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Best Website Builder for Small Businesses

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Hosting

The post Best Website Builder for Small Businesses appeared first on HostGator Blog . Small business owners have a lot to deal with. No matter the day, you can pretty much count on an overwhelming to-do list. When it comes to building and maintaining a website for your small business, it’s hard to know how to fit it all in. You know you need one—no small business can get by these days without a website. But how are you supposed to find the time to get it done, or the budget to hire someone to do it? It doesn’t have to take as long as you may think. Small business owners can get a website ready and online with little effort by choosing a website builder . Why Small Businesses Should Use a Website Builder For small businesses with limited time and budget, a website builder is the best choice to start enjoying the benefits a website brings. There are a few solid reasons to go with a website builder: It’s fast. If you don’t have a website up yet, then you should prioritize getting one up fast. A small business website makes it easier for people to find you and gives you legitimacy in the eyes of potential customers. The longer you wait, the more business you’ll lose. With a good website builder, you can potentially have your website ready in a matter of days, or even hours. It’s easy.  You don’t have to learn to code or spend time training on how to use complicated software. The right website builder will be intuitive enough that you can figure it out as you go. And in addition to making the initial website creation process easier, a website builder makes ongoing maintenance easy as well. When you need to make updates to your site (and you will), each little tweak will be quick and easy. It’s affordable. While a good website builder will cost you money, the cost is much less than what you would spend on hiring a professional website designer to build a website. And you won’t have to worry about hiring someone to help you make changes down the line because you don’t know how. It’s effective. The best website builders supply a large number of templates that are designed to meet website best practices. That makes it easy for you to build a website that adheres to the general advice on what works well on the web, without having to learn it all yourself. And even with starting from a template, you can make all the changes you need to make sure your website is uniquely yours and does a good job of selling your business to your visitors. Once you’ve decided that a website builder is the right choice for you, it’s time to find the best website builder for your business needs .   What to Look for in a Small Business Website Builder With quite a few website builders on the market, you have to figure out which ones provide the features and functionality you need. Many options make it hard to move your website to a new builder once you’ve created it, so it’s important to make the right choice early on. For a small business website, there are a few main features you should look for in your website builder.   Many Templates Part of what makes website builders so easy to use is that you start with a template. By having a basic design and website structure in place, you don’t have to start from scratch, just make changes to what’s there to create something new. The process of building your website will be easier if you’re able to start with a template that comes close to what you want your website to look like. Make sure you go with a website builder that offers a lot of templates—at least 100. Finding one you really like will save you work and time once you start customizing it.   Branding Options Some website builders (especially free or low-cost ones) won’t allow you to remove the website builder’s branding from your site. That might not be a problem for personal websites, but for a business website, it makes you look unprofessional and distracts from your own branding. When your visitors see a logo, you want it to be yours. Another good way to differentiate your website’s brand is to include a favicon on  your website. These are the little images that show up in the browser tab when your website is open, next to your page’s title. This gives your site a little extra branding and makes it easier for visitors to find your site amongst their open tabs or in their bookmarks. Try to find a website builder that allows the option to add your own favicon and makes it easy to do so.   Security The scary part of getting a website for your small business is security concerns. We’re all used to hearing stories about high-profile security breaches. The last thing you want is for your business to be at the center of a story like that. A good website builder will help  you set up the necessary security precautions you need to keep your business and your customers safe. In particular, look for the option to easily get an SSL certificate and install compatible security software.   Mobile-Friendly Design You can’t ignore the prominence of mobile. People now use their mobile devices to access the web more often than their computers. If you build a website that doesn’t work well on mobile, a good portion of your visitors won’t be able to use it (and won’t become customers). A good website builder has to make it easy for you to create a website that will work just as well on mobile devices as it does on a full-size computer. Look for a website builder that has responsive options or, even better, responsive templates so you can start with a mobile-friendly structure and not have to do anything special to get there.   Media Options Many online marketing strategies include video and audio media. If there’s any chance you’ll be using video or audio on your website—now or ever—then you want a website builder that will make it easy to add media files and embed video on  your pages. Check what kind of media features your website builder has before committing.   