Website design – Page 4 – Go Sitebuilder

April 25, 2020April 21, 2020

What are website templates?

Portrait of nice lovely attractive cheerful cheery positive couple choosing their website design on Go Sitebuilder

When using a website builder to design your website, the first step will often be to pick out a website template. A recent study showed that 88% of browsers will not return to a website if they experience a single poor user experience. Therefore, having a great website design is incredibly important, and website templates are the start for this.

Website templates provide a structure and web design to your website. They often come with a pre-assigned layout for menus and navigation, but can also be easily changed if you want to personalise them.

Often the design of your website template will impact the theme of your website and how visitors interact and view your website. Depending on which website builder you use there will be different website templates and designs, often grouped by type of website.

How to choose a template

Often when you sign up to a website builder you are given a range of templates to choose from to build your website on. Each template will have slightly different designs and (potentially different) features, therefore choosing the right one for your website can be difficult. Look through a few designs in detail before choosing one to use for your website. With Go Sitebuilder, we help you choose a perfect template for you by showing you preferred templates according to your industry. For example, this is the selection you’d see if you were trying to build a website for a beauty salon:

The Importance of Choosing the Right Template for you

Given the wide range of website templates on the various different website builders, choosing the right one to suit your business or blog is very important. Your website theme will be impacted by which template you choose. Therefore, the web design and navigation aspects of your website will also be affected depending on which template you choose and how you personalise it.

When picking your website template consider the following questions:

Does the design link to my brand image?

Does the design immediately tell your customers the type of business you are? If you are running a travel blog your design will be very different to that of an accounting firm.

Do I need to pay for this website template?

Website builders often have a range of templates, some of which are free website templates and some which have a fee attached to them.

Does it have the features I need?

For example, a photography business will need to be able to show a gallery, whereas a business which uses online sales will need an e-commerce website template.

Does the website builder allow me to modify the template?

There is no point choosing a website template if you are not able to change aspects of the website to incorporate your information and style.

Different features of website templates to look out for

When choosing your website template there are a number of different features you may want to look out for. Some of these features will depend on the type of website you are building, whereas others are good to have no matter what website you are designing.

Some of the most common features to look out for are:

E-commerce website templates: these are useful for business selling products online. Features to look out for on e-commerce website templates are:

The ability to take payment
How products are shown on your website
Ability to show discounts of offers on your products
Delivery options
Ability to group products into categories, thus making the user experience easier to find the products they are looking for
Order status – the ability to keep your customers updated on the status of their purchase

Image galleries: particularly important for photography businesses or travel businesses. Look for different layout options and the ability to add more information about each photograph.

Image editor: useful for quickly editing your images as you upload them

A blog feature: the ability to create informal content will increase interaction between visitors and your business. Look for features such as the ability to categorise your blog posts and an unlimited number of blogs.

Contact forms: this allows customers to contact you easily from the website, allowing you to respond and foster a customer relationship easily.

Responsive design: the ability to view and edit your website for mobile phones or tablets. This is especially important as many people will be viewing your website on a mobile device

Social Media Integration: this could include the ability to link certain blog posts to Instagram posts or simple links to social media profiles in the header of your website.

If you need a great website builder, then look no further than Go Sitebuilder. With a wide range of website templates, our simple website builder design means you can have a professional looking website up and running in minutes. Try our 14-day free trial today!

April 23, 2020April 21, 2020

How to choose the best domain name for your website

Happy satisfied man choose the best domain name for his website on his laptop computer

Choosing a domain name can seem like a daunting task; it needs to be on-brand, reflect what your company does, and, well, sound good! Don’t worry though, if you follow some tips and tricks then choosing the right domain name can be easier than it seems!

Keep your domain name simple

First of all, think of some of the most famous domain names you know; Google, Facebook, YouTube. What have they got in common? They’re all short and simple. Even if you want to make sure your customers know you sell a wide variety of products, having a domain name of pineoakmahoganyandwalnutchairs.com is clunky and difficult to remember. The simpler the name, the easier it will be for people to remember.

Be wary of awkward spellings and using punctuation as this could confuse users and lead to them misspelling your domain name. For example, h4ppych4irs.com, happychairz.com or happy-chairs.com are more likely to get misspelt than a simple happychairs.com.

Make sure your domain name represents your brand identity

Your domain name might be the first thing a potential customer sees of your company, so it’s important it reflects your brand identity. If you already have a company name – great, you can just use that, but if it has already been taken or you’re still deciding on the perfect name, here are some ideas to help you choose.

