Archive for the ‘Small Business’ Category
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 | 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 | 3 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 »
Yola Web Stars: The Ten Notable Sites
It was great to see all your wonderful Yola Web Stars contest submissions – and hard to choose among them.
After admiring all the creativity, business savvy, and hard work, here are our Ten Notable Sites (in alphabetical order).
8 Auspicious Him View Hotel
This hotel in Dharamsala, India boasts stunning views of the snow-capped Dhauladhar range – and their well-organized site shows off the views and more with plenty of images. According to site owner Tenzin Nmaygal, Yola has helped make their business “amazing.” “These days, there are around 50 to 60 visitors to our site every 24 hours. Thank you, Yola Team!” says Tenzin. Thank you, Tenzin.
Admin Angel
When Jessica Evans started her business, she was working from her loungeroom and had no money to invest, so she created a basic Yola site, then moved up to a premium style and custom domain name and email. “By creating a professional image for my business at such a low cost I was able to build the business as I had dreamed. I now have an office and five staff members,” says Jessica. Just the kind of story we love to hear.
All-Dry Basement
The Orsino family started All-Dry Basement Waterproofing more than 30 years ago. Their free Yola site has been a boon, says Jeryl Orsino. “Because of Yola, we’re booked with jobs throughout the whole summer. In this economy that is huge!” They’ve also done a great job of optimizing their site. “Using the optimization tools like keywords and metatags we went from invisible the top of the search engines,” explains Jeryl. “The majority of callers say they found us on the web. Thanks to our Yola site we are the leading basement waterproofer in Bergen County, New Jersey.”
Fiesta Brava
Fiesta Brava is an indie rock band based in Northampton, Massachusetts, and when they needed something to set themselves apart from other local groups, they chose Yola. “Creating a Yola website could not have been easier. From uploading music and pictures to creating a blog, the Yola site builder made it easy to put together something that that I am proud of,” says Ray Keane. “Since we created our Yola site, our ability to network with venues and bands outside of our area has increased dramatically.”
The Gluten-Free Guru
Krissy White’s business was born in 2008, when she and two of her children were diagnosed with severe gluten sensitivities. She noted that people everywhere were going gluten-free, and decided to begin her new venture online. “I had no idea where to start,” Krissy tells us. “Then I found Yola and literally within minutes had a professional-looking website that I could launch my business with!” This entrepreneur changes up the recipes and specials on her site regularly. “I now have dozens of clients,” says Krissy.
Jesar Arts
Two years ago, designer Jeremy Paton started using Yola. “I loved the simplicity and speed at which Yola’s site builder allowed me to create an online portfolio,” he explains. He was able to start his own web-design company with Yola, too. “Yola has helped me offer my clients professional designs at extremely competitive prices,” says Jeremy. He’s pushed out the boundaries of what our site builder can achieve, too – which you can see from his own Yola site. Exciting stuff, Jeremy – you’re a guy after our own heart!
Key to Health Concierge
Starting a new business takes a lot of hard work, perseverance, and a good cash flow. “As we all know, the cash flow can be limited when you’re starting out,” says Rory Harrison, president of Key to Health Concierge. That’s why he switched his site to Yola (and took advantage of a special Yola Silver promotion). “My Yola site increased my traffic and has helped flow more business my way, too,” says Rory. “Your support system is flawless.” We’re glad to be supporting Rory and all those small businesses out there.
La Vie en Rose
Yvon Harig-Linssen’s charming Amsterdam apartment-hotel gets great reviews on travel sites. With his Yola site, those rave reviews are in one place where prospective clients can see them all. Now people all over the world can see photos of rooms in the hotel, check rates, and even make reservations online. “I can reach customers everywhere, and now I get clients directly, which saves me money,” says Yvon. “It was easy to create my own website with an appealing look, too.”
Miss Birdsong’s Sweet Tooth
Tabitha Birdsong started her candy apple business with an old college friend in 2005, just after she was laid off from her job as an elementary school teacher in Memphis, Tennessee. “After we built our Yola site in 2009, our business began to grow in ways that we never thought possible,” says Tabitha. “We’re even getting calls from people in surrounding states.” Tabitha is loves Yola’s reasonable price and having PayPal up on her site. “Yola really values small businesses. We look forward to many more years of growth with Yola’s great support staff.” We do too, Tabitha.
The Yoga and Fitness Studio
“We started the Yoga & Fitness Studio at the end of January 2011, just days before cyclone Yasi hit the north coast of Australia,” say Tatjana Good and Troy Morris. “Our Yola site helped us succeed despite the economic devastation of the cyclone and two competitors opening up in the area.” Their studio now has more than 200 members and 117 Facebook “likes” (and counting). “Yola’s support team has been by my side, answering all my questions in the most encouraging way,” says Tatjana. We can’t wait to see how your business keeps on growing!
Labels: Featured Websites,Small Business | 2 Comments »
Meet the Yola Web Stars Voter’s Choice Winner
The people have spoken, and the site that earned the most votes in our Voter’s Choice contest is Mortgage Las Vegas Nevada.
Congratulations to Brian Kragner, the creator of this highly functional Yola site. “Yola has been instrumental in my online success,” says Brian. “I had no idea where to start, and I had a real shoestring budget. With Yola’s help I’ve been able to persevere, and ride out the learning curve.”
