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Why should you have a Google Business Listing?

Posted on by Phil

Practically everyone connected to the internet uses Google regularly. As the most popular website in the world, the search engine gets over 60,000 searches per second. It also commands nearly 90% of search engine traffic worldwide, and close to 95% in New Zealand. With that much popularity, you absolutely want your business to be a part of it. There are a few good ways to get found by people looking for someone in your industry quickly such as by using Google Ads. But one of the most important- if not the most important – is having a Google Business Listing (formally Google My Business).

A Google Business Listing is the section that shows up when you do a search for a business. It’s most common to appear when you type in a business name directly. Take a look at the image below. The part in red is the Google Business Listing.

There’s a ton of information about the business right there in one place. So what happens if you don’t have one? That spot of the page is blank or the details are scarce. We’ll go over the different parts of your Google Business Profile, why they’re important, and the shocking difference it can make if you have an optimised profile done instead of rushing through to get it done fast.

Image and Location

At the top of the profile is a cover photo and map location. Getting Your Business on Google Maps will help with Local SEO. The cover photo is a photo you upload to be your primary photo to represent your business. In ours, we have a photo of the Back9 studio in Kelvin Street, Invercargill. The map pin is also important because it gives people an idea of where your business is. You can even be extra precise where you put the pin and move it on the map if the address doesn’t put it quite right. Since this is the top of your profile and the first thing people see, it’s important to get it right!

Some profiles don’t have an image or driving directions. You can have a listing without it, but it’s not recommended. In 2020, Businesses with photos get 42% more direction requests and 35% more website visits. So don’t skip it!

Name and contact buttons

The name you choose for your profile is the one that Google sees as the official name, so it’s important to choose the right name. Choose the name you want to go by instead of the legal name. If you want to include LTD, LLC, Corp or any abbreviations, you can. But you don’t have to. What’s most important is that you use the name that people know your business by. So if your logo has the ltd in it and people know it by the name, include it. Otherwise, it’s probably better to leave it out.

The buttons below your name are the ways that people can contact you. In ours, we have Website, Directions, Save, and call.

  • Website goes directly to our website. If you don’t have a website, you can leave the button out, or have it link to your Facebook business page.
  • Directions opens up Google maps and gives directions to get to your business. This is one of the most common ways people get directions, so make sure the address is right if you plan on using this feature. If someone clicks the button, they’re almost certainly doing business with you!
  • Save lets you save the business to a list like Favourites, Want to Go, or Starred Places. This is useful for people who are researching and don’t want to forget a place they looked at.
  • Call immediately calls the business if you’re on a phone, or tries to connect to a calling app on desktop. The number that is called is based on the phone number you put in the listing.

Questions and Answers

The questions and answers bit is a “community” feature that pops up right below your name, address, and contact details. It lets anyone using Google ask questions about your business or answer them. Since you’re the expert, you should be answering every single question that gets asked.

Questions can get multiple answers, but the ones with the most “likes” will show as the top answer. Then users can click a link to read any other answers if they want more details.

Questions work the same way. If a question scores at least 3 likes, it will display on your GMB profile instead of just the standard “See all questions” link. If multiple questions get more than 3 likes, the one with the most likes is the one that will be featured front and centre on your profile.

Using the Q&A function as a FAQ for your business

Using the Google Questions and Answers section as an FAQ function for your business is a solid move. Think about the common questions customers hit you with and answer them there. Don’t forget to “like” your own answers too so Google knows to show them front and centre to those potential customers checking out your reviews.

Asking your own questions gives you even more control over the convo around your business. Load up your most frequently asked questions, then enter informative answers to set up a pre-built FAQ page. You’ll stand out from the competition and be way more likely to convert users into customers.

Then, make sure you vote for your own answers. This ensures that your “from the owner” answers are always displayed as the top responses. Keep an eye on your questions and answers section so you can keep your top-notch answers at the top of the pile.

Some useful sample questions to consider (depending on your specific market and industry) include:

  • Do you ship your products and/or services?
  • What’s the return or refund policy on your products?
  • How can I contact customer service?
  • Where do I use the discount code I have for your website?

Controlling the convo ahead of time can reduce overwhelming your customer support team while also helping cement a professional and trustworthy reputation online.

Reviews

Customer reviews are one of the most important factors. More than 90% of customers check reviews before making a purchase, and not having any can be almost as bad as having a slew of negatives. So although it’s optional, we highly recommend enabling reviews on your profile. Even the negative reviews can be helpful, as they can show parts of your process or products you can improve. However, in order to have reviews on, you must first claim and verify your business listing.

Products

In today’s digital landscape, businesses vying for local customers face a constant uphill battle to stand out online. Every click, view, and engagement is a crucial step towards making a lasting impression on your target market. This is where Google Business Profile products (formerly known as “Google My Business” or “GMB” products) shine as a powerful tool for capturing local search attention.