A good brandable name has no specific meaning (Instagram/TikTok), it’s unique, easy to memorise and importantly, it can be easily pronounced and spelt correctly without having to see it written down.

Brainstorm some ideas of what you want your brand identity to be, and then look up those words in a thesaurus to give you some more ideas. You can also use a domain name generator like Domain Wheel for inspiration.

Optimise your domain name for SEO

Having a simple, memorable domain name means you’re already optimising your domain name for SEO, as the easier your domain is to read, the better a search engine will rank you as your domain is accessible and usable.

Using keywords in your domain name is great, as it makes it obvious to both search engines and users what your company is all about. However, you want to make sure that you don’t sacrifice the previous points in order to stuff keywords in; best-wooden-chairs-uk.com is obviously keyword targeted and Google now associates this type of domain name with spammy and low-quality websites.

Choose a domain extension that makes sense

In an ideal world, we’d all choose our domain name and then slap a .com on it. Having a .com domain extension (also called TLDs, or top-level domains) is the best option as it is good for SEO purposes, looks professional, and is more likely to get traffic. People are more familiar with .com, and assume that all websites will end with this extension.

Although over half of all websites do use the .com extension, there are downsides to it. First, they’re the most popular, so it’s likely that your perfect domain name has already been taken. Secondly, .com is invariably the most expensive, so if you’re strapped for cash, a .com might not be available for you.

Thankfully, more interesting domain extensions are being used more and more, with TLDs such as .store, .co and .ly becoming popular. We’ve written more about this in a previous blog on TLDs, but one thing to bear in mind is that if your company is location specific, using a regional domain extension could work for you. This is because Google will automatically geo-target your site and make it more visible for people in that country, bringing in relevant traffic.

Buy domain names similar to the one you’ve chosen

If you’ve got the money to do so, it’s a good idea to buy common misspellings of your domain name. This prevents competitors registering versions similar to yours and can also be a useful tool to redirect visitors to your site if they didn’t get the domain name right the first time. This also holds true for different domain extensions – if you’ve got a .co.uk extension, consider buying common alternatives like .com, .net or .org.

Check the domain name’s history

First, make sure you google the domain name you’ve chosen to make sure it doesn’t already exist – otherwise it’s back to the drawing board! It’s also a good idea to make sure that the domain hasn’t previously been used for other things that would negatively impact your site. Tools like Wayback machine give you snapshots of what the site looked like in the past, and Who.is can show you who used to own the domain, and who the domain registrar (provider) was.

If you’ve got a domain name ready to then why not choose Go Sitebuilder to help you build your website? You can get your domain name free through our package, and our ready to go themes and website builder will give you all the tools you need to get a website that represents your company and your brand. Try our free 14-day-trial today!

April 22, 2020April 21, 2020

How do you make money selling handmade items?

Cheerful vigorous woman making money by selling handmade items online using Go Sitebuilder

Do you have amazing handmade gifts that are not selling as well as you hoped? No matter how unique your products are, they will not sell unless you utilise as many platforms as possible to promote your items. With 76% of UK consumers buying nearly half of their Christmas present online, there has never been a better time to market your gifts online

There are various methods for selling products, ranging from selling on social media platforms, through a built in ecommerce service in your website builder, or using other platforms such as Etsy.

In this blog we will take you through the different ways to make money by selling handmade items. Read on to find out more!

Have a Unique Product

When there is so much competition for selling the best handmade gifts on the market, having a unique product that you believe in can really help sales. The product you make should be easy to market and you must ensure you know everything there is to know regarding your gift.

When devising a way to sell your product you should think through the following questions to devise the best marketing strategy:

What price should I sell my product at?
Who is the target audience?
Can my product be sold as part of a set? (for example a hat, scarf and gloves)
Can my product be personalised to increase sales and price?

Sell Direct

In order to show your amazing handmade gifts in the best light it is important to have a website where you can promote and sell your products. You can use your web design skills using website builders, creating a visually stunning and useful website for selling your gifts. Selling directly through your website also allows you to take 100% of the profits, which you can reinvest into making more handmade gifts.

However, when choosing a website builder, make sure to choose one that has an ecommerce service. This means it has a way to market and sell products on your website, using online payment. Features to look out for are:

Pricing of individual products and collections
Capacity to upload high quality product photographs
Ability to take payment
A way to take reviews of your products and display them
A way to sort your products in different ways (e.g. by popularity or price)

If designed and marketed correctly this can be a highly effective way of increasing awareness about your products and creating a loyal customer base.

