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Benefits of Using a Simple Website Builder

The post Benefits of Using a Simple Website Builder appeared first on HostGator Blog . One of the first things you learn when you start looking for a new website builder is that you have a lot of options. That’s generally a good thing—it means you get to be picky, right? But it makes finding the right one for you more complicated. Learning about lots of different features, add-ons, and extras included in different website builders can become a distraction from figuring out what you actually need. And of the many businesses offering website builders, most also offer multiple different website builder packages that all come with a different set of features and benefits. Navigating it all is pretty confusing, especially if you’re just starting to learn how to build a website . Your life may be easier if you avoid the more complicated options and focus on finding the best simple website builder that does what you need it to. 5 Reasons a Simple Website Builder Is a Smart Buy A website builder with lots of bells and whistles may sound appealing at first glance, but extras that sound cool aren’t actually worth much if you don’t need them (especially if you end up paying more for them). For many people, a website builder that sticks with the basics will be a better choice for a few main reasons. 1. It’s easier to learn. If you’re building a basic website, then you don’t need to be able to learn how to do a lot of complicated design work, you just need the ability to make your website look good and say what you need it to in a user-friendly interface. That doesn’t have to be hard. You can certainly create a simple website with a website builder that packs in a ton of functionality and complicated features, but you’ll be more likely to spend a lot of time trying to understand all the different features you’re paying for—whether or not they’re useful to you. That’s not the best way to spend your time or energy when creating a new website. A simple website builder will be easier to figure out, so you can start designing your site from day one of subscribing, and with fewer distractions. 2. You can make a website fast. No matter what your website goals are, the sooner your site is up, the sooner you’ll be able to achieve them. If you’re building a professional website for an online store, that means making money faster. If you’re creating a personal website to share your art or ideas with the world, getting it finished soon means you’ll start to reach people faster. With a simple  web designer and builder, you can feasibly build your small business website fast —in a matter of hours or less. If your needs are pretty basic, it could even take you less than an hour. But that’s only true if your website builder is easy to use and provides you with the tools to work quickly, such as good web design templates to start with and drag and drop functionality. 3. You’ll only be paying for what you use. For many people, this will be the biggest benefit of a simple website builder. More complicated features often come at a higher cost. There’s no reason to pay more every month for a website builder plan that includes a lot of features you’ll never use. Basic website builders that provide just the most essential features and functionality you need cost less. And since website builders bill on a subscription model, you won’t just be saving money upfront, you’ll be saving for years to come. If you want to stick with an affordable website builder , look for a simple website builder that just provides the most important features you need. 4. You can still create a beautiful website. This is one of the rare areas in life where paying less doesn’t necessarily mean settling for lower quality. As long as the website builder you choose provides well designed website templates and an intuitive website editor that allows you to easily change out colors and add original images, you can easily create a website that looks beautiful as well as being functional. A good builder will supply website templates that were designed by a skilled professional web designer. You get the benefit of their good eye and knowledge of website design best practices, without having to pay as much as you would to hire them directly. And simplicity can be one of the keys to beauty in a website. You want to avoid clutter or trying to do too much on each page. A simple website builder can help you work from a pre-designed, simple structure that will look good to your visitors. 5. Simple websites are intuitive. The more complicated websites get, the harder it is to design them in a way that’s intuitive. By keeping your website simple—something easier to do with a basic website builder—you’re ensuring that people will have an easy time finding what they need to. With just a few clear pages, people can quickly get to the page with the right information on it. And with a simple uncluttered web design, you more effectively draw their attention to the places on the page you most want them to notice, like your CTAs (calls to action). If you were out to build a website as complex as Amazon, a simple website builder wouldn’t do the trick. But you’re not. As long as you need a basic website that’s clear, attractive, and says all you need it to, you’ll be set with a simple website builder. Trying to make it more complicated—either the website itself or the process of building it—would make your life harder for no good reason. Who Should Stick with a Simple Website Builder For some businesses, those extra features that come with higher-cost website builder plans may actually come in handy. So there’s a chance you’re in a category of people who can benefit from a more complicated website builder. But there are three main types of people who will be better off sticking with a simple website builder: 1. People building personal websites If the goal of your website is to share your art, your thoughts, or your ideas with the world, then you don’t need a complicated website. You need a basic structure you can fill in with your own words or images. Making a personal website your own is easy once you get started, and there’s no reason to let the starting process get bogged down with unnecessary features and costs. 