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Audrey Rawnie Rico

Audrey Rawnie Rico

Marketing Expert

Find Audrey on

Education & Credentials:

  • Malayan Colleges Laguna, summa cum laude graduate of BA Broadcasting
  • Brand & Content Marketing Certification, IE Business School via Coursera
  • About
  • Latest Posts

Expertise:

  • Marketing
  • Content Writing
  • Content Marketing

Highlights

  • 4+ years content writing
  • 2+ years content marketing and copywriting for startups and small businesses

Experience:

Audrey is always thrilled to help small businesses grow their presence and reach the right audiences. She has worked with startups and small businesses based in New Zealand, Singapore, and the Philippines, writing content and copy as well as producing videos. She’s passionate about creating meaningful and relevant content that brings about positive results.

Featured in:

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Hobbies:

When not producing content for small businesses and startups, Audrey usually spends her hours reading books, watching series, films, and documentaries, playing piano, or writing in her journal.

Personal Quote

“The opposite of war isn’t peace—it’s creation!” – Jonathan Larson

Businessman checking his website's traffic.

January 31, 2023

How to Check Website Traffic (+ 9 Free or Cheap Tools)

Because your website acts as your virtual business location in the digital world, web traffic can indicate its success or identify areas of improvement. The same holds true for your competitors. Fortunately, several tools—many of them free—can help you check website traffic for your site as well as the sites of your competitors. We compared dozens of options, then narrowed our list to the best cheap and free tools below. Most accurate Google web traffic data: Best free way to check Google rankings for any site: Best for local search traffic: Best for checking web traffic on multiple browsers: Best for checking website traffic of competitors: Best way to see search keywords bringing you traffic: Best way to see search keywords bringing competitors traffic: Cheapest website traffic checker plans: Best website traffic checker for WordPress websites: Best Cheap or Free Website Traffic Checkers at a Glance *Monthly cost with annual billing, or pay a higher rate month-to-month Google Analytics: Most Accurate Google Traffic Data Source (GA) is a free tool that shows accurate traffic data from users interacting with your small business website. It’s not meant to be an all-around marketing tool—for example, to get data about keywords driving traffic to your site, you’ll need to integrate tools like Search Console. Still, it’s one of the best traffic analysis tools for pure, accurate, user-driven data. You can use Google Analytics to track session duration, bounce rates, the traffic source, where your viewers are coming from, what your audience is interested in, demographics, site visitor behaviors, and more. However, it won’t provide data for other websites (websites you can’t add tracking code to). For this reason, we recommend pairing it with a free traffic checker like , which can give you estimates of traffic for competitors’ sites. Google Analytics Pricing & Features Overview Although it’s technically a “freemium” product, its free plan allows up to 10 million hits a month (hits are interactions that send data to Google Analytics). This is more than enough for small to medium-sized businesses. Any more than that, and you’ll have to upgrade to Google’s extremely expensive Google Analytics 360 at $12,500 per month. Keep in mind that Google Analytics has a bit of a learning curve, including for setup, and isn’t as beginner-friendly as other traffic-checking tools like or . You also won’t get dedicated customer support in the free version—and because of Google’s new policies, you’ll need to migrate to Google Data Studio by the summer of 2023. Regarding how to check website traffic, setting up a GA account is fairly straightforward. Head to Google Analytics and create a free account. From there, set up data collection from your website by embedding tracking code into your website’s header or adding your tracking ID to the appropriate setting in your website’s content management system (CMS). Semrush: Best Free Website Traffic Checker for Ranking on Google In addition to web traffic, is an all-in-one search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing tool for ranking higher on Google. Apart from Google itself, analysis shows that Semrush is one of the best site traffic checkers because it consistently provides accurate search volume data. Whether it’s for SEO, managing listings in online business directories, social media, or pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns—you can do it all through Semrush. Not only can you get detailed metrics for your own website, but you can also get all the same metrics for any website (unlike Google Analytics or Search Console). This extends beyond traffic into keyword rankings, backlink and website SEO audits, and Google Ads performance. In terms of how to check website traffic for free on Semrush for your site and competitors’ sites, all you need to do is create a free account. With that, you can make 10 queries per day on the free-forever (but query-limited) plan. To check a website’s traffic with Semrush, input the domains you want to check in the box, and click “Compare.” Input up to five URLs to easily view domain vs domain site traffic for competitors’ websites compared to yours. For more access, take advantage of the 14-day free trial Semrush has extended to our readers to analyze your website and your competitors’ sites more in-depth before subscribing. Semrush Pricing & Features Overview With a paid plan, you can set up a dashboard to show the high-level metrics for up to five websites every time you log in. You can also set up traffic reports, keyword and position tracking, website audits, and social media tracking. A $20 add-on gives you access to automated listings management and more. Here’s what you get with Semrush’s free and paid plans: Free plan: Up to 10 queries a day with data for website visits, visit duration, user behavior, user journey, geo-traffic distribution, plus domain vs domain checker for up to five URLs Pro plan: Track up to five websites and 500 keywords with all of the Free plan’s metrics, and use over 20 analytics tools from $99.95 monthly; additional users cost $45 per month Guru plan: Track up to 15 websites and 1,500 keywords with all of Semrush’s metrics, see two years of historical data, use Semrush’s SEO content marketing tools, and integrate Google Data Studio from $191.62 monthly; additional users cost $80 per month Business plan: Track up to 40 websites and 5,000 keywords with all of Semrush’s metrics and features, plus Share of Voice metric, API access, and migration capabilities from third-party integrations—from $374.95 monthly; additional users cost $100 per month Semrush is a must for anyone wanting to rank higher in Google, from tools for keyword research to content optimization, website audits, and backlink building. See why Semrush tops our list of the best keyword research tools and our list of the best SEO audit tools for small businesses. SE Ranking: Best Way to Check Local Web Traffic & Rankings is a relative newcomer compared to platforms like Semrush and Ahrefs, but that doesn’t mean it's less sophisticated or full-featured. In addition, everything about SE Ranking makes it the most beginner-friendly, all-in-one platform, from its customizable pricing and plans to the recommendations, tutorials, and marketing plan that are easy to understand and implement, even if you’re new to SEO. But the best reason to check website traffic with SE Ranking is your ability to target data at the city or ZIP code level. You can also toggle on options to include Google Local Pack (map) results and show organic and map results separately. This makes it the best local website traffic checker for small businesses. In addition, you can do so in plans starting as low as $23.52, depending on how you customize your plan. However, keep in mind that to get the cheapest pricing, you’re limiting your use of the platform and how often your tracked projects will be updated. Still, for beginners or small businesses, this could be more than enough access, especially to start with. SE Ranking Pricing & Features Overview It’s somewhat challenging to summarize how much it costs to use SE Ranking to check website traffic as you can configure rankings check frequency daily, every three days, or weekly. Likewise, you can pay annually, for nine, six, or three months at a time, or go month to month. The more frequently you want to update tracking and the less you’re willing to pay in advance, the higher your cost will be. Costs will also increase whenever you want a higher limit on a feature. With that in mind, here are the highlights regarding SE Ranking plans: Free trial: 14-day free full-access trial to see if it’s right for you Essential: From $23.52 to $49 per month, depending on rank checking frequency and payment plan; track up to 10 projects with five competitors each, 250 to 750 keywords, site audits, 10 to 20 on-page SEO analysis per month, monitor backlinks, plus get up to 100 reports per day and create custom reports Pro: From $52.32 to $109 per month, depending on rank checking frequency and payment plan; there is data for unlimited projects, up to 1,750 keywords, three months’ historical data, and site audits for up to three users; also get up to 5,000 reports per day, 30 to 40 on-page SEO analysis per month, backlink monitoring, custom reports, white labeling, and a keyword database of up to 17,500 Business: From $114.72 to $239 per month, depending on rank checking frequency and payment plan; you can work on unlimited projects, up to 20,000 keywords, 100 to 500 on-page SEO analyses per month, and site audits for up to 10 users; get up to 10,000 reports per day, 17,500 keywords, and all available historical data, plus custom reports, white labeling, and API integrations SE Ranking’s ability to provide hyper-local web traffic and keyword data sets it apart, making it one of the best tools for local SEO, especially. Take advantage of the 14-day free trial to see how easy it is to check website traffic on your site and those of your competitors, then customize your plan’s features and payment options to save money. Ahrefs: Best Way to Check Web Traffic on Multiple Platforms Like Semrush, is a popular all-in-one tool for SEO and content marketing. It’s known for its modern, user-friendly interface and offers a lot of easily digestible content to use the tools and rank higher on Google. In addition, it’s the best free website traffic checker for getting data on platforms beyond Google, like Bing, Yahoo, and Amazon. This makes it an excellent tool for ecommerce websites, in particular. The tools that come in the free version are limited, as is your data. For example, there’s no historical data or data from search engines besides Google. Essentially you connect your Google Analytics account, and Ahrefs pulls your data from GA and Search Console from sites you own into your Ahrefs dashboard. Upgrading to the first paid plan, Lite, extends the amount of data available as well as the tools you can use. With this plan, you can check website traffic and get data on competitors’ sites in addition to your own. It also includes a keyword explorer to easily optimize your website, site auditing tools, alerts, and the ability to track your rankings across multiple search engines. Ahrefs Pricing & Features Overview To get six months of historical data, you’ll need the Standard plan. However, to get up to two years of historical data on Ahrefs requires an Advanced plan subscription, which gets pretty pricey at $333 a month with annual billing or $399 month to month. Comparable features with Semrush come with the Guru plan, which costs $229.95 monthly (or $191.62 per month with annual billing). Here’s what you get with Ahrefs’ free and paid plans: Free plan: A Webmaster account to gain insight on backlinks, SEO, and keywords on multiple websites, plus monthly report summaries sent to your account Lite plan: All of the Free plan’s tools plus site audit, dashboard with insights on keywords and backlinks, plus data on other sites starting at $83 monthly Standard plan: All of Lite’s features, plus six months web traffic data, ranking position history, fresh SERPs, and content marketing tools starting at $166 monthly Advanced plan: All of Lite and Standard’s features, plus two years web traffic data and Google Data Studio integration starting at $333 monthly Enterprise plan: All of the above features plus unlimited history, a directory listing for your agency, and the ability to pay manually by invoice starting at $833 monthly With that said, we love Ahref’s interface, especially in the free version. If you’re looking to check the traffic for your own website with a particular focus on your backlink data, this is a great place to start. You’ll get accurate data since it’s connected to your Google Analytics account, tips for using Ahrefs right in the dashboard, and loads of articles on the Ahrefs Academy blog. SimilarWeb: Best Way to Check Competitor Website Traffic is an in-depth website traffic checker with a free plan to compare web traffic data between websites. In addition to the basic metrics like the number of website visitors, you get a full breakdown of the site’s audience and traffic strategy for up to two URLs at a time (five on the paid plan). This makes SimilarWeb one of the most comprehensive tools for checking your competition. SimilarWeb Pricing & Features Overview On its free tool, you get to access a site’s traffic overview, detailing visits (on both desktop and mobile), engagement, and top traffic sources. You also see which social platforms are directing the most traffic to each URL and a breakdown of its audience. You'll need to upgrade to a premium plan to get more details on social media, ads, and keywords driving traffic to a website. Here’s what you get with SimilarWeb’s free and paid plans: Free plan: Get website vs website data for traffic, engagement, location, demographics, and marketing channels on an intuitive and user-friendly interface Essential plan: Check up to 1,000 keywords, site traffic insights for up to 100 websites, 100 search ads results, and up to three months of historical data at $167 monthly Advanced plan: Check up to 5,000 keywords, get traffic insights for unlimited websites, 500 search ads results, and up to three months of historical data at $292 monthly Custom pricing: Check data for unlimited websites, keywords, and search ads results, plus over three years of historical data SimilarWeb pricing is more expensive than for comparable plans. For example, with the second paid plan at Semrush, you get historical data. With SimilarWeb, this requires a custom plan that exceeds its most expensive published plan pricing of $292 monthly—which only includes three months of historical data. Plus, unlike other tools on this list, the free version of SimilarWeb focuses exclusively on website traffic. If you’re looking for a more well-rounded analytics tool, use Semrush. But if you’re only looking to check a site’s traffic for free with an easy-to-navigate interface, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything more exhaustive than SimilarWeb. Google Search Console: Best for Website Traffic Keywords While tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and SimilarWeb use a variety of ways to get relatively accurate data estimates about web traffic and keyword rankings, they simply can’t beat the accuracy of Google’s proprietary tools themselves. (GSC) is a must to integrate when you want to know exactly which keywords bring visitors to your website and where your content ranks for your target keywords. To ensure Google fully indexes your website, generate and submit an XML sitemap into GSC. To access even more data, like insights on new and returning site visitors, bounce rates, and the time spent on your website, link Search Console to your Google Analytics account. This way, you can view everything on one interface. Aside from comprehensive keyword data, GSC also shows backlinks, total impressions, the pages that bring the most traffic to your website, and audience insights. Also, since it only provides data for your websites, it’s not a great competitor research tool (unlike and ). Serpstat: Best for Competitor Keyword Traffic Analysis While GSC is great at tracking which keywords your website ranks for, you can’t use it to discover which keywords drive traffic to your competitors. That’s where comes in. With Serpstat, you can track keyword data for up to three website URLs, and it also has an in-depth backlink checker to see which websites are directing traffic to your competitors. Beyond these, Serpstat offers some of the most exhaustive SEO analysis features out of any platform, with features for search engine results ranking, historical data, backlink analysis, site surveying, and competitor insight. Serpstat Pricing & Features Overview While Serpstat doesn’t offer a free plan, its paid plans have comprehensive tools for search optimization. Its plans offer advanced SEO analysis tools providing high volumes of results, from keyword research and rank tracking to pay-per-click (PPC) ads results, backlink analysis, and site auditing, starting at $55 monthly. Here’s what you get with Serpstat’s free and paid plans: Lite plan: Up to 4,000 searches daily, API access for search analytics and backlinks, and tracking rankings for up to 10 sites and 15,000 position checks a month at $55 monthly Standard plan: Up to 5,000 daily searches, tracking for up to 50 sites, 60,000 position checks a month, and three users at $119 monthly Advanced plan: Up to 8,000 daily searches, tracking for up to 75 websites, and 150,000 position checks for up to five users at $239 monthly Enterprise plan: Up to 12,000 daily searches, tracking for up to 100 websites, and 300,000 position checks for up to seven users at $399 monthly That’s not to say that Serpstat can’t work as a basic website traffic analysis tool. Simply input a URL in the main search bar, and an overview of the website comes up, complete with visibility, estimated search traffic, and organic and paid keywords. Scroll to the bottom of the “Overview” page, and you’ll also find a list of competitors and examples of paid ads for the domain. Ubersuggest: Website Checker With the Cheapest Paid Plans is an SEO and website tracking tool with free and paid plans starting at $29 per month. Uniquely, it also allows you to pay a one-time fee equivalent to 10 months of any plan’s fee for lifetime access. You can check web traffic for a URL without signing up, but to get a little more data, you’ll have to register. On the free plan, you only get three URL searches per day (vs 10 with ). To see more than that, plus any historical data, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid plan. Ubersuggest is pretty basic, but it gives you an overview of a site’s traffic in a beginner-friendly interface. Aside from overall traffic, it breaks down the data into the pages of your site generating the most visits, the social platforms that point to the pages, keywords they rank for, and backlinks. It also rates each of these metrics to easily tell if your site is doing well. Click on any of these, and you’ll get a more comprehensive view of the data. Ubersuggest Pricing & Features Overview Ubersuggest offers a free plan with three daily website searches. This enables access to its data dashboard and a full range of web traffic insights, allowing users to get a feel for the platform’s capabilities before deciding to upgrade to a paid plan. Its paid plans offer the same features but at higher ranges at more affordable prices than others on this list, ranging from $12 to $40 monthly. This makes Ubersuggest a decent all-around web traffic analysis tool for small businesses starting out with web traffic analysis and digital marketing. Here’s what you get with Ubersuggest’s free and paid plans: Free plan: Three daily website searches with insights for SEO analysis, web traffic, and backlinking, plus keyword research assistance and website audit features Individual: Get up to 150 daily searches on one domain, 125 tracked keywords, insights on five competitors, and 1,000 page scans at $29 monthly, or a $290 lifetime fee Business: Up to 300 daily searches, seven domains, 150 tracked keywords, 10 competitors, and 5,000 page scans at $49 monthly or a $490 lifetime fee Enterprise: Up to 900 daily searches, 15 domains, 200 tracked keywords, 15 competitors, and 10,000 page scans at $99 monthly or a $990 lifetime fee Add-ons: For an additional $5 per month, get 500 more daily searches, one more tracked project, 250 more tracked keywords, additional competitor domains, and additional users This traffic checker also gives a pretty in-depth look into a site’s top SEO pages and keywords. Ubersuggest bases the rankings of these pages and keywords on Google, so if you’re looking for metrics related to other search engines (like Microsoft Bing), we recommend using instead. MonsterInsights: Best Way to Check WordPress Website Traffic is a website traffic checker plugin for WordPress, allowing you to view your web traffic data and insights directly within your WordPress dashboard. As a plugin, MonsterInsights doesn’t function as a standalone platform, meaning you’ll need a WordPress account and website to access and benefit from its features. MonsterInsights also sources its standard traffic data (such as your traffic, engagement, and user insights) from Google Analytics. However, it also offers a wide range of advanced insights, such as ecommerce tracking, outbound and affiliate link tracking, tracking for forms, media, telephone, and email links on most of its plans. MonsterInsights Pricing & Features Overview While there is no free plan for MonsterInsights, what’s included in paid plans is worth it and very affordable. Keep in mind that it will only show your website’s data as traffic numbers are sourced through Google Analytics. Here’s what you’ll get with MonsterInsights' plans: Plus plan: In-depth insights for one WordPress website, unlimited page views and users, standard web traffic analytics, historical data, real-time analytics, and URL and media tracking at $99.50 annually Pro plan: All of the Plus plan’s insights for up to five websites, along with advanced analytics, third-party integrations, unlimited page views and users, tracking and reports for ecommerce, form conversions, and keywords, plus user journey data at $199.50 annually Agency plan: All of MonsterInsights' analytics for up to 25 websites, unlimited page views and users, advanced access control, management for clients’ licenses (particularly helpful for agencies), and WordPress support at $399.50 annually MonsterInsights’ features only lack in the SEO and website comparison department, especially compared to the likes of or . It does, however, offer some of the most comprehensive tools for how to check website traffic, which is helpful for measuring and growing any WordPress website. Key Website Traffic Metrics to Track “Website traffic” is a broad metric, and raw website traffic numbers don’t necessarily tell the tale without additional context. For example, a website may have high traffic, but the traffic may not be relevant for the company’s target keywords, providing little benefit. On the other hand, a website with fairly low but highly relevant traffic may generate many highly qualified leads and sales. Website statistics reinforce the fact that getting your site to rank on Google is essential, as about 70% of web traffic flows through Google. And with Google, a positive user experience (UX) for site visitors is paramount. This is often reflected in metrics like time on site, the number of pages viewed, and conversions, such as button clicks or web form completions. Here are some of the website traffic metrics to track relative to your site’s performance: New visitors: The number of first-time visits to your website in a specific time frame. Returning visitors: If customer retention, repeat sales, and continued patronage are important to your business, increasing the number of sessions per user is essential. Bounce rate: A “bounce” is when someone visits a page on your site but leaves without taking another action like viewing another page, interacting with something, or filling out a form. A high bounce rate could signal that your site doesn't provide a positive user experience (UX), which can negatively affect your search ranking. Pages per session: The average number of pages viewed on your website per user session. Increasing pages per session signals that your site is helpful to site visitors. Learn more about how to engage site visitors with an SEO content marketing plan. Session duration: Web design statistics show that the average session duration for websites is just 45 to 54 seconds. Increasing session duration on your site indicates that your content is engaging. Traffic sources: Whether by device, social platform, search engine, language, or location, traffic sources show how people find your website and which channels you should focus on. For your website, these metrics can be found using . Plus, and also provide these metrics for competitors’ sites. You may also be able to identify specific goals for other key performance indicators (KPIs) based on your website marketing goals. How We Evaluated the Best Tools for Checking Website Traffic When considering how to check website traffic, we looked for the best combinations of cost, data accuracy, and the ability to check traffic on competitor sites as well as your own. We evaluated each of these tools' free and (in most cases) paid plan features firsthand, in addition to the decades of experience our team has using these tools to check website traffic for their own sites. Our top two recommendations for small businesses are Google Analytics and Semrush. Google Analytics can be used for free, though it’s worth noting that users will have to migrate to Google Data Studio as of summer 2023. is the best and most accurate way to check your website’s traffic and offers all the basic metrics you should be tracking and trying to improve. Plus, it can be integrated with Search Console to give you an even more complete picture of the sources, keywords, and channels bringing web traffic to your site. What it can’t show you, however, is the traffic of your competitors. is the best free website traffic checker for your sites and your competitors' sites overall. The free plan gives you 10 searches per day, including domain vs domain comparisons. You can see sources of Google traffic, keywords, backlinks, and more, giving you the data you need to develop strategies to improve your website’s ability to generate leads and sales for your business. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Why should I track my competitors’ traffic? Your site’s traffic is only half of the picture when it comes to analyzing your site’s ability to rank higher on Google than your competitors. You also need to know how well your competitors’ sites are performing and where they’re getting traffic from. Comparing this data shows you where they are lacking, opportunities you’re missing out on, and what you can do to improve your own website and increase your visitors and views. How can I check website rankings & traffic without Google Analytics? It’s easy to check website rankings and traffic with tools like . It’s an accurate and robust free tool that shows data on your competitors’ sites—which Google Analytics doesn’t do. Another great option to consider is SE Ranking, because it’s one of the few tools to provide traffic metrics at the local level, which makes it ideal for small businesses wanting to grow a local customer base. What is the best free website traffic checker? For the most complete and accurate data about your website in a free website traffic checker, combine the use of and Search Console. For insights on competitors, we recommend Semrush’s free plan to check website traffic and keyword rankings. You can even compare your domain vs competitors to find ways to increase your Google rankings. Bottom Line Higher website traffic shows your digital brand presence is growing as your site becomes more visible online. While tracking site traffic is easy, growing it is more complicated. From searching for the right keywords to rank with to generating backlinks, there are various paid and free ways to grow your audience. Thankfully, all of it is doable with —a complete SEO solution that not only helps check traffic to a website but helps grow it as well. Use it free forever to check website traffic for your site and competitors with up to 10 queries a day, or take advantage of the 14-day free trial available to Fit Small Business readers to explore more tools and remove daily limits.
Beautiful jewelry in black and white color.