Use a Third Party Site

Many businesses that sell homemade gifts use a third party site to showcase their products. Sites such as Etsy and Not on the High Street allow businesses to showcase their products on their sites. The benefits of these platforms is the reach they have. More visitors means there is a higher likelihood of sales and increased exposure of your website.

The site you choose will depend on your product and how you want it marketed as both sights are visually different. Generally Not on the High Street is a little more expensive and often personalised, whereas Etsy has a larger selection of gifts at all prices. Often these sites take a small percentage of each sale you make, so although it’s easy to set up, it can be more expensive than setting up your own site in the long run.

Utilise Social Media

Social media is a great way to market your handmade items, there are low costs and a large audience. With so many businesses using social media for these reasons it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. However, there are certain ways to use social media to your advantage and stay ahead of the competition.

Having a presence across all platforms is essential in gaining followers. The most important sites for marketing goods are Instagram and Facebook. But other sites such as tumblr may also help. A persistent presence across social media platforms allows more people to interact with your business and your products. Ensure you are:

Posting regularly with relevant content
Using high quality images
Using hashtags (these should be relevant to your post and content)
Collaborating with others (this may include creating something together for a collection, or tagging high profile craft businesses in your photographs)
A public account (so that everyone can see your photos)
Utilising the sale features on sites such as Instagram to promote your products
Linking to your website

So if you are ready to start promoting and selling your products online then then look no further than Go Sitebuilder, an easy and professional website builder. We have an ecommerce platform built into our website builder for no extra cost, making us the cheapest website builder in the UK with this feature. Our simple ready to go website templates mean you can have a professional looking website up and running in minutes. Try our 14-day free trial today!

April 21, 2020May 19, 2020

8 best beauty salon websites for design inspiration 2020

Woman choosing hair color in dye catalog in one of the best beauty salon websites for design inspiration in 2020

The most successful beauty salons have stunning websites that entice more customers to come through their doors. Given that it takes most website visitors only half a second to make a judgement on your website, making a good first impression is incredibly important. From portraying your beauty services to consolidating a brand image, a well designed website can significantly help your beauty business.

We’ve picked out some of the best beauty salon websites for web design inspiration so you can design the best website for your salon.

Find your Brand and Stick to it

website with woman and hairdryer — Source: drybar

This homepage for drybar clearly tells the visitor what services the beauticians at this beauty salon offer. There is a simple design, incorporating only three colours: grey, yellow and white, which creates a cohesive website design and makes the site – and brand – more memorable. There is a clear call to action on the homepage, which is easily achievable with a website builder, so the visitor knows what services are offered within moments of clicking on the page.

Keep it Simple

website with woman cleaning face — Source: HEYDAY

The website for skincare fanatics, Heyday keeps a minimalist web design, something easily achieved through a website builder. A high quality image with a plain background gives the site a professional look, and the call to action is prominent on the page without being brash. This web design shows how a simple idea executed well gives your website a sleek, stylish feel. We wrote a blog on how images enhance your website to help you make your images work for you.

Use Marketing Tools

Empty information form for toni&guy — Source: TONI&GUY

The hair and beauty salon TONI&GUY have created an incredibly effective website for many aspects of web design. One of the useful aspects of many website builders is the ability to create a pop up which can portray a message to visitors as soon as they enter the website. This is what the web designers at TONI&GUY have used, giving an opportunity for visitors to subscribe to their emails as soon as they enter the website. This means that even if your visitors don’t buy anything, you can follow up with an email to showcase your services.

Key Messages

website homepage dark background white text — Source: NineZeroOneSalon

The beauty salon Nine Zero One has created a web design which incorporates stunning images and quotes trying to encapsulate the ethos of the salon. This quote on their homepage is large and creates high impact, it also is effective in separating this salon from others in the business.

Bright Colours

green background website screenshot — Source: BLEACH

Bleach London have come up with a unique website to draw visitors in. The use of bright colours and bold graphics represents their beauticians mission to create new and interesting hairstyles in their beauty salon. Use this as a starting point for web design inspiration, and think about what colours best represent your beauty salon.

