A quick Google search of “DIY Website” and you’re bombarded with DIY Website Builder ads and articles that list your best DIY website options. You know your business needs a website, so DIY seems like a reasonable, cost-efficient solution, right? Not necessarily. 

As the use of smartphones continues to increase, so does the value of your website and online presence. Handing the important job of building your business’s website and online presence to professionals ensures the job is done right the first time.

Here’s why we love Do-It-For-You services and you should, too!

Professional Results

In an internet focused era, it’s not enough to have a website; it needs to be great. A poorly designed and implemented website can raise red flags for potential customers. Aesthetics and usability are extremely important- How does the customer feel when they look at your homepage for the first time? How easy is it for them to navigate the website and find the information they’re looking for? Web designers know what makes an attractive, intuitive website to give your customers the best possible web experience. Your website can be a truly valuable asset for your business and a professional team means professional results.

Save Time

As a business owner, your time is one of your most valuable assets. If you’re focused on your business, building your own website and online presence can end up eating up more time than you expect. Even once your business website is built, regular updates keep it relevant and interesting. Hiring a Do-It-For-You Service means a quality designed website built for functionality with a minimal time commitment from you. It also means it’s easier to make quick changes to your website like a new homepage banner to promote a sale, or adding new products to your online store for an upcoming launch. The less time you spend building a website, the more time you have for what’s important to you. 

Extend Your Team

Building a successful website encompasses a lot of details. Wouldn’t it be easier to hire a team of professionals to handle the tasks you don’t have the time and/or expertise to manage? Designing your website, building your website, writing content, setup of Google tools, maintenance of social media accounts, reputation management are time and energy consuming tasks. Instead of you trying to build it on your own, Do-It-For-You service will assign an entire team to your website so each task is completed by a dedicated professional. Your website should be a well-crafted and accurate reflection of your business; extend your team with the best people for the job.

Stay Up-To-Date

With features, trends, and product updates. While you’re managing other aspects of your business, it can be difficult to stay up to date with the latest technology news. As an ever-evolving field, the fast pace of website technology and trends can leave even a year old website looking tired and out-dated. Hiring someone to do it for you means your website is always fresh and current. A Do-It-For-You service will make sure your website technology is in line with industry standards and updated regularly to stay competitive, so you don’t have to. 

Focus On Your Business

There’s a reason you started your business; you’re knowledgable and passionate about what you do! Letting someone else design, implement and market your website means you can stay focused on your business. A Do-It-For-You service team will be knowledgable and passionate about technology. Let them build your website and online presence so you can spend your time and energy on what you do best, your business! 

Business owners are coming to recognize the value of having a strong online strategy. Whether they want to sell online, market online or simply have a content website, most small business know that being online can help increase their bottom line. Choosing Do-It-For-Me over DIY means no missed details and no time wasted. Your business’s website and online visibility are more important than ever. Consider hiring pros for the job; you’ll be happy you did! 

Speaking of pros, Webware’s Do-It-For-You Service means professional results for your business’s entire online presence, from website and design to digital services and online reputation management. Get a custom-design, mobile-friendly website that not only looks good, but also adds value to your business at webware.io. 

Morningstar Trading, located in downtown Toronto, is a true gem in a world of mass-market furniture. Stepping through the door from one of Toronto’s busiest streets into Morningstar’s shop, you’re immediately immersed in the beauty and richness of India. With amazing woodwork, handicrafts, lavish and brightly coloured textiles, and the sweet scent of Nag Champa, Morningstar Trading helps you bring a piece of India home with you. 

John, who owns and runs this adorable furniture store, is passionate about the culture and traditions of India. He started traveling over 46 years ago to bring the vivid colours and fabrics of India to the Canadian market. After serving the fashion business for 25 years, John decided to take a leap into the furniture market. On each buying trip to India, John uses his discerning eye to bring back the best quality wood pieces, statues, textiles and other artisanal pieces for his customers. With the boom of condo development in Toronto, Morningstar also carries a generous selection of furniture designed to fit the smaller dimensions of modern condo living. 

Already a Well-Established Business, How Could Webware Help Morningstar?

After setting up and running a successful furniture business, John was eager to get Morningstar Trading online. He wanted to increase his sales and reach a broader audience. Even with the store’s amazing urban location, John felt he could still reach more customers and sell more furniture. That’s when we met John in his trendy, downtown Toronto store. 

When Webware first started working with John and Morningstar, we wanted to bring the same warm ambiance and influence of India from his store to his website. Webware designed and built a mobile-friendly website to reflect Morningstar’s vibrant personality and showcase their vast array of furniture. Webware also added a FaceTime feature to morningstartrading.ca to allow customers to call the store directly from the website. With one click, customers can be chatting face-to-face with John and his staff to ask any questions about their products.

Morningstartrading.ca helped create new business for John. They saw a dramatic increase in web traffic, foot traffic and sales after the website launch, without any marketing effort! Now that the website is live, we are working with John to further increase his traffic and sales with the addition of our Digital Services Package. 

At Webware, we love to see our customers succeed and we couldn’t be happier for John and his team at Morningstar Trading. Find a little (or big!) piece of India at morningstartrading.ca and bring the richness and romance of this colourful country into your home. 

In this internet age, it’s no longer enough for your business to have a website. Today, a business website needs a comprehensive strategy to stand out from the competition and one of the most valuable elements you can add to your website is a blog. There are several reasons to write and maintain a business blog but one particular advantage can help your business break through the online clutter. Read on the learn the most useful benefit of business blogging (and a few other ways a blog can add value to your business).

Supercharge your SEO

The number one reason to write a blog for your business is the tremendous advantage it provides when it comes to ranking your website in search results. Google has a long list of things it checks when deciding where to place your website in search results; the frequency of new, original content, and the quality of page content are two important factors. A regular schedule of blog posts that are useful for your customers and relevant to your business is an incredibly valuable way to improve your overall search ranking.

Generally, more blog posts means more website pages, which leads to a better rank in Google search results. However, if your content is low quality (for example, it’s poorly written or duplicate information), your blog may not perform the way it should. Google’s own Webmaster Forum reflects the growing importance of quality over quantity,

“Our algorithms explicitly try to find and recommend websites that provide content that's of high quality, unique, and compelling to users. Don't fill your site with low-quality content, instead work on making sure that your site is the absolute best of its kind.”

                                                            - Google Webmaster Central Help Forum

Check your blog content for grammar, spelling mistakes and usefulness. Your audience (and Google) should find your posts informative, valuable and understandable.

An Important Note about Third-Party Blogging Platforms - If your business blog is hosted on a third-party blogging platform and not integrated into your own website, Google won’t connect your blog posts to your website and you will lose out on the SEO benefits. 

For example, a business blog hosted on a third party blog platform might look like this: wordpress.yourbusinessblog.com.  A blog hosted by the website looks like this: yourbusiness.com/blogs OR blog.yourbusiness.com.

Ensure your blog is integrated with your website so that each new post actively increases the SEO performance of your whole website.

