Tag Archives: domain-name

Domain Name Management

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Hosting

The post Domain Name Management appeared first on HostGator Blog . When you’re in the early stages of creating your first website, you may be surprised by just how much is involved in building and maintaining a website. One of the most important parts of getting your website up on the web, and keeping it running for years to come, is domain name management. What is Domain Name Management? Domain name management is everything involved in finding the right domain name , registering it, and keeping it up to date for as long as you want to use it. Domain management isn’t difficult (or at least it doesn’t have to be), but it’s something important to stay on top of for as long as you have a website. Starting Out with Domain Name Management The bulk of what you need to know about domain name management comes into play when you’re still in the planning stages of creating your new website. What Is a Domain Name? Ever wondered how domain names work ? A domain name is what people type into a browser to find your website. Every website technically has two addresses used to stake out their unique place on the web. Computers identify websites using their IP address, which usually looks something like 111.111.111.1111 (except with more or a mix of numbers than that). But humans aren’t likely to remember a long string of numbers like that, so for us, the main internet address that matters for websites is the domain name. Domain names start with www, and most commonly end with .com—although there are a growing number of top-level domains people and businesses can opt for instead of .com, such as .net, .org, and .biz. Your domain name’s important because it’s directly tied to how people will think about and interact with your website. A simple and straightforward domain name like www.sarahs-website.com will be easier to find and remember than one that’s confusing and overlong like www.examplewebsitehardtoremember1267849.com . But with a huge and growing number of websites already online, a simple and straightforward domain name is getting harder to find every day. Who Needs a Domain Name? In short, everybody that wants a website. Think about it: have you ever been on a website that didn’t have a domain name? It’s a core part of being published online. If you want anyone else to be able to find and access your website, then a domain name isn’t optional. It’s one of the necessary costs of doing business on the web. But the cost is fairly minimal and, in return, you get the possibility of being found by friends, strangers, and potential customers alike. How Do You Find a Domain Name? As mentioned, this part can be challenging. With over a billion websites already published online, most of the obvious combinations of words have already been taken. Or if they’re not yet in use, they’re owned by domain investors who will charge a lot to hand them over. So before you get too attached to one domain name, you need to research first whether that domain name is available. You can quickly determine a domain name’s availability by searching at https://www.hostgator.com/domains If your domain name is available, you can register it right there. If not, the tool will provide recommendations for similar domains to consider. In some cases, it’s worth also putting your desired domain directly into a browser to see if it’s currently owned by someone willing to sell it. But you should expect to the cost to be reasonably high for domain names for sale by investors. There’s a good chance you’ll need to do some brainstorming and a number of searches before you land on a domain name idea you really like that’s also readily available. But it’s worth spending some time to find a domain name that’s a good fit for your website. How to Register a Domain Name Once you’ve found the right domain name for your website, you want to claim it as quickly as possible, before someone else tries to buy it. Registering a domain name is a simple process. If you’re buying a domain name that no one owns yet, you can go through any domain registrant. With HostGator, just add the domain you’ve chosen to your shopping cart and checkout. If the exact domain name you search is available, it will be added to your shopping cart automatically. Pro tip: Register your domain with your web hosting service.   Most companies that sell web hosting also offer domain registration services. While you can always use a previously registered domain name when you sign up with a different web hosting company, that adds unnecessary steps to your process. You can save yourself a little time and energy by keeping it all in one place. What is Domain Name Privacy? As you’re registering your domain, you’ll probably see the option to include domain name privacy as an add-on. It costs a little extra, so you’ll obviously want to know what you’re actually paying for if you choose to get it. Every time someone registers a website, the domain registrant is required to submit contact information to the ICANN WHOIS directory, including a: Mailing address Phone number Email address Having this information published to the wide web makes it easy for spammers and scammers to access, which opens the door to receiving a barrage of emails, texts, and calls you don’t want. And that’s on top of any potential safety concerns that come with your contact information being public for anyone to find. Domain name privacy is a service registrars offer to keep your contact information private while still staying compliant with the law. The domain registrar will provide their own information, so that anyone who has a genuine need to get in touch with the domain owner still has a way to reach you, just with the company serving as your intermediary so you can dodge all the unnecessary contact. How to Set Up Web Hosting Having a domain name is one necessity in getting a new website online, but the other important step you have to take is