In this issue of Website Builder News, September 2011.
We have introduced a new basic hosting plan, for just $15 per month!
This new basic hosting plan is great for those who just need an initial web presence, with 3 web pages or less. Shopping carts and the bulk emailer are not available on this new basic plan. This plan has low traffic limits, so you should avoid attaching any large files like PDFs or MP3. You should only use low resolution images in your galleries. You can get access to this plan in the accounts area once you delete your unused pages.
The old basic plan has been renamed the "standard plan", and is still great value offering 25 pages plus a shopping cart with 25 products plus a bulk emailer up to 100 people per month plus 1GB traffic. All for just $25 per month
There is also some single placeholder page hosting plan options from just $7 per month.
You can easily move your domains between web spaces, and/or change your hosting plan yourself, so create 2 trials if you want to work on a new website while having a placeholder page live. There is also a hosting plan that supports the placeholder page while you build a new website. It's all available in the accounts area.
You might have noticed a few changes inside the CMS recently. All preview buttons and many other popups now appear in a similar style within the CMS. This will save your browser from getting cloged up with lots of preview tabs. If you really want to open the preview in a new tab, there is a button to achieve that. We believe this small change will improve everyones productivity.
As website builder has got easier to use, and our FAQ has improved, many people just havn't needed training. We are thus running our very last group training courses ever. These will be replaced by Training Videos which will allow you to focus on learning just what you want, at a speed you want. Stay tuned for even more Training Videos over the comming months. We have just commissioned development of 30 new videos.
One on one training will still be available in our Auckland office, or over the phone. On an appointment basis, at $100 per hour.
Please book onto one of our final training seminars
We have all new training videos to help you setup shopping cart freight or vouchers.
Do you want one of our professional web designers to give your website a quick once over and clean up the rough edges. Contact us for a quote, our professional designers can do plenty of magic in just 1 hour (100+gst per hour),
Discount Tip: If you purchase 6 or more hours, you will only be charged $90 per hour.
You can now change the layout of the zoom/detail page without effecting the layout of the thumbnail index. For example, keep a 3 column thumbnail layout, but choose between a full sized image above/below text, or a top right aligned image, with optional lightbox popup or JQZoom Zoom window.
The alternative layouts for the individual photo/faq sub pages are available from the top of the main page layout options, which is available from the "options" tab on any FAQ/Gallery/News/Blog/Video page.
You can now have several different CMS administrators, eg a separate CMS login for each staff member. Our security activity log will keep a history of what each individual has done. There is no reason to share your CMS password any more.
We have recently upgraded to the latest version of TinyMCE. We hope this fixes a few bugs related to inserting javascript and 3rd party widgets, and any other small bugs. TinyMCE is a 3rd party open source product we use to achieve the WYSIWYG content editing features of our CMS.
It just got a whole lot easier to add a terms and conditions to your shopping cart, where users are forced to accept the terms, and those same terms are attached to their copy of the invoice.
We have got rid of the next - next - next buttons in several places in our CMS and replaced with a much faster page tabbing system. Just one of the long overdue improvements we regularly make to our CMS to make you more productive.
That said, we would still advise you to break up your product lists into more sub categories, and gain some SEO improvements by capturing more keyphrase variations in your category names.
Facebook has a new recommendations feature. We would love everyone to make a recommendation about us on facebook. Look for the new option on the middle right column on our facbook page.
https://www.facebook.com/webwgt
Pick the right keywords. Search google for "keyword tool". Googles own adwords keyword tool is very cool, but there are several competing options.
The purpose of keyword tools is to create a large list of 3-4 word keyphrases that acurately describe the services you offer. You then create page on your website for each of those phrases.
TIP: Keep the list of keyphrases in a spreadsheet. For each keyphrase, record your current position in google for that phrase. Your position will be different for different phrases. If you are doing well for a phrase, pat yourself on the back, but note that positions may change in the future. If you are not doing well for a phrase, then focus your next blog entry, or next content writing effort on that phrase/topic. This will help you rank more highly in the future. It may take several months for your SEO effort to pay off. But keep coming back to the spreadsheet to see how you are going. You may also find "google ranking reports and monitors" that take some pain out of this for you.
More SEO tips and keyword tools here
We now have a new offer for charitable websites.
There are 2 new hosting plans, FREE for very charitable websites serving the greater good helping those less fortunate, or $150/year for other community groups and sports teams. Existing customers may retrospectively request these plans.
All charities must comply with our special terms and conditions, primarily that they must not have any paid staff or income apart from donations. Free websites will include an advert promoting website builder services.
Learn More: - Learn more about free websites here
Our reseller program enables you to setup and sell websites under your own brand. Web Widgets provides you with all the tools and services you need to do this. Web Widgets remain at arms length. Only your contact details and brand are shown to your customer. They won't know anything about web widgets nor free website builder. This program is perfect for website designers, or sales people looking for new opportunities. The reseller program does have a $1000 setup fee, but you immediately get 30% discount on our hosting fees and can purchase domains for only $22/year. We also give you full administrative access to our system, and special training. Alternatively consider our affiliate scheme below.
Learn more about reseller program
Anyone who refers friends to our service, or sets up a 2nd or subsequent website gets a 20% discount off their web hosting fees. Refer 5 friends, and you pay nothing for your website hosting. Refer more than 5 friends, and we will start paying you.
Terms - live websites only, based on equivalent hosting plans, payouts subject to minimums.
How to promote
More information about affiliates and reselling here
Here's a selection of some of our recent Go Lives.
And a few of our recent professionally designed / upgraded websites, or websites that received some professional help.
Do you want a more professional look and feel for your website? A more professional look will instill greater trust in your customers, and encourage them to stay longer on your website or make a purchase. Please use our online quote or contact us.
Do you have any feedback on our newsletter or CMS products? Please let us know.
Best regards,
Reuben Jackson (CEO)
Web Widgets - Free Website Builder
Posted: Mon 12 Sep 2011