An E-Comm Buyers' Guide to Choosing Trustmarks

On e-commerce Web sites, giving your customers a sense of security and trust can mean the difference between a dropped shopping cart and making a sale.  Today, Web shoppers are savvy — they have a better understanding of online security, and they want to know that their personal information is protected.

For the honest Web shop owners, especially smaller unknown companies, this can be a problem.  A study commissioned by McAfee, Inc. (conducted by Harris Interactive) revealed that nearly half of consumers have terminated an online order or abandoned their shopping cart due to security fears at check-out time.

This guide is designed for e-tailers who are currently interested in partnering with a trust service. In this guide we’ll discuss different types of trustmark services you can consider and what is required to enroll in the programs.

Learn the Lingo: What is a Trustmark?

Trustmarks are little badges — images or logos — that you can display on your Web site to indicate your business is a member of a professional organization, or to show that you have passed security and privacy tests. When you display a trustmark that reflects a well-known company or industry organization, it can give customers confidence and can encourage them to do business with you.

In the electronic commerce industry there are a number of common trustmark programs, including those for SSL security, the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, hacker-free and others.

Why E-tailers Use Trustmarks

One of the ways an e-tailer can alleviate consumer privacy and security fears is to enroll in security programs and display trustmarks on their e-commerce Web site.  This is especially important for small, lesser-known online businesses that compete against larger online retailers with a corporate name that consumers already trust because they are familiar with the brand.

It’s not all bad news for small e-tailers, though. Study research offered by McAfee also showed that one-third of consumers would rather buy from a smaller Web site with a trustmark than a larger, more well-known e-tailer. 

When you join a trust and security program, it can benefit your business in two ways. First, you will create a feeling of trust with your consumers, which in could help boost sales. Another benefit can be found in security trust services. These trustmark programs help you to better protect your business and your customer's sensitive data.

Ecommerce-Guide Tips:  Survey Says: Trustmarks Increase Sales for E-tailers Things to Consider When Choosing a Trustmark Program

When choosing a trustmark program, you need to first consider how recognizable the trustmark program or the organization backing the trustmark is. Since it would be fruitless to display a trustmark that people are not familiar with, you need to look for an organization that has a recognizable name and logo. 

You also need to consider that there are different types of trustmarks.  Some may show that you are a registered business in good standing, while others show you have a secure or encrypted Web site. Trustmarks can be broken down into four types:

Identity trustmarks validate you.  Generally, issuers of identity trustmarks ensure that the Web site is owned by a legitimate business.Privacy trustmarks verify the accuracy of your site and your business privacy policy. They may also be used to show that you abide by customer data management practices as set out by the trustmark issuer, or that your Web site is PCI-compliant.Security or vulnerability scanning trustmarks certify that your Web site is free of vulnerabilities that could be exploited to steal customer data and sensitive information such as credit card numbers.Secure Socket Layer (SSL) trustmarks verify that your Web site is secured with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology.

Think of a trustmark as a way to communicate with customers, and then decide what message you want to give when they visit your Web site.  In some instances you may want to enroll in more than one program to show your customers that your identity is valid, that your site uses encryption technology, and that is it “hacker safe.”

A Buyers' Guide to Trustmark Service ProvidersService ProviderDescription PricingBetter Business
Bureau (BBB) BBB accredited businesses must meet the organization's
eight accreditation standards. The organization maintains
BBBOnLine, a trustmark program that confirms that a business
has been accredited by the BBB (Trustmark details).The cost to activate and maintain
your membership varies, depending
on your location and size of your business.TRUSTeTRUSTe is an Internet privacy services provider.
With the TRUSTe program you will be able to generate
a hosted online privacy policy or have TRUSTe consultants
work with you to develop one (Trustmark details).The DIY service for SMBs starts at $499
per year (view SMB packages).VeriSignThe VeriSign Secured Seal is for Web sites that are
secured by VeriSign SSL Certificates. It indicates
that the Web site is using up-to-date traffic
encryption (Trustmark details).The VeriSign Secured Seal is included
with SSL Certificate purchase
(view SSL certificate pricing)McAfeeMcAfee Secure for Web Sites is a security
scanning service that is backed by a McAfee
trustmark. The program provides daily vulnerability
assessments for protection from hackers and
third-party certification of their security (Trustmark details).A yearly subscription price is based
on your Web site's page views.
Smaller sites may pay $1,500
in the low range. Larger businesses
with more daily page views pay more. ComodoComodo HackerProof is a daily scanning service that
ensures Web sites meet Comodo's standards. The
service also includes a PCI Scanning service to validate
your quarterly PCI compliance (Trustmark details).HackerProof costs $2,295 for one year.
Comodo offers a 10 percent savings on a
two-year paid  subscription (view pricing).TrustwaveThe Trustwave Trusted Commerce seal indicates
that you are in compliance with security measures
to protect customer credit card numbers and other
sensitive data. The program includes vulnerability
scanning and PCI compliance reporting (Trustmark details).You can obtain the trusted commerce seal by
using one or more of Trustwave's PCI DSS
Compliance or SSL Certificate solutions. Pricing
for a one-year subscription is $349. A discount is
offered on two- and three-year subscriptions.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

An E-Comm Buyers’ Guide to Choosing TrustmarksBank failures accelerate

Another eBay Pirate Heads to Prison

A software pirate responsible for ripping off nearly 8,000 online customers and a handful of leading software vendors was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and criminal copyright infringement charges.

Matthew Thomas Purse, 32, of Gilbert, Ariz. also received three years probation from a federal judge in Phoenix, and was hit with $12,000 in fines and restitution for his role in the elaborate software piracy scam.

Purse, along with Christopher Loring Walters, 29, of Newport Beach, Calif., created multiple eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) merchant accounts between September 2004 and February 2006 from which they sold counterfeit copies of software developed by Apple, Corel, McAfee, Symantec and other vendors.

Walters remains a fugitive, according to a statement released by the Software & Information Industry Association, a trade association for the software and digital content industry that assisted the U.S. Department of Justice in the investigation.

The duo used online sites including SoftwareDiner.com, Thesoftwareyard.com, Argyleeequity.com, Eagletronics.com and Tekdealer.com among others to advertise themselves on eBay as authorized distributors of the counterfeit applications.

According to the SIIA, the top-tier software vendors lost more than $500,000 in sales through the illicit operation.

"Matthew Purse duped nearly 8,000 unsuspecting consumers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars," Keith Kupferschmid, SIIA's senior vice president for intellectual property and enforcement, said in a statement. "He and Christopher Walters cheated software companies such as Adobe, Symantec, Apple, Corel, Intuit and many others out of millions of dollars in revenue."

"Like so many others who sell pirated software online or make illegal copies in the workplace, at least Matthew Purse is now finding out that the justice system takes this crime seriously," he added.

The SIIA along with state and federal law enforcement agencies have racheted up their efforts in recent years to stem the illegal trafficking of counterfeit and stolen software applications at online sites including eBay.

In 2008 alone, IDC estimated that software vendors lost more than $53 billion to software piracy -- an especially galling figure considering worldwide sales of legitimate software applications totaled just over $88 billion that year.

In October, Gregory William Fair of Falls Church, Va. was sentenced to 41 months in te+Gets+41+Months+in+prison for selling bogus copies of various Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) applications on eBay from 2001 through 2007 -- software worth more than $1.4 million.

"Anyone who thinks software piracy isn't taken seriously should pay close attention to the Matthew Purse case," Kupferschmid said. "When SIIA uncovers software piracy, the offenders often end up paying thousands of dollars in damages. And as Mathew Purse found out, SIIA's investigations can also lead to jail time for these software pirates."

SIIA originally uncovered the pair's massive software piracy scheme and began an investigation that eventually led to the indictment and conviction of Purse. SIIA investigators forwarded the results of its investigation to the DOJ and other government agencies, and then worked closely with them to pursue Purse and others involved in the piracy schemes.

Those efforts led to Purse's guilty plea in February of last year to a series of conspiracy, mail fraud and criminal copyright infringement charges.

Larry Barrett is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the internet.com network.

Another eBay Pirate Heads to PrisonKeyless car systems confuse drivers, raise safety questions

How to Design Web Forms That Don't Suck

As an online retailer, Web forms are your bread and butter. There’s no use putting effort into designing great product pages and getting your customers to the checkout with bulging shopping carts only to have them bail out because your checkout process sucks.