In addition to the amazing SEO benefits a business blog can provide, here a few other ways a blog can improve your business:

Strengthen Your Social Media Campaign

While sharing others’ content on your business social media pages can help you keep in contact with your customers, posting your own original content has significant advantages. Updating your social media accounts with news of your most recent blog post drives traffic directly to your website. Anytime the post is shared among your customers, those clicks lead to your business. Blog posts also provide useful content for your business’s email newsletter. Increase the impact of your social media and email marketing campaigns by including regular blogs as part of your strategy.

Signify a Healthy Business to Customers

Regular communication through your blog shows website visitors that your business is alive, well, and ready for customers.  Posting relevant and high-quality content on your blog builds customer confidence by illustrating your company’s passion and commitment to serving the community.  Over time, the quality content on your blog can help define your company as a leader in your industry.

Give Your Brand a Human Voice

Blogging is a great way to show your business’s personality. Beyond website design and content, blogging allows your business to communicate on a more personal level with existing and potential customers. To write content that speaks to your customers, check to make sure the language, tone and values conveyed in your post match those of your target audience.

Conclusion

Good quality, consistent blogging helps increase the value of your website which ultimately increases the value of your business. If you haven’t considered creating a blog for your business, now is a great time to add it to your marketing plan. From communication and customer loyalty to the powerful SEO effect, blogging is one of the most beneficial tools your business can use to get ahead.

Webware’s platform includes an integrated blogging tool that allows our customers to easily add and manage a blog on their website. Your customers will experience a seamless transition between your website and blog while you enjoy the convenience of managing both from the same platform. If you don’t have time to create original content on a regular basis, Webware’s Digital Services packages include blog writing with social media posts. 

Google provides some amazing tools to anyone with a website. These (for the most part) free tools offer businesses an amazing advantage over their competition on the most used search engine in the world. Where your business ranks on Google Search can influence how many new customers visit your business and possibly your bottom line. Use these four powerful tools to ensure your business is as visible and effective as possible across all Google platforms.

My Business

The Google My Business tool is arguably the most important tool offered by Google for businesses. The My Business Tool allows you to set up how your business contact information will look to customers on Google search. Once set up, your location, website, reviews, phone number and business hours will appear prominently in Google search results, making it easy for your customers to see relevant information quickly. The My Business Tool is used across Google, including Mobile Search and the Google Maps app, so your customers see consistent, accurate info from anywhere they search. Given the popularity of Google and it’s powerful local search, the My Business tool is a necessary component to any business’s online strategy.

Google Analytics

When it comes to website data, Google Analytics is the gold-standard for tracking and reporting on your business’s website. Google Analytics tracks and reports visitor data in a convenient dashboard allowing businesses to see new visitors to the website, returning visitors, how long each visitor spent on the website, which pages they viewed and their geographical location. You can also pull reports on specific page performance and traffic sources. Businesses can monitor marketing campaigns, conversion rates, keyword data and add e-commerce tracking. Google Analytics is a “freemium” (free with paid options) tool for monitoring the basic health and operation of any website and is a must for businesses.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console, previously called Webmaster Tools, allows for more advanced website tracking and maintenance of Google-friendly websites. It provides detailed reports on your search traffic, click-through rates and mobile vs. desktop traffic. Through the Search Analytics Report, you can group, filter and compare your data to tweak your overall digital strategy and maximize website performance. The alerts feature will notify you of any website errors that might affect your rank in search results. Google Search Console can provide your business with the tools to get an extra edge against your competition in search results.

Google+ Publisher

The Google+ Publisher tag is another valuable tool to further enhance how your business info appears in search results. Once you install the publisher tag on your website, Google will link your website to your business brand page on Google+. When someone searches your brand specifically on Google, the content from your Google+ plus will appear on the right side of the search results, providing an eye-catching and detailed description of your business. The Publisher tag allows you to show customers more than the basics of your company without leaving the Google Search page.

Conclusion

With consumers turning to the internet more than ever for information, a business in solid standing with Google is likely to have better online visibility and see increases in both foot and website traffic. These four tools comprise a solid foundation for any business looking to establish a strong online presence and manage an effective, profitable digital strategy.

Webware offers it’s customers an extensive range of services to help manage and grow their websites after the initial launch. The Digital Services Package includes the set up of Google My Business, Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Google+ Publisher for your website. The package also includes blog content writing, online reputation management, website/keyword analysis and optimization to ensure your website adds value to your business. Click here for more info.

We’re pleased to announce that Butch Langlois is joining Webware as Chief Operating Officer to support our North American expansion.

Butch brings a wealth of experience to the Webware team. He is a widely respected leader in the technology industry known for leading great companies and helping shape them into successful businesses.

Joining Webware was an easy choice for Butch, because “it has the best and most comprehensive product for the worldwide SMB audience,” he says. From his experience working at Rogers Ventures and launching companies targeted at SMBs, Butch immediately recognized Webware’s potential to fill a gap in the existing digital services market in North America. “Webware is already supporting thousands of customers in Asia and we’re excited to duplicate that success in North America.”

Butch’s plan includes refining the sales model to reach as many potential customers as possible and helping them understand how the Webware platform and services team can profit their SMB. “In 2016, we aim to continue the momentum we’ve built through the end of 2015, and focus on the key elements that will allow us to achieve the 10x growth we expect to reach this year,” says Butch.

In addition to driving sales success, Butch aims to build a corporate culture where the team is excited to come to work each day and contribute to our customers’ success.

Prior to joining Webware, he was Vice President of Local Operations & Portfolio Development at Rogers Communications. He was responsible for launching Roger’s Local Digital portfolio companies: Rogers Outrank, Vicinity by Rogers, Zoocasa and Rogers Alerts.

Before joining Rogers, Butch was the President and CEO of three Toronto based start-ups securing over $25M in venture capital during the 2000s:

• Planeteye, a travel planning website that was named as a “2008 Company to Watch” in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, one of Canada’s Top 10 Canadian Web 2.0 Companies by IDC, “One of Canada’s Hottest 20 Innovative Companies” by the Canadian Innovation Exchange, and as one of the “100 Most Useful Web Sites” by PC World magazine
• Truition Inc. acquired by CDC Software. During his four-year tenure, Truition was named to the 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, by achieving five-year revenue growth of 565%.
• BuyBuddy.com, a Web and wireless comparative shopping destination.

Butch is a CPA and began his internet-focused career as Vice President, Finance & Operations for Rogers New Media in the late 1990s.

We are incredibly excited to work with Butch and to learn from all his experience. Welcome aboard!

Happy New Year from the Webware Team!

2015 was an exciting and pivotal year at Webware. We changed our name, hired awesome new team members and expanded to North America. The Webware team looks forward to continued growth and innovation in the new year. 

Wishing you and yours a safe and prosperous 2016. 

Related Posts

PowerStores is Now Webware

Press Release: PowerStores fuels North American launch with rebrand to Webware.io and a new round of funding

Webware.io is now integrated with both the US Postal Service and Canada Post, the most convenient delivery service options for businesses in the US or Canada. Webware customers now have access to either USPS or Canada Post’s shipping service right from their Webware workspace.

