The Wix Blog

Designer'Spot: Michael McCormack

2011-02-17T08:05:00.000-05:00

Free website - Powered By Wix.com

Re-design Your Website: When, Why and How – Part I

2011-02-16T08:13:00.001-05:00

Ever felt like you could use a change? A website is a virtual reflection of life. The natural course for every website is to change and evolve, responding to the dynamic and fluid nature of life - just like you do. So even if you feel extremely proud of the masterpiece website you designed with Wix, you should always keep an open eye for trends and happenings around you.

But redesigning your website takes some considerable planning. We assembled a few tips and guidelines that may help you understand when is the right time to redesign your website, how to do it, and how to sustain it.

Changing Without Estranging
First thing you need to keep in mind is that by creating and publishing a website, you have created a relationship between yourself and the site's visitors. If your website design is based on a clientele of repeating visitors, a careless redesign might confuse or discourage the regulars.

Get your toolkit, it's time to renovate!

Things to Consider
- Which buttons seem to be popular with the visitors?
- Which have a low clicking rate?
- Are your best homepage features getting enough attention?
- Is it possible to revise the introductory text so it's shorter?
- And then maybe use a larger font?
- Do you have more appealing photos to use?
- Do returning visitors have a fixed user-friendly path?

Think about these questions when you consider an overhaul and it will help you sketch a new, smart design.

A Practical Thought
A very smart thing to do before you start renovating is creating a copy of your website in your Wix account and experimenting with it. It also allows you to redesign while the website is still live, which is crucial.

Stay tuned to part II of this series, where we'll be discussing how to work business updates into your site's design without compromising your site's looks.

Wix Was Here Contest – Why Isn't My Photo Showing?

2011-02-14T10:26:00.001-05:00

We are officially one week away from the closing of the Wix Was Here contest!

What happens in the end? Well, one lucky winner (who won most votes) gets to pick a partner and go on a killer trip to NYC! The second prize winner ('Wix Judges Choice Award' ) gets a sexy Samsung Galaxy tab.

During the last couple of weeks, we received THOUSANDS of submissions. Some made us laugh, some moved us, and some were disqualified. DISQUALIFIED?! Yes, because they didn't fully meet the contest's requirements.

So just to clarify things, here are examples of good and bad photos:

GOOD – Photos with the Wix Badge (download here!)

BAD – Photos without the Wix Badge

If your photo was disqualified, don't panic! You still have a chance to submit a valid photo. All you need to do is:

1. Remove the 'contests' app from your Facebook account (here's how).

2. Reinstall the 'contests' app.

3. Go to Wix' fan page, click on the 'contests' tab and submit a new photo that features the Wix badge.

4. Get your friends to vote for your photo!

Good luck everybody!

Designer'Spot: Nicholas Noe

2011-02-09T06:38:00.000-05:00

Free website - Powered By Wix.com

Written on the Body: Tattoo Art and Inspiration

2011-02-08T11:09:00.004-05:00

“Love lasts forever, but a tattoo lasts six months longer“
(Anonymous)

Unlike other forms of art, a tattoo artist has very little room to make mistakes. The canvas is human flesh, the paint brush is a pointy needle, and there is no “undo” button.

As primal and ancient as tattoos are, they are constantly changing with the times. Tattoos draw influence and inspiration from modern design and art, in its many forms. Art imitates art imitates art.

Typography

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but tattooed words give you a lot more to talk about. Got something to say? Just choose what font you want to say it with.

Picture by John Davey , organizer of Flash on the Beach conference. Font by Helvetica

Picture by Sam Figueroa

Picture by fragglerawker_03 Poem by E E Cummings

Tattoo and picture by Deanna Wardin

Geek Chic

“Geek” is a state of mind and, as such, it’s entitled to its own ink genre:

Picture by game designer Chris Ainsworth

Picture by Gil Megidish

Picture by webmove

Picture by Majd Al-Shihabi

Picture by Juhan Sonin

Get Inspired by Great Art

You can always find inspiration in great art. If you still have trouble deciding what you want to engrave on your skin, don’t hesitate to pay homage to your favorite artist.

Picture by Micael Tattoo Faccio, illustration by Keith Haring

Picture by elisabeth / Illustration by Arthur Rackham

Picture by emptysound / Illustration by Adrian Tomine

Picture by Micael Tattoo Faccio illustration by Roy Lichtenstein

Picture by Patrick Carey / Inspiration by Moby Dick - ?

Want your Tattoo to Count?

1. Don’t say “I’m going to have this for the rest of my life, so it’s got to be earth-shatteringly special.” Pick something you like now. The years will pass, but the tattoo will be a reminder of your state of mind at the time.

