto one line.
However, the GST number is displayed, and the percentages (rates) used are displayed, and nothing is hidden, so I believe that this will be acceptable according to Federal & Provincial Gov't requirements (but I AM NOT AN ACCOUNTANT!!!!).

**************************************************
Best part is: IT DOESN'T REQUIRE ANY CONTRIBUTIONS!!!!! Just a careful setup of the zones.
**************************************************
===================
Step-by-Step SETUP:
===================

STEP (1): Set the location for your store:

Configuration --> My Store

- Country: Canada
- Zone: Ontario

STEP (2): Create the "Tax Zones". The are geographical regions where a particular set of tax laws applies
Locations/Taxes --> Zones Definitions

Create the Zone for all of Canada
- Zone Name: Canada GST Zone
- Description: GST (except Eastern Canada: NS, NB, NL)

Now click on the newly created "Canada GST Zone" row to drill down one level to "Sub Zones"
Click INSERT to create 10 new sub-zones, one at a time:

- Country: Canada; Zone: Alberta
- Country: Canada; Zone: British Columbia
- Country: Canada; Zone: Manitoba
- Country: Canada; Zone: Northwest Territories
- Country: Canada; Zone: Nunavut
- Country: Canada; Zone: Ontario
- Country: Canada; Zone: Prince Edward Island
- Country: Canada; Zone: Quebec
- Country: Canada; Zone: Saskatchewan
- Country: Canada; Zone: Yukon Territory

Click on "BACK" to go up one level.
Now create the Ontario Provincial Tax Zone:
Click Insert

- Zone Name: Ontario PST Zone
- Description: PST (only when shipping to Ontario)

Now click on the newly created "Ontario PST Zone" row to drill down one level to "Sub Zones"
Click INSERT to create new sub-zone:

- Country: Canada
- Zone: Ontario

Click on "BACK" to go up one level.
Now create the HST Tax Zone:
Click Insert

- Zone Name: Eastern Canada - HST Zone
- Description: NS, NB, NL

Now click on the newly created "HST Zone" row to drill down one level to "Sub Zones"
Click INSERT to create new sub-zone:

- Country: Canada; Zone: Nova Scotia
- Country: Canada; Zone: New Brunswick
- Country: Canada; Zone: Newfoundland

Do NOT create a separate Tax ZONE for Shipping. You will simply use the "Canada" tax zone for the GST Shipping tax CLASS (below).

*** Important: this means that SHIPPING GST will only be charged to destinations within Canada,
*** but NOT charged on exports.
*** According to Canada Customs & Revenue Agency (1-800-959-5525), you do *NOT* charge GST
*** on the shipping fee for EXPORTS.

STEP (3): Create the "Tax Classes"

Note: You can only assign ONE Tax CLASS to a product.
But since we want shipping GST to show up separately, we will make a seperate Tax CLASS just for it.

Locations/Taxes --> Tax Classes

create TWO (2) tax classes:

- Tax Class Title: GST/HST/PST Class
- Description: All taxable goods

- Tax Class Title: GST on Shipping
- Description: GST on shipping within Canada

STEP (4): TAX RATES

Here is where it all comes together: Tax Rates.
Tax RATES associate Tax ZONES & Tax CLASSES to determine the correct Tax Rate.

HINT: The "DESCRIPTION" is what shows up on the invoice, so use it judiciously!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Locations/Taxes --> Tax Rates

create SIX (6) Tax Rates:

- Tax Class Title: GST/PST/HST Class
- Zone: Canada GST Zone
- Tax Rate (%): 6.0000
- Description: 6.0% GST#99999 99999 RT0001
- Priority: 1

/*HINT: Insert your GST# as part of DESCRIPTION and it will show up on invoice !!!
/*HINT: Leave PRIORITY at "1" for a non-cumulative tax (i.e. Ontario)
- Tax Class Title: GST/PST/HST Class /* HINT: Yes, this is the same one you just used
- Zone: Ontario PST Zone
- Tax Rate (%): 8.0000
- Description: 8.0% PST (Ontario)
- Priority: 1