This will ease the process of shipping orders for our American and Canadian merchants. Now as a Webware merchant, you can both fulfill and track orders right from your Webware workspace, and have the confidence that your shipping rates are correct and matching your own costs for shipping. 

The correct USPS or Canada Post shipping rate will be automatically integrated into your customer’s shopping cart during checkout, based on the weight of the items and the zip/postal code entered. This shipping rate includes delivery fees and pickup fees.

Activating your postal carrier within your Webware website makes shipping easier and streamlines your e-commerce process. Simplify your shipping today – get started now!

In this digital age, the value and influence of online reviews is on the rise. Eighty-eight percent of consumers take reviews into account on purchase decisions! Reviews, both positive and negative, can influence your business’s reputation and bottom line. Monitoring what’s being said about your business online is an important part of any digital strategy. Keep reading for a detailed guide on how to make reviews work for your business.

Here’s why your business should care about reviews:

1. Trust - 88% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Consumers actively seek out opinions on products/services and studies show consumers highly value peer reviews.
2. Visibility / SEO ranking - Businesses with more total reviews and more positive reviews are ranked higher on search engines. For example, Google Maps and Google Mobile Search return the top three businesses nearby with the best ratings and reviews.
3. Traffic - The more visibility your business has online, the more likely you are to see an increase in foot and website traffic.
4. Conversion - 40% of consumers read reviews on their mobile while at the POS. Positive reviews can close sales and increase overall spending. They can also be a tie-breaker when deciding between establishments so ensure your reviews are accurate and up-to-date.

Ready to get started? Here’s your most important review-related questions answered:

Which review sites should my business use?

The best thing your business can do is find where your competitors are reviewed. Do some research to find which review sites your industry uses to concentrate your effort.

Some popular places to leave and read reviews:

Google Reviews - Google is the most used search engine in the world and specializes in local search. This is a good place to start.

Yelp - This app spans many industries and is go-to search tool for consumers looking for highly rated businesses.

Trip Advisor - If you’re in the hospitality business, TripAdvisor is a well-known and respected website to find reviews

Angie’s List - Mostly for North American based businesses, Angie’s list is ‘higher end’ review site for product and service businesses with guaranteed verified reviews.

Your Website - Add a review widget to your website. Reviews on your own website can increase traffic and sales.

How many reviews does my business need?

Consumers generally read between 4 and 10 reviews before they trust a business. Check out your competitors then aim to stand out from that number. However, consumers are smart and can sniff out fake reviews. If your competitors have 10 reviews and your business has 200, consumers are likely to be weary of your reviews. Aim for a steady increase of one review per month or per quarter.

Can I trick Google with fake reviews?

Absolutely not. Google is well-known for authenticity and will find, then punish, businesses abusing the review system with poor search rankings.

What can I do about bad reviews?

Negative reviews are an opportunity for your business. If you receive a bad review, reach out to the customer. At the minimum, you can apologize for the negative experience and hope they return to your business for another chance to make things right. You can also offer an exchange/refund or discount to compensate for a bad experience. If your business turns the experience into a positive one, you can ask the customer to update their original review or write a new one.

How can I monitor reviews to stay up to date with what people are saying about my business?

Set up Google Alerts to let you know anytime someone says anything about your business. This allows you to respond immediately and provide top-notch customer service.

Ready to get reviewed? How to get reviews:

1. First and foremost, DO NOT offer incentives for reviews. This is against most review sites’ policies. Incentivized reviews create mistrust in your customers and will get you booted off review sites.
2. Lightly encourage your customers to write reviews. Use your best judgement here. Ask your regulars and satisfied customers. Not everyone will write a review, but if you ask 10 people, you may get 1 quality review.
3. Display your reviews inside your establishment. This shows your customers you value their input and may encourage them to add a review as well.
4. Establish your online presence. Simply increasing your online visibility can remind customers to write a review.

Word-of-mouth is one of the best forms of advertising. As the digital age’s word-of-mouth, online reviews are a simple, yet effective way to increase traffic, sales, and improve your online reputation. With the increase in value and influence of reviews, a small business can no longer afford to have a poor online reputation. Ensure your small business is up-to-date and reaping the benefits of this essential online tool.

For immediate release

POWERSTORES FUELS NORTH AMERICAN LAUNCH WITH REBRAND TO WEBWARE.IO AND NEW ROUND OF FUNDING

Asia’s leading web building platform and service provider to disrupt North American DIY website market with do-it-for-me model 

December 5, 2015 (TORONTO, ON) - PowerStores Ecommerce Ltd. is ready to take on North America with a new name and a fresh round of capital investment to fuel its rapid growth. Rebranded as Webware.io, the company has closed a new round of funding led by Toronto-based Extreme Venture Partners and William Bissell, who made the investment in his personal capacity through his family office. Webware offers a DIY website platform that is now complemented with robust do-it-for-me set up and support services to ensure businesses become competitive in the online world.

“There are four billion-dollar web platform companies in the market, yet according to a joint Google and Ipsos survey in 2013, 55 percent of businesses in North America are still not online,” says Cory York, co-founder and CEO of Webware. “We know why. Small businesses are looking for a reasonably-priced, do-it-for-me platform and service company to take care of their online needs. And that’s what our company offers.” Founded in India by Cory York and Indrajit Chowdhury in 2012 as PowerStores, the company established a Toronto office this past summer and already has 10 employees and 500 customers there.

“The name change to Webware.io reflects the company’s ability to serve more than just the e-commerce market with a shopping cart solution,” says York. “We know small businesses have limited time and resources, and an easy all-in-one system that covers everything they should be doing when it comes to the internet is what Webware is all about. We offer a complete digital tool kit that covers everything a business needs to be doing online - website, web store, social commerce, blogging, and more.

” The new round of funding will support Webware.io’s aggressive expansion across North America as it targets more than 30 million small and medium businesses that can benefit from its services. "There is a great opportunity for digital services within the small business market right now. We're investing in the proven team at Webware to bring a new dimension to the SaaS platform marketplace." Sunil Sharma Extreme Venture Partners ( www.evp.vc )

“Small- and medium-sized businesses know they need to be online, but so many of them just don’t know where to start,” says York. “They’re hair stylists, or chefs, or plumbers. You name it. But they don’t want to be web developers, nor should they be. That’s where Webware.io can help.” Webware.io will dramatically increase hiring for it's sales and marketing team in Toronto in the coming months to support its growth plans. Qualified candidates can apply at https://www.webware.io/pages/footer/careers

- 30 -

About Webware.io: Webware.io is a complete tool kit designed to help small businesses easily and affordably navigate the digital world. Webware.io’s technology platform provides everything small businesses need to manage and grow a successful online presence, from designing and building websites and online stores, to SEO marketing services and creating loyalty programs. With services embedded into the Webware.io platform, businesses can access all the tools they need from one easy-to-use workspace.

MEDIA CONTACT: Cory York, Co-founder and CEO, Webware.io (formerly PowerStores) 416.931.9330

The holiday season is upon us! Is your business prepared? The average American consumer is expected to spend over $800 during this holiday season. SMB retailers see 20-30% of their annual business during the last two months of the year. It is essential for you to ensure that your business is able to capitalise on the high rate of spending during the holiday season. An estimated 47% of consumers prefer to shop online compared to the usual brick and mortar stores. In other words, it means is that there is big money to be made this time of the year as far as online shopping and marketing go. But how do you make sure that you and your business are prepared?