setting up web hosting for your new website. In most cases, you can combine the two steps by using the same provider for both and make your life easier. Subscribing to a new web hosting plan is as easy as registering a new domain. Simply determine which type of web hosting is right for you , select your plan, and check out with the web hosting provider you chose. Any good web hosting company will also provide a number of useful resources to help you get started and learn how to use their cpanel and other resources. And you can often register your domain, or any additional ones you choose to purchase, in the web hosting account you use to manage your website. Ongoing Domain Management Domain management isn’t something you do once and you’re done. Domain names and all of the services associated with them work on a subscription basis, meaning you need to pay on a regular basis to keep everything up to date. Handling Renewals The most common option for ongoing domain management is annual renewals, although you can often save some money by committing to multi-year plans where you purchase your domain and other services for several years out. In either case, when renewal time rolls around, you need to confirm that you still want to continue: Using the domain name you purchased Keeping your contact information private (if you opted for domain name privacy) Continuing with the web hosting provider you selected The company you work with will send reminders when your renewal is coming due, so you can decide if you want to keep using your domain, and make sure you make the necessary payments on time to keep your website functioning. The Risks of Not Managing Your Domain Name Setting up everything you need when starting your new website is obviously important, but consistently keeping up with domain management is arguably even more important. The risks of dropping the ball when it comes to domain name management are serious. You could lose your domain name. During the initial search for the right domain name, you saw how hard it is to find a good domain name that’s available. If you fail to renew your domain name at the right time and someone else buys it, you lose access to it. And you’re back to square one in the search for a new one. Finding a good domain name is hard enough the first time, why put yourself through all that again? You lose all your domain authority. Even worse, if you switch to a different domain name, all the work you’ve put into building your website’s authority online will be lost. The new domain owner will get the benefit of the brand recognition you worked so hard to build and the backlinks you earned. And all your regular visitors will be confused to find the website they expected to find gone. Unless you’ve built up an email list and can use it to drive most of your former followers to a new website, you risk losing your following completely. And even then, there will likely be former fans that miss the update and give up on looking for your new address online. Someone can charge you big bucks to get it back. When you realize the high stakes of losing the domain name you’ve used for years, you’ll want to get it back. Sometimes people buy a domain name out from under the former owner the moment they see an opportunity to do so for exactly this reason. These domain name sharks know how valuable it is to you and how big of a loss it would be. That means a big opportunity for profit for them. To get your old website back at the address people know, with all the SEO authority it had before, you’re pretty much at their mercy. They can ask for a significant amount of money—and the better a job you’ve done of building up your website’s reputation, the more they’re likely to demand. You can be punished for the amount of work you’ve done and success you’ve accomplished up to that point. Obviously it’s preferable to stay on top of your domain management and keep current to begin with! How to Make Domain Name Management Easy We have good news! Domain name management doesn’t have to be hard. There are two good ways to make the process easy so you don’t lose your domain name. 1. Keep all your renewals in one place. If you have to keep up with domain registration, web hosting, and domain privacy renewals in different accounts, then remembering to do it all is harder. If you have multiple domains and websites and use different providers for each, then you’re adding a lot of unnecessary work to the process of staying on top of it all. If you use one company for all your website services, then renewing everything will only require one step. When you’re logged in, pay for everything coming due, and you’re done. So take a little time when you’re getting started to find a company you can trust to make your life easier for years to come.   2. Set up auto renewals. That one easy step we mentioned? Even that’s not actually necessary. If your provider offers automatic renewals, you can let your domain name management run on autopilot. For as long as you want to keep your domain name, domain privacy plan, and web hosting, just keep the auto renewal option selected for them all. You can avoid doing any work at all—except for what you do to update and promote your website. And trust us, that’ll be enough work without adding domain name management on top of it. One Place for Domain Name Management HostGator offers domain name registration, domain privacy, web hosting, and an array of other useful services that you can manage all in one account. Getting started with HostGator is easy, and you can even use our website builder to make your initial design and future updates easy as well. HostGator can handle all of your domain needs, whether you need to register or transfer a domain name . We will help you manage your domain name and find the best web hosting plan for you and your needs. Contact our team of experts today for more information! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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.IO Domain

