Archive for the ‘Small Business’ Category
For 2012, make sure your site’s the best it can be
Now that 2012 is here, you’ve probably made a few New Year’s resolutions—some of which you might keep, and some of which… well, let’s just say we think we’ll be hearing those again in 2013.
But if there’s one resolution you should make—and keep—this year, it’s to make sure your website’s the best it can be for 2012 and beyond. The good news is, Yola makes this one promise that’s super-simple to keep!
Our website building tool lets you build and update your site all in moments—no web developer or designers necessary. Just hit the “Publish to the web” button, choose your domain, and you’re off to the races. And with the 20 new style templates we’ve added over the past year, you might even just want to refresh your look for the New Year.
2012 is definitely the year to start driving more customers to your site. Google AdWords (you get a $50 credit with Yola Bronze and a $75 credit with Yola Silver), simple SEO (search engine optimization) strategies, and email newsletters are all great ways to help more people find your site and your business. Check out this Mashable article for other great ideas on driving more sales from your site.
Be sure to take advantage of our other recent tools, like integrating your blog with Yola using Tumblr, adding social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to your site through our Social Share Me widget, and even making your logo more unique by uploading your own font through our site.
As always, we’re here to make sure your site is a straight-up success. Our Yola Bronze package (just $4.95 a month) will get you online and looking professional and our Yola Silver package (just $9.95 a month) will help you stand out from the competition. And don’t forget that you can get your own custom domain from us for only $11.95 a year.
From all of us at Yola: here’s to a wildly successful 2012!
Labels: Small Business | 3 Comments »
Spruce up your social networks for the holiday season
It’s a given that having a strong social media presence can positively impact your business. That’s even truer during the holiday shopping season.
Here are a few tips on how to amplify your social reach:
- Most importantly – start now! It’s important to build your base and create momentum before the busy holiday period begins
- Update your website with some seasonal images, but don’t go overboard – a little holly or candy cane goes a long way to show your customers you have something new to offer during the holidays
- Also customize your Facebook profile picture and/or Twitter background for the holiday season
- Create conversations in your social networks that relate to the holidays, such as “What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?”
- Add useful holiday tips, ideas and stories to entice customers to spend more time interacting with your content
- Develop a personal relationship with your customers by sharing what you’re doing for the holidays – post photos, write personal stories, and more
- Don’t forget that people are always on the lookout for good deals during the holidays, so offer time-sensitive and/or exclusive offers that are only accessible from Facebook or Twitter
Labels: Small Business | No Comments »
Yola pledges to support Small Business Saturday®
Yola wants to help fuel a vibrant economy and invigorate communities across the country. So, we’re proud to announce that we are supporting Small Business Saturday® and encouraging everyone to pledge their support and shop small at their favorite local businesses this Saturday, November 26.
It’s a day dedicated to supporting small businesses, the heartbeat of our communities. With 1.5 million Facebook supporters already—plus a coalition of small business advocacy groups, public officials and private and public organizations—Small Business Saturday is a great way for all of us to help small businesses across the nation.
Local businesses need more shoppers visiting their stores and making purchases. We’re hoping you’ll visit the Small Business Saturday page on Facebook and pledge your support by clicking ‘Like.’ Then, get out there on Saturday, November 26, and support your local small businesses.
How you can get involved:
- ‘Like’ the Small Business Saturday page on Facebook to pledge your support: facebook.com/ShopSmall
- Share the Small Business Saturday page with your friends and family
- Shop at small businesses on November 26 and beyond
- If you are a small business owner, visit facebook.com/ShopSmall to get free marketing and amplification tools that could help you make November 26 your biggest sales day of the year
If millions of Americans shop small, it will be huge.
SAVE THE DATE: November 26, 2011, is Small Business Saturday.
Labels: Community,Media Coverage,Small Business | No Comments »
7 website secrets for the holiday season
The holidays are an important time for most companies. Did you know Yola makes it easy for you to update your site so you can take advantage of the shopping season?
Here are 7 tips for how you can increase traffic, sales and performance:
1. Change your style to reflect the holiday season
Even if you’ve already published your site, it’s easy to change your style to give your site a quick holiday refresh. If you’re tech savvy, you can also create a unique look and feel by editing the CSS directly.
2. Use holiday stock images
Adding some holly, ornaments and wreaths is a quick way to add some festive flair. You can do this from within the Yola Sitebuilder using Fotolia stock images.
3. Use your homepage to showcase your best deal or product
Your homepage is probably the most visited page of the site, so make sure you create the best first impression by showcasing your products and/or services Try using our image gallery to showcase your products. You can also add a form to your homepage so customers can contact you immediately.
4. Start a PPC campaign
Paid search is one of the easiest ways to drive targeted customers to your site immediately. Remember, if you purchase custom domain from us or upgrade to Yola Silver you get up to $75 of FREE Google AdWords advertising credit.
5. Optimize your content for holiday keywords to improve SEO
Do some keyword research into what people may search for over the holiday season and update your content to improve SEO. Remember search engines love regularly updated content!
6. Start some email marketing
It’s never too early to plan and create an email newsletter for the holidays. Send it to customers before the holiday season with your top offers. We’ve partnered with Constant Contact so you get 60 days of free email marketing. Need to collect more email addresses to establish a list? Just add our Constant Contact widget to your site.
7. Make your visitors feel secure
If you want people to buy from your website or submit their details to you, they must feel secure that their info won’t get stolen. Add a TRUSTe logo to your website to reinforce that your site is secure.
Next month we will be looking at how social networks can work for you this holiday season.