Create an Aesthetic

website screenshot of Naf salon — Source: NAF!Salon

Featured in Vogue’s best beauty salons in the UK, NAF! Salon’s website is a visual masterpiece. A clear aesthetic of pastel colours and bold writing, easily achievable through a website builder, matches cohesively with the photographs of the salon. There is a bold mission statement above the name which is reflected throughout the web design and website, in gorgeous nail art photographs and high quality videos.

Link your Instagram

One way to showcase your beauty services is to link your instagram to your website. This allows you to share images easily across both platforms simultaneously. The talented nail beauticians at Pastille have done exactly that by showing their best designs on their website. Obviously this means your instagram should be regularly updated so that your website stays up to date with the latest beauty trends.

Effective Organisation

dropdown menu for Treatwell website — Source: Treatwell

Treatwell is a service which connects beauty salons with clients. There are thousands of salons and services provided at Treatwell, which means their website must be intuitive and easy to navigate. Their clear web design and use of menus and blogs makes this possible; although there is a large variety their navigation doesn’t look overcrowded as each one opens a drop down menu with more information. This allows visitors to connect with beauticians and beauty salons in their local area without getting overwhelmed with information.

So if you’re ready to start designing your beauty salon website, take a look at Go Sitebuilder’s ready to go templates. Creating a captivating website design couldn’t be more simple. Try Go Sitebuilder today; our free 14-day trial gives you the ultimate freedom to design the perfect website for your beauty salon!

April 20, 2020April 21, 2020

How can a photographer make money online?

Amazed woman looking at a Go Sitebuilder photography website on a smart phone which is making money online

You’ve taken the perfect shot. The lighting is good, the angles are on point and the image has captured everything you wanted it to. But where do you display such a stunning photograph online? As a professional photographer, there is endless demand for your work online: businesses, bloggers, and social media influencers all rely on professional photographers to advertise their content.

Considering that 75% of shoppers rely on product photographs when shopping on an e-commerce store, your work can be high in demand amongst those who sell products online. But how do you get yourself out there, and make money online?

Build your portfolio

Before you start putting together your portfolio, it’s important to ask yourself what your style is. By working out what kind of photography you enjoy, you can build your image in a way that’s individual and unique to you. Perhaps you have a certain way of editing your photos, or enjoy taking pictures of certain things: whatever you decide, it is important to remain consistent so that the person who views your portfolio can get a good idea as to what kind of professional photographer you are.

When building your portfolio, don’t just throw together a bunch of images and let the viewer decide for themselves which ones are the best. By crafting your portfolio so that you only include your very best pieces of work, you are proving to the viewer that your photographs are worth investing in.

Even the order you put your images in can be crucial – Brian Dilg, the head of the New York Film Academy, advised that the first image must be the best one out of all your photographs.

Have a beautiful site design

Just as an artist tries to make their exhibition as aesthetic as possible, you want to display your images in a way that is visually appealing. As your aim as a professional photographer is to make money online and become more visible, people will be more likely to purchase your images for e-commerce purposes if you have a stunning website design.

Luckily, to create a beautiful site design you don’t need to be an expert in coding: website builders such as Go Sitebuilder offer a huge range of ready to go website designs, enabling you to display your photographs in a way that is attractive to anyone who visits your site.

According to the Stanford Web Credibility Research, the credibility of a company is 75% based on their website design – by displaying your images in an appealing way, you are not only able to show off your skills as a photographer, but you’re also telling them that you’re a professional who takes their work seriously, meaning they are more likely to want to invest in your work.

Tell a story

Whilst a picture might be worth a thousand words, actually telling your personal story, or giving the visitor some information behind a certain photograph helps build a relationship between the site visitor and yourself. The best way to do this is by writing blogs: by writing about your inspiration behind a certain image, you can convey your passion for photography, telling the site visitor that you would be completely committed to delivering them the highest quality photos.

Blogging is also an invaluable tool for SEO – if you want to increase your visibility on the internet, then including relevant keywords within your blog that are highly searched for means that Google is more likely to index your site, ranking you highly on its search engines. This means that you’re much more likely to see a higher traffic flow to your site and, by repeatedly blogging, Google knows to reindex your site, so that you’re much more likely to stay at a high position.

Utilise social media

Overlooking the importance of social media is a huge mistake: it is a free way to market your photography, once you’ve built up a good following. Considering that most social media users log into their accounts at least once a day, creating a strong social media platform is a fantastic way to not only draw in existing fans of your work, but to also reach out to new potential customers.