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Hosting

What do you think about the .IO domain extension ?… | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1759981&goto=newpost Continue reading →

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Hostfolks [Since 2001] 50% Life-Time Discount ★ Fully Loaded cPanel Hosting ★

Posted on April 6, 2019 by Hosting

HostFolks Internet a Web Hosting and Domain Name provider since 2001 are pleased to offer WHT readers 50% off our Shared Hosting. Our… | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1759557&goto=newpost Continue reading →

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Website Builder Comparison

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Hosting

The post Website Builder Comparison appeared first on HostGator Blog . When the time comes to build your new website, you’re going to have a lot of different types of website builders available. Even though the search might be a little overwhelming, this is actually a good thing. Back in the day, it was much more difficult to build a website and use to involve having to hire out the work. But, the plethora of beginner-friendly tools available today makes the process of building your website much simpler, and even enjoyable. The two main options you’ll probably consider are using WordPress or a website builder . Although they both accomplish the same general goal you’ll find that the process for doing so differs greatly. Below we’ll explore what a website builder is, how it works, provide a website builder comparison,and finally offer you some advice for choosing the best option for your needs. What Is a Website Builder? At the core, a website builder is a tool that lets you quickly create a website without any previous design or programming experience. Most of these builders will come equipped with drag and drop or point and click functionality that’ll allow you to easily add and remove site elements. Website builders are usually equipped with dozens or even hundreds of different starting themes or pre-made templates. These act as the foundation for your new website. Usually, you’ll find themes that cater to different niches or industries, as well as offering eCommerce specific themes. They’ll also be fully responsive, mobile-friendly, and based on the latest web design trends . Depending on the builder you’re using you might also have access to tools that allow you to turn your site into an eCommerce store, including shopping cart capabilities. You’ll find dozens of different website builders to choose from. Some are purely built for eCommerce, where other’s let you create a myriad of different types of sites.   Right here at HostGator, you’ll find a website builder that’s perfect for beginners, that includes the option to add eCommerce functionality to your website. Advantages of a Website Builder Website builders are incredibly popular, because they make building a website almost too simple. Here are some of the biggest benefits of using a site builder : 1. Very Easy to Use Website builders shine in how easy they are to use. Even if this is your first day on the internet, you could figure out how to use a website builder software. If you’re intimidated by things that are technical in nature, then a website builder is perfect for your needs. Not only are website builders created to be very intuitive, but you’ll find a wealth of tutorials that’ll walk you through building your site step-by-step as well. 2. Speedy Site Creation Website builders are fast. Fire up the tool, select your theme, drag and drop your site customizations, then hit publish. With website builders, you don’t have to worry about things like domain name propagation, site maintenance, and other technical tasks that might slow you down. 3. No Technical Skills Needed When you use a CMS like WordPress you’re responsible for all the technical tasks required to get your site online. Plus, things like ongoing maintenance and website updates. When you use a website builder all these things are taken care of for you from your web host. Also, when you’re building out your site, you’ll never have to adjust or code anything yourself. Drawbacks of a Site Builder Even though website builders are great for a variety of reasons, they’re not a perfect fit for everyone. Here are the most common drawbacks you’ll find when using a site builder: 1. Limited Site Functionality With website building, you’re limited to the features that are included with the builder. Any new features or functionality need to be added and approved by the team who created the tool, so new features will be added at a slower rate. If you need to create a site with extensive features, you might want to consider using something like WordPress.   2. Stuck to a Platform Depending on the website builder software you’re using, you might be stuck using that tool for the lifetime of your site. Most website builders aren’t cross-compatible, so if you want to move platform or hosts, then there’s a good chance you’ll have to rebuild your site from scratch. 3. Might Run Into Builder Limitations If you want to build a content heavy site or a massive eCommerce store, then you’ll probably run into the limits of whatever website builder you’re using. Overall, it depends on how well your website builder can scale up to support larger projects. In some cases, you might end up paying a very high monthly fee just to be able to support a larger site. When Should I Use a Website Builder? Website builders are generally best suited for specific types of websites. Simple sites that don’t require too many pages or complex functionality are well-suited for website builders. Generally, this applies to several types of websites you can create , like portfolio websites, small business sites, creative sites for musicians and other artists, sites offering your freelance services, and even simple eCommerce shops. If you’re building a site like one of those mentioned above, and want to get your site online as fast as possible, then consider using a website builder. Website builders will help you save time and get rid of any complex tasks standing in the way of getting your site online. Popular website builders often come with web hosting included, so you don’t have to worry about finding a host and going through the technical steps of configuring your hosting account to work with your new site. What is WordPress? WordPress originally started as a website builder, but in