Analytics Access Building a new website is just the first step. Once your website is live, you want to track how people find and interact with it to gain an understanding of what’s working and how to improve your results over time. Find out what kind of analytics your website builder will provide and if it allows you to connect the builder dashboard to Google Analytics . The easier it is to see how your website is performing, the easier it will be to make the kind of updates that help you earn more visitors and new business.   Automated Backups If you’ve ever had a computer crash, then you know how important backups are. Even though website builders make creating your website easy, it doesn’t mean you want to have to do it all over again. Manual backups can protect you some, but automated website backups mean you never have to worry about remembering to back your site up yourself. No matter what happens, you’ll always have a recent version of your site you can access and restore as needed. Find a website builder that offers automated backups to make your life easier and your site safer.   SEO Features Imagine finally getting your website out there, only for no one to find it. With as crowded as the web is today, that’s a real possibility. One of the best strategies you have to make sure people actually show up to the small business website you create is SEO (search engine optimization) . While there’s a lot to doing good SEO for a new website, one of the first parts is optimizing your individual pages for the primary keywords you want to rank for. A website builder that includes SEO features will make customizing the most important parts of the page for SEO a lot easier so you can get an edge in the search engines from day one.   eCommerce Options Not all small business websites will need this in a website builder, but if you want to sell items through your website, then it’s a necessity. eCommerce software allows you to list products on your website, provide a checkout process, and securely accept payments online . If you’ll need these features, prioritize finding a website builder that offers eCommerce options so adding them onto your website will be a simple task.   The Best Website Builder for Your Small Business Don’t drag your feet on building a website for your small business. The benefits it will bring far outweigh the time and expense involved in getting started, especially when that time and expense is cut down by using a good website builder to get your business online fast . HostGator’s website builder not only provides everything mentioned in this post, but it also comes with free website hosting, saving you a little extra on the whole deal. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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Do You Need a Website Builder for Your Portfolio?

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Hosting

The post Do You Need a Website Builder for Your Portfolio? appeared first on HostGator Blog . When you’re working as a creative, or you’d like to start your career as a creative, then showcasing your portfolio in the best light possible is incredibly important. Your portfolio is an extension of you and what you can do as a designer or an artist. For this reason, you’ll want to use the tools you have available to create the best portfolio site possible. The last thing you want to do is to throw up a few images of your work on a basic website. Your professional portfolio website also needs to be easy to use, give an introduction to you as a creative, highlight your creative work, and give people a way to get in touch, or actually hire you. If all that sounds like a lot, don’t worry. Below we’ll dive into what a website builder actually is, why you’ll want to use a website builder for your portfolio , the various website builders you’ll have available to you, and finally, you’ll learn how to use one without any coding skills required. What Is a Website Builder? In the old days of the web, if you wanted to build a website and have it live on the internet, you’d need to know how to code. But, since the proliferation of website building tools and portfolio templates, even complete beginners can have a site online in a single afternoon. What are website builders ? To review, they are pieces of software that are created to simplify the website building process. Most website builders are built for complete beginners, so you won’t have to touch a line of code in order to build your very first website. Website builders are also engineered with web best practices in mind. So, you’ll get a site that’s going to be in alignment with user expectations, have a professional design, and have all of the features you require to highlight your projects. Most website builders you use to build a website rely upon themes or templates that offer you a basic foundation to work from. Then you’ll add and drag and drop different site elements until your site is complete. There are all kinds of themes you’ll be able to choose from, including specialty graphic designer themes or artist portfolios.   Benefits of Using an Artist Portfolio Website Builder Website builders have been used to create millions of websites. Probably at least a handful that you’ve visited before. For a lot of people, yearning to build a website, using a website builder is a no-brainer. Here are a few of the biggest reasons website builders have become so popular.   1. No Technical Skills Required You can literally fire up a website builder right now and have a fully built website in a couple of hours. If the thought of digging into your own website’s code scares you, then don’t worry. With a website builder, you’ll never have to have any coding skills.. When you’re using a website builder you’ll mostly be using drag and drop features to literally build your website by clicking around with your mouse. Then, the website builder will automatically create the necessary code required for your website to be rendered by a browser. Making changes to your website is easy too. You just use the same process of building your site the first time to change pages, add to new content, or give your site a facelift.   