January 23, 2023

22 Jewelry Marketing Ideas That Won’t Cost a Fortune

The jewelry industry is bursting with an estimated value of $332.6 billion by 2026. Those using the most effective jewelry marketing ideas will secure a larger share of the market—and the good news is most don't require you to spend a fortune. To promote your jewelry business, here are 22 jewelry marketing tips to gain brand awareness, increase website traffic, and drive sales—including ideas for selling jewelry online and marketing on social media. Looking to get away from third-party platforms that take a portion of your sales? Build your online jewelry store on in a matter of hours, with ecommerce plans starting for free. Jewelry Marketing Ideas to Increase Website Traffic Your website acts as your small business’ primary point of contact and information online. It’s also your best chance of acquiring new customers in the digital world, which is why high website traffic is a key indicator of your brand’s success. Below are jewelry advertising ideas to increase your website traffic, from using paid social ads to garnering Google Reviews. 1. Use Facebook Ads to Find New Audiences Facebook advertising is a little different from search engine advertising. Instead of keyword searches, it capitalizes on users’ tendency to scroll through their news feed. As they scroll, ads pop up between posts from friends or pages they’ve liked. Ads are targeted and placed based on a user’s browsing habits, interests, what they “like” on the platform, and a wide variety of demographics ranging from location, gender, and age to job title. After creating a Facebook business page and ad account, add Facebook’s retargeting pixel to your website—it’s a line of code that needs to be placed in your site’s footer. Then you can set up event tracking to see when someone goes to your site and your target audience (such as demographics and location), and then choose the type of ad you want to display and your budget for advertising. Learning how to advertise jewelry on Facebook may be more technical than you want to deal with, or you might need to stay focused on making jewelry instead. In that case, turn to a top social media marketing agency like . Get started by setting up a free consultation to learn how they can increase your sales and return on ad spend. 2. Improve Your SEO for Better Ranking on Google Success in ranking relies heavily on creating high-quality content that inspires readers who visit your site to click on a call to action (CTA) to purchase your items. Ranking higher can increase your sales, as more site visitors may convert to customers after discovering your content in online search results. If your website isn’t generating organic traffic that produces sales, it’s a good idea to reassess your site to find out what it needs to rank higher on Google. 3. Hire an Affordable Marketing Expert You might find that you’re not only the owner of your jewelry business, but also the designer or buyer, customer support, tech support, and, of course, the jewelry advertising ideas expert and executioner. Many small business owners try to do everything themselves, but that might not be the best course of action for long-term success. Try handing off some of the responsibility to the experts if you’re having trouble figuring out your marketing strategy. is a full-service marketing agency that can help you build a smart website that gets found in online searches and maintain your online reputation. It can also manage your digital jewelry marketing campaigns and generate more site visitors for your business. Get your free custom quote. 4. Add & Manage Business Directory Listings In a perfect world, the “build it and they will come” adage might work, but it isn’t, so it doesn’t—that’s why effective jewelry advertising ideas are needed. Whether you run a brick-and-mortar store or an online shop, listing your business in online directories gives customers more ways to discover your business. It also improves the search engine optimization (SEO) of your website. As Google is the top name in online search, starting by setting up a Google Business Profile is essential. Plus, it’s free to use and includes your most important info: name, address, and phone number. You will often also be able to add other info, such as your website, hours of business, and sometimes even reviews from previous customers. Find the online business directories that are most relevant to your business and add your listing to each one. Keep track of which directories you listed your business in and update all listings when changes occur. For example, if you change your brand name, site, or phone number, you must change it on every directory. 5. Get More Online Reviews Having a lot of positive customer reviews on Google benefits any jeweler, from large franchises to small, independent jewelry stores. When users search for a jewelry shop, the top results on Google will be a few paid ads followed by organic search results, which will be made up of local jewelry stores. One contributing factor to an organically high rank—and more positive brand awareness—is happy customers leaving good reviews. You can get more reviews on Google to help market your jewelry business simply by asking customers for reviews as part of each transaction. Once you’ve completed a sale, ask a customer to leave a review on Google. Follow up with an email or a postcard with a link, a quick response (QR) code, or instructions on how to leave a review. When a review is left, it’s a good idea to respond to help increase brand trust, whether the review was positive or negative. 6. Create Business Cards for Networking Events Business cards are one of the most well-established marketing materials for jewelry businesses. They’re especially useful when you attend networking events. Business cards offer an easy and professional way to pass along your contact information to an interested retailer, a possible partner, or a future customer. The content on your card can go beyond your business name and website. For instance, including a time-limited or first-time customer discount code on the back of your business card encourages leads to visit your site and make a purchase. A great jewelry marketing idea is to simply wear your own products wherever you go, and keep a handful of business cards on you in case people inquire about them. Creating your own business cards is easy, thanks to premade templates from most printers. Browse through the business card designs here to get inspired to make your own for your shop. When you’re ready to design and buy, is the best place to print business cards. It’s affordable, offers more than 7,000 templates to get you started, and you can choose from various unique materials for your cards, such as plastic or magnetic. Jewelry Marketing Tips for Brand Awareness & Engagement Gaining brand awareness and engagement are the first steps to acquiring new customers and increasing sales for your jewelry store. Fortunately, the digital world offers countless opportunities to get the word out about your business and get more customers interested in your products. From creating a brand story to getting press coverage, keep reading for jewelry advertising ideas to increase your brand awareness. 7. Create a Brand or Product Story Emotional selling is an excellent way to market jewelry, especially since jewelry is often purchased as a gift for a loved one. In "How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market," author and Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman claims 95% of purchasing decisions are made in the subconscious mind. Tying emotion to a brand or an item has proven to increase sales in many businesses, according to the book. Because jewelry isn’t a necessity, convincing a person to buy a luxury product often comes down to selling them a story and showing them why they want it. A compelling brand story can generate brand loyalty and motivate customers to purchase. Sell rings related to love or friendship, or necklaces to celebrate a person’s individuality—and write that story. Emotional storytelling can be done with photos, graphics, and words. If you aren’t sure how to start writing the story of your business or your jewelry products, consider hiring a professional writer or photographer to help. You can find affordable freelancers to help you write your brand story or create story-telling graphic designs at , a freelance marketplace, starting from $5. 8. Get Local Press Coverage Local businesses have an edge with local media. Getting a story on the local news comes down to finding the angle that would make a local newspaper or TV station interested in covering your news. Even something simple like “local hometown person celebrates grand opening of jewelry store” could be enough. All you really need is a newsworthy angle that will capture readers’ attention. Writing a press release isn’t complicated, but you might want to rely on a press release service like for distribution to ensure it hits the news desk at multiple outlets. You’ll also want to prepare your store or product release for incoming jewelry sales and new business that could follow after a story is published. 9. Connect With Retailers to Promote Your Jewelry Exposure for any small business is worth its weight in gold—if it’s with the right audience. One idea to market your jewelry is to get a top retailer to notice your line. A partnership, even if it’s just for a limited time, can put a relatively unknown jeweler in front of thousands more eyes and get engagement from potential leads. If you already have connections in retail, reach out to your contacts and ask for an opportunity to pitch your line to a retail buyer or for a referral. Otherwise, consider attending events to network with many different retailers to find the next great thing. 10. Leverage Video Content on Social Jewelry is one of the most eye-catching products you can advertise—perfect for today’s video-centric social media landscape. Whether for Instagram story ads or TikTok videos, create video content featuring your jewelry products for social media. With the right optimization, the algorithm can pick up your video and get it in front of the right audience. Some examples of video content for jewelry are simple modeling videos, testimonial videos, or packing videos. Unsure of how to get started on your jewelry video ad? Hire professional videographers and video editors via for as low as $5. Jewelry Marketing Ideas to Boost Sales Getting your leads to convert is the final stage of the customer journey and is your best indicator of success. From digital marketing tactics like referral programs to on-ground methods like selling at trade shows, here are jewelry promotion ideas to boost your sales. 11. Work With Local Retailers to Sell Jewelry In-store Trying to snag a collaboration to sell in top retail chains is a fantastic jewelry marketing idea, but it might be a long shot. An easier option for small jewelry store businesses is to approach owners of local small independent retail shops. They will be more willing to sell your products at their store if you make it easy for them to stock your products, though you may also have to give them a percentage of sales. Put together a pitch that includes reasons why the store would benefit from selling your products. Your online sales history is a big selling point; if you can show that your product sells and brings in new traffic, you’re more likely to land a spot in a retailer’s store. Moreover, having your jewelry on display also helps attract potential customers. The idea is to make it easy for the retailer to carry your products while driving brand awareness and recognition. Working with local retailers is just one great marketing idea for jewelry shops—consider these other local advertising ideas to get your brand on the map in your town. 12. Get Repeat Business With a Loyalty or Referral Program You love all your customers, of course, but you are likely especially smitten with your most loyal customers—the ones who return again and again to buy jewelry from you. Customer retention is worth its weight in gold, and it’s far more affordable to retain customers than acquire new ones. A loyalty or referral program is a great way to show your appreciation and keep customers coming back. To implement this jewelry marketing idea, use loyalty program software that integrates with your website and other software, such as your point-of-sale (POS) system. These programs help you capture information about customers for future email marketing campaigns and automatically reward customers for repeat business. Affordable options include and . 13. Sell at Local Fairs or Trade Shows Local fairs are excellent venues for small businesses to stand out and connect with customers in person, especially if you’re marketing handmade jewelry. Scour your local community for any upcoming fairs or trade shows in your area, and get in touch with the organizers about becoming a vendor. If you don’t have a physical location yet, local fairs also make for great testing grounds to assess your business’ supply and demand. They also allow you to get to know your customers on a personal level, which you can use to improve your future business decisions. 14. Give Limited-time Offers on Special Occasions Jewelry always make for excellent gifts, especially on special occasions like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. If you haven’t already, take advantage of these special dates to drive sales by offering limited-time promotions in the days leading up to those occasions. Whether it’s a 25% discount, a free gift, or a shipping coupon, limited-time offers are a tried-and-true marketing strategy to get people to convert. When planning your marketing strategy, mark the dates with special occasions in your digital marketing calendar for the best results. Plan your limited-time offers ahead of those dates so you can organize and execute your campaign promotions accordingly. Ideally, your limited-time offers should be up and running days before those special occasions, and your marketing promotions should start days even prior to that. These promotions can include email marketing campaigns, social media posts, in-store posters, and more. Best Ways to Sell Jewelry Online The jewelry industry is expected to increase by over $60 billion in 2026—and a large part of that is due to its steadily growing ecommerce sector. The internet offers several opportunities for jewelry stores to expand their market reach and increase their sales. Whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or are selling exclusively online, keep reading for some of the best jewelry advertising ideas to sell jewelry online. 15. Build a Website Optimized for Search Regardless of where you sell your jewelry, it’s vital to have a small business website for customers to find your jewelry, your story, and where they can purchase from your business. Plus, ecommerce-friendly site builders like and make it easy for you to avoid third-party platform fees when selling jewelry online. They also make it easy to build a website in just a few hours, even for web design beginners. Using a top small business website builder like lets you easily create a professional and mobile-optimized ecommerce website, starting for free. We recommend using Weebly’s free plan to build your jewelry website. Then opt for the Professional plan, which costs just $12 per month, to connect a custom domain and start building your brand’s presence online. 16. List & Advertise on Third-party Platforms While your website is your business’ primary digital storefront, there are several third-party ecommerce platforms to reach new customers and increase your sales. From to and more, these sites already have a defined, active consumer base that you can easily tap into. Etsy is best known as a marketplace for handcrafted products, so it’s an ideal platform for marketing handmade jewelry. The process of how to sell on Etsy is easy. First, sign up for an account, set your shop preferences, name your shop, add items and pricing, and then set up payment preferences. You can even customize your shop if you’d like. Keep in mind that you have to pay Etsy minimal fees for listing each product and whenever you make a sale. Poshmark is a platform most known for fashion, accessories, and beauty products, with a consumer base across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Like Etsy, you’ll simply need to create an account, upload photos of your products, and make sales directly on the platform. Finally, Handmade by Amazon is Amazon’s platform catering specifically to crafters and artisans. It connects you with customers around the globe. Alternatively, you can build your own brand and website using , and forgo the third-party platform fees. While it doesn’t offer the advantages of an already engaged audience, its native tools and features are ideal for jewelry marketing. 17. Use Email Marketing to Entice Your Audience to Purchase When it comes to online marketing for jewelry, email marketing can be a low-cost and effective channel to promote your products, which is why it’s one of the most effective marketing ideas for small businesses. Unlike social media, emails have the benefit of allowing one-on-one communication with your customers. This creates a more personal experience allowing for focused, long-form communication and CTAs leading to your website. There are many ways you can use permission-based email marketing to increase jewelry sales. Send a monthly newsletter to keep your subscribers abreast of what’s new and include links to product pages or let them know about upcoming events or sales. Send timed email campaigns to lead up to a big sale or holiday specials. Use email to reach out to customers who haven’t visited in a while to re-engage them. From newsletters to drip email marketing, is one of the best email marketing software platforms for small businesses. Starting at $99.9 per month, it’s an affordable and easy-to-use option, with over 200 templates to get you started. Finally, it allows for seamless integration with , so you can add your Shopify products to emails for easy CTAs. 18. Curate Relationships With Influencers to Market Your Jewelry Social media marketing is a viable jewelry marketing idea, but it may not be right for everyone. If you aren’t all that comfortable photographing yourself wearing your jewelry or your social media skills aren’t great, there’s another way to tap into the market. Consider working with Instagram influencers and other social content creators to get them to promote your jewelry. Start by creating a relationship with an influencer that fits your jewelry line’s aesthetic or your brand’s views, values, or story. Follow them on social media, interact with their posts, and show your interest in what they have to say. After you develop a relationship, pitch a collaboration. You will need to pay them, just as you would with a model or an actor, and you can expect them to wear your jewelry in public, get photographs or shoot videos with your products, and (hopefully) create a buzz about your jewelry. Jewelry Marketing Ideas for Social Media These days, many of your consumers spend a significant amount of time on social media, making it a lucrative platform for marketing your jewelry business. However, a challenge with social media is that it’s highly populated—you’ll likely be competing with thousands of other brands, all vying for customers’ attention and interest. Below are some tips and ideas on social media marketing for jewelry. 19. Take High-quality Photos for Pinterest One of the best social media platforms to use for visual items like jewelry is Pinterest. Pinterest users often search for specific items or use broad terms and then discover items they didn’t even know they wanted. They might pin those items to boards for inspiration, or even purchase items directly from a Pinterest post. To be successful selling on Pinterest, take good photographs of your jewelry, create eye-catching graphics, and post your content with the right hashtags and keywords. For example, if you exclusively sell flat-back earrings, you could use keywords like “flat-back earrings” or “earrings to wear with headphones” to attract a specific audience. If you want to aim for a broad audience, use keywords like “silver jewelry,” “gold jewelry,” and “earrings.” Most importantly, as mentioned before, Pinterest is visual, so your posts need to look great. You can use , a free online graphic design tool, to create graphics that are sized right for Pinterest (and other social media sites). Plus, you’ll get access to free templates, graphics, and stock imagery. Learn more in our article detailing how to use Pinterest for business. 20. Create a Social Media Contest or Giveaway Everyone loves getting something for free, and it’s a way to market your jewelry business that mostly costs you just time and a single piece of jewelry. An online giveaway or contest includes rules you have to follow based on the social media platforms you want to use, so be sure you read through any requirements before you launch a contest. First, you need to figure out what you want to get out of your giveaway or contest. You can use this marketing tactic to get more site visitors, more followers on social media, exposure on a platform you’re new to, sales, or possibly just brand awareness. Create a plan for the launch, graphics for the giveaway, and a budget for advertising. 21. Use the Right Hashtags on Instagram Instagram is a social media site known for being a visual platform. Using Instagram as a jewelry marketing channel is similar to using Pinterest. You can include text with each post and multiple hashtags to increase your exposure on the channel, but it’s your imagery that will pique users’ attention and generate engagement. Use the right hashtags on Instagram to ensure you get your jewelry in front of the right Instagram users. Start by doing research on Instagram to figure out where your jewelry fits. Create a running list of the hashtags you want to use with each post, and make sure they’re relevant. You can’t include a link to your jewelry website or product links in a post, but you can on your profile, so make sure you keep your profile updated with pertinent info. To leverage this platform, learn how to sell on Instagram in seven steps. 22. Feature User-generated Content (UGC) One of social media’s best benefits is its ability to easily interact and build communities with your customers. A good way of benefiting from this is by featuring user-generated content (UGC) on your social media page. User-generated content is similar to user reviews in that they act as social proof for your brand—when potential buyers see other customers using your products, they are more likely to make a purchase. Featuring UGC on social media also fosters a sense of belonging among your existing consumer base, which helps foster brand loyalty. Being featured on a store’s official social media page makes customers feel special, incentivizing them to choose your brand over others. Generating UGC from your customers can be as simple as encouraging them to take photos of their products after purchasing, and sharing them on social media with a specific hashtag. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) How do you attract customers to buy jewelry? Attracting customers usually requires a combination of jewelry marketing ideas. For example, a search-friendly website can bring organic traffic (and sales) from online searches. Getting people to subscribe to emails blasts through landing pages, social media, and digital advertising allows you to nurture leads over time to become customers. Other avenues include selling on third-party platforms, collaborating with local retailers, and joining fairs or trade shows. Is a jewelry business profitable? Just like any business, selling jewelry can be profitable if you price your pieces appropriately, stick to a budget, stay on top of finances, and use proven marketing strategies. In addition, use a point-of-sale (POS) system with inventory management features that shows which items sell well and which ones don’t so you can stock the right items. Implement a combination of the jewelry marketing ideas above to drive brand awareness, increase sales, and grow a thriving business. What is jewelry markup? Jewelry markup is the amount (usually a percentage) a wholesaler or retailer adds to the cost of the jewelry they purchased to resell. Generally, the range of markup on jewelry is two to three-and-a-half times the cost, or a 100% to 350% markup. Larger brick-and-mortar shops tend to increase prices significantly because they have to carry a large inventory and have more overhead than small jewelry shops or online jewelry stores. Bottom Line You don’t have to use every jewelry marketing idea on this list to attract customers and sell more jewelry. Instead, use the ideas that make the most sense for your business, whether you run a small local jewelry shop or an online store. Regardless of the type of jewelry shop you have, a well-designed website provides a solid online presence for customers to find your business, even if you sell through online shops like Etsy or Shopify. (owned by parent company ) is a top ecommerce website builder that allows you to easily build an online store to showcase your jewelry beautifully. It’s easy to use—even if you have zero site design experience—and you can get started for free, so there’s no risk in trying it.
Magnified Wix Logo