By having a strong social media following, you’re showing that you are not only a professional photographer, but that your work is also popular, meaning you’re high in demand. This is an attractive prospect, especially for someone who wants to use your photography for e-commerce purposes, meaning that you’re much more likely to make money online.

As you’ll want to focus on shooting the best photographs you can, you won’t want to spend endless hours building your own website from scratch. This is why Go Sitebuilder is one of the best website builders for those who don’t have endless hours of time on their hands: we offer ready to go sites that can be crafted to suit your own image. Our free 14-day trial means you can try Go Sitebuilder today, so that you can build your own site completely hassle-free!

April 19, 2020April 21, 2020

How do I create an event planning website?

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

Any successful event planning business has a professional website to present their services. Whether you are a wedding planner or party planner having a website is vital to gaining more customers and increasing awareness of your event management services.

There are a few options when designing an event planning website. Most businesses will choose a website builder that suits them and has a wide range of features and designs, allowing you to easily create a professional event management site. Find one that suits your budget and has the features you require.

In this blog we have outlined the best ways to create an event planning website and some helpful hints and tips to get you started.

Have a Strong Brand Image and Aesthetic

The best event management sites have a strong brand image and aesthetic to their website. Creating a unique brand image is important in a customer facing business such as event planning, and is vital to ensure your business stands out from the rest. When creating a brand image, ensure to keep this image across all platforms, including social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook.

There are certain features in web design that you can think through when creating a brand image, such as:

Colour scheme – is your wedding planning business focused on light pastel shades or a bright bold colour scheme?
Font – do you want a unique artistic font for your party planning or a more simple design?
Logo – does your event management business have a logo to represent it?
Photographs and Images – do your images fit with the brand image of your event management services? Are they high quality?

Still confused over how to create a brand image? Check out this blog on the best event planning websites!

Think about Layout and Navigation

How a visitor navigates your event management site is incredibly important in ensuring their user experience is the best it can be. Having an intuitive website means visitors are likely to spend more time exploring your website, which could lead them to contact you for your services.

Many website builders have different options when it comes to navigation and layout. These often impact the way photographs and menus are configured on a page. Many websites opt for a header on their website to display their menu, allowing visitors to easily access different sections of their website.

wedding marquee website homepage — Source: Bridal Bliss

This image is from a wedding planner’s website, Bridal Bliss. As you can see there is a clear header at the top of the page which gives different options to other pages on their website. Their brand image and aesthetic is cohesive and clearly presents their wedding planning in a professional way.

Alternatively, you could opt for a layout like this wedding planner Wink! Once you click on the menu icon a drop down menu appears of their services. This can allow for a more minimalist look to your website. For more ideas checkout our navigation blog post.

Compile a List of Services

Without a comprehensive list of your services, visitors to your website may not be clear as to what you offer, meaning they might choose another event management site over yours. However you have chosen to layout your website, having a section dedicated to services is incredibly important to show your full range of services.

Whether this includes the kind of packages you can offer as a wedding planner, the types of venues you manage as a party planner or the different levels of services you can provide as an events coordinator, having clear information on your services can be very helpful for visitors.

Types of event management services you could think about including are:

Venue hire
Photographer/ other vendors
Organising catering
Sending invitations/ promotional activities
Ceremonies (e.g. weddings)
Coordinations between various groups involved in the event

These are only a few examples, but the more information on your website the better! Another way many websites show this information without making their website cluttered is by linking a document with the different levels of services on. This ensures visitors get all the information they need and your web design is not compromised.

Photographs

Having high quality photographs to showcase your event management is vital in gaining more customers and spreading the word on your event planning. Photographs are the easiest way to show the kind of events you can create and how popular they are.

When choosing photographs think through the following things:

Are your photos high quality?
Do they show a successful event?
Do they represent your brand image?
Are the people in the photos enjoying your event?

If the answer to these questions is yes then the photographs will work well on your website. Many website builders will also have different gallery functions, allowing you to show your photographs however you want.

Ready to create an event planning website? If you are looking for a good website builder for your company, then look no further than Go Sitebuilder. With built in galleries and multiple layout options, our simple website builder design means you can have a professional looking website up and running in minutes. Try our 14-day free trial today!

April 18, 2020April 21, 2020

Why is navigation so important on a website?

Core Features to Look For in a Site Builder

Well thought through navigation can make the difference between a visitor spending 30 seconds on your website or one hour. If your website navigation is too complex or poorly designed visitors will be put off quickly and may not decide to continue exploring your website. Therefore, by properly planning your website navigation, your visitor’s user experience will be improved significantly. This blog outlines some of the key reasons why you should keep navigation in mind when designing a website.