 Here is where you can start…

1) Start Planning For The Holidays Today

If you have a website or a dedicated blog, begin by updating it to reflect the mood of the ongoing holiday and festivities. If you haven't posted a new article, photo or even a mere promotion in a long time, then this is the time to do it! You can also try pinning one or two colourful banners or even populating it with holiday verbiage. If you run a webstore, then it is an opportune time to start planning what deals and discounts you can offer!

2) Step Up Communication with your Customers

The key to driving traffic and increasing sales during the holiday shopping season is knowing exactly who your customer is and marketing to them well in advance of the holiday season. Businesses that communicate with their customers year-round have more successful holiday marketing campaigns because they took the time to build relationships with shoppers. Incorporate your holiday promotion ideas into a year-round marketing strategy. During the holiday season, focus on your existing customers but also work towards improving your business’ online presence and driving more traffic to your site.

3) Harness the Power of Social Media

It's the holiday season. And as far as the web statistics go, this is the time of the year when social media outlets record the highest amount of traffic per year. Therefore, it goes without saying that if you lay out strategic plans to tap into this traffic, you can easily multiply your mailing list subscriber base within a few weeks or even days! Be accessible on every social media platform and every device. 65% of shoppers use social media to find the perfect gift, so help them find your store. Below are a few ideas for great social media posts during the holiday season:

• Gift guides
• Wish list items
• Creative ways to use your business’s products/services
• Seasons greetings from your staff
• Party planning and event ideas

4) Partner with Other Small Business Owners to Drive Sales

Just like the adage goes, there's indeed strength in numbers. And if you're just starting out (have a new blog, website or social media page), you'll be far much better placed this season if you concentrate most of your effort in pooling your resources together and partner with other local businesses in your area by promoting one another’s products/services during the holiday season. Partnerships with other local businesses will spread awareness about your business to a new audience of highly qualified buyers, e.g. if you own a nail salon, you could partner with a hair salon and offer combined holiday packages.

Now is the time to get working on your holiday marketing plan.  Try out one - or all - of these ideas to kick-start this holiday season for your business.

Webware.io is now integrated with Fedex, the world’s largest express transportation company. Webware customers now have access to Fedex’s shipping service right from their Webware workspace.

Enabling Fedex with your Webware website allows you to manage your entire online business from a workspace you already use.  Track and fulfill orders right from the same place, your Webware workspace.

Setting up Fedex with your Webware site saves you time too. You won't need to add any shipping rates or setup weight slabs (for example, 1kg = $2.99, 2kg = $4.99, etc). The shipping rate is automatically integrated into your shopping cart during checkout, based on the weight of the items and the zip/postal code entered. This shipping rate includes delivery fees and pickup fees.

Activating Fedex on your Webware website makes shipping easier and streamlines your e-commerce process. Take advantage of Webware’s newest integration and simplify your shipping today!

We are proud to announce that PowerStores is now Webware. 

For our customers and partners, rest assured that nothing will change. We still provide the best platform to suit all of the online needs of a business, including website content management, e-commerce and online payments, blog, social media, and more. We will continue to offer both a do-it-yourself option and a do-it-for-you service, to give you the flexibility to choose what works best for you.

Why the change from PowerStores? 

We started as PowerStores, offering a DIY e-commerce solution. The name “PowerStores” implies e-commerce only, and we create much more than just online stores. Many of the sites we build and host are for businesses such as clinics, hair salons, and interior designers - businesses who do not have a requirement to sell online.

In addition, through listening to our customers, we learned that DIY website platforms don't work for the average small business owner; they are difficult to build, more time-consuming than anticipated, and rarely produce the quality of website the business expects. Not to mention, a website is only one component of a successful digital strategy. Webware offers services to help our customers maintain a strong online presence, long after their initial website is live.

The name “Webware.io” reflects the company we have evolved into, and it's a brand that speaks to all our customers. 

What is Webware?

Webware means tools to help navigate the fast-paced, ever-evolving internet. 

Our new brand describes the functionality and diversity of our product plus services team. Webware’s easy-to-use, web-based tools provide small businesses with everything they need to be successful online. 

The took-kit includes: design and setup of content or commerce websites, embedded services to enhance websites (like designing a logo, a banner image, product updates, etc), a blogging tool, loyalty program, and extensive list of add-on marketing/SEO packages. 

The Webware team looks forward to continuing to help small businesses thrive in the new digital space. From easy-to-use technology and quality-built websites, to affordable services with exceptional customer service - Webware’s toolkit continues to be small businesses' best all-in-one online solution. 

Cory York
Co-founder, CEO
Webware.io

This Thursday, November 5^th, catch Webware.io at the Los Angeles Small Business Expo.

Webware.io is a complete tool kit designed to help small businesses easily navigate the digital world. Our technology platform provides everything small businesses need to design, manage and grow a successful online presence from designing logos and building online stores, to SEO Marketing services and creating loyalty programs.

Look for us in Booth 304 on the exhibitor floor, and we can provide a full demo of our services and show you how we can help your small business grow.

Also, catch Webware's CEO Cory York, in his workshop on small businesses and the web.  Cory will discuss why a website is a necessity for your business and how to get traffic to your website with SEO and content marketing strategies.

The session will also cover Google's new SEO guidelines, how to build a website that's favored by search engines, and a question and answer session on how to be successful online. Then, watch a demo of Webware's easy-to-use digital toolkit that provides everything you need to build a thriving online business.

Pinterest has the potential to be the most valuable social media platform for businesses.  [Source]

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where u

• things they are planning to do
• things they would like to buy 
• and most importantly, things they are dreaming of doing 

The images are “pinned” to boards to keep ideas and projects organized. Images are linked back to a website or blog post, offering relevant content for the user to easily find and go back to later. In addition to pinning, Pinterest users can also “follow” other “pinners” and individual boards.

Pinterest posts are a creative journey - planning and dreaming about life experiences. Boards span a huge spectrum of interests including:

• food/drink
• crafts/DIY
• home decor
• technology
• humour
• holidays
• events
• travel

So, why should small and medium sized businesses focus on Pinterest as a promising social media marketing platform? 

Here’s some stats on how and why people use Pinterest:

As a business, you cannot afford to miss out on this amazing opportunity to reach potential customers who WANT to spend their money. Pinterest users, more than any other group on social media, are shoppers. They use Pinterest to find inspiration for their next project and are actively seeking products/services to purchase. Adding Pinterest to your social media marketing plan extends your business’ reach into an extremely valuable market segment. 

