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How do I get my new website noticed?

Male looking at mobile phone whilst holding reading glasses. He is working from home and his young daughter can be seen eating at a table in the background.

Building a new website is an exciting time for any business, and getting it live on the internet for people to see can be just as fun. But how do you make sure people are seeing it? If you want your site to really stand out from the crowd and achieve its greatest potential, it needs to be as visible as possible. We’ve compiled some tips to get your new website noticed.

Pay attention to keywords

Getting your new website noticed involves being easy to find when people are searching online. It’s helpful if your brand name appears as near to the top of search listings as possible. In order to achieve this goal, you’ll need to find out what keywords people would use to search for your business. There are different tools you can use online to get an idea of what these keywords might be. But, whatever keywords you choose to represent your business, try to find words that are as relevant and specific as possible. Use for keywords that are less frequently used and not just single words. Long-tailed keywords or keywords with more information will help you drive more traffic.

Once you’ve identified keywords, embed them naturally in your website. Keywords should be used within your content, along with your tags and picture titles.

Start blogging

Blogging about your business, your products, or subjects you think your website visitors will enjoy reading is a great way to get your new website noticed online. So, if you haven’t set up a blog already, now is the time to get writing! Including blog content on your site is also a favoured SEO strategy, which could help you to rank higher on search engines like Google.

Each time you publish a blog, let your followers know by posting a quick message on your social media pages. It’s also a good idea to send an email out to your mailing lists. In order to gain attention, and to keep attracting visitors to your website, provide unique content that puts a fresh spin on what might already exist online. Mix things up a bit and publish different styles of posts, such as how-to guides or even video tutorials. Encourage readers to like or share your content, so that it gets promoted even further.

Get listed

Get your name noticed by making sure that your website’s address and contact details appear on relevant online lists, directories and indexes. This is an especially useful strategy for those who rely on local custom. In particular, adding your details to Google Maps could also improve your local search ranking.

Think about relevant sites where your target audiences might search for a business like yours, or seek related information, and make sure your name gets added in those places.

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 get the most out of a new website launch

Close up of a woman's hands typing on a mobile phone.

There is nothing more exciting than having a website that is ready to share with the world. With all of the design, thoughtful content and hard work you’ve put in you’ll want to start showcasing it straight away. But how do you make the most of your launch? There are a few steps you can make to get the most out of this time, and the best part is, we’ve already written it down for you!

Choose the right date

Pick your website launch day with care. You’ll want to make it a day where the most number of visitors possible will take a peek at your website, but also if there are any last-minute tweaks or changes to make that you’re on hand to remedy them.

Quick tip: avoid launching your website on a Friday, weekend, bank holiday or other major holiday dates! People are most likely enjoying the festivities and not browsing the web.

Engage with audiences

Don’t make your website launch a one-way communication process. Naturally, you’ll have a lot to say to your new site visitors, but give them the opportunity to interact with you, too! This can boost engagement and may provide you with useful information about your audiences and what they want from your business or content, which may help to steer your website towards future success.

Remember you can also use your social media pages to chat with your audiences both before, during and after launch day.

Consider your rankings

It’s important that audiences are able to find your new website easily, so using effective search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies is important to help improve your search ranking and reach more people.

Whenever you publish any information about your new website launch, utilise your content so that every piece of communication has the potential to boost your search profile. For example, include relevant keywords naturally in any news or update posts, and vary the style of content you produce to mix things up a bit. If you’re an SEO newbie, take a look at our beginner’s guide to SEO over on our blog

Use some of the same tactics that you used to create all of the content for your new website, including writing about a variety of different styles: from blog posts, videos and beautiful photos.

Add analytics

How will you know if your website launch has been successful? In particular, how many people have visited your new site, which pages they looked at and what their profiles are? It’s super simple! Just make sure you get signed up with Google Analytics before launch day.

The beauty of Google Analytics is that it will also tell you whether viewers just looked at the landing page of your site, or whether they explored further. You can use this information to your advantage, to ensure your content is enticing and leaves people wanting more. You can also use this data to see what pages are popular, what devices people are using, what time of day they’re visiting and so much 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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How Can I Make My Website Famous?

