Site color schemes

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PayPal and Other Mysteries

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This week we looked at site design guidelines and investigated using Paypal to accept credit card payments on our sites.

Site Design

I feel I had a step ahead of the rest of the class on site design from the graphic arts, typography and web design classes I have taken while attending BYU-Idaho online. I was able to share some key insights I learned from these classes, as well as from many articles I have read through the years. It think it’s important to use a basic tri-color system. A darker frame with a splash of color in areas (perhaps a line or a flourish) to spice things up and white for a background. Text should be a basic sans-serif font 12-16pt. You can use serif fonts for headlines, but use fonts available on every machine. Times New Romans/Times, Arial/Helvetica, Georgia, etc. Yellows are harder on the eyes, so use with care.

Credit Card Processors

You can setup a way to use PayPal as the credit card processor of your eCommerce sites. They keep all your customers financial data safe relieving you of the risk. They charge a percentage plus a small fee per transaction with no minimum sales penalty, compared to other such services that charge a monthly gateway fee ($30) + a monthly statement fee ($10) + a penalty if you do not meet the minimum monthly sales figure for your program. There are other fees that were listed for the top 17 services as well.(1) I want to know what is to be expected per sale before I make it so I can add the cost in with my markup. As an entry level credit card processor, PayPal can’t be beat. They offer point-of-sale card sliders that plug into your cellphone and billing as well. No hidden fees. You pay per transaction. The one downside is that the other companies did offer some fraud protection services, where PayPal didn’t.

Note: There are some great way to prevent fraud youself found here: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=24278768.

Conclusion

I posted a lot of good information this on my classes discussion boards this week and I learned a lot from the process. BYU-Idaho’s learning model is learn by teaching. I think I am seeing evidence at how effective that type of experience can be for the teaching-student. I see things so much more clearly than I would of otherwise.

Sources:
1) http://credit-card-processing-review.toptenreviews.com/