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How to overcome common obstacles to selling online

A caucasian female potter leaning over a workbench adding finishing touches to a piece of pottery. She is wearing a white strap top with a black apron on top

Being able to satisfy your retail therapy needs from the comfort of your own home is one of the joys of the modern age. This is why having an online business is now of high importance: selling online reaches customers worldwide and thus your potential target market is endless. If you’re nervous about selling online then read on – we’ve shown you how to overcome some of the barriers to starting an ecommerce business.

You have visitors to your site but they’re not buying!

A problem with selling online is that you are setting an expectation for your product. This means customers cannot tell the quality or fit of your product until they have purchased it. If what you’re selling is highly-priced, then some may be worried about handing over their money to your business. 

However, offering free delivery to new customers or free returns is a great way to soothe these fears. According to research by Barclaycard, 47% of shoppers said they wouldn’t order an item if they had to pay for the return and 30% admitted to deliberately overbuying products, knowing they would return the unwanted items. Not only does this stress the importance of having a free returns scheme, but it also means you’re able to send out more products. Even if items are returned, your visibility is improved.

Similar products to yours are already sold online 

This one is a toughie, as whilst it shows your product is in high demand, it also means that there are a lot of other business competitors out there. However, don’t let this sway you away from online selling: offering discounts is a great way to draw in users to your site, as the consumer will often look for the most cost-effective item. 

Putting a time limit on your discount is also an effective solution, as it pushes the customer into making a decision about whether they want to try your product. If you make these discounts seasonal then it is likely that you will create returning customers, who can then improve your online visibility by leaving good customer reviews. 

Setting up an ecommerce site is too tricky

Whilst the internet may seem like a daunting prospect, it is important to remember that setting up an ecommerce website is not as difficult as it used to be. Nowadays, website builders like ours can do all the hard stuff for you, making that transition into selling online all the more smoother. Our free 14-day trial allows you to create a website in minutes, and even have extra ecommerce features if you do decide to take the leap. Give it a go today!

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How to start selling things online

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Have you been thinking of setting up an online shop but not sure where to start? We’re here to help, with a handy guide on what you need to think about before you take the plunge into e-commerce.

Decide on your niche 

This is the first hurdle – what are you going to sell, and who are you going to sell it to? It’s a good idea to start with your niche, or the area that you are interested in. Think of this as an area rather than a product; ‘gardening’ rather than ‘trowels,’ and be strategic in your choice. 

The best niches are ones that sell expensive products (£80-100 per product), that occupy a sector that is steadily growing in popularity and hasn’t already developed a lot of brand loyalty. Do your market research to get information on your competitors and understand how the industry functions. Most importantly, don’t go into a niche that you know nothing about!

Choose a business model

This depends on whether you are selling items that you have created yourself, or if you are going to use a supplier. If you are using a supplier, you can choose between dropshipping – where the supplier holds the stock – or holding your own products, where you have to pay for warehouse costs and packaging. 

Holding your own products that you’ve shipped in or selling your own unique handmade items gives you an advantage when you’re looking to create and grow a brand. You are in full control of the customer experience, so you can design your own packaging, send it yourself and handle returns and customer enquiries personally.

If you are a small, local business that is just starting to sell your own products, capitalise on your ability to make each item personal. Include hand-written notes thanking them for their purchase and asking them to follow you on social media, and make sure your customer service is both personable and competent. Creating a great customer experience makes it more likely for them to recommend your service to others.

Choose a supplier

You’ve got your niche, and a good idea of what you want to sell; but if you’re ordering in your products or materials, how do you choose what products to stock? Search the best-sellers in your niche on Amazon and Ebay to compare prices, and look to AliExpress and AliBaba for good supplier sites. If you don’t want to start shipping in products internationally and you don’t need a huge supply, do some research in your area to see if you can create any deals with local suppliers instead.

Create a website

Now you’ve got the foundations laid, it’s time to craft a beautiful website! Choose a domain name that aligns with your brand, upload your products and start advertising your site. Go Sitebuilder is one of the best ecommerce website builders, and offers a 14-day free trial where you can make an easy-to-use and professional website, even if you have no experience in web design!

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How do I create a photo gallery for my website

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Why do I need a photo gallery?

Having a photo gallery is an important visual stimulator when viewing a website. It adds colour and vibrancy to a website, meaning viewers are more likely to explore different sections of your site. In addition to this, a photo gallery adds a personal touch to your website: your online business becomes less robotic and more relatable. This is vital if you want to build a relationship between your site and the customer. The beauty of a photo gallery is that it is completely personal and customisable, enabling you to build your website in your own image. 

