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6 Ways to Deal With Negative Reviews for Your Business

The post 6 Ways to Deal With Negative Reviews for Your Business appeared first on HostGator Blog . Criticism and feedback are an organic part of business growth. Dealing with negative reviews is something that every business owner will have to learn how to cope with. Things can get quite hectic when we start to take customer feedback personally, without considering the fact that perhaps the customer is just dissatisfied with their own […] Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading

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10 Beginner Website Mistakes You’re Probably Making

The post 10 Beginner Website Mistakes You’re Probably Making appeared first on HostGator Blog . If you run a business online or off then you understand the importance of having a website and online presence. However, if it’s your first website, or you designed your website yourself then you might have made mistakes . Luckily, a lot of these mistakes are easy to correct. If you’re relying on your website to drive traffic your way, then you’ll want your website to be a well-oiled machine. Below we highlight the ten mistakes that most beginners make, and what you can do to fix these issues.   1. Lack Of Vision Your website needs to exist for a definite reason, not simply because you think you should have an online presence. You need to decide upon the purpose of your website before you even begin building. Your website must have a definite purpose, as every page on your website will work to fulfill this purpose. For example, your website could be used to build authority, source new leads, sell a product or service, give information about your business, and much more. You’ll want your user to land on your website and immediately know what your website is all about.   2. Rushing To Market Instead of getting your website up as soon as possible it’s important you take time to research your market first. For example, if you have an older target market you’ll need to make sure your website is easy to read, digest, and navigate. By having an understanding of your market first you’ll be able to build a website that actually serves them, instead of simply taking up space.   3. Complicated Design In order to have a successful website it needs to be simple, not flashy. Having an overcomplicated design will only lead to confusion. The goal of your design should be to create the best possible user experience across your website.   4. Design Is Too Trendy Trends come and go, but timeless design lasts forever. By building your website on the back of solid design principles you’ll be able to create a website that outlasts certain trends and fads. Websites that rely on trends will become outdated very quickly.   5. Out-Of-Date Content If you haven’t updated your content in years then chances are it’s not up to date with your current business, or the latest web standards. If you have older content your site your visitors may assume you’re out of business, or aren’t as innovative as your competition. If you have a blog make sure you update it on a regular basis, as nothing looks worse than a vacant blog.   6. Poor Quality Photography Low-quality photography, or outdated stock photography gives your website an amateur feel and won’t do a lot to draw your visitor into your website. Images can help you build a connection with your audience, but only if they’re aligned with your message and business. Make sure you either hire a professional photographer, or use high-quality stock photos that aren’t cheesy.   7. Having Broken Elements/Links Every element of your website needs to be working. This means you need to test all of your links and pages, so your users don’t end up with the dreaded 404 page. You’ll also want to check all of your internal links to make sure you’re not leading your users to a dead end.   8. Poorly Designed Logo Your logo is a central piece of your branding. By designing your logo yourself, or getting a cheap logo designed, you won’t do much to further your branding or website. Although your logo is a subtle part of your design it can communicate a lot about your business.   9. Poor Font Choice Font choice is another subtle element that most business owners neglect. The font you choose needs to compliment your design and increase the readability of your content. This is when it can be helpful to consult the opinion of a professional designer. But, if you’re choosing your own font choice the simpler font is often the better choice.   10. No Call-To-Action You must lead your visitors somewhere. A website without a call-to-action is akin to nothing more than a virtual business card. Once you’ve proven yourself valuable to your visitors you need to direct them to take action. That action can be signing up for your email list, giving your business a call, or a multitude of other options. Getting your website into tip top shape can take a lot of work. But, it’s time well spent because a well functioning website will help your business grow for the long-term. web hosting Continue reading

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Small Business Week: Pay-Per-Click Advertising Webinar

The post Small Business Week: Pay-Per-Click Advertising Webinar appeared first on HostGator Blog | Gator Crossing . In our second webinar for Small Business Week, Gerard Mendoza will discuss how small business can get started with pay-per-click advertising. You can watch the live stream here: Be sure to comment with your questions for Gerard! You can also comment on Facebook or Tweet us with #HGSBW. web hosting Continue reading

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How To Create Engaging Content For Your Small Business

The post How To Create Engaging Content For Your Small Business appeared first on HostGator Blog | Gator Crossing . As a small business owner you might already know about the importance of creating content for your online strategy. You may have tried to blog for a while, or post via social media and saw little to no growth in traffic. There are a variety of reasons this could have occurred, but one of the biggest problems business owners face is having little to no engagement with their content. Creating engaging content is an art in and of itself. I hope that in this post I can illuminate some of the finer points for you to implement today. Engaging content begins with understanding your customer and creating content that excites, educates, and encourages them to come back for more.   Don’t Think Viral For The Sake Of Going Viral Going viral has its benefits, but a lot of business owners think that going viral will solve all of their traffic problems for the rest of their lives. Sadly, writing an article about the top 50 cat GIFs won’t bring the right kind of traffic to your website. Instead of thinking about massive traffic numbers you’ll want to think about relevant traffic numbers. This means that creating a unique and fresh piece of content for the right group of people has much more value than a random piece of content that gets shared around the web. 1. Go Beyond The Boundaries When you think about your business see if you can think about its content strategy the same way a publisher would. Spend some time examining the content that surrounds your niche and see if you can create content on similar topics. Of course, you don’t want to copy word for word, or just re-hash what everyone else has to say, but if you can put a unique spin or offer a unique take on the same topics you’ll start to set yourself apart. When people see you as the person in your niche who’s not afraid to be honest, or take a slightly separate viewpoint you’ll start to stand out and actually craft engaging content. 2. Think Inside Your Customer’s Head Instead of thinking from inside your business, or your own mind it’s time to think as if you were your customer. Identify certain types of content that they would love to share, read, and comment on. This might cause you to come up with topics that are a little different, but at least they’re topics your ideal customer is going to be interested in. After all, the more you can cater to your customer’s needs the more you’re going to build trust and the more likely they’re going to help spread your message. 3. Try Something Crazy Have you ever had a weird idea for your content, but were too afraid to run with it? I know it’s happened on multiple occasions for me. However, with all of the content being created and shared every single day, something a little strange might actually stand out. See if you can relate it back to your business. Don’t be afraid to be yourself and be unique, after all this is what attracts people in the first place. Too much of the content online is simply a regurgitation of what someone else said. Being different works. web hosting Continue reading

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