Nine people stood in a line, leaning against a brick wall and using their mobile phones

As a business owner, you’ll want to ensure people are finding and viewing your website. A website is a powerful, essential marketing tool you can use to raise your profile and increase your sales, but if no one is actually visiting it, it’s never going to achieve the results you want. Luckily, there’s plenty you can do to change that, and while making your website famous might be a bit of a stretch, you can certainly drive more traffic with just a few simple steps. Here are three of the easiest, tried and tested methods for you to try.

1. Don’t underestimate offline marketing

While a good website will attract a new and potentially profitable audience, it should also be a place for your existing customers to visit as well. You can provide them with an opportunity to learn more about your company and even make their purchases online. But remember, they can only do this if they’re aware of your site’s existence. 

Try making an effort to increase your visibility in the places your target market lives and visits. This means that from business cards to billboards, newsletters and even simply answering your phone, it’s a good idea to include information about your website and social media platforms in these new places for your audience to see it.

2. Mention your website online (and do it on a regular basis)

Don’t be afraid to share a shameless plug here and there – it’s your website and you should be proud of it! The internet essentially functions as a giant map, pointing users in the direction of relevant information, which means it’s key to have your site featured on it. The best way to do this is by mentioning it as often as you can, whether it’s by sending your products to bloggers and having them add a link to your website or by publishing press releases. You can also join online communities, like relevant Facebook pages, and share your website when people ask for similar services or products that you provide – just remember not to spam anyone!

3. Educate yourself on SEO

Last but not least, spend some time familiarising yourself with SEO and how it works. It doesn’t have to be complicated. We’ve created a quick guide for beginners over on our blog if you don’t believe how easy it can be. Standing for ‘search engine optimisation’, SEO is the method used by companies to ensure that their website ranks as highly as possible when people run searches on search engines like Google. The idea is that consumers are most likely to click on results at the very top of the first page, so by focusing on including certain keywords in your content, you can improve your position and make yourself much more visible.

When it comes to boosting the popularity of your website, there are lots of methods you can try. If your website isn’t online yet, why not try a 14-day free trial with Go Sitebuilder and see just how easy it is to create your dream website without any technical skills!

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How do I launch a website for free?

Female working from home on a laptop and tablet device whilst drinking a hot drink. She is sat at a table with her living room in the background

Today, lots of people are creating and running their own websites, and you can do the same! There are lots of options for small businesses to get online – even without the need to hire an expensive web professional or develop a new skill yourself.

There are various free website-building services out there that allow you to build a website quickly and get published in a matter of minutes. You just need to find the right one for your needs and get stuck in. Bear in mind, however, that free sites typically mean a limited service, and there will probably be ads on your site to cover the host’s costs.

Try it for free

At Go Sitebuilder, we offer a free 14-day trial so you can see exactly what our website builder can do. The trial also lets you explore the possibilities of a paid platform with dedicated support. During the free trial, you will be able to publish your website with a Go Sitebuilder domain and enjoy the full functionality of our service. When the 14-day period is over, you will have the option to go premium and start running your website like a pro.

Keeping it free

If, however, you are determined to commit to a free service, you will need to do a bit of exploring. At the free level, hosts will put a low cap on the amount of data you can upload to your website (meaning you’ll be limited on adding things like images and videos). Different hosts will have different policies, so you should explore your options. The bandwidth limits are also low, and there could be other restrictions. Shop around to find a host that offers the best service for your needs in their free package.

If you’re a business that’s looking for sustainable success, we wouldn’t recommend a free website builder as a viable long-term option. There are millions of websites on the internet, and there will be competition in your space. This competition could have very expensive, very professional websites of their own. The limitations of a free website will mean you will almost certainly be unable to compete with this. It’s also unlikely that you’ll also be able to get a free, unique domain name – making it difficult for your customers to find you online. A free website is a good way to familiarise yourself with a platform, but you will need to invest in your site if you want it to be successful.

A simple solution

Fortunately, there are inexpensive ways for you to get your business online. Our premium plans at Go Sitebuilder are just £9.99 per month, and this will give you unlimited access to a wide array of powerful features like ecommerce, emails and a free domain name. Get started with a free 14-day trial and you’ll see just how easy it really is!

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What is a website launch checklist?

A female of dual heritage is sat in an office meeting room wearing a casual denim shirt creating a website launch checklist

Before you launch your website it’s essential that you have completed all the necessary steps ensure that everything is working properly. No one wants to go to a website and see that something is missing or that a website address is broken! Creating and using a website launch checklist will ensure that everything is up and running as it should be before you invite the rest of the world to look at your site.