January 23, 2023

How to Make a Wix Website in 7 Easy Steps [+ Video Tutorial]

Learning how to make a Wix website is simple. Set up an account and follow the prompts to choose your website elements. Then organize your website’s functions via your Wix dashboard, choose a template, or let Wix generate one for you. Using Wix’s website editor, customize your theme, pages, and content. Lastly, review and double-check your site’s menus, pages, and content, choose a plan, and publish your site. To learn how to build a Wix website, watch the following Wix tutorial video or follow the step-by-step instructions below. 1. Create an Account to Build a Wix Website The first step in how to make a Wix website is to visit and click on “Get Started” on the homepage. From there, you will be prompted to log in or create a Wix account. You can make a small business website via Wix’s website builder for free, but for advanced features like ecommerce or to get a free custom domain, you’ll need a paid account. Wix has plans starting from $16 with hosting and a free domain and SSL certificate or full, robust ecommerce for online stores, restaurants, hospitality businesses, and more from $27 per month. For a full list of Wix’s prices, read our comprehensive Wix review. Once you have a Wix account, you’ll be able to make an unlimited number of websites. However, keep in mind that you’ll need to purchase a plan for each one individually to upgrade it to a premium plan. You can build unlimited free sites, however. 2. Choose Your Website Elements has several website elements prepared to make the process of building a website easier for you. On the following screen, you can answer Wix's questions and choose the kind of website you’re creating, along with the site elements you want to include, from an online store to a blog. While it isn’t mandatory to answer these questions, they can help Wix provide you with better options for building your website. These features can also be added later on in the process. 3. Set Up Your Website via Your Dashboard In the following screen, you’ll be prompted to either set up your website’s settings and analytics via your dashboard, or to design your website’s interface. In the latter option, you can design using one of Wix’s professionally made templates, or have Wix create a website for you via their artificial design intelligence (ADI). We recommend setting up your website first via your dashboard to ensure you have all the website elements you need before you start designing. If you choose to start setting up your website, you’ll be directed to your website dashboard, where you can organize the functions of your website. For example, if you’re building an online store, add your products and set up payment and shipping options. Your dashboard will also show marketing features such as search engine optimization (SEO) tools, email marketing functions, paid ads, and your website analytics. Your dashboard will also differ based on the kind of website you’re building. For example, if you’re building a portfolio website instead of an online store, you’ll see prompts to add your projects instead of your products. Whichever kind of website you’re building, you’ll simply need to click on the tabs, upload your images, and edit your details. Once you’ve inputted all your info and website functions, click “Save” in the top right corner. 4. Decide Which Wix Website Editor to Use Next, you’ll start designing your website interface. To do this, you must decide whether to use the Wix ADI or the standard Wix website editor. From your dashboard, click the “Design Site” button in the upper right-hand corner. You’ll be directed to a page with an option to design your website using a template or to let Wix design one for you. With the ADI option, you will be presented with a few website design options. All you need to do is select which you prefer most, and the ADI will automatically prepare a live website for you. You can also still customize your site via its drag-and-drop editor. If you select the option to build a Wix website using Wix’s standard Editor, you will start by browsing and selecting a template from over 800 options. This offers the most design choices, and you can still build your site quickly. This is because Wix templates come with prebuilt pages and premade section blocks, often with multiple variations. You won’t be able to select a template on the ADI from among Wix’s 800 category and industry-specific templates. You can, however, customize the elements and pages of the template Wix generates for you via the site editor before publishing it live. Unfortunately, you can’t switch from the Editor to ADI, though you can find your site’s history and restore a backup. 5. Create Your Template & Build Your Wix Website No matter which editor you choose, the process of how to make a website with will be fast, code-free, and easy. But the editing process differs slightly based on which website editor you choose. Wix’s ADI will automatically prepare a template for you in minutes, which you can then retroactively customize via Wix’s drag-and-drop editor before publishing it. However, with this option, you won’t be able to choose which template to use. On the other hand, the standard Wix Editor is a true drag-and-drop editor, where you’ll choose from one of its 800-plus templates (or start with a blank one). You’ll then build your website by dragging elements onto and around your page to where you want them to appear. There are also premade content blocks you can point and click to add to your site, and many have multiple variations, so you can choose exactly the design style you want. With either option, you’ll need to make certain tweaks to create a Wix website customized to your business’ needs. The main things to change are your website’s structure (by adding or removing pages), your header and footer, the content on your pages, and your small business website’s features through native and third-party applications. Now that you’ve chosen a template or had the Wix ADI generate one for you, the process of how to build a Wix website in terms of editing pages and optimizing your site will be the same. Keep reading to learn how to create a Wix website using the drag-and-drop editor to edit details and sections of your website before publishing it. The following instructions apply to both a Wix website made with a template and one made through Wix’s ADI: 6. Review Your Site & Optimize It for Search Once you’re happy with how the site you built on looks and functions, go over everything again to see if you’ve missed anything. Use our website basics checklist to ensure you’ve set your small business website up for success. Some crucial things to double-check before launching your Wix site include: In addition to the settings you control, you can enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that Wix is the best website builder for SEO. It automatically adds structured markup to help search engines index your site and compresses images to speed up site loading and ensure a good user experience. You can even create a free Semrush account and research the best keywords for your website from the Wix dashboard. Want to make sure your Wix business website is fully optimized to be found online? Find out all you need to know in our step-by-step guide for building a strong SEO content marketing plan. 7. Launch Your Wix Website (& Opt for a Paid Plan) The last step is to hit the “Publish” button on the top right corner of the screen in the editor. However, on the free plan, your site will display Wix ads, and your domain name will use a subdomain and look like yourname.wix.com—not professional enough for a business. To connect an existing custom domain or get a free domain name for a year, invest in a paid plan. Wix Pricing & Plan Features *With annual billing; monthly billing is also available at a higher cost Notably, the Business Basic plan is one of the best ecommerce site builder plans available. It includes ecommerce, online ordering and reservations, appointment scheduling tools, and abandoned cart recovery. It also has niche features for restaurants, creatives, fitness professionals, and more. However, if you’re only looking for professional branding, Wix’s Pro plan offers all the essential tools at affordable prices. For these reasons, building a Wix website is one of the best ways for a startup or small business to start building an online brand presence. Another reason to choose Wix is that it tops our list of the best small business website builders, best site builders for SEO, and—if that weren’t impressive enough—the best free site builders. It’s one of the best drag-and-drop site builders for beginners who want to build a professional-looking website without having to learn WordPress or master complex coding. If you are looking for more options, check out our list of the best Wix alternatives. For example, Wix doesn’t offer free ecommerce websites like Weebly, and you’ll need a Business Plan to get appointments, unlike GoDaddy, which includes them starting for free. Learn more in our review of Wix vs GoDaddy. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Is it hard to make a website on Wix? No, it’s not hard to make a website on for small businesses. There are step-by-step guides throughout the process, and it's even easier to create a Wix website if you opt to let artificial intelligence (AI) build your template to start with. The editing tools are intuitive, and drag-and-drop functionality and prebuilt content blocks make it easy to build pages and fully customize the look and content of your website. Is Wix permanently free? Wix does have a permanently free plan. However, free sites are hosted on Wix subdomains (e.g., yourbusiness.wix.com), which isn’t professional. It detracts from your branding and can hurt customer perceptions about your business. It’s also poor for SEO, making it far less likely that your website will rank on Google. If you do use the free version of Wix to start with, upgrade to a paid plan as quickly as possible so you can connect your own domain. Does Wix own your domain name? No, doesn’t own your domain name if you opt for a paid plan. If you use Wix for free, your domain will be a Wix subdomain like mybusinessname.wix.com vs a branded business domain name like mybusinessname.com. Wix’s paid plans come with a free domain the first year, but to ensure you have full control over your domain, register it independently with a top domain registrar and then connect it to your Wix site. Bottom Line Now you know how to use to make a website in just seven simple steps with a starting cost as low as $16 per month. If you’re looking to publish a website as quickly as possible, the Wix ADI is perfect for you. For the best customization in the market, use the standard drag-and-drop Wix Editor. Both provide a professional-looking website with valuable features through Wix’s native tools and third-party apps.
a laptop with email notification