What is Website Navigation?

Website navigation refers to the way a visitor will access different sections of your website. This often includes features such as links and menus embedded in your website design.

What Different Types of Navigation are There?

There are a few different options websites opt for in terms of navigation. One is having a header at the top of the website, this is either fixed (staying on your screen as you scroll) or stationary (moving with your screen as your scroll – thus disappearing). Below is the Manchester United website’s homepage, as you can see there is a header with various titles. This allows visitors to easily navigate to sections of the website they are interested in.

Alternatively you could opt for a drop down menu. This is often signified by three horizontal lines or simply the word menu. When visitors click on this they are given various options for different areas of the website. This can be very effective if you want a more clean and simple look to your webpage. A menu option can also be better for mobile phone viewing of your website. Clothing retailers will often use these to section their website into women and mens, as in this example of the Pull & Bear website.

https://www.pullandbear.com/gb/woman-c1030007507.html

Some websites combine both together to create multiple navigation options. See Gourmet Burger Kitchen’s homepage below, where the top bar menu opens up into a translucent extra menu without taking you off the homepage.

So Why is Navigation Important?

Navigation that has been well thought out can be very effective in gaining more interest in your website. There are a variety of reasons for this:

Increased Duration of Visit – navigation that is easy to understand and use, will increase the amount of time visitors spend on your website. If a visitor can access the different areas of your website they were looking for easily, there is a higher chance of them staying on your website longer.

Increased Chance of Sales – more time spent on your website means visitors are exposed to your products/services for a longer period of time. Therefore, if your website is being used to sell products, navigation can be particularly important in increasing sales.

Improved User Experience – an easy to use navigation system on your website makes using your website a more enjoyable experience. Therefore, visitors will be more likely to spend more time on your website and they are more likely to revisit your website.

Good Design – navigation and website design go hand in hand. The style of navigation you choose can alter how your website is viewed by visitors. Therefore, ensuring that your choice of navigation fits in well with the rest of your website design is extremely important.

The best websites will have thought through various factors before they decide on the type of navigation that works best for them. Some questions to ask yourself are:

What kind of products/services are you selling? What is the best way to organise them?
Can you group your products/services/content under umbrella themes or titles?
How many titles do you need?
If there are many titles would a drop down menu be easier?
Which type of navigation would fit in best with your website design?
Who is your target audience?
Does your navigation style work on a mobile phone or tablet?

If you consider these questions before creating your website you will create the best navigation for your products/services/content. When thinking about them, always try and have the fewest number of titles possible, as too many make your site look cluttered and confusing to navigate.

Still unsure? Take a look at these examples of the best types of navigation. Many website builders will also have many different options that you can experiment with.

If you are looking for a good 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. With different types of navigation there are so many options for your new website, and with Go Sitebuilder you can rest assured that all our websites are fully optimised for both desktop, tablet and mobile devices, regardless of the navigation style you choose. Try our 14-day free trial today.

April 17, 2020April 20, 2020

What are the best designed football websites in 2020?

Group Of Children In Soccer Team Celebrating With Coach

Looking for inspiration for your football website? Have an amazing club that needs a website update? Or simply wanting to share your football commentary? Look no further than this blog post! Here are some of the best football websites in 2020. With professional designs and interesting information these websites are some of the best examples out there.

Best Websites for Clubs:

Below are some of the best examples of football club websites. Although these examples are of professional clubs with large budgets, you will still be able to achieve a professional website with many of the same features with a website builder. Look at some of the best features of these websites and consider including them in your own.

Manchester United

Screenshot of https://www.manutd.com/ homepage — *Screenshot of* ***https://www.manutd.com/*** *homepage*

The most visited football club’s website in the world with a staggering 8.6 million visitors per year a list of the best football websites could not be compiled without mentioning Manchester United. With video clips, photographs and bold eye-catching design it is no wonder so many visitors are attracted to it. Even without the name of Manchester United your club can benefit from learning from their website, especially the use of contrasting colours and fonts.

FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona has created an effective, informative website regarding their players and games. The scores for their most recent games are visible on the homepage of their website, with a feature that allows visitors to scroll through their three most recent games.

Another great feature of this website is their meet the players section which gives statistics on different players. This allows fans to connect to individual players. If you are designing your own website for a club consider having a section to introduce different players to add a personal touch to your website.