All businesses lose a percentage of customers during the checkout process; what percentage you lose depends on how badly your forms perform. Here are several ill-conceived practices that create bad checkout experiences — and how to avoid them.

At the top of the page, Two Peas tells you checkout is a four-step process and offers a continue-shopping option.
(Click for larger image).1. When the customers make a mistake, you discard all their work

You've no doubt encountered this type of form yourself on the Web. You’re asked to enter data into the form, and when you press the Submit button you’re told that something is wrong. In the meantime all the data — or at least a significant portion of it — has been removed from the form.

You have to go back and enter the details all over again. Not only is this frustrating, but some buyers will simply give up at this point and go somewhere else.

If you need to validate the data in your form, perform the validation as the shopper enters the data. That way if there’s a problem it shows up immediately, and it can be fixed.

If you must wait until the shopper clicks the Submit button to validate the data, make sure all the information he entered into the form is still there when you return the customer to the form to make corrections. Then all he has to do is to fix the incorrect data — not complete the entire form all over again.

2. Let your customers guess what format you want them to use

From a shopper’s point of view, there’s nothing more frustrating than to enter data and click the Submit button only to find that a special data format is required and now the customer has to go back to fix the problem.

This practice begs the question as to why the customer wasn't told how to complete the form as they were filling it in, and why they were left to guess what the form designer wanted them to do.

Customers aren't psychic — they'll do a much better job of completing your forms when they know exactly what is required of them. Setting rules and not sharing them with your customers doesn't enhance your relationship.

Quirky and functional, Photojojo nabs your zip code to calculate shipping before you get to this page and then completes the details for you.
(Click for larger image).3. Force customers to fill out multiple-page Web forms

You’ve no doubt filled in a form that runs for a few pages. You enter some data, click a Submit button and you’re taken to yet another screen of information — and then another and so on. At some point you look up and realize you have no idea how far through the process you are or, worse still, how much more there is to go.

While the form designer probably thought that it was better not to tell the hapless customer just how much data he was going to have to enter, in fact it’s much more reassuring to a customer to know exactly how long the form is. Giving details such as “Page 3 of 5 pages” helps customers to know where they are, and that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

However, before you start slapping page numbers on your forms, ask yourself if you can simplify the form and require less information.

4. Ask customers for information you don’t need (and they don't want to give you)

How often have you been asked for information that you simply should not have to provide when you are buying something? There’s no valid reason why a customer should have to register on your Web site with an ID and password just to buy something.

Certainly you need the name, address and credit card details, but you shouldn't force customers into a site-registration process. You might make this optional, but don’t make it compulsory — it’s just plain annoying. Ditto forcing them to answer questions like how they found your site, their birth date, age or anything not directly relevant to the transaction.

5. Treat your site like a scavenger hunt and make customers dig around to find what they want

Getting trapped in the shopping cart so you can’t continue shopping is one of the more frustrating shopping cart experiences. Lumped into that same 'frustrating' category? Not being able to find the shopping cart, or not being able to get back to it without adding something to it.

At a Touch of Europe you can place an order without signing up for an account, but you have to read the fine print.
(Click for larger image).

Always assume that somebody who is buying one thing from you may want to buy multiple items, and add a Continue Shopping link to your shopping cart. Your customer will know how to proceed, and he won't be nervous about losing everything in the cart if he presses the browser Back button.

Also, always provide a link back to the shopping cart so a customer can easily find it. A customer shouldn't have to put something extra in the shopping cart just to be able to find it so he can checkout.

Tips to Improve Your Web Forms

Web forms on an e-commerce site are critical to the buying process; your forms must be simple to understand and to complete. Structure your forms logically and position questions from top to bottom down the page. Add labels above the text boxes so customers know what information you want in them. Clearly identify required data formats. For example if you need dates in the mm/dd/yyyy format, say so — don't make customers guess.

Place your Submit button immediately under the form on the left-hand side so that it’s easily found. Include a Reset button, but don’t place it where it can be clicked accidentally.

Be consistent throughout your form — if a customer must check a checkbox to sign up for one thing, don't require them to check a box to opt-out of something else later on. Visitors should be able “learn” your form's logic so they can fill it out more easily.

If you’re not sure how your forms perform ask someone to fill one out in front of you and listen to what they’re saying. Don't make excuses and don't help them — if they can’t fill in your form chances are that your customers can’t either, and it's time to understand where the problems crop up.

Good forms are crucial to a successful online business. Make sure that yours are easy to complete so that the customers you’ve worked so hard to attract to your business actually progress successfully through the buying process.

Helen Bradley is a respected international journalist writing regularly for small business and computer publications in the USA, Canada, South Africa, UK and Australia. You can learn more about her at her Web site, HelenBradley.com

How to Design Web Forms That Don’t SuckKeyless car systems confuse drivers, raise safety questions

Facebook Joins Forces with McAfee to Bolster Security

Facebook continues its efforts to increase security on the popular social networking site by teaming up with McAfee. ESecurityPlanet.com covers the details.

Facebook today said that it has struck a one-year partnership with security giant McAfee to better stamp out spam and malware from the world's biggest social network.

Through the exclusive arrangement, McAfee (NYSE: MFE) is offering Facebook users a free six-month subscription to its security product, and a discounted rate after the trial expires.

The two companies partnered to develop a custom suite of security tools, including a software application, a scanning and repair tool and a spate of education materials to promote safe computing practices.

"For the rare case in which an account is compromised, we've developed a unique process that requires the account owner to take steps to secure the account and learn security best practices," Facebook project manager Jake Brill wrote in a blog post explaining the partnership. "We've also incorporated custom McAfee software into this process for people identified as having infected computers."

Read the complete Facebook security article

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Another eBay Pirate Heads to Prison

A software pirate responsible for ripping off nearly 8,000 online customers and a handful of leading software vendors was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and criminal copyright infringement charges.

Matthew Thomas Purse, 32, of Gilbert, Ariz. also received three years probation from a federal judge in Phoenix, and was hit with $12,000 in fines and restitution for his role in the elaborate software piracy scam.

Purse, along with Christopher Loring Walters, 29, of Newport Beach, Calif., created multiple eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) merchant accounts between September 2004 and February 2006 from which they sold counterfeit copies of software developed by Apple, Corel, McAfee, Symantec and other vendors.

Walters remains a fugitive, according to a statement released by the Software & Information Industry Association, a trade association for the software and digital content industry that assisted the U.S. Department of Justice in the investigation.

The duo used online sites including SoftwareDiner.com, Thesoftwareyard.com, Argyleeequity.com, Eagletronics.com and Tekdealer.com among others to advertise themselves on eBay as authorized distributors of the counterfeit applications.

According to the SIIA, the top-tier software vendors lost more than $500,000 in sales through the illicit operation.

"Matthew Purse duped nearly 8,000 unsuspecting consumers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars," Keith Kupferschmid, SIIA's senior vice president for intellectual property and enforcement, said in a statement. "He and Christopher Walters cheated software companies such as Adobe, Symantec, Apple, Corel, Intuit and many others out of millions of dollars in revenue."

"Like so many others who sell pirated software online or make illegal copies in the workplace, at least Matthew Purse is now finding out that the justice system takes this crime seriously," he added.

The SIIA along with state and federal law enforcement agencies have racheted up their efforts in recent years to stem the illegal trafficking of counterfeit and stolen software applications at online sites including eBay.

In 2008 alone, IDC estimated that software vendors lost more than $53 billion to software piracy -- an especially galling figure considering worldwide sales of legitimate software applications totaled just over $88 billion that year.

In October, Gregory William Fair of Falls Church, Va. was sentenced to 41 months in te+Gets+41+Months+in+prison for selling bogus copies of various Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) applications on eBay from 2001 through 2007 -- software worth more than $1.4 million.

"Anyone who thinks software piracy isn't taken seriously should pay close attention to the Matthew Purse case," Kupferschmid said. "When SIIA uncovers software piracy, the offenders often end up paying thousands of dollars in damages. And as Mathew Purse found out, SIIA's investigations can also lead to jail time for these software pirates."

SIIA originally uncovered the pair's massive software piracy scheme and began an investigation that eventually led to the indictment and conviction of Purse. SIIA investigators forwarded the results of its investigation to the DOJ and other government agencies, and then worked closely with them to pursue Purse and others involved in the piracy schemes.

Those efforts led to Purse's guilty plea in February of last year to a series of conspiracy, mail fraud and criminal copyright infringement charges.

Larry Barrett is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the internet.com network.