How to get Pinterest working for your business:

Create a plan 

Create boards with categories -

Curate and create pins - 

Here’s how to create pins that will help drive traffic to your website:

• Describe your pins well so they can be easily found through search. Balance “real voice” with relevant key words to provide more info about the pin. Avoid overusing keywords as this could flag the pin as spam. 
• Use eye-catching images. Pinterest has a useful guide on how to create great pins.
• Pins that link back to useful content perform well on Pinterest. For example, a freelance photographer might create a Pin to link to their blog post “How to take better photos with an iPhone”
• “Repin" from reputable sources. Find leaders in your industry and “repin” their articles, blog posts, and photos. Follow their boards and interact with them through comments/likes. 
• Use Rich Pins - These are pins with extra information. For example, a Product Rich Pin includes real time pricing, availability and where to buy. Pinners may also get notifications when prices drop more than 10%. You’ll have to apply for rich pins with Pinterest. click here for more info
• Avoid time sensitive information on your pins. Pins tend to be “repinned” for weeks and months after the original pin (engagement on a Facebook or Twitter post only lasts for a few days). For example, a one-day sale that a retail store is promoting on Facebook might get lost on Pinterest, only be “repinned” when it is no longer valid, months later.
• Create a mix of pins from your website and other sources. 
• Enable Pinterest on your website - Two thirds of all content pinned comes business websites. Ensure customers can pin your products from your website and content from your blog. 

Let everyone know you’re on Pinterest - 

Be consistent -

Use Pinterest Analytics - 

Buyable Pins - 

Conclusion

Pinterest’s unique combination of eye-catching images with useful content attracts doers, dreamers and shoppers. Pinterest’s unique user-base has the potential to make it the most valuable social media marketing platform for businesses today. Using Pinterest for your business not only increases your reach, it also helps you put your products/services in front of people who are looking to buy them. If your business hasn’t already, signup and get pinning to take advantage of Pinterest’s social media marketing power. 

Inforgraphic Sources: MillwardBrown, fortune.com

What is SEO?

Your new website can be an essential tool for your business’s marketing strategy. But in order to make the most of your website, you need people to find it!

Search engines like Google help your website get found. SEO - or Search Engine Optimization - is a way to increase traffic to your website by focusing on where it appears in search engine results. Optimizing your website or web store will make it easier to find on the web.

Marketing Packages now available

Now Webware is offering ongoing SEO services to our customers. Our team of experts will implement both on-site and off-site optimization of your business.

Choose the marketing plan that’s right for you:

Ongoing Services

Improving your site’s performance through optimization is a continual process. We offer monthly ongoing services to address your business needs and consistently optimize the online presence of your business. Choose from a monthly plan starting as low as $425 per month, or purchase 6 months upfront and we will waive the initial setup fees. - LEARN MORE

Webware is a leading cloud-based web platform designed for small and medium sized businesses. Businesses can use Webware and our expert support team to design, set up, manage, and grow a website or webstore.

Whether you’re starting an online business, taking your existing business online, or are ready to upgrade your website, Webware has all the key components for a successful digital business, all in one place:

1) Website

A website builds your brand, increases your business’s credibility and, ideally, will bring you more customers. But it’s a lot of work to build and maintain a website, even if you’re outsourcing the work.

Webware's Do-It-For-Me team will design a website to reflect your brand and give your customers an informative and easy-to-use online experience. Here’s how it works:

• The Webware expert team will start from one of our beautiful website templates, get your inputs and preferences, and build a website that fits your business brand and needs.
• Once it's built, you can run and manage the site yourself with our easy-to-use web-based tools.

With Webware, anyone can have a beautiful, mobile-friendly site at the lowest rates available, all within a quick delivery timeframe.

2) Webstore

Want to sell your products online? The Webware Do-It-For-Me Team will deliver a beautifully designed webstore, fully integrated with reputable payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe that support mobile-based transactions.

Site visitors can browse, add to cart, and make payments right from their smartphones, tablets or desktops, using our integrated, straightforward checkout process.

Then you can log into your Webware's Workspace to:

• Manage your products, orders, and customers from one, easy-to-use online Workspace.
• Create coupons to drive more sales and draw in customers.
• Add apps from our App Store for additional features, like customer service chat, surveys and reviews.
• View reports on order activity, visitor stats, and referral sites, so you can keep tabs on your business.

Webware's platform gives you all the tools you need to digitally manage your ecommerce business, from one convenient place.

3) Blog

Blogging significantly increases a website’s SEO and lands your business higher in Google search results. Whether you’re selling online or promoting your business with a website,Webware's blog platform is a great way to increase traffic to your website. It’s also a great place to link to content on your website and products/services on your webstore.

Your customers will experience a seamless transition between your website and blog, while you enjoy the convenience -- and SEO benefits -- of managing both from the same platform.

4) Social Store

Use social media to get your fans onto your website and convert them into buying customers! With the Facebook Store feature on Webware, you can sell your products on your business Facebook page.

Consumers love to research their potential purchases online and frequently ask their social networks for advice. Your Facebook fans can easily view your products on your Facebook page, and share them with their social networks. This will increase your reach and allows you to harness the power of word-of-mouth through social media.

When your fans want more information, or are ready to make a purchase, they click on the product from your Facebook Store and are taken to your website.

Social media is vital to online success - increase your web traffic and engagement with Webware’ Facebook Store.

5) Loyalty Program

Once your fans become customers, it’s important to treat them right to keep them coming back. With Webware's loyalty program, you can award points to customers who register with your website and/or make purchases. And you can decide how customers can redeem their loyalty points. A Loyalty Program helps increase customer satisfaction, customer retention and brand loyalty.

Conclusion

In today’s world, it’s imperative for businesses to have an online presence, and your website is the heart of it all.  But a static website alone is not enough. 

If you’re selling products online – whether it’s physical products, professional services, or takeout menu items – you need a secure, easy-to-use ecommerce store.  And extras like a blog, loyalty program, and social links are now critical elements to success.

And even for those businesses who are not conducting sales online, you still need your customers to find your website, learn about your business, gather the information they need to make an informed decision, and follow your call to action.

Webware's, with our team of experts, will design and setup your online business and give you the tools you need to manage it, all with minimal cost and effort to you.  For more info, start a free trial or contact us.

Our special offer to all American and Canadian Webware customers -- refer your friends to Webware and they will get a $100 rebate on their order! Plus you will get loyalty points worth $100 added to your account for every new customer you refer!

Here’s how it works:

1. Refer a friend to Webware
2. Your friend gets a $100 rebate on their setup fees
3. Once your friend signs up, you get 100 loyalty points!

Redeem your points for great website Add-Ons:

Your loyalty points can be redeemed for all kinds of add-ons to enhance your website, by improving design, updating content, and driving traffic.  Here are a few of the add-on's we offer (and many more to come soon):

• a new banner design
• marketing and SEO packages
• a custom .COM domain
• view a full list - Canada customers and USA customers

100 loyalty points gets you a $100 credit toward any Webware add-on.  That means you could get a brand new logo, or a new banner for your homepage, for free with just one referred customer!

It's easy to share this $100 offer with your friends! Get started now here: for USA customers and for Canada customers

Note: This special offer is for USA and Canada customers only

With Webware's newest upgrades to its shipping module, you can set up your shipping fees and logistics rules on a postal code level. This upgraded shipping feature can give you ultimate flexibility -- to set the shipping charges and delivery ranges that work best for your business.  

Here’s why you want to do this, and why it will save you money and headache.

