eRin Pheil: Easily follow packages

First Things First: Correction for Last Week’s Article

Hello everyone. Last week an incorrect link was given for the BillQ service. BillQ’s website is www.mybillq.com, not www.billq.com.

<b>Online Trick of the Week: Track Packages with Google</b>

It’s not necessary to visit www.FedEx.com or www.ups.com to track your packages. In fact, it’s almost scary how easy it is to track FedEx and UPS packages with Google.

Allow me to demonstrate Let’s say I had a UPS tracking number of “1Z9999W99999999.” To track that package, I’d simply visit www.google.com and plop that tracking number into the search box and hit the search button. Done. Really. Try it!

<b>Website Tips of the Week: The Effectiveness of Your Online Store </b>

Certain work projects have had me spending a good deal of time researching the effectiveness of online stores and the latest in eCommerce trends. While there’s an endless number of opinions out there, I continually ran into the following pointers for owners of online stores.

Did you take each of these issues into account when building your online store? Or, if you’re in the process of building an online store, make sure to take these guidelines into account.

Always remember: The more clicks visitors have to make, the less likely they are to make a purchase in your online store.

Ask yourself: Does the design of my online store reflect my company’s brand? (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve clicked the “online store” links on websites only to find myself staring at what appeared to be a totally different design. Very confusing.)

Make sure your check-out process is as simple as possible.

Ensure that it’s easy and obvious for visitors to review your warranty and returns information before they make a purchase.

Do everything you can to make sure your visitors never feel surprised during their shopping experience. For example, don’t wait until the final order confirmation screen to display applicable taxes — be upfront and clear about them before your visitors check out.

<b>Grab Bag: Five Links of the Week</b>

• www.worldhum.com — A site dedicated to “exploring travel in all its facets: how it changes us, how it changes the way we see the world, and finally, how travel itself is changing the world.”

• www.skyscanner.net — An alternative to Expedia that allows you to search for cheap flights.

• www.pando.com — Send files up to 1GB (that’s big!) via any e-mail or IM for free.

• www.recuva.com — A free utility for PCs that restores accidentally deleted files from your computer. According to the site, Recuva will not only bring back files emptied from your computer’s Recycle Bin, it will recover files deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses. Quite a valuable free service, in my opinion.

• www.callercomplaints.com — Stop feeling so helpless and frustrated when the telemarketers call. Visit callercomplaints.com and search the site to learn more about a telemarketer that’s been calling you or submit your own complaint to help stop the annoying calls.

And that’s it for today, everyone. Have a great week, and see ya next Monday.

<i>Based in Frisco, eRin pheiL is the primary creative force behind timeforcake. Learn more about her Colorado website design company at www.timeforcake.com or contact her via e-mail at info@timeforcake.com. </i>