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How do I know if a photo is copyrighted?

Woman looking at image on tablet. How do I know if a photo is copyrighted?

Using photos copied from the internet can be risky, and you could put yourself in danger of breaching copyright. Since the advent of the internet, it is so simple to right click and save an image, but to keep yourself safe you should never use that photo unless you know the regulations surrounding it! That’s what we’re here for – we’re going to let you know when an image is copyrighted, when it isn’t, and most importantly, when you can use it on your website.

Can you use any image from the web?

Quick answer – no! According to UK Law, when an image is created, it is copyright protected as the intellectual property of the creator. This is a process that happens automatically, so if you upload a picture on your website that you took, other people do not have the right to use it unless you give them permission. Copyright in the UK lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years from their death, but if the copyright has expired then you are free to use it.  

There are exceptions to copyright, which means you can use any image as long as it is used within limited situations. This includes non-commercial research, private study, and teaching. If you are using your website to sell a service, then you will be using photos for commercial use and copyright will apply. 

How can you tell if you can use a photo?

This is the tricky bit – if copyright is automatically applied without having to apply for it, there are no records on what is free to use. 

However, if a photo has a watermark (often the name of the company/creator written on the image), if it has the ⓒ symbol, or a caption that indicates ownership or sourcing, then it’s generally safe to assume this image is protected under copyright and you can’t use it. 

You might have found a picture that is free to use under the Creative Commons Licensing, but you’ll need to look at the wording in detail. Often these types of licenses are limited to non-commercial use. 

One good way to see if a photo is copyrighted is by reverse searching for the image. Right click on the image and select “copy image address”. Then paste this into Google Images or a site dedicated to reverse image search, like TinEye. This will show you where the image is used, and where it has come from. You can also install plugins for Firefox and Chrome to easily reverse search images. If it comes from a paid stock photo website like Adobe, then leave it be! 

A common question is whether you can use photos from social media, but in the UK, these pictures are still considered the intellectual property of the creator. Social media platforms do have terms in their contracts that mean they can reuse your content, but this doesn’t override existing copyright laws. Essentially, this means that the social media provider can re-use your material (for example, when someone shares your photo on their feed within the app) but that doesn’t mean that anybody can download your photo and pass it off as your own. 

How can you find copyright-free images?

If we’ve scared you, we didn’t mean to! It might seem like all photos are copyrighted, but there are loads of stock photos that are available to use. You can choose to pay for a stock photo provider, like Shutterstock or Adobe, but there are also loads of free stock photo websites that offer high quality photos – for nothing! Here is a list of some of our favourites, and you can use these images worry-free.

What happens if I use a copyrighted image on the web?

If you unknowingly use a photo that is copyright-protected, then you might be contacted and asked to purchase a one-off licence for the use of that photo. Or, if you have used more than one photo from the same creator, they may try and come to a commercial arrangement, where you can freely use their photos for an ongoing fee. 

In the worst case scenario, however, the creator could take legal action and take you to court. This usually ends up being very expensive, as the user will have to pay the licence of the photo, court expenses, and often financial compensation for the copyright infringement, as well as removing all photos by that creator from their site. If it is deemed that you deliberately infringed copyright, then there are criminal penalties. 

The best way to stay safe is never to use a photo if you’re not sure where it came from! If you don’t have a budget, you can use free stock images, but if you’re still on the hunt for a website builder to do so, why not try Go Sitebuilder? They have free access to thousands of stock photos so you won’t have to worry about copyright, as well as easy-to-use galleries and photo editors. Try our 14-day trial and see for yourself!

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How do you get more customers into your beauty salon

brand new interior of european beauty salon to get more customers using Go Sitebuilder

Attracting more customers to your beauty salon is vital to grow your business. New visitors can become loyal returning customers, and with the right marketing strategies, they can share their experiences of your business with friends and family. The nature of beauty salons is that word of mouth is one of the most important ways to spread the word surrounding your business. However, in order to do this you need to start by attracting more new customers. 

There are many ways you can attract new customers to your beauty salon. This article shows a few marketing strategies you could use to attract new clients and grow your customer base.