Research indicates that a staggering 60% of users reach out to businesses directly from search engine result pages (SERPs). It’s a compelling statistic that underscores the importance of providing comprehensive information about your business. The more details you can offer, the higher the likelihood of converting potential customers into actual sales.

Claim and Verify your Business

If you’ve never made Google Business profile for your business but can find a listing for it, Google’s done the work for you, right? That’s only partially true. Google regularly scans for new businesses and adds them automatically based on the information they find. But that automatically found information could be wrong or outdated. And even if it’s not, you’ll still be missing out on a lot of potential visitors if you don’t do anything with it.

One of the most important parts of managing your listing is to make sure that it’s verified. With a verified listing you can respond to reviews, start appearing in local searches, post on your profile, and view insights like photo views and the number of times the call and directions button were clicked. Google treats a verified business better than an unverified too – meaning you’ll show up higher on searches.

How do I know if I’m verified?

If you don’t know if someone has verified the listing (and you’ve checked that you have one!) you can use Google’s Business Verification tool to check. Simply sign in with the email address associated with the business profile and then choose your business and it will tell you if it is verified, pending, or not requested.

My business says somebody else owns it?

If you sign in to Google My Business and go through the steps and find that someone else owns it, Google gives you a couple of options. First, check to see if someone in the company went through the process. If not, you can follow steps from Google to Request Ownership of a Business Profile.

An optimised profile attracts more visitors

Getting a profile set up and verified is a great way to attract visitors to your business. But doing it right will get you even more visitors. We’ve seen it happen with our clients here at Back9. For one client, we saw profile views jump up over 60% over a 3 month period, with over 30% more appearances in searches and nearly twice as many times showing up on Google Maps. But did those views translate into anything? There was also a 30% jump in people clicking the View Website button, 50% more calls, and more than twice as many direction requests. More appearances led to more clicks, more calls, and more visitors. Other clients are also seeing an increase in calls, visits, and people discovering them by searching popular keywords.

The short of it is that these days, all a potential client or customer needs to type into Google is “Hairdresser near me” (as an example) and a range of options will come up. Google knows the location of the searcher and if your listing is optimised, you have a greater chance of being the top listing and winning that client or customer.

How do I get an optimised Google Business Listing profile?

To create an optimise profile, you have to fill everything out thoroughly. This includes all information, categories of business and products, and knowing which search terms to try and show up for. After doing that, it’s important to update your photos and any changes to your products or services in your profile in order for it to stay relevant. Profiles that are updated regularly also get more kudos from Google and increase the chances of showing up for more searches.

If you don’t have the time to create, optimise, or regularly update your Google My Business Profile, the team at Back9 can help you. We are certified in Google My Business listings and can find out if you have a profile if you aren’t sure, help you claim and verify your business, and optimise it so that it can do the most work for you. If you’re interested in finding out how we can help you, give us a call or book a meeting using the button below.

Book a FREE Discovery Meeting


Updated 19 June 2024

How Much Does a Website Cost? [VIDEO]

Posted on by Phil

Along with how much does a logo cost, we get asked all the time how much a website costs. And similarly, there are a lot of factors that go into a web design. The enormous price range depends on a plethora of factors. You can talk to all the website designers in Invercargill and the prices will range from very little to a lot.

Some of the factors that affect website cost are:

  • The technology being used to build the website
  • How many pages are needed
  • What kind of customer interaction there will be
  • The number of images and videos
  • The way that data is collected
  • If the website is an eCommerce site where customers can buy products online
  • Amount of time and urgency to complete the site
  • Design of the website
  • If professional copywriting, photos, or videos are included
  • Whether or not there is an existing site with content that can be imported
  • And much more!

However, you can get a website for as little as $0. That’s right; free. Free moneywise at least. That amount increases depending on the list above and what features you need your website to do. A simple custom, professional website can start at around $3600. When done right, a website can be your best sales and marketing tool, built for you and your specific needs, goals, and style will pay for themselves multiple times over, especially when adopting a Growth-Driven Methodology. These days a website is only as good as the content that is on it. And the website cost itself should be indicative of that. A results-focused Inbound website including content creation and SEO optimisation, will cost you anywhere from $8000 + GST. However, if you choose the right people to collaborate with and maintain the website regularly, you’ll start seeing results.

Free, Cheap or Custom Websites

So what’s the difference between a free website, a cheap website, and a professionally built and custom-made website like we do here at Back9 Creative?

Can you own a website for free?

