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Marketing your business: A beginner’s guide to buyer personas

You’re great at running a small business… but how about marketing it? There are so many things to think about: where to find new customers; what they like; and how to get your business out there so people can see what you do!

Say goodbye 👋  to the confusion with buyer personas! You might have heard of them before, perhaps you know what they are, or maybe you’re scratching your head. Whatever your knowledge, don’t worry – we’ve broken down:

What a buyer persona is

How to create yours

How to use buyer personas in your marketing

We’ll take you from theory to action, without breaking a sweat. The result? You can stop stressing about marketing and get back to running your business. We’ve even created a free downloadable eBook ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Buyer Personas’ for you to takeaway.

1. What are buyer personas and how can they help?

A buyer persona is a representation of your typical customer. Think of it as snapshot or collage of the kind of person that buys from you.

Buyer personas help you market more effectively. Created from your knowledge of customers, as well as a little market research, they help focus your marketing efforts. How? Clarity around who buys from you means you can serve your customers more effectively. Instead of trying to reach everyone, buyer personas focus your marketing efforts.

Our eBook, ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Buyer Personas’, aims to make knowing your customer easy. The outcome? The rest of your marketing falls into place.

2. Get to grips with the theory of buyer personas

Who to include in my buyer personas?

What information should I research?

When can I use my buyer persona?

All of these questions and more are covered in the eBook. The first section lays out the theory, to make the process as simple and transparent as possible. As with anything in life, understanding the reasons for something before doing it provides clarity and confidence. Because without a good understanding of what matters and why, it’s hard to create effective buyer personas that work for you.

3. A hands-on guide to creating your buyer personas

The second part of the eBook gives practical information about what to include in your buyer personas.

Use our hints and tips to create your own personas. You can also take a look at our example for inspiration, or make use of the template included and use your own customer data to fill in the gaps. The aim is to give you the knowledge and the tools to build up a set of buyer personas that work for you and your business.

4. Action! How to put your personas into practice

While it’s fun to get creative, the third and final section of the eBook is about action!

The best thing you can do with your buyer personas is to use them. Think of your personas like a fancy new bike. It arrives in a box, in many pieces, and you follow the instructions to slowly, slowly, build the bike. The process is challenging but fun – it’s exciting to see the bike take shape.

Here’s the thing though. If you don’t take the bike for a spin, you miss out on the benefits of cycling. Your buyer personas are no different: the best part is putting them to use in your marketing. You’ve put a lot of effort into creating them, so why not make the most of them?

5. Create your buyer personas with confidence

Knowing where to begin with marketing can be tricky, especially when you’re trying to run a business or juggle a side hustle. Defining your buyer personas is a great place to start, because you already know lots of information from serving your customers. And once your buyer personas are complete, they make the rest of your marketing much easier.

6. So why not create your buyer personas today?

Download our free eBook below👇 

Download for free

Download for free

Simply fill out the form below to receive your exclusive copy

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How to manage your small business during the Covid-19 crisis

Mother working on laptop at home, while her child using tablet. Boy and mother sat on the sofa. The Mother is managing her business on her laptop during the Covid-19 crisis

Change can be scary and when it happens fast it’s even more worrying. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our movement, our work, and how we go about our daily lives. Sadly, small businesses are highly impacted by the global pandemic and need to adapt during these uncertain times. That’s why we’ve put together a guide to support you. In this article, we’ve outlined 4 areas to help you as a small business owner navigate this crisis: wellbeing, work, communications, and taking stock.

Of course, the most important thing is to always act in accordance with local health guidelines and official advice. Don’t do anything that would endanger yourself or others.

With that in mind, we hope the following information is useful.

Wellbeing

Taking care of your wellbeing is the most important thing during a health crisis. If you are well, you’re able to look after the people you love and serve customers effectively.

Take care of your physical wellbeing:

  • Online fitness classes – exercise outside might not be possible right now. There are many, many classes available online, from free exercise videos on YouTube to personal trainers carrying out virtual workouts. Try to get a good mix of everything, as you would in normal life, for example: movement, cardio workouts, strength training, and flexibility
  • Keep moving – regularly get up from your workspace and walk around. If allowed, take permitted exercise outside
  • Get some fresh air – open windows, sit on the balcony and make use of outside space at home, if it is available to you
  • Cook homemade meals – use what’s available. Eat a balanced diet and keep regular mealtimes

Look after your mental wellbeing:

These are unprecedented times; keeping your mind healthy is an important part of staying well.