2. Don’t look for something that’s already been done. Those image books in the tattoo store are only meant for inspiration, be original - don’t copy.

3. Look deeply into your soul. What do you see in there? This black hole of desperation won’t make a good tattoo, but you can never lose with a 'Hello Kitty' icon ; )

4. As the epic movie “The Karate Kid” taught us, Pain does not exist in this dojo. [or, Pain is only a state of mind]. Don’t hold back from making a huge yakuza-style tattoo because of pain. Pain is temporary, and tattoo-love is forever. The bigger the better.

We’re never tired of cool tattoos! If you feel your tattoo can serve as a source of inspiration - share it with us. Happy ink!

What is UGC and Why your Website Needs It

2011-02-07T04:28:00.001-05:00

What is User-Generated Content?

User-generated content, or UGC, is just what it sounds like: content added to a website, exclusively contributed by online users. Every webmaster’s dream is to somehow trigger a waterfall of good, quality UGC. The work is done for you. Users are writing content for you, causing your site’s content to grow, for free.

2 Popular Examples of UGC Websites

Original content is a commodity when it comes to website building. Let’s take a look at 2 examples of websites who were able to take UGC to a viral level. The key is their appeal to two very different human emotions.

FML

“F*ck My Life” (pardon my French) is a place for anonymous internet users to post brief anecdotes describing a “sh*tty thing which ruined their day”. The posts all start with “Today…” and end with “FML.”

Each message contains a horror story relating to the user’s misfortune earlier that day. Popular posts are about cruel break-ups, and embarrassing mishaps. Some are lighthearted and humorous. Others are legitimately tragic and downright depressing. Others fall in between:

If perverse pleasure is your thing, FML offers a safe (and entertaining) place to bask in the glory of other people’s misfortune.

LGMH

LoveGivesMeHope is the rosier, more optimistic (and mushier) version of FML: the site’s tagline is “Stories That Make You Go “AWW!. LGMH was actually built as a response to the “downer” nature of FML.

Users post heartwarming snippets about their relationships, inspiring tales of human compassion amongst strangers, and uplifting anecdotes.

Which Grabs Your Attention More?

Needless to say, LGMH’s readers are birds of a different feather compared to the crew over at FML.

The viral nature of each site can probably be attributed to common human psychological needs. Sharing a story about your crappy day can have a cathartic effect. At least you might make someone else laugh at the absurdity that is your life. It’s sort of like venting to an anonymous audience.

LMGH boasts a “1 Million Monthly Visitors” stat on its homepage. The site allows users to openly gush to a supportive community of fellow saps (Is it clear which site I prefer?). Decide for yourself if LGMH makes you go “AWW!”. Depending on the day of the week, we might find solace in both of these popular, UGC sites.

UGC for Your Wix Site…?

Add a comments form to your website, through the widgets section of Wix' website builder. Pose a controversial question that your visitors will relate to.

You could also add a 'reviews' section to your website, encouraging clients to send feedback about your products or services. Alternatively, you can create a "Dear Abby" section where you reply to clients' questions and provide them with professional advice.

Designer'Spot: Josh Legacy

2011-02-03T08:28:00.000-05:00

Branding your Website, Part II: Give your Product a Personality

2011-01-31T14:36:00.000-05:00

In our last post - Branding your Website Part I -we showed you how strong brands are developed over time through a set of human-like personality traits. Branding helps your audience relate to your products like relationship partners.

There are many creative methods to get your branding brewing, but our choice strategy starts with a technique to get you thinking about your website's core values and character traits.
We’ve broken down the process into two steps, the first is a character analysis (think high school book report) and the second is language development (think crossword puzzles).

Step I: Character Analysis

An easy way to start the branding process is with a character analysis. Take out your pen and answer the following questions: What are your website’s character traits? Or, in other words, how do you want your website to come off to viewers? Is it professional? Down-to-earth? Serious? Funny? Does your site mean business or is it just spreading good vibes? If you met your website on the street, how would it behave?

Isolate between 5 to 10 character traits that make up your site’s personality and refer back to them frequently when you’re posting new content or planning a promotion. The character analysis will help you with the next step: developing its language.

Step II: Creating a Unique Language

The second step of branding is to develop a unique language for your website. Every person has their own vocabulary, a treasury of words that they know and feel comfortable using on a daily basis. Your website also needs this kind of treasury. If you’ve ever procured a keyword list for SEO, it will come in mighty handy right about now. Search engine marketing keywords are an excellent place to start for language development.

Another way to develop a unique language is to compose a list of frequently asked questions about your website, product or service. FAQs help you find your product's voice, and are the basis for consistent messaging. Refer back to them when writing new content to make sure you use the same phrases. Remember, consistency is king in branding.