January 18, 2023

20 Best Email Tools for Small Businesses in 2022

Email tools involve software and integrations that maximize deliverability, email campaign performance, team collaboration, and productivity. The best business email tools deliver time-saving workflow automations, increased lead generation and conversions, and meaningful insights about the effectiveness of campaigns. With that in mind, here’s our list of the 20 top email tools for small businesses, including a dozen you can use for free. Best Email Tools at a Glance *Billed annually Best Email Tools for Sales & Marketing Campaigns Email is one of the most effective channels for sales and marketing, allowing for focused long-form communication, clear calls to action, and behavior-triggered automations. It is also effective for multiple marketing objectives, from brand awareness to increasing conversions. From tools for drip marketing campaigns to ecommerce via email, keep reading for the best email tools for sales and marketing. Mailchimp: Best for Email Marketing Automation tops our list of the best email marketing software for small businesses. It allows you to easily create and send email newsletters and set up automated triggered and conditional workflows to reach, nurture, and convert leads and prospects. There is a free-forever version you can start with for up to 500 contacts to test out the platform. Starting for free, you can create lead generation web forms for your small business website, publish landing pages, and send email updates to customers and prospects. Previously, Mailchimp allowed up to 2,000 contacts for free, so this is a bit of a downgrade. If you have large contact lists, offers comparable tools at a lower cost as you scale. With paid plans, you can schedule email campaigns in advance and set up automated email workflows for when someone visits your website, downloads something, or clicks on a link in an email newsletter. You can also create drip campaigns to nurture leads and customer relationships in your sales pipeline over time. This can be invaluable in longer customer buying cycles and upselling, cross-selling, and loyalty marketing efforts. Mailchimp integrates seamlessly with most small business website builders and WordPress websites. This makes it easy to generate and sync leads to Mailchimp for future marketing and sales email campaigns. It also integrates with the online graphic design platform . Simply connect your Mailchimp and Canva accounts, and graphics you design on Canva can be easily added to your marketing and sales email campaigns. Mailchimp Pricing & Key Tier Features *Additional contacts over this limit increase your monthly cost SendX: Most Affordable Tools for Large-scale Email Marketing is one of the cheapest and easiest email platforms you can use for marketing and sales campaigns. Paid plans start under $10 and as your list scales, will be far less expensive than other email marketing apps. For example, lists with 10,000 contacts on Mailchimp will cost at least $100 a month vs $59.99 with SendX (or $44.99 per month paid annually). Unlike and , no features are locked behind higher tiers, which is also great if you’re on a budget. Your monthly cost to use SendX depends strictly on the size of your contact list, and prices don’t jump nearly as steeply as they do with other providers for larger contact lists. It’s easy to create multi-level marketing and sales-triggered automations to streamline workflows, nurture leads at every stage of your sales funnel, and increase conversions. For more details, see why SendX made our list of the best email marketing services and what makes it so startup and small business-friendly. SendX Pricing Tiers & Key Features Drip: Most Sophisticated Ecommerce Email Tools stands out for offering multi-channel marketing campaigns through email, SMS text messaging, social media, and even website pop-ups. It has a default playbook for you to follow if you’re new to ecommerce marketing and sales, making it much easier for beginners to launch an ecommerce sales email or text marketing campaign. Even if you’ve never built email automation before, Drip is easy to use. There are templates for various workflows, such as a welcome series of emails, reminders for cart abandonment, as well as relationship nurturing and loyalty automations for special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. It is more expensive than other email tools for marketing. Pricing starts at $39 per month for up to 2,500 contacts, and there’s no free plan you can start with, unlike and . Similarly, if you have 10,000 contacts on Drip, you’ll pay $154 per month, which is far more than ($80) or ($59.99 month to month). Drip Pricing Tiers & Key Features *Drip also offers higher plans with up to 10 million contacts at custom pricing HubSpot: Best Free Email Tools for Sales & Marketing world-class, industry-leading software for sales and marketing is not particularly inexpensive. However, it offers free use of its marketing and sales email tools of up to 1,000 contacts, giving startups and small businesses a way to get started for free, along with low-cost base tier options. Starting free can be a good way to generate the revenue needed to offset paid plans. When you’re ready to upgrade, the first tier costs $45 per month (or $50 with month-to-month billing). It includes up to 1,000 contacts, an email send limit of five times your number of contacts, form and email automation, and two user seats. U.S.-based users also get access to Payments. You’ll get some pretty impressive lead generation tools included when you opt to use HubSpot’s free email tools. Build landing pages to generate leads, automatically assign leads generated to specific sales agents for follow-up, send a welcome email, and launch lead nurturing drip email campaigns to move prospects through your sales funnel. Connect your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google ad accounts to see results and ad interactions, tie ad spend to sales, and re-engage contacts. You can use HubSpot’s email tools to create messages that look like mass emails or plain text personal messages to send company updates, announce new products and services, extend special offers, and reignite cold leads. The email tools are fairly easy to use, even for beginners, but do come with a steeper learning curve than some other platforms, partly due to the sheer size of the HubSpot ecosphere. True beginners or those who don’t need software of this magnitude will be better off going with or . Those needing built-in CRM features will find that is more beginner-friendly. HubSpot’s Professional and Enterprise plans provide tools needed by data-driven sales and marketing teams. It allows you to read the analytics and apply changes to pick a more calculated approach to target customers. Plus, you can use the HubSpot email app to work on the go from anywhere. HubSpot Pricing & Key Features *Cost of plan increases as your contact list grows Constant Contact: Best Tool for Email Marketing Beginners is one of the most well-known email marketing platforms with a useful selection of tools suitable for any small business looking to grow their online presence. It has some of the most comprehensive yet beginner-friendly features we’ve seen, from the drag-and-drop campaign builder to hundreds of premade templates, targeted email sends, automation tools, and in-depth analytics. Constant Contact also offers thousands of integrations with design, ecommerce, social media, and sales apps, including Canva, Shopify, Instagram, Salesforce, and more. While it doesn’t offer a free-forever plan, unlike , you can use it free for 60 days, allowing you to test it out before committing to a paid plan. Another drawback is that it doesn’t offer comprehensive A/B testing beyond subject lines. Mailchimp and are both better options if you want to test variations or send multiple versions of your emails to increase engagement and conversions. Beyond its email marketing tools, Constant Contact also offers social media and SMS marketing features. These make it a valuable tool for small business owners looking to delve into digital and email marketing and grow their online presence from scratch. Pricing for the base Core plan starts at $9.99 per month for up to 500 contacts. At 10,000 contacts, it’s more expensive than ($59.99), coming in at $80 per month, but less expensive than Mailchimp or Drip. However, advanced features for list growth, personalization, automations, and ecommerce are locked behind the Plus plan, which starts at $45 per month (500 contacts) or $125 per month if you have 10,000 contacts. Constant Contact Pricing & Key Features *Cost per month increases based on the number of contacts Best Email Management Tools Whether for internal communication or marketing to customers, email is heavily used by many organizations. As a result, email inboxes can often quickly become clogged or disordered, hindering productivity. The following email management tools allow for easy organization, scheduling, and workflow management—plus helpful email tools such as email writing assistance and integrations with other sales and productivity apps. DragApp: Best Email Tools for Collaborative Teams Using Gmail You can manage nearly any type of project or process in your small business right from Gmail with . Teams that use Gmail and Google Workspace apps to correspond with one another on status updates or with prospects, customers, or vendors can all benefit from incorporating DragApp into the mix. This includes teams like sales, marketing, customer service, account management, and order fulfillment. For example, startups and budget-conscious small businesses needing super low-cost help desk software can turn Gmail into a help desk platform using DragApp’s boards and cards. Kanban-style views make it easy for customer service agents to see assignments, move cards to the next stage, or tag colleagues when an issue needs to be escalated. Sales teams can use DragApp to manage sales pipeline activities and multi-stage customer journeys, set up autoresponders, and automatically move cards based on conditions. When a prospect converts to a client, cards make it easy to bring in an account manager or onboarding agent. Cards can also be dragged to new boards, such as moving a prospect from the sales pipeline board to an onboarding and account management board. Marketing teams can use DragApp boards and cards to create and manage the status of materials requests and projects, such as a website refresh, that occurs in multiple phases over time. It can also be used to manage website content projects for businesses with multiple authors creating and publishing blog articles as part of a search engine optimization (SEO) content marketing strategy. DragApp Pricing & Key Tier Features *Billed annually, or pay a higher fee month to month Boomerang for Gmail: Best Tool for Sales Email Scheduling Unlike other email tools, is extremely easy to use and can be added to Gmail quickly. It’s perfect for small business owners who need to schedule emails, monitor from their phones, and help to construct new emails. In addition, Boomerang for Gmail now has scheduling tools that make it easy to set up meetings in and outside your company. Create an email, and your prospect can schedule a sales presentation or demo at the most convenient time. Boomerang’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered writing assistant has your back when it comes to composing winning sales emails. It will let you know if your message is too long, lacks questions to spark engagement, or contains complex terminology a recipient might not understand. It scores these, along with the sentiment, to determine when your email has the right stuff to produce a conversion (e.g., scheduling a demo, signing up for a free trial, or buying something). Boomerang for Gmail Pricing & Key Tier Features *Billed annually Streak: Best Gmail Email Management Tool for Sales Agents is a Chrome web browser extension that can be linked to your Gmail to keep track of sales, projects, hiring, or in custom ways that fit your needs. It is an efficient way to organize your inbox and keep the most important messages at hand for easy follow-up. Streak also has a scheduling tool that allows you to plan your day or week in one go and let the extension do the work for you. This is a great email tool for sales agents. Not only can they keep track of important messages for follow-up, they can even view prospect data like notes and company information right from their inbox, and create custom pipelines to track any type of project or process. Collaborative sales teams can see which activities were performed in shared pipelines and who performed them to eliminate duplication of work and make sure prospects are being nurtured. Using Streak, sales agents can instantly see whether a prospect opened their email or see a list of all tracked emails. Agents can even send personalized emails to multiple prospects simultaneously and monitor them in the mobile app. Streak Pricing & Key Tier Features *Billed annually **Application programming interfaces Help Scout: Best Email Collaboration Tool for Customer Support enables teams to collaborate on answering emails, especially for customer support. It stands out for its features catering to both email management and productivity. Its shared email inbox lets you assign emails and tasks to team members. Plus, it helps write and share private notes, handle phone and live chat conversations, and create templated replies for frequently asked questions. Help Scout’s email workflow features let you set up custom automations, such as assigning emails containing specific words to certain team members or moving them to email folders. It also has an email sidebar that provides valuable information about your email recipient, from their contact details and previous email conversations to their activity in other apps. Finally, Help Scout also stands out for its in-house publishing tool for building a help center or knowledge base. Easily write search-friendly articles and customize your page according to your branding. Help Scout Pricing & Key Features *Based on annual pricing, or pay a higher month-to-month fee Best Email Lookup Tools for Contact List Building Cold email reach outs are a long-established strategy for marketing and sales. For building an email database, your best bet is to use an email lookup tool to search and verify email addresses—and other contact details—from the internet. From bulk verification features to platforms specializing in media contacts and public relations strategies, below are the best email finder tools for building contact lists. Hunter: Best Email Finder to Discover Domain-related Email Addresses is our top pick as the best free email lookup tool for discovering email addresses related to website domains. Since a list of domain names can be uploaded in bulk, it’s an efficient prospecting tool for sales teams that want to generate a list of email addresses for cold emailing or market research. Use Hunter to find the business email addresses behind domains to connect with potential customers and use premade cold email templates to engage them successfully. Hunter can help you grow your email list of potential clients and customers starting from free. Hunter Pricing & Key Tier Features *Billed annually; pay month-to-month at a higher rate GetProspect: Best Email Address Finder for LinkedIn is the perfect email lookup tool for a business-to-business (B2B) sales team that wants to get leads straight from LinkedIn. Starting without enough contacts