1) Set shipping fees based on postal code

Large delivery services like BlueDart and DHL will charge you, the seller, different shipping rates depending on where your customer is. With postal-code based shipping, your Webware website can determine how much to charge your customers for shipping fees, based on the postal code entered by the customer during checkout. 

Your delivery service can provide you with a spreadsheet of rates by postal code, which you can upload to your Webware workspace (and we can help you with that!) So you will never lose money on shipping to far away or rural customers.

2) Offer Cash-On-Delivery to local customers

If you ship nationwide or worldwide already but would like to add a cash-on-delivery option only for your local customers, you can set local pin codes to avail the COD option. A transaction using cash-on-delivery payment option will only complete if the customer’s postal code matches your predefined COD postal codes. Customers outside the COD delivery zones will be prompted to check out with another payment option. 

With this feature, you can have your local store delivery boy make COD deliveries to nearby customers, rather than using a 3^rd party delivery service.  It will save you money and your local customers will love the convenience and, likely, faster delivery times.

3) Ship Locally

If your business isn’t ready to expand nationwide or worldwide just yet, you can now restrict your delivery area to certain zip/postal/pin codes. This feature is great for local businesses who only want to deliver within their city, i.e. a bakery who can only guarantee freshness with a one-day delivery window.

You can offer shipping to as many or as few pin codes as you like. Customers will only be able to complete a purchase if their pin code matches the postal codes you have inputted into your Webware workspace.

3) Set weight-based or price-based shipping rates by postal code

You can also determine how your shipping rates are calculated, whether it’s based on the weight of your product or the price of the product. Then you can charge higher shipping rates for heavier or more expensive products, to compensate for the increase in postal/delivery charges. Webware allows you to create up to 9 different shipping rate slabs, to cover a range of weights or prices, and to set up the shipping fees by postal code AND by slab.

This advanced method of calculating shipping fees for your customers will help you to ensure you don’t discover hidden costs charged by the delivery company, after it’s too late to charge the customer.

Conclusion

Now you can easily manage where your business ships to, which shipping method, and how the shipping fees are calculated, based on what suits your business the most. Our new postal code-based shipping feature stacks well against the competition and was created with shipping flexibility in mind.  And the Webware team will help you set it up for your Webware in no time!

If your business is ready to activate postal code-based shipping for your Webware, please email support@powerstores.com to learn how to enable this feature on your workspace.

Webware announces the launch of its most recent feature, the Facebook Store. All Webware customers will now be able to launch their Facebook store with a few clicks. Once the Facebook store feature has been activated, you can sell products from your Webware on your business' Facebook page.

Take advantage of one of social media’s most influential giants and get your fans purchasing directly from your Facebook business page. Increase your brand reach and awareness by letting your customers easily share and recommend products to their network of Facebook friends.

Boost E-commerce Sales with Webware's New Facebook Store Feature

Utilizing Facebook for your business is a great way to increase your e-commerce sales. One of the greatest influencing factors in Google's search rankings is Facebook shares. Webware's Facebook Store feature makes it simple for your customers to share your products on their timeline, with their friends.

In this digital age, consumers readily rely on the opinions of their social networks when it comes to making a purchasing decision (50% of shoppers have made a purchase based on a recommendation through a social media network*). Your customers are your best brand ambassadors and with the addition of purchasing power right from your Facebook page, it’s now easier than ever to share product purchases and recommendations.

In addition, 51% of Facebook users are more likely to buy the products of brands they follow online*. Make this easier for your customers by activating your Facebook store today!

*Source - Yahoo Small Business

The Facebook store feature is FREE for all Webware's customers. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to activate your Facebook store!

This article is the third in a series about marketing on Instagram.

Do you want to boost your Instagram marketing effort? Attract more fans and engage existing followers? Host an Instagram contest! 70% of Instagram users have already participated in a contest on Instagram or would be willing to do so (according to the Iconosquare 2015 Instagram study). Instagrammers enjoy engaging with brands and appreciate companies who value customer interaction. It’s easy to overlook an Instagram contest, but it has proven valuable for small business marketing.

Why host an Instagram contest?

Hosting a contest can increase your followers, likes, and overall engagement. A creative, thoughtful giveaway will reach your target audience and increase your Instagram stats. One contest can create the same interest and engagement as months of your regularly scheduled content. It can also get your customers creating interesting and relevant content for you.

The benefits of a well-executed contest will extend beyond the length of the contest, so it’s important to create a clear plan.

Step 1: Create and plan

Choose the target market, prize, type of contest, and theme.

Target Market: Get a clear idea of who will be interested in your contest, and who you want to participate. Once you have the ideal contest participant in your head, research what they post on Instagram and which hashtags they use to guide you. Targeting the right audience is vital to your contest success.

Prize: Give away an awesome prize. Choose something your followers are going to get really excited about. To keep the focus on your business, make sure the prize is related to you. If you’re a company with one product/service, give that away. If you have a lot of products/services, give a gift card or a dollar value to spend at your business. Webware clients can give away coupon codes and Loyalty Reward Points. This ensures your contest entrants are genuinely interested in your brand. Other options include tickets to trade shows and industry-related events. Decide how the winner will be selected (public/private vote, random selection, your favourite, etc). To continue reaping rewards after the contest is finished, you want to attract those who have potential to be interested in your brand (not someone who is only interested in winning an iPad). 

Contest Rules & Structure: Think about how the rules of your contest can help with your marketing strategy.  Here are some ideas we recommend.

1. Select an interesting theme related to your business or industry. Get creative with your theme and encourage your followers to have fun. 

2. Choose a brand or contest-relevant hashtag that participants must use to enter their posts. This is the best way to have all submissions organized in one place for reposting entries, selecting winners and for people to view all submissions.

3. Content that your customer creates for you has high value. If you want to take advantage of this precious resource, make user-generated content a mandatory qualifier for your contest. 

You can host a contest based on likes and/or follows, which means that users who “like” your photo or “follow” you are automatically entered into the contest. This is an easy way to host a contest and doesn’t require much planning. Because it’s simple to enter, it will get you likes and followers. The drawbacks to like/follow contests are that they will attract people who aren’t members of your target audience, and that contestants aren’t creating any content for you to use. This type of contest may not create future engagement on your Instagram feed or in your community. 

Other types of contests include reposting or comment-based entry. Entrants must repost your contest photo or comment on one of your posts to qualify for your giveaway. These entry methods have more interaction than like/follow contests but don’t come with the valuable user-created content of a photo contest. You can also use a combination of requirements for entry into your contest. For example, contest entrants must like a photo, follow your brand AND comment on the contest post. However, one of the most common reasons why contests fail is that there are too many requirements for entry. Find a sweet spot between too easy and too difficult to ensure maximum, quality entries. 

Helpful Tip - No matter what kind of contest you host, always require a “follow” for entry. This is a simple yet effective way to increase your potential future engagement. 

Step 2: Prep fans 

Once you've decided on the type of contest, a fun theme and a cool prize, let your customers and followers know about the upcoming opportunity. In the weeks leading up to your contest, give your fans the heads up that soon they can participate to win an amazing prize. Before launch, advertise the contest regularly on social media, email campaigns, your website, and in-store. Use your Instagram bio space to promote the contest while it’s happening. To create some buzz, encourage your fans to spread the word or offer an added incentive to anyone who shares your contest post.  

