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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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How to make a successful wedding photography website

How to make a successful wedding photography website

If you are a wedding photographer, your most important tool – apart from your camera – is your website. This is where potential clients come to see your previous work, decide if you are right for them and check out your prices. The success of your business could depend on it.

We’ve written this guide to help you make sure your website stands out from the crowd and brings you more clients, more visibility, and more revenue!

Assess the competition 

Before you start anything, have a look at what others in your industry are doing. In fact, while you do your research, make a list of wedding photographers that you think are leading in the market. What are they doing well, and most importantly – what do you think they could improve on? If there is anything you think their website is missing, make sure to make a note of it so you include it in yours. 

Looking at the competition will help you read the market and identify any gaps that you could fill. Develop your niche – if everyone looks like they’re doing the same thing, highlight what you do differently, whether that’s elopements, large ceremonies or destination weddings. 

Build your brand

Once you’ve decided on your niche, then you can work on your branding. This includes your name, logo, colour palette and typography; if you develop them together then they will look more harmonious on the website. You don’t need to hire a graphic designer to make a logo either, as free online tools like Makr and Looka can help you make your own. 

To help you do this, write notes on the service you provide, your target audience and your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This will help you direct your creativity and make sure that your website accurately reflects you and your brand. 

Showcase your talents

This is one of the most important parts of your website, if not the most important. The gallery of photos that you choose to showcase are going to be the deciding factor as to whether a potential client contacts you. Choose the pictures that best reflect your brand and your USP, making sure that they are both inclusive and diverse. 

Another consideration is the speed your photos load at – a slow-loading site is a sure-fire way to put visitors off, but you also want to avoid having low-quality pictures in your gallery. Make sure the web host you use is fast and efficient to be able to find a happy medium. 

Tell your story

As a photographer, you are the individual, the company and the brand. Clients are looking to work with someone that they would be happy to have at their wedding, so your story is a tool you can use to make you stand out against the competition. 

Be approachable, relatable and engaging, involving elements of your life that might make it more likely for you to forge a connection with your potential clients. At a loss? Ask your friends and family for qualities they think make you unique and incorporate this into your story. 

Gather testimonials

Another intrinsic part of your website that will help you get conversions are testimonials from previous clients. Although they are difficult to obtain when your business is young, they are essential to developing client trust. 

After each wedding, make sure you contact your clients and ask for a testimonial – if they liked your services then they will be happy to write a glowing review! This is the clients’ big day, and a stamp of approval from previous clients will show them that you won’t let them down. 

Create a clear website navigation

This might seem daunting, but you just need to look at your website as if you were a potential customer. The first page needs to show off your photography and your brand, and have the information most relevant for your client – what type of weddings do you specialise in and where are you based?

Other crucial elements to include are a clear navigation menu that in one click can lead them to your previous work, testimonials, pricing, and contact details.

Start a blog

Blogging is a powerful marketing tool for everyone trying to expand their business. By including keywords relevant to your business, Google will rank your website higher in its search engine, making it easier for people to find you. 

You can use the blog in various ways, either sharing client stories, posting industry-related news, or sharing top tips or guides for a seamless wedding experience. This will place you as a leader in your industry, and help potential clients relate to you as an individual.  Be prepared to update your blog regularly though, as this will help with Google rankings and make your website look relevant and up to date. 

Are you ready to make your own wedding photography website? At Go Sitebuilder you can build a website with minimum hassle. Our pre-designed sections help you drag and drop your logos and pictures where you want them, and there are image galleries ready to showcase your wedding photography! Try our 14-day free trial today and see just how amazing your website could look.

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How much does it cost to pay someone to build a website?

Two female entrepreneurs sitting side by side. One is holding a mobile phone and on is writing on a notepad. Both are looking at the notepad with a laptop in front of them

When looking to create your own website, one of the options is to pay a web developer to design it for you. This will require minimal technical input from you and will result in a website that is tailor-made to you and your company’s needs, but it comes at a cost. 