is a problem most businesses go through during the early stages. GetProspect helps your business grow its contact list by collecting valid emails from LinkedIn in bulk. You can further enhance your contact list-building efforts with GetProspect’s Chrome extension. Simply add the extension to your browser, save profiles from LinkedIn search, and extract data, including email addresses, without triggering LinkedIn’s profile view limits. The quality of email addresses is also ensured through a 12-step email verification process, ensuring 97% deliverability. Upload your emailing list to GetProspect and get results in minutes regarding the quality of your contact data. This is valuable because sending emails to bad addresses wastes time and can even land your email campaigns in junk mail instead of inboxes. GetProspect Email Finder Pricing *Billed annually; save by paying annually at a 30% discount from regular pricing or pay more month-to-month In addition to pricing for GetProspect’s email finder services, you can also verify your emails. The cost to verify 10,000 emails is $40, verifying 50,000 emails is $125, and verifying a database of 100,000 contacts will cost $200. DeBounce: Best Tool for Accurate Email Lead Generation is a business email software for bulk email address verification. Using verified email addresses allows you to eliminate all useless leads and focus on legitimate ones. It helps you launch sales email prospecting campaigns by providing the right list of validated email addresses. Use DeBounce on a one-time or occasional basis, or subscribe to Email List Monitoring to continually test and clean up your contact list database. This reduces the chance that your cold emailing campaign will include obsolete email addresses, resulting in high bounce rates, lower deliverability, and less cost-effective email campaigns. Add the DeBounce JavaScript widget to your web forms to validate emails in real time and weed out fake email addresses. Use data enrichment tools to gather more information from 10 different sources and learn more about the individual who belongs to each email address on your list, such as their name and even photos. DeBounce integrates with more than 100 third-party apps, including leading email marketing platforms like and . Likewise, it integrates with WordPress from plugins like Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, and others, and you can create “Zaps” to connect it to other business software you use through Zapier. DeBounce Pricing for Email Verification DeBounce’s pricing is also very straightforward, allowing businesses to only pay for what they use. Should you only need to verify 5,000 contacts, you’ll pay just $10. Prowly: Best for Contacting Media Professionals is one of the most valuable public relations (PR) email tools as small businesses can access its database of over 1 million media professionals around the globe, even on the free plan. Prowly’s free plan lets you access journalists’ basic contact details. However, upgrading to a paid plan unlocks several other helpful features, such as contact list building, media pitching, and press release creation and distribution. As an email tool, Prowly’s most unique feature is its customer relationship manager (CRM), which allows easy email communication to thousands of journalists worldwide. It also has an online press release generator and distributor, letting you build and send press releases directly to journalists’ inboxes. With its portfolio of helpful media contacting tools, Prowly is best suited for businesses focusing on PR and media strategy. Prowly Pricing & Key Features *Billed annually, or pay higher month-to-month fee **Users can add 1,000 new media contacts from Prowly’s database at an additional fee of $100 or 3,000 new contacts at $150 Best Email Tools for Productivity & Collaboration For teams that use email heavily (like customer service or sales), email productivity and collaboration software can turn your regular email platform into a productivity powerhouse. Whether assigning email tasks to team members, setting up appointments, or signing documents, the email tools below enable easier collaboration with your team and boost your overall productivity on email. Asana: Best Way to Create Tasks From Microsoft Outlook Emails is a versatile tool that we even named it as a top alternative to traditional CRM software. In fact, its shortcoming as a customer relationship management (CRM) tool lies in the fact that it doesn’t have native email or phone capabilities. However, when integrated with Microsoft Office 365 and Outlook business email, it becomes a project management powerhouse. Create new tasks from Outlook, add due dates for follow-up, and assign them to teammates. View tasks in the list and board views, trigger actions for tasks created in Outlook, and add new emails to existing tasks to update your team. For example, an architectural or design firm working with a client could add client feedback emails or requests for changes sent via email to the task. Design firms working with clients can even invite clients to collaborate on projects with the Premium plan. It could be a great option for a custom homebuilder looking to align trades and vendors in managing the building timeline and ensuring the homebuyers’ input is conveyed to all parties involved. Marketing and sales teams relying heavily on email for cold introductions and lead nurturing can also benefit from implementing Asana alongside Microsoft Outlook. Likewise, it’s a great email productivity software for implementing lengthy timelines, such as a new software system or company-wide hardware update. There’s even a forever-free version that includes generous allocations, from unlimited tasks and projects to collaborating with up to 15 team members. You can even integrate time tracking with the free version to keep track of time spent on projects and see everything in either list or board views for easy project management. Asana Pricing & Key Tier Features *Billed annually, or pay month to month at a higher rate Calendly: Best Email Tools for Setting Up Meetings & Events is one of the best email productivity tools for sales email campaigns. It allows easy scheduling of meetings without having to go back and forth with emails. It’s ideal for sales teams that want to make it easy for prospects to schedule meetings for sales presentations and demos, including when multiple team members are involved, as calendars can be meshed and synced. Once an appointment is made, it’s synced to all attendees' calendars. You can set up reminders to decrease no-shows, and if a meeting needs to be canceled or rescheduled, that’s easy with Calendly too. Instead of managing calendars and appointment scheduling manually, you’ll be able to set schedules in one interface. Calendly helps you arrange meetings with clients, staff, partners, and prospects, and it’s all integrated with your business email. Calendly Pricing & Key Tier Features *Billed annually, or pay more for monthly billing DocHub: Best Email Tools for Electronic Document Signing From real estate transactions to client agreements and sales of all kinds, being able to sign documents digitally is the standard in today’s business world. Digital document signing (aka e-signature or e-sign) is exactly what allows you to do. Instead of faxing back and forth with clients (or worse, having to mail documents or set up an in-person signing), you and your clients can sign contracts, agreements, orders, and other digital documents and send them through a safe and secure extension with DocHub. While email tools like Mailchimp focus on reaching prospects, DocHub helps seal the deal without having to meet in person. If your document requires multiple signatures, DocHub has a workflow for that. Likewise, when sending the same document to many different individuals, like an acknowledgment of receipt for an updated employee handbook or terms of service, DocHub has a bulk signature process. You can also create templates for documents that you send out frequently to save time, and when returned, they will be organized under your templates so you can find them easily. Nor do all documents have to be sent by email. You can publish your templates publicly and share them through a URL or via Facebook or Twitter. When someone completes the form, you will automatically receive a copy. DocHub Pricing & Key Plan Features *Billed annually, or pay monthly at a higher rate Grammarly: Best Way to Proofread Emails Before Sending With a Microsoft Outlook extension and free Chrome extension for browser-based platforms like Gmail, is the best email tool for eliminating typos before sending emails. Even if you proofread a message several times, a typo could remain, making it off-putting to the reader. We found some interesting statistics about typos and how they can affect professionals and small businesses. For example: In a 10-year study, professionals who didn’t end up in director-level roles made 2.5 more writing mistakes than those who did. (Harvard Business Review) Pros who earned fewer promotions (from one to four) made 45% more mistakes than their counterparts who were promoted six to nine times during a 10-year period. (Harvard Business Review) 42.5% of web users say they are likely to be put off by spelling and grammar mistakes. (CXL blog) Grammarly helps prevent these mistakes and even has a tool that helps you improve your writing through suggestions. The free version could be all a small business or freelancer needs to ensure they don’t put embarrassing mistakes through email or in other written content, including sales presentations, website and landing pages, and webinars. Grammarly Pricing & Key Tier Features Best Email Tools for Improving Recipient Experiences Your email strategy doesn’t end immediately once you hit “send”—the best emails create positive experiences for their recipients, improving overall communication. The following email tools have features for enhancing your emails with custom professional signatures or for tracking your emails’ activity (such as email opens or read receipts) after sending, helping you create better email experiences for your recipients. WiseStamp: Best Email Tool for Custom Signatures ensures your emails stand out from the rest with a personalized professional email signature. Add elements like headers, footers, fonts, images, videos, and action-inspiring buttons, and build different email signatures for different uses. WiseStamp transforms boring cold emails into impactful advertising or marketing campaigns. Instead of sending plain and spammy all-text emails, WiseStamp lets you create your own email signature design or start with one of the hundreds of professionally designed email signature templates that fit your industry or style. You can use the email signature generator completely free to design one email signature from scratch or a template, but it will contain WiseStamp branding until you opt for a paid plan. Design a unique signature for business email, or use WiseStamp to create a unified branded professional email signature template for your whole organization. Notably, also has a free email signature generator, which is why it (along with WiseStamp) both made our list of the best email signature generators. However, HubSpot only offers a free version and lacks the templates and customization you can get with a paid plan through WiseStamp. WiseStamp Pricing & Key Plan Features *Billed annually MailTrack: Best Tool for Tracking Email Opens is a valuable business email software for sending important documents or messages to clients or coworkers. Knowing an email has been read is a critical feature since this would allow you to know the best times to send emails and whether your email was effective (based on responses or actions taken). It can also be the basis for follow-up email scheduling, such as scheduling a follow-up sales email 48 hours after an offer email has been read. You can use MailTrack to track emails individually or in bulk. The free-forever version displays branding, but allows unlimited tracking, real-time notifications, and email alerts. It also has 72-hour reminders if you didn’t receive a response and even the ability to see whether emails sent to you are being tracked. MailTrack Pricing & Key Tier Features *Billed annually, or pay quarterly or monthly at a higher rate Attach: Best for Email Forwards & Attachments Tracking Beyond whether an email was read, gives you data regarding what happens after. Learn whether your email was forwarded, attachments were viewed, and how your email’s content was engaged with. In turn, you can use this data to make more informed decisions about how best to reach prospects. Understanding the best way to reach your potential customers helps you choose the right practices and eliminate ineffective ones. If you’ve ever had a moment of regret after sending an email, Attach can help with that too. You can make changes to files or swap them out after sending a campaign. You can even update document security by adding a password or revoking access entirely to protect sensitive documents. Attach also lets you create a central library of assets for things like proposals, contracts, and marketing materials. This way, all your agents will send the materials you want to represent your business. This is especially useful for companies that employ outside sales agents, such as homebuilders with outside real estate listing agents, or companies with franchise locations, like insurance agencies and financial advisors. Attach Pricing & Key Tier Features *Billed annually Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) If I have email marketing software, do I need other email tools? Email marketing software products like , , and allow you to scale sales and marketing efforts by sending campaigns in bulk instead of one at a time. The best email tools help your bulk and individual emails stand out, provide rich insights, and improve your ability to reach and convert prospects. Check out our ultimate email marketing guide to learn everything you need to know about converting prospects into clients. How are marketing & sales emails different? Generally, marketing emails are sent in bulk using software like or , i.e., they are sent to contact lists or segments, including multiple email addresses, simultaneously, with the same content. These include communications like email newsletters, promotional email blasts, and customized emails for specific list segments. Sales emails, on the other hand, are usually personalized emails sent to individual prospects at various stages of the sales funnel sent through email clients like Microsoft Outlook or Gmail. Examples include things like cold emails to create brand awareness and lead nurturing emails to move leads through the sales funnel toward conversion. How much should you spend on email tools? Many of the email tools above have free versions to try. Depending on the size of your organization or contact list, or the features you want, you may need to move from a free email tool to a paid plan. The good news, in either case, is that these tools should improve your campaigns. In turn, they produce increased conversions and revenue to offset the subscription cost. Bottom Line Using the right combination of email tools will help you scale, manage, and understand your audience and their needs much better. From tools you can integrate on your small business website to standalone apps and software to acquire and convert leads, these email tools can take your marketing and sales campaigns from good to great.
Spacious living room