Take a look at the quick checklist below to make sure your website is ready to go come launch day…

1. Proofread

When creating amazing content, you’ll need to make sure you’ve taken the time to fix any typos. Customers will notice them and it may be distracting or even impact their perception of your business. Just take a few extra moments to go through your site’s pages and proofread your content to make sure it’s accurate. You can always ask friends and family to give your copy a quick read through as well – it’s always best to have a second pair of eyes on it!

2. Optimise content for user experience

You’ll want to make sure your website is set up to be user-friendly and easily accessible by as many people as possible. Going for a standardised font and size makes the content easy to read for your site users. You’ll need to make sure your menu bar is easy to use and that people can get to where they’re going. If you want to go the extra mile, use a contrast checker to ensure that someone with vision impairments can read the copy on your website.

If your website features audio and video files, you may want to consider transcribing them, then take a quick moment to check these work properly too.

3. Optimisation for search engines

Check that everything works as intended to ensure your web conversions and overall SEO scores are high. Go through your site and click all the clickable links, including images to see if they link through to the desired pages. You’ll want to make sure you have alt-tag descriptions on any images as well, so the search engines can “see” them.

If your website accepts payments, you should also do a test payment, going through the whole process to make sure everything is working as it should do.

4. Check for mobile users

With more and more internet users accessing websites through their mobile, it’s essential that your website is compatible with phones. Grab your own mobile phone and go through every web page, ensuring the text is the correct size, that images are properly spaced, and that all buttons work as they should. It’s also handy to get your friends involved too. The more phones you test on, the better the experience will be.

This isn’t a step you need to worry about if you have a Go Sitebuilder website as all sites are instantly responsive!

5. Do compatibility testing

If your website has been built using plugins, it’s advisable that you run a compatibility test to check against any glitches or conflicts between your site builder and the plugin. It’s just another way of ensuring your website is running smoothly when it comes to launching!

Again, if you have a Go Sitebuilder website this isn’t something you need to add to your list – although we always advise you check all links and forms work before sharing your website. At Go Sitebuilder we have built-in all features and funcationality from the ground up, so you don’t have to use risky third-party plugins.

If you’re still considering the best way to get your website up and running, why not check out our 14-day free trial? No credit cards or previous website building experience needed, so, what are you waiting for?

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8 things to do before launching a new website

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If you’ve just designed your new website; congratulations! Now you must be eager to launch and share it with the world. Here at Go Sitebuilder, we know how important the time leading up to launch can be. That’s why we’ve put together these 8 steps that will help you start off on the right foot and head towards success.

1. Target audience

Before you hit the button, it is important to know exactly who your target audience is. These are the people who are likely to interact with your business. It all comes down to your industry and services. For example, a company that offers electrical works would most commonly be accessed by home-owners and landlords, which would make this their target audience.

2. Market comparison

Seeing how your competitors have designed their website could be used as a key indicator of what works within your specific industry – along with what does not. However, we wouldn’t ever recommend that you copy your competitors! Use their information as a starting point in regards to design and the content, but make sure to keep things original and unique to you.

3. Content evaluation

Being mindful of the type of content you will be posting is really important to how your website will be laid out. You’ll need to make sure everything is easy to navigate and people can find exactly what they’re looking for. The more content you have, the more that will need to be done in terms of designing your website. Having more content also means there is more for clients to read and interact with when the website is live.

4. Website security

A secure website is a must. Clients should feel safe using your site and entering their personal details. Without a secure site, hackers can access the site, and thereby access your clients’ personal information. This could even lead to a breach of GDPR, so make sure to take precautions. One of the first steps should be to ‘switch on’ or purchase an SSL cert. If you have a Go Sitebuilder subscription, SLL is completely free!

5. Launch date

Setting a date for your launch puts a timestamp on your goal – meaning it is easier to see what needs to be done, and when it needs to be done by, in order to launch on your desired date. This also gives you time to shout from the rooftops and create some buzz about what you’ve got going on.

6. Quality check

Testing your website ahead of time will alert you of any issues with the design or functionality of the site, allowing you to fix these issues before launching it to the general public. Just take a couple of minutes to go through the links, photos, and buttons. If you don’t have a Go Sitebuilder website, you may need to run tests on mobile devices too!

