SmallBusinessNewz

We talked recently about getting your products in Google shopping searches. You don't have to be a Google Checkout user for this, but if you are a Google Checkout user, Google is now providing a "Buy Now" button that could prove to be a much needed call-to-action for users.

In fact, the button may even give businesses a good reason to start using. I've always felt that offering the widest range of payment options was in a company's best interest anyway. This way, you're not alienating anybody. With a Google Checkout "buy now" button, it'll add a familiar and well-branded icon that users will see and know when they can purchase an item conveniently.

"After you place the Buy Now buttons on your website, buyers will be able to quickly and easily complete their purchases using Google Checkout," says Lisa August-Schmidt, Google Checkout Operations. "Once a buyer's card has been successfully authorized, they'll receive instructions on how to access their items using the URL and Key you specified."

To add one of Google's Buy Now buttons to your site:

1. Sign in to Google Checkout.

2. Click the Tools tab.

3. Click Buy Now buttons.

4. Follow the instructions in our button creation wizard in your account.

5. Click Create button code.

6. Click any part of the code snippet to highlight the entire code snippet.

7. Click Copy to clipboard.

8. Paste the code snippet in your website HTML near each item on your site you'd like to sell using Google Checkout.

I could see a button like this putting a dent into a site's shopping cart abandonment. As Doug noted recently, many small businesses are really close to making a lot more money, but consumers are abandoning shopping carts at the last moment for whatever reason. With "buy now," customers will presumably click it when they're ready for the purchase.

Just because we're talking about Google here, doesn't mean that the concept has to be limited to Google Checkout customers. The branding that it brings to the table may be valuable, and like I said, the addition of another payment option is always appreciated by someone, but the concept of the "buy now" call to action is the more significant thing I think.

It's just a simple way to grab the customer's attention, and show them directly where to go to purchase your product. If they have to hunt around too much, they're likely to just go somewhere else. It's a usability thing.