Keyless car systems confuse drivers, raise safety questionsAnother eBay Pirate Heads to Prison

How to Design Web Forms That Don't Suck

As an online retailer, Web forms are your bread and butter. There’s no use putting effort into designing great product pages and getting your customers to the checkout with bulging shopping carts only to have them bail out because your checkout process sucks.

All businesses lose a percentage of customers during the checkout process; what percentage you lose depends on how badly your forms perform. Here are several ill-conceived practices that create bad checkout experiences — and how to avoid them.

At the top of the page, Two Peas tells you checkout is a four-step process and offers a continue-shopping option.
(Click for larger image).1. When the customers make a mistake, you discard all their work

You've no doubt encountered this type of form yourself on the Web. You’re asked to enter data into the form, and when you press the Submit button you’re told that something is wrong. In the meantime all the data — or at least a significant portion of it — has been removed from the form.

You have to go back and enter the details all over again. Not only is this frustrating, but some buyers will simply give up at this point and go somewhere else.

If you need to validate the data in your form, perform the validation as the shopper enters the data. That way if there’s a problem it shows up immediately, and it can be fixed.

If you must wait until the shopper clicks the Submit button to validate the data, make sure all the information he entered into the form is still there when you return the customer to the form to make corrections. Then all he has to do is to fix the incorrect data — not complete the entire form all over again.

2. Let your customers guess what format you want them to use

From a shopper’s point of view, there’s nothing more frustrating than to enter data and click the Submit button only to find that a special data format is required and now the customer has to go back to fix the problem.

This practice begs the question as to why the customer wasn't told how to complete the form as they were filling it in, and why they were left to guess what the form designer wanted them to do.

Customers aren't psychic — they'll do a much better job of completing your forms when they know exactly what is required of them. Setting rules and not sharing them with your customers doesn't enhance your relationship.

Quirky and functional, Photojojo nabs your zip code to calculate shipping before you get to this page and then completes the details for you.
(Click for larger image).3. Force customers to fill out multiple-page Web forms

You’ve no doubt filled in a form that runs for a few pages. You enter some data, click a Submit button and you’re taken to yet another screen of information — and then another and so on. At some point you look up and realize you have no idea how far through the process you are or, worse still, how much more there is to go.

While the form designer probably thought that it was better not to tell the hapless customer just how much data he was going to have to enter, in fact it’s much more reassuring to a customer to know exactly how long the form is. Giving details such as “Page 3 of 5 pages” helps customers to know where they are, and that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

However, before you start slapping page numbers on your forms, ask yourself if you can simplify the form and require less information.

4. Ask customers for information you don’t need (and they don't want to give you)

How often have you been asked for information that you simply should not have to provide when you are buying something? There’s no valid reason why a customer should have to register on your Web site with an ID and password just to buy something.

Certainly you need the name, address and credit card details, but you shouldn't force customers into a site-registration process. You might make this optional, but don’t make it compulsory — it’s just plain annoying. Ditto forcing them to answer questions like how they found your site, their birth date, age or anything not directly relevant to the transaction.

5. Treat your site like a scavenger hunt and make customers dig around to find what they want

Getting trapped in the shopping cart so you can’t continue shopping is one of the more frustrating shopping cart experiences. Lumped into that same 'frustrating' category? Not being able to find the shopping cart, or not being able to get back to it without adding something to it.

At a Touch of Europe you can place an order without signing up for an account, but you have to read the fine print.
(Click for larger image).

Always assume that somebody who is buying one thing from you may want to buy multiple items, and add a Continue Shopping link to your shopping cart. Your customer will know how to proceed, and he won't be nervous about losing everything in the cart if he presses the browser Back button.

Also, always provide a link back to the shopping cart so a customer can easily find it. A customer shouldn't have to put something extra in the shopping cart just to be able to find it so he can checkout.

Tips to Improve Your Web Forms

Web forms on an e-commerce site are critical to the buying process; your forms must be simple to understand and to complete. Structure your forms logically and position questions from top to bottom down the page. Add labels above the text boxes so customers know what information you want in them. Clearly identify required data formats. For example if you need dates in the mm/dd/yyyy format, say so — don't make customers guess.

Place your Submit button immediately under the form on the left-hand side so that it’s easily found. Include a Reset button, but don’t place it where it can be clicked accidentally.

Be consistent throughout your form — if a customer must check a checkbox to sign up for one thing, don't require them to check a box to opt-out of something else later on. Visitors should be able “learn” your form's logic so they can fill it out more easily.

If you’re not sure how your forms perform ask someone to fill one out in front of you and listen to what they’re saying. Don't make excuses and don't help them — if they can’t fill in your form chances are that your customers can’t either, and it's time to understand where the problems crop up.

Good forms are crucial to a successful online business. Make sure that yours are easy to complete so that the customers you’ve worked so hard to attract to your business actually progress successfully through the buying process.

Helen Bradley is a respected international journalist writing regularly for small business and computer publications in the USA, Canada, South Africa, UK and Australia. You can learn more about her at her Web site, HelenBradley.com

Keyless car systems confuse drivers, raise safety questionsHow to Design Web Forms That Don’t Suck

Social Networks Balk Over Privacy

How’s your digital economy doing? Social networks are concerned that overly –aggressive regulation could choke a thriving business environment. ESecurityPlanet.com has all the details.

Representatives of some of the leading social sites on the Web today urged federal regulators to resist calls to establish heavy-handed rules that would set limits on the use of consumer data on social networks, warning that far-reaching regulations would threaten to choke off a fast-growing sector of the digital economy.

The Federal Trade Commission continued its inquiry into the privacy implications of online marketing and data collection at a day-long forum at the University of California, Berkeley, hearing from privacy advocates and members of industry as it mulls new regulations.

"Regulation that's a one-size-fits-all will fail," said Erika Rottenberg, general counsel at LinkedIn. "There is self-regulation that is going on."

Each of the industry representatives agreed that in the increasingly cluttered social Web, there are bad actors who endeavor to trick consumers into sharing more information than they realize. However, they called for regulatory restraint, arguing that in most cases those sites or applications fail on their own because word gets around.

Read Facebook, LinkedIn Resist New Privacy Regs

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Social Networking: 5 Tips to Build a Better Business

When it comes to building online communities and interacting with customers, social networks can be a big help — especially for small businesses that can’t afford to launch their own private online communities.

Communispace Corporation, an online-communities marketing technology and services firm, believes that online communities can help companies connect with their customers, capture marketing insights, and also build brand advocates within the community.

Before jumping on a social network to interact with your customers and clients, consider the following best-practice advice from Debi Kleiman, vice president of product marketing at Communispace.  These tips will help you build a better, smarter relationship in the socialsphere.

Tip #1: Go where your customers congregate

Some businesses simply start a profile on a popular social networking site and hope customers will find them there. Kleiman says that a smarter way to get started is to find out where your customers already are. 

“It is smarter to join people where they already congregate. These customers have already formed the social glue that holds online relationships together, so you don’t have to create a new space,” says Kleiman.

For example, if you are a travel agent, start communicating and participating in the social spaces where those interested in travel already gather online. Start out by being a good resource — offer advice and talk without a sales pitch.

Remember, there is no single best social networking tool that will fit all businesses and marketers.  The goal, Kleiman says, is to start participating where your customers already gather and then build towards the larger goal of being the resource and forging relationships.

Read the complete social networking article

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Facebook Joins Forces with McAfee to Bolster Security

Facebook continues its efforts to increase security on the popular social networking site by teaming up with McAfee. ESecurityPlanet.com covers the details.

Facebook today said that it has struck a one-year partnership with security giant McAfee to better stamp out spam and malware from the world's biggest social network.

Through the exclusive arrangement, McAfee (NYSE: MFE) is offering Facebook users a free six-month subscription to its security product, and a discounted rate after the trial expires.

The two companies partnered to develop a custom suite of security tools, including a software application, a scanning and repair tool and a spate of education materials to promote safe computing practices.

"For the rare case in which an account is compromised, we've developed a unique process that requires the account owner to take steps to secure the account and learn security best practices," Facebook project manager Jake Brill wrote in a blog post explaining the partnership. "We've also incorporated custom McAfee software into this process for people identified as having infected computers."

Read the complete Facebook security article

Facebook Joins Forces with McAfee to Bolster SecurityBusiness briefs: Chrysler won’t fight arbitration

An E-Comm Buyers' Guide to Choosing Trustmarks

On e-commerce Web sites, giving your customers a sense of security and trust can mean the difference between a dropped shopping cart and making a sale.  Today, Web shoppers are savvy — they have a better understanding of online security, and they want to know that their personal information is protected.