  • Exercise – As above. Scientists have shown a link between physical activity and an uplift in mood
  • Homeworkers/homeschoolers – set up a desk away from where you sleep or rest if possible. Dedicate a specific area of the house to ‘work’ or ‘school’. If that’s not possible, tidy things away once the day is over to create separation
  • Stay in touch – contact loved ones virtually, FaceTime wherever possible and share messages of support to keep each other going
  • Accept the new normal – it is beyond all of our control. Focus on what you can control, such as cooking, school, or sending a text to someone you care about
  • Get some rest – keep your regular sleep routine and make sure you are getting enough rest. Sleep is an important part of our health. A good night’s sleep will mean you’re present, alert and better able to connect with people – including your customers

Work

All of life has been impacted by the crisis, including work. Many small businesses have been particularly affected. Control the controllable with these tips:

  • Keep communicating – with workers, suppliers and customers. Let people know what will change due to the pandemic, what you’re doing about it, and how it impacts the service you provide
  • Keep channels open with suppliers – we are all in difficult circumstances. Bear in mind that your suppliers’ challenges may impact your turnaround. It’s important to communicate this information to customers if this is the case
  • Things are different – stay focused on what’s possible, rather than what isn’t
  • The situation is changing constantly – keep up to date with official government guidance on public health and financial measures to support businesses and individuals. As a business owner, take it upon yourself to establish the facts: trust government websites and media, reliable news sources, and respectable journalism. Do not rely on information shared on social media

Communications

The situation is scary. There are many unknowns. In the face of a crisis, running away and hiding feels like the only option.

Whatever you do, keep communicating. Customers rely on you, and it’s up to you to let them know whether you can still serve them during this uncertain time.

  • Update customers – let them know what is going on. If you are able to carry on working, communicate key information such as new hours, availability of support staff, and changes in shipping times
  • Review scheduled posts – emails, content and social media must all be reviewed, especially if campaigns were scheduled days or weeks ago. Check if the content is still appropriate in the current climate. Change it if not
  • Be mindful of your tone – keep on sharing on social media, but be careful. People are frightened and the entire world is impacted by this crisis. Be sensitive
  • Avoid posting if you have doubts – if the message could come across as insensitive, too much of a hard sell, or seems to contradict official guidelines, do not post the content
  • Be helpful – now is a time for kindness and community, even if we are physically distanced. Thanks to the power of the internet one thing you can do right now, is provide help and insight. Share your knowledge with the world: your customers might not be able to visit you physically, though it doesn’t mean that you can’t share hints and tips with them

Take stock

The challenges the world faces now are unprecedented. The impact on small businesses is far-reaching. If COVID-19 means you are unable to trade, try not to panic. Is there anything you could do differently? If not, is now an opportunity to review your business and plan for the future? 

We’ve divided the following section into two: the short term and the long term. The short-term actions are designed to help you make the best of the present moment, if that option is available to you. The long-term actions are designed to help you plan for the future, so that your small business can come back stronger.

Think short term:

  • Things have changed a lot in a very short space of time – ask yourself, ‘What CAN I do?’
  • If you can’t sell in person, can you trade online? – online stores mean customers can visit you any time of the day or night to make purchases. If you can ship your products, or provide them as a download, then you can sell online
  • If you make things, can you make something different at this time? – for example, can you create essential supplies such as masks, soap or hand sanitiser?
  • If you provide a service, take it online – if possible, carry out meetings and work over video and phone call. Perhaps you could record a series of videos, create a course, or write an eBook and sell them via your online store

Think long term:

  • Reflect on your business – so far, what has worked? What didn’t work so well? Think about your answers to each question and plan ways to do more of what worked well in future
  • Plan for the future – think deeply about your business goals and the strategy that will help you get there
  • Adjust the way you operate – has the Coronavirus revealed any weak spots in the way you run your business? What steps can you take to strengthen these areas and make sure your business is watertight going forwards?
  • Make contingency plans – nobody could have predicted a global pandemic just a few months ago. If you haven’t already, now is the time to imagine the worst-case scenarios your business could face. Plan how you would respond to them and the resources you would need to survive
  • Consider diversifying your business income – you’re fantastic at what you do, we’re sure about that! Focus is great. Though a crisis means that if you only have one way of making money, and that is impacted, your income suffers. Think about different revenue streams, new products and services. Variety helps ensure you maintain a level of income if one area is hit

We are here to support you…

Times are tough, and we really hope that the information in this article is helpful. Our aim is to provide practical support to help your small business thrive – with or without a crisis! That’s why we’ve put together an exclusive offer, to help small businesses at an uncertain time….