With a strong branding foundation for your website, you can be confident that people will understand what you’re promoting and will want to engage with it as customers or readers. The more you promote your site’s unique character and voice, the stronger its brand recognition will get.

Branding your Website, Part I: Re-Inventing Yourself Online

2011-01-26T08:22:00.002-05:00

So you finally clicked ‘Publish’ and your Wix website is live; but is it alive…?
Did you brand your online business? Does your brand exude character, flair, and confidence? Brand management is important not just for products and companies, but also for websites as they struggle to stand out among the masses.

Some Background: A Brand is Born!
The marketing term “brand” derives from the branding iron cowboys use to mark their cattle. Unlike with a cow however, a hot brand is not applied suddenly. Instead, it seems to emanate naturally from within the product itself. One of the earliest instances of branding occurred at the turn of the 20th century. Shortly after several independent bakeries joined to form the National Biscuit Company, the word “Nabisco” was first used as a stamp on the company’s sugar wafers. As consumers grew more familiar with the wafers, they would ask simply for the Nabisco ones rather than the generic. Thus - the brand name ‘Nabisco” was born.

Brand Name Recognition
The name recognition effects of branding don’t show up overnight. Depending on the industry and speed of consumption, some brands, such as Cadillac, take years to shape their reputation. Others, like Zappos, take just months. Companies such as Apple, Coca-cola, Nike and Ferrari, all have strong brands, but what they actually have are clearly associated character traits - cool, joyful, victorious, and powerful to name a few. The companies are personified, and their products reflect and project character traits just like people do. When it’s time to determine marketing projects, a brand’s traits influence everything from the tone and script of a radio commercial, to the color, shape, and composition of a new package or store.

Branding & the Web
Since we’re talking about websites, branding in this realm affects many components: content, the actual text, titles, and pictures, as well as layout, the theme, color choice, and the site’s overall usability. Imagine if Apple’s website was a nightmare to navigate it would be a poor reflection on their brand, negating their core values of ease of use and going against the character trait of “friendly”.

Today, perhaps the most famously branded website is Google. The search engine has become so synonymous with online search that it has become a verb. It’s the ultimate indicator of success when a brand name replaces the product name: searches “Googled”, copies “Xeroxed” and micro-blogging messages “Tweeted”.

Stay tuned for Part II, when we’ll go over the next steps to developing your website’s brand: character and language.

Wix' New eCommerce Features Make Shopping a Breeze!

2011-01-24T04:55:00.000-05:00

Recently we revealed that the Wix eCommerce package is about to get seriously buffed. The first enhancement we've added was the new 'Add to Cart' button.

So what was all the fuss about? Well, the new 'Add to Cart' button was specifically designed to make the purchasing process a whole lot easier for your clients:

It’s extremely easy to implement and customize
It stands out without overpowering your web design
It allows you to sell items without setting up a shopping cart
It can be placed anywhere on your site! You can highlight new products, most popular products or services on your homepage

To recap, the new 'Add to Cart' button helps you optimize your sales potential. This feature has been gaining lots attention lately as more and more users are adding it to their shopping carts and the results look great!

Here are some recent examples:

Trina Goosby, Professional Athlete

Kozo Lamp Shop

Frankincense Tree

BTW, the Wix studio is sending its compliments to all of our eCommerce users with an entirely fresh batch of new icons that will look great on any shopping site. To add the new icons to your site:

Go to the 'Add Bar' in the editor.
Hover over 'Clip Art'.
Click on 'Icons'.
Type “eCommerce” in the pop-up gallery search window and choose your favs!

New eCommerce icons

Win an Amazing Trip for 2 to New York with Wix.com!

2011-01-19T08:06:00.001-05:00

Better get ready to conquer the Big Apple because Wix.com is sending you and your best bud on a grand trip to NYC!

That’s right! Board a Flight to NYC and Flag a Yellow cab to Broadway - flights and accommodation are all paid for by Wix.com!

New York, Here We Come!
Enter Now! >>

How Do I Win?

Download the Wix Was Here badge OR create the badge yourself.
Snap a photo of the badge anywhere – go wild!
Go to our Facebook page and “like” us.
Click on the 'Contests' tab and submit your photo.
Get as many people as possible to vote for your entry. The more votes you get, the higher your chances to win. Spread the news around!

* The contest ends on February 21st @ 11:59 PM (EST)

All over the world, people are snapping their 'Wix Was Here pics'! Here’s a few neat entries we got, go ahead and hit us with yours!