time has morphed into a full-fledged content management system (CMS). This makes it perfect for sites that either has a lot of content or are planning to scale up content creation in the future. The single aspect of WordPress that trips up a lot of beginners is the fact that there are two different versions of WordPress available. The first is a self-hosted version of WordPress, where you host a site using the WordPress.com subdomain . In this case, your URL will read something like “catsanddogs.wordpress.com”. Using this version will give you access to a handful of themes and some basic features. However, taking this route isn’t recommended as your theme customizations and plugin access will be limited. Along with only getting access to a restricted feature set your domain name won’t be the most professional or sharable since you won’t have a branded domain. The other version of WordPress is fully downloadable and you install the CMS on your own server. If that sounds difficult, don’t worry, most hosts have bundled software installers that make it incredibly easy to install WordPress and configure it properly within minutes. Similar to a website builder, WordPress also relies upon themes that act as the foundation for the rest of your site’s customizations. You’ll find a ton of different free and premium themes to choose from that will give you endless customization options. You select a theme, install it, then customize it to make your own personalized website design. The process of customizing your theme will depend upon the theme you’re using. Some themes will operate in a drag and drop fashion, while others will handle there customizations via a theme setting panel, or the use of shortcodes. Plus, you have access to a massive library of popular WordPress plugins , which will allow you to add even more features to your site. Overall, WordPress gives you a lot of control over how your site looks on the web. However, all of this control and flexibility means that there’s a much steeper learning curve when compared to using a website builder. Advantages of WordPress WordPress is a powerful and flexible tool.Here are some of the most common reasons people choose WordPress :: 1. Incredibly Flexible WordPress really shines in its flexibility. You’re truly only limited by your own imagination (and your technical skills). With WordPress, you not only have a massive theme selection but a nearly endless plugin library as well. Since it’s an open-source platform, there’s no limit to what can be built to unlock the power of WordPress. However, with this added flexibility and ability to create to your heart’s desire there’s a steeper learning curve and a lot more things you’ll need to master to get your site up and running. 2. Gives You a Lot of Power WordPress has a powerful internal engine. It has everything you need to get to where you want to go. That means you can build virtually any kind of site you desire. Plus, it has the necessary technical foundation to scale with you as your site grows. Some of the largest sites in the world, including TechCrunch, BBC America, and the HostGator blog, utilize WordPress to power their sites. Drawbacks of WordPress Still, WordPress isn’t perfect. Right out of the gate it has a higher learning curve. Here are some of the most common reasons people will opt for a simpler solution: 1. Higher Learning Curve WordPress is a beginner-friendly CMS. But, there are a bunch of technical tasks that you’ll need to accomplish before your site will be online. And the more features you want to add to your WordPress site, the more technical it’ll be to setup your site the right way. Luckily, you’ll be able to find extensive documentation, tutorials, and how-to guides that can walk you through almost everything. However, it might take some trial and error to get your site how you like it. 2. Might Need to Edit Code If you truly want to get the most out of WordPress you might have to edit some code. For some, this can be a very intimidating process, but others won’t mind getting their hands dirty and learn a bit about how their site’s work. You won’t have to write anything from scratch. But, sometimes you might need to copy and paste existing code, or fire up the HTML editor and add WordPress shortcodes and more. When Should I Use WordPress? WordPress will help you build content-heavy websites. The range of sites you can build using WordPress is quite vast, from basic blogs to massive highly-trafficked sites with thousands of pages of content. Put simply, it’s quite scalable. If you’re building a very simple website, then you might not require the power that WordPress can provide. However, if you have plans to scale up your website, or you simply want a higher level of control over your website, then WordPress is worth considering. You still might be wondering, is WordPress a website builder? At its core, WordPress doesn’t fit the traditional description of a site builder, but yes, it does help you build a website. Using WordPress will take more effort and technical knowledge. But, even if you’re starting at zero, you’ll be able to get a grasp on WordPress without spending too much time. Website Builder vs WordPress: Which Is Right for You? If you want to get a website online this afternoon and you don’t need any advanced features, then using a website builder can be a great option. By using a website builder all you have to do is select your template, make a few modifications, and publish your site. The entire process is very simple and straightforward. However, if time isn’t your biggest concern, and you want to use a platform that can grow with you and support any kind of site you desire, then using WordPress is a great idea. WordPress gives you more control over your site, and with access to the nearly endless supply of themes and plugins, you can create any kind of site you desire. Overall, a website builder will allow you to quickly build a beautiful and functional website without any coding skills. On the other hand, WordPress affords you immense flexibility and gives you a very powerful platform to build any kind of site. However, you can expect to put more time and learning into the building process. Hopefully, you have a better idea of how using a website builder vs. WordPress compare, as well as the right direction to take for your new site. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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Building an eCommerce Website