/*HINT: Leave PRIORITY at "1" for a non-cumulative tax (i.e. Ontario)
but change to "2" for cumulative tax (i.e. You are a Quebec store)

- Tax Class Title: GST/PST/HST Class /* HINT: Yes, this is the same one you just used
- Zone: HST Zone
- Tax Rate (%): 14.0000
- Description: 14% HST#R99999 9999 RT0001
- Priority: 1

That takes care of taxes on products. And now, the Shipping taxes:

- Tax Class Title: GST Shipping Class
- Zone: Canada GST Zone
- Tax Rate (%): 6.0000
- Description: 6.0% GST on shipping
- Priority: 1

- Tax Class Title: GST Shipping Class
- Zone: Ontario PST Zone
- Tax Rate (%): 8.0000
- Description: 8.0% PST (shipping)
- Priority: 1

- Tax Class Title: GST Shipping Class
- Zone: HST Zone
- Tax Rate (%): 14.0000
- Description: 14% shipping HST#99999 9999 RT0001
- Priority: 1

/* HINT: The above will calculate PST on shipping. Although there might
/* be a tendenancy to think of shipping as a PST exempt service, in fact
/* the Ontario Ministry of Finance says that for calculating the PST,
/* "The total selling price includes delivery, mailing, transportation, or
/* handling charges, but does not include the GST". With the above set-up,
/* the PST for the shipping gets calculated (albeit separately).
/* If you wanted them calculated together, you could assign "GST/PST/HST Class"
/* as the Tax Class when setting up the shipping method.
/* Personally, I prefer to break it out separately.

STEP (5): Specify the appropriate Tax Class for SHIPPING MODULES

MODULES --> SHIPPING

Edit whichever shipping module(s) you are using.

Tax Class: GST Shipping Class

/* SEE PREVIOUS HINT

STEP (6): Specify the appropriate Tax for PRODUCTS

This may take some time.... 

CATALOG --> Categories/Products

Drill down to each product. Click EDIT

TAX CLASS: "GST/PST/HST CLASS"

==============
The following SQL statement would be helpful:

-------- UPDATE products SET products_tax_class_id = 1 WHERE products_model NOT LIKE 'GIFT%';
(you'd need to confirm that the desired products_tax_class_id = 1, first )

===============
Example Output:
===============

Shipping to Ontario:

Sub-Total: $69.00
Per Item (Best Way): $10.00
8.0% PST (Ontario) + 6.0% GST #99999 9999 RT0001: $9.66
6.0% GST (shipping) + 8.0% PST (shipping): $ 1.40
Total: $90.06

Shipping into the HST zone (NB, NS, or NL):

Sub-Total: $69.00
Per Item (Best Way): $10.00
14% HST#R86179 1655 RT0001: $9.66
14% shipping HST#99999 9999 RT0001: $ 1.40
Total: $90.06

Shipping to Canada, but non-HST, and non-Ontario:
Sub-Total: $69.00
Per Item (Best Way): $10.00
6.0% GST # 99999 9999 RT0001: $ 4.25
6.0% GST (shipping): $ 0.60
Total: $83.74

Shipping to non-Canada zone:
Sub-Total: $69.00
Per Item (Best Way): $10.00
Total: $79.00

Comparison & Conclusion - 7 Cloud Storage Services

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/cloud-storage-service-computing,review-1539-9.html

8:40 PM - April 23, 2010 - by William Van Winkle

Table of contents

• 1. Cloud Storage Comes Home
• 2. Box.net
• 3. Carbonite
• 4. Google...Lots of Google
• 5. i365 EVault SaaS

• 6. MediaFire Pro
• 7. Microsoft Live Mesh
• 8. Microsoft SkyDrive
• 9. Comparison & Conclusion