Own It! Our Templates: Your Web Design - Round 4

2011-01-13T11:37:00.000-05:00

Lifestyle Mentor Free Template

"How calming it is to click on a link to a lifestyle website", thus thought that Wix studio designer who created the Lifestyle Mentor template. Indeed, everything about this template is relaxing and pleasant. However, that doesn't mean this template is only useful for users who need a website with chilled vibes.

Our latest investigation reveals how Wix users customize this template to fit their needs, sometimes maintaining the relaxed state stimulated by the original template and sometimes creating something completely different. Check out the following ten websites that were created using 'Lifestyle Mentor' and you'll see that there are endless ways to innovate.

Szkota Nurkowania

Bella Bride Wedding Films

The Workhouse Bahamas

The New Wix eCommerce Package: Coming Soon to an Editor Near You!

2011-01-11T12:48:00.000-05:00

During the past year we’ve been getting a high volume of requests and questions about our eCommerce package. Based on your feedback and comments, we’ve been hard at work during the past few months, creating a new developers’ roadmap for our shopping cart. We’re happy to share our plans with you and update you on the new features we’ll be adding. To ensure seamless integration we’ll be rolling it out feature by feature. Good news is - the first feature goes live today!

Available Now: New 'Add to Cart' Button

With the “Add to Cart Button”, you can sell any product from any page without sending your visitors to browse through your galley. Easily build effective product pages or present hot items on your homepage! When your visitors click the button, the product will be added to their shopping cart on the fly!

Coming Soon: Product Page

The new Product Page feature is currently in development. Basically, it will allow each product in your gallery to have its own dedicated product page. Once a product is clicked on, a popup-like product page will be launched, masking the website behind it. Your visitors will be able to:

See multiple images
See multiple videos!
Select size, color and other options
Read detailed product info

What’s Ahead
In the upcoming months we expect to dish out many new eCommerce functionalities. We’re happy to mention a few: an improved shopping cart, coupons, shipping and tax rules, inventory control and many more.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our users for their patience and perseverance throughout the past year and for the priceless feedback you guys have given us on the forum, the Wix Arena and on Facebook. Please drop us a comment below if you have any additional suggestions, questions or to simply share your thoughts.

Maravilloso! Showcase of Latin American Websites

2011-01-09T07:57:00.001-05:00

Latin American art today is a fusion of both traditional folk art and pop art. From artists like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera to sensual salsa moves to ancient Mayan calligraphy, old and new traditions blend with swooping power. Latin American web design also follows this norm, featuring strong colors, rich color combinations, unique graphic symbols and typography. From Mexico to Argentina, get your inspiration from these beautiful websites, incorporating the multi-cultural aesthetic of Latin American design.

Wattz Andre Maciel Gabo Ferro Masa Design Magma Modena Tixinda Energy Lab
Oscar Carnicero Lodma Ivan Abreu Latin 3 Cubic Studio Mathiole Nespresso Carol Rivello
Marcos Xotoko Sahar Design OAPO Design Cricket Design Cris Jocky

Designer'Spot with Wix Pro Designer Sean Cassy

2011-01-06T08:13:00.001-05:00

Free website - Powered By Wix.com

Boost your Sales with Calendar Based Marketing

2011-01-06T02:21:00.003-05:00

With every New Year comes the opportunity to review the past year, set new goals, and yes, revisit your marketing plan. To make it easier for you, we came up with a plan to help you start off the year on the right foot. Welcome to "calendar-based marketing", the strategy to help you weather every season of the market.

March 14, National Save a Spider Day

The idea of calendar-based marketing is to stay on top of the latest seasonal trends with a holiday-oriented adaptive plan. Oftentimes, we’re so engrossed in the rhythm of holidays, we don’t even question why Easter candy and decorations come into stores in February. This is to a marketer’s benefit, but it raises the question: Do you really need two months to dye an egg?

Unless you're raising the chicken. Probably not. But for a new online advertising campaign, certainly yes! When you create your marketing plan, make sure to budget time for researching the latest search trends, preparing store displays or advertisements, figuring out sales and promotions and ordering special themed packaging. Furthermore, don’t neglect to schedule evaluations after each special event.

Highlight the Holidays that Matter Most
An important part of brainstorming a calendar-based plan is to highlight the holidays most important to your target audience. Think about which holidays your current and desired customers observe, then dig deeper into the meaning of those holidays, whether they be joyous national festivals, moments of reflection, or religious observances.

For each holiday, brainstorm events, sales, or special offers that could bridge the meaning of the holiday with your product or service. Say you're the owner of a flower shop; starting mid-January, you could advertise “love bouquets” and “rose petals” on your website, or you could hold a contest on Facebook for customers to post a picture of their most creative bouquet arrangement using only household items. By the time Valentine’s Day rolls around, you’ll have generated a friendly buzz (and it doesn’t hurt your SEO either).