2. Libraries of Themes and Templates to Choose From Want to change up how your site looks, just select a new theme or template. Most website builders are equipped with massive theme libraries that have been designed by professional designers. This means you can get a professionally designed website without the cost of paying an expensive web developer. Plus, all of these themes will be up to the latest design and usability standards. So, you don’t have to worry about getting an outdated website if you rely upon a website builder. If you’re looking for the perfect theme for your graphic design or artist portfolio, you’ll have a few different themes to choose from. Plus, with all the customization options offered you don’t have to worry about your website looking like every other site out there.   3. Speedy Website Creation Want to get your website online yesterday? Website builders offer you the ability to create your website super quickly. Just choose the builder you want to use, select your theme, make a few customizations, add your content, and publish. If you aren’t satisfied with your design you can always tweak and update your site after you publish too. Without a website builder to create a website, you’re going to have a lot of trouble creating the perfect online portfolio website. Of course, you can teach yourself how to program and then build your site. But, that’s going to take a ton of time, and you still might not end up with a website that you like. Save yourself the time and the headache and invest in a quality website builder.   How to Choose the Right Website Builder Since website builders are so popular you’ll find a lot of different companies that offer top-notch website builders. But, not all of them are going to be suited for your portfolio website. When comparing different providers keep the following in mind. Whether you need an artist portfolio or a graphic design website builder , the following will apply.   1. How Easy Is It to Use? There’s no point in using a website builder if you can’t figure out how to make it work. Most website builders are created so there’s virtually no learning curve, but some might be better suited to your particular technical abilities. Before you decide to use a website builder spend some time playing around with the tool. Most builders will allow you to create a free account in order to test the tool.   2. How Large Is the Template or Theme Selection? The template or theme selection that’s included with your builder should match the goals of your site. Most website builders will allow you to view the entire, or at least a sample, of the theme library before you sign up. This will give you a chance to take stock of the current theme selection to see if there’s any that you like. Most builders will have their themes broken down by different categories, so look for sections that say “portfolio”, or are otherwise related to your niche.   3. Is There a Large Feature Set? In time you might want to add more features to your site. You might start with what amounts to a digital business card, but in time you might want to expand this. For example, is it easy to integrate social media into your site? Can you add a blog if need be? What about other forms of media, like video? Do you have the ability to sell things like prints directly from your site? Think about the eventual direction you might want to take your site in the future and see if the existing feature set can help you achieve those goals.   4. What Pricing Options Are Available? Finally, you’ll want a website builder that’s actually in your price range. You’ll usually find that there are different price ranges depending on how large your site is, what kind of features you need, and the levels of traffic you’re getting. Many website builders have monthly subscriptions that you’ll have to pay for the lifetime of your site. Finally, when examining different website builders look for scalability. For example, if your site all of a sudden starts getting tens of thousands of visitors per month will you be able to upgrade your plan, or will you have to switch to a different provider entirely?   Elements Your Portfolio Website Needs to Have An Online portfolio website is a little bit different than other sites. Instead of selling products, you’re selling yourself and your work. Although your portfolio will take the main focus, there are still some other pages you’ll want to include.   1. Your Home Page and USP Your home page should hook your visitors’ attention and communicate what makes your creative work unique, or at the very least it clearly states what you do. For example, maybe you’re a graphic designer who specializes in app design? Make sure you communicate this clearly on your home page. It can also be helpful to include snippets of your work, but most people don’t opt for the portfolio page straight away. Try to hook your user’s interest first with your best work, then invite them to dive deeper into the rest of your portfolio.   2. Your Portfolio Here’s the section you came here for—your portfolio. Beyond showcasing visual examples of your work, you might want to also want to highlight more details about each project. Ask yourself the following questions about each project you want to highlight: What were the overarching goals of the project? What solution did you come up with? How long did the project take? Why are you proud of this project? Who was the client? Do you have a testimonial from them? The more relevant information you can include about each project the better. Think about questions that your potential clients might want answered and include them in your copy. Your portfolio isn’t just a way to showcase your work, but also how you apply creative problem solving to problems your clients might have.   3. Your Hire Me/Contact The other very important page is your hire me or contact page. Once you’ve impressed people with your portfolio you want to give them a way to reach out to you! Make sure that your contact page, or hire me page, has a link in your main menu and is easy to find. This page doesn’t need to be overly complex, but it should include multiple methods of reaching out to you. The most common approach is a little intro, followed by a contact form. But, on the off chance, you’re having a technical error and the contact form isn’t working, then you’ll also want to list your email and maybe even your phone number. Some creatives also like to create regular blogs where they’ll talk about past projects, trends in their field, their perspectives about working as a creative and a lot more. Blogging can play a role in driving traffic back to your site, but it’s not an absolute requirement. Especially, if your main goal is to use your blog as a digital showcase for you and your work.   