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Hosting

The post Building an eCommerce Website appeared first on HostGator Blog . It’s easier than ever to build your own eCommerce website and start selling products online. With the help of select website building tools you can have your site online in a day’s work. Of course, coming up with your product idea, along with product sourcing and creation will take longer, but the actual website building process can be streamlined. Plus, eCommerce stores are only primed to grow. By building your very own store now you can take advantage of this trend well into the future. Even if you’ve never built a website before, you can create your very own eCommerce store with ease. By the end of this post you’ll know how to find a good product and niche for your store, how to build out your site, and the approaches you can take to generate sales. Before You Build Out Your Store Before you start the process of building out your eCommerce store there are some foundational things you’re going to need to do first. The first of which is securing your domain name and web hosting services.Without these, there’s no way to actually have a live eCommerce website. There are dozens of different providers and services you can use to secure a domain name and hosting, and you can either purchase them together or separately. If this is your first time building a website, then the easiest course of action will be purchasing them together from the same provider. This will minimize the number of technical tasks you need to complete and speed up the process of getting your site online. If you’re looking for the fastest and most beginner friendly way to secure a domain name and hosting, then consider purchasing them both right here at HostGator. Just select your web hosting package and add a domain name to your order before you check out. You might not be ready to name your store and purchase a domain name just yet, so feel free to return to this section later once you’ve come up with the perfect domain name for your business.   What You Need to Build an eCommerce Website Building an eCommerce website will be a little different than creating a standard website or starting a blog . Beyond securing a domain name and hosting you’ll also need to consider tools and software for processing payments, along with actually creating and manufacturing your products. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s required to build a website from scratch for an eCommerce store: A domain A hosting provider An integrated payment processor A platform or tool to build your store Initial capital to create your products Packaging for product shipping When you’re creating an eCommerce store there will be some initial capital that you’ll need to invest. Building an eCommerce Website the Easy Way Building an eCommerce website is similar to the process of building any other website, except you’re selling physical products. This means there will be greater work upfront to help ensure the success of your website. Here’s the process of discovering your market, finding out what you’re going to sell, and finally building out your store. 1. Market Research and Finding Your Niche To start an eCommerce store you’re going to need a physical product to sell. But, it would be a heartbreaking experience to go through the process of building out a store only to find out that no one wants to buy what you’re selling. To avoid this fate you’ll want to spend time upfront finding the right market and products to sell. You might already know exactly what you want to sell, but if not, no worries, this post will walk you through the process of market research . Ideally, what you want is to uncover a pressing need in the marketplace and fill it with your product. Look for Trending Products One way to ensure that you’ll start selling products right out of the gate is to align yourself with products that are currently trending. By getting into a trending niche at the right time, you can ride the wave in the short-term and long-term. However, you don’t want to hop into a trending market when it’s on the decline. Instead, you want to find a product or a niche for products that are growing in popularity. There are tons of different tools you can use to spot trending products and niches, but here are some of the most common. Google Trends : This Google tool allows you to look into the past and future of certain product keywords. By using the data this tool provides you’ll be able to see if a market is growing or waning in popularity. TrendHunter : This site showcases a ton of different niches and products that are currently trending across the globe. Plus, there’s a nifty filter that lets you sort by different industries. Instagram Influencers: If you spend any time on Instagram then you probably follow a few influencers who regularly promote certain products. The chances are pretty high that the products they promote tend to sell well and can suggest a viable niche. Align With Your Passion Hopefully, by exploring the resources above you have a handful of products or potential niches you could go into. To narrow down that list even further we’re going to do some self-evaluation. After all, it’s going to be hard to sustain momentum with your store if you don’t actually care about what you’re selling. Spend some time with the following questions to determine if you have what it takes to sustain yourself in the niche: Do you care about the market you’ve chosen? Do you have any pre-existing knowledge you can rely on? Can you see yourself working in this space for 5 years or more? Do you care about the people that you’re serving? Explore What’s Currently Selling By now you should have narrowed down your list of potential products and niches to a group you actually care about. Now, we’re going to take this one step further and validate our ideas in the marketplace. The most effective ways to do this are using the Amazon product marketplace and a keyword research tool. First, head over to the Amazon bestseller list in the product category of your choice (link). Then, spend some time digging through the products to see what kinds of things people are actually buying. Look for product multiples and dig through the reviews to see if there are any glaring issues with the existing products. Second, head over to the