Fill in the Blanks
Once you have a list of holidays and have started to develop your marketing around them, look for gaps in the calendar that might be good opportunities for non-holiday themed promotions. You might say, “Hey, July is kind of a dry month, what about doing a special summer event to generate traffic and sales?” And if you’re in the Southern hemisphere, you could create a winter wonderland “Julybilee”.

Whichever holidays your local calendar contains, building a marketing plan around seasonal events is a simple and effective way to organize your promotional efforts. This new year, make it your resolution to take advantage of search trends and product cycles with a markrting plan for those holidays for which you just can’t wait. If you’re excited, your audience probably is as well.

WixTools for iPhone: Upload your Photos to the Editor in a Jiffy!

2011-01-03T07:55:00.004-05:00

Meet WixTools, a brand new app that allows you to upload pics from your iPhone directly to your Wix account! No more downloading, uploading or emailing files around - with WixTools, you can add photos to your Wix account on the go!

How Does WixTools Work?

1. Download the app from iTunes or from the app store. It's absolutely free!

WixTools on iTunes

2. Open the app and choose one of the following:
- Capture something on your camera and upload.
- Choose an existing pic from your photo library.

Capture a photo and upload it

3.Go to your Wix account and open the editor.
4.The photos you've just uploaded are waiting in your pic gallery. Awesome!

Photo awaits you in the Wix editor!

Web Design Resolutions for 2011

2010-12-30T07:22:00.001-05:00

A new year always brings up new hopes and wishes. These days everyone is occupied with things we want to accomplish in the next 12 months. We here at Wix are occupied too. Occupied with the future of web design and the changes and challenges the new year will bring.

We don't want to try and predict what 2011 would look like on the web, but we sure have some hopes for it. These are our top five resolutions for web design.

Wishing you'll you a sensational and creative 2011!

1. Return of the Text:

Text is an important element of web design. Don't let it die out!

While we certainly don't want to resurrect 90's style full text pages we'd definitely love to see some more text integrated into web design. The greatest benefit here is that more text means more typography, and more typography means a lot more experimentation and fun.

2. No More Distasteful Embedding:

See anything that just doesn't fit right?

The post-modern website is a dynamic one. It adds and drops embedded elements so fast, with each element leaving its mark on the design. We're always sad to see beautiful websites turning bad for using an app that simply doesn't blend in with their layout.

To avoid misfortunes, both embedded object and website should correspond with each other. Embedded widgets and apps should be designed compliment each other. True, new usabilities are important, but not at the cost of scarifying basic design principles.

3. Space it Out:

No spaces between page elements

No, we don't mean adding Star Wars clip art. We're talking about leaving reasonable spaces between elements. Cramming too much information together is tasteless and extremely disorienting for site visitors. In 2011, give each element of your design enough room to make an impression.

Looks far better with spaces, right?

4. Effects & Animation? Less Is more:

Waves, glows, stars, clip art - no website needs that much bling

While some animations are cute and some effects really are useful, the popular use of animations and effects is mostly wrong. We keep running into websites that look like 4th of July gone wrong - too much motion and too much commotion. If you don't want to scare your visitors away or leave the impression that you're a Justin Bieber fan, please remove your animations or at least tone them down.

5. Abolish Automatic Audio Players:

If you insist on playing music, use a visible audio player

(Musicians, DJ's and fansites naturally excluded)

Despite what some web designers believe, music is not always a fun addition to a site. Most internet users feel helpless when they open a page and, out of nowhere, strange music is coming out of their speakers. It is extremely uncomfortable in public spaces, not too mention that it slows down the loading of the website.

If you feel convinced that an auto-player will contribute to your website, please use a visible player that will be easy to turn off and on.

PPC for Beginners: Basic Guide for Pay-Per-Click Advertising

2010-12-29T07:45:00.000-05:00

You have a website and you need it to be seen. Getting your message out to your target audience, wherever they are, is the core mission of any promotional campaign. Small businesses can't really afford to keep all their advertising eggs in one basket: optimizing and extending your marketing efforts are mandatory in order to constantly increase your reach. In today's competitive web market, Pay-Per-Click PPC advertising is a strategy you simply can't overlook.

What is PPC Advertising?

The general principle of PPC is easy to grasp. Let's use one of the most commonly known PPC programs - Google AdWords - as our running example. This is the deal: when a user types in a search phrase that is relevant to your business, your text ad has a chance to be displayed on Google's search engine (given that you bid on that search phrase). You're only charged if and when the user clicks on your ad, hence the name "Pay-Per-Click".