For the honest Web shop owners, especially smaller unknown companies, this can be a problem.  A study commissioned by McAfee, Inc. (conducted by Harris Interactive) revealed that nearly half of consumers have terminated an online order or abandoned their shopping cart due to security fears at check-out time.

This guide is designed for e-tailers who are currently interested in partnering with a trust service. In this guide we’ll discuss different types of trustmark services you can consider and what is required to enroll in the programs.

Learn the Lingo: What is a Trustmark?

Trustmarks are little badges — images or logos — that you can display on your Web site to indicate your business is a member of a professional organization, or to show that you have passed security and privacy tests. When you display a trustmark that reflects a well-known company or industry organization, it can give customers confidence and can encourage them to do business with you.

In the electronic commerce industry there are a number of common trustmark programs, including those for SSL security, the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, hacker-free and others.

Why E-tailers Use Trustmarks

One of the ways an e-tailer can alleviate consumer privacy and security fears is to enroll in security programs and display trustmarks on their e-commerce Web site.  This is especially important for small, lesser-known online businesses that compete against larger online retailers with a corporate name that consumers already trust because they are familiar with the brand.

It’s not all bad news for small e-tailers, though. Study research offered by McAfee also showed that one-third of consumers would rather buy from a smaller Web site with a trustmark than a larger, more well-known e-tailer. 

When you join a trust and security program, it can benefit your business in two ways. First, you will create a feeling of trust with your consumers, which in could help boost sales. Another benefit can be found in security trust services. These trustmark programs help you to better protect your business and your customer's sensitive data.

Ecommerce-Guide Tips:  Survey Says: Trustmarks Increase Sales for E-tailers Things to Consider When Choosing a Trustmark Program

When choosing a trustmark program, you need to first consider how recognizable the trustmark program or the organization backing the trustmark is. Since it would be fruitless to display a trustmark that people are not familiar with, you need to look for an organization that has a recognizable name and logo. 

You also need to consider that there are different types of trustmarks.  Some may show that you are a registered business in good standing, while others show you have a secure or encrypted Web site. Trustmarks can be broken down into four types:

Identity trustmarks validate you.  Generally, issuers of identity trustmarks ensure that the Web site is owned by a legitimate business.Privacy trustmarks verify the accuracy of your site and your business privacy policy. They may also be used to show that you abide by customer data management practices as set out by the trustmark issuer, or that your Web site is PCI-compliant.Security or vulnerability scanning trustmarks certify that your Web site is free of vulnerabilities that could be exploited to steal customer data and sensitive information such as credit card numbers.Secure Socket Layer (SSL) trustmarks verify that your Web site is secured with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology.

Think of a trustmark as a way to communicate with customers, and then decide what message you want to give when they visit your Web site.  In some instances you may want to enroll in more than one program to show your customers that your identity is valid, that your site uses encryption technology, and that is it “hacker safe.”

A Buyers' Guide to Trustmark Service ProvidersService ProviderDescription PricingBetter Business
Bureau (BBB) BBB accredited businesses must meet the organization's
eight accreditation standards. The organization maintains
BBBOnLine, a trustmark program that confirms that a business
has been accredited by the BBB (Trustmark details).The cost to activate and maintain
your membership varies, depending
on your location and size of your business.TRUSTeTRUSTe is an Internet privacy services provider.
With the TRUSTe program you will be able to generate
a hosted online privacy policy or have TRUSTe consultants
work with you to develop one (Trustmark details).The DIY service for SMBs starts at $499
per year (view SMB packages).VeriSignThe VeriSign Secured Seal is for Web sites that are
secured by VeriSign SSL Certificates. It indicates
that the Web site is using up-to-date traffic
encryption (Trustmark details).The VeriSign Secured Seal is included
with SSL Certificate purchase
(view SSL certificate pricing)McAfeeMcAfee Secure for Web Sites is a security
scanning service that is backed by a McAfee
trustmark. The program provides daily vulnerability
assessments for protection from hackers and
third-party certification of their security (Trustmark details).A yearly subscription price is based
on your Web site's page views.
Smaller sites may pay $1,500
in the low range. Larger businesses
with more daily page views pay more. ComodoComodo HackerProof is a daily scanning service that
ensures Web sites meet Comodo's standards. The
service also includes a PCI Scanning service to validate
your quarterly PCI compliance (Trustmark details).HackerProof costs $2,295 for one year.
Comodo offers a 10 percent savings on a
two-year paid  subscription (view pricing).TrustwaveThe Trustwave Trusted Commerce seal indicates
that you are in compliance with security measures
to protect customer credit card numbers and other
sensitive data. The program includes vulnerability
scanning and PCI compliance reporting (Trustmark details).You can obtain the trusted commerce seal by
using one or more of Trustwave's PCI DSS
Compliance or SSL Certificate solutions. Pricing
for a one-year subscription is $349. A discount is
offered on two- and three-year subscriptions.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

Long-term care insurance bill’s prospects diminishAn E-Comm Buyers’ Guide to Choosing Trustmarks

E-mailed With Love: Valentine's Day Marketing Tips

 Valentine’s Day is only a month away. If you don’t have an e-mail marketing campaign planned for this popular holiday, today is the day to start it. 

The good news is that even if you don’t know how to get a campaign started and out the proverbial door in time for Valentine’s Day — by the time you’re done reading this guide you will be able to launch a campaign that will make Cupid sit up and take notice.

Campaigner offers a number of Valentine-themed templates you can choose from to send a thank you message to subscribers.
(Click for larger image).

Grab a pen and take notes as you read through the following 12 tips offered by Wendy Lowe, Campaigner’s director of product marketing. You can use these tips to launch your entire Valentine’s Day campaign — from start to finish — even if you have never used e-mail marketing for holiday promotions before.

1. Don’t Procrastinate: Get a Plan (today)

The first step is to compile your images and decide on special offers right away. Within a day you should be able to sketch out a campaign that will take you from today, over the holiday, and include the follow-up after February 14th.

You don’t want to overwhelm your recipients, so Lowe recommends that you run your campaign like this:

E-mail 1: Wednesday, January 20: Initial Offer
E-mail 2: Wednesday, February 3: Offer reminder
E-mail 3: Thursday, February 11: Second offer reminder (e.g. “Only 3 Days left!”)
E-mail 4: Wednesday, February 17: Thank subscribers who took advantage of the offer and extend a new offer to these loyal customers.

Remember to adjust the dates of the second and third e-mails to coincide with your last shipping day for guaranteed holiday delivery.

2. Dress for Success: Use a Valentine’s Day Theme

Use a good balance of Valentine-specific copy and imagery to put subscribers in a holiday mood.  Reuse the assets on your site and landing pages to keep the same tone.

3. Segment: Marketing by Gender and the Gifts They Buy

This is a great time to try list segmentation. Separate your subscriber list by gender and send female-oriented product offers to the guys, and vice versa. Lowe cautions that you make sure the offers are still appropriate for all audiences.

4. Make Your Valentine’s Day Offer Affordable

Consumers love to buy Valentine’s Day gifts for loved ones, but remember that many are still paying off Christmas bills this time of year.  Your offer should be compelling, but affordable enough to encourage subscribers to act on it.

If you measure your Valentine’s campaign success in terms of retention rather than profits, then a lower-budget offer can bring new customers, which can be just as valuable as marketing high-end gifts in February.

5.  Forge a New Relationship: Partner with Complementary Companies

Add extra value to lure February love-birds by partnering with a vendor who provides services that complement your own.  For example, a spa owner could work with a local florist so each of you promotes a package deal for a massage and a dozen roses.  The possibilities for combining products and services are endless — and you can come up with some very creative and unique Valentine’s Day offers.  

A special holiday partnership can also help grow your subscriber lists. When the combined special offer landing page is deployed on your respective Web sites, include opt-in boxes for both e-mail lists.

6. Target Valentine’s Day Customers from Last Year

Send an exclusive e-mail  to customers who purchased from you last year around Valentine’s Day with an even better offer this year. If the offer is right, they will most likely buy from you again.

7. Make Offers Easy to Redeem

Make it easy to redeem your offer.  For in-store redemptions include an attractive printable coupon and put your number and directions in the e-mail. For online redemption make sure the button or link stands out. The offer should be placed in the top left-hand corner of the e-mail for maximum visibility.