Our 14-day day trial is still free, and always will be. That means you can set up a website and an online store when being online is more important than ever.

After that, if you wish to upgrade your account, we’re giving you the first 12-months at a 50% discount. That’s just £6.50 per month for a domain name, up to 5 email addresses, SSL security and a professional website or online store with no limitations.

To get this offer, simply head over to our getting started page and the discount will automatically be applied at checkout. Remember, you’ll always start on our 14-day free trial where you can access all features without needing to enter any credit card details.

We can’t wait to see your business online!

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Your guide to creating a landing page that converts

When you have your own business, an online presence is a must. And making sure yours is as good as can be doesn’t have to be complicated. With our simple tips, we’ll show you how to create a landing page that converts, so you can leave your website to do the hard work, whilst you keep doing what you do best.

What is a landing page?

A landing page is where a visitor arrives after clicking a link, usually from a search engine, social media or a marketing campaign. A landing page should turn a visitor into a potential customer, or a ‘lead’: your business offers something through its landing page and asks for something in return, often contact details. Landing pages are different to other pages of your website because their purpose is to encourage the visitor to take a specific action.

Six tips for creating a landing page that works

1. Define the purpose of the landing page and your goals
Being clear about the page’s purpose and what you want to achieve will help you get the best results. Do you want people to call or email you? Would you like to encourage sign-ups to your mailing list? Or perhaps you’re promoting a product and you’d like people to purchase via your page. Think about how many people you’d like to take action, so you’ll know when you’re near your target. This will help you determine if your landing page has been a success or if something needs to change (more on this in step six).

2. Use the right message and tone for your audience
You know your customers better than anyone. Write a message on your landing page that will appeal to them. Bear in mind the tone too: this is how your message comes across. The message and tone for an electrician looking for commercial contracts are very different from a craft business selling home décor. Keep your message short and to the point, so your visitors understand quickly what you’re offering.

Business owner planning a landing page that converts. Tone and messaging for her business

3. Create attractive layouts and design with no fuss
OK, now you know what you want to say and who you want to say it to. It’s time to design your page! Landing pages are a chance to be a little creative – after all, you want to make sure it helps you fulfil your goals. It should still look and feel like your brand, though you can play around with the layout and design to find what works for you. Text, images and buttons should be neatly spaced, and don’t forget to optimise for mobile! Luckily, Go Sitebuilder has a choice of pre-designed sections to help you. And all of our sites and landing pages automatically look great on all devices. So you can relax, knowing that wherever your potential customer is, they have a great impression of your business. 

4. Don’t forget to include a strong call to action
Your message is clear, your landing page design looks great…it’s ready to go, isn’t it? Not quite! A key part of any landing page is a powerful call to action. Your call to action is how you bring your page goals to life. While you don’t want to be patronising, it should be clear and prompt the response you’re looking for. If you’re stuck, think of it like this: a good call to action makes life easy for the visitor, like a takeaway menu with the phone number for ordering printed loud and clear, not small and hidden! Go’s library of designs, fonts and colours make your call to action stand out, so your landing page visitor will know exactly what to do next. 

5. How to improve landing page engagement 
You’ve built a fantastic landing page, and you can’t wait to share it with the world. Before you hit ‘Go!’ there are a few things you can do to boost the chances of visitors engaging with your page:

  • Videos are an effective way to communicate online. Make sure it’s not too long: around 60 seconds is a good amount of time to share information without taking up too much of people’s day.
  • Images are another way to keep people’s attention. Photographs of a product or images showing an event help people to picture what you offer, so it’s easier to understand what’s in it for them. If your business or product is a little more complicated, a diagram of how something works is useful.
  • Simplicity is key. From the design of your page to your message and even the form for capturing details – keep it simple and you’ll keep people’s attention. 

6. Finally, measure your landing page performance 
It’s important to keep an eye on how your landing page performs. Whether it’s tracking the number of leads generated or how many visitors have left without engaging, it’s all valuable information. If something isn’t working, you can make tweaks to the design, the layout and the message and see what difference it makes. On the other hand, if your page is successful, you’ll know what works for next time!

Landing pages that work – in a few simple clicks

A landing page is a powerful tool for collecting leads and turning them into customers. We hope that these tips are useful when building your own landing page. With a little thought and some clever design, landing pages are a great addition to your website and social media presence. Why not give it a go yourself? No upfront cost, no credit card required: sign up for your 14-day free trial today. Let us know once you’ve created your landing page. We’d love to hear about how you got on and the leads it generated for you!

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What day of the week should I launch a website?