Technically, yes. Although “Free” might be a tad misleading. As is “website”. Some of the major website builders like Wix and Weebly have a free option with severe limitations and branding. Your site will be full of company branding, have minimal storage, and have the company name in the site address, like username.wixsite.com/mywebsitename. But as the price goes, that’s hard to beat. For something like a personal blog or brief info page, these sites can be a good option, but for a business, that “free” price will eat at your sales as you won’t be able to do SEO to get found in Google, you’ll be limited on personal branding, and you won’t be able to actually process payments on the site.

Free Google Business Listing

If you really don’t have the cash to spare and need a free website for a business, your best option would probably be Google. By creating a Google My Business account and connecting your business listing to it, you have the option to make a “website” that’s a single page.

The benefit of Google over the competition is that it connects to your business listing, so when somebody searches for you and your business pops up, you can have something for them to look at when they click the website field. Again, this type of website is extremely limited but could be a good option if all you wanted to do is show something like a single menu for a new cafe or want to display a list of services and get people to call you. This is an easy way to get yourself online and Google makes it work well on phones too.

When is a free website a good option?

If you have very little capital and need some way to get yourself online, a free website might be a good option. An optimised Facebook page tends to do better than a free website and reach more people. However, if you don’t put in money, you’ll have to put in a lot more time. This means more frequent posting, and the best possible content you create. For someone who’s money-poor but has plenty of time, a Facebook Business Page combined with a free Google My Business website is a great start.

These articles can help you get started with that combination:

Once you start to gain a following and get more customers interested, that’s a good time to consider upgrading your website too–hopefully getting more customers means you’ll have more to invest to help your business grow even more!

Can I create a website myself?

The next step up from getting a free website is to build your own website with a website builder. These sites don’t cost much to run, but you’ll have to invest a lot of time adding content yourself. You’ll also be very limited on the design. This is because it’s not built specifically for you. So you have to adapt to the design. Most low-cost options don’t let you change much if anything on the design. But you may be able to purchase a theme if you don’t find one you like out of the normal options.

If you aren’t tech-savvy, you’ll probably run into some roadblocks when building your site. Even with drag and drop editors–where you can pull content into the page and that’s the same thing visitors will see–there’s a lot to consider. At minimum, the design will need to work on 3 screen sizes; phone, tablet, and desktop. Images and videos also should be optimised so that the page loads fast.

There’s a lot of things to consider, but if you’re up for the challenge, you can find some options on our article, What is the best platform to build my website on? Building your own website costs about $10-50 per month depending on the platform and what tier you choose.

How much does it cost to have a website built for you?

For any established business or business looking to grow, sell online, or rise in a competitive industry, the lowest cost options won’t have the same kinds of benefits to your customer as having a fully-functioning website. If you want your website to work for you and be more than a simple reference point online, you’ll want a website that’s designed and built with your specific needs and goals in mind. This is when it’s ideal to have a professional design and marketing team create your website.

By having your website built and then marketed under one roof, your website will be built with your current and future needs in mind. A major advantage of having the professionals build your site is that they can suggest features you didn’t anticipate or didn’t know existed.

But perhaps the biggest benefit is having a custom design. There is a lot of work that goes into professional website design. It’s a lot more than making it look pretty! Take a look at the image below.

Did you read it in the order they predicted? Even if you didn’t, most people do. Website and Graphic Design is complicated and not something that can be learned in a half day’s training. Professional graphic design involves learning how to use the latest software, colour theory and science, print vs digital renditions, using imagery to convey ideas and messages, and much more.

How much does a basic website cost?

At the beginning of this article, we said that the cost of a professional website starts from $3000. So what does a $3000 website look like exactly?

On the low end, you can get a professionally-designed, basic website that includes a home page, about page, and contact page at a minimum. If you have content for a services and blog/articles page, you can probably get those added in as well. But you’ll have to write the articles yourself. Your basic website might include professional copywriting for these few pages however, and that will vary depending on which agency you use and the specifics of your project. The more information you can provide–imagery, existing articles, etc–the more you can get for your dollar, as your existing content can be optimised instead of made new.

If you have a service-based business with a couple of core services, a basic website might be a good option.

What are the features of a good website?

Looking for more than a basic website? Adding more features and functionality will add to your website cost, but they can make the difference between getting customers or getting people to go elsewhere. Here’s a quick list of some of the extra features you can get on your site:

  • Professional photographyand videos
  • Copywritingto fill your website pages with options for regular blogging
  • Booking and reservation calendars
  • Animations and illustrations
  • Customer logins and members-only area
  • Forums and discussion boards
  • Chatbots to answer frequently asked questions automatically in real-time
  • Accept and review job applications
  • Ability to sell products and services online

And there’s many, many more. If you can think it, a good website developercan build it! A website that is designed and built by a website designer and developer. And in addition includes professional photography, videos, and copywriting realistically starts at about $7000.

Is it profitable to sell online?