The Best Website Builder for Your Portfolio Now, you’re probably thinking what’s the best website builder for your portfolio? There are literally dozens of different options for artists and designers to choose from when creating their online platform. You can either spend time researching all of your options online, or you can take a spin with the HostGator website builder. Here at HostGator, you’ll find a very easy to use and beginner friendly website builder. There are over 100 different website templates to choose from, and it relies upon drag and drop technology to build your professional portfolio website. It’s incredibly cheap and hosting is included in the price. You have the ability to use one of the pre-built website templates, or you can create your site entirely from scratch. Plus, with the ability to integrate PayPal you can even sell your work directly from your site. You’ll also have the ability to upgrade to a higher package to unlock additional features and be able to create a much larger site.     Build Your Online Portfolio Website So, are website builders worth it for portfolios? We say yes. Hopefully, you have a better idea of how using a website builder can help you build the perfect portfolio website . Why create a website  from scratch using custom coding when you can rely on a professional website building tool to help you build a stunning creative portfolio online? Spend some time researching the best website builder for your needs, and keep in mind that you can always change your site down the road too. By using a website builder for your portfolio you’ll have a beautiful portfolio online in no time. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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How to Choose the Best Website Builder for Your Business

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Hosting

The post How to Choose the Best Website Builder for Your Business appeared first on HostGator Blog . Your business needs a professional website, but you’ve been overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start . Web design looks really complicated and you find it easier to just not get started than to try to figure out everything you need to learn to build a new website. We have good news. You don’t have to understand coding or learn complex web design principles to build a good business website anymore. You can use a website builder instead. A good website builder is easy for even the newest of web design beginners to figure out and get started with. And website builders typically provide templates and features that are based on web design best practices, giving you a leg up on creating a website that gets results without having to spend as much time learning the ropes of website building . For some businesses, using a website builder vs. hiring a website designer will be a better choice . And that’s definitely true of any business that’s putting off building a website due to not knowing where to start. Every day your business goes without a website, you’re losing sales. Whether you are a large or small business owner, this article will help you choose the best website builder platform for your website.   7 Tips for Choosing Your Business Website Builder If you’ve determined that a website builder is right for you , now you just have to figure out the best website builder. There are a few important steps to take in making the right decision for your business.   1. Determine Your Budget. First things first, you have to figure out what you can afford. Start by considering the other costs involved in building your professional website.  Every website budget has to account for domain registration and hosting. And you’ll likely need to invest in images and copy for your website as well. Many website builders offer a free plan, but most charge somewhere between $5 to $40  a month for plans that provide the kind of features businesses are likely to need. If your budget is limited, you can save money by looking for plans that bundle different website services you need. For example, GATOR, our website builder here at HostGator, includes hosting with the price of your builder. You’ll have to pay for hosting anyway, so a plan that includes both services for one price removes one line item from your budget, while still providing you with everything you need.   2. Consider Your Needs and Priorities. Before you can decide on the best website builder platform, you need some idea of what you want your website to be and do. This will clarify your priorities so you know what to look for in your search. A few good questions to consider include:   What level of experience do you have in design? Most websites builders are made with inexperienced designers in mind, but some will still be easier to figure out than others. If you’ll be learning from scratch as you go, look for a builder that offers  website theme templates and drag-and-drop design options. How particular are you about getting things just right? If you want a lot of options and flexibility in designing your website, then the best website builder for you will include a lot of templates for you to choose from or more flexible editing options that allow you to make extensive changes to the design.   Do you need an online store? An ecommerce website will need to include a shopping cart and check out functionality, and it will need a design that emphasizes getting people to take that next step of making a purchase. When choosing your website builder, consider if they offer the right templates and features to enable an online store.   