The moment you unveil your new website can have a big impact on its performance in the early days. It’s important to pick the right date to premiere your website, but choosing the right day is not always that straightforward. Here is some advice on how to choose the right date and day of the week to launch your site.

What is the best date?

The first question to ask is whether your business is a seasonal one. Is there a certain time when your target audience will most want to use your products/services? When is that time? For example, it wouldn’t be a great idea to launch your new skiing equipment store right at the end of the ski season, as nobody will be looking for new products at that time. Find out when your audience is likely to be most active online, and aim to put it out then.

What is the best day?

Days of the week, and times of day, make a difference for different audiences, but also for you…

For example, launching a site on a Friday is one of the worst things to do. This is because putting your website online is not going to be a smooth process; you want your web team, client, host, and the domain registrar all to be ready in case issues arise. These negatives hold true for launching your site on a Saturday or a Sunday, especially if your product is designed for a corporate audience. 

Tuesday is one of the best days to launch your site, as it’s likely that your potential clients are browsing online and haven’t yet been bogged down in so much work that they don’t have time to look at your site. Choosing Tuesday means that not only do you have Monday to properly prepare your team and tease out any loose ends when your brains are fresh, it also gives you the rest of the week to work with your team to deal with potential bug fixes or other problems as and when they arise.

The right day could be completely different for a different company though; make sure you know when your target audience is most online so that you can identify the best day and time to reach them with a new website. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but with the right work and attention to general trends and statistics, you can get an idea of what day might work best for you.

Be prepared and plan ahead

It is always a good idea to plan ahead to ensure a successful website launch. And, once your website goes live there is a whole new list of things you need to prepare for. For example, you need to plan who you are going to tell about the launch and what platforms to use on social media. Influencers and news sources that speak to your target audience are important too. You’ll also need to set aside some time to respond to people when they have queries about your business.

There are no real shortcuts when it comes to making a success of your website launch. You will need to do the research and plan accordingly to see the best results. You know your business, and this empowers you to understand who your target audience is. If you’re unsure, by downloading our free ‘A beginners guide to buyer personas’ will help you learn more about them, find out their habits, and launch your website at a time that they will be receptive to it.

Having a website is crucial for every business. If you haven’t created yours yet, why don’t you check out Go Sitebuilder? Create your website from anywhere without the need for any technical skills. Try Go Sitebuilder free for 14-days to see just how easy it is to get your business online.

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Announcing our latest integration with PayPal 🎉

We’ve teamed up with PayPal to bring you their latest integration, packed full of business-boosting features. And, like us, it’s now completely mobile!  

What’s so good about the latest version? 

  • We’ve already said it – it’s mobile! Get started from any device with a streamlined set-up flow.
  • More checkout options. Take payment from a wider range of credit cards and payment services. 
  • Faster set-up. Set up your PayPal business account within minutes, from any device.
  • Additional security. Complying with the latest EU regulations with PayPal’s security update.

I haven’t used PayPal before…

No problem! PayPal is one of the most popular payment gateways in the world, allowing anyone to send or receive money with just an email address. Setting up an account is easy; you can do this when creating your online store with Go Sitebuilder or head over to the PayPal website to sign up for your PayPal business account.

PayPal Commerce Platform

The PayPal Commerce Platform for business is PayPal’s most comprehensive e-commerce offering to date, enabled on your Go Sitebuilder online store. You can now automatically give your shoppers the flexibility to pay the way they want!

Selecting from the traditional PayPal button, a range of Alternative Payment Methods, Credit and Debit cards such as Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express – All safeguarded by PayPal’s best-in-class machine learning fraud capabilities.

The new PayPal Commerce Platform also includes customisable credit and debit card fields in order to offer a seamless checkout experience for your customers paying by card.

… what are the benefits?

  • Sell more. PayPal Checkout provides a seamless checkout experience that makes it easy for your customers to purchase and helps you increase sales. Shoppers are 54% more willing to buy when a business accepts PayPal, especially in unfamiliar situations.​
  • Reach more customers. 93% of merchants who offer PayPal Checkout say they have reached a wider customer base.​
  • Proven Protection. PayPal’s fraud prevention tools are continuously adapting and give merchants total transparency and control.

Start selling

If you’re looking to open an online store, you’re in luck. A Go Sitebuilder subscription includes an online store (with unlimited product listings!) and much, much more. Sign up for a free trial and start selling online today!

More about PayPal…

Check out our dedicated PayPal page to learn even more about this latest update:

Learn More
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How to make your first online sale

How to make your first online sale

If you’ve already set up your online store, congratulations! You’re ready to start selling. We’ve come up with a few ways for you to get your store out there and make your all-important first sale.  