Some Basic PPC Terminology

PPC advertising, like other online marketing tools, has many layers and a special language of its own. Don’t get lost in the forest of abbreviations - here is a list of basic terms and their meanings:

PPC or Pay Per Click - The advertising model where the advertiser is charged only for each click-through a particular ad gets. An ad might be seen, but not clicked on, so in this case the advertiser is not charged.

Publisher - The party who offers advertising space on their own website or network of websites. We’ve all seen the ads on the side of a Google search; in this way, Google is considered a publisher. Sites that run Google AdSense or offer display advertising space are also considered publishers.

Advertiser - The party who purchases advertising space for the purpose of promotion. When Harvard Business School buys space on the Wall Street Journal’s website, Harvard is considered an advertiser. In PPC advertising, Harvard can buy the keywords “business school” and “top MBA”. When a potential student searches for those terms or something similar, Harvard’s ad and link to their website may be displayed on the search page.

Click-through - A click-through occurs when a website visitor clicks on a certain link and subsequently views the page being linked. The number of click-throughs a PPC ad delivers is used to determine the cost of the advertising campaign to the advertiser.

CPC or Cost Per Click - A method of pricing PPC ads. The advertiser generally determines how much they are willing to pay for each click-through based on the popularity of the keyword.

Google search screen: green = organic results, Yellow = ads

Where Do I Begin with Pay-Per-Click Advertising?

To get started with PPC advertising, you’ll first need to determine a long list of keywords and phrases that can drive potential visitors to your site. If you advertise through Google AdWords, it’s very easy to search for keywords using their system. You’ll also need to determine the budget for your campaign after seeing how much each keyword or phrase will cost you. Have a balanced account - too many expensive keywords will exhaust your budget quickly. Conversely, too many cheap keywords indicates ineffective targeting.

Once your campaign is up and running, make sure to review it periodically for effectiveness. Other tools like referral links and landing pages will help you target your advertising. Because managing a PPC campaign is part of a complete Search Engine Marketing plan, always remember to take a step back and reallocate where you split your energy as necessary. Keep your biz tight and your eyes open and your site will stay alive on the net.

Have questions on PPC? Drop us a comment and our Wix Promote team will be happy to reply!

Promote your Wix Site on Twitter via Twix of the Day!

2010-12-28T06:55:00.008-05:00

Promote your Wix site on Twitter and get Featured as 'Twix of the Day'!

If you're a Wix veteran, chances are you already know our “Wix of the Day” section, where we feature beautiful Wix sites on a daily basis.

Starting today, we'll be featuring a similar section that will be entirely dedicated to our Twitter community: "Twix of the Day".

Every day we'll be featuring one website that we find strikingly beautiful or inspiring. We'll be mixing up personal and business websites so check back daily!

How to Apply?

You can apply to become "Twix of the Day" by doing one the following:

1. If you already published your site, send the following tweet to your followers: "Check out my @Wix Site [URL]!"

2. If you're just about to publish your site, simply click the "share on Twitter" button. This will automatically update your Wix site's URL to your Twitter account.

When publishing your site, hit the 'Share on Twitter' button

My Site was Chosen - What Do I Get?

On top of mass exposure and chance of glory, we'll be raffling Wix goodies between our "Twix of the Day" winners once a month.

All goodies are available on Wix' official online store so feel free to pop in and take a look around!

Designer'Spot with Sissi Fletcher

2010-12-27T10:15:00.000-05:00

Choosing and Buying a Domain Name in 3 Easy Steps

2010-12-22T09:42:00.000-05:00

You have one, your cat has one, and even your favorite search engine has one - a name. Naming is how we identify and give meaning to objects, people, places, and yes even websites. In this post, I’ll take you through three steps to snagging the sweetest virtual parking spot for your website.

Step 1: Choosing a Domain Name Registrar

Many Wix users purchase their domains at GoDaddy.com, a globally known company owing to their Super Bowl commercials. But they’re not the only players in the field. Other established domain name registrars include register.com, networksolutions.com, and domain.com. Prices vary from one supplier to the next but an average dot.com com domain would generally cost between $9 - $13 per year. Some sites offer discounts for longer contracts.

The process is pretty straightforward: you enter your chosen URL into a box to verify its availability. If it’s available - you’re in luck: skip to step 3. If the URL you want is already taken, or you need some help choosing a domain name, continue reading through step 2 of this post.

Step 2: Help! My Dream URL is Already Taken!