What types of media will you include? Will your eCommerce website include video? A photo gallery? A blog? A map that shows where your store is located? Make sure your website builder supports the types of content formats you plan to include. And no matter what, you’ll need to learn  how to make your website mobile friendly . Make sure any website builder you go with provides responsive website templates or other options that ensure you can easily make a website that works well on mobile.   3. Consider the Number of Themes. When you use a website builder, your design process starts with the themes the builder provides. You select one of the available themes and it becomes the template you customize to turn it into your unique website. You don’t want to invest in a website builder only to find that your customization options are far too limited and you don’t really like any of the themes they offer. Make sure the website builder you choose has enough themes that you’ll be able to find one that makes a good starting point for your website. Everything else will be much easier if the theme you use is a good fit for what you have in mind.   4. See How Easy It Is to Use. Any website builder you use will be much easier than building a website with coding and programming, but that doesn’t mean they’ll all be equally easy to figure out. As mentioned, a drag-and-drop functionality makes things easier. You also want to try to find a website builder that has an intuitive editor that makes each change easy to complete. Research a website builder’s reputation for ease of use. Is it okay for someone who’s never built a website before? Turn to user reviews for this. People who come to a website builder with a similar level of knowledge to yours will be your best source for the kinds of problems you’re likely to experience, if any.   5. Look for SEO Features. Once you’re done building your website, you want people to actually find it, right? For that, you need to implement SEO best practices as you design your website. A good website builder should include SEO features that make doing on-site optimization simple. Specifically, you want an easy way to update all the SEO meta elements on each page (such as the meta description and image alt tags) and to provide your sitemap to the search engines. While on-site optimization is just one part of SEO, it’s an important one and the right website builder will give you a head start in getting it done.   6. Check Out the Resources and Support. Even an intuitive website builder will require a period of learning and the more features a website builder offers, the more you’ll have to learn. Before you make a choice, check that the website builder you’re considering has resources that will help you learn all the ins and outs of how it will work. Ideally, your website builder will provide both tutorials on how to use all the different features and make the main changes you’ll need to in designing your website. If you learn better by video or text, check to see if the website builder provides resources in the format that works best for you as well. The best website builder platform for you will necessarily be one you can actually figure out how to use.     7. Research the Company’s Reputation and Customer Service. Learning how to use the website builder and making sure everything works as it should will also be a lot easier if you go with a company that has a good reputation for customer service. If something isn’t working for you, you should be able to quickly get in touch with support staff and get the help you need. Look at the reviews of the website builders you consider to see what other business owners say about the customer service they provide (and how often they need to make use of it). Your overall experience with a website builder will be much better if you can get the help you need at the time you need it.   The Best Website Builder and Hosting Plan in One We may be biased, but we can assure you that HostGator’s website builder checks all the boxes above as a reliable web hosting plan and builder for all business owners. The website builder:      Is affordable      Is extremely easy to use      Provides ecommerce options      Supports different content formats      Offers over 100 responsive themes      Has SEO features      Comes with a wealth of helpful tutorials and resources And HostGator has a great reputation for customer service . For anyone that chooses a HostGator web hosting plan, the website builder is an affordable option to help you get your website up and running faster, while being professional and functional at the same time. If you have any more questions about our services here at HostGator, contact us today for more information! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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How to Sell Your Services Online: 5 Steps to Getting Started

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Hosting

The post How to Sell Your Services Online: 5 Steps to Getting Started appeared first on HostGator Blog . How to Sell Your Services Online So you’ve taken some time to learn a marketable skill and now you want to start selling your services online. Whether you want to go the freelance route or start building an agency, the foundation of your work online starts with a website. Your website will be the cornerstone of any kind of business. Luckily, building a website doesn’t have to be difficult by using the hidden power of a website builder . Below you’ll learn the steps you need to take to start selling your services online, including building out a website and the site elements you’ll need to start selling. 1. Consider Your Service and Market Before you even build out your website and start marketing your services you’ll need to think about how you’re going to position yourself. For example, if you’re going to be a freelance writer it can be helpful to focus on a specific niche. It can be much easier to find work as a freelance writer for the real estate market than as a general freelance writer. Think about who you want to serve and how your unique experience and expertise make you well positioned to serve this market. You need to be able to answer two questions: What specific service am I offering? Who am I offering that service to? Being able to confidently answer these two questions will help make the design and messaging of your website much more intentional and effective.   