Haven’t set up your store yet? Take a look at how easy it is!

So, whether it’s in real life, with social media and online communities, or through advertising, here are a few ideas to help make your first sale…

How to promote your eCommerce store in real life

Even though your store is online, there are lots of ways to share it offline too:

  • Friends and family – Once you’ve set up your online store, tell your friends and family about it. Ask them to spread the word and share it with their own personal and online networks.
  • Sign-written vehicle – A little unusual, but stick with us! This is especially good if you have a strong online presence – which you will do now your beautiful site is ready! Have your web address, unique hashtags or social media handles made into a sticker. Put it in the rear window of your vehicle and you’ll have an easy way to direct people to your online presence.
  • Physical presence – If there are local places where your ideal customers regularly hang out, why not drop off some flyers? Leave them there for people to find and they can navigate to your store in their own time.
  • Pass on printed material – If you’re already attending things like makers’ fairs, local events or marketplaces, have business cards printed. Include your store details and hand out cards when somebody makes a purchase. That way, customers can share your store with their own friends and family. Who knows, they might even come back online and make a repeat purchase!

Leverage the power of online communities and social media

It couldn’t be easier to share your store online. However you choose to connect, be genuine and make it easy for customers to find you.

  • Share a link to your store on social media – Once your site is set up, you can share it to your online channels directly from the store itself. Click the social buttons and off you go!
  • Keep a link to your store in your bio – Whether you’re an Instagram person, a Twitter devotee, or you’ve set a Facebook business page, the bio section is prime real estate. The text ‘about you’ at the top of the page is highly visible. Put your store link there. If people are looking at your social feeds and they like what they see, they can explore your eCommerce site with a click.
  • Online communities – Join small business groups or residents’ groups local to you. There are communities of makers, side hustlers and business owners across the internet. A small word of warning: be sure to genuinely engage. Often communities will have rules about when, or if, you can post promotional material. Not only will people remember you better if you’re genuine, you might find that the support of a community is valuable in its own right.
  • Write a blog – Your blog is a great place to keep your followers up to date with everything that you’ve been up to. Sharing your store on your blog can be particularly useful, especially if you’ve got an engaged following. So, let your readers know your store is ready for business!

Don’t be afraid of online advertising

It might sound scary, but don’t worry! With the tools available to small businesses today, it’s easy to start advertising.

  • Google ads – You can drive traffic to your store in a few simple steps. Land the right customers on your website with clever targeting or take people to whichever product page you want to promote.
  • Facebook ads – If your ideal customer is on Facebook, then Facebook’s targeted advertising allows you to reach them.
  • Competitions and giveaways – These are different to the structured advertising on platforms like Facebook or Google. Social posts, where you offer a giveaway or hold a competition can help raise awareness of your products. Even if your followers don’t win the competition, you will at least have made them aware of your store. And you never know… they may go on and buy from you anyway.

 A quick word on advertising…

The key thing to remember with any kind of advertising is to know your audience. Have a clear idea of the kind of people that buy from you, where they like to spend time, what appeals to them and what doesn’t. For example, don’t advertise on Google, if people won’t be searching for your products on a search engine. Or, if you know that the kind of people that buy your products don’t use Facebook, you’ll probably be disappointed if you advertise there. So, bear your audience in mind when you plan your advertising.  

Good luck with your new store…

We hope this blog is helpful; these are a few ideas to help you on your way to your very first sale. Remember to be creative and keep letting people know that your store’s ready and open for business.

Excited? So are we… 😄 🎉

Set up your store today! Register for a free 14-day trial and you’ll be one step closer to selling your products online…

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What is AMP and who needs it?

Student men using mobile phone on a city street finding out what is AMP and who needs it

AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages, and is a way of speeding up the load time of a website on your phone. As 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if a page takes longer than three seconds to load, it’s clear that loading speed is a crucial factor for people visiting your website. 

But is AMP the right way to go for your website, and if it is, how can you implement it? We’re going to take a deeper look at the world of accelerated mobile pages. 

What is an AMP?

Ann accelerated mobile page is a page written in HTML (the standard language for web pages) that has been stripped down to make it as lightweight as possible. This means that it loads faster and is ideal for mobile devices, as using 3G or 4G can mean content-heavy websites take their time to load. 

AMPs were introduced in 2015 and were primarily used for publishers and news websites, so their breaking content could be read on the go without long page loading times. It works by applying limitations on the design aspects of your site to ensure that it is as light as possible, but it also speeds up loading time even more by pre-loading your page before you’ve even clicked on it. This means when a user does click on your page, it should load instantly. 