A little flexibility goes a long way with domain names. Say you’re a Philadelphia-based foodie looking to buy a domain for your new ‘street food’ site. Your friends call you “Foodster”, but a quick search indicates that Foodster.com is already registered. How about PhillyFoodster.com or TheFoodster.com? Shorter is always better, and simple tweaks can add meaning without adding too much bulk.

If you can’t find a dot.com name that fits you, you can consider alternative domain endings such as .net or .info. Certain domain name extensions like .us (USA) and .ly (Libya) make for clever and memorable URLs. Three well known websites who made impressive and creative use of domain name extensions are del.icio.us, disq.us and bit.ly.

Step 3: Hunt for Deals

An awesome domain is available and you’re ready to call it your own. Before you commit to one supplier, check the competition to hunt for the most attractive deal. If you also need business registration and hosting services there's a good chance you'll find an "all-in-one" package that could save you money.

That’s it. You’re ready to build your website and show off your wares. And if you are a Philly foodster, the name Phillyfoodster.com is fair game. Dig in!

Last-Minute Online Marketing Tips For The Holidays

2010-12-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

The tree is decorated, the egg nog is on the stove, and the mistletoe is strategically placed. But wait, have you updated your website for the holiday season? Your online business can flourish at this time of year. The basic equation to keep in mind here is this: One man's holiday is another man's greatest business opportunity.

Why Should Your Online Business Get Into The Holiday Spirit?

People spend money at this time of year. It's a no-brainer. They are actively looking for gifts and sales and turn more and more to the web to find what they're looking for.
Special holiday offers are a great opportunity to promote your site via newsletters, social networks or daily deals websites. The "Spam Police" which haunts online businesses throughout the year is significantly more lax on holidays.
It's a great opportunity to give your site a small facelift, just to refresh it a little.

How To Promote Your Holiday Deal

Create a designated site page that details exactly what you're offering. This page should have something of the holiday cheer in it (red & green colors, holiday icons, etc.) but at the same time, should still visually correspond with your lwebite (same page structure, logo or fonts would do the trick).

Designated Holiday Special Page

On the homepage, add a visible banner or a button that links to the designated page. Adding a button that says: "Holiday Deals" won't cut it. Go for something more appealing like "Click Here for Our Crazy Holiday Offers"; "Holiday Special: Get 20% Off All Online Orders"; "Limited Time Holiday Offers Now Available!".

Highlighting the Offer on the Homepage

Use the Wix editor to create flashy holiday greeting cards promoting your special holiday deal and spread them around. Don't forget to link directly to the deal's page and not to your homepage.

Keep In Mind:

The Wix editor is filled with sweet icons, lines, shapes and clip art that are especially suited for holiday themes. A moderate use of them will give you great results. An exaggerated use will cause a decrease in your visitors' count and possibly a few epileptic seizures.

Even if you're not selling anything on your site, it's still great to add some holiday spirit to it!

Easter is not part of the holiday season, so don't forget to remove your deals and special designs on time. It's perfectly fine to keep your holiday specials online a few days longer if you label them as "Post-Holiday Specials" or similar.

And here's a couple of Wix sites designed or redesigned for holiday season. Inspiration!

Elderly at Christmas - Special Holiday Site

AJ Photography - New Year's Special Offer

Aesthetic Design Holiday Shop

The 10 Commandments of SEO - Part II

2010-12-16T08:59:00.000-05:00

If you want your Wix website to receive glorious rankings atop Mount Google, ye shall worship these 10 Commandments of SEO, delivered straight to you in your very own home (no hiking boots required.)

Once you've absorbed the wisdom of Commandments I through V, you are ready to receive the second and final installment of SEO rules to ~~live~~ optimize by:

VI. Thou Shall Not Steal

All of your content must be original. Google can detect duplicate content, or two different pages with exactly the same text. This can cause you to suddenly drop in your rankings, or get removed entirely from Google's index. Write your own, original content and do not let the same text appear in more than one place inside your own website.

VII. Thou Shall Not Stuff

You must also be wary of using too many keywords. Don’t “stuff” them into your text - think of it more as "seasoning". Your keywords should make up between 3-5% of your on-page content.

Keep the flow of your writing as natural as possible, and place keywords only where it makes sense. Write in a way so as not be obvious that this is precisely what you’re doing.

VIII. Thou Shall Be User-Friendly

Get into your visitor’s head. What is he or she searching for? Is this easy to find inside your website?

Split your personality if you have to - just make sure that your visitor understands what you’re about, can easily get around your website, and can quickly locate what he or she is after.