Vendor	Account Type	Cost	Focus	File Size Limit	Total Capacity Limit	Sharing?
Box.net	Individual	$9.95/month	Productivity	1 GB	10 GB	Yes
Box.net	Business	$15/user/month	Productivity	2 GB	15 GB / User	Yes
Carbonite	(3 year)	$3.61/month	Backup	Unlimited	Unlimited	No
Google	Docs, etc..	Free to 1GB, $1 per 4GB after	Productivity	1 GB	1 GB For Docs	Yes
i365	EVaults SaaS	Variable, $99 setup, starts at $285/month for 100GB	Backup	Unlimited	Unlimited	No
Mediafire	Free	Free	Hosting / Streaming	200 MB	Unlimited	Yes
MediaFire	Gold	$49.97 For 1TB Bandwith	Hosting / Streaming	2 GB	Unlimited	Yes
Microsoft	Live Mesh	free	Synchronization	5 GB	5 GB	Yes
Microsoft	SkyDrive	Free	Storage	50 MB	25 GB	Yes

10 great, free Windows programs for your small or home business

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/04/26/free-programs-software-small-home-business-soho/

by Lee Mathews (RSS feed) Apr 26th 2010 at 1:00PM

Purchasing software for your business can take a pretty big bite out of your budget, but finding programs that you're actually allowed to use on a home business computer can be tricky. There's a lot of free software out there, but much of it is only free for personal use -- and you can't use it legally on your business systems. Here's a list of 13 great, free programs that you can definitely use. Doing so could also help your small or home business save some serious cash.

Microsoft Security Essentials Antivirus software is a good place to start, and Microsoft Security Essentials is an excellent option. It's been rated very highly in head-to-head tests and is every bit as good (if not better) than programs like Norton Antivirus, AVG, and Avast. Best of all, Security Essentials is free "for use in your home-based small business," as specified in the license agreement.

OpenOffice or Lotus Symphony OpenOffice is widely regarded as the top free alternative to Microsoft Office, and it includes the same range of applications. There's Writer for word processing (Word), Calc for spreadsheets (Excel), Impress for presentations (PowerPoint), Base for databases (Access), and Draw for creating images and diagrams for your documents and slideshows.

Symphony is actually based on OpenOffice, and though its interface is quite different, it's well worth a look. If you're a fan of using tabs in your Web browser, you might really like the fact that Symphony handles documents the same way. Symphony is also a bit slimmer than OpenOffice, offering the three main programs you'll likely need: word processor, spreadsheet, and presentations.

OpenClipArt Finding free images to use in things like flyers and postcards that you might want to print for your business can be a lot of work. Fortunately, OpenClipArt has a massive collection with hundreds of megabytes of public domain images. There's plenty of awesome stuff, too, like the contributions from rg1024.

GnuCash Free accounting software? You bet. I've seen how much money a lot of people shell out for big-name accounting programs, so you owe it to yourself to take a look at GnuCash. It's got all of the important features that an accounting app should have: general ledger, vendors, bills, taxes, check printing -- it's all there. GnuCash is also compatible with Quicken's .QIF files and the Open Financial Exchange (.OXF) data that many banks provide.

GanttProject A good project management tool may also be something you require for your business. They can be a great way to make sure that you meet deadlines and allocate resources in a timely and logical manner. GanttProject is (no surprise) a lot like Microsoft Project -- it can even import and export MS-compatible files!

Windows Live Mail or Thunderbird + Lightning Microsoft's free email program has come a long way since the days of Outlook Express. Windows Live Mail is surprisingly good, and it offers a lot of the same features you'll find in its business-oriented cousin, Microsoft Outlook. Apart from handling your email, Live Mail also includes a calendar, manages contacts, and incorporates an RSS news reader for subscribing to updates from your favorite Web sites. Another option is Mozilla Thunderbird and the Lightning add-on, which adds a calendar component and a tasks list. One other thing that this pairing lets you do, which Live Mail doesn't, is to create alarms / reminders. Used together, Thunderbird and Lightning definitely provide more business-class features than WLM.