AMP websites take up a very small part of the internet (0.064% of the web) but they are growing exponentially; 70% in the last year according to statistics provided by W3Techs.

Does AMP help my website rank for SEO?

Although implementing accelerated mobile pages on your site won’t directly affect your SEO ranking, there are benefits to having a fast-loading site for mobiles. From 2016, Google has been implementing their mobile first index, meaning the search engine will index your mobile site url before your main site. 

For responsive websites that have the same url for both mobile and desktop, this isn’t an issue, but there are many sites that have a separate, more lightweight page for mobiles so that it loads faster. This mobile first index has forced websites to consolidate their two urls into one, while attempting to maintain a fast site-loading speed for mobile users. 

By having AMP on your website, it will load incredibly quickly regardless of whether it is on mobile or desktop, and a fast loading time on mobile is a ranking factor for Google and could help improve your SEO. 

How can I implement AMP on my website?

If you are a tech and coding expert, you would be able to custom design a website to be super-lightweight and fast loading, or you can apply a standardised AMP solution to get similar results. The latter still requires basic coding knowledge, but the AMP project page gives you extensive step-by-step instructions on how to create AMP websites, stories, ads or email.

Should I get AMP for my website?

According to Google, the average mobile web page takes 15.3 seconds to load, whereas an AMP can take under a second. From this data, getting AMP on your site seems like a no-brainer, but the information can be misleading.

Many sites are optimised for mobile without necessarily having AMP, and can load in around two seconds. If you’re not sure how long your site takes to load on mobile, you can use a free speed test defining where the user would be searching it and what kind of mobile device they have. 

If your site seems to take a long time to load, it could be to do with the size and quality of the images you’re using. Fortunately there are a few simple steps you can take to manage the images on your website – have a look at our blog to find out how to check your images and improve your page loading time.

In most cases, it is not necessary for you to implement AMP on your website, unless your industry is very fast-moving. News sites are a prime example of websites that definitely should have AMP, as they load almost instantly and they often get featured in SERP panels. 

For a standard website, it is probably more beneficial to carry out some basic mobile optimisation instead of moving your whole website over to AMP. 

With Go Sitebuilder, you don’t have to worry about your website not working on a mobile device as all our websites are 100% responsive and can be used across mobiles, tablets and desktop computers. 

We provide ready made templates that are specialised for your industry, so you just need to upload your images and content and you can have a ready to go website in moments. We know that you’re busy, so we’ve made sure that even our website builder is totally responsive – that means you can edit and make changes to your website wherever you are. Try our 14-day free trial today to see where your new website can take you and your business. 

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How do I create an online store for free?

Happy smiling woman sitting on sofa, couch and using laptop to create an online store for free

If you own a business, building a website for your ecommerce store is the best way to expand your company. Considering that ecommerce sales are predicted to make up to 17.5% of retail sales globally by 2021, the world of ecommerce offers endless opportunities for you to help your business and brand grow. 

However, ecommerce sites can often be expensive. Most website builders charge extra if you want an additional ecommerce add-on with your website, although with Go Sitebuilder we offer it as part of our affordable and high quality package. However, if you’re new to the world of ecommerce, there are ways you can test the waters by setting up a store for free! 

Use social media 

Although you can’t make payments directly via social media, using platforms such as Instagram to show off images of your products is a great starting point for your ecommerce store. This is a good way to advertise your products, as it gives you the opportunity to get creative with your marketing: you can post short videos on how to use a certain product, or put together a collage of your best selling products. 

Social media is also a trusty source to turn to for a free ecommerce option as it gives the buyer the freedom to share their views on your products. For example, you can encourage people to comment on your posts with their views on your products – if what you’re selling is of good value for money, or is a quality item, the chances are the feedback will be positive, and can therefore prompt other potential customers to enquire into purchasing your products. Social media content is also easily shareable, which could help gain increased visibility for your ecommerce business. 

As most social media platforms have direct messaging services, a buyer can contact you if they see a product they like, and then you can arrange a simple payment via Paypal, or they can make a bank transfer. The downside is that there is no security for the buyer – although your business might be 100% genuine, there is no way for them to know that you’re not a scam. This could deter potential buyers from making a purchase with your business. 

Focus your attention on local sales 

Facebook marketplace is a great way to build your local reputation, which is ideal if you’re planning to build an ecommerce website which is mainly targeted at selling to individuals within your area. People on Facebook marketplace often know  what they’re looking for, so it is important to include relevant keywords and tags in your product descriptions. This way, your items are more likely to appear  in users’ search results. 