What tools can I use to create a photo gallery?

It is super simple to build a photo gallery. Juicebox is a great place to start for beginners: no coding skills are required and its simplicity means you can create HTML5 image galleries with ease. It is adaptable, as it can be accessed either on your computer or via mobile. Another huge plus with Juicebox is that it is free! 

Gallery Studio 1.1 is an alternative free option: its software leaves no watermarks on your images, ensuring your gallery remains personal to you.

Photo Gallery Builder 1.4 is another helpful tool if you want to create a photo gallery for your website. It requires no prior knowledge of Adobe Flash and its modern interface will leave your gallery looking professional and sophisticated. 

What next?

As you’re probably now aware, having a photo gallery for your website is of high importance. Condensing all your images into one folder means viewers of your site can access your pictures with ease. 

However, if you’re still unsure about how to create a photo gallery for your website then Go Sitebuilder is a fantastic solution. Our website builder is easy to use, and has ready to go tools within our editor to help you create the perfect photo gallery for your website – no need to use external software!

Alternatively, if you already have a collection of photos but don’t know what to do with it, then Go Sitebuilder is one of the best online site builders. Its simplicity ensures you can upload your images hassle-free and our free 14 day trial period gives you all the freedom to build your online business today!

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Where can I find stickers to put on photos

A group of three young entrepreneurs at a desk looking at a tablet device the male is standing and looking over the shoulders of the two females sat down

Adding stickers to your photos can be a fun and quirky way to liven up your image. Whether you’re starting up a blog or building your own online business, stickers add a contemporary and relatable edge to any image, making it individual to you. And the best thing about customising your photos with stickers is that it is completely free and super easy to do!

For social media fans

The easiest way to add stickers onto your image is via social media apps such as Facebook Messenger or Snapchat. Snapchat stickers are our personal favourite as they let you create add your own bitmoji stickers (a cartoon avatar of yourself which you can create via Bitmoji). This helps viewers identify you as the content creator and makes your online presence slightly more human. 

For iOS and Android users

Downloading an app is a really convenient way to put stickers onto photos. Pics Art Photo Editor provides you with a step-by-step guide to follow. It gives you complete flexibility to personalise your own images by syncing photos from your camera roll to the app. What’s more, it has a huge range of stickers to choose from, although don’t let its sheer variety deter you: its search bar lets you find the perfect sticker quickly and effortlessly. Another app you can download is FotoRus. Their addition of Emoticon stickers means your images can become expressive and fun to view. 

A web-based alternative

If you prefer to edit your computers on your laptop, Fotor is a tool you can use to add stickers to your photo via the computer. It adds a professional look to your image by creating a theme specific to the sticker you select. It also provides you with the opportunity to create collages for your images, giving you full reign to be as creative as you want when customising your picture. 

By putting stickers onto your images, your online business becomes more identifiable – the first step in creating an online brand! This is of particular importance when building your own online website. Go Sitebuilder makes this all the easier, with ready to go websites for you to use to boost your online presence. Try our free 14-day trial to start building your online business today!

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How difficult is it to build a stock photo website?

Female photographer sat in front of her laptop holding her camera uploading her new photos to her Go Sitebuilder website

What is stock photography?

As a beginner, building a stock photo website may seem like a daunting prospect. Yet it is not as difficult as it seems. Stock photography is essentially commercially sold photography. As the demand for photography is so varied, your potential client list is limitless. This guide will show you that you don’t need to be a professional to build a stock photo website. You can be successful without any prior knowledge of the stock photo market by following these tips!

How to make your stock market website unique

Ok, so whilst anyone can build a stock photography website, you still must be offering valuable content. Don’t publish any old stock photo: make sure the image is well lit and clear so that people want to purchase your image. Also, it is important to make sure your photos are of high resolution, meaning it is probably a bad idea to advertise images taken on a mobile phone. Ensuring your images are from a high quality camera means your website will be taken seriously by potential clients – here are some stock photography tips that might come in handy!. Finally, don’t be afraid to be bold with your images – eye catching, statement pieces are much more likely to stand out and become a marketable item. 

How to make money from your stock photo website

The two main types of stock photography which you want to focus on are Macrostock photography and Microstock photography. As the latter suggests, you won’t be making big bucks with this type of photography – you earn a small sum of money per every image downloaded. However, given how easy it is for anyone to download a photo, you are pretty much guaranteed an income this way, especially if the image goes viral. In contrast, Macrostock photography gives you the opportunity to license and sell exclusive images to clients for a much higher price, although it may take some time before you have a solid client base.

What next?

