A customer walks into your shop. They like the look of what they see and want to buy something. You direct them to the till, money is exchanged and everyone is happy.

A customer enters your website. They like the look of what they see and want to buy something. After searching in vain for a way to buy your product or service online, they give up, leave your site and go and spend their money somewhere else.

You’d never let it happen in a shop, so why let it happen online?

Of course, not everybody owns a shop, but you get the point. You need to offer your customers the means of paying for your goods or services online, so here is a quick overview of how you go about doing just that.

Firstly, unless you are a sole trader, in which case you can you use a personal bank account,  you must have a business bank account. Then, there are two further things you need in order to take online payments; a payment gateway and a merchant account.

A payment gateway acts as the intermediary between your website and the banking systems. The credit and debit card and customer information is submitted via the gateway, which sends the information through the financial networks (Visa, MasterCard etc.) to the merchant account. The merchant account then verifies the card and customer information, including if the card has enough funds to complete your transaction. If so, the merchant account credits your designated bank account with the funds.

You can take payments online either directly through your website via shopping cart-style function, or via a Virtual Terminal whereby you take credit and debit card transactions over the phone, with you entering the customers details into a payment page on their behalf.

There are plenty of companies who provide these merchant accounts and facilitate your taking payments online. Different merchant accounts will have different processing fee charges (meaning they take a small cut of each transaction) and payment terms (how quickly the money reaches your account), so it is best to shop around for the one that suits your business best. There is financial help available for businesses wanting to acquire what they need to take payments online.

The Get Online, Trade Online (GO-TO) voucher scheme is available to small and medium sized business based in Buckinghamshire who want to get online, trade online or promote online. The £150 GO-TO voucher has to be used towards a project worth a minimum total value £350 and can be used to contribute towards the costs of taking payment online, marketing to customers online, building a website, engaging with customers through social media (or towards a consultancy to help you), becoming efficient with online finance, staying safe online, training your staff in digital skills, and securing Customer Relationship Management software.

One voucher per company is available and this can be backdated to 24th November 2014.

So, get your online marketing campaign off to the best possible start with the help of a GO-TO voucher. To find out more about the scheme, including a list of digital suppliers who can help, please visit http://bbf.uk.com/business-support/do-more-online.

You can also access our handy guides and resources on topics from online finance, social media and cyber security by visiting our Do More Online web pages: http://www.bbf.uk.com/business-support/do-more-online/do-more-online-resources

If you want to hear more about GO-TO vouchers in person, Buckinghamshire Business First will be on hand at events in Saunderton on 24 February to provide all the information necessary. These are two events on making the most of social media, which is one of the areas the GO-TO vouchers apply towards. There is one event in the morning and one in the afternoon although you don’t have to attend both!