8. Include Customer Testimonials

People are more inclined to purchase a product or service when they know others have had a positive experience.  Highlight one or two sentences from customer reviews and link to a full-length product review or case study on your site.

9. Offer Tips and Knowledge — Not Just Promotions

Help your customers by offering Valentine’s Day tips in your next newsletter.  Some things you could include might be a “Top 10 Gift List” or romantic ideas that center around gifts you’re promoting.

10. Include Forward-to-a-friend Functionality

Don’t miss the opportunity to turn your customer’s friends into new customers. Encourage subscribers to forward your offer to their friends.  Using an e-mail marketing service provider can help boost deliverability and ensure that your links and images stay intact when the message is passed on.

11. Promote Valentine’s Day with a Contest

Contests are another way to thank customers.  Encourage customers to enter the contest online — or by ballot in store. Run a contest early on in your campaign and send those customers Valentine’s Day promotions when they opt-in to receive e-mail on the contest ballot.

12. Remember to Say Thank You

On February 14th send a greeting card to subscribers  and thank them by offering a small token of appreciation — like  complimentary reward points or a free Valentine’s Day gift in store.

When your Valentine’s Day campaign is complete, you can finally relax a bit.  Unfortunately it will have to be a quick break as you will want to remove holiday copy and images from your site before customers return on Monday, February 15th.  The last task will be to follow-up with customers who made a purchase during your V-Day campaign and send those subscribers a new appreciation offer around February 17th.

So, there you have it. Using these 12 steps as a guide, you can see how a little planning and a few great ideas can help you get a Valentine’s Day campaign out for the holiday.

Campaigner offers a free 30-day trial that includes access to Valentine-themed templates. You can also check out our How to Find an E-Mail Marketing Service Provider Buyer’s Guide for tips, advice and a vendor list to help you choose a provider.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

E-mailed With Love: Valentine’s Day Marketing TipsSocial media, mobile devices pack essential wallop

An E-Comm Buyers' Guide to Choosing Trustmarks

On e-commerce Web sites, giving your customers a sense of security and trust can mean the difference between a dropped shopping cart and making a sale.  Today, Web shoppers are savvy — they have a better understanding of online security, and they want to know that their personal information is protected.

For the honest Web shop owners, especially smaller unknown companies, this can be a problem.  A study commissioned by McAfee, Inc. (conducted by Harris Interactive) revealed that nearly half of consumers have terminated an online order or abandoned their shopping cart due to security fears at check-out time.

This guide is designed for e-tailers who are currently interested in partnering with a trust service. In this guide we’ll discuss different types of trustmark services you can consider and what is required to enroll in the programs.

Learn the Lingo: What is a Trustmark?

Trustmarks are little badges — images or logos — that you can display on your Web site to indicate your business is a member of a professional organization, or to show that you have passed security and privacy tests. When you display a trustmark that reflects a well-known company or industry organization, it can give customers confidence and can encourage them to do business with you.

In the electronic commerce industry there are a number of common trustmark programs, including those for SSL security, the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, hacker-free and others.

Why E-tailers Use Trustmarks

One of the ways an e-tailer can alleviate consumer privacy and security fears is to enroll in security programs and display trustmarks on their e-commerce Web site.  This is especially important for small, lesser-known online businesses that compete against larger online retailers with a corporate name that consumers already trust because they are familiar with the brand.

It’s not all bad news for small e-tailers, though. Study research offered by McAfee also showed that one-third of consumers would rather buy from a smaller Web site with a trustmark than a larger, more well-known e-tailer. 

When you join a trust and security program, it can benefit your business in two ways. First, you will create a feeling of trust with your consumers, which in could help boost sales. Another benefit can be found in security trust services. These trustmark programs help you to better protect your business and your customer's sensitive data.

Ecommerce-Guide Tips:  Survey Says: Trustmarks Increase Sales for E-tailers Things to Consider When Choosing a Trustmark Program

When choosing a trustmark program, you need to first consider how recognizable the trustmark program or the organization backing the trustmark is. Since it would be fruitless to display a trustmark that people are not familiar with, you need to look for an organization that has a recognizable name and logo. 

You also need to consider that there are different types of trustmarks.  Some may show that you are a registered business in good standing, while others show you have a secure or encrypted Web site. Trustmarks can be broken down into four types:

Identity trustmarks validate you.  Generally, issuers of identity trustmarks ensure that the Web site is owned by a legitimate business.Privacy trustmarks verify the accuracy of your site and your business privacy policy. They may also be used to show that you abide by customer data management practices as set out by the trustmark issuer, or that your Web site is PCI-compliant.Security or vulnerability scanning trustmarks certify that your Web site is free of vulnerabilities that could be exploited to steal customer data and sensitive information such as credit card numbers.Secure Socket Layer (SSL) trustmarks verify that your Web site is secured with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology.

Think of a trustmark as a way to communicate with customers, and then decide what message you want to give when they visit your Web site.  In some instances you may want to enroll in more than one program to show your customers that your identity is valid, that your site uses encryption technology, and that is it “hacker safe.”

A Buyers' Guide to Trustmark Service ProvidersService ProviderDescription PricingBetter Business
Bureau (BBB) BBB accredited businesses must meet the organization's
eight accreditation standards. The organization maintains
BBBOnLine, a trustmark program that confirms that a business
has been accredited by the BBB (Trustmark details).The cost to activate and maintain
your membership varies, depending
on your location and size of your business.TRUSTeTRUSTe is an Internet privacy services provider.
With the TRUSTe program you will be able to generate
a hosted online privacy policy or have TRUSTe consultants
work with you to develop one (Trustmark details).The DIY service for SMBs starts at $499
per year (view SMB packages).VeriSignThe VeriSign Secured Seal is for Web sites that are
secured by VeriSign SSL Certificates. It indicates
that the Web site is using up-to-date traffic
encryption (Trustmark details).The VeriSign Secured Seal is included
with SSL Certificate purchase
(view SSL certificate pricing)McAfeeMcAfee Secure for Web Sites is a security
scanning service that is backed by a McAfee
trustmark. The program provides daily vulnerability
assessments for protection from hackers and
third-party certification of their security (Trustmark details).A yearly subscription price is based
on your Web site's page views.
Smaller sites may pay $1,500
in the low range. Larger businesses
with more daily page views pay more. ComodoComodo HackerProof is a daily scanning service that
ensures Web sites meet Comodo's standards. The
service also includes a PCI Scanning service to validate
your quarterly PCI compliance (Trustmark details).HackerProof costs $2,295 for one year.
Comodo offers a 10 percent savings on a
two-year paid  subscription (view pricing).TrustwaveThe Trustwave Trusted Commerce seal indicates
that you are in compliance with security measures
to protect customer credit card numbers and other
sensitive data. The program includes vulnerability
scanning and PCI compliance reporting (Trustmark details).You can obtain the trusted commerce seal by
using one or more of Trustwave's PCI DSS
Compliance or SSL Certificate solutions. Pricing
for a one-year subscription is $349. A discount is
offered on two- and three-year subscriptions.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

An E-Comm Buyers’ Guide to Choosing TrustmarksMarina developer files for bankruptcy protection

Facebook Joins Forces with McAfee to Bolster Security

Facebook continues its efforts to increase security on the popular social networking site by teaming up with McAfee. ESecurityPlanet.com covers the details.

Facebook today said that it has struck a one-year partnership with security giant McAfee to better stamp out spam and malware from the world's biggest social network.

Through the exclusive arrangement, McAfee (NYSE: MFE) is offering Facebook users a free six-month subscription to its security product, and a discounted rate after the trial expires.

The two companies partnered to develop a custom suite of security tools, including a software application, a scanning and repair tool and a spate of education materials to promote safe computing practices.

"For the rare case in which an account is compromised, we've developed a unique process that requires the account owner to take steps to secure the account and learn security best practices," Facebook project manager Jake Brill wrote in a blog post explaining the partnership. "We've also incorporated custom McAfee software into this process for people identified as having infected computers."

Read the complete Facebook security article

Fed had conflicts over mortgage planFacebook Joins Forces with McAfee to Bolster Security

Building a Brand? Tips to Attract Brand Advocates

Big brands have a lot going for them. They hire famous people to influence their brand name, and everywhere you go consumers know their name and love the products. Still, if you’re interested in building your brand, you can learn a lot from knowing how the big boys play.

For instance, look at how big brands use brand advocates — people who talk favorably about the brand and pass on positive word-of-mouth (WOM) messages to other people.  Brand advocates are just as important to a small business as they are to the bigger corporations out there.