January 18, 2023

How to Join Angi (Formerly Angie’s List) to Generate Leads

Millions of consumers use Angi (formerly Angie’s List) to find a wide range of home services providers. Most search with immediate buying intent, so the leads generated on Angi are high quality. The process of how to join Angi is simple and free. First, visit Angi.com and follow the prompts to create your business listing. Then access your dashboard, add more details to enhance your free profile, and leverage certifications and ads for even more leads. Here’s how to join Angie’s List to get leads for your business in five steps: 1. Add Your Business to Angi’s Pro Network The first step on how to sign up for Angie’s List is to register your business on the platform. To do this, click on the button that reads “List my business” to get the setup wizard started. You’ll first add your business category, such as “plumbing” or “landscaping,” and then your ZIP code, which places you in accurate search results for Angi leads in your service area. Input Your Business Information Next, to join Angi, you’ll need to enter your contact information for your business, including your first and last name, the name of your business, your phone number, and your ZIP code. This information is for homeowners needing to contact you with questions or a quote, so be sure to use your business phone number. Create Your Angi Account Add an email address and create a password for logging into your account. You’ll have to check the box to agree to the terms of service, but getting emails with special offers and discounts from Angi is optional. Write a Business Description for Your Angi Profile When joining Angi, your business description is your chance to make a great first impression with potential new customers. Write a business description highlighting what your business specializes in and how you differ from others in your industry. You can also include credibility-building stats like customers served or years in business and awards, certifications, or accolades your business has earned. Optimizing the description with keywords or phrases your target customers would likely search for is also a good idea. For example, if you offer sink repair services, you might specify what types of sinks you repair, such as bathroom or laundry sinks. You could also list specific details like the kind of sink mounting you specialize in (free-standing, wall-mounted, and so on) or the specific repair services you offer, such as sink drainage or sink crack repairs. Adding these details with keywords and phrases can help boost your visibility on search results; however, be sure not to use industry jargon that regular homeowners may not be familiar with. To discover more keywords for your business’ listing on Angi, use a free keyword research tool like . Add More Business Categories You chose a primary business category when first signed up to join Angi, but now you can add more. For example, if you run a lawn care service that also offers tree removal and sod installation, add those as separate categories in this section. Adding more business categories gives you more exposure when Angi customers search for specific services, leading to more accurate matches and leads. Just make sure your business can provide those services, and that the profit margin is sufficient to offset any advertising costs you use to generate leads using Angi. Set Your Service Area On the next screen, you’ll see a pin in the map of your business’ location. If your service area goes beyond your ZIP code, just click the other areas where your business provides services. As you click each section, it turns red, showing all the locations you serve, ensuring you appear in searches in those surrounding areas. Once you finish this step, you’ll get an option to download the Angi app. It’s available for iPhone and Android and allows you to manage your account from the app instead of through a browser. The Angi mobile app is an excellent tool for solopreneurs and small business owners who might need to manage their account while on the road fulfilling orders. 2. Access Your Angi Dashboard With the initial steps of how to join Angi complete, now you’ll be able to access your dashboard as a pro on the Angi network. There you’ll see deals, quotes, messages, and reviews. If you sign up to offer discounts or deals to customers, you’ll also see those on this page. Your Angi dashboard also shows your quote requests from new customers, messages from other Angie’s list members, and a section for you to request reviews from existing customers. 3. Add Helpful Details to Your Business Center Listing At the bottom right of your dashboard, you’ll see prompts to add icons to help your profile stand out. These icons represent other details about your business, such as if you offer emergency services, speak other languages, or are a minority-owned company, among others. These will give prospects a more well-rounded idea of what to expect from your business. 4. Enhance Your Angi Business Directory Profile There are other sections you can also complete to give potential clients a better idea of your business and the services you provide when you join Angi. For example, if you have licenses or insurance for your business, add those to your profile to bolster credibility. You can also add the payment types you accept, any accreditations you’ve received, and your health or safety measures. Additionally, you can create photo galleries, ideally to show off success stories and project before-and-after photos. These are especially helpful for home service businesses like house cleaning services, home repair and renovation, pressure washing businesses, and lawn care companies. 5. Get More Leads With Angi Certification & Ads Creating a free business listing on Angi is one way to potentially generate leads. To actively generate leads through the platform, you’ll need to become Angi Certified and pay for advertising and leads. Being certified also prioritizes your listings at the top of Angi’s search results, giving your brand more exposure and, in turn, more leads for your business. To get started, connect with an Angi client success manager or the advertising department. Besides search results priority, another way to advertise via Angi Pro is by listing deals for your services. Deals appear on Angi’s home page for customers and get the most visibility, and therefore have the highest chances of acquiring high-quality leads from prospects who likely already have buying intent. There’s limited information about how to join the certified program on Angi (formerly Angie’s List)—you’ll have to request a call and get a custom quote to advertise. To reach certified status, you need to maintain a rating of 3 stars or higher and keep all licenses up to date. You’ll also need to agree to a criminal background check every two years. Finally, keep in mind that advertising on Angi binds you to a one-year minimum contract with a 35% early termination fee. Alternative Sites Like Angie’s List for Contractors & Home Service Businesses Angi isn’t the only option for small service-based businesses to list and advertise to attract new customers. If you find Angi isn’t working for your business for any reason, or you simply want to try another ad marketplace, consider one of the sites like Angi that works well for contractors and businesses providing residential services: : Thumbtack is a similar site for service-based professionals to connect with local homeowners. Similar to how Angi works, customers don’t pay anything to use the service, but businesses do pay for leads. : You can set up a Google Business Profile for free. This allows your profile to appear in search results when someone searches for your business or local businesses like yours. You can also advertise on Google using local services ads to show up higher in local search results. : Another option for a free business listing is Bing Places for Businesses—the equivalent of Google’s local search results on Bing and Edge. You can also pay for Microsoft Advertising to push your profile up in search results. : One of the original customer review and local business listing sites is Yelp, where customer reviews go a long way in helping people find services they want to try. It also has a larger category base, including restaurants and other services. Learn more about Yelp for business in our guide. Check out the complete list of the best online business directories to list your business on, increase your visibility, and generate more web traffic. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Does it cost to join Angi? Technically, no—it’s free to list your business on Angi. However, to get the highest quality and quantity of Angi leads and show up higher in search results, you’ll likely want to advertise or offer deals to customers, which requires a paid membership to Angi Pro. How does Angi make money? Angi makes money by charging consumers a membership fee to access exclusive discounts and deals. It also makes money when businesses listed on the platform opt to place paid ads and extend special offers to consumers searching the list. Do you have to be a member to use Angie’s List? Yes—Angi (formerly Angie’s List) is an online business directory that requires consumers and businesses wanting to use it to create a free or paid membership. Either way, you’ll need to sign up and create an account. On a member account, you can search through hundreds of home service professionals. Meanwhile, an Angi Pro account is for business owners looking to gain new customers. Bottom Line Angi is an online directory connecting customers with local businesses providing home services, from home cleaning and repair to landscaping. For business owners, Angi provides a platform where they can generate high-quality leads to gain new customers for free. However, to get the most benefit out of it, it’s best to pay for advertising via Angi Pro, which boosts your exposure on the platform and brings you new, high-quality leads. For affordable expert help setting up your Angi business listing or running ads on the platform, turn to freelance professionals on . Starting for as little as $5, they will create your business listing, optimize it, and help you get the most benefit from the platform.
Web design statistics, marketing, and branding