2. Build Out Your Website Equipped with the above information, it’s time to start building your site. If you’ve never built a website before, then this process can seem a little intimidating. Will you use a CMS? Will you learn to build a site from scratch? Will you hire someone to do it? Will you use a website builder? If the technical steps of building out a website intimidate you, then the easiest approach to take will be using a website builder. With a website builder your hosting, domain name, and site building tools will be all under one roof. The process of building a site with a website builder is incredibly simple as well: Choose a website builder, like the GATOR builder . Setup your account and choose a domain name. Pick and customize your theme with the drag and drop tool. Publish your site.   3. Create the Necessary Pages When you’re selling your services online there are certain pages that are must-haves. We cover what these are below, so you can build your website the right way. A home page that immediately tells your visitors what you offer and how you can help them. A portfolio page that gives potential customers an idea of the quality of your work. A testimonial pages that highlights stellar reviews from past clients (you might not have these right away). A services pages that gives a breakdown of the services you offer. A contact page that lets visitors reach out about a potential project. Building out the above pages will give your site a rock solid foundation. You’ll have everything you need to start selling your services online. Finally, you’ll need a way to take payments. You can either send invoices via PayPal, or choose a website builder that offers eCommerce templates and payment processor integration and sell your services that way. By the way, either is possible with the GATOR builder.   4. Generate Traffic and Clients To start selling your services you’re going to need traffic and clients. There are numerous approaches to building out your service-based business. Here are a few common methods for generating new clients: Guest blog on popular sites that your potential clients read and have a bio link that directs back to your site. Create a popular blog to rank for customer-centric keywords (this is a long-term approach). Create social media profiles on platforms your audience hangs out, like LinkedIn and Instagram. Scour popular job boards in your niche and pitch any jobs your services are in alignment with. Start cold pitching companies and individuals who are in need of your services. There are dozens of viable methods to generate new clients and traffic to your website. The important thing isn’t to spread yourself too thin, but instead to experiment with approaches until you find one that works and regularly execute on that every day.   5. Do the Work! Now that you’ve generated your first few clients it’s time to do the work. It’s important that you regularly go above and beyond with your deliverables, especially for your first few clients. Providing consistently excellent work can lead to testimonials you can place on your website, and potentially even referral work from your past satisfied clients. By now you’re well equipped to start selling your services online. It’s important to remember that this is a long-term game and all about consistency. Keep at it and you will see success. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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How to Design an eCommerce Website

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Hosting

The post How to Design an eCommerce Website appeared first on HostGator Blog . When building an eCommerce website , you know that the ultimate goal of the site is to get people to make purchases. You can’t just focus on building an e-commerce site that looks great (although that’s worth doing too) – you have to make sure every element of the web design guides people toward the point of buying something from you. Fortunately, building an eC ommerce website is easier than it’s ever been. You don’t have to hire an expensive designer or learn coding from scratch. If you don’t have much money to spend or time to work with, you can use a eCommerce website builder to create an eCommerce site that’s professional and geared toward achieving your goals. Whether you build the website yourself or hire someone to do the legwork, there are a few important steps you should take to make sure your eCommerce website will do its job. 1. Organize Your eCommerce Website Based On How People Shop. One of the first steps to building an eCommerce website is figuring out what pages and categories to include. You’ll obviously want a home page and pages for each of your different products. But how will you organize all those product pages so that people can find what they’re looking for? Think about how your potential customers are likely to shop and browse and build out the site architecture that makes the most sense based on that. For example, if you sell pet food and supplies, you might organize your website based on the type of pet your visitors have (dog, cat, fish, mouse, etc.) with subcategories under each for product types (toys, treats, food, etc.). Anyone visiting the site can pretty quickly figure out how to narrow down their search based on their particular needs.  