7. Sample testing

Select a small number of your existing clients, or even friends and family, to test the site. This gives you the opportunity to note any technical issues while you’re also receiving feedback, from which you can use to tweak and optimise your site. There’s nothing more helpful than feedback.

8. Prepare for the next few months ahead

It’s essential you put some time aside in the near future to keep content updated. It’s important to keep pages and contact details up to date but having a steady flow of new content, like blogs or new products, helps to drive more traffic to your site and keeps existing customers coming back!

If you still haven’t got your business online, now is the perfect time! Try Go Sitebuilder free for 14-days and see just how easy it is to get your website up and running.

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What to do after launching a website?

Female sat at a window next to some white flowers writing in a notebook.

Now that your website is up and running, you may be wondering ‘what’s next’? There are plenty of key tasks that you’ll want to get started on right after launching your site to help it become a success. Here are a few carefully selected actions that will help you get you started on the right path.

Keep creating new content

Flocks of visitors might have viewed your website on launch day, but now it’s important that you find ways to keep them coming back. One of the best ways to do this is to add new content regularly to your site. Set up a blog and get into the habit of publishing items that impart your insights and wisdom in a useful, informative and interesting way.

Whenever you do add new content to your fledgeling website, include social share buttons so that your readers can share it with your friends. This could get your content into the hands of hundreds or maybe even thousands of more people.

Not only is it good for your readers but, frequently providing fresh content is favoured by search engines too! It can help you to become more visible on search engines like Google.

Engage with your audience

Whether you’re a new business starting from scratch or an established company that has had a complete rebranding, after you’ve launched your site, it’s an ideal time to start engaging with your audiences. This is a powerful way to understand more about your target customers, but it also helps to keep viewers hooked on your brand.

Include options to capture email addresses on your site, and create a newsletter to keep customers updated on your products or services. Give viewers a chance to provide feedback, whether on the website, your social media pages or both. Whenever you get audience feedback, make sure to start a dialogue with them. This builds a rapport that can help turn first-time customers into loyal and repeat ones.

Get statistics savvy

One of the key ways to understand how well your new website is doing is to analyse statistics and trends, including who is visiting your site. It’s important to be on top of key factors such as when the visitors are coming, how often and which pages they’re going to. This is all really useful information that can give you important clues about your audiences, what is working well (or not) on your site, and what potential changes you might need to make to improve things. In order to analyse these trends, get set up with Google Analytics.

Remember that this should never be a one-off activity. You should monitor your website’s progress regularly to help you really understand what the customer experience is like.

If you’re yet to launch your website, why not check out Go Sitebuilder to see just how easy it is to create your own website. Sign up for a free 14-day trial – no credit card required – and get started on creating your dream website.

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How can I get my website on Google search?

How to get your website on Google

Submitting your website to the Google search engine is an important part of increasing your traffic. Once it is submitted, your site will appear on the Google search results page, but what you should be striving for is getting it to rank highly in your potential customers’ searches.

“Lots of my customers have commented on how easy it was to find and use my website – that wouldn’t be possible without Go Sitebuilder and my own domain name.” Polly Evans – pollyevanshypnotherapy.com

Here is a guide on getting your website to appear in Google searches:

Search Engine Optimisation

Better known as SEO, this is the process of optimising the content of your website to make it rank highly in Google search results without having to pay for it. It is good practice to optimise your website before submitting it to Google, but really it is an ongoing process that needs to be nurtured in the long run to see the best results.

Submitting a website to Google

Make sure you have covered all the basics of preparing your website to be indexed by Google. SEO is important, but it’s also essential to ensure there are no errors or broken links, and that content is ready to be shared on social media. When you’re good to go, you can submit your domain to the Google Search Console URL Crawler.

Every time they crawl the web, Google adds new sites to its index and updates existing ones. Tell them about your new URL through the link above. Please note that not all submitted URLs will be added to the index.

Google will also want your website sitemap. The purpose of this is to enable the Google robots to scan the structure of your site and index it to the search engine accordingly. If you’ve built your website with Go Site Builder, it will already be available to them and you won’t have to do anything extra to submit it.

Google Search Console

business owner with custom domain name

This service replaced the old Google Webmaster Tools to provide site owners with the means to monitor their site’s presence in the Google search results. Joining requires a Google account and a personal domain address. You simply add these as your property on the console and follow the steps to verify your site ownership.