Effective Website Design 

A well designed website can significantly increase the number of customers that visit your salon. Visitors to your website will form a judgement on your website as soon as they see the first page, and according to Stanford Web Credibility research, 75% of people judge a business’s credibility by the design of its website. This means that when using a website builder, you need to make sure that your website looks professional and communicates your beauty salon’s atmosphere and ethos. 

In order to create an effective website there are a number of aspects you should consider. Often businesses such as beauty salons will consider matching certain aspects of their website to their beauty salon. For example they may have the same colour scheme on the walls of their salon as they have on their website. 

Key points to consider are:

  • Colour scheme 
  • Font 
  • Layout 
  • Logo
  • Photographs of your work 

Contact Options

The most savvy salons will have various contact options on their website to make booking a service as hassle free as possible. In order for potential customers to gain an insight into your business, you should consider showing your range of services. Also consider showing staff members’ specialities and the price of each service.

A great tool for your website is a contact form which can take personal details such as an email and full name. Having this information also allows you to contact the client after they visit your salon with offers or to remind them of the appointment. 

Your website should also provide details of how to contact your salon if the booking system does not work, or if there are more questions that the visitor has. You should include:

  • Phone number 
  • Email
  • Address

These should be displayed clearly at the bottom of your webpage. 

Clear Information

Another important facet of any website is providing important information to visitors that is easily accessible and simple to understand. This can be provided through sections on your website. Headings such as the titles listed below can be a good place to start to ensure you include all important information:

  • About Us 
  • Meet The Team
  • Price List 
  • Our Services
  • Find Us 
  • Contact Us
  • Frequently Asked Questions  

Having all relevant information on your website allows visitors to get a clear idea of your business.

Relevant Social Media 

Another important feature for any beauty salon is to have a presence on a range of social media platforms. Social media can increase the exposure of your beauty salon to new customers. Social media can also be a great way to showcase your work in a more informal manner. Instagram is one of the most-used forms of social media for beauty services, so photographs on this platform will help people discover your services and entice people to visit your salon. 

The most important aspect to remember when creating a social media presence is to post regularly and ensure your photographs are high quality and well lit. If you are not sure what kind of images would work well on social media then search for different beauty salons or beauty brands and you will get a feel for what makes a successful platform. 

Social media can also be a good way to communicate offers your salon may have. For example, you may offer a 10% student discount and through the use of social media you can advertise that to a wide range of people. 

This can be especially effective for short term offers, for example on Mother’s Day you may offer 20% off for mothers and daughters if they come in together. This discount can be sold through social media and requires a set of steps such as signing up to a mailing list or following your Instagram account. By setting out your offers in this way, you gain a new way to communicate in the long term with potential clients.

Brand Design 

In a market such as beauty the appearance of your business is extremely important in garnering new customers. Having a strong logo and design of your salon is vital in gaining new customers and getting them to come back again. Don’t feel you have time? There are loads of great free online tools to help you design a colour palette, like Colormind, or to design a quick and easy logo, like Looka.

If your salon has not had a redesign recently and you are seeing declining interest it may be time to revamp your brand. This can be as simple as redesigning your website to make it more user friendly or changing the colours you use in your salon. A professional website and design gives customers a sense of the professionalism of your business and allows them to connect to your services easier. Publicising your new look on your website and social media is another way to heighten interest in your salon.

If you don’t have a website yet, or you are looking to rebrand but can’t quite find the time, then Go Sitebuilder is a great option. Designed for simplicity and speed helps you get back to what you’re good at, our website builder means you can have a beautiful and professional-looking website up in minutes! There are even ready-made templates perfect for a beauty salon to save you time and hassle. Try our 14-day free trial today. 

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How to Create a Successful Events Website

Casual Catering Discussion Meeting Colleagues at an event

Are you looking at creating a website for your event? Keen to spread the word on a new exciting occasion? There are some easy steps you can take to raise awareness of your event and create a successful events website. 

Why Create an Events Website?