A great way to start building your stock photo website would be to use Go Sitebuilder. Our online website builder is one of the best ways to begin your stock photography website business: it is easy to use and has all the necessary knowledge to help you build a successful website. Why not give it a go – our 14-day free trial means you have nothing to lose! 

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How to stamp the copyright logo to my images

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

Imagine: you’ve spent lots of time creating the perfect image to upload onto your soon-to-be website. It is eye-catching, unique and perfect for your online business. But, although this image is legally owned by you, the internet is a dark place and someone snatches up your image for their own purposes. Suddenly, your image is no longer identified with your online business. All that time and effort spent sourcing this image is wasted. 

So, how do you avoid this case of online theft? Well, the answer is pretty simple. By stamping a copyright logo onto your images, keyboard thieves will fail to pass off your content as their own. 

Step 1: Choose your software 

Adobe photoshop, Inkscape or Paintshop are the most obvious editing softwares to do this. However, if you don’t fancy spending your money on these, then there are multiple free photo editing softwares which you can use to watermark your image instead.    Alamoon Watermark, WatermarkLib and Kigo Image Converter can all be used to stamp your copyright logo onto your image. 

Step 2: Where to put the copyright

Open your image in one of these programmes and select the section of the image where you want to add your copyright stamp. Make sure your text goes in a place which is visible. This ensures would-be users cannot get rid of your logo without destroying the image itself. This is important – strategically picking a location for your text to go into means digital thieves cannot steal your image without shooting themselves in the foot.

Step 3: What information do you need to add?

When applying a copyright stamp, you need to make sure you include your name/business name, the year your image was created and the copyright symbol ‘©’ into your text. This way you are solidly safeguarding your image from being swiped up by someone else. Although you can’t stop people from downloading your image free of charge, your name will now always be affiliated with this image. Remember, it is important that you lower the opacity of the text so that people can still see your image!

Now that your image is protected and associated with you, it is important you have a website that people can visit if they want to access your material. Check out our 14-week free trial of Go Sitebuilder and see just how easy it is to get your business online!

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What kind of online business is the most profitable?

Female relaxing on a grey sofa whilst using her mobile phone to run her business from home

Whilst starting up an online business seems daunting, it is not as difficult as you may think. People from all backgrounds can create a successful online business, and not all online businesses demand a vast amount of time or money for them to be profitable. As long as your content is of real value then there is a market out there for you.

Online home rentals

This first example doesn’t require any special skills; anyone can rent out their home. Although sites such as AirBnB or HomeAway may suggest the market is overly-crowded, InvitedHome or Luxury Retreats show that there is always potential to market your property to a certain crowd. Creating a niche category in the market means you can create a steady and reliable source of income, and make it more likely that those who use your site will return. 

SEO consultancy

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a market of endless opportunity. If you are already confident in SEO strategy, then you can create profit by marketing your skills to online businesses who are looking to rank higher on Google. This will help them gain visibility, and will improve your reputation as a leader in the field. Don’t be deterred if you have limited knowledge; there are loads of resources online to help you understand SEO – check out Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO to get you started. 

Managing advertisements

If you understand the methodology behind paid advertising, then advising businesses on how to manage their ads – or doing it for them – can boost your income dramatically. Considering that online business giants such as Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter rely on ads for their growth, ad management could be your ticket to success. It is still a relatively modern market with huge potential for growth – eMarketer has reported that, for the first time in America, online advertising spending exceeds that of traditional ads.

What next?

If you are interested in pursuing any of the above then it is vital to have a website to boost your credibility and to provide a platform to market your skills. Check out our 14-week free trial which gives you all the flexibility you need to begin your online business journey – why not give it a go today?

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What is the best tool to optimise images for the web?

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Optimising your images before you post them onto the web could be the make or break of your online business. If your image isn’t optimised then your file size is larger, slowing down the speed of your website. This could dramatically affect your search engine optimisation (SEO) ranking – the slower your website, the more likely your image will become congested in google image search traffic. 

Failing to optimise your images is also a huge turn-off for those who do find their way onto your website. Forbes quoted an Aberdeen group study that a one-second delay in website load time could cost you 7% of sales, result in 11% fewer page views and a 16% decrease in satisfied customers. The following tools will help you optimise your images, making sure your website is highly attractive to those who visit your site.

There are lots of ways to optimise your images for your website, and those that optimise for SEO like adding alt text and making sure your images are named correctly can be done within your website builder. However, other important factors like image size, type and dimensions will need to be altered using external software. 