Online sales have steadily been on the rise, but after COVID-19 changed the way we shop. In fact, there was an enormous spike in online sales. Many people simply didn’t have the option to go in person, and a lot of those people found that the experience online was good or even better than going in-person. Retail giant Wal-Mart in the US saw online sales double since early 2020. Of course, they were harder hit than other countries, but they’re planning on focusing much more effort into streamlining the website experience.

Even with the relatively tame experience we had in NZ, online sales are still up massively. In-store retails sales in June dropped for the first time in over a decade. And at a sharp 15 percent too. At the same time, online sales rose 20 per cent in NZ. While we hopefully won’t have another lockdown situation, being able to sell online keeps you going in case there’s a disruption to normal business practices. If you have set prices and can sort out shipping, we highly recommend selling online!

How can I start selling online?

eCommerce websites are websites that have the functionality to sell online. They’re quite a bit more complicated to build as it’s very important payment is effective, secure, and goes where it’s supposed to! Products also have to be added and organised, with descriptions and imagery to accompany them. Getting a professionally-built basic eCommerce site starts at around $5000.

For the next level up, a custom-built eCommerce site gives you a unique design, any features that you can think of. And detailed measurement reports using platforms like eCommerce reports on Google Analytics. A custom-built eCommerce is ideal for larger inventories or businesses that sell several thousand dollars worth of product online each month. Because of all of the extra work and testing, custom-built eCommerce sites start at around $8000.

Make your Website work for you

We recommend going with a custom eCommerce site if it makes sense for your business. A custom eCommerce site can far more flexibility. Especially with things like;

  • Payment method
  • Customised Sales process
  • Integration with in-store stock.

Everything can be automated except for packing the item up and getting it off for shipping. Not only is this a huge time-saver, it works to sell for you night and day. Yep that’s right… And 365 days a year!

A custom eCommerce site is ideal for larger stores or established businesses looking to sell online. If you only have a few products and need a store immediately, maybe custom is not right for you. Read about the different eCommerce platforms in our article, Which eCommerce platform is the best for me?

How much does a website cost per month?

Unless you’re going with a fully free website, websites have ongoing costs to pay for as well. At a minimum, you’ll have to pay for a domain–the actual website address e.g. www.mywebsite.co.nz–and for hosting. Hosting is basically reserved space on a web server so that your website can be shown on the internet. Combined, this is typically around $40-80 per month. But can be more if you have a lot of content on your website.

One of the benefits of a custom site is that you only pay for the domain and hosting. That $0 monthly fee can certainly save you in the long run! However, we do recommend including website maintenance with your custom site. Website maintenance covers anything from quick updates and additions to speeding up the website to protecting it from security threats. There’s a lot of benefits you can get from website maintenance. It typically costs around $50-100 a month for website maintenance.

So what’s the total cost of getting a website?

As you can see, website costs can vary quite a bit! Here’s a quick summary of some of the different costs:

Building a website yourself

  • A free website can be made on Google and some other platforms, with limitations, branding, and restrictions.
  • You can build your own website for around $10-50 per month. You’ll have to design and update it on your own.
  • In most cases, you’ll need to pay for a domain and hosting too, about $100-450 per year.
    • This amount varies so much because it depends on the specific domain name, required server space, and other factors. For example, Internet.co.nz is valued at $11,400 USD as of this writing; back9.co.nz is under $100 per year. Most business names will be at the low end, while popular terms cost more.

Professionally built websites

  • A very basic professional website can start at around $1800 in total, plus hosting and domain.
  • A more complex website without any content creation will start at around $3000. However, you’ll have to supply all of the content yourself like videos, writing, and images. It’s important that these things are optimised for the web, or you could have a lot of problems!
  • Adding more pages, some customisation, copywriting, photography, and videos starts at about $7000.
  • A basic professional eCommerce website typically starts around $5000.
  • A custom-built eCommerce site with a unique design and advanced functionality start at approximately $8000.

How do I get a quote for my specific website?

The easiest way to get an accurate quote for your website is by doing an in-person meeting. Depending on your budget, business size, and goals, the total cost of your website will vary slightly. And if you aren’t sure what you need in a website, the team at Back9 Creative are happy to help. For tighter budgets, we also offer payment plans and packages starting at just $350+GST per month.

Book a meeting by clicking the link below. And we’ll meet with you and discuss what might be the best fit for you. This will be based on your industry, products and services, size, and objectives.

Do I really need a website?

Posted on by Phil

Sometimes we get asked by people if they actually need a website. In 2020, about two-thirds of businesses have a website. Over half of people will look online for reviews, recommendations, and information on a business before becoming a customer. So what happens if you aren’t there?

Word of mouth is still a powerful tool for getting new customers and likely always will be. However, nearly 90 percent of people trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family. This means that people are researching online before buying and trusting what they see. If you aren’t there to find, they might not know that you exist. And if they see your storefront and want to find out more about what you do but you have no website, for many people, that’s the end of the buyer’s journey. They’ll go to someone else who they can find online.