Present your link structure clearly so visitors won’t get lost. Provide your inner links clearly on your homepage, and use good descriptions for buttons. Don't try to be witty or clever with site navigation. You want users to make as few clicks as possible to locate the meat of your content, your sales page, your artwork, whatever. Make your links obvious by coloring them with a different color than surrounding text. Create user-friendly text by choosing easy-to-read fonts, and easy-to-digest paragraphs. And don't forget to include a link to the homepage from every inner page!

IX. Thou Shall Track Your Site's Performance

If you know how your site is performing you are better able to target what SEO measures to focus on. Google Analytics is a terrific application you can use to track your performance. Site stats show you from where your visitors are coming, and how they’re behaving once inside your website. You can determine which of your keywords are working for you, which pages are the most interesting, and much more.

Google Analytics is free when you connect your Wix website to your own domain by upgrading to a Premium package.

Or, if you are one of our beloved free website owners, our awesome SEO Monitoring Tool works for both free and premium domains. This brand new tool pinpoints exact areas of your Flash website that aren't optimized for SEO. It's still in open alpha testing, so any feedback is much appreciated!

X. Thou Shall Perform Regular Tune-Ups

Keep your website in tip-top shape. Check periodically how it’s doing. Make sure all the sites you link to are in fact still online, and those links aren’t broken. Make sure your contact forms are connected to your most updated e-mail address.

If you have calendar dates on your website, make sure everything is updated to the most recent year. Don’t let banners get dusty with old years or irrelevant information (a banner announcing “1,000 Happy Customers!” is silly, once you've expanded to 10,000!). Also, graphics can get old and tired and visitors will want to see a refresh for evidence that you’re involved and are constantly making improvements. Use our website builder to quickly whip up a fresh new look every once in awhile.

Adding fresh textual content also sends a red flag to search engines that something new is cooking on your site and their spiders will crawl and re-index your site for future searches.

Final Command: Thou Shall Be Patient!

Optimization takes time. It can take time to get ranked in the first place, and it can take even longer to rank well for your keywords. But it will bring you the traffic you’re looking for, if you obey every Commandment listed here. Updating your content, adding back links and generating a buzz in the online community will all speed up the process of getting ranked for your keywords.

Keep in mind that SEO is always changing, as the web itself evolves, new tools emerge and new tactics are promoted or devalued. Review these Commandments regularly and check back on the Wix blog for important updates on getting more organic, search engine traffic for your Wix website!

SEO Tips: Promoting your Site Using Web Directories

2010-12-14T09:49:00.002-05:00

One effective technique for promoting your business online is having your site appear in diverse listing directories around the web. Search engines include these directories in their search algorithm, and factor in a site’s appearance in those listings when displaying results.

As Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engine scan the latest make-up of the web, the directories listings help point to websites that actually exist and are in good standing. In other words, listing your site on directories demonstrates to search engines that your site is genuine, functioning, and is worthy of traffic.

Which Way to the Directory?
There are many directories flying around in cyberspace. Some are well known and highly selective of the sites they list; some are free, some charge a fee for listing; some are user-generated while others are managed by companies who run the listing service as a business.

Where Do I Start? How Do I Get Listed?
Below I have listed several directory services with which all site owners should be familiar. You should begin your SEO listing efforts by investigating these sites. As you learn about additional directory services, you should build a goal list of directories on which you want your site to be listed. From that point, it’s a matter of opening the lines of communication, contacting the site, and following up.

Classic, highly-selective, and for-a-fee directories:

The Open Directory Project (DMOZ) - free, but very hard to get listed.
The ipl2 - a recent merger of the Internet Public Library and the Librarians' Internet Index.
Yahoo Directory - selective due to cost, listing on the Yahoo Directory is $299 per year.
Best of the Web - offers listing for a fee, but no guarantee of inclusion in the directory.

User-friendly, user-generated:

Google Places - Google’s directory of businesses. Results are shown as locations on a map, or in a Google search.
Yelp - Better known as the people-powered review website for restaurants, shopping, nightlife, etc., Yelp is an easy entrance point for listing your website.
InsiderPages - Similar to Yelp, but focusing on reviews for businesses such as health and wellness providers, home and garden stores, and beauty services.

A Last Word on Linking, Listing, and Integrity
Incoming and outgoing links to and from your website are quite important in your SEO efforts, and directory listings are simply one side of the linking coin. As the lines are blurred between linking on user-generated reviews websites and directory listings, it’s important for site-owners to be aware of all the possible options for spreading links responsibly.

As with other SEO techniques, spammy practices will do you more harm than good. It’s in your best interest to maintain link integrity while submitting to directories and other listing sites. This means that you should refrain from submitting the same link multiple times, or disguising the same link with different URLs, or posting irrelevant links in user-generated sites. People don’t want to read spam, and search engines certainly don’t want to serve it.