Step 3: Launch

Before you start your contest, ask a friend or two to go through the contest steps from start to finish. How easy or difficult was the entry process? Did you understand the rules and how to qualify? Was the prize motivating? Do you know when it starts, ends, and how the winner is chosen? This will give you an idea of how your contest is received by others and how you can make it easier and more lucrative to participate. On day one of your Instagram contest, give your followers all the info they need to enter. Create an eye-catching post with a high-quality photo of the prize. If you’re giving away a gift card, get creative to keep it interesting! In addition to the prize photo, the post should also include start/end date, qualifications for entry, rules, winner selection, hashtags, and other contest details. Another reason for an unsuccessful contest is misunderstanding how to enter. To avoid losing participants, clearly state how to enter and what to expect.

In addition to the contest-entry hashtag, the launch post should also include other fitting hashtags. Refer to your target audience research in the planning phase to ensure your contest execution is on track. If you’ve been hash tagging for a while, you may already know which general hashtags your target audience follows and uses. Add popular/keyword hashtags relevant to your contest and frequently used by the Instagrammers you want to engage. You can also include general contest hashtags but keep in mind this may attract contest-seekers only. You’ll have more success with general contest hashtags if your contest is easy to enter or appeals to a broad audience. Popular general hashtags are: #contest #photocontest #giveaway #entertowin #contestgram #contestgiveaway #contestday. More on Instagram hashtags for marketing here.

This Instagram contest was hosted by Webware customer My Envy Box, and is a great example of a well hash-tagged contest.

Click here to read Instagram’s requirements for hosting promotions on their app. 

Step 4: Maintenance 

Give the contest enough running time to garner attention and entries, but not so long that people lose interest. Two to four weeks is the general guideline for an average contest, ensuring ample promotion before the start date. If you’re running a photo contest, you can promote throughout the contest by reposting submissions. Continue to repost even after the winner has been announced, to show appreciation and maintain the connection you established with your fans during the contest. 

Conclusion

Carefully crafting and hosting an Instagram contest can boost your social media stats. Get creative and have fun with your followers. Instagrammers appreciate brands who want to get connected and see the world from their customers’ view. Find your like-minded fans and get them thoughtfully engaged with a fun contest!

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6 Tips on Getting Started with Instagram for your Business

3 Essentials for your Instagram Marketing Plan

Today  Webware launched the ability to download a list of customers who added a product to their shopping cart on your ecommerce website and then left without paying for their order. This is called an “abandoned cart”.

What can you do with this abandoned cart list? Well, this gives you a lead on a potential order! You now have an opportunity to contact these visitors and close the deal.

Here are some ideas of what you can do with your abandoned cart list:

• Send them a reminder email
• Give them a discount code to help turn their indecision into a sale!
• Phone them!

When you download the abandoned cart list, each entry will include a link which you can send to your customer. She can click the link to open her filled shopping cart, with her order ready to be paid for. It’s so easy for customers to complete their order with this link!

You already know that marketing is essential for your business. And if you’ve done any marketing for your small business, you also know that social media is an important part of the overall strategy. The photo-sharing app Instagram is a growing force in social media, especially for business. Research shows that Instagrammers love to shop - more than people on Facebook, who use the older social media site mostly to stay connected with friends and family. So if you haven’t already, it’s time to get your business on Instagram.

We’ve covered the basics here, so now that your Instagram business page is up and running, it’s time to make a plan to achieve your marketing goals. This post covers three essentials to include when creating your Instagram marketing strategy.

1. Use Hashtags!

There a lot of ways you can use hashtags to promote your brand and get more followers.  First off, some examples of the types of hashtags you’ll want to use.

Trending hashtags - Trending hashtags are the topics that people are currently discussing. They can be trending in a specific community/industry/country or trending across all of Instagram. The use of trending hashtags can help increase your exposure to non-followers. It’s best to use them when you find one related to your business. When that happens, switch out your regularly scheduled post for the trending hashtag to reach like-minded Instagrammers. Last week, #nationalsiblingday was trending. This adorable non-profit in New York City got in on the action. 

Top Hashtags – These are the most commonly used hashtags on Instagram. Examples of consistently popular hashtags include #love #picoftheday #fashion #friends #food #repost #beauty.

To see the overall top 100 Instagram hashtags, click here. 

To see a sample of top hashtags sorted by industry, click here.

It’s useful to hashtag your posts with one or two popular hashtags to reach non-followers. Use both general and industry-specific hashtags to maximize your reach.

Brand hashtags - It’s almost always best to use your brand name here. For example, #powerstores. In some cases, a short and clever slogan can work (KitKat uses #haveabreak), but it’s best to do some research beforehand. Include your brand hashtag on your profile page so anyone viewing your feed will see it.

Campaign hashtags - Hashtags for marketing campaigns or contests. Choose a short phrase that captures the essence of the campaign. Make a requirement for entering a contest or participating in a campaign.

Keyword hashtags - These are general hashtags used to describe the content of your post. They describe products and lifestyle.

Locations and events - Hashtag your geographical location (country, city, community, neighbourhood etc). Look for and use event/conference hashtags to reach fellow attendees and fans.

General tips on using hashtags - Use between 5 and 10 hashtags per post for maximum exposure. Any more and risk putting your followers off by appearing obnoxious (this goes for posting more than once a day, too). Use a few different types of hashtags to best describe what’s happening in your post. Knowing which ones to use can be tricky, so when getting started, check out what other businesses in your industry are up to on Instagram. Follow industry leaders, businesses you admire, and customers you appreciate. Research a hashtag you’re considering by typing it in the Instagram search field to see how popular it is and what it’s already used for.

For extra help, hashtagify.me lets you search a hashtag then gives you related, popular hashtags. It can help you find trends and recommend additional hashtags that may be relevant to your post.

2. Show Appreciation

As with all social media platforms, a grassroots marketing plan includes engaging with your customers. This is especially true for Instagram. A great tactic to increase overall engagement and attract more followers is customer appreciation. Re-posting followers’ content shows you’re listening and value their outlook on your brand. A popular campaign by Chobani yogurt showcases delicious food creations made with their products, by their customers. They encourage followers to get creative with their product then post the photo with a branded hashtag (#creationaday). Chobani re-posts the photo with a shout-out to the creator.

While showing the love is bound to get you more followers, the value of appreciation goes beyond customer loyalty. Your customer has saved you time by creating valuable content that genuinely shows how your product or service is actually used. It’s also great insight into what people love about your brand.

Instagram doesn’t give you the ability re-share your followers’ content, but Repost and Regram are two popular apps you can download that will. The free versions of these apps add a watermark to re-posted content and paid versions allows multiple Instagram accounts. Check your mobile’s app store to see what’s available.