January 17, 2023

32 Essential Web Design Statistics for 2023

The accelerated digitalization of the world we live in underscores how essential it is to build a strong online brand presence for long-term success. Foundational to this is having a business website designed for an excellent site visitor experience. Below are 32 of the most relevant web design statistics that highlight the importance of design, including stats on user experience, marketing, ecommerce, and mobile web design. General Web Design Statistics Business websites contain a large amount of information, capabilities, and services, and what holds it all together is effective web design. The following web design stats highlight the importance of web design in building an online brand presence, web design industry statistics, and general web design best practices. 1. 71% of small businesses have a website In today’s digital world, an online presence is essential for businesses big and small, with more economic activities conducted digitally every day. From discovering new stores to online shopping, consumers are increasingly going digital. As of 2022, 71% of small businesses have their own website to follow consumers’ activities—and with current digital trends, it’s a number likely to keep increasing. 2. 50% of consumers believe a company’s website design is integral to the brand A crucial element of your business’ branding is that it encompasses every aspect of your company’s public-facing channels. In 2023, that also includes your website. A 2021 survey found that 50% of consumers believed a company’s website design was a central facet of its overall brand—both its visual layout and functionality. 3. Photos & images are the top visual elements for 40% of site visitors It’s no secret that visual content plays a vital role in any marketing strategy. The same goes for website design, with 40% of website visitors voting pictures and videos as the most valuable element of any website’s design, ranking higher than colors, videos, and animation. 4. 38% of website visitors look at a site’s layout or navigational links on their first visit Most websites contain a significant amount of information as well as basic website elements, all housed together under the same website domain. However, for your site visitors, some website elements hold more value than others, such as navigational links and layouts. In fact, 38% of website visitors look out for these particular elements first on their initial visit to your website. 5. 75% of brand credibility hinges on the design of its website In an age where many business transactions are held online, a key aspect to gaining your customers’ trust is building credibility. In fact, according to recent research, 75% of a company’s credibility hinges on its website. For this reason, it’s vital to not only have a digital presence for your business, but also that it’s professional, helpful, and well-designed. 6. Site visitors decide whether they like your site in 50 milliseconds or less First impressions are crucial for any brand, and in 2023, they take faster than ever to form. According to a recent study, website visitors take less than 50 milliseconds to decide whether or not they liked a website—that’s less than 0.05 seconds for your website’s design to make a positive impression. 7. Small business website design costs an average of $2,000 to $9,000 In 2022, the average market rate for website design for a small business site of eight to 16 pages was anywhere between $2,000 and $9,000. This includes website costs for everything from domain hosting and SSL certificates to the content management system (CMS) and ecommerce functionalities. 8. The top driver of website design cost is features & functionalities A number of factors go into designing a small business website, each with its own cost. However, the number one factor influencing the cost of designing a website is its features and functionalities at 61.5%, followed by user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design at 46.1%. Other factors include its responsiveness to devices, content management system, usability, content list, search engine optimization (SEO), and third-party integrations. 9. 70% of small business websites lack a call to action Calls to action (CTAs) have long been an integral element of any marketing campaign, from billboards and printed flyers to digital advertisements. For websites, CTAs usually take the form of a clear, easily accessible button. However, 70% of small business websites lack a call to action, which could lead to a poor website user experience as users won’t know where to navigate. This could potentially result in a loss of revenue for your business. 10. The #1 web design mistake is an overly crowded design While it can be tempting to include as much information and as many functions as possible on every page of your site, web design statistics show that doing so could be detrimental to your success. A recent survey found that 84.6% of web designers said a crowded website is the number one web design mistake, and could quickly drive visitors away from your site. Other common web design mistakes include hidden navigation functions, ineffective typography, white space use, and a lack of a call to action. 11. The web design industry is worth $11 billion According to a study by IBISWorld on current website design industry statistics, the web design industry in the U.S. was worth $11 billion as of 2022, when measured in revenue. While the figure is a slight decrease from 2021’s $11.2 billion, the study also found that the number of businesses is expected to rise in the near future, suggesting possibilities for growth. 12. Users spend an average of 45 to 54 seconds on a website As websites grow more and more ubiquitous, the average time a user spends on a website is steadily declining. In 2022, the average time spent on a website by each user was anywhere from 45 to 54 seconds. Factors that contribute to users spending less time on websites are slow loading times, bad website design, and poor content. Web Design Stats on UX (User Experience) A positive user experience (UX) is the cornerstone of any good small business website and plays a key role in customer conversion and retention. This is created through effective web design and layout. The UX web design stats below highlight the relevance of user experience in any website and how they can make or break your website’s success. 13. 38.5% of site visitors form an opinion about a brand based on their first website experience It’s no secret that first impressions are crucial—this goes for your website too. 38.5% of people form their opinion on a business based on their first experience with their website. Their first experience interacting with a business’ website is crucial in determining whether or not they return for a second visit and, eventually, convert into paying customers. 14. 42% of customers abandon a website with poor functionality A website’s design pertains not only to its visual appearance but also to how it responds to users. Functionality is vital to your website’s success. According to design experts, 42% of customers leave websites that fail to perform functions well, whether that’s in failing to perform ecommerce sales, submitting form entries, or fetching search results. 15. 38% of people will abandon a poorly designed website Your small business website is only one of the millions on the internet, all competing for consumers’ attention and interest. For this reason, 38% of site visitors will stop engaging with websites with poor designs or layouts and visit another webpage instead. A poorly designed website can easily cost potential customers’ attention and interest—make sure yours isn’t one of them. 16. 90% of users will keep shopping on a website because of good UX Good UX can generate revenue—and for ecommerce businesses, a good website user experience can also guarantee customer retention. As of 2022, up to 90% of users would continue shopping with a brand that offers an excellent user website experience from start to finish. 17. The number one reason users leave a website is a slow loading time Your website’s loading time also plays a significant role in creating a positive user experience. In fact, 88.5% of users cited a slow loading time as their top reason for abandoning a website. This ranked higher than other factors, such as a lack of website responsiveness, poor navigation and content structure, outdated website design, or obtrusive audio or video. 18. Investing in UX design brings a 9,900% ROI Need more proof that creating solid UX brings long-term value? A recent study by Amazon Web Services found that every dollar invested into creating good UX design brings $100 in return, equating to a 9,900% return on investment (ROI). This encompasses every stage of the customer journey—the study also found that companies with a UX designer had positively impacted customer conversion, retention, and long-term satisfaction. 19. Companies investing heavily in UX design saw a 75% increase in sales Amazon Web Service’s study also found that businesses that invested in UX designers the most were rewarded (with a 75% increase in sales). These companies, termed “design unicorns,” are organizations that place a high value on their products' design and consider them a fundamental aspect of their company’s identity. Meanwhile, the study also found that other companies that described themselves as “design-centric” also saw a slightly lesser increase of 60% in sales. 20. 31% of website visitors say an engaging user experience should be a priority in website design With an increasing amount of economic activity now performed online, consumers have higher expectations from brands when it comes to their online experiences, particularly on websites. A recent study found that 31% of website visitors believed an engaging website that put users’ needs and wants first was crucial to creating a positive user experience. Web Design Statistics for Marketing & Ecommerce The past few years have accelerated digitalization for brands and consumers alike. From discovering new brands via social media to purchasing from online stores, the digital economy continues to grow every day. For small businesses, this places greater importance on optimizing their websites to meet consumers’ growing demands. Keep reading for the most relevant facts about web design for digital marketing and ecommerce. 21. 85% of consumers use the internet to discover local businesses For many local businesses, online discoverability can be your best potential for reaching new customers. Eighty-five percent of today’s consumers search online for new local businesses to try out, and 34% do so daily. For these customers, your website is likely their first point of contact with your business and can determine whether or not they convert into customers. 22. 88% won’t return to an ecommerce website after a poor experience Customer loyalty is key to your business' long-term success. In today’s digital world, this also includes how often customers visit and engage with your website, which depends on whether or not they have a positive website experience. According to a study by Amazon Web services, 88% of online shoppers stated they wouldn’t return to a website after having a negative user experience. 23. 81% of consumers research a business online before using its products or services In an age of more accessible information than ever, consumers are increasingly well-informed and conscious about where they spend their money. Overall, 81% of today’s consumers do online research about brands before deciding to purchase from them. This means that for eight out of 10 consumers, your website is their first point of contact with your business and plays a key role in converting them into customers. 24. Personalized search functions on ecommerce websites drove revenue by up to 200% When it comes to ecommerce website design, minor upgrades can reap major rewards. A modification as simple as a personalized search function on retailers’ websites increased ROI by up to 200%, a 2021 study found. 25. 78% of ecommerce site shoppers want more product images With the ubiquity of ecommerce and online shopping in today’s economy, customers are looking for a more heightened online shopping experience. This can sometimes be as simple as having more images displayed on your website—a recent survey found that 78% of online shoppers wanted ecommerce websites to include more product images. Mobile Web Design Stats With more consumers partaking in the digital economy every day, your business’ accessibility and functionality on mobile devices are more crucial than ever. From improving customer retention to increasing overall sales, the following mobile web design stats highlight the importance of mobility in creating a positive experience for your customers. 26. Customers have 2x as many brand interactions on mobile vs on desktop With so much of the internet now easily accessible on smartphones, it’s inevitable that ecommerce is just as valuable to customers on mobile as it is on desktop—sometimes even more. In 2022, consumers had twice as many interactions with brands on their mobile phones than on desktop computers—-further highlighting that consumers are doing more activities than ever using their mobile phones. 27. 57% won’t recommend a poorly designed mobile website Word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing tool, even for your website’s visitor traffic. Of millions of website visitors, 57% would not recommend a poorly designed mobile website to their family and friends, which could potentially account for a significant loss in website traffic. 28. Mobile devices generated 58.99% of all web traffic in Q2 of 2022 As mobile devices grow more ubiquitous, the amount of internet traffic they generate also increases. In the second quarter of 2022, mobile devices accounted for 58.99% of all internet traffic, an increase of 3.9% in just one year. 29. 61% of users have a better opinion of brands with mobile-optimized websites As more consumers use their mobile phones to research brands before making a purchase, the demand for mobile-optimized websites also grows. As of 2022, 61% of users form a more favorable opinion of brands with mobile-friendly websites, both in terms of design and functionality. This, in turn, leads to a higher chance of customer conversions. 30. 67% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a mobile-friendly website Beyond customer conversions, mobile-optimized websites also impact other stages of the customer journey. Sixty-seven percent of consumers stated they were more likely to purchase a brand’s product or service if they had a mobile-friendly website. 31. 73.1% of web designers say a non-mobile-optimized site is the number one reason users leave In today’s world of smartphone-carrying consumers, it isn’t enough that your business’ website is accessible on mobile—it needs to function well there too. Otherwise, it could cost a significant portion of your target consumers: 73.1% of web designers believe a non-mobile-friendly website is the top reason users leave a website. 32. 68% of companies with a mobile-first website design had an increase in sales With a rising number of ecommerce activities done on smartphones, it’s no surprise that your mobile website design directly impacts your business’ sales. In fact, 68% of companies with a mobile-first website design directly experienced an increase in sales. Frequently Asked Questions What makes a good website design? Ultimately, the sign of good business website design is a positive user experience that produces conversions. This is created by an easy-to-navigate site visitor journey, valuable information, and content, and a visually pleasing layout—all on a fast-loading site. Other characteristics of good website design include a strong brand identity in content and visuals, helpful functions like chatbots or forms, search engine optimization, and strong security. Is web design still in high demand? With the digital world growing more dynamic and necessary every day, web development continues to be in high demand in 2023, with no signs of slowing down. This also includes the web design industry. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that demand for web designers and developers will grow by 23% by 2031—a higher average than normal—thanks to the constant growth of mobile and ecommerce technologies. What are the current biggest web design trends? In 2022, the biggest web design trends pointed to creative website navigation, simple but bold typography and text, and dynamic scrolling effects—all leading toward capturing attention and encouraging engagement. These are likely to continue in 2023, with more focus on enhancing user experience to an optimum. This includes personalized content, faster load time, data visualization, and more accessibility features, among others. Bottom Line In an economy growing more digital every day, building a strong brand presence online is more crucial than ever to your long-term success. A key part of this is your business’ website and how it’s designed. As these web design statistics show, several factors come into making a good website design, from UX elements to mobile functionality. To easily create a small website with all the essential small business features and functions, choose .
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January 17, 2023

What Is Angie’s List? (+ How Much It Costs & Best Alternatives)