So yes, you should have a website. Even if it’s just a brief overview of your products/services and your location. If you’re a smaller, new business, you might be fine starting with something simple. Keep in mind though that a bad website can be worse than having none at all. The perception some people have is that if you don’t put effort into your brand to make your business look good, how good can your offerings be? Even if it’s small, the website is the digital face of your business. At a minimum, it needs to look good and work properly.

Why is a website so important?

At Back9, we did our own poll asking “What do you think you use a website for?”

  • A.  An online reference point.
  • B.  An online portfolio
  • C.  A website should generate new leads
  • D.  A website is a sales tool and should generate at least 3 times what it costs to maintain.

50% of people thought it was for an online reference point. That’s a great start, but a website can be so much more. It can be an online portfolio showing off your work. It can generate leads and bring in new customers. And it can even work as your greatest salesperson, selling your products and services all hours of the day and night.If you’re learning or new to digital technology, you might not know that a website can do all that. And that’s okay. One of the benefits of working with a good website development team is that they can anticipate your needs. In the early meetings, they’ll find out what you would like your website to accomplish, then suggest options to make it happen–along with other features that could benefit your audience and what other successful companies in your industry are doing.

Do I need a website if I have a Facebook Page?

It depends, but most likely yes.

If you have a very small business a Facebook page might be good enough. But if you want to grow and expand, you’ll need to be updating that page frequently and keep your followers interested. If growing the business isn’t one of your goals, a Facebook page might be all you need.

Take a look at the list of reasons to have a website above. A Facebook page can do some of those things, but not nearly as well as a website. It’s true that you can show off your products in your images and do a post about them. But what happens when that post goes down on your newsfeed? What if people don’t look at your gallery?

A website gives you a much higher level of control. Your gallery goes where you want, and shows what you want. It’s also more likely to be found on Google, especially when searching for what your business does instead of the business name itself. Facebook is popular, but not everyone has an account. If they don’t have one (and don’t want one) they won’t be able to see your page.

Websites also make your company look more professional. Anyone can make a Facebook page. And even with the best optimisation, they all look similar–like a page on Facebook. Because of this, people see products and services on a website as more valuable. A great looking, easy-to-use site also builds credibility, especially if you have up-to-date information and answer questions the visitor has.

Can I build my own website?

Building a website has definitely become more accessible over the last decade, but there are still a lot of things to learn. If you haven’t worked in HTML–or know what it is–then you’ll want to stick with a Drag and Drop or WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor. With these kinds of website builders, you design the page by pulling in images, video, written text, and other site elements straight on the page and that’s what it will look like for the visitor too.

While this sounds great in theory, building a website has more complications than designing something like a printed flyer. With the printed flyer, you know the paper size and can print a trial run, and the final version will look just like that. The same isn’t true for websites. One of the reasons is because of all the different screen sizes. Mobile phones are the most popular, and screen sizes can range from a couple of inches to nearly a tablet size.

Why does my website look different on mobile?

When you’re building your own website, even if you get it perfect, keep in mind that it will only be for the one view, typically for desktops/laptops. Phones behave a lot differently. Many of the website builders let you preview what the site will look like on three different screen sizes, and look and experience can be vastly different on a small screen than on a large screen. Then there are laptops and desktops too, with larger screens getting to around 24-32 inches. Some people even use full-size TVs as computer monitors! The phone size might look nothing like the page you spent all of that time working on.

Optimising for mobile has its own set of challenges too. Do you want to use the 3 line hamburger icon to open up site navigation? Do you need to have a different image for smaller screens because the one you chose won’t look good small or will be cut off? Is it easy to fill out forms to contact you on a phone like on a computer? There’s a lot of considerations that go into building a high-quality website. Make sure that you preview what it looks like on different screens before publishing!

Which is the best free website builder?

If you’re keen to take a look at building your own website, there are a few different options to look into. WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace each have their own pros and cons that we go over in more detail in our article, What is the best platform to build my website on? Just keep in mind that while the software to create the website is free, the website will come with a cost to publish and run, ranging from a few dollars a month to a few hundred dollars.

If you’re interested in true no-cost options, we have some helpful information and links to free websites in our article, How much does a website cost?

Who can help me build a website?

If you don’t have the time, knowledge, or skills to build a website, a professional web developer can help. Website development is a qualification that takes several years to complete, as there’s a lot of things to learn when it comes to coding. An experienced developer also keeps up to date on the newest technology and best practices. If a new, better method to do something is created, they’ll be right on top of it!