2. Bloggers Whether you’re starting a blog to give people you love updates on your day-to-day life, to offer advice to your readers, or to share your views on something you’re passionate about, a simple to-the-point website should be all you need. You won’t even need to make many changes to your template, and shouldn’t need to bother with creating a lot of different pages. A blog should be easy to build—sitting down to write regularly will be enough work. 3. Small business owners A small business can no longer get by without  developing an online presence through a business website. The internet is the main way people find new businesses they want to work with and the first place they look to confirm a business is legitimate. Your small business website will be the main face you’ll have for much of the world. A simple website builder can help small business owners get that website they need up fast. And by using a website builder that provides responsive design templates made for small businesses, you can ensure your website will adhere to web design best practices and work well on mobile (something essential for all business websites today). If you’re running an enterprise business that will have a lot of pages and traffic, or ecommerce websites with a wide variety of products, then you may need to go for a premium website builder plan that’s more flexible and allows more room to grow. But for anyone in these three categories, a simple website builder should provide all you need and make building your website easier.   How to Find the Best Simple Website Builder If you’ve decided a simple website builder is the best choice for you, you still need to find the right one. And there are a good number of basic and popular website builders on the market for you to consider. Here are a few good tips for finding the best simple website builder for your needs. 1. Figure out what you need. Think carefully about what your website will be and what you need to make that happen. Consider factors like: What the main goal of your website is How many pages you’ll have What the main goal of each page will be What your basic website structure will be—if your website will have a lot of pages, this should include thinking about the best categories and subcategories you should use to organize them all What kind of images you intend to include What types of media you hope to include—will you include any video, audio, or animation? What actions you want your visitors to take—will you be including contact information, comment functionality, social media sharing buttons, contact forms, an email list signup form, or the ability to accept payment methods from visitors? Having a general idea of what you want your website to look like and accomplish will put you in a better position to know what features you need to look for in a website builder. 2. Prioritize ease of use. Anyone that’s looking for a simple website builder will need something that’s easy to use and learn. Look for a website builder that offers an intuitive website editor that has drag and drop functionality and allows you to add elements and change colors on a page with a simple click of the mouse. 3. Focus on basic website builder plans (for now at least). The main website builder providers all offer different plans that provide different features and benefits. If you just need a simple website builder, then there’s a good chance you don’t need to spend a lot of time reviewing what’s available in the higher-cost premium plans at this point. You should pay the most attention to what’s offered with the basic plan for each provider you consider. That said, if you think there’s a chance your website will grow and evolve to need more advanced features over time, such as ecommerce functionality or unlimited bandwidth, then you may want to review the premium options now in order to understand what the website builder you choose offers at the higher levels and the cost you can expect from a future upgrade. 4. Look at the website builder’s educational resources. Ideally, you should be able to use your website builder without spending any time on training to learn how it works, but you’ll still be better off choosing a website builder that provides helpful resources on how the builder works so you can learn all the features available to you and gain some easy instructions if you want them. 5. Check reviews. One of the best ways to learn what to expect from a website builder before you buy is looking at what other people have to say about their experience with it. The internet makes it easy to find reviews from current and past customers who outline the things they love about a product, and the things they wish worked better. When you’ve narrowed down your website builder options to a main couple of plans, take a few minutes to read up on what users have to say about each. Customer reviews are a useful and reliable tie breaker that will help you better gauge factors like ease of use and the quality of a company’s customer service. Choose Your Simple Website Builder Finding the right website builder is a big decision, but it doesn’t have to be a difficult one. Make sure you understand what you need and want in a website builder and stick with a simple option that suits your priorities without making things too complicated. To start your search, check out HostGator’s simple website builder . Our basic, affordable plan provides all the essentials and is extremely easy to learn and get started with. And as an added bonus, it comes with free website hosting provided by one of the most respected companies in the industry. To learn more, our customer support team is available 24/7 to answer any questions you have regarding our web hosting and web builder plans. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading

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[MilesWeb] Managed Amazon Cloud Services (AWS) | 25% OFF | Starts at $6.75/mo

Amazon Web Services , management and consulting. At MilesWeb , you get complete management for your Amazon Web Services (AWS). W… | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1756241&goto=newpost Continue reading

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Best ways to optimise 3rd party online stores?

What are the best ways to optimise 3rd party online stores like Amazon, Ebay, Shopify, Etsy, etc…. | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1755982&goto=newpost Continue reading

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How to Get More Views on Product Videos for Your Online Store

The post How to Get More Views on Product Videos for Your Online Store appeared first on HostGator Blog . In a chaotic world where everything from technology and fashion to weather patterns seems to be in a constant state of rapid change, one statement will always be true: You need product videos for your online store. Why? Properly tagged and marked up videos can improve your site’s SEO , cause shoppers to spend more time on your site, and, yes, boost your conversions . Producing videos is easier now than it’s ever been, but production is just one step in the process. If you want more people to watch your videos, share them, and buy what they’re seeing, there are a few more steps you’ll need to take. Know Your Numbers Start by knowing how many views your product videos get now in a typical day, week, or month. It’s one thing to say you want more views, but your efforts will be more effective if you set a goal based on your current views in a set time period. Also, think about where people are seeing your product videos. If the only place they’re available is on your site, it’s easy to track view counts, but your potential audience is limited. Add your product videos to your social media marketing mix if you haven’t already – just make sure you track views on each platform as well as on your site.   Be Your Own Toughest Video Critic Set aside some time to re-watch your product videos and see how they perform on this checklist.   1. First impression Does your adorable video of a puppy playing with your custom chew toys have an adorable thumbnail image, or is it just a blurred frame? Most platforms will automatically pick a thumbnail image for you, but you can usually change it if you need a clearer shot of your product. After you’ve uploaded your video, go into the editing tools for your post and you should find an option to choose a new thumbnail image. People are much more likely to click on a puppy than a blur.   2. Background Is the background for your product videos a neutral color and free of clutter? This can be as simple as a white wall, to keep viewers’ focus on your goods and not the stuff around them, especially if your products are small items or highly detailed. If there are hands in the video modeling jewelry or showing how something works, are they clean and well-manicured? This bag demo video shows how to keep the focus on the features , without distractions.   3. Clarity Background aside, is your product easy to see, with proper focus, steady camera work, and good lighting? Remember that your video has to stand in for customers getting to touch the product before they buy, so make sure there are close-ups and lots of angles.   4. Length Most people won’t watch more than 60 seconds of a video, and that’s Instagram’s video limit anyway, so don’t go over the minute mark unless you have a very good reason. Also, don’t feel like you need to fill 60 seconds just because. This video for an eyeshadow palette runs 17 seconds and does what it needs to do by showing off the colors.   5. Orientation Does your product video display in portrait (vertical) format on phones? While most platforms, like YouTube, still favor landscape orientation, vertical is becoming the preferred format for mobile users. Mobile is now where most videos get watched , so go ahead and cater to that preference on your site and on platforms that favor vertical video, like Instagram. In fact, IGTV is building its brand on the fact that all its video content is vertical , so this trend seems durable.   Once your videos get two thumbs up on this checklist for watchability, it’s time to check some technical things that can affect your videos’ searchability and reach.   Make Your Videos Easy to Watch and Find Use the right video format. There are so many video file formats out there, but the only one you need to concern yourself with for product videos is MP4. That’s the preferred format for YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and pretty much every other social media platform. If your current videos aren’t in MP4 format, there’s a whole slew of free online video conversion tools you can use to convert them to MP4 for easier social sharing. Many of them also allow you to add watermarks and compress your videos to upload faster and start playing for viewers as quickly as possible.   Mark up your videos for SEO. You already know to tag your videos in your social media posts so people can find them, but you’ll also want to make sure you’re using the meta tags on your site to tell search engine crawlers what your videos are about. Meta tags are important for SEO, and so is schema markup, which is a library of user-friendly code snippets that categorize content for Google. Kristen Hicks has covered everything you need to know about getting started with schema markup for better video results in Google searches, like featured videos and video thumbnails.   Once your videos are critiqued, improved, tagged, and formatted, it’s time to start sharing them more widely. Again, make note of your views, click-throughs, and conversions now so you can track your improvement over time.   Where and How to Share Your Product Videos Besides your store’s product pages and blog posts, there are lots of places to share your videos. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter all let you upload video directly, and you can pin YouTube videos on Pinterest. That doesn’t mean you need to post on all of these sites, though. Focus on the platforms where your customers and people like them spend their time, and don’t worry about the rest. You can also include product videos in your marketing emails. If you do this, it’s important to make sure that you code those emails correctly . That way, if the recipient’s email client doesn’t automatically load the video, they’ll see something other than blank space. If you sell or cross-list on a marketplace like Amazon, eBay, or Etsy, you can upload your product videos there as well.   More Video Views, More Sales Over time, you’ll get a clearer picture of which videos do best and which channels deliver the most views, click-throughs, and conversions. You can use that data to keep improving your videos, delivering videos that your customers like, and making more sales. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading

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4 Proven Methods to Increase Your Website Conversions

The post 4 Proven Methods to Increase Your Website Conversions appeared first on HostGator Blog . Are you actively creating new content for your website or blog, only to find that you seem to be wasting more time than anything else? If so, then you will find a lot of value in today’s article. With more than a BILLION active websites and blogs on the internet today, there are a few things you need to know: There is now more competition than ever to rank in Google Every topic has already been written about a thousand times over For content to make money, it needs to have traffic and call-to-action The best business models are ones with a direct focus and need on their audience Remarketing similar products and services to your site visitors is key By reminding yourself of these five key points, you will find a lot more success in blogging and content creation . It’s also important to remember that people are using the internet for three main reasons, which are 1) to buy something, 2) to find information, 3) to be entertained. Cater to any of these needs with an ending call-to-action, and you are on the right track. At the same time, it’s extremely important to make sure you have a marketing plan in place as well. Just creating content and hoping to rank in the search results is no longer a viable plan. With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at a some of the many different ways to create valuable content and marketing methods that continues to make money time and time again. 1. Have a Great Call-To-Action on Your Main Page When you look at any of the top websites on the internet today (especially in online marketing and business services), you will see that most of them have a direct call-to-action, or CTA , on their main page. Here’s an example of HostGator’s: There are plenty of reasons for this, but two of the most obvious are that you only have a few seconds to make a great first impression and to get the user to act on whatever you have to offer. Another reason, is that simple micro-sized actions usually have much higher conversions and engagement in the long run. Let’s take a look at a couple examples of this below. With more entrepreneurs, content creators, and affiliates jumping into the world of ecommerce, there is a huge untapped market that is searching for answers daily. One of the biggest problems ecommerce sites are facing, is trying to find winning products that are in demand, have low competition, and also offer higher profit margins. All of this can be summed up nicely in the “Find products for your store in minutes” call-to-action that is found right on the home page of Oberlo . Throw in the addition of the product image and a visual on the retail price and potential profit, and you can only imagine the conversion rate on this homepage alone. At the same time, when having any type of product or service, it’s a huge benefit if your brand is actually using that same solution itself. Another example of this can be seen on OptinMonster , which is a popular WordPress plugin that has a whole collection of popup and call-to-action lead generation tools for site owners to use. Once you start to scroll away from their site and appear to close it out, they have a popup window that appears and discusses the topic of “Cart Abandonment.” For anyone already visiting the site, they are likely already interested in how to improve their business and user engagement for the better, and this is a perfect way to show not only what their service has to offer, but how it can work for other site owners and brands as well. These are just a few working examples of how to create excellent home page calls-to-action that grab the interest of your audience and make them want to convert and become a paying customer right away. 2. Focus on How To Content, Case Studies and Live Webinars When most people visit Google, they are often searching for information to solve a problem or to help them with a decision or process. By creating content that caters to this audience, gives them value, and then direction, not only will you be providing a service, you can also turn such traffic into leads and sales as well. “How To” guides and “Tutorials” are some of the best ways to accomplish this. Just think about what your service or business offers, then reverse the process and recommend it to your audience as the solution to their problem. For example, thousands of individuals and brands are starting a new website or blog for the first time. While this might seems like nothing for the majority of us, it can be quite a daunting task for anyone attempting this the first time around. HostGator has a whole slew of tutorials and reference guides on our site for how to get started, and we also offer several live webinars as well. And just like how millions of people will be starting a new website or blog today, the same is true with social media. It’s not just about how many people will actively go live on new platform, but also how they use it for their business or brand. Even if they aren’t new to the social platform, they might be new to the concept of advertising with them — and those businesses and services out there that cater to this need will continue to generate new business as well. Another example of how to use case studies and brand examples to provide new leads and sales for your business, is to show how other companies are doing something right (such as social media marketing), and then how your customers can follow along and do the same. This Zappos case study is a great example of how a site is leveraging the success and branding of another brand, then offering a relevant service to their audience — hoping to turn them into customers. Often times, these types of case studies and resource guides go into super detail on how complex and time-consuming it actually is to create a winning strategy, and then sell that formula and service instead. Again, this all goes back to knowing your target audience and catering to their needs. These are just a few examples to consider when trying to come up with new content ideas and calls-to-action for your site, while also driving new traffic and leads in the process. 