An events website can increase knowledge of your events and ultimately encourage more people to come to them. A website can communicate key information surrounding your event such as dates and location. Without a website, you are relying on word of mouth or press releases which may not reach as many people as a website can. 

A well-designed website can also portray key aspects of your events such as the event ethos or attract a certain target market depending on how you design and present your event. This is key in ensuring that people who would benefit the most from your event are finding your website easily and are easily directed to all the information they need to attend. 

What are the Key Features of an Events Website?

For every website there are some key features to consider. However, for an events website aspects such as dates, times, location and other details are the most important to communicate clearly with visitors to your website. Some key features to think through when designing your website are:

Important Information: For an events website it is vital you present the important information surrounding your event clearly on your website. This ensures that visitors know immediately about your event and whether or not they can attend. You must include information such as:

Date and Time of the event – Without the date and time visitors cannot know whether they can attend. The date and time should be clearly advertised on the first page or as a header to your website.  

Location and Transport – Perhaps include a Google Map link as well as an address. If the location is difficult to find consider including instructions on how to reach you. Try to include this for multiple types of transport, for example have the nearest train route as well as car directions.

Price – Ensure that you clearly show the price. If this is a multi-day event ensure that you have prices for each day if that is an option. Make sure to include how to purchase the tickets, whether this is on the door or over an online ticket site.  

Type of Event – Is this a music festival or a fundraiser? Or both? Try and present what kind of people will be at this event as well. For example is this a family friendly event, or something for young people? 

Accommodation – If your event spans over multiple days it may be wise to include information regarding accommodation. This may be camping or similar, or advice on where to find accommodation in the city. 

Eye-catching Design: In order for your website to attract as many people as possible, it is crucial to have an engaging website design. Using a good website builder will mean you will be able to easily add features which communicate aspects of your event without having to include paragraphs of content. 

Key aspects of good website design for an events website include: 

Colour and font – Two of the most important aspects of website design is picking a colour and font to use. Different colours portray different emotions or atmospheres. For example a family friendly music festival like Latitude may have bright colours, whereas a heavy metal festival like Download may opt for a darker colour scheme. 

Fonts can also have an impact on the type of event. Often events have a specific font they will use for their logo and throughout their website to create a brand image that is easily recognisable wherever it is used. 

Posters – Events will often have a poster designed which can be displayed on their website, social media platforms and put up around the location. This poster should be eye catching and include all relevant information (including a line up/schedule if this is relevant)

Layout – An effective events website will have a clear layout which is easy to navigate. This should include an ‘about’ page, information and ticket buying facilities (if relevant). Another key aspect many events pages include is a frequently asked questions (FAQs) page, which allows them to provide more information on specific questions regarding accessibility or food suppliers for example. 

A successful events website will consider all of the aspects above in order to attract as many people as possible and create an event which will be talked about for many years to come!

If you are looking to build a website or blog for your company, then look no further than Go Sitebuilder! Our simple design means you can have a professional looking website up and running in minutes, with easily shareable content and information to encourage as many people as possible to attend your events. Try our 14-day free trial today!

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How financial advisor websites turn visitors into clients

Financial advisor meeting with a customer in his office, he is explaining a contract document and policy to the woman sitting at his desk

The most successful financial advisor websites have effective methods of turning visitors into clients for their business. In an increasingly online world, having an effective website which showcases your services is key to engage clients and encourage them to contact you for your services.

In this article we will take you through some of the most important aspects to think through when trying to gain clients through your website. 

Building Trust in Client Relationships

One of the most important aspects in any business is to build successful, trusting relationships with clients. This leads to long term business partnerships that result in high satisfaction on both ends.

One way to do this through your website is to include credentials. By including credentials in your website the visitor is more likely to view your business as professional and trustworthy. 

Some types of credentials you could include are: 

  • Honours or awards gained by the company or personnel
  • Mentions of your firm or company members in the press 
  • Links to articles in major publications authored by your employees 
  • An infographic or statistics showing your company’s growth

These different types of credentials showcase your ability to work in a professional manner, showcasing the positive strengths of your business. 