If you want a better chance to get found on Google, you’ll need to have a lot of text on your site through web pages, articles, and blog posts. A professional copywriter can create long, informative, grammatically-correct articles quickly, and the more of those you have, the more likely someone will find the right information that pushes them to do business to you. And more words is better for Google too! For custom-designed sites, a website designer is a must too. They’ll create a unique design that draws in visitors and drives them down the path to become leads.

Since these are all distinct career paths on their own, it’s hard to find one person that can do all three; or at least do them all to a professional standard. This is why a lot of businesses are working with agencies, as they have specialists devoted to one part of the job. The designer will create the design including how it looks and works for the end-user, the web developer will build and optimise it, and the copywriter will fill it up with text that Google will love! Some agencies also have photographers, videographers, and a marketing team to help too, like we do here at Back9 Creative. Professional visuals make a massive difference. They make your brand seem higher quality and increase the chances of someone choosing you over the competition.

Thinking about getting a professional website created by a team of specialists? Book a free meeting below to set up a time to chat!

 


Selling Online: Wix vs WooCommerce, which is better?

Posted on by Phil

Wix is quickly building a name for itself around the world wide web. Wix offers a way for anyone to build a website with its drag-and-drop website creation system. But is this website builder a long-lasting solution, or just a quick Wix?

WooCommerce is a plug-in for WordPress, a downloadable piece of software that integrates with WordPress. It’s currently the most popular website content management system (CMS) platform in the world. It has plenty of built-in features and adding more is simple. And often free too.

When Wix and WooCommerce are put to the test, which one will come with the solid A. And which will need a little more remedial education to compete?

Note that for this comparison, we’ll be focusing primarily on the e-commerce features of Wix and WooCommerce. For a CMS comparison (Website builders), take a look at our blog What is the best platform to build my website on?

Wix

Visit the Wix website and you’ll be met with a Get Started button front and centre. That guides you through a series of questions to build you a personalised website. If you’re new to making websites, it might seem like magic that you can get a website up and ready in minutes. Further customisation takes some effort though. And it’s a bit of a learning curve working on the Wix proprietary platform. But having something workable in a few minutes is certainly impressive.

On the eCommerce site, Wix doesn’t have as many features as some of the heavy hitters like Shopify. But if you’re already using Wix, it’s easy to upgrade to add functionality for selling online. Pricing starts at $17USD per month (for annual payment plan). They also have a connected app store you can browse to add additional features, though some come with a cost.

However, Wix uses a limited number of templates. And that means your store and website will probably look like a lot of other ones out there. They also don’t currently have stock management alerts. So if you sell a product but don’t have it in stock, you could be stuck in a bind. Wix also has limited options for functionality–meaning that if you need an unusual feature for your store, you may not be able to get it. Wix also wants to keep you around, so migrating your site somewhere else isn’t easy or straightforward.

Some features of Wix eCommerce include:

  • No transaction fees–besides the monthly/annual subscription, you don’t have to pay Wix anything.
  • Easy to add eCommerce if you already have a Wix website.
  • Ability to sell physical or digital-only products.
  • 20GB of online cloud storage included
  • Easily connect your store to your Facebook and Instagram account.
  • You can sell with multiple currencies across different countries.

When should I use Wix?

If you already have a Wix website and want to start selling online or you want to build a site on your own without much technical skill and have a small-to-medium store, Wix might be a good fit for you.

WooCommerce

Unlike Wix, WordPress throws you right in the mix without much in the way of a tutorial. This means it’s easy to get lost if you don’t know what you’re doing. But if you do, you also have the freedom to do whatever you’d like. With unlimited creative freedom for your build, you have no restrictions; meaning a competent web developer can do just about anything! As a free plug-in for WordPress, there really aren’t any costs associated with using WooCommerce, which is a nice bonus.

However, if you’re just getting a website built and don’t already have one on WordPress, it will take you some time to get a store up and running. And while the default WooCommerce template is workable, it doesn’t have the same pizazz that some of the other eCommerce sites have without putting in the effort to make it your own.

Customisation is the name of the game for WooCommerce. You (or your developer) can customise:

  • What your checkout page looks like
  • The confirmation emails your customers get
  • The way your product pages look
  • And anything else you’d like.

That’s great if you know what you want or have a design team to help you out, but it can be a little overwhelming if you’re doing it all on your own.

Some features of WooCommerce and WordPress include:

  • Search Engine Optimisation tools built in so people can find your site easier on Google.
  • Whole website backups in case of a crash, so that you can restore your website back to normal like nothing happened.
  • You can use any payment option for checkout, including NZ-centric options like POLiPay.
  • Adding additional features is easy with thousands of pre-made plug-ins available, many for free.
  • Connecting to other software is simple, like connecting your inventory to Facebook so you can sell products through Facebook shops or the website and keep an accurate inventory.

When should I use WooCommere?

If selling online is going to be a major driver to your business and you expect to do it for the long haul, taking the time to customise your store through WooCommerce is worth it, especially if you intend to have a large number of products or volume of sales.