Best Opinion/Information Websites:

Do you aspire to be on Match of the Day? Or do you simply enjoy sharing your football knowledge with the world? The way you present your ideas and opinions on your website will make a difference in how many people keep up to date with new content. A well designed website can mean more interaction from fans which will help you keep your ideas fresh and relevant.

101 Great Goals

This website updates regularly with football news and opinion pieces. The layout is simple with each story linked to a photograph, making a visually appealing website design. Another interesting feature of this website is the live streaming feature. Although this may not be feasible with your website, having video and photographic content can help more people engage with your ideas and news.

The Anfield Wrap

The Anfield Wrap is run by avid Liverpool FC fans and keeps other Liverpool aficionados up to date on all news related to the club. Immediately upon entering the homepage you are struck by a bold red header which clearly shows the title of the page and has images relating to the content of their blog.

Another key aspect the Anfield Wrap utilises well is the use of a bold header linking to many other different parts of their website. This header stays in place as you scroll, allowing the visitor to click to any section whenever they like.

Caught Off Side

Caught off side is an iconic football blog informing visitors of news and gossip from the football world. The eye-catching design of cartoon versions of clubs kits is colourful and effective, and links to more information about each club.

They keep their website updated regularly with the position of clubs in the league tables. Football news is also relevant and organised by the league so visitors can easily find the type of news they want. Remember; your target audience is a key consideration when building your website and will help you decide what content to update your site with.

If you are looking for a good website builder to create an engaging and informative football website, then look no further than Go Sitebuilder! Our simple software means you can have a professional looking website up and running in minutes, and you can try different templates to find the one that fits you – and your favourite team – best. Try our 14-day free trial today.

April 12, 2020April 9, 2020

What kind of photography is most in demand?

Photographer taking photographs of a model to upload to Go Sitebuilder

Being a professional freelance photographer is the dream for many people. You can turn your hobby into a profession without being tied to an office or a specific industry. If you’ve been thinking about ways to supplement your income with photography or even start up your own freelance photography business, you need to see what photography services are most in demand.

Family and portrait photography

This could be one of the most common forms of freelance photography. Before you start, think of a niche to help you stand out from the crowd; are you a lighting whiz that specialises in more posed, professional-looking photos, or do you have the people skills to make people laugh and feel at ease for more candid images? Capitalise on your skills and you’ll find yourself getting busy very quickly!

As this type of photography is very area-based, you will rely heavily on word of mouth to build clients, so make sure that your clients leave your photoshoot having had a positive experience.

Event photography

You might just be thinking of wedding photography, but freelance photographers are often hired to cover a plethora of different events, including birthdays, christenings, corporate meals and charity events.

The hardest thing with event photography is working out a price for your work; a beginner wedding photographer could charge around £1000, for example, whereas an experienced one is likely to charge a minimum of £5000. Remember events are often poorly managed, overrun and you might have to deal with the occasional stressed-out event organiser, so make sure it is worth your time.

Headshots

Corporate headshots can be a very lucrative job once you’ve broken into the market and have a couple of high-quality examples in your portfolio. And it can be fun; many companies are moving away from the stiff, suited-up pained smile and are going for more dynamic images. You’ll need to be adaptable, easy-going and a good people person to make sure your clients feel comfortable in front of the camera. Once they’ve had one good experience with you, businesses are more likely to hire you for more gigs such as events, meetings and team photos!

Taking professional acting headshots is another niche that can make you some money; you can charge upwards of £400 for a session. This is a good option if you are skilled at lighting and like the artistic side of portraiture, but make sure you have some decent experience and are confident in this style; they’re likely to have high standards!

School photography

If you like to be busy, why not approach the schools in your area and offer to do photography for them? Most schools aim to have pictures taken not only of individual students, but also of year groups, sports teams and the whole school once a year. This could end up being thousands of images per school, and another good way of getting income from your photography.

This will require a lot of planning, and it’s a good idea to hire an assistant if you’re going to be taking photos for a large school.

Product photography

If someone has a fantastic product, they’re going to need a beautiful photo of it to make sure it sells. Product photography is a huge part of digital marketing, and could be a great way to make money. Do you know anybody that is just starting out with a new product? Offer to take their photos for a small charge, and use their images in your portfolio; once you’ve got examples of your work, people are much more likely to hire you for their own products.

