livebooks blog

What started in the late 1990s as a personal platform to share interests to the online public, blogs have steadily developed as trustworthy sources of information and pillars of communities whose followers may not be living in the same geographic region as the blogger, but their bond to the content creator and the rest of the members is as sturdy as they get.

Blogs come in many shapes: from the classic textual weblog, to vlogs (video blogs) or podcasts. But what emerged as an online-diary created and updated by only one individual is now becoming more obviously a very useful tool for businesses. Not only do they guarantee a constant flow of content, they are also the perfect answer to the newly-emerged question: WHO are these companies?

Trust is earned through hard work and commitment, and businesses rely on blogs more these days to assure the general public that their heart is in the right place. So they share their actions, their thoughts, their vision with everyone who would lend an ear. Whether in marketing campaigns or simple year-round content creation, businesses now turn to blogs to build better bridges.

The results? A reliable online community, an increase in brand visibility and more happy clients. If you’re not still convinced your creative business needs a blog, give this piece a thought.

Before starting a blog, you will need to take some things into consideration:

• You will need to be consistent, make a schedule and stick to it.
• You must find the topics that best suit you and your business and create your posts around them.
• You should know who your target is and adjust your writing persona to them.
• You should use an online platform that is easy to update.

We’ve already covered the top three items in a previous article, so make sure you give that a read to familiarize yourself to the process of starting a blog. So what we’re left is choosing the best platform for your followers and ultimately for yourself.

Use your website as the platform for your blog

There’s a chance you already have a website to showcase your products or services. It’s also very likely you’ve covered all the SEO bases and the website is generating valuable reach each day. So why use another platform for your blog when you can incorporate it to your website under a separate page? Think of all the perks this merger brings.

SEO
Take the SEO you already have set up for your website and add to the reach well-placed keywords within your blog posts can bring! Furthermore, think of your visitors: now they won’t have to change tabs to read your blog, instead they’ll spend more time on your website, where they can easily find your contact info and thus, making it easier for them to get in touch with you.

One platform
Adding a blog to your website means you don’t need to familiarize yourself with the functionalities of a stand-alone blog platform. This affects how you see your future blog posts: the easier it is to post them, the more likely you are to keep posting.
Choose a responsive platform that allows you to easily edit and upload your posts on the go. Once the restrains of your work-space are cut off, the limit to your possibilities goes with it.

One login
We have created tons of users and passwords for our online presence. Too many to keep track of. So why create another if you can bypass this altogether? Having your blog on the same platform as your website means you login once and all your tools are there for you to use.

Regular updates
We know updating your website is more than often postponed. If you had your website and blog on the same platform, though, every time you logged in to post something, you’ll inevitably be reminded that you need to address your website, too. Chances are you’ll find a couple of minutes to make those changes and provide your visitors with new content.

liveBooks is the website builder that allows blog incorporation on the same platform. Your posts, as well as your portfolio, are easy to update and share.

Try our responsive platform today and start your 14-day FREE trial!

If you’re a wedding professional, then you already understand the importance of marketing yourself in a crowded industry. And one of the most effective marketing techniques to use to help you stand out is blogging.

Blogging has many benefits for wedding professionals, whether you’re a photographer, a florist, or a planner. It helps gain leads, boosts your website’s SEO, and positions you as a thought leader in your niche. And the best part is, you don’t need a special bag of tricks to create content. All you need is the wedding experience and knowledge you already have! With a few blogging techniques in the back of your pocket, your wedding blog game will be at the next level in no time.

Blog with your ideal client in mind

As a wedding professional, it’s safe to say that you are an expert when it comes to weddings. No matter which product or service you provide, whether it’s florals, cakes, video, photography, or something else, you may have plenty of experience in the wedding world. And luckily, blogging on your website is the perfect outlet for sharing that knowledge with your audience.

Think about who your ideal client is and what they may be searching for when planning their wedding. It’s most likely related to tips, inspiration, style guides, or current wedding trends. This is your opportunity to use your own knowledge and experience to create resourceful blog posts on topics that potential clients will be searching for.

Once they stumble upon your website, they will likely find your website resourceful, and will see you as a thought leader in your industry. You can write about your specific niche in the wedding industry as well as the industry as a whole, but either way, be sure to think like your client.

Hyperlink to industry resources

Whenever you’re writing helpful blog posts for your audience, like wedding day tips or inspiration, it benefits both the reader and your business to include links to outside sources.

Adding links to major wedding resources like WeddingWire give your posts more credibility as a trusted resource. Another important reason for hyperlinking to industry resources is that it helps search engines understand what your website is and why it should be categorized with other wedding websites. This helps boost your overall SEO in the long run which will ultimately lead to more clients being able to find your business.

Showcase your work

Once you’ve gotten visitors onto your site through inspiring and informative blog posts, now is the time to showcase your own products or services. It is your business, after all!