tool Ubersuggest . This is a free keyword research tool that’ll give you tons of actionable keyword data. Then, all you have to do is input your target keyword and you’ll receive a list of related keywords and their overall search volume. This will help you determine the overall size of the market and maybe even give you a few ideas of products you can sell. 2. Getting Ready to Sell Before you settle on the product you want to sell there are a few more considerations you’ll want to take into account. First, you’ll want to make sure the product is light enough that it’s easy to ship. During the early days of your eCommerce store, you’ll be handling most of the packaging and shipping yourself. This will not only make your life easier, but you’ll be able to maintain better product margins, which can be crucial in the early days of your store. The last thing that needs to be considered in regards to your product is prototyping. With this approach, you’re not looking to create the perfect product the first time around. Instead, you’ll be trying to create an initial product and then iterate and improve based upon product feedback. This will help you get to market faster and build a better product over time. 3. Choosing Your Platform If you haven’t secured your domain name and hosting yet, now would be the time to do it. The easiest approach would be to pick up both right here at HostGator . When the time comes to choose the platform for your eCommerce store you’re going to have a lot of different options at your disposal. There’s all-in-one platforms, website builders, CMS like WordPress, and more. One of the easiest options is using a website builder to set up an online store. 4. Building Your Store Below you’ll learn the basics of building an eCommerce website with the HostGator website builder. For full eCommerce functionality, select the eCommerce plan. This will give you options like inventory management, shopping cart, coupon codes, and additional online payment methods for eCommerce sites. With the builder up and running the next thing to do is select your website template. From the ‘Category’ option select ‘Online Store’ and spend some time browsing through the templates until you find one that you want to act as the foundation for your site. Once you’ve found a suitable template hover over it and click ‘Select’. On the next page, you’ll be able to edit your website. Just click on any existing element of your site and a drop-down list of options will come up that shows you the changes you can make. If you want to design your storefront, then click on Pages> Store from the left-hand menu. To add products to your store, configure your shopping cart, and more, you’ll need to upgrade your service. So click on the blue ‘Upgrade’ button in the upper right-hand corner. Or navigate to Store> Upgrade Now . 5. Launching Your Store and Selling Products If you’ve done everything above, then congratulations, you’ve put in a ton of work and you’re just about ready to launch your store. However, it’s important not to launch your store before it’s fully polished. After all, you only have one chance to make a first impression. Spend some time double-checking every page on your site for typos, broken links, or other things that don’t work. You’ll also want to run through a few sample purchases to make sure the checkout process works smoothly as well. Once you’re satisfied with your virtual storefront, it’s time to launch your store and start selling products ! Marketing Your eCommerce Website Now, if you don’t have any existing social media channels for your business, or a list to promote your store too, you probably won’t get much traffic to start. What you need to do is invest in marketing your eCommerce store to the world. Here are a few of the most common eCommerce marketing methods: 1. Content Marketing With an eCommerce store, you have a multitude of opportunities to create content. Whether you’re creating educational content that’s geared towards your selection of products. Or, you’re creating content that’s geared towards picking up backlinks or social media shares. Often, content marketing won’t give you immediate results, but instead, it’s something that can provide you with traffic over the long-term. Here are a few great resources on building a content marketing strategy from scratch: How to Make eCommerce Content Marketing Work for You Top 5 Tips for a Successful Blog Content Marketing Strategy 2. Social Media Marketing Social media can be a great way to increase brand awareness while driving traffic back to your eCommerce site. There are a lot of social media networks out there, but the ones you’ll probably find the most value in are Instagram and Pinterest. Both of these are more image-driven platforms, so they align well with selling products. Instagram will give you a way to showcase your product itself, along with how it’s commonly used. While Pinterest gives you the opportunity to create and share content that’s related to your niche and drive targeted traffic back to your site.   3. Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing has been used to build some wildly successful eCommerce stores. If you’re not familiar, it’s the process of reaching out to influencers on Instagram and having them promote your brand and products to their audience. You have the option of doing paid shoutouts, but you might also be able to find accounts who will mention your product for free in exchange for your product. If you’re interested in exploring this further, then check out the resources below: A Comprehensive Guide to Instagram Influencer Marketing A Simple Guide to Instagram Influencer Marketing in 2019 Building Your eCommerce Website Hopefully, by now, you have a better understanding of what it takes to build your own eCommerce store from the ground up. It’s a lot of work to make an online business, but with the eCommerce market continuing to grow you’ll be setting yourself up for success in the long-run. If you truly want to create your own eCommerce website all you have to do is get started. Use the information above and start implementing. You’re not going to get everything right your first go around, but the most important thing is to experiment, fail, and keep moving forward. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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