Who’s the winner?

If you already have a Wix website or you want to do everything on your own, then Wix may be right for you. But for most other instances, WooCommerce wins.

With WooCommerce, you have many, many more options and your store can look and function just how you like. It’s easy to connect to other software, and you own your website. Whereas with Wix, if you ever do decide to make a change, moving your content to another platform is notoriously difficult.

The extra features of WooCommerce become extremely useful when you want to do something advanced like online bookings with a real-time calendar or have a larger store and need to have accurate tracking of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of products both online and in a physical store. With WooCommerce, you not only get a store that’s uniquely yours, your website can also be built custom to your needs too, which is ideal for stores that want to thrive and grow. Of course there are plenty of other options too. What about Squarespace vs WooCommerce, which is better?

To find out about other eCommerce platforms, take a look at our article Which eCommerce platform is the best for me?

Selling Online: Magento vs WooCommerce, which is better?

Posted on by Phil

A way to get started selling online for free, Magento was purchased by Adobe in 2018, the makers of popular software like Photoshop. Magento claims to “empower thousands of retailers and brands with the best eCommerce platforms and flexible cloud solutions to rapidly innovate and grow.” Though it sounds like the popular X-Men character, will Magento attract sales or repel your customers to the competition?

WooCommerce is a plug-in (a downloadable bit of software that adds extra features to a website) that works with WordPress, the most popular website builder in the world. More websites run on WordPress than any other platform, and WooCommerce can quickly allow those sites to sell products online.

In a head-to-head showdown between Magento and WooCommerce, which will be left behind and which will pull ahead?

Magento

Magento is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms around right now, with about 20% of all sites that sell online doing so through Magento. It comes stocked with an impressive array of features, including shipping and inventory management, customer logins with saved orders for quick reordering, and content management for writing blogs, articles, and updates. However, there’s some good and bad news when it comes to using Magento.

The good news? The Community version is free to use. All it takes to get started is a download. Setup on the other hand, can be complicated. It’s still free… If you know what you’re doing. Otherwise, you’ll need the help of a web developer.

The not-so-good news is that if you want the experts at Magento set it up for you, it’s far from free. The Enterprise version is where everything is set up and managed for you. In order to even get a price quote, you have to fill out their contact form and have them get back to you, with reported prices ranging anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 USD… per year.

Some features of Magento include:

  • The community version is OpenSource, meaning it’s free to use and is updated by the community frequently.
  • Content staging and preview so you can see what the customers will see before making a product available.
  • Customer segmentation so you can break customers down into groups for targeting purposes.
  • Ability to add additional features as needed with a large collection of plug-ins.

When should I use Magento?

Because the initial setup can be challenging on a technical level, Magento is best-suited for larger stores; especially stores that have a lot of capital behind them. A large local retailer making the move to sell online with thousands of products will likely benefit from the features much more than a small boutique shop with a couple of handmade products.

 

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is extremely versatile because it integrates perfectly with what many websites are already using; WordPress. WordPress has the largest library of plug-ins and options. There are thousands of choices so that you can have your site look and act exactly as you like. If you have a website and don’t know what it was built with, it’s probably WordPress!

However, if your website is built with something else–or you don’t have one yet–getting your store setup isn’t instantaneous. One of the main benefits of WordPress is that you can design and build whatever you want. If you can think it, you can built it… Or at least a talented web developer can!

That also means it will take longer to get the site up and running though. WordPress does have plenty of templates to help you get started, but if you want a unique, personalised design, it’s better to get it customised, which will take time to create and build the design. But when you want your website to be a long-term investment, that short upfront wait is worth it!

Some features of WooCommerce include:

  • Search Engine Optimisation tools built in–Get your site found on Google searches!
  • Whole website backups in case of a crash.  You can easily restore your website back to normal like nothing happened if something goes wrong.
  • You can use any payment option for checkout, including NZ-centric options like POLiPay.
  • Adding additional features is easy with thousands of pre-made plug-ins available, many for free.
  • Connecting to other software is simple, like connecting your inventory to Facebook so you can sell products through Facebook shops or the website and keep an accurate inventory.

 

When should I use WooCommerce?

If you want a website with a custom design, already have a WordPress design, or think you might need some extra features for your online store down the line, WooCommerce is a good option for you for any store size.

 

Who’s the winner?

If you already have a solid business and a lot of resources to get your store online, Magento’s Enterprise Edition will handle everything for you and your site will look and behave great. For most others, including smaller, local businesses, we say that WooCommerce is the overall winner.

WooCommerce is quick to set up and easy to add features, plus you get the best content management system available so you can add pages, write articles, update news stories, and anything else you can think of. Even if you want your website to simply be a place to sell online, WooCommerce makes that straightforward, and being free to use, you won’t find anything cheaper!

