How to Add PayPal as a Payment Option

To be competitive, your company must be able to offer an easy and convenient payment system to your customers. PayPal is one the easiest payment services that businesses can utilize on the web. When you add PayPal as a payment option to your website, you will make it much easier to receive payment from your customers.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• internet access
• computer

1. Familiarize yourself with the HTML skills you’ll need to install the PayPal system. Websites like PageResource.com offer html tutorials to help you learn the basics.
2. Download the PayPal solutions and features to your company's website. Open your PayPal account and go to developer services to install PayPal on your site.
3. Enter the strings of API code or HTML code that define what PayPal will do on your website. Make sure you enter the codes correctly; slight errors can cause big problems with your commercial site
4. Choose the checkout option that will work the best for your business. PayPal offers two options; Express Checkout and Standard Checkout. Express Checkout is recommended for those who are familiar with API programming, while Standard Checkout is for those with basic HTML knowledge.
5. Use the additional features that are offered by PayPal to maximize the value to your business. Custom Payment Pages, Virtual Terminal and Reporting may be exactly what you need to make shopping on your site more attractive.
6. Test the installed PayPal payment solution. PayPal offers a testing environment, where you can test the system to check for glitches. PayPal customer service representatives can make the necessary adjustments to make the system better.

Tips & Warnings

• The Standard Checkout option of PayPal is sufficient for start-up businesses. When you need a more powerful payment solution, upgrade to Express Checkout.
• PayPal recommends that you be familiar with both the API Programming and Scripting Languages.
• Do not take shortcuts when adding the PayPal system to your site. Copying and pasting lines of code could have disastrous effects on PayPal’s performance.