3. Product Information, Review Articles and Testimonials Matter We already know that a ton of people are going to Google everyday to learn new things and to research processes to accomplish whatever their personal or business goals are. But what about product and service information? Sure, there are millions of websites about products and services out there, but some do it better than others. Just having a product page with generic information will get you nowhere. Instead, shopping comparison and niche review sites do this extremely well. This is something Amazon has revolutionized over the past several years. Just take a look at any product on their site, and then you will see a ton of product recommendations based on other customer viewing and purchases. Just imagine how much of an increase Amazon sees in order size, thanks to these little recommendations and ratings throughout their site. This method also works very well for affiliate marketing and commission-based lead generation as well. Since site owners and bloggers are pretty good at social media and SEO, it’s actually one of the most popular and effective ways to drive traffic and revenue to some of the top sites on the internet. A perfect example of this can be seen in this HostGator review , which highlights nearly all aspects of the hosting platform. You can bet that anyone looking for a hosting plan and coming across this page will find all of the information they need, and are most certainly ready to take action in the process. At the same time, there are also user reviews and ratings placed throughout the site as well. And with Inc.com recently reporting that “ 84 percent of people trust online reviews as much as friends ”, you can only imagine how well such testimonials and reviews work, even when we don’t actually know the individuals posting them. These examples show how product ratings and testimonials can make a huge improvement to conversions on a shopping or review site, but this method can be effective for any kind of business, from solopreneurs to small businesses . A couple more content ideas are product/service “alternatives” and “review” style posts. You can also write content on your competition and then recommend your own services or products as the better option. If you know your target audience, cater content to exactly what they are looking for, and provide them with real value — they will then likely take action while they are on your site. 4. Run Your Business with EverGreen Content Many of the methods highlighted in the points above are focused on engagement and impulse buying, while some are specifically targeted towards audiences that are already in buying mode. If someone is searching for information on an individual process or product, they are likely already in action mode. Why not create valuable content that can keep working for you for several months and years to come? This is often referred to as “ evergreen content .” In short, this means it’s something that is always in demand and won’t go out of style anytime soon. Here are a few ideas on winning evergreen topics: health/weight loss finance/making money education/employment birthdays, weddings & graduations If you have content (or a business) that caters to any of these areas, you can continually generate traffic and leads everyday of the year. This is usually easier for businesses that already have a focus in these areas, but there are also plenty of opportunities for any brand to tap into these evergreen markets as well. A winning evergreen content strategy can look something like the chart below. It’s not just about pushing out as much content as possible, but instead creating as much value within one post, which can also be promoted and referenced to time and time again. The good news is that this type of content can be created for nearly any type of business model or customer audience that you might have in place. For example, starting a new website or blog isn’t limited to just those who are tech-savvy. Through the use of articles focused on topics like “How to Lose Weight and Blog Your Journey ” or “ Create a Site for Your Upcoming Wedding! “, site owners can create compelling content for an audience, while also monetizing it through the use of HostGator and their affiliate program . Again, this goes back to the providing your audience with a “walk through,” having a call-to-action in place, and also adding in the “evergreen” component as well. How to Make a Solid Content Creation and Marketing Plan For the most part, content creation is the easy part. You can take any of the examples and concepts above, reverse engineer your end call-to-action or monetization process, and then create content around it. If you aren’t a good writer, you can simply map out these data points and then hand it off to a freelancer to complete. But as we noted, content creation is only half of the battle. With more than two million sites and blogs going live daily , you need to have an effective marketing strategy in place. It doesn’t matter if you focus on paid, SEO, or social media — as long as you have at least one in place. Before you leave this article, run through the list one more time, take some notes and then start thinking about how you can improve your business model and engagement with better main page call-to-actions, using reference guides and webinars, and also implementing evergreen content in the mix. Your competition is likely already doing many of these, and now it’s time for you to do the same. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading

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