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Featured Website: Yola

Normally we don’t like to toot our own horn, but hey, we’re pretty proud of this.  Today’s featured website is: Yola.

We’re excited to unveil our new website, designed to make it easier for you to discover all the great features Yola offers to help grow your business online.

Here’s a quick tour:

Homepage:  A snapshot of the important things to know before getting started.  Look through sites created by our users, watch a demo video, and learn about the key features of Yola.  You can log in or sign up in the top right corner.

Features: Did you know that with Yola, you can publish to mobile phones, Facebook (coming soon), and the web?  Or that we have business and marketing tools to help your business grow?  Learn more about our product suite in this section of our site.

Pricing: Want to sell your products online?  Need a custom domain name?  Or want someone to build your site for you?  Yola has the package you need – find it here.

Site Gallery: Looking for some inspiration?  Browse through a collection of sites made by Yola users like you.  With websites organized by category, you’ll be sure to find an idea that works for you.

About Us: Did you know that we were founded in Cape Town, South Africa five years ago?  Get a behind-the-scenes look at Yola and who we are in the “About Us” section.

Help: What’s a widget?  How can I get found on Google?  For answers to these questions and much more, visit our Help section.  Here you can browse our tutorials, ask our automated help tool, or drop us an email for more personalized help.

Underneath this new website is the same set of features you’ve come to know and love.  We’re quite fond of our new look, and know you’ll like it too.  Give it a whirl at www.yola.com, and contact us if you have any questions or comments.

Labels: Featured Websites,International Websites,News,Product,Releases | 1 Comment »

Featured Website: The Gorgeous Company

With a name like The Gorgeous Company, your website needs to deliver a stunning design. Their online store offers unique clothing and homeware all merchandised simply and elegantly. Using their easy to navigate drop down menus and clickable images, you can add gorgeous to your shopping cart and your life with ease!

At The Gorgeous Company we offer unique, luxurious and gorgeous items that we have sourced from all over the world at gorgeous prices. The site was built on the ethos of The Gorgeous Company, simplicity and gorgeousness. As a small start-up project and personally having an interest but no previous experience of building websites, Yola allowed me to build a website easily, at my convenience, and learn along the way resulting in a fully functional ‘Gorgeous’ website that has already allowed customers to buy products from us online.

Building on the Yola platform I easily managed to integrate customised features including a personalised PayPal shopping cart and checkout, analytics to view website traffic, newsletter registration and more.

Yola has opened up the online world to me by presenting a simplified and open way of building websites and making it a highly enjoyable personal experience.—Quentin Mackay

Want to see your site featured here? Take a few minutes to tell us what you think makes your site stand out and submit it to: support@yola.com.

Labels: Featured Websites,International Websites | 8 Comments »

Website of the Week: Nurturing Touch Doula Services

Site owner Tracey Stein has used the internet to promote her doula practice, Nurturing Touch, for over 10 years, but felt her website was a bit outdated and in need of an overhaul. She was nervous to take the project on herself and indicated she put it off for several years until a friend told her about Yola.

After just dabbling for a few minutes with the online setup features I was sold! I switched to Yola immediately and was up and running in no time at all with a snazzy new website that I’ve received nothing but compliments on since I published it! Just a few days ago I received a client contact submission that included high praise for my new website and thanking me for the easy to navigate links with very valuable information for my area’s birthing women.

I found the Sitebuilder extremely easy to use! The drag and drop features required no HTML skills at all! I used many of the widgets such as Google Maps, a Contact Form, and I even did some custom coding for my Facebook “Like” link! One of the features I’ve loved the most about the Sitebuilder is that I have been able to upload all of my client handouts in a secure, password protected location on my website which has allowed me to become more environmentally friendly as well as reducing my printing costs.—Tracey Stein

We agree that the clean and simple navigation is a plus for Tracey’s site as is the detailed information she provides for expectant parents searching for labor assistance. The pictures she shares throughout her website are touching and inspirational, and thanks to the Picture Gallery widget, they are also very well organized!

Want to see your site featured here? Take a few minutes to tell us what you think makes your site stand out and submit it to: support@yola.com.

Labels: Featured Websites,International Websites | 3 Comments »

Website of the Week: 8 Auspicious Him View Hotel

‘Tis time to travel! 8 Auspicious Him View Hotel is your home away from home in the northern region of India. We have all been fantasizing of a Yola company getaway to this majestic location and with WiFi throughout the hotel, we think we could make it a working retreat.

They have eight pristine rooms named after, and decorated in accordance with one of the eight auspicious signs. Each room is pictured on their website making your daydreams that much more vivid. They also use photography to show off the stunning views of the snow-capped Dhauladhar range the hotel offers, and the virtual tour of places in and around Dharamsala will have you packing your bags!

According to site owner Tenzin Nmaygal there are around 50 to 60 visitors to their  site every 24 hours which has helped to make their business “amazing”.

Want to see your site featured here? Take a few minutes to tell us what you think makes your site stand out and submit it to: support@yola.com.

Labels: Featured Websites,International Websites | 9 Comments »

Website of the Week: Seth’s Kitchen

Seth’s Kitchen is whipping up a stellar website with visually appealing, even appetizing, banners that clearly communicate their good taste both in and out of the kitchen!

Site owner Vashti Richards tried out numerous styles before he found his perfect fit.

