Tag Archives: comedy

T-Shirt Giveaway & 60% Off, Today Only!

The post T-Shirt Giveaway & 60% Off, Today Only! appeared first on HostGator Blog | Gator Crossing . We’ve decided to do a good, ol’ fashioned t-shirt giveaway! Today only, we will randomly choose a handful of new signups that use the coupon code SWAGGY to receive a free HostGator t-shirt. Not only does each signup have a chance to win a t-shirt, but all uses of the coupon code SWAGGY will receive 60% off the hosting package. Winners will be chosen at random and emailed a link to the primary email address on their hosting account that can then be used to redeem their free t-shirt. This offer is valid today only: March 31st, 2015. We will also be choosing some additional winners who share this offer out via their personal networks using the hashtag #SWAGGY …everyone has a chance to win one of these fashionable and comfortable HostGator t-shirts! Good luck!!   Sign Up Now! web hosting Continue reading

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Are You Making These 5 Common Website Mistakes?

The post Are You Making These 5 Common Website Mistakes? appeared first on HostGator Blog | Gator Crossing . As a website owner you’ll want to do everything in your power to ensure your website is doing as much as it can to convert new visitors into subscribers and potential customers. A lot of websites try to do too much and as a result they end up doing nothing at all. Your website should be elegant, purposeful, and directed towards your core group of users. It’s easy to make mistakes. We all do. However, some common website mistakes are avoidable, or can be fixed with a little more hard work. In this we’re going to explore the five most common website mistakes a lot of website owners make.   1. Lack Of Direction And No Coherent Focus I’m sure you’ve been to websites in the past that are very confusing and leave you in a frazzled state. On a sad note, most of the web is like this and it leads to information overwhelm and downright confusion. Our minds aren’t meant for the dizzying pace of the web and a lot of websites actually make this worse. There are many ways to do this, but some of the most common mistakes include: Weird or cluttered navigation A site that aims to please everyone in the world Strange color scheme No coherent direction or sequence of steps for the user to take Design that is out of alignment with the message of the company When a person lands on your website you’ll want them to be able to determine, in a matter of seconds, if you’re going to be able to help them or not. This is done through purposeful design and an understanding of who your customer actually is. Nailing down your focus has to do with simplifying your offering as a business and communicating it in a simple manner to your core group of customers. When in doubt choose one element to be the highlight of your business and do it well.   2. Too Much Focus On The Company, Not The User No one wants to land on your website and hear about how great your business is, at least not at first. The first thing a person landing on your website wants to know is if you can help them. Once they’ve determined you can help them reach the magical land where their problem is solved, then they’ll start to look deeper into your company. However, this can still be done strategically to make sure you’re not bragging. The number one page people go to after the home page is the about page. This means you have another chance to convince the visitor you’re the right person for the job. The best way to do this is by adjusting your copy to show you deeply sympathize with the user and their problem. Next, make sure to bring in relevant experience that shows you actually know what you’re talking about. You can even bring in testimonials and other forms of social proof, so people know they’re not alone in working with you.   3. No Incentives To Draw In Customers A lot of website owners try to get people to opt-in without providing an incentive to do so. As inboxes are becoming more and more sacred you’ll need to do something special for the visitor to get them to part with their information. One of the best ways to do this is by creating a free download that solves a portion of the visitors problem. This should be enough to get the visitor to opt in. From that point on you can work on building the relationship and converting them into a long-term customer.   4. Looking Good Across One Device And One Device Only Mobile is becoming more and more prevalent. It isn’t going anywhere. All trends and statistics suggest that mobile is the future. It’s a smart idea to make sure your website works across every device your customers are going to be using. That doesn’t mean you have to upgrade your design right away, but if your website looks funky or doesn’t function properly across the most common screen sizes then you may want to consider a change. Responsive websites are slowly becoming the new norm, so it would be a good idea to switch over sooner rather than later.   5. No Relevance Relevance has to do with how valuable you are to your visitors. This is the test your should be running for every element of your website. If it doesn’t provide value to your readers, then cut it. Being ruthless with what’s useful and what isn’t may feel a little harsh, but it will allow you to have a website that’s more streamlined to serve your customers.   By avoiding the mistakes above you’ll be on your way towards having an efficient website that is geared towards the only people that matter, your customers. web hosting Continue reading

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Is All Traffic Created Equal?