Evernote Do you need a full-featured note-taking tool? Do you want one that you can use on your iPhone, iPad, or Android smartphone as well as your laptop or desktop computer? Evernote is about as good as they come, and it's packed with awesome features -- from voice memos to photo notes to clippings from Web pages you visit. Better still, Evernote makes organizing your collection a breeze, and finding a specific note is super easy thanks to its tagging features and flexible search.

dsBudget If you leave all the GnuCash-esque work to your accountant and just need a simple way to create and manage your budget, dsBudget is worth checking out. The screenshot above shows a non-business setup, but the program is totally customizable. You create your own income, deductions, and categories. dsBudget also produces nice-looking charts to help you visualize your finances.

Picture Timeclock If you have a few employees -- say, a small cleaning, landscaping, or painting crew -- a decent timeclock is a great way to keep tabs on their hours. About 5 years ago, the mechanical punch clock at my day job broke, and we had to find a replacement. Those things aren't cheap, so we looked for an alternative. With a beaten-up old computer that you could score for $50 at a second hand shop, we put together a replacement using Picture Timeclock. It's an awesome, free application with loads of features like detailed reporting, multiple departments, and the ability to take a picture via a webcam whenever someone punches in or out. It handles our 12-man retail shop with ease. edit: you can also download picture timeclock here.

Calibre Most of the documentation that you need for your business -- tax forms, manuals, etc. -- is in an electronic format at this point. Why not have a special program on your system to catalog and organize those documents? Calibre is like an eBook library, and it's the perfect tool for maintaining your important business docs. It can handle just about any common format, including ePub purchases from places like Amazon. Calibre is also a great way for less-technical types to stay on top of online news via RSS feeds. It's got built-in support for over 300 sources including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

PDFCreator Adobe Acrobat's PDF files are a great way to share documents. Not all programs allow you to save files as PDFs, however, which is where PDFCreator comes in. The program installs itself as a Windows printer -- which means that you can create PDF files from any old program that can print!

* * * Do you have a favorite application that you use to help run your small business? Share it with us in the comments!

Linux System Information Decoded - know which components your system contains

http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7768/1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A LinuxMagazine %2528Linux Magazine%253A Top Stories%2529&utm_content=Google Feedfetcher

Do you rely on proc files or dmesg to tell you everything you need to know about a system? If you do, you're only seeing part of the picture. But what about when you want more detailed information about the system on which you're working? Do you have to have the manufacturer's spec sheet handy to know which components your system contains? It's inconvenient to have someone open a system case in a remote data center to tell you how many memory DIMMs are in, or are not in, your target system. Linux systems include two native commands that tell you almost everything you need to know:dmidecode and biosdecode.

These two utilities live in the /usr/sbindirectory and are standard Linux executables (not shell scripts). You must have root priveleges, via sudo or su -, to run either of these commands.

电子商务网站SEO案例和分析

yi-it.com/blog/pivot/entry.php?id=114

前段时间有朋友询问有关旅游网站和网店的SEO问题，正好Nia翻译了一篇相关的文章，希望对大家有所帮助。（原文中的例子用的是国外某旅店，为了方便中文用户阅读，改为了国内的旅店作为样例，易IT注）

SEO（搜索引擎优化）有 时被错误地认为是一项单一的、一次性的短跑项目，不过事实是，它可能更像场马拉松比赛。搜索用户很少通过第一次搜索就能到达你的网站。因此，SEO如果说 可以通过一次优化就能让用户搜索某些流行关键字（词）到达你的网站，那可能是在骗自己。我画了一个简单的用户从有购买意图到最后购买及评估的流程图来说明 这一过程。

客户从有购买意图到购买产品的过程及相应的SEO策略

在上面的例子中，如果旅店只是简单的对"丽江旅店"关键字进行定向优化，而不进行其余步骤的优化，那么它可能会失去在"渠道发现、品牌调查和评估、品牌研究和转化率优化"的步骤中的机会。一个具有综合素质的互联网市场营销者会通过一个普通用户发现产品的过程来解决这些问题 - 通过影响流程中的每一环把网站的价值传递给用户。