Meet Our Expert Brand-Advocate Advisor

 SwarmBuilder Inc., is a provider of word-of-mouth marketing services, and it helps companies by aggregating, validating and engaging armies of brand advocates to spread the word about their favorite brands, retailers and member organizations. 

Brian Bond, vice president of marketing for SwarmBuilder, knows his stuff when it comes to attracting brand advocates. SwarmBuilder manages brand advocacy for nearly 200 famous brands including Bauer, Columbia, Gore and North Face, to name but a few.

Different Playing Field, Same Rules

Big brands engage a number of important advocates and focus on those people who have the most influence.  According to Bond, sponsored athletes and other famous faces are the biggest brand influencers, followed by the large retail staffs who sell the product to the consumer.

As a small business owner, you may not be ready to pull in Derek Jeter yet, but you can find people of influence — a popular and respected blogger or discussion forum moderator, for example. What you are looking for is a single person with a lot of influence and reach to bring into your brand advocate group.

You also have fewer people working sales (e.g. one store versus your product appearing in hundreds or thousands of locations), but with a little buzz and a good incentive, it is worthwhile to turn your own employees on to your product and into brand advocates.

The big brands might offer retail associate advocates a free product or a 50 percent or higher discount in addition to a complete training package.  The goal with this particular group of influencers is to have them try the product and make positive WOM comments based on their own experiences.  A small business can also offer these incentives — on a smaller scale. A big brand might seed 500 free products in their group of top influencers; you might send out 10 or offer a 20 percent discount to employees.

Another group of influencers that big brands engage are professionals and VIPs.  Bond says one of SwarmBuilder’s solutions is designed specifically to target these advocates. “You want to find the people who have the largest reach and the biggest influence in groups and organizations that would use your product,” he said.

For example, if your brand is ski equipment, a big name might look for influencers in organizations involved with the Olympics.  A small business, on the other hand, would reach out to a different level of influencers to find VIP brand advocates — like a ski resort owner.  

Building Online Brand Advocates for Your Small Business

If you want to create a buzz online with WOM marketing, Bond says the process starts by knowing who your loyal customers are. “It is worth finding the customers who have made repeat purchases and those who submit feedback to you, and make them your brand advocates,” he said.

 Loyal customers are important to your business, but this group of advocates will usually not have the influence that a VIP community member or popular blogger will have.  So, once you find the advocates from within your group of customers, Bond suggests that small businesses identify those who have the most influence and make them feel special and valuable to the business. 

With growing popularity of online social networking sites, another way to help create a buzz is to offer one-click access to popular social networking platforms and blogs right from your Web site. This will help people to quickly and easily send their friends and networks positive messages about you.

Be Honest About the Relationship

When you work with brand advocates, they do need to know the role they are playing. Bond says that the relationship between the business and the brand advocate has to be transparent.  The person needs to know they are a brand advocate, and that it’s a special relationship with no strings attached — meaning they aren’t obligated to “love” every product they try.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

eBiz Profile: Wine Enthusiast CompaniesSocial media, mobile devices pack essential wallop

How to Design Web Forms That Don't Suck

As an online retailer, Web forms are your bread and butter. There’s no use putting effort into designing great product pages and getting your customers to the checkout with bulging shopping carts only to have them bail out because your checkout process sucks.

All businesses lose a percentage of customers during the checkout process; what percentage you lose depends on how badly your forms perform. Here are several ill-conceived practices that create bad checkout experiences — and how to avoid them.

At the top of the page, Two Peas tells you checkout is a four-step process and offers a continue-shopping option.
(Click for larger image).1. When the customers make a mistake, you discard all their work

You've no doubt encountered this type of form yourself on the Web. You’re asked to enter data into the form, and when you press the Submit button you’re told that something is wrong. In the meantime all the data — or at least a significant portion of it — has been removed from the form.

You have to go back and enter the details all over again. Not only is this frustrating, but some buyers will simply give up at this point and go somewhere else.

If you need to validate the data in your form, perform the validation as the shopper enters the data. That way if there’s a problem it shows up immediately, and it can be fixed.

If you must wait until the shopper clicks the Submit button to validate the data, make sure all the information he entered into the form is still there when you return the customer to the form to make corrections. Then all he has to do is to fix the incorrect data — not complete the entire form all over again.

2. Let your customers guess what format you want them to use

From a shopper’s point of view, there’s nothing more frustrating than to enter data and click the Submit button only to find that a special data format is required and now the customer has to go back to fix the problem.

This practice begs the question as to why the customer wasn't told how to complete the form as they were filling it in, and why they were left to guess what the form designer wanted them to do.

Customers aren't psychic — they'll do a much better job of completing your forms when they know exactly what is required of them. Setting rules and not sharing them with your customers doesn't enhance your relationship.

Quirky and functional, Photojojo nabs your zip code to calculate shipping before you get to this page and then completes the details for you.
(Click for larger image).3. Force customers to fill out multiple-page Web forms

You’ve no doubt filled in a form that runs for a few pages. You enter some data, click a Submit button and you’re taken to yet another screen of information — and then another and so on. At some point you look up and realize you have no idea how far through the process you are or, worse still, how much more there is to go.

While the form designer probably thought that it was better not to tell the hapless customer just how much data he was going to have to enter, in fact it’s much more reassuring to a customer to know exactly how long the form is. Giving details such as “Page 3 of 5 pages” helps customers to know where they are, and that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

However, before you start slapping page numbers on your forms, ask yourself if you can simplify the form and require less information.

4. Ask customers for information you don’t need (and they don't want to give you)

How often have you been asked for information that you simply should not have to provide when you are buying something? There’s no valid reason why a customer should have to register on your Web site with an ID and password just to buy something.

Certainly you need the name, address and credit card details, but you shouldn't force customers into a site-registration process. You might make this optional, but don’t make it compulsory — it’s just plain annoying. Ditto forcing them to answer questions like how they found your site, their birth date, age or anything not directly relevant to the transaction.

5. Treat your site like a scavenger hunt and make customers dig around to find what they want

Getting trapped in the shopping cart so you can’t continue shopping is one of the more frustrating shopping cart experiences. Lumped into that same 'frustrating' category? Not being able to find the shopping cart, or not being able to get back to it without adding something to it.

At a Touch of Europe you can place an order without signing up for an account, but you have to read the fine print.
(Click for larger image).

Always assume that somebody who is buying one thing from you may want to buy multiple items, and add a Continue Shopping link to your shopping cart. Your customer will know how to proceed, and he won't be nervous about losing everything in the cart if he presses the browser Back button.

Also, always provide a link back to the shopping cart so a customer can easily find it. A customer shouldn't have to put something extra in the shopping cart just to be able to find it so he can checkout.

Tips to Improve Your Web Forms

Web forms on an e-commerce site are critical to the buying process; your forms must be simple to understand and to complete. Structure your forms logically and position questions from top to bottom down the page. Add labels above the text boxes so customers know what information you want in them. Clearly identify required data formats. For example if you need dates in the mm/dd/yyyy format, say so — don't make customers guess.

Place your Submit button immediately under the form on the left-hand side so that it’s easily found. Include a Reset button, but don’t place it where it can be clicked accidentally.

Be consistent throughout your form — if a customer must check a checkbox to sign up for one thing, don't require them to check a box to opt-out of something else later on. Visitors should be able “learn” your form's logic so they can fill it out more easily.

If you’re not sure how your forms perform ask someone to fill one out in front of you and listen to what they’re saying. Don't make excuses and don't help them — if they can’t fill in your form chances are that your customers can’t either, and it's time to understand where the problems crop up.

Good forms are crucial to a successful online business. Make sure that yours are easy to complete so that the customers you’ve worked so hard to attract to your business actually progress successfully through the buying process.

Helen Bradley is a respected international journalist writing regularly for small business and computer publications in the USA, Canada, South Africa, UK and Australia. You can learn more about her at her Web site, HelenBradley.com

Holiday shoppers spent a little more this seasonHow to Design Web Forms That Don’t Suck

Another eBay Pirate Heads to Prison

A software pirate responsible for ripping off nearly 8,000 online customers and a handful of leading software vendors was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and criminal copyright infringement charges.

Matthew Thomas Purse, 32, of Gilbert, Ariz. also received three years probation from a federal judge in Phoenix, and was hit with $12,000 in fines and restitution for his role in the elaborate software piracy scam.