If you’re unsure of your pricing strategy, Facebook marketplace is also a good price comparison source – most offer discounted prices, as the products are second hand. If you have good quality photos of your products, and they are brand new, then you could get away with charging a bit more. However, you’ll need to really justify the reason for the price difference: make sure you write a great product description, and emphasise that you are a local business to really connect with potential customers. 

The downside to Facebook marketplace is that it is a fairly saturated market: most people will be on it to find the cheapest bargains they can find, and you don’t want to reduce your profit margin excessively by competing with other sellers who offer very discounted prices. Nevertheless, the platform is a good way to build your reputation as a local, trusted seller, and is a good starting point for your ecommerce business. 

Use a free ecommerce site 

Using a website builder with a free ecommerce section is perhaps the best way to build an ecommerce site for free. Most website builders will offer the option of having an SSL certificate, which shows buyers their details will be protected, although you might have to pay extra for this option. 

Building a website to advertise your products is also the best way to make your ecommerce site seem professional and high quality. This is because it allows potential customers to find your products easily by having them in categories, and gives you space to provide high-quality photos and in-depth product descriptions. 

The problem with free ecommerce sites is that they will often have hidden costs along the way, or have features which make your site seem less professional for the user. Freewebstore lets you create an ecommerce site for free, but its backend is complex and fairly restrictive, making it difficult for you to create a site with a web design which is right for your business. 

Webstarts is also another free ecommerce option, but it doesn’t give you any SEO options, such as a personalised URL or title tags and descriptions for products. If you want your website to rank on Google’s search engines, these factors are key: without them, Google’s algorithms won’t be able to see if your products are relevant to a search engine result, consequentially giving you a poor ranking on its search engine results. 

The best option for an ecommerce website is picking a website builder which offers all of the necessary features for your ecommerce site, at a low-cost price. Go Sitebuilder is an incredibly cost effective option, as we offer ecommerce features, SEO optimisation, SSL certificates and more within our bundle. And, with our 14-day free trial, you can see if it’s the right site builder for your ecommerce business free of charge!

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How do I launch a new website on social media?

Black female food blogger taking a photo in a cafe wearing a light blue shirt and red hair bandana

Launching a new website on social media can be difficult if you don’t have a good strategy. In order for your new website to gain traction with social media users you need to create excitement and anticipation about its launch. 

The most important aspect when launching a new website is to ensure your website is beautifully created and easy to use. The best way to do this is to use a professional website builder. Here at Go SiteBuilder we aim to make the web design process as simple as possible, allowing you to create the best website for your business. 

Stay socially relevant 

In order to successfully launch your website you must make sure your social media profiles are up to date. Make sure you have a presence across multiple platforms and are keeping followers updated with what is happening in your business. Posting regularly and interacting with followers will make social media a more useful tool for your business. 

Give your website a launch date 

By giving your website a launch date you create a sense of anticipation on the arrival of your website. Make sure you announce your website launch date about a month or so before you publish your website, this allows you to create a social media marketing campaign around your website. 

There are a couple of ways you can make the lead up to your website launch more engaging for your current followers and for new followers:

  1. Create a countdown – post something new everyday and remind your followers of how long there is until your website launches
  2. Use giveaways – this can be coupled with the countdown with a different gift every day for the last week for example. Alternatively, give the first 5 people who visit your website a service you offer (for example a photoshoot if you are a photography website)
  3. Give sneak peeks on what your website is going to look like and what you’re going to sell. For example if you are a clothing brand you may post photographs of your new clothes. 

Boost your posts

There are a few social media marketing tips to increase the number of people who see your posts on social media. Boosting the numbers of people who see your posts should increase the number of people who are exposed to your business. These people may look at your profile and follow you as a result of one boosted post. Some of these options are free and some have a cost associated with them: 

Use boost features:

Many social media platforms have services which will boost your posts so that more people see them. Often these services do cost a small amount of money, but if you have one post which you believe will help your website launch it may be worth it. Facebook also offers targeted ads that promote your posts to people within your target audience demographic. 

Work with influencers or general interest profiles:

If your website is in a specific field such as beauty, working with beauty influencers can help boost the exposure of your company. Often influencers will charge for these services or ask for products in return. Check out this blog for more tips on how to work with influencers.

Alternatively you could work with platforms that post photos from other profiles in their domain. For example, for a travel website you may approach an Instagram profile which collates and publishes other users’ travel photos (WildTravelers on Instagram is a good option) ask them to share a photo of yours. 