Brian considers Yola’s most beneficial feature to be the easy user interface. “The simple but effective click-and-drag interface is intuitive yet allows for all the customization needed to have my site perform well in the sea of copy-cats out there.”
He’s also a fan of the preview changes feature. “Some of Yola’s competitors don’t have this, and it’s really great, both as a time saver and in terms of ensuring quality before going live – you only get one shot at a first impression!”
We’re impressed with the way Brian has maximized his site’s SEO. “My site ranks in the top five of Google for some great but very competitive terms,” he tells us.
Thanks for choosing Yola, Brian. And thanks to all the fans who participated in the Voter’s Choice Award.
Labels: Featured Websites,Small Business | 1 Comment »
Meet the Yola Web Stars Winners!
We’re proud to announce the top three winners of our Yola Web Stars contest. Congratulations to all! Make sure to visit these wonderful sites. And stay tuned, because there are more winner profiles coming up.
First Place Winner: Hey! Sweet Thing
Hey! Sweet Thing’s Yola site is chock-full of goodness, from the clean, simple design and gorgeous photography to the easy navigation. Heather Jenkinson and Danielle Hornung, the founders of this Toronto-based business, did a great job of establishing themselves as experts with baking tips and a clever, informative blog that’s a treat to read. These Yola Silver members also have a custom domain name that sets them apart.
They tell us that their success had a very sweet spike once their Yola site was up and running. “In 2011 we’ve seen a 30% increase in business which I would attribute to our online presence,” explains Danielle.
“Once we expanded our business in 2010, we knew that word of mouth alone wouldn’t be enough to grow our client base,” says Danielle. “Now we have clients contacting us for orders. Having a great website instills confidence in our company and having visuals to support our work is great!”
She says that there are three things about Yola’s site builder that are absolutely vital to Hey! Sweet Thing’s success:
- Ability to display and add photos
- The Forms widget for a contact form
- Able to share lots of information
Great job, Heather and Danielle!
Second Place Winner: Aussie Cushion
With her beautifully designed site, Aussie Cushion owner Denise Carrasco shows how effective it can be to customize a Yola template. From the witty logo and banner design to her use of clean white backgrounds, Denise created the perfect online showcase for her collection of exclusive cushion cover prints.
Denise founded her business in 2008. “I wanted to share my designs with everyone, and thought “What better way than through the internet?” explains Denise. Denise bought a custom domain name with Yola. “I was born in Australia and love my country, so wanted to support it – my business name says it all,” notes Denise.
“Yola gave me the opportunity to reflect exactly what Aussie Cushions is all about, because I could give my site the right style and design,” Denise tells us. “I think all small businesses should be online – your Yola site is an advertisement for your business that’s accessible to anyone around the world, at any time of the day or night.” She’s happy to say that she’s received new customer inquiries out of the blue through her site, too.
Denise loves the new Photo Gallery widget, and when you look at her site, you’ll see why. She gives big props to the Yola Customer Support team, too. “They always offer up great opinions and solutions.”
Props right back at you, Denise!
Third Place Winner: Stories Out of Words
Stories Out of Words blends stunning design with strong copy for a beautiful site that’s a great experience on every page.
Site owner, writer, editor, and designer Kellie tells us she started Stories Out of Words at the end of 2010. Kellie had just helped a friend finish building a Yola site, and she decided to create her own to try to regain her confidence as a writer after a recent rough patch in her life. She made this gorgeous site by customizing a free Yola Style. “I revamped the free template by swapping widgets around, changing banners and links, and experimented with all sorts of things.”
“What I love about Yola is that I can access my site and work on it any time, any place,” says Kellie. “It’s always a work in progress, and will change all the time. I also use a lot of the fantastic Yola features, like the contact form that feeds to my email.”
Kellie credits the work she’s been doing through her Yola site as helping her recover from a debilitating bout with mental illness. “Being online has let me still achieve and work and do what I love. My site has been a major factor in helping me rebuild who I am as a person, to realize that life is too short to not pursue happiness.”
Thanks for those inspiring words, Kellie, and thanks for choosing Yola.
Labels: Featured Websites,Small Business | 4 Comments »
Get Your Site In Shape for Summer
The official start of summer is almost here – June 21 is the longest day of the year (in the northern hemisphere, that is – we’ll check back in six months for you southern hemisphere folks).
It’s the perfect time to spruce up your site with new colors, fresh content, great images, and more. Updates are irresistible to search engines and visitors alike, and a great way to get new traffic moving to your site.
Try changing out your banner image. Remodel your backgrounds. Do you have seasonal products or menu items? Great news? Share it all on your Yola site.
We’ve got two great new widgets to help you out, too. With our Picture Gallery widget, you can grab all those new product photos or travel photos and pull them into a gorgeous new image gallery in a flash.
And whether you’ve got a Tumblr blog going already, or want to start one now, our new Tumblr Blog widget lets you seamlessy flow your blog into your site. Whether you’re writing a travel blog or sharing your expert knowledge, it’s a great way to freshen up your site instantly. The Tumblr Blog widget automatically updates your Yola site every time you post to your Tumblr blog.
What are you doing to get your site ready for summer? Let us know – leave a comment here on the blog to share your tips.
Labels: Small Business | 3 Comments »