Adobe photoshop

This premium software is a well known classic. It allows you to save your files in different image formats such as JPEG, PNG or GIF. Once you have selected your options, your file size will also be displayed. This is a great option for those who are new to optimizing their images on the web, as it is easy to follow and fairly simple. 

JPEG Mini

This software reduces image sizing without diminishing any of its original quality. The fact that you can compare your original image against the compressed image is also a big plus, as you can test whether any quality has been lost. Whilst the computerised programme comes with a price tag, you can use their web version for free – another bonus!

Image Optim

Image Optim is a software specific to Mac. It removes unnecessary colours and finds the most suitable compression parameters to ensure no quality is reduced. It pretty much does all the hard work for you. And, luckily, Windows users don’t need to despair – Trimage acts as a promising alternative. 

Now that you have the knowledge needed to optimize your images, it is vital that you utilise these skills when starting your online website. If you’re also unsure how to build your online website then try Go Sitebuilder. Our responsive website builder is designed with small businesses in mind, helping you craft your business into a success. Try Go Sitebuilder today with our 14-week free trial period!

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What are the most common email domains?

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Email is the most important form of communication for businesses. It is versatile and quick, allowing anything from a quick chat to finalise a plan to a long-form explanation of a service with multiple attachments. But are the most common email domains, and what are the pros and cons to each one? 

Gmail.com (18%)

With over a billion users across the globe, Gmail has taken over the free email space since its launch in 2004. It has a streamlined interface without too much clutter, and lets you organise your emails into different folders which helps you to focus on your priorities. It works with a Google account, which has a fleet of features such as Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Calendar, making file sharing and time-management simple. 

Yahoo.com (17%)

Although it isn’t as much as a household name as Gmail, Yahoo offers a professional email service with some useful features unavailable with its competitor. Yahoo allows you to organise your emails into custom folders, and the free version has a terabyte of storage.

Hotmail.com (16%)

It may be one of the top three most popular email domains, but you can’t get one anymore! In fact, Hotmail used to be a part of Microsoft, which has had a couple of rebrands and is now Outlook. This means that if you created your account before 2012, then you will still have the @hotmail.com address, but if you want to create a new one, then you will get an address ending in @outlook.com. Just like Gmail, Outlook offers extra features such as a calendar and access to online Microsoft Office products. 

These are the top three email providers, as after this the percentage of users drops off sharply to under four per cent. Bear in mind that using an @gmail.com or @outlook.com email address is fine for personal use, but doesn’t look very professional if you want to use that for a business account.

If you’re looking for business emails, then it’s much better to have an email address that matches the name of your website domain, as this adds extra credibility to your company. Go Sitebuilder gives you a personalised website domain name as well as five unique business emails for you to use. Sign up for our 14-day free trial and see just how easy it is to get your business online. 

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How to effectively sell your product or service

How to effectively sell your product or service

You may know that you have an excellent product or service, but your potential customers don’t. So how can you show them – and persuade them – that you are a step above your competitors?

Tell me a story

Your potential customers aren’t interested in your product. They’re interested in the experience it gives them, or the solution it provides to a problem they have – your marketing should reflect that. Describe how it feels to use your product, or the difference it could make if it solves a long-standing problem. 

Look at car adverts, for example. The specifications are important, but they’re not what are going to make you remember a certain brand or model. Marketing for cars focuses on the driving experience, or how comfortable it is for a long road trip, not how large the engine capacity is or whether it takes diesel or petrol. 

That’s not to say specifications aren’t important, but they’re secondary; a customer will start looking at them only if they’re already interested in the product or service. Start with a story, and back it up with the credentials afterwards.

Audience is everything

Before even thinking about an effective strategy to sell your products or services, you need to consider your audience. What do they do, what do they need and why? How, when and where do they buy? Look at key trends within your target market, and adapt your marketing plan to match it. 

Once you get into the heads of your target audience, you can adapt your selling points accordingly. Remember that car advert? If you wanted to target young families, you could highlight the vehicle’s safety features, but if you’re wanting to attract young professionals, you’re more likely to focus on how stylish it is. 

Why you?

So, you’ve told a story that is perfectly aimed at your audience and you’ve backed it up with high-end specifications. Chances are, though, you won’t be the first person providing the same services and products as you do. Don’t ignore your competitors, because your potential customers won’t! You need to focus on your Unique Selling Proposition (USP), or what makes you stand out from the crowd. What do you offer that your competitors don’t? Make sure this is clear; it could be the one thing that turns a browser into a customer.

And of course, make sure your products and services are presented beautifully on a professional-looking website. Go Sitebuilder offers a 14-day free trial and has specially designed ecommerce features – try them out today!