下面是和SEO相关的每个步骤的说明：

1. 一般搜索： 对于小品牌的网站来说，在那些流行的、竞争激烈的关键字上你极有可能无法在搜索结果中胜出。不过，没有理由你不会在维基百科的某个词条、博客或者博客评论中出现，或者被某篇文章或某个网站目录中涉及。如果以上实在都不行，那么你可能要考虑在某个搜索结果页排名很靠前的网页里购买一些广告 （特别是在现今的市场环境下，CPM广告可能比搜索引擎的CPC广告更便宜）。
2. 细分市场搜索（更确定性的搜索，易IT注）: 这可能是你第一个能够排名靠前的地方，只要你不忽略用户发现产品的过程中的某些间接相关的关键字（虽然有时这种相关性不是那么明显）。把自己放在客户的角度（或者，更好的是，和客户交流听听他们怎么想和怎么做的），然后找到一个离销售产品有一级差别的并且有可能达到目标的关键字，并创作一些很棒的内容，这些可能会得到搜索结果页排名的第5-10名。
3. 品牌发现： 这是一个经典的SEO技术阶段。研究最相关和高转化率的短语，分析竞争对手的网站，发现可以通过创作内容并获得排名需要的链接。
4. 品牌调查和评价：只有用户点击转化成购买，这场战役才算结束。当一些明显针对你产品（品牌或公司）的查询增加时，你应该了解购买过程和结果可能会影响网页内容如何被人们看待。有时，提供优质的服务就够了，有时则需要记下某些关键性的批评。在另一方面，你可能需要开展一些"SEO声誉管理"的活动来推广对你的好评和减小对你差评的影响。
5. 品牌导航（网站导航，易IT注）：虽然这通过最简单的查询就应该可以得到，但给进一步的网站优化提供了机会。在搜索结果里小心地控制和选择你的网站链接（sitelinks），留意前5位的搜索结果，甚至花些钱为有关品牌的字词做些付费广告（研究显示结合原始搜索结果+付费广告能大大提供这两种的转化率 ）。
6. 购买和下订单：查询类似"折扣代码（折扣券）"、"折扣券代号"、"大减价"等等的关健词是很常见的，特别是对那些直接通过网站销售产品的公司和个人。这取决于你决定是否将一部分利润分给你的用户和那些更理性的购买者，我们发现在这样的活动中，如果用"节省（saving）"这样的字眼或许能获得更多的转化率。
7. 评估： 浏览用户感兴趣的产品或内容是一种明智的行为，而且可能是一种聪明的针对产品或品牌进行相关长尾关键字的好研究方法。（因此你可以确信搜索引擎将你网站上的内容作为缺省的搜索结果时，并且排在竞争对手或其他评价前，其他网站的精确性或动机就会被质疑）

我不想过度地把SEO过程复杂化，可是如果你忽略客户搜索和发现的那些重要路径，那么你可能错失一些很好的机会。

转载请注明出处和链接：

• 电子商务网站SEO的9个秘诀
• http://yi-it.com/blog/pivot/entry.php?id=114

英文：Winning the SEO Battle at Every Step of the Purchase Path

How to select a video card

www.playtool.com/pages/selectvid/select.html

How to select a video card

There are quite a few things which you have to consider before selecting a video card. The following list has links to each of them. If you've been around computers for a while then you already know what to do for most of them and you can just skip those. If you haven't done a lot of computer upgrading then it's a good idea to read through all of them. It's easy to overlook something and end up with the wrong video card.

• What kind of expansion slot are you going to use?
• What video outputs do you need?
• What generation of video card do you need?
• Windows Vista compatibility
• How much video RAM should you get?
• Making sure the video card fits in your case
• Running multiple video cards in tandem
• Is the CPU your gaming bottleneck?
• The big fat list of video cards

How to Create an E-Commerce Web Site A Step by Step Tutorial

http://www.hooverwebdesign.com/articles/how-to-create-an-ecommerce-empire.html

Introduction: The Elements of E-Commerce

Your business may be small-but the Internet lets you think big. Whatever product or service your business offers, the Internet levels the playing field and lets you compete with bigger businesses, reaching customers around the world who can conveniently buy from you 24 hours a day.