Paying a web developer to create a custom-designed website starts at around £5000, but can turn into tens of thousands for a high-quality product. If you don’t have coding experience, be aware that you will have to pay the developer for any and all maintenance on the site, which could be costly and time-consuming. You’ll also have to pay for your own domain and web host, which costs a minimum of £70 with a shared host.

It’s also worth noting that the basic overall design may not look that different from a website builder either, as many of the pre-loaded themes are based on high-quality designs. 

What are the benefits of getting a custom-designed website?

If you already have a detailed vision of how you want your website to look and function, and you’re not willing to compromise, then a custom-built website may be the only way for you to get the precise design you’re after. In this way, you’ll be able to liaise with the developer to make sure it’s exactly what you want.

A developer also does a lot more work behind the scenes than just creating a pretty design. An experienced designer will help you avoid potential technical and financial potholes, as well as tailoring their work according to your budget level, coding experience, and time restrictions. 

If you’re just a small company with a limited budget, however, the price difference between a custom-built website and a website builder is vast. If you don’t have the financial resources to fund and maintain a tailor-made website, it might be worth going for a website builder that handles the domain name, web host and design for you. 

Why not try it for yourself? For 14 days, you can register for a free trial at Go SiteBuilder, which allows you to create your own website from beautiful preloaded themes, with a domain and five email addresses to get your company’s website up and running in no time!

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How much does it cost to build a website?

A male and female coffee shop owners sat in their shop at a table adding up their monthly costs

It’s impossible to answer the question of how much a website will cost without first working out what you need from your website. There’s no point in shelling out thousands of pounds for a custom-made website if you’re just going to be uploading blogs, but equally, you won’t be able to rely on a free website-builder if you need online shopping capability. Let’s have a look at the basics that you’ll need to think about, and how much they’ll cost. 

What’s essential?

Domain name: The annual cost of a domain name can vary considerably, but the average price is between £8-10.

Web hosting: This is the server that allows users to visit your site, and affects the speed and reliability of your website. Shared hosting is the cheapest option, which costs around £5 a month, but there is also Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting, which offers better reliability, security and performance than a shared server, but can cost between £18-80 per month.

How are you going to build your site?

This section will be strongly influenced by your budget, your technical skills, and your time. Getting a custom-built website costs thousands of pounds, whereas coding your own site is cheap but takes time and needs technical ability, and could end up looking unprofessional if you’re not an experienced developer. We recommend using a semi-automated website creator. 

Website builders make it easy to create high-quality websites with ready-made and customisable themes, and their monthly prices often include the domain name and web hosting already. Many of these offer free plans or free trial periods, offering paid premium features for a monthly fee between £5 and £15. If your site needs to function as an online shop, then expect to pay an extra fee for this. 

When you make your decision, it’s important to budget realistically. You may have the money this quarter for a premium website, but remember that this will be an ongoing cost year after year. It’s best to start small and then add premium features as and when you need them. Write down a list of all the features you want on your website, then prioritise them accordingly – what is necessary right now? What can wait until the website is more established?

If you want to try out a website creator that gives you a domain, web hosting and five free email addresses, then Go Sitebuilder offers a 14-day free trial, and costs just £9.99 a month after that. Why not register today?


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Which domain extension is right for you?

Male sat at a desk updating his Go Sitebuilder website via his mobile phone. His laptop is also in front on of him on the desk

Deciding on a domain name is an important step to building your website, but what about the domain extension? The extension can signify what sector a company operates in and it’s important to choose one that is relevant for your business. 

The four most common top-level domains (TLDs) are:
.com
.net
.org
.co

.com

This is by far the most popular domain extension. And is likely the best choice for your domain extension, as it’s familiar and adds to the credibility of your brand. SEO companies also suggest that a .com is better for search rankings on Google. Backlinks with .com have more authority than other domain extensions. However, many of the .com domains are either taken or are very expensive to buy, so you might have to look at other options.