After trial and error I worked out where I wanted the components to be. After that it was easy. I am really pleased with the site now. Instead of using the banner for a logo I put a different image on each page, as a catering company this worked really well. I then had a play around with the different widgets and added social media buttons, as well as a contact form. Everything was very intuitive, so this was actually easier than I thought. Every time I had a question I typed it in to the help page and there was always an answer to the question.

I have actually had quite a few comments about how good the site is and my friends have been surprised when I say I made it myself in just a few hours. I think the most time consuming thing was not creating the site, but writing the copy and sourcing the right photos. I would definitely recommend it to a friend.—Vashti Richards

We agree that planning for the creation of your website is key. Think carefully about your content prior to creating your website and you’ll be thrilled with the results!

Want to see your site featured here? Take a few minutes to tell us what you think makes your site stand out and submit it to: support@yola.com.

Labels: Featured Websites,International Websites | 1 Comment »

Website of the Week: The Jeneba Project

The Jeneba Project is a non-profit organization committed to contributing to the reconstruction of the Mano River Union countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea through targeted educational projects.  Their aim is to improve the lives of children in these countries by expanding educational opportunities. They work to provide scholastic supplies, scholarships for girls; and long-lasting educational infrastructure such as libraries and schools.

Site owner Joseph Kaifala edits the website himself, which as he says is, “a compliment to how easy Yola has made it for novices like me to use the various styles without banging my head against the wall.”

Using Yola, we have increased our visibility and support. What we used to do individually, we can now do collectively from one web location. Using HTML for cooliris, I have improved our photo display. We have brought all our YouTube videos to one location for our viewers. The front page looks amazing after using Slide to create a mobile slide show.

I feel totally in control of the site because I can change many features around. I recently reduced the numerous menu links by using your Submenu to allocate similar information under one menu.—Joseph Kaifala

Want to see your site featured here? Take a few minutes to tell us what you think makes your site stand out and submit it to: support@yola.com.

Labels: Featured Websites,International Websites | 2 Comments »

Featured Website of the Week: Health Junkie Connection

The last two websites we featured were full of sweet treats, so it was time to check in with our healthier side. Health Junkie Connection offers all the tools you need to shape up. Site owner Karen Sievwright is a certified Live Well Coach and licensed ZUMBA Fitness instructor. She uses her website to promote a healthy lifestyle by means of “the art of balanced living.”

Visitors to Karen’s website can learn about programs and seminars she offers on nutrition, how to get glowing with skin health and even book a session of Zumba classes. She establishes herself as an expert in her field and through her easy to navigate website, proves she is a one stop shop for getting healthy!

I was looking for a way to build a website that would fit into a new companies start up costs. The thought of starting this task seemed very daunting to me. A friend recommended Yola and had high praises for the company. I soon began investigating and was thrilled with what I found—a user-friendly, cost-effective, and supportive company that allowed me to make a professional website in record time! By using Yola to create my website, I can now focus on what I do best—helping my clients with their health goals! Thanks Yola!—Karen Sievwright

Want to see your site featured here? Take a few minutes to tell us what you think makes your site stand out and submit it to: support@yola.com.

Labels: Featured Websites,International Websites | 1 Comment »

Featured Website of the Week: Hey! Sweet Thing

Our sweet tooth cravings continue this week with Hey! Sweet Thing. We love cupcakes, but sometimes you need to feel a little bit better about splurging, so with a gourmet chocolate caramel apple, you at least get a full serving of fruit with your treat!

Site owners Heather Jenkinson and Danielle Hornung let their apples tell the tale by lining them up front and center on their clean and well organized homepage. The graphic impact communicates what the business has to offer and invites you to explore. Their baking tips give site visitors a reason to return to their site and establishes them as experts in their field.

We had very little experience with web design prior to building the site for Hey! Sweet Thing, and Yola made the process very simple. Yola takes the guesswork out of the design process—it made a daunting task manageable for someone new to web design. It was easy to start with the templates provided and customize the site with our own content.

Yola also has amazing resources available when you need a little help, and not only is the information plentiful but it’s well organized and easy to access.

We have had really positive feedback on our site. It’s very important for us to have a great website to promote our business, and the tools that Yola provided enabled us to create a site we’re proud to promote to potential clients. Without Yola I don’t think we would have been able to establish our online presence.—Heather Jenkinson and Danielle Hornung

Want to see your site featured here? Take a few minutes to tell us what you think makes your site stand out and submit it to: support@yola.com.

Labels: Featured Websites,International Websites | 1 Comment »

Website of the Week: Brown Sugar Cupcakes

Time again for another sweet treat. Brown Sugar Cupcakes lets their customers design their own cupcake masterpiece from top to bottom. They select their sponge cake flavor, their buttercream flavor and then a finishing touch to make it truly special.

Site owner Lynn Brown spent a lot of time pouring over our SEO tutorials in order to increase traffic to her website and to attract the right visitors to increase sales for her business. Professional photos posted to her Flickr gallery and on her Facebook fan page also helped her to drive more business.

I would like to thank Yola for an excellent service, for no fee, which is important for start up businesses. Several people have asked me how I did it, and I’ve wholeheartedly recommended Yola to them and even helped out now
and then. People think that they can’t create a website, but I say if you can drag and drop then you can create a website…no trouble with Yola.—Lynn Brown

Want to see your site featured here? Take a few minutes to tell us what you think makes your site stand out and submit it to: support@yola.com.

Labels: Featured Websites,International Websites | No Comments »