For information on other popular eCommerce platforms, give our article a read, Which eCommerce Platform is right for me? 

Selling online: Squarespace vs WooCommerce, which is better?

Posted on by Phil

Squarespace vs Woocommerce

Squarespace vs Woocommerce – what is each platform good at? What are the pros and cons of each and in a contest, who wins?

Well, if you’ve ever wanted your own space–and also wanted that space to be square–you can get your own little piece of the internet through Squarespace, a site that helps you build your own personal or business website. Claiming to be the “all-in-one solution for anyone looking to create a beautiful website”, Squarespace has been around since the early 2000s and has over 2 million active sites. But will Squarespace bring your site up to square, or leave you spaced out from the competition?

How does Squarespace square off against the current king of commerce, WooCommerce? A plug-in for WordPress, WooCommerce is simple to add to any WordPress site and has nearly unlimited customisation options. This means it has all the benefits–and drawbacks–of being a part of WordPress.

We put Squarespace vs Woocommerce to the test in a no-holds-barred competition, will WooCommerce woo over the crowd, or will Squarespace be able to square off against the champ?

Squarespace

Although it’s a template site–meaning you have to choose from a set of templates for your website instead of building it custom–Squarespace is known for having some of the best-looking templates around. Designed with artistic professionals in mind, Squarespace believes design is not a luxury reserved only for the elite. This means that all of the templates on Squarespace are free, although you can still buy 3rd party ones to use on your site at a cost if you’d prefer.

On the eCommerce side, Squarespace has a few subscription levels specifically designed for selling products and services online. The templates can really make your products pop–so long as you’ve invested into taking great photos or videos of your products already. And their basic eCommerce package starts at $26 USD per month with no transaction fees.

However, Squarespace is limited when it comes to features like support and SEO. They also don’t have a built-in app store, so it’s much more difficult to add extra features you might want later on. It’s also tough to scale up if you start selling products by the hundreds or thousands per week, so it’s best for smaller stores. And even though many of the templates look good, they’re still templates, so won’t be as good or unique as a custom-designed website.

Some other features of Squarespace include:

  • A free custom domain for one year to help you get started.
  • Optimised templates for mobile, desktop, and tablet.
  • A business email (email@yourbusiness.co.nz) through Gmail free for the first year.
  • Built-in ad options like pop-ups and banners.
  • Marketing options like abandoned cart recovery (Highest tier only).

When should I use Squarespace?

Squarespace claims that design is one of their primary focuses, and for a template site builder, they have some of the best designs in the business. This makes them an ideal choice if you have a small store with bespoke products where the look of your products is a major part of the appeal, like for artists, photographers, and beauty products.

WooCommerce

The main feature of WooCommerce is that you don’t have to settle; you can get the look and feel you want for your store with all the features you’d ever need.

Because it’s part of WordPress, you’re able to fully design your site to your liking. You can also choose from over 50,000 plug-ins, little pieces of code that add extra features to your website. And if there isn’t an existing plug-in that does what you want, you can simply have a web developer build it from the ground up!

However, this also makes WooCommerce an investment for the long game. If you’re looking to sell products online now, WooCommerce might not be ideal. One of the best benefits of WordPress with WooCommerce is that you can build your site from the ground up. This takes time, and done right, can also be more expensive than using a templated site.

Over time, however, the costs balance out. Since it’s free to use both WordPress and WooCommerce, you aren’t stuck paying a subscription fee every month. And own your website outright! It’s also easy to scale and can grow as your business does.

Some other features of WooCommerce include:

  • Options to add any payment gateway including PoliPay, Stripe, PayPal, and more.
  • Easy to integrate with your other software, such as Xero or another accounting program.
  • Free website backups to restore your data easily in case of a site crash.
  • The ability to add more features to your site fast through downloadable plug-ins.
  • Get found on Google with built-in tools.

When should I use WooCommere?

If you want a certain look for your brand and plan on investing in your store for the long run, WooCommerce is a good option for you.

Who’s the winner?

For small stores with custom products where product imagery is a big selling point, Squarespace does a good job. But with all of the options of WordPress–including ways to make your products look just as good–if you want to treat your eCommerce as more than a side hustle, WooCommerce wins.

There’s simply much more you can do with WooCommerce than you can with Squarespace. And if design if one of the most important parts of your website, you can have a website designer build it to your liking. Even though the templates of Squarespace look good, they’re still templates; you’re limited with what you can change. With WooCommerce on the other hand, the options are unlimited, and you can spend as much time as you want to perfect every little detail if you want to. So when it comes to Squarespace vs Woocommerce who do you think wins? What about Wix vs WooCommerce, which is better?

To learn about the pros and cons of other eCommerce platforms, read our article Which eCommerce Platform is right for me?