Quick tip: If you’ve decided on a domain name but there is already a .com version with the same name in use, consider changing your domain name. Many people automatically type .com and you don’t want them to end up on a different site!

.net

This extension used to refer exclusively to internet or network providers but now it’s used for a variety of different companies. It does mean that it’s a great option for tech-based companies, as users still expect this kind of business. It’s also much more likely to be available than a .com domain. 

.org

You’ll recognise .org from sites like Wikipedia, and the extension is often expected to be a trustworthy source of information, rather than a commercial brand. The domain extension used to refer to not-for-profit organisations, and is one of the original TLDs so has good user recognition and search power. 

.co

This is an interesting one. The domain used to function exclusively as the country code of Colombia but has recently become a popular choice to refer to companies and corporations. This would be a great choice if you are a young business and the .com extension isn’t an option, as .co has high availability. The issue with this extension, however, is that people might accidentally end up on .com instead, just out of typing habit. 

These are the top four domain extensions, but there are 1500 TLDs available. The most important factors to consider is whether your domain and extension are memorable, easy to type and match your brand identity. 

Decided on the right domain extension for you? At Go SiteBuilder, you can create a stylish website with a unique domain and five email addresses with no previous knowledge in web design. Try out our 14-day free trial today!

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10 things you should think about before building your own website

Female florist sat on the floor with her laptop resting on her legs whilst she updates her Go Sitebuilder website. She is wearing jeans, a blue top and a neutral coloured apron. Flowers can be seen in the background.

Creating a website is the next step for your business, but where do you start? Before you leap into choosing a colour scheme, have a look at our 10 pointers on the most important factors to consider when planning your webpage.

1. Domain name

This should be short, simple and memorable. You’re going to have to pay a fee to have the rights to use this name, so make sure it counts! Brainstorm ideas, align it with your branding strategy, and check that you’re not violating any copyright law with your domain name. 

2. Audience

You need to know who your target audience are and what they want, this way you can appeal to their needs. Use analytics tools to get data on your current clients so that you can create a website that will attract traffic with a higher potential conversion rate. 

3. Social media

Much as we complain about them, almost all of us are using at least one form of social media. This is a great tool to help expand the reach of your brand and for users to recommend and share your services, so make sure your website has an option to share content on social media. 

4. Design

Users create a first impression of your site in a couple of seconds, so good clean design is paramount. Make sure the homepage isn’t too cluttered, and make sure it has a clear call to action so that users know what you provide and how they can access it.

5. Sitemap

Before starting to build a website, you’ll need to sketch out a quick plan of what pages you want to include and consider the user experience at each step. Will the user easily be able to find what they need? Are the pages presented in a clear and efficient way?

6. SEO

It doesn’t matter how beautiful and engaging your website is if it doesn’t get the clicks in the first place. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an invaluable step in the creation of a website, as it allows Google to easily rank the page and make it visible for your target users.

7. Security

It is easy to forget about this step, but good security is vital in order to keep your website healthy and to build trust in your clients, especially if they are sharing personal information through your site. This should be addressed at the beginning of website design, as pages need to have SSL certificates and regular security checks. 

8. Compatibility

Your website needs to work on all browsers, but most importantly, it needs to be compatible with mobile devices. Mobile internet use has increased by 222% since 2013, and 85% of adults think that a website should work just as well or better on a mobile device than on desktop.

9. Hosting

The website host you use will determine how quickly your site loads. If your site takes a long time to load, it will directly affect the amount of people who visit your site; 53% of users will stop engaging with a site if it takes over three seconds to load. Make sure your file sizes aren’t too big and run tests to check your loading speed before you make your site public. 

10. Price

What you can get will depend on what you can spend. A custom-built website will cost thousands, but a website creator can give you a great design for a fraction of the cost. Do your research to get the best deal. 

There are lots of factors to consider when building your website, but if you’re still feeling lost, then Go Sitebuilder gives you a 14-day free trial of their simple and streamlined process to create and manage your website. Give it a go today!