But in the competitive world of the Web, growing your business and increasing your profits online requires some careful planning. For every successful e-commerce businesses, there are dozens that fail by not addressing basic risks and pitfalls along the way. So to take full advantage of the e-commerce opportunity, make sure you base your Web business on a solid foundation that covers every element of e-commerce:

• Establish your identity. The right domain name, or URL, can make the difference between a memorable e-commerce identity and getting lost in the online crowd.
  
• Find the right online home. For brick-and-mortar stores, location is everything. Your e-commerce business needs the right home, too. Purchase and set up your own Web server, or find a home for your site with the right Internet Service Provider or Web host.
  
• Build an attractive storefront. With the right tools, creating a Web site is easier than ever-but following some basic guidelines will help make your site easy and fun for customers to navigate. And that means more sales for you.
  
• Let customers know they can trust you. In the anonymous world of the Internet, customers will communicate private information, like credit card numbers or phone numbers, to your e-commerce site only if they're sure your site is legitimate and the information they send you is protected. Make sure your site is secure-and that your customers know it.
  
• Make it easy for customers to pay you. You can set up your site so customers can pay by simply keying in a credit card number. But then how will you process that transaction? Make sure you not only offer customers a variety of convenient payment methods, but that you can process them all.
  
• Let the world know about your site. A memorable domain name, a great-looking design, and top-notch products and services can make your site successful only if customers know about it. Don't neglect promoting your site to drive traffic to it.

Clearly, building the elements of e-commerce into your Web business is a big job, but it's too important to ignore if you want your e-business to grow and thrive. Just take the following steps to ensure that your e-commerce business gives you the competitive edge.

I. Step One: Establish Your Online Identity with the Right Web Address

The first step toward e-commerce is selecting the name of your site. Your Web address (also called a URL-Uniform Resource Locator-or "domain name"), tells customers who you are and how to find you on the Internet. It is the core of your Internet identity-your online brand. And because no two parties can have the same Web address, your online identity is totally unique.

A. What's In a Name? Everything. Remember that not only does your domain name tell customers exactly how to find your business on the Web, but also it communicates and reinforces the name of your business to every Web site visitor. It can also be used as part of your e-mail address to establish your online identity. Keep these tips in mind before you choose:

• Make it memorable. "Amazon.com" is much catchier than "booksonline.com."
  
• Describe your business. Another approach is to simply and logically describe your business. "Flowers.com" works perfectly for a florist. And if you are setting up an online presence for an established business, keep the name of your site the same as the name of your business.
  
• Keep it short. The best domain names are those that customers can remember and type into their browsers after seeing or hearing them only once, so complicated strings of words like "onlinecdstore.com" don't work as well as a simple phrase: "cdnow.com."
  

B. How to Get and Manage Domain Names

Once you've decided on your Web identity, the next step is to determine if it is available and then register it with a domain name "registrar." Registering is easy and inexpensive, so do it as soon as you've decided on your domain name to make sure you get the name you want. Many businesses register a number of variations, just in case they want to use them later-or to avoid the risk of competitors obtaining similar names. You also may want to register common misspellings so that all customers who incorrectly type your address still find their way to your site instead of receiving an error message. E-commerce businesses most often register a name with "com" as the domain name suffix (the letters after the dot; also called a top-level domain, or TLD), but often also register their names with ".net" and ".org" (for "organization"). Other suffixes include ".tv" and ".edu" for schools and universities. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently announced seven new TLDs - .biz, .info, .name, .pro, .museum, .aero, and .coop.

1. 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 whoever got it first. The fact that the name you want has already been registered doesn't necessarily mean it is not available for sale. You can easily find out whether a domain name that has already been registered is for sale.