Purse, along with Christopher Loring Walters, 29, of Newport Beach, Calif., created multiple eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) merchant accounts between September 2004 and February 2006 from which they sold counterfeit copies of software developed by Apple, Corel, McAfee, Symantec and other vendors.

Walters remains a fugitive, according to a statement released by the Software & Information Industry Association, a trade association for the software and digital content industry that assisted the U.S. Department of Justice in the investigation.

The duo used online sites including SoftwareDiner.com, Thesoftwareyard.com, Argyleeequity.com, Eagletronics.com and Tekdealer.com among others to advertise themselves on eBay as authorized distributors of the counterfeit applications.

According to the SIIA, the top-tier software vendors lost more than $500,000 in sales through the illicit operation.

"Matthew Purse duped nearly 8,000 unsuspecting consumers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars," Keith Kupferschmid, SIIA's senior vice president for intellectual property and enforcement, said in a statement. "He and Christopher Walters cheated software companies such as Adobe, Symantec, Apple, Corel, Intuit and many others out of millions of dollars in revenue."

"Like so many others who sell pirated software online or make illegal copies in the workplace, at least Matthew Purse is now finding out that the justice system takes this crime seriously," he added.

The SIIA along with state and federal law enforcement agencies have racheted up their efforts in recent years to stem the illegal trafficking of counterfeit and stolen software applications at online sites including eBay.

In 2008 alone, IDC estimated that software vendors lost more than $53 billion to software piracy -- an especially galling figure considering worldwide sales of legitimate software applications totaled just over $88 billion that year.

In October, Gregory William Fair of Falls Church, Va. was sentenced to 41 months in te+Gets+41+Months+in+prison for selling bogus copies of various Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) applications on eBay from 2001 through 2007 -- software worth more than $1.4 million.

"Anyone who thinks software piracy isn't taken seriously should pay close attention to the Matthew Purse case," Kupferschmid said. "When SIIA uncovers software piracy, the offenders often end up paying thousands of dollars in damages. And as Mathew Purse found out, SIIA's investigations can also lead to jail time for these software pirates."

SIIA originally uncovered the pair's massive software piracy scheme and began an investigation that eventually led to the indictment and conviction of Purse. SIIA investigators forwarded the results of its investigation to the DOJ and other government agencies, and then worked closely with them to pursue Purse and others involved in the piracy schemes.

Those efforts led to Purse's guilty plea in February of last year to a series of conspiracy, mail fraud and criminal copyright infringement charges.

Larry Barrett is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the internet.com network.

File taxes online and get refund in 10 daysAnother eBay Pirate Heads to Prison

Facebook Joins Forces with McAfee to Bolster Security

Facebook continues its efforts to increase security on the popular social networking site by teaming up with McAfee. ESecurityPlanet.com covers the details.

Facebook today said that it has struck a one-year partnership with security giant McAfee to better stamp out spam and malware from the world's biggest social network.

Through the exclusive arrangement, McAfee (NYSE: MFE) is offering Facebook users a free six-month subscription to its security product, and a discounted rate after the trial expires.

The two companies partnered to develop a custom suite of security tools, including a software application, a scanning and repair tool and a spate of education materials to promote safe computing practices.

"For the rare case in which an account is compromised, we've developed a unique process that requires the account owner to take steps to secure the account and learn security best practices," Facebook project manager Jake Brill wrote in a blog post explaining the partnership. "We've also incorporated custom McAfee software into this process for people identified as having infected computers."

Read the complete Facebook security article

Fed had conflicts over mortgage planFacebook Joins Forces with McAfee to Bolster Security

An E-Comm Buyers' Guide to Choosing Trustmarks

On e-commerce Web sites, giving your customers a sense of security and trust can mean the difference between a dropped shopping cart and making a sale.  Today, Web shoppers are savvy — they have a better understanding of online security, and they want to know that their personal information is protected.

For the honest Web shop owners, especially smaller unknown companies, this can be a problem.  A study commissioned by McAfee, Inc. (conducted by Harris Interactive) revealed that nearly half of consumers have terminated an online order or abandoned their shopping cart due to security fears at check-out time.

This guide is designed for e-tailers who are currently interested in partnering with a trust service. In this guide we’ll discuss different types of trustmark services you can consider and what is required to enroll in the programs.

Learn the Lingo: What is a Trustmark?

Trustmarks are little badges — images or logos — that you can display on your Web site to indicate your business is a member of a professional organization, or to show that you have passed security and privacy tests. When you display a trustmark that reflects a well-known company or industry organization, it can give customers confidence and can encourage them to do business with you.

In the electronic commerce industry there are a number of common trustmark programs, including those for SSL security, the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, hacker-free and others.

Why E-tailers Use Trustmarks

One of the ways an e-tailer can alleviate consumer privacy and security fears is to enroll in security programs and display trustmarks on their e-commerce Web site.  This is especially important for small, lesser-known online businesses that compete against larger online retailers with a corporate name that consumers already trust because they are familiar with the brand.

It’s not all bad news for small e-tailers, though. Study research offered by McAfee also showed that one-third of consumers would rather buy from a smaller Web site with a trustmark than a larger, more well-known e-tailer. 

When you join a trust and security program, it can benefit your business in two ways. First, you will create a feeling of trust with your consumers, which in could help boost sales. Another benefit can be found in security trust services. These trustmark programs help you to better protect your business and your customer's sensitive data.

Ecommerce-Guide Tips:  Survey Says: Trustmarks Increase Sales for E-tailers Things to Consider When Choosing a Trustmark Program

When choosing a trustmark program, you need to first consider how recognizable the trustmark program or the organization backing the trustmark is. Since it would be fruitless to display a trustmark that people are not familiar with, you need to look for an organization that has a recognizable name and logo. 

You also need to consider that there are different types of trustmarks.  Some may show that you are a registered business in good standing, while others show you have a secure or encrypted Web site. Trustmarks can be broken down into four types:

Identity trustmarks validate you.  Generally, issuers of identity trustmarks ensure that the Web site is owned by a legitimate business.Privacy trustmarks verify the accuracy of your site and your business privacy policy. They may also be used to show that you abide by customer data management practices as set out by the trustmark issuer, or that your Web site is PCI-compliant.Security or vulnerability scanning trustmarks certify that your Web site is free of vulnerabilities that could be exploited to steal customer data and sensitive information such as credit card numbers.Secure Socket Layer (SSL) trustmarks verify that your Web site is secured with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology.

Think of a trustmark as a way to communicate with customers, and then decide what message you want to give when they visit your Web site.  In some instances you may want to enroll in more than one program to show your customers that your identity is valid, that your site uses encryption technology, and that is it “hacker safe.”

A Buyers' Guide to Trustmark Service ProvidersService ProviderDescription PricingBetter Business
Bureau (BBB) BBB accredited businesses must meet the organization's
eight accreditation standards. The organization maintains
BBBOnLine, a trustmark program that confirms that a business
has been accredited by the BBB (Trustmark details).The cost to activate and maintain
your membership varies, depending
on your location and size of your business.TRUSTeTRUSTe is an Internet privacy services provider.
With the TRUSTe program you will be able to generate
a hosted online privacy policy or have TRUSTe consultants
work with you to develop one (Trustmark details).The DIY service for SMBs starts at $499
per year (view SMB packages).VeriSignThe VeriSign Secured Seal is for Web sites that are
secured by VeriSign SSL Certificates. It indicates
that the Web site is using up-to-date traffic
encryption (Trustmark details).The VeriSign Secured Seal is included
with SSL Certificate purchase
(view SSL certificate pricing)McAfeeMcAfee Secure for Web Sites is a security
scanning service that is backed by a McAfee
trustmark. The program provides daily vulnerability
assessments for protection from hackers and
third-party certification of their security (Trustmark details).A yearly subscription price is based
on your Web site's page views.
Smaller sites may pay $1,500
in the low range. Larger businesses
with more daily page views pay more. ComodoComodo HackerProof is a daily scanning service that
ensures Web sites meet Comodo's standards. The
service also includes a PCI Scanning service to validate
your quarterly PCI compliance (Trustmark details).HackerProof costs $2,295 for one year.
Comodo offers a 10 percent savings on a
two-year paid  subscription (view pricing).TrustwaveThe Trustwave Trusted Commerce seal indicates
that you are in compliance with security measures
to protect customer credit card numbers and other
sensitive data. The program includes vulnerability
scanning and PCI compliance reporting (Trustmark details).You can obtain the trusted commerce seal by
using one or more of Trustwave's PCI DSS
Compliance or SSL Certificate solutions. Pricing
for a one-year subscription is $349. A discount is
offered on two- and three-year subscriptions.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

Marina developer files for bankruptcy protectionAn E-Comm Buyers’ Guide to Choosing Trustmarks

Another eBay Pirate Heads to Prison

A software pirate responsible for ripping off nearly 8,000 online customers and a handful of leading software vendors was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and criminal copyright infringement charges.