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How to go about launching a digital product

Male wearing a blue, white and red checkered shirt is standing in his kitchen looking at his phone and making a coffee

To launch a digital product, it’s very helpful to have a digital presence. You can create this digital presence in one of several ways. You can do it through social media, online advertising, or you can do it by publishing a blog. But the thing that underpins all of these methods and makes it easy for interested parties to be aware of your digital presence is a website. A website is a place to tie it all together and express yourself with your customers.

Your website is your digital presence

A digital product is an online representation of a product or a service in the virtual world. Or in easier terms, this us what you do or sell – but online. Launching that digital product or service is all about raising awareness of its existence. But if you first use blogs and online advertising through social media or virtual directories to awaken public interest, in order to receive and action orders for whatever it is you are offering, you will need a website. A website helps you finish it all up, make payments and more!

To launch a digital product successfully, creating a website has to be your starting point. A website is your digital presence. It announces your existence to the virtual world and shows potential customers where to go.

How to create your first website

You could hire a bespoke website designer to create a website for you from scratch, but most product launches start off in a small way through a small business. Small business owners need to keep their costs down and hiring the services of a dedicated website designer can be an expensive undertaking.

So, to help entrepreneurs to get started affordably, we here at Go Sitebuilder came up with the modular website design concept. It empowers users to create their own professional websites a section at a time. Most importantly, you don’t need any website building experience. It works just as well for novices as it does for geeks.

By building your website in sections, you can make it as small or large as you require and add or subtract from it as your needs change. But whatever you do, thanks to the user-friendly programmable templates we have, you can customise your own unique website with ease. It will look and perform as good if not better than if you had employed the services of a bespoke website designer at many times the cost.

The complete website package

All of the websites you can create through Go Sitebuilder are available with a personalised domain name chosen by you, and five unique, business email addresses. The websites are compatible for mobile use, and you can access them via any device from anywhere to modify the site, process orders or do any other sort of maintenance as you see fit.

Ready for launch

With your website up and running, you will then be in a position to launch your digital product or service. You now have that all-important anchor point and can set about updating social media outlets, publishing blogs and instigating email marketing campaigns.

Anyone who wants to know more about the product(s) you are offering or who wants to go ahead and make a purchase will know where to go. You are on your way.

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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Launching a new website – should I use .com or .co.uk?

should I use .com or new .co.uk

Where are your clients from? This question will help you get to the answer quickly. All .co.uk websites show that the business deals with customers based in the United Kingdom. All .com websites show that a company deals with customers on a global scale; therefore, they may lack tailor-made services for local customers. Sites with country codes like .co.uk command the market in their respective countries but have little to no effect in others. This article is here to break down whether you should use a .com or .co.uk domain extension.

Pros of using a .com extension

A .com domain extension is the most widely used website extension. Its market is wide as it does not incline to users from a specific area. Therefore, a business that wants to reach the global market can use the .com extension. In the worldwide market, a .com website extension seems more authentic and legitimate. Potential customers from diverse areas feel that the information or services offered are tailored to a global audience. Therefore, your website can reach more people globally if you choose .com as your website’s extension.

Pros of using a .co.uk extension

Knowing your target market is the first step in realizing the best website extension for your website. All website extensions with country codes are best for businesses that operate within that specific country. Therefore, the most clicked websites in the UK have the .co.uk extension. 

Having a website with a country code like .co.uk proves to be more authentic in the United Kingdom when compared with other extensions. If your site has a country code in its address, its legitimacy may only be recognized in the specific country. Long story short, if you’re a local business with your clients close to you, such as a plumber, tutor, painter, etc., this is the way to go. 

Finding the right extension for you

Using the pros and cons we have listed above, you can now make an educated decision on which extension is the best for your business. If you are a small to medium-sized company located in the United Kingdom, then it would make sense for you to use .co.uk. If you’re wanting to draw in a larger audience, then choose .com, as it is recognized worldwide. Alternatively, you can purchase both domains, but you’ll need to make sure they direct to one single place for search engine optimisation.