Having Multiple Contact Options 

Another important feature of your website should be the contact options for visitors. Having a professional website will be wasted if there is no way for a visitor to contact you should they wish to. 

Making your contact options clear will lead to more customers to contact you. Most websites place these at the bottom of every webpage, so as to make them as easy to find as possible. 

Some examples of contact options are:

  • Email
  • Phone number 
  • Address 
  • Message Boxes – these often correspond to an email, but allow visitors to directly message from your website. 

Showing your Services 

With any business it is important to showcase the services you are providing, this is especially important for financial advisors. Clearly showing the type of financial advice you are offering will help gain clients and give them a better understanding of your business. 

This can be done through a range of methods. Creating content is one effective way; by showing case studies or videos clients can see the success stories of your work. Testimonials are extremely important; according to Vendasta, 92% of people look at reviews when considering a purchase. Alternatively, detailed descriptions of each service can be effective in communicating your services. 

Marketing Strategies

Different forms of marketing can help bring more visitors to your website. Certain strategies such as using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can increase the number of times customers come into contact with your business. The more visitors become familiar with your company the more likely they are to become a client. 

Another way to market your business can be through advertisements on sites such as Facebook and Google. This increases the number of people you are reaching and therefore can increase your client base.

An Easy to Navigate Website

Having an intuitive website encourages people to spend time engaging in your content. By laying out your website in a simple format visitors can clearly answer questions they have surrounding your business. 

When trying to turn visitors into clients it is important that visitors can find information easily. When using your website builder, you can choose to lay out your website in a number of ways, but the most important guidelines to follow are to make sure you are answering the core questions that your visitors will have when they arrive on your website:

  • Who are you?
  • What do you do?
  • Why should I choose you?
  • Where can I contact you?

These simple headings are just a starter, but already the visitor would have an understanding of your business. Make sure your navigation is simple and clear, and that in one or two clicks, a user can find the answers to all the questions above. 

Create Incentive

In such a competitive market having a feature which entices customers is important. One way to encourage visitors to become clients is to offer an incentive. This could come in the form of an offer or discount on your services. When framed correctly, an offer can bring in many new clients and not have negative impacts on your costs. These discounts can bring in new customers who may become long term clients. 

If you are looking for a website builder for your company, then look no further than Go Sitebuilder! Our simple design means you can have a professional looking website up and running in minutes, helping you turn visitors into clients. Try our 14-day free trial today.

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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 long does it take to build a website?

A male and a female sat at desk, looking at a laptop. The male is wearing a red hate and pointing to the laptop. The female is looking at the male.

You’ve decided your company needs its own website, and you’re ready to go. But how long will it take until you launch your website and welcome its first visitors?

The answer to this question varies considerably depending on the way you decide to build your website, and the features you want to include.

Hiring a web developer

If you want complete freedom to create a custom-built site, you’ll have to hire a professional web developer, where you’ll work together to make your vision a reality. This is what the process will look like: 

  1. You meet with the developer to discuss your requirements for the website.
  2. They create a mockup of the design and the sitemap for you to approve or ask for changes.
  3. The developer builds the website according to these specifications.
  4. The website is then sent to you for review, where you can ask for modifications until you are happy with the product.

This process typically takes around 14 weeks for a standard website, but could take longer depending on the complexity of the design and how many modifications you need. The main cause for a delayed website launch is lack of content, so make sure you have all the content prepared for the developers to upload as soon as it’s ready. 

This is a good option if you aren’t working on a deadline and you have a lot of specific requirements for your site. Hiring a web developer costs upwards of £5000, however, so you’ll need the financial resources to be able to go down this route.

Using a website builder

A website builder is the fastest – and cheapest – way to get a website up and running, because rather than relying on a web developer to create your design from scratch, you choose from a list of ready-made themes. Then you can customise it to fit your design, upload your content and you’re ready to go, even if you have no experience. Realistically, if you already have your content prepared, you could launch your website in a couple of hours. 

However, the website builder you choose is important. You need to make sure that they provide everything that you need at a price you can afford. If you realise that a website builder doesn’t give you the features you need after you’ve customised the design and uploaded your content, it’s a laborious process to start over again with another company. 