And by visiting a page that groups a lot of similar products together, they can browse all the dog treats or cat toys available and pick the one they most want.   2. Make Your eCommerce Site Responsive. According to mobile shopping trends , almost a third of all shopping online now happens on mobile devices. If your eCommerce website doesn’t work well on mobile, you’ll be missing out on a lot of potential sales (and it will hurt your SEO to boot). For most eCommerce websites , the best way to make your website mobile friendly is to make it responsive. Responsive websites provide the same information and images on each page no matter what device they’re on, but they position them differently in order to make the page fit the screen. An image that shows up next to text on the desktop will show up below it, for instance. Luckily, responsive websites have become enough of a norm that a good website builder or designer will offer a responsive option as a matter of course.   3. Include a Search Bar. Many of your visitors will be content to browse the site to find items they like, but some will know exactly what they’re looking for. A search bar gives them a way to get directly to the page they need and is, therefore, one of those features that every eCommerce site should have .   4. Have a Shopping Cart. Your ideal customer isn’t going to see one item they like and go straight to the purchase process. They’ll spend some time browsing and choosing several items they want. A shopping cart is another standard feature of eCommerce stores because it allows visitors to save the items they want to purchase while they continue browsing, and then go through the purchasing process once for all of them. And for visitors that add items to a shopping cart but don’t buy right away, you can follow up with a reminder email to your customers to help nudge them back to the site toward a purchase.   5. Include Wish List Functionality. Including wish list functionality accomplishes a few different things: It gives people an easy place to point friends and family in the lead up to a gift-giving event – a situation people regularly make purchases for. For people who prefer to do research before they buy a product, it gives them a chance to save the items they like for possible future purchase. For anyone avoiding impulse buys for budgetary reasons, they can mark now the things they want to come back for later. Giving people a way to use your website to create a list of items they want creates a few opportunities where those items are more likely to become future sales.   6. Include Reviews. Over half of regular online shoppers  say they read reviews almost every time they shop online. Looking at customer reviews has become a regular part of the purchasing process.By including a review feature on your website, you give your customers a way to hear directly from each other – which is more powerful than what you can tell them. Enabling reviews from third parties shows your customers you’re confident that your products can stand up to customers’ honest feedback. And if the reviews are positive (which they should be if your products are solid), they’ll increase your sales. As an added benefit, reviews can help you gain valuable feedback about the products you offer and the service experience your customers have. You may be able to pick up some tips that help you improve your eCommerce business results over time. For example, at HostGator, we feature reviews on a dedicated page on our site: 7. Offer a Guest Checkout Option. When someone takes the step of creating an account on your website, it provides you with awesome long-term opportunities. It means they can use some of the features we’ve talked about here – like creating wish lists and adding reviews –  and that you can provide them with relevant promotional emails and reminder emails after cart abandonment. But creating an account takes time and for some visitors who aren’t sure they’ll come back, it can feel like an inconvenience to have to take the steps of creating an account. They just want to make their purchase already. Including an easier guest checkout option removes friction from the checkout process so more people are willing to go through the whole process, rather than changing their mind when it looks too time-consuming. 8. Invest in High-Quality Product Photography. For physical products, a photograph can often tell your visitors valuable information about the product that your words can’t communicate as well. 78% of online shoppers say they want to see images that bring products to life. You not only need to provide photographs for all of the products you sell, but you should also invest in making sure the images are high quality. Whether you take the photos yourself or invest in a professional product photographer, make sure the images you use look great and show your products in the best light.   9. Make Your Contact Info Easy to Find. You should do your best to answer all the common questions your customers may have on your website, but even so, you’ll have customers that need to get in touch at some point. When that happens, make it as easy as possible for them to find a way to get in touch about whatever issue they’re having. Don’t make them dig through the website for a simple email address or phone number. You can’t provide good customer service until your customer has successfully managed to get in touch. And customer service is the best tool you have for repeat business.   10. Perform User Testing. Building an eCommerce website requires doing a lot of guessing about what people will respond to. Even if you work really hard to put your potential visitors first and try to design the site based on how you think they’ll behave, you won’t get it all right on your own. Before you launch, do some  website usability testing . Bring in some other people who can look at your website with fresh eyes. Have them take the steps on the site you most want your visitors to take – like creating an account, making a purchase, and signing up for the email list. They can provide honest feedback about any difficulties or inconvenience they experienced. Their feedback will enable you to make any last minute tweaks needed to correct problems you didn’t know how to see yourself.   Design Your eCommerce Website with Quality in Mind eCommerce businesses live and die on the quality of their websites. Make sure you do your due diligence to build a successful eCommerce site that can do the main job you need it to. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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