Matthew Thomas Purse, 32, of Gilbert, Ariz. also received three years probation from a federal judge in Phoenix, and was hit with $12,000 in fines and restitution for his role in the elaborate software piracy scam.

Purse, along with Christopher Loring Walters, 29, of Newport Beach, Calif., created multiple eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) merchant accounts between September 2004 and February 2006 from which they sold counterfeit copies of software developed by Apple, Corel, McAfee, Symantec and other vendors.

Walters remains a fugitive, according to a statement released by the Software & Information Industry Association, a trade association for the software and digital content industry that assisted the U.S. Department of Justice in the investigation.

The duo used online sites including SoftwareDiner.com, Thesoftwareyard.com, Argyleeequity.com, Eagletronics.com and Tekdealer.com among others to advertise themselves on eBay as authorized distributors of the counterfeit applications.

According to the SIIA, the top-tier software vendors lost more than $500,000 in sales through the illicit operation.

"Matthew Purse duped nearly 8,000 unsuspecting consumers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars," Keith Kupferschmid, SIIA's senior vice president for intellectual property and enforcement, said in a statement. "He and Christopher Walters cheated software companies such as Adobe, Symantec, Apple, Corel, Intuit and many others out of millions of dollars in revenue."

"Like so many others who sell pirated software online or make illegal copies in the workplace, at least Matthew Purse is now finding out that the justice system takes this crime seriously," he added.

The SIIA along with state and federal law enforcement agencies have racheted up their efforts in recent years to stem the illegal trafficking of counterfeit and stolen software applications at online sites including eBay.

In 2008 alone, IDC estimated that software vendors lost more than $53 billion to software piracy -- an especially galling figure considering worldwide sales of legitimate software applications totaled just over $88 billion that year.

In October, Gregory William Fair of Falls Church, Va. was sentenced to 41 months in te+Gets+41+Months+in+prison for selling bogus copies of various Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) applications on eBay from 2001 through 2007 -- software worth more than $1.4 million.

"Anyone who thinks software piracy isn't taken seriously should pay close attention to the Matthew Purse case," Kupferschmid said. "When SIIA uncovers software piracy, the offenders often end up paying thousands of dollars in damages. And as Mathew Purse found out, SIIA's investigations can also lead to jail time for these software pirates."

SIIA originally uncovered the pair's massive software piracy scheme and began an investigation that eventually led to the indictment and conviction of Purse. SIIA investigators forwarded the results of its investigation to the DOJ and other government agencies, and then worked closely with them to pursue Purse and others involved in the piracy schemes.

Those efforts led to Purse's guilty plea in February of last year to a series of conspiracy, mail fraud and criminal copyright infringement charges.

Larry Barrett is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the internet.com network.

File taxes online and get refund in 10 daysAnother eBay Pirate Heads to Prison

E-mailed With Love: Valentine's Day Marketing Tips

 Valentine’s Day is only a month away. If you don’t have an e-mail marketing campaign planned for this popular holiday, today is the day to start it. 

The good news is that even if you don’t know how to get a campaign started and out the proverbial door in time for Valentine’s Day — by the time you’re done reading this guide you will be able to launch a campaign that will make Cupid sit up and take notice.

Campaigner offers a number of Valentine-themed templates you can choose from to send a thank you message to subscribers.
(Click for larger image).

Grab a pen and take notes as you read through the following 12 tips offered by Wendy Lowe, Campaigner’s director of product marketing. You can use these tips to launch your entire Valentine’s Day campaign — from start to finish — even if you have never used e-mail marketing for holiday promotions before.

1. Don’t Procrastinate: Get a Plan (today)

The first step is to compile your images and decide on special offers right away. Within a day you should be able to sketch out a campaign that will take you from today, over the holiday, and include the follow-up after February 14th.

You don’t want to overwhelm your recipients, so Lowe recommends that you run your campaign like this:

E-mail 1: Wednesday, January 20: Initial Offer
E-mail 2: Wednesday, February 3: Offer reminder
E-mail 3: Thursday, February 11: Second offer reminder (e.g. “Only 3 Days left!”)
E-mail 4: Wednesday, February 17: Thank subscribers who took advantage of the offer and extend a new offer to these loyal customers.

Remember to adjust the dates of the second and third e-mails to coincide with your last shipping day for guaranteed holiday delivery.

2. Dress for Success: Use a Valentine’s Day Theme

Use a good balance of Valentine-specific copy and imagery to put subscribers in a holiday mood.  Reuse the assets on your site and landing pages to keep the same tone.

3. Segment: Marketing by Gender and the Gifts They Buy

This is a great time to try list segmentation. Separate your subscriber list by gender and send female-oriented product offers to the guys, and vice versa. Lowe cautions that you make sure the offers are still appropriate for all audiences.

4. Make Your Valentine’s Day Offer Affordable

Consumers love to buy Valentine’s Day gifts for loved ones, but remember that many are still paying off Christmas bills this time of year.  Your offer should be compelling, but affordable enough to encourage subscribers to act on it.

If you measure your Valentine’s campaign success in terms of retention rather than profits, then a lower-budget offer can bring new customers, which can be just as valuable as marketing high-end gifts in February.

5.  Forge a New Relationship: Partner with Complementary Companies

Add extra value to lure February love-birds by partnering with a vendor who provides services that complement your own.  For example, a spa owner could work with a local florist so each of you promotes a package deal for a massage and a dozen roses.  The possibilities for combining products and services are endless — and you can come up with some very creative and unique Valentine’s Day offers.  

A special holiday partnership can also help grow your subscriber lists. When the combined special offer landing page is deployed on your respective Web sites, include opt-in boxes for both e-mail lists.

6. Target Valentine’s Day Customers from Last Year

Send an exclusive e-mail  to customers who purchased from you last year around Valentine’s Day with an even better offer this year. If the offer is right, they will most likely buy from you again.

7. Make Offers Easy to Redeem

Make it easy to redeem your offer.  For in-store redemptions include an attractive printable coupon and put your number and directions in the e-mail. For online redemption make sure the button or link stands out. The offer should be placed in the top left-hand corner of the e-mail for maximum visibility.

8. Include Customer Testimonials

People are more inclined to purchase a product or service when they know others have had a positive experience.  Highlight one or two sentences from customer reviews and link to a full-length product review or case study on your site.

9. Offer Tips and Knowledge — Not Just Promotions

Help your customers by offering Valentine’s Day tips in your next newsletter.  Some things you could include might be a “Top 10 Gift List” or romantic ideas that center around gifts you’re promoting.

10. Include Forward-to-a-friend Functionality

Don’t miss the opportunity to turn your customer’s friends into new customers. Encourage subscribers to forward your offer to their friends.  Using an e-mail marketing service provider can help boost deliverability and ensure that your links and images stay intact when the message is passed on.

11. Promote Valentine’s Day with a Contest

Contests are another way to thank customers.  Encourage customers to enter the contest online — or by ballot in store. Run a contest early on in your campaign and send those customers Valentine’s Day promotions when they opt-in to receive e-mail on the contest ballot.

12. Remember to Say Thank You

On February 14th send a greeting card to subscribers  and thank them by offering a small token of appreciation — like  complimentary reward points or a free Valentine’s Day gift in store.

When your Valentine’s Day campaign is complete, you can finally relax a bit.  Unfortunately it will have to be a quick break as you will want to remove holiday copy and images from your site before customers return on Monday, February 15th.  The last task will be to follow-up with customers who made a purchase during your V-Day campaign and send those subscribers a new appreciation offer around February 17th.

So, there you have it. Using these 12 steps as a guide, you can see how a little planning and a few great ideas can help you get a Valentine’s Day campaign out for the holiday.

Campaigner offers a free 30-day trial that includes access to Valentine-themed templates. You can also check out our How to Find an E-Mail Marketing Service Provider Buyer’s Guide for tips, advice and a vendor list to help you choose a provider.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

Social media, mobile devices pack essential wallopE-mailed With Love: Valentine’s Day Marketing Tips