Labels: Small Business | No Comments »
Introducing: Sparky, Happiness Consultant.
We would like to introduce you to Sparky, a Happiness Consultant, who is building his website with Yola. Each week we will be looking at different aspects of his website and how he’s using Yola to promote himself.
Today: His homepage, part 1.
Header text and banner:
Sparky has used the heading for his name, title and also his phone number. The bold phone number is in the top left-hand side of the website, the most viewed section, so customers know instantly how to get in touch with him. He has used our new ‘Edit Heading’ feature to increase the size of the font and also used <br> tags to put the phone number on another line underneath his name.
Sparky has customized the banner, by uploading his own picture. He used our integrated photo editor, Picnik to re-size and edit the image so it fits the banner perfectly.
Navigation:
The navigation Sparky has used is clear and concise. The page names are not ambiguous and will help his customers find the information they’re looking for quickly and easily.
Content:
You’ll notice that Sparky’s homepage doesn’t have too much copy and the copy it has is easy to read and digest. He has used bold headings to divide the paragraphs up and short sentences that are easy to read. He also hyper-linked the calls-to-action (‘contact me here’ and ‘services I offer’) to make them stand out and help visitors navigate around the site.
The homepage should be used to briefly outline what the site is about and then link through to separate pages which will go into more depth; Sparky’s site is a good example of this.
Next week: Homepage, part 2 – Picture gallery, social integration, creating sections and more…
Labels: Featured Websites,Small Business,Sparky Happiness Consultant | 3 Comments »
Try Out Yola’s New, Free Google Chrome App
For all you Google Chrome users out there, we’re excited to announce the rollout of our brand-new Chrome web app.
We designed the app to make it easier for you to get to your Yola site from Chrome, pronto – and we think you’re going to love it.
Once you download the Yola app from the Google Chrome store, the fun begins. You’ll always see your Yola app in Chrome – and when you click on it, you go straight to your MyYola page.
So if you’re using Chrome, get on over to the Google Chrome store and download the free Yola app today. Then rate our app in the store and tell us what you think!
Labels: Product,Releases,Small Business | 2 Comments »
From Vinny: 8 Free Ways to Grow Your Site Traffic
If you’re looking to drive traffic to your site without paying a penny, check out our CEO Vinny Lingham’s article on SmallBizTechnology. Vinny shares his wisdom about making your site SEO-friendly from the start, helping your customers find you, building your own buzz, and he even offers up a few paid tools that really work. Take a look, and let us know what you think. Then share your own ideas on bringing traffic to your site – please leave us a comment right here on the blog.
Labels: News,Small Business | 16 Comments »
The Friday 4: Wisdom from Around the Web
Your time is precious. So every Friday, we round up four of the week’s best small-business strategies, web marketing, tips, and info for you to quickly scan, use, and just plain enjoy.
1. Going Global
Your Yola site is one step towards taking your business global. Take a look at a few more ways to find customers all over the world.
2. They’ll Like You. They’ll Really, Really Like You.
From vanity URLs to FAQs to contact forms, fifty – yes, that’s fifty – ways to get more “likes” on your business’s Facebook page. Check out this article from Shoestring Marketing to see ‘em all.
3. Great Tips for the Online Entrepreneur
That means you. Twitter, Dropbox, the truth about affiliate marketing, SEO and more, all packed into one good post.
4. How to Listen to Your Customers In A World Full of Noise
It’s the best way to make your customers happy. But listening can be a challenge in our busy, noisy world. Watch this for advice on how to make it happen for your small business.
Labels: Small Business | 2 Comments »
Friday Roundup: Wisdom from Around the Web
Your time is precious. So every Friday, we round up a few of the week’s best small-business strategy, web marketing, tips, and info for you to quickly scan, use, and just plain enjoy.
10 Ways to Be More Likeable Online
Great advice from the great Guy Kawasaki. Number 1: Listen. Numbers 4 & 5: Respond to comments (negative or positive). Number 6: Surprise and delight. Read on for the rest.
36 Secrets of Productivity
These unconventional thought leaders offer up unexpected productivity advice on everything from communication to brushing your teeth backwards.
What Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From Facebook’s Founder
Like or dislike, Facebook is here to stay. What can small business owners learn from Mark Zuckerberg’s approach? It starts with thinking in the long-term. Read more here.
Avoid Credit Card Processor Rip-Offs
Five important tips for choosing a processor who’ll help, not hinder, your small business.
Labels: Small Business | No Comments »
Friday Roundup: Wisdom from Around the Web
Your time is precious. So every Friday, we round up a few of the week’s best small-business strategy, web marketing, and tips for you to quickly scan, use, and just plain enjoy.
50 Ways to Grow Your Site Traffic
Getting more traffic to your site is a top priority for every small business site owner. Check out 50 creative ways to make it happen in this helpful post.
Make the Most of Email Marketing
Now that you’ve got the Constant Contact widget at your fingertips, it’s easy to get going on an email marketing campaign. But first, read “4 Ways to Get the Most Out of Email Marketing” over at Small Biz Technology.
Better Business Blogging
Our new Tumblr Blog widget makes it easy to flow your biz blog right into your site. So what are you waiting for? Take a look at this great roundup on business blogs from Small Business Trends, then get going.
Your Own Business Vs. A Job
Every so often, it’s good to take stock of why you decided to be your own boss. Our friends over at The Small Business Blog offer up these reminders of the reasons it’s great to run your own show.
Photo credit: Sippanont Samchai
Labels: Small Business | No Comments »