Use hashtags:

Using hashtags can help boost the number of people who view your posts. Many users of social media may search for hashtags if they want inspiration on a certain topic. If your post is under a hashtag they search then you have a higher chance of being noticed. 

Make your launch an event 

Once you have decided on a date to launch your website you need to decide what to post on the day. There are a number of ways you can create buzz around the launch of your website. For example:

  • Hold a launch party – this is where you can showcase your stock, and you can post photographs from the party on social media. If your store is only online, post Instagram or Facebook Live videos showing off your clothes and counting down to your website launch. 
  • Have giveaways as part of your launch 
  • Create enticements for people to sign up to your mailing list if they do it on launch day (for example 10% off your products). 

If you’re ready to build an amazing website for your business, then look no further than Go Sitebuilder. With a wide range of features, our simple website builder design means you can have a professional looking website up and running in minutes. Try our 14-day free trial today!

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Is there such a thing as a free website?

Is there such a thing as a free website?

Your business needs a website. You know that, but with so many options out there, how are you supposed to choose? There are free website builders, paid website builders, some with ecommerce packages and some without – with so many options, you need a way to whittle down your choices. 

First, make a list of the things you want your website builder to have. Do you want responsive web design, ecommerce capabilities or a personalised domain? Are you a budding designer who wants the freedom to create their own website or are you a rookie who wants ready made templates to make a professional-looking site in moments? You can get all of this and more with Go Sitebuilder, but finding the right website builder is a personal decision.

If you’re not sure what your website needs, we’ve compiled a list of what we think are important elements of the best website builders, and whether you can get them free or not. 

Personalised domain name

The name of your business is the first thing people are going to see when they look for you, so it’s paramount that your website reflects that. It’s well worth finding a website builder that gives you a personalised domain name as it looks much more professional; other free website builders will give you a domain that includes their own name, like www.websitebuilder.co.uk/yourbusinessname. This automatically shows that you aren’t 100% invested in your business. You are likely to have to pay for a personalised domain name, but we think it’s worth the money. 

Responsive web design

Responsive web design means that your website scales up or down in size to fit whichever screen it is viewed on, whether that be a laptop, mobile or tablet. This is increasingly important as mobile web usage overtook over desktop for the first time back in 2016, and the vast majority of people browse for content on their phone. 

Some free website builders offer some elements of responsive web design, and some like Wix are slowly adding more features that will make most of the elements responsive. If you’re not that tech-savvy, however, and don’t want to have to delve into the back end of your site to make sure it is fully responsive, go for a website builder like Go Sitebuilder that is fully responsive. Even our website builder platform is responsive, so you can update your website on your phone wherever you are!

Integrated ecommerce platform

If you’re looking to sell your products on your site, you’ll need a website builder with that capability. It is possible to get a free ecommerce platform, from Square for example, but they are fairly basic and don’t allow you to have a custom domain, shipping calculators, site statistics or integrated shipping labels, which make you seem more unprofessional. They do give unlimited product listings but there is a 500mb maximum website storage, which could become an issue if you are using high-quality photos and have many different products. 

We think it’s best to get an integrated ecommerce website that makes your life as easy as possible, including automatic low stock alerts, shipping calculators and unlimited space. 

Integrated blog platform

It’s no secret that blogging is one of the best new tricks to enhance the SEO on your website. If you want to give your website the best chance, try writing regular blog posts on subjects related to your business that you are knowledgeable about; this will help you look like a leader in your field and inspire trust in your potential customers. 

If you choose a few relevant keywords and use this in all your blogs, this will help Google rank you more effectively, so people searching for your products or services will see your website as soon as possible. 

Most free website builders will provide a basic blogging platform for you to use. Find one that has no limits on the number of blogs you can post, has SEO optimisation tools, and can easily be shared on social media. 

High quality web design

The most important bit! A high quality web design is paramount for your website builder, which can be difficult if you have no design experience. Many website builders will boast of hundreds of functions as a way of selling their product, but we’ve found that in the vast majority of cases, people just don’t use these functionalities. That’s why we’ve perfected our web design platform to have everything you need – and nothing you don’t. 

If you have no web design experience, we provide you with colour palettes and templates, but if you want more freedom you can play around as much as you want! Some free website builders have a limited number of templates, but at Go Sitebuilder we have hundreds, with many specialised for certain industries. 

Free website builders are available, but you will have to compromise on certain elements to do so. At Go Sitebuilder, we think it’s worth investing to make sure your website is the best it can be, so we created an affordable website builder – just £9 a month – that has all the capabilities talked about in this blog, and so much more. Try our 14-day free trial today to see what we can offer you.