Your website is, first and foremost, a portfolio of your work and an overview of your business. That means you want to include plenty of samples of the work you have done to give potential clients an idea of your expertise.

Gather the photos from each wedding you’re a part of and choose the highlights (or the entire wedding) to include in a blog post. Post these highlights after each wedding to showcase your style and skills to potential clients who find your website.

Start Blogging on an Easy-to-Use Website Builder

liveBooks offers mobile-responsive, customizable website templates for creative professionals and businesses worldwide.

We’ve also got a top-notch support team who’s here to help you every step of the way. Start for free here.

The footer – the info that lies at the bottom of all website pages – always comes last, but that’s no reason to neglect it. Why? Well, for once, it’s the last thing your visitor or potential client sees after browsing any of your pages; and since you’ve made sure they’re welcome with a beautiful homepage, why not bid them farewell in the same way?

Most website owners tend to give the footer as little attention as possible, but for everyone else the footer is the gift shop at the end of the expo – an opportunity to browse and sink in what they’ve already seen, a chance to keep in touch with you.

The footer can serve as the home of many different tools, helpful not only for your clients, but for your business as well. We’ve put together a list of all the things you can use in your footer.

The guide

Take mobile browsers, for instance: on mobile, we tend to spend most of our time scrolling down until we reach the end of the page. Then what? Well, with a footer containing links to your most visited pages, the browsing could go on without having to scroll back to top and figuring out where to go next. Using the footer as a guide to your website will ensure your visitors spend more time on your website. This is especially useful when you have pages with lots of content.

The help

As much as the footer is beneficial to your visitors, it’s also a great help for you and your website when it comes down to SEO. The fact of the matter is that search engine crawlers that go through your website use the links provided by you in the footer to get a better read of what you consider to be important, ranking those pages higher. This doesn’t mean you should put links to all your pages in the footer, but make sure you don’t leave out the most important ones: your Contact and About pages, as well as your most visited page.

The proof

When dealing with clients it’s always a big plus of you can showcase your awards, certificates or badges to further grow your credibility. The footer is the best place for these seals of approval and can be the It-factor that helps your clients choose your service or products confidently.

The token

After your client has exhausted all your content, use the footer to lay down the bricks of future conversations: your social links or newsletter.

The brand

Of course your footer has to be in the same visual parameters as your brand, so go ahead and include your logo, your main copy, your campaign headline, or any other visual elements that are distinctive to your brand.

The fine print

Any site may come with its own technical and legal info. Use to footer to link to Privacy Policies, Terms & Conditions or Disclaimers.

General tips when building your footer:

• Space is important – footers sometimes tend to clutter, so do your best to avoid it. The more whitespace you have between your links, the easier they are to read and, most importantly, access. Never neglect the mobile users!
• Important links on top – you should try and keep your footer organized, starting with a hierarchy of the links you add.
• Make sure anyone can read it – this is especially important considering that most of the time, the font in the footer is smaller than that of the rest of the website. Make sure the font is still easy to read and that the contrast between the text and the background is easy on the eyes.

Sign up for a free trial today to see the many ways a footer can look and feel on all devices!

If you haven’t already, ensuring your website is easy and engaging to use on a wide variety of mobile devices should be one of your top priorities to do before the end of 2018. With over half of all internet searches and surveys showing that nearly 60% of users won’t recommend a business with a poorly-designed mobile site, any business that doesn’t have a mobile-friendly website will lose out in profits — big time.

What is mobile responsiveness?

Mobile responsive websites are ones that easily adapt to mobile devices (such as cell phones, tablets, and smaller mobile laptops). This means that they automatically detect which size screen the device has, and adjusts sizing of images, text, buttons, links, and more so that anyone on any device can have a great experience on the website.

How to Know If Your Website is Mobile Responsive

If you aren’t sure how to tell if your website is ready for all those mobile visitors, head on over to our other blog post to find out!

What if my website isn’t mobile responsive?

There are several key issues that would directly affect your business if your website isn’t already mobile-friendly.

1. Depletion of brand. Anyone who visits your website (whether they already know about your business or not) and doesn’t have a good experience while there on a mobile device will be a lot less likely to hire you, purchase from you, or refer you to others they know. This affects how they will see your brand from this point forward, and can have lingering long-term effects.
2. Poor customer retention. Many of the most successful businesses of any kind these days are utilizing their website to retain happy customers. If they can’t use your website to find information, get answers to questions, and more while on-the-go, they may switch to another company whose website is more mobile-friendly.
3. Loss of profits. Your bottom line depends on it! No matter where your website visitors come from (directly typing in the URL, linking to it from social media, or finding you in a Google search), if they are visiting on mobile and don’t purchase from you because of a negative experience, you lose money.

Design a Mobile Friendly Website Today!

liveBooks offers mobile-responsive, customizable website templates for creative professionals and businesses worldwide.

The best part? Our website designs are ready for search engines and look great on any mobile device!

We’ve also got a top-notch support team who’s here to help you every step of the way. Start for free here.