2. How to Register Domain Names Worldwide The Internet is global-shouldn't your business be, too? Registration of multiple domain names for use around the world protects your intellectual property, brand name, and trademarks against infringement by global cybersquatters. If you plan to do business in other countries, you can register country-specific Web addresses (in country-specific TLDs such as .ita for Italy and .uk for the United Kingdom) with Network Solutions' idNames search and registration service. But as your business grows, you may find that registering and managing multiple domain names is a complex, time-consuming process. IdNames can also consolidate worldwide domain name management into a single centralized account if you have 50 or more domains. Once you've established your Web identity by selecting and registering your domain names, it's time to build your site.

II. Step Two: Build a User-Friendly Site

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

A. Plan Your Site Carefully

First, identify clear marketing goals for your site, such as generating leads, building a database of potential customers' names and e-mail addresses, or putting a product catalog online to save the time and expense of printing and mailing. Quantify your objectives-such as increasing sales by 15 percent-so you know whether or not your site is successful. 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, and their applications
  
• Complete product or service descriptions, including features, key benefits, pricing, product specifications, and other information, for each product or service
  
• Testimonials, case studies, or success stories so customers can see how similar individuals or organizations have worked with you
  
• An FAQ section that anticipates and answers customers' common issues
  

Plan the structure of your site, focusing on making it easy for customers to learn what they need to know, make a purchase decision, and then buy quickly. Create a site map that outlines every page on your site from the home page down and how customers get from one page to the next. Use tools that quantitatively measure site activity-where customers are clicking, how often, and whether they end up purchasing-and then compare the results with your goals.

B. Choose the Right Site-Building Tools

With a solid plan in hand, you're ready to start constructing your e-commerce site. Many e-commerce businesses turn to professional design studios to create their Web sites. But if your budget is limited, many Web site building tools like online website builders make it fast and easy for you to create a polished, professional-looking site-with no in-depth HTML knowledge necessary. The entire process can put you on the Internet in less than 24 hours at convenient and affordable monthly prices.

C. E-Commerce Site Design Tips

Following these basic guidelines will help make your site not only attractive, but also easy for customers to use-and that means easy to buy from you.

1. Carefully examine your own favorite e-commerce sites. Creatively adapting the most compelling marketing and design techniques will enhance your site's effectiveness.
   
2. Your home page is your site's-and your business's-online front door. It's essential that it make a good first impression on visitors. Make sure it clearly presents the following basic elements that customers are always likely to look for:
   · Your company name, logo, and slogan, prominently displayed. Take full advantage of the opportunity to showcase your brand identity.
   · A link to an "About the Company" page for customers to quickly learn who you are and what your business offers.
   · A site menu listing the basic subsections of your site. Keep this menu in the same place on every page throughout your site to make it easy to navigate.
   · A "What's New" section for news, announcements, and product promotions. Frequently updating this area will encourage customers to return often.
   · Contact information. Don't make it difficult for visitors to find your phone number, e-mail address, mailing address, and fax number.
   · Your privacy statement, clearly describing your business's policy for protecting customer's personal information.
   
3. Make it easy for customers to explore your site. As you build your site, try to minimize the number of clicks it takes the customer to go from your home page to actually being able to click "buy" and checkout. Four to six is a useful rule of thumb. Make sure links make sense, so customers know what to click to find what they're looking for. Don't make your navigation buttons or links too dominant an element in your site design: instead, focus on product information.
   
4. Keep things simple. Don't fill up your site with graphics, animations, and other visual bells and whistles. Stick to the same basic color palette and fonts your company uses in other communications, like your logo, brochures, and signage. Ensure that images and graphics serve to enhance, not distract from, your marketing goals. Make sure your text is easy to read-black letters on a white ground may not be terribly original, but they are easier on the eyes than orange type on a purple background.
   