Social media photography

Instagram is one of the most popular social media sites, and it relies almost entirely on beautiful images. Around 71% of businesses use Instagram to promote their company, which means you can capitalise on this by offering to take photos for them. You can contact local businesses and offer “social media packages” where you edit the photos and crop them to the perfect size for Instagram or Facebook. They can then use these photos for advertising on social media sites, which is an important part of any business.

Real Estate photography

If you like nosing around other people’s houses and you’ve got a wide-angle lens, then real estate photography is a great option. Try approaching your local estate agent and compare their amateur photography with some examples of your own well lit, perfectly composed interior photos. When looking for a house to buy or rent, the images are hands down the most important part for house hunters and will be the deciding factor as to whether they get in contact with the estate agent or not.

There are many ways that you can turn your photography hobby into a profitable business, you just need to decide which route to take. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to make a website to show off your skills! Our website builder gives you beautiful ready made web designs with one-click image galleries so that you can highlight your best work at the touch of a button – read our blog on how to create the best photography website for some more ideas. Try our 14-day free trial today and see where your photography skills can get you.

April 11, 2020May 19, 2020

What are the most common operating expenses of an online business?

business owners expenses of an online business

Whether you’re taking your business to the next level by building a website, or making your first steps onto the e-commerce world, it’s important to get the foundations of building a website right. Considering that, by 2040, it’s been estimated that 90% of purchases will be through e-commerce, it’s key that you have a smoothly running website, with a beautiful website design.

If there are cracks in your website – maybe it takes too long to load, or maybe the website design is slightly off – then people are less likely to stay on your website, meaning a lower number of users are going to purchase your products or services. To prevent this from happening you’ll need to make sure your e-commerce business is set up correctly – but how can you do this, and how costly is it all?

SEO strategy

SEO – search engine optimisation – is paramount if you want your online business to be visible on the internet. The benefits of SEO are fairly simple: the higher Google ranks you on its search engine, the more likely it is that you will see a higher flow of traffic to your site. In fact, Moz has calculated that the top ranking site alone will receive 30% – 40% of traffic.

What is slightly confusing about SEO is the strategy behind it. Some people will therefore employ SEO specialists to help boost their rankings, but this is a very expensive option. However, you don’t need to spend thousands a month to increase your SEO rating. High quality content and link building are one of the key things that Google looks for when indexing sites: by writing blogs which answer popular queries, containing keywords that are commonly searched for, you’re telling Google that your content is relevant and therefore should be listed highly on its search engine.

SSL certificate

An SSL certificate is a must when building an e-commerce website, as it shows the site user that your website is protected, and therefore the visitor’s personal information is safe. For e-commerce purposes, this is incredibly important: no one will want to hand over their card details if they think hackers can infiltrate the site and steal their details.

From an SEO perspective, having an SSL certificate is also essential: Google won’t want to index a site which isn’t secure and therefore poses a risk to its users. It will sometimes even block visitors from accessing your site, meaning it is almost impossible to have a steady flow of traffic to your site.

Although it is essential to have an SSL certificate for your online business to be visible, it can be expensive. If you’re coding your website from scratch then you will have to purchase one through a third party, and most website builders charge an extra fee for an SSL certificate, on top of site builder costs. However, at Go Sitebuilder we include this within our package completely free of charge!

Website design fees

Of course, you will want a stunning website design to not only advertise your services or e-commerce section, but also to advertise your brand. A professional site design means site users are much more likely to view your online store as one that can be trusted. If you don’t have any knowledge of website design, then you may consider hiring a graphic designer.

However, this is a pricey option – the typical website design prices range from £2,000 – £6,000. Using a website builder that offers ready to go site designs can be a much more economical option: not only does it give a high-quality finish, but you can also customise your design, making your website personal to you.

E-commerce section

Undoubtedly, you need an e-commerce section for your online store: if you want to sell your products online, then you need a safe and secure checkout for people to easily access. The software service prices of having an e-commerce platform can vary from £20 a month to thousands of pounds. Most website builders also charge you extra on top of your standard monthly fee if you need an e-commerce platform, eating into your budget for your online store further. However, Go Sitebuilder offers this all as part of your package, meaning there are no hidden costs anywhere!

Building your website takes a lot of time and knowledge, and can be very expensive. Our website builder takes away the stress, and the potentially extortionate costs of starting a website by yourself, making us one of the best cheap website builders, without compromising on quality. Our free 14-day trial lets you test this for yourself – give it a go today!