Angi (aka Angie’s List) is an online directory connecting consumers with local home service providers, from contractors to home cleaners. With nearly 7 million monthly visitors, Angi can effectively increase your service business’ online visibility, generate leads, and land more clients. Learn more about whether this platform is right for your business, including how much it costs and which alternatives might be a better fit for your needs. Get the positive reviews you need to build your business using Angi, Google My Business, Yelp, or another online directory with . Try it free for 14 days—no strings attached. How Angi Works for Consumers & Businesses On the consumer side of how Angi (formerly Angie’s List) works, potential customers visit to find qualified and top-rated home service providers in their area. Individuals can register for free and use the platform to find local business services. However, they can also upgrade by paying for a premium plan to access features like complaint resolution and exclusive member-only deals. On the other hand, any business can join Angi and set up a listing on the platform for free. However, to fully leverage the platform for lead generation and sales, you should expect pay to advertise on the platform. Angi does this by essentially working as a sales representative, boosting your visibility and sending you leads. Pricing varies for each business; however, most come at an average of $300 monthly, and all plans bind you to a one-year contract. The businesses that benefit most from using Angi are typically home improvement or repair services (e.g., lawn care, general contractors, handy services, plumbing, electrical, pet grooming, roofers, pest control, and housekeeping, to name a few). There are more than 700 categories listed, but some are super-specific, like local services for bat control, GE dryer repair, or overhead garage door repair. How Much Angi Costs for Leads For businesses and contractors, how much Angi will cost can vary from free to hundreds of dollars per month. While it’s technically free to create a company profile, those serious about generating leads typically advertise at a cost starting at $300 per month. Granted, pricing is custom-based and may change depending on industry, location, and demand for the type of services you provide. For example, suppose you pay $300 per month to advertise on Angi. In return, Angi sends you about 20 leads per month. Of these leads, you close 20%, or four Angi leads per month. If your profit margin for each job is $400, then you’ve earned an additional $1,600 per month (or $1,300 after subtracting your advertising cost) from Angi, at a cost per lead of $75. However, in the home services industry, profit margins vary. For example, while a residential home cleaning service may cost $80 per visit, many will get recurring business on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis—and many for years to come. In contrast, a contractor hired to build an addition or remodel a bathroom will make thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands, with one job. The difficult part of starting with Angi is that you won’t know how many leads it will generate, nor the lead quality. This is a frustrating aspect of the platform, but many businesses struggling to generate leads and land new clients often find advertising on Angi to be a worthwhile investment. If you’re OK with a little uncertainty and can experiment to optimize its features for your business, Angi could bring many new clients to your door. Best Alternatives to Angie’s List Of course, Angi isn’t the only platform available that connects consumers to local businesses. There are Angi alternatives offering similar (and sometimes identical) opportunities for businesses to connect with local consumers seeking their services. From HomeAdvisor and Thumbtack to Yelp and Google My Business, it’s worth getting to know which sites can benefit your business the most. Here are the top alternatives to Angi for business lead generation and conversion: *: Works identically to Angi in matching customers seeking home repair services with professionals. However, unlike Angi, customers can sign up for free. *: Similar platform to Angi, but with more focus on home cleaning services. : In addition to text-based search ads, local service-based businesses can also set up Local Services Ads on Google. These appear at the top of search results pages in high buying intent searches with the added benefit of showing reviews stars and “Google Screened” and “Google Verified” trust badges. : Platform connecting customers with residential service contractors; also includes services for events (like weddings) and tech, including app and website development. : Offers home repair services like Angi; specializes in moving and insurance services. : Platform connecting customers with home design professionals, including architects and interior designers; also has a furniture marketplace. : An online business directory and user review platform for small businesses in any industry; it also allows for pay-per-click (PPC) ads for businesses. Learn more in our Yelp for business guide. : Google’s free business profile directory allows businesses to be discovered on Google’s search results. Find out how easy it is to set up a Google Business Profile to improve your site’s rankings today. : Bing’s answer to Google Business; Bing Places for Business is also a free online business directory where businesses can pay to improve search rankings. Facebook: Facebook allows users to create a Facebook business page to gain and engage with followers, advertise, boost posts, generate reviews, and more. *HomeAdvisor and Handy are part of Angi’s parent company, Angi Inc (formerly ANGI Homeservices). While you don’t necessarily need to create a profile on every relevant business directory, it is advisable to list on multiple platforms. This gives your business more visibility online, enabling you to be more easily discovered by consumers, no matter which platform they use. For more insights, learn what local SEO citations are and how to build them. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) How do you use Angi for business? To get started on Angi (formerly Angie's List) for your business, visit and create your free business listing by clicking “Join Our Pro Network” in the upper right-hand corner. On the following page, click “List my business” and follow the prompts. For more help, check out our step-by-step instructions on how to join Angie’s List. Does it cost to use Angi (formerly Angie’s List)? Angi employs a freemium business model (one with both a limited free and an upgraded premium version) where both consumers and businesses pay. While both consumers and contractors can use the platform for free, Angi makes money from advertising placed by member contractors, and from annual paid memberships that give consumers perks like member-only discounts. Which is better for local businesses, Angi or Yelp? and are both online business directories that help people discover local businesses. However, each serves a slightly different audience and use case. Yelp is largely for finding local businesses like restaurants, bars, event venues, and salons, whereas Angi is specifically geared toward home services such as electricians, landscapers, or pool installation. Learn more about Yelp for business. Bottom Line Angi (formerly Angie’s List) can be an effective marketing tool for home service providers—particularly those with new businesses looking for effective local advertising ideas, those seeking to enter new markets, or those struggling to get online visibility in Google search. Angi does the heavy lifting for your business, working as a de facto sales representative to attract qualified leads and send them your way so you can turn them into customers and grow your business. Whether you’re marketing your business on Angi, Google, Yelp, or another directory, positive reviews are a must for establishing trust with prospects and giving them a reason to choose your business over your competitors. Fast-track reviews of your business using —try it free for 14 days.
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January 6, 2023

How to Write a Press Release in 7 Steps (+ Free Template)

Learning how to write a press release that gets media coverage is simple. First, start with a newsworthy angle that will capture journalists’ attention. Then, format your announcement and add elements like your logo, place, date stamp, and release date. Next, craft a compelling headline, write the body of your press release, add a boilerplate, and then distribute it to journalists and media outlets for maximum reach. Download our free press release template and use it as you walk through how to write a press release step by step, including tips to help your story get noticed. When you’re ready to send your announcement out to the press and public, turn to a top service like . They offer multi-layer, targeted distribution to ensure your story reaches the journalists and audience most likely to find it news and coverage-worthy. Using the template above, follow these seven easy steps to learn how to write a press release: 1. Find the Most Newsworthy Angle for Your Story The first step for how to write a press release is to find the most newsworthy angle of your story. To develop a compelling angle, identify the details of your story that will have the most impact or benefit to your target audience—in short, the parts of your announcement likely to be the most relevant or interesting to them. For example, say you were a retail business launching a new collection of sustainable clothing in your community. You might angle your story on consumers’ growing demand for sustainable fashion and why every community needs more sustainable options. From there, you can discuss how your brand’s new collection solves that problem. For journalists to cover your news, it needs to be meaningful to their audience. Therefore, your story should not only address the audience’s interests and concerns, but must also be timely, impactful, and valuable or helpful to the journalist’s readers. All these should be kept in mind when looking for the best angle for your press release. Wondering if your story or announcement is newsworthy? Take a look at the different types of press releases to find out which best suits your announcement. 2. Format Your Press Release The process of how to write a press release can be simplified by putting your document into the proper press release format with a header, body, and boilerplate. If you downloaded the free template above, the basic formatting is already applied for you. In addition to formatting the layout, you’ll want to use specific font styles for different sections based on press release best practices: Choose a font: Use a single font for the entire document, such as Arial or Times New Roman Header, body, and boilerplate: While your press release's main headline and subheadline will have unique styling, everything else in the header area should be in 12 point (12pt) font size, normal weight Main headline: 14pt bold, centered Subheadline: 13pt italics, centered Within the header or boilerplate sections, you may also want to put things in bold font. Examples of this could be your release date, the date and city that start your lead paragraph, or to call out a media-specific contact person in the boilerplate. 3. Add Your Contact Info, Logo & Release Date to the Header To format the header section, place your logo centered at the top, followed by your release date and your contact information. The contact information in the header may or may not be the same as the media-specific contact you choose to include in the boilerplate. But either way, it should be a person who can answer general questions about the content of your story. Here’s what to include in the header section: Your logo: Place your logo at the top and center of your document above your release date and contact information. If your press release is meant for digital audiences only, add a logo of 200×200 pixels in this space. If it's meant for print, include an image of your logo in your document as an attachment. Intended release date: Add the date you want your press release to be published at the top left-hand side of your press release. It should either say “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” in all capital letters or “Embargoed for release until [date].” Embargoed releases tell journalists you don’t want your news announcement published until the specified date. Your contact information: Include the full name and title (first line), email address (second line), and phone number (third line) of the person within your company that journalists should contact if they have questions. 4. Write a Headline & Subheadline Part of what makes a good press release is a relevant and attention-grabbing headline. The main headline is the first thing journalists will see and could be the only thing they read when considering whether or not to cover your news. For this reason, writing an attention-getting headline is critical. When creating a headline, tell readers in a few words why your story is relevant, timely, noteworthy, innovative, and beneficial to your intended audience. Use language that elicits an emotion or intrigue. Finally, as a general rule of thumb, keep your header within 60 to 70 characters or less. In addition to your headline, you can also include a subheadline of up to 120 characters. Though optional, it does provide another opportunity to highlight your angle, identify your audience, or give additional context to the headline to intrigue journalists and readers. Another aspect of how to write a press release headline that gets attention is including search-friendly keywords. These might include references to your industry, location, or other aspects and subjects of your story that someone might search for online. Need help writing an eye-catching headline? Try using a free headline analyzer tool like Sharethrough to score the quality of your headline and get insights for ways to make it stronger. 5. Craft a Compelling Message Next, write the body of your story in 500 words (or less) to support your angle and headline and convince journalists to cover your story. To do this, state your newsworthy angle and why it’s relevant in the lead paragraph. Journalists are busy and read through hundreds of press releases every day—the first few lines of your press release can determine whether or not your story gets press coverage, so be sure that it captures attention. In the continuing paragraphs, develop the newsworthy points objectively, as if you are writing a news story. Discuss the details of your story in more detail, and include quotes from one or two key personalities to offer a well-rounded piece with different perspectives. Add hyperlinks, images, and data to back up your points and to make your announcement more interesting or insightful. For inspiration on how to write a press release for everything from awards announcements to crisis management, read through our list of press release examples. It includes 20 different examples and explains what makes each work effectively to interest the media and its intended audience. Alternatively, avoid making common press release mistakes by hiring professionals to write your story for you via . In addition to mass and targeted distribution, they offer affordable writing services by public relations experts—all backed by a money-back guarantee. 6. Add Your Boilerplate Once you’ve written the body of your announcement, the next step is to add a boilerplate. Think of this as an “about us” section. It should include a short description of what your business does, a brief overview of your mission statement, and any tidbits that make you stand out, including your awards and time in the industry. If you have mentioned more than one company in your body copy (for a merger announcement, for example), write two boilerplates and dedicate one to each. For a step-by-step guide and examples, read our guide on how to write a press release boilerplate. 7. Distribute Your Press Release Finally, you need to distribute your announcement to journalists and media outlets to get picked up by the press. If you have a media contact list, you can send press releases manually to journalists via email. For more guidance, read our article detailing how to send a press release effectively. However, as many small businesses don’t have a press list of journalists, most opt to use a press release distribution service. This saves a great deal of time compared to manual outreach efforts, and helps ensure your story gets media placements. Plus, most services email announcements directly to editors and journalists as well. Here are the top press release distribution services for small businesses: : Best for combined press release writing services and the widest distribution : Best for reaching both a mass and targeted audience : Most affordable for mass media placements Next Steps: What to Do After Writing a Press Release Once you’ve published your story, be sure to follow up to ensure you get the most out of it. This includes tracking where your announcement is published, promoting your news across digital channels, tracking press release performance, and cultivating relationships with journalists who provided additional coverage of your story. Follow these post-distribution tips to maximize your press release’s effectiveness: Track where your press release is published: Once your press release is published, keep track of which media outlets pick it up—this information could be useful for future press releases. Most press release distribution services provide distribution reports, and many even show how many times your story was viewed, links were clicked, or other engagements. For manual distribution, you can use listening tools like to track when your brand is mentioned online, and where. Promote your published press release: To boost your brand’s credibility and visibility, share your published press release on your website and social media accounts. When sharing on social media, use relevant hashtags and audience targeting. You can also go the extra mile and mention the journalist who wrote the piece in your caption. Track your press release performance: Keep track of your press release’s performance analytics, such as your views, engagement, traffic sources, search visibility, audience locations, click-through traffic, and social media shares. If you use a distribution service, these analytics will also come with your report. Use this data to better target your future press release distribution strategies. Foster relationships with journalists who’ve shown interest: Continuing relationships with journalists who covered your news creates a win-win situation. They can turn to you as a trusted source for future stories, and you get more coverage for your business. At a minimum, send a thank-you note and engage with them online by reading their work, sharing their stories on social media, commenting on their social posts for more reach, and reaching out to them when you have another announcement to share. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) What is the format for a press release? Regardless of the type of press release being written, the format will be fairly consistent. It should have a header with a release date and contact information followed by a headline in 14pt bold. Below that should be a subheading in 13pt italics, followed by a lead paragraph, supporting paragraphs, and a press release boilerplate. Learn more about all that a proper press release format should include and get a free template for writing your story. Where can I get help writing my press release? If you don’t have the time or know-how to write a press release, there are several places you can turn to for help. tops our list of the best press release writing services for those wanting public relations experts in a bundled plan for writing and distribution. Small businesses on a budget can turn to to get individual press release writing services for as little as $5 to $10, or bundled writing and distribution services for around $50. How long should my press release be? As a general rule of thumb, the average press release should be around 500 words or less and no more than one page in length. If you do need more space to tell your story, write a summary press release that links to a longer version of your announcement on your website, along with supporting media assets like images, charts, videos, and so on. Bottom Line A press release is an objective, formal announcement of something newsworthy about your business. Learning how to write a press release can be challenging. But mastering the correct format, highlighting a newsworthy angle, generating interest in your brand, and getting your press release into the hands of interested journalists can be well worth it. Once you’ve written your press release, help ensure your efforts are rewarded by using a press release distribution service to get your press release out to thousands of journalists and outlets. For an easy and reliable service at an affordable price, choose .

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