The simplest method is to choose ‘URL prefix’, which should provide you with a code. Copy the code and paste it in into your website, and you should see a confirmation in Google Search Console shortly after.

The bottom line

Getting your website onto Google search should be a simple process. If you follow the steps in this guide, you will be up and running in no time. Go Sitebuilder provides the tools to make it even easier, and you can get started for free today.

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How do I launch a new website on social media?

Close up of a mobile phone displaying some social media analytics. A green plant is in the foreground and background.

Whether you’re an established small business or you’re fresh off the starting blocks, in today’s world it all starts with a website. From there, it’s about getting the word out – and what better way than social media? It may seem like a simple case of creating a few profiles and watching the likes roll in, but the reality can be quite different. So, if you’re asking yourself how to launch your new website on social media, this quick guide is for you!

Step 1: Create your brand identity

One of the most common mistakes new businesses make when launching a social media presence is failing to stand out. With so many companies now utilising social media as a core marketing channel, it’s more important than ever to develop a true brand identity. Throwing a logo together in Microsoft Word simply won’t cut it, so be sure to take some time to build a brand that is visually consistent, engaging, and instantly recognisable – then update your profiles so they all reflect it. Be creative and choose a strategy that really represents your business and its values.

Step 2: Build a social media launch plan

Once you’re happy with the overall look of your profiles, it’s time to consider the ‘meat’ of your social media strategy – the content. Put simply, you can’t expect to set a page live and then see the follower numbers immediately skyrocket – it doesn’t always work that way. So, in order to support your launch, you’ll need to prepare the content you’ll be posting in the first weeks, or even months, of your new social profiles. This content could be blog posts on your new website (a great way to build traffic), videos, images (even fun things like memes), infographics, and so on.

Step 3: Incentivising new followers (the right way)

Okay, so let’s assume you’re up and running and you’re following a content calendar to drive visitors from your social channels to your website. What’s next? Well, you want those numbers to go up, of course! As we explained, the “build it and they will come” approach doesn’t work in today’s world. The key to building a social following for your website is incentivisation, at least at the beginning. These incentives can be anything you like, but one great option is to hold giveaways for small things (like gift vouchers) which won’t cost much but will drive engagement. Just don’t forget to ask people to like and follow to enter!

We hope this quick guide will help you hit the ground running when it comes to launching your website on social media. Of course, if you’re still in the early stages of launching your business and you haven’t yet built a website, there’s no better place to start than with our 14-day free trial of Go Sitebuilder.

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What are the best digital marketing launch strategies?

Male sitting at a desk next to a large vase of pink flowers. He is wearing a dark blue shirt and using a laptop

Launching your website creates a new, exciting opportunity for your business. It’s your chance to share your unique story with the world and start growing your business online. Launch day is an opportunity to get people talking about your site so make sure you capitalise on this with a great launch strategy.

But what makes a great marketing launch strategy? The first thing to do is to choose a suitable domain name. Using a professional domain name is a must for any successful launch strategy since an individualised domain name is more likely to be memorable to the new website user. That’s why Go Sitebuilder includes a free domain name with every subscription: helping to get your new website off the ground! Once you’ve got that covered you’re ready to head onto the next steps…

Start early:

Planning for the big day should start well ahead of your launch date, even before you have finalised the website design on your website builder. Your top priority is to start collecting emails, so start getting the word out on social media, or other channels, and get people to opt-in to your updates. Keep in touch with these people via email, introducing them to key features on the coming website. This will keep the launch day exciting for customers, and keep your business in everyone’s minds.

Create anticipation:

Whether you have an existing customer base or you are using your website to create a completely new brand, it is really important that you emphasise the anticipation in the lead up to launch day. One way to do this is to offer a private, early look at your new website. This is a valuable VIP-type teaser, but it is also a great way to create loyalty to your brand – right from the word Go!

Capitalise on new users:

Launch day is often the biggest day of traffic in the first year of trading. So, it’s really important to prolong the impact of all those extra users. One way to make sure users continue to spread the word about your new website, even after launch day, is to introduce a referral scheme. A referral scheme will offer a reward to customers if they send a friend the link to your launch page and that friend types in their email. This is a really effective way to make sure news about your newly launched website travels.

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.