If you’re not ready to hire a website developer, or you’re in a rush to get your site online, then have a look at the features offered by Go SiteBuilder. If you register for their 14-day free trial you could have a beautifully designed website online today!

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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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Can you build a website for free?

Male business owner working from home and using his laptop to update this Go Sitebuilder website. He is wearing a blue v-neck t-shirt, sitting at a desk that has a mug, notebook and hard hat on.

If you’ve got a business you need a website. If you’re just starting out, though, is it worth shelling out a monthly sum for a paid domain when there are so many free options available? We look at the pros and cons of free website builders and building a website for free.

Why choose a free website?

With so many free website creators on the market, it’s easy to see why so many people have chosen the unpaid option to make their first digital footprint. Even if you don’t know anything about website design, they offer ready-made themes tailored to specific sectors that give your site a professional look in minutes. Many small companies start off on social media, and a free website offers a significant step up from a Facebook or Instagram page. Seems like a good deal, but there are limitations to a free website.

Why choose a paid website?

A free website provider normally has its drawbacks. First, you cannot get your own domain, but instead, have to piggyback on the name of the provider. One of the most popular free website creators, Wix, forces you to create an unwieldy and unprofessional web address along the lines of www.yourname.wixsite.com/yoursite. 

Another disadvantage is that most free websites cap their storage and bandwidth, which means you’ll be limited in the number of images, videos and blogs you’ll be able to upload. Restricted bandwidth will make your site slower, resulting in a worse user experience and a less visible site in terms of SEO.

The website may be free for you, but the providers need to make money through you somehow, which they do by cluttering up your page with their own adverts. The companies also bombard you with emails detailing all the features available in their paid version in a bid to get you to upgrade.

To decide whether it’s worth getting a free website rather than a paid one, then you need to look at your priorities. If you just want a web presence where you can show your services and upload blogs, then a free plan is all you need. However, if you are looking to grow your company, increase your SEO and need certain features such as online selling or mobile capability, then it might be better to look at a paid version. 

If you’re still not sure, Go SiteBuilder offers a 14-day free trial where you can see which features work for you and your business, as well as a team of experts on hand to offer support if you need it. Give it a go today!

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What is the best website builder?

A woman choosing the best website builder

If you are looking to build a website to create a personal online presence or to launch a new business idea, you’ll want to get the best one you can for an easily affordable price. Of course, there are literally hundreds of website builders to choose from so it can be somewhat confusing in terms of knowing which one to use. So, here’s our take on it.

First of all, don’t go cheap and cheerful. There are plenty of free site builders out there, but at the end of the day, you only get what you pay for. Free website templates may look good, but they don’t have enough flexibility built into them, and they don’t have much by way of technical support.

Expect user-friendly support

A lot of people will turn off at the mention of technical support. They fear they will be bombarded with meaningless jargon. That is not what you should expect from a top-line site builder. You have a right to expect user-friendly support that is helpful for complete newbies who know nothing about website construction, or that is useful to those who have a bit of basic knowledge but need a helping hand.

What defines a good website builder?

A good website builder gives you everything that you require in one complete package to build a professional-looking and performing website. Of course, it has to be simple to use. Ideally, it should also do a bit more than just give you the wherewithal to create the perfect website. It should also offer you a domain name, personalised email addresses, an online store (if you need one), and a blog. But there is something else that turns a good site builder into an exceptional one, and that is the quality of the customer service and experience.

Look for customer care that really cares

The majority of website building services only pay lip service to the customer experience. The product is generally good but the customer service merely suffices. What you need to find is a site builder that really cares about each individual client and their unique needs.

Here at Go Sitebuilder, our mission statement is to inspire and guide people to success online, and that is indeed what we do. It’s not just about providing you with a product. It’s about providing a complete package to help you realise your goal. Our customers are at the very heart of everything we do.

If you’re still unsure where to start with your website, drop us some questions at marketing@gositebuilder.com or simply get started with a free trial and use the live chat option to talk to our friendly customer success team.