There are other ways to show appreciation that work. 41% of Instagramers would follow a brand to benefit from special offers. Reward your followers with exclusive promotions, discount codes, sneak-previews of product launches or priority access to new services. Offer giveaways – such as your products/services, tickets to food & beverage shows, fashion shows, concerts, or other events of interest to your fans. Offering quality benefits exclusively to your Instagram followers will encourage them to never miss a post!

3. Measure what works

Don’t let the effort of creating content, researching hashtags and hosting promotions go to waste. You’ll want to measure how each of your strategies affects the number of likes, followers and comments received. Analytics are the key to refining your marketing plan and understanding what works for your business. Then you can make tweaks in response to how different strategies affect your metrics.

Iconosquare is the most recommended analytics tool for Instagram. Get your basic statistics and analytics to hone your marketing plan. Union Metrics offers a free checkup of your Instagram account which will give you a few pieces of valuable information at no cost. Collec.to’s free plan provides the same basic stats. These platforms also offer paid plans to get additional features to manage your Instagram account.

Conclusion

Instagram is great for business because users want to get involved with the companies they buy from. Instagrammers love to engage and are very active on what’s becoming one of the most popular social media apps in the world. Once you incorporate these essentials into your marketing plan, your business will get the most out of Instagram.

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Last November, Google announced that it would be labelling and promoting "mobile-friendly websites" in their search results. This was in response to the fact that 80% of Google searches are performed on a mobile device. People are moving away from their desktops and spending more time on smartphones and tablets. As technology improves, mobile devices are getting better at handling tasks which were once reserved for desktop computers.

On April 21, in less than four weeks from now, Google will update its search algorithm to include mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor for websites.

As stated on Google's official blog:

“This change...will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

If your website or webstore isn’t mobile-friendly by April 21, it will take a big dive in Google’s search results, which could significantly impact your website traffic.

If you’re already a Webware customer, you can rest easy. All of our themes are responsive, automatically giving your website or webstore the “Mobile-Friendly” label. Your business will rank higher in Google’s search and customers will have a hassle-free experience on your website.

Is your website not mobile-friendly? Visit www.webware.io and get a new website!

Instagram is a photo sharing app that has taken the social media space by storm! Users post photos and short videos to share any and all aspects of their lives with friends, family and fans. Before posting photos, Instagram users can easily enhance them using filters. Each filter has a different effect on the photo like adding more contrast, light, shadows, tint or vignette edges, black and white/sepia options. Take a picture with your smartphone, add a filter and share it with the world.

Brands have discovered that Instagram is way to communicate with their current customers and reach potential customers in a fun and unique way. Because Instagram is one of the top ten most popular smartphone apps, it’s an easy way to reach your customers and target market. Create a buzz around your product and engage your community to increase brand awareness and loyalty with this popular and growing photo sharing tool.

As part of a three-part blog series on Instagram, here are some basic guidelines to get your business’s Instagram account started off on the right foot.

1) Communicate your brand consistently. 

What is your business hoping to achieve with Instagram? More followers? Increased product sales? Brand awareness? Know what your main objectives are and work toward them with every single post.

Instagram is a great way to visually communicate your brand’s values through relevant, eye-catching images. These posts can be funny, inspirational, educational, or simply beautiful to look at, as long as they promote your brand image and align with your business goals.

2) Connect your Instagram account with any other social media you use.

Facebook and Twitter will automatically repost your Instagram photos to your existing fans and followers. Link all of your accounts and let all of your social networks know you’re on Instagram to build your initial following.

Learn how to link your social networks and more on linking to your Facebook page.

3) Post a good mix of business and fun images. 

Business images promote your products and show them in action. These are a great way to start a conversation about your product and interact with your customers. However, your followers will get bored by seeing posts that only promote products and feel sales-pitchy. Connect with your followers on a personal level. Share the faces behind your company at work and play. Your followers will appreciate an inside glimpse of your company’s day-to-day life and culture.

4) Use #Hashtags. 

This is the best way for non-followers to find your photos. Hashtags are words or phrases used to categorize posts making them searchable by subject. For example, if you take a photo of a beach and add the hashtag #beach, it will come up in an Instagram search by anyone looking for beach-related posts.

Use hashtags to describe your post and further convey your brand’s message, and it will help increase visibility of your photos.

5) Time your posts for the most engagement.

Post consistently, when your followers are likely to have down-time. Don’t post too often, once a day with a purposeful message is enough to engage your followers.

6) Engage with your followers.

Reply to comments on your posts. Like, comment and re-post your followers’ posts to build brand loyalty and attract new followers and potential customers.

These beginner tips will help get you started with your first posts and create a foundation for your business’s Instagram presence. Stay tuned to the Webware blog to learn more about using Instagram for your business. Future posts will cover marketing with Instagram, tools to help you get the most out of Instagram, and integrating Instagram with your website/webstore. Happy Instagramming!

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3 Essentials for your Instagram Marketing Plan

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Most owners of online stores typically run extensive promotions and marketing campaigns to capitalise on the festive season at the end of the year, and watch with delight as their sales volume soars. You are likely one of them.

Now that you have set up your promotions and campaigns for the peak shopping season, it’s time to focus on another equally important element for success - Customer Satisfaction!

If you had any reason to wonder just how important customer satisfaction is to your ecommerce business, we have compiled the top 5 reasons just for you!

1.Satisfied customers are the ones who return

As obvious as it may sound, it’s important to always keep in mind that only those customers who are satisfied with your products and service are likely to return for more. Of course, not every satisfied customer will become a repeat customer, but it’s almost certain that a dissatisfied customer will never return, especially given the large variety of options available in today’s highly competitive market.

2. Returning customers are cheaper to retain than acquiring new customers

If you’ve ever run a successful marketing campaign, you are well aware of the high cost of customer acquisition. The cost involved in getting a satisfied customer to return to your website is a lot cheaper than the marketing spend required to acquire new customers. One thing successful businesses have in common the world over is a high volume of returning customers. And, as I’ve already said, the only customers who are likely to return are the satisfied ones.

3. You can make it part of your brand’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

As you already know, in today’s highly competitive market, customers have a number of businesses to chose from to satisfy the exact same need. Good customer service can often become one of a brand’s USPs that customers take into account when making their choice. Price  is of course an important differentiator, especially for first-time customers - but research has shown that very often, people are willing to pay a slightly higher price for better customer service.

4. It leads to customer loyalty, increasing Customer Lifetime Value

The more frequently a customer returns to your store, the more value he or she creates for you. Your Sale Cost reduces with regard to that customer, while your Sale Value keeps increasing. The longer you can keep a customer satisfied, the more you stand to gain from them.

5. It affects your Online Brand Reputation

Research shows that more and more online buyers are depending upon product reviews and customer testimonials to make their purchase decisions. The more positive reviews you have, the higher your chances of acquiring a sale. On the other hand, negative reviews will turn away customers in a devastatingly efficient way.  So when you start getting those great customer reviews, be sure to post them on your website for all to see!

Conclusion: It's Worth It!

With these important reasons in mind, be sure you go the extra mile to please your customers. Fulfil your orders quickly, communicate well with your customers, ensure your products are high quality and well packaged – all with a goal of ensuring the highest levels of customer satisfaction. You'll be glad you did it! And your customers will too!