Decided on the right domain extension for you? At Go Sitebuilder, you can create a stylish website with a unique domain and up to five email addresses with no previous knowledge in web design. Try out our 14-day free trial today and see just how easy it is to get your business online.

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How to launch your new website the right way

Young, male entrepreneur using his mobile phone to launch his new website

How you launch your new website is important and we want to help you do it right. Your launch can impact on how many people visit your site, and whether they return in the future. Here are some effective strategies to get your website launch on the right path to success.

Timing

Timing is key when you’re about to launch a new website. You’ll need to let people know about your upcoming site, but when you do this is also important.

Ideally, let your audiences know as soon as possible that you’ve got a new website on the way, but if it won’t be out for several months or more, you’ll need to remind people nearer the time in case they’ve forgotten about it.

Create a schedule of updates and news posts in the run-up to launch day, so that you can firmly get into the minds of your target audiences. Whenever you do post a new update, make sure to include it on all of your social media feeds and other relevant places that your target audiences will get to see.

Announcing your launch

It’s not just when you announce your website launch that matters, but where you do this is crucial too. You should have an idea in mind of your target audiences. When you make announcements about your launch, do so in places where these groups will see it.

You want to make sure you’re speaking to your target audience. This is the best way to direct your time, effort and money. This approach is also more likely to be successful!

How you say it

People will need a compelling reason to visit your new website so don’t just let them know you’ve got one coming. Think of how you can entice them to visit your site on launch day and keep coming back for more.

Engage with your audiences as soon as you start your website launch campaign. Ask them for feedback, such as what they’d like to see on the new website. Create competitions or promotions, like offers or discounts for the first number of customers who purchase from your site. You might even wish to ask for relevant user-generated content from audiences to build anticipation and excitement for launch day.

Be honest! Don’t make any exaggerated or false claims about your website prior to launch day, this is key to running any business or relationship. Make sure to only launch the site once it’s fully operational and there’s sufficient content on it to inform and entice visitors while leaving enough to keep them coming back for more.

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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What is the best day to launch a new website?

Male business owner reviewing some paper work in a stylish, light office with exposed brick work

Launching your new website is a grand event. Some people choose a day that resonates with them while others maybe don’t have any idea at all. However, if the website aims at targeting increased traffic, the day of the week matters a lot. When setting the launching day of your site, you need to be aware of the schedule of your clients. In most cases, sites depend on employed people. Therefore, you have to understand their common behaviour in terms of workload, personal time, and attitudes towards the days of the week.

Monday

Launching a website on a busy day for your customers is an ultimate miss. The potential clients are not just about to stop their busy schedules to look at your site. Mondays are known to be very slow days; most people are yet to adjust to the working environment from a fun and busy weekend. The workload is very high when employees deal with stalled tasks from the previous week. On Mondays, people do not have time even to visit their social media pages, and therefore it is hard for them to visit a newly launched website.

The weekend

For most people, weekends are there to be enjoyed. It is during this time that they move out of town to refresh. Most people have physical conversations with friends and families. With the current trends of technology taking over human connections, some people prefer to keep off from the internet. On the weekend, there are very few people to share with the trending issues as families do not have the best environment to discuss emerging issues. Weekends are not the best time to launch a new website as it may not get optimum traffic.

Mid-week

Most people who recommend news are workmates and colleagues. However, this happens when they have some free time. Employees are trapped in their jobs over the weekdays, and this is the best time to launch your new website. However, Mondays are extremely busy and dull for people to have free time. Similarly, Fridays are extremely hyper as employees look forward to the weekend. In this regard, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the days with a conducive environment for the launch of a new website. If a website goes live on Tuesday, people have all day to not only discuss it but visit. For the people who fail to know about the new website, there is Wednesday and Thursday for the word to spread. Before the end of the week, the website will have become popular with many potential clients.

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.