The post Is All Traffic Created Equal? appeared first on HostGator Blog | Gator Crossing . Face it, if you want your online business to succeed you’re going to need a steady stream of traffic. However, there are crucial differences in the quality of traffic across the internet that could have an even larger effect. Some people believe that driving traffic to your website is purely a numbers game. However, the quality of your traffic matters much more than the quantity. In this article we’re going to explore the differences in quality of web traffic and what it means for your business and success of your website.   What Is Quality Traffic? Quality traffic is composed of visitors who are actually engaged with what you’re offering, browse multiple pages, and spend a decent amount of time on your website. Essentially, they are going to make up the backbone of your revenue, as these people are also more likely to buy what you’re offering, or at least sign up for your email list. These visitors should be the core focus of your business as your work actually resonates with them. Often, the amount of quality traffic flowing into your website will be low compared to other forms of traffic. However, if your business was built to serve everyone it would probably end up serving no one. This differentiation in your business allows you to more effectively serve a small group of people in deeper ways. To sum up, quality traffic will have qualities similar to your ideal visitor. For instance, they will be a regular visitor to your site and hopefully a champion of your work.   What Is Low Quality Traffic? Low quality traffic doesn’t bring any positive advantage to your website other than increasing the amount of visitors to your website. The typical traits these visitors will embody includes only stopping by your website once, not viewing multiple pages, and barely reading the page they landed on in the first place. It’s not a good idea to focus your traffic efforts on this type of traffic, as it won’t do much to increase your bottom line. Usually, these traffic spikes come from instances when your content goes viral, or your website gets featured on a site like Reddit or Stumbleupon. The high-volume traffic you get from these sites usually won’t do much to increase your sales, or number of subscribers. Although, you don’t want to discourage traffic from these sources it doesn’t make a lot of sense to focus your traffic generation efforts on these high volume sources alone.   Focusing On The Wrong Traffic Metrics When it comes to digging through your traffic metrics you’ll want to make sure you’re looking in the right place. After all, it’s easy to get caught up in vanity metrics, forgetting the real data that can actually be useful for your business. For starters, the total number of visitors you have per month isn’t crucially important. What is important is the sources where your traffic is coming from, and the bounce rates that are associated with each source. The bounce rate is the percentage of people that come to your site and leave very quickly. So, if you have a few traffic sources that have very high bounce rates you’ll want to diminish your efforts on those sources. Your best bounce rate scenario would be a high traffic source with very low bounce rates. Another metric you’ll want to keep an eye out on is the number of users that are returning to your site time and time again. Although, it’s always good sign that new visitors are coming to your site you’ll also want to take note of how many people are returning. Traffic doesn’t have to be a mystery. By focusing on the right metrics and sources of traffic you’ll be well on your way towards fine tuning a traffic strategy that works.   Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/17893072@N00/4475333077/ web hosting Continue reading

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Pinterest Adopts the Use of Promotional Ads

The post Pinterest Adopts the Use of Promotional Ads appeared first on HostGator Blog | Gator Crossing . With over half a million businesses on Pinterest, the Social Media platform is becoming a lot more than just recipes and fashion photos. It’s time to prepare yourself to start seeing even more ads now that Pinterest unleashed new tools for businesses back in June. The “do-it-yourself Promoted Pins” feature will allow businesses of any size to promote their pins on a cost-per-click basis in order to reach more people and get more visits back to their homepage. Pinterest has been testing this program since early May with big brands like Old Navy, Target and Shutterfly, and is offering a sign up for any business to try it when they’re ready to get started.   Competing Against Facebook and Twitter, Subtly By adopting the same principles as Facebook’s ad promotions and Twitter’s promoted Tweets, Pinterest’s Promoted Pins have been touted as “changing the game one pin at a time.” What’s different about their advertisements is that they won’t appear any different than the other posts that interest you. If, for instance, you’re browsing new cocktail recipes you won’t see an ad for JcPenny’s, instead you’ll see pins from companies that deal in mixology or interesting cocktail glasses. Many have reported this as a noticeable benefit simply because the ads won’t be pestering potential customers by appearing in random categories. Pinterest is already such a product-and-image driven environment that users have been embracing brands long before any advertising was thrown into the mix.   Building Off Rich Pins Back in June we talked about standing out on Pinterest with Rich Pins , a change in eCommerce that shared pricing information and availability. Rich Pins also came with analytics and options to receive pricing alerts. Promoted Pins will only add to these features, with promises that pins will appear first in search results and category feeds on both the web and in mobile apps. If you aren’t on Pinterest already sharing your products, the time has never been better to join. Currently only select businesses are receiving the option to promote but getting started now will prepare you when the time comes.   Your Pinterest Board and Planning Your Pins While the notion of the promoted pins blending in with the rest is great from an advertisement perspective, the pins you’re choosing to designate as promotional should do anything but. Aim to make the promotional pins to be taller than those around them and really draw the viewer in. Customers have always found you on your own Pinterest boards and promoted pins will be no different. Some of the most compelling reasons for businesses to start using Pinterest include: It’s a great place to promote a contest As most users are visually inclined, it’s a great platform to optimize your brand’s image You’re allowed to comment and interact with potential customers Built in SEO benefits with hashtags and keywords Integration of other Social Media sites   So What’s So Promising? Back in April, the data tracking blog, Shareaholic, dubbed Pinterest as the reigning queen of social referrals . Since December it has seen a growth in traffic of 48% and is second only to Facebook in terms of steering Social referrals. In three years of operating there have been 30 billion items pinned and 750 million boards created. Even what once was a heavily female dominated user base has now shifted from over 80% females, to 68.2% female and 31.8% men. It’s become very clear Pinterest has established itself as one of the top marketing tools, and in no time businesses small and large will be benefiting from the use of Promoted Pins. When do you plan on starting? web hosting Continue reading

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National Entrepreneurship Week

The post National Entrepreneurship Week appeared first on HostGator Blog | Gator Crossing . The entrepreneurial spirit is something that we hold near and dear at HostGator. After all, if not for the aspirations of a young entrepreneur in a Florida dorm room, HostGator would not exist. In recognition of National Entrepreneurship Week , we are offering 50% off all new hosting packages. Our hope is that this opportunity will be seized by those with the entrepreneurial spirit and used to get their business up and running online. Whether your business idea is something destined to revolutionize an existing industry, or springboard humanity into an entirely new era, or even just make the world a slightly better or more convenient place, we would be honored to host your website and help bring your entrepreneurial dream into reality. This offer will expire very soon. Simply click the button below to get started, be sure to enter the coupon code SMALLBIZ at checkout in order to receive 50% off your new hosting package!   Get Started Now! web hosting Continue reading

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