5. Keep download times short. Test pages to make sure they're not too overloaded with graphics that slow load times-and minimize the size of your images when possible. According to the Boston Consulting Group in American Demographics (August, 2000, p 46), nearly half of online shoppers surveyed said they left sites when pages took too long to download. Zona Research estimates that most Web pages take anywhere from 3 to 11 seconds to load, depending on the user's modem and Internet connection (remember: many e-commerce customers shop from home using slower connections). Most users click away to another site or log off if a page takes more than 8 seconds to load, costing e-commerce businesses billions in lost potential revenue.
   

As soon as you've completed this step, you're ready to put your site on the Internet.

III. Step Three: Set Up Your Web Server-or Select an ISP to Host

Your Site

Your Web site is a series of files that reside on a special computer, called a Web server, connected to the Internet. For customers to visit your site, they must actually connect to that Web server via the Internet and view the files. Web servers and the Internet connections that link them to visitors must be fast and powerful enough to quickly respond to all the visitors' requests to view your site.

Many businesses prefer the complete control of purchasing, setting up, and managing their own Web server hardware and software. Other small- and medium-sized e-commerce businesses prefer to turn to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Web hosting company, instead of investing in the hardware, software, and infrastructure necessary to get online. For a monthly fee, ISPs and Web hosting companies will connect your site to the Internet at high speed via one of their Web servers, allowing the site to be viewed by anyone with an Internet connection and a Web browser. The host provides your site with space on a server, and also offers Web server software, access to its high-speed Internet connection, tools for managing and maintaining your site, customer support, e-commerce features, and more. There are hundreds of ISP and Web hosting options to choose from, so look for one that can meet all your needs.

IV. What to Look for in a Web Hosting Company

• Shared hosting or dedicated server? Shared hosting is an arrangement in which your site is housed on the same host server with several other Web sites. This is an economical solution for smaller sites. Paying the host for your own dedicated server, a solution used by larger and busier sites, provides faster access and ensures that your site will be accessible to visitors 100 percent of the time (instead of sharing Web server speed and power with other sites). Does your ISP or Web hosting provider offer both options?
  
• Hard-disk storage space. Smaller sites may need only 300-500 MB (megabytes) of Web site storage space, while busier e-commerce sites may need at least 9 GB (gigabytes) of space-or their own dedicated Web server. As your site grows, your ISP should be able to accommodate 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 and Web hosts maximize the availability of the sites they host using techniques like load balancing and clustering. Can your ISP promise near-100-percent availability?
  
• E-mail accounts. E-mail accounts that match your domain name are often available from your ISP. Are they included with your monthly access and hosting fee?
  
• SSL Encryption: The security of the 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 IV below to learn more about Web site security.
  
• Support. A big part of the value of turning to an ISP or Web host is that you don't have to worry about keeping the Web server running. Does your host offer 24x7 customer service?

V. Accept Credit Cards

Accepting credit cards and other methods of payment online for your online business is crucial to your businesses success. If a customer has to send you a money order by mail, your sales will suffer because most people won't want to do that. It's too slow to do it that way. They have to wait until the check gets to you in addition to waiting on the package to come from you. The hardest task with setting up an ecommerce website is to find a trustworthy and reliable service that will allow you to accept credit card payments online and without too many problems.

VII. Step Seven: Promote Your Site

You can have a great web site, but if no one knows it's there it won't do you any good. Add it to search engines, directories, spam-free ffa pages, and guest books. Ensure not to put blatant advertisements in someone's guest book. That's very rude and would offend anyone. Take a look around the person's web site and tell them what you liked about it, while also leaving your link. Invite them to sign your guest book if you have one. You should attach your url to every email message you send out. This makes it easy for surfers to come back to your web site. Be patient because it takes time build up a steady flow of traffic. Paid Promotion is highly recommended because you don't have to wait to be listed in search engines.

VIII. Now, Start Selling

With an online identity, a Web host, an eye-catching, professional-looking Web storefront, rock-solid security, easy-to-use payment management, and the right promotions, your e-commerce business is ready to succeed in the competitive world of the Web.

Following these basic steps will help you lay the foundation for a thriving site. Good luck.