Website design

We’ve been somewhat inspired by our latest recruit Claire to invest a little time in jazzing-up our photo albums lately, and thought that our birthday week would be a great time to introduce you to the latest site updates. As usual, the beneficiaries of all our hard work are those of you who really dig being able to make a website with as little effort as possible (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?). In order to take advantage of the latest addition to our free website builder tools, all you need to do is just apply the new slideshow display directly to your site from the manager.

Here’s what’s in store for those looking for a new way to display online photos.

I'm kinda old, so by now I've been on the internet for a while (yes, mother, believe it or not it was around before 2005). But even so, like most people, sometimes I still get a little lost in cyberspace. You probably do too – I mean, how many times have you wandered around a website only to find yourself at the end of a now-broken link, or made a typo when entering that page URL? If only I had a dollar for every time I'd come across the infamous 404 error page … It's almost unavoidable – no matter how conscientious you are when you make a website, or how fantastic and versatile your favorite free website maker is, inevitably someone, someday is going to try to access something on your website that just doesn't exist.

Thankfully, you don't have to let their experience be a painful one. It's easy to personalize your 404 error page using the free website builder tools included with your doomby website – just head to the page manager menu of your site manager, and away you go. And if you're looking for a way to turn simple navigational mistakes – or worse, broken links – into pleasant, positive experiences for your visitors, check out the following examples for a little creative inspiration.

One of the neat things about working behind the scenes at doomby is getting to chat with our members. Whilst it's always great to connect with someone new, it's also – dare I say it – fun to find out something new every day about what drives our webmasters, about how to make a website, or just to discover new website builder tools.

We often get asked for advice on how to edit a photo, make an online form or the best website to make a favicon. And not a day goes by that we don't give tips on how to find webmaster tools or other free webmaster resources.

Here are a some of our favorites:

One of the biggest hurdles facing e-business start-ups is ensuring the webmaster or online store owner remain motivated. It's not always easy to make an online store and to keep it running, or to stick with it long enough to ensure its financis. It takes time tal succeso build website traffic, and to transform that traffic into sales and a loyal customer base for a new e-commerce website. And it can be disheartening to have spent time and effort to make a website with an online store, only to be rewarded with an empty bank account and a trickle of visitors.

Though it's vital to stick to a plan and to do whatever it takes to remain motivated as your online store grows, there are a few essential things you can do to give it a really good start, and to ensure you develop a successful e-commerce business.

I have a confession to make. I've been stumbling around the doomby directory quite a lot over the last six months, and not everything I've seen has left me dumbfounded (with joy). My mother (like all mothers) probably thinks about me in pretty much the same way I think about the websites I've come across in that time. Whilst I'm proud as punch of every website I see – I'm truly, genuinely pleased to see people choosing to use our website builder tools to make a website – I'm not always overjoyed with the end result.

Of course, it's every webmaster's right to create a website exactly as they see fit, which is just as things should be. Part of what makes building a website such an enjoyable and enriching experience is the creative process itself, no matter what the end result looks like. Sometimes, though, it seems some people try a little too hard, or focus a little too much on their website design. When that happens, it can be all too easy to get caught up in the design process and lose sight of what one started out to do.

Partly inspired by the lasting image of last week's illustration (I swear that'll be engraved in my memory forever), and partly because my internet connection is going haywire, I thought I'd write a little about getting the most out of your online store. Specifically, how to ensure your e-commerce website attracts customers willing to stick around long enough to buy something. If you're making a business website, and your goal is to use it to sell stuff, then the last thing you want is for people to do a WIWO (walk-in, walk-out – and yes, I made that up) within the first few seconds of their arrival.

First impressions last, and getting your visitors to hand over their plastic means you really need to make sure you know how to make a website that inspires confidence – it's not enough just to have great stuff to sell.

No, a catchy title isn't the one I had in mind, but that was a pretty good one for starters, right? On the other hand, the picture on the right has a lot more in common with today's post than may first meet the eye ...

I've been doing a lot of surfing over the last week, going back to get a fresh perspective on some familiar things. Bossman (the elder) has been doing something similar, though his reflective retro trip has involved listening to such classic 80s musical greats as "Ghostbusters" and "Final Countdown" (not that I'm complaining – it makes me feel way younger than I have been of late).

One of the things I noticed during this week of “revisiting old things in a new way” was just how websites were marketed, and how I responded to that. So rather than talk about how to make a website this week, I thought I'd step back and talk about how to make a successful website, and what SEO has to do with making it a success.

I know, right? It's practically a miracle that, in spite of your overwhelming urge to create a website, you've been able to hold back this long. Yeah, OK, I first discussed waiting to choose colors before starting to make a website like … 3 weeks ago.

At least.

So if you just couldn't wait, that's understandable – maybe you applied one of our latest ready-made themes (there are now 66 to choose from, which is a lot for a free website builder). If not, then what follows is just for you ...