Do you have a hobby in making artistic craft items and do not want to rely on Etsy or eBay?
Maybe you just want to have a website for your business. Are you thinking that you want to market your own brand and create your own official business site?
If your answer is ‘Yes’ in all the questions above, then you’ve come to the right place. Below is the step-by-step instruction to create your own awesome website or blog for your business and make money from it. Start at a price you can afford.
It’s so simple and just take a few hours of your time.
STEP 1: Get a Domain Name
First you need to get a domain name for your contest. If you want to look professional, you need to have your own domain name for the contest or campaign. A contest or giveaway that is hosted on a unique domain will look more legitimate than the ones hosted on a free hosting or blog. If you already registered your name or do not want to be one your own domain name, you can skip to Step 2.
It is easy to get a domain name, just go to one of the domain registrars such as Namecheap and Godaddy. You can search for a domain name and if it’s available, buy it before somebody else grabs it.
A domain name is like the signboard outside of traditional shop. It should be a name people can remember easily. It may include your brand and the name of the contest.
Click here to search for a domain name.
STEP 2: Get a Website Hosting
You also need a website hosting for hosting the pages for your contest. This is like the space or shop unit that your rent to open the restaurant.
There are many kinds of web hosting space that you can rent depending on your needs and the scale of your website. Webhostingcomparison.org is a good place to learn about the various kinds of web host service available. If you are building your first website, we will assume you either want to use a simple site builder or to get a multi domain shared hosting to create a more robust website.
To decide on which web hosting to use, you will need to ask yourself, “what are my requirements?”.
| Choose a Site Builder if… | Choose a Multi Domain Shared Hosting if… |
|---|---|
|
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| Site Builder Hosting Suggestions | Multi-Domain Hosting Suggestions |
| Try site builders such as Weebly or Wix | We recommend you get a cPanel web hosting at Hostgator because we have been using them for over 8 years with no problem. They also have a very helpful support team.
Another option is to use the best beginner hosting bundle featured here and save 60%. |
STEP 3: Build and Customize Your Website
The next step is to build your website.
If you go with the multi domain hosting path above, the best platform to use to create your website is WordPress. With WordPress, you can easily install it using one-click installer like Fantastico and QuickInstall that can be found in your cPanel. WordPress also have huge selection of themes and plugins that you can choose from to minimize coding your site manually.
If you choose the multi domain hosting method instead of using Weebly or Wix, you have the flexibillity to customize your website.
There are many free themes for WordPress. If you want a stunning theme, you can go to Themeforest. Here are some of the gorgeous themes suitable for an e-commerce website:
- Mayashop – a fresh WordPress theme that utilises the powerful JigoShop and Woo Commerce plugins to create a versatile WordPress powered shop, with unlimited layout options and unlimited skins
- Bazar Shop – a fresh and creative theme that utilises the powerful Woo Commerce plugin to create a very versatile WordPress powered shop, with unlimited layout options and a lot of unbelievable features
- Stored – built to make use of the Cart66 ecommerce plugin, making your WordPress install an awesome looking store
Create the Pages for Your Site
Next, you want to create the pages for your contest or giveaway website. Some of the common pages you may want to add are:
- About the crafts, services or products
- About the discounts
- Terms and conditions
- How to order
- Contact page
STEP 4: Create A Contest to Quickly Market Your New Website
Now, when it comes to announce about your new website, the fastest solution is to use a contest app such as Gleam.io, Woobox or Rafflecopter. We prefer Gleam instead of the others because it has the most features and highly customizable.
To be honest, there are many things to consider when marketing your brand or website via contests or promos. There are many factors such as:
- Building email lists
- How to engage the userbase
- How to verify entries and frauds
- How to restrict by country
- How to integrate with social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram etc.
- Analytics
- Notifications
- Picking of winners
Good news! Gleam provides an easy way to create contests at no cost. The free plan actions include Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, Youtube, Instagram, Soundcloud, Vimeo, visiting a specific URL, questions and multiple choice polls, and bonus entries. They also allow a seamless experience across devices & platforms that not only looks great, but allows you to syndicate your contest in a way that fits the image of your brand perfectly.
Click here to sign up with Gleam.io for free
To create a contest you will first need to add a site at Gleam. Each site has access to individual instances of their apps, you can also use the left menu to switch between sites.
Multiple sites have the following advantages: You can keep your data separated, ensure your campaigns are branded from that site & also allows you to have site specific integrations.
How to create a new contest:
- Navigate to the site you want to use
- Click on the contests tab in the left navigation
- Click on the New Contest button on the top right
Inserting the Contest into Your Website
You can embed your contest inside any page that allows Javascript. This means you can install it on your own site or perhaps give to a web designer to include the code for you.
You can view more detailed instructions in the add to a page installation guide.
Promote Your Brand Today
Contests and giveaways are tried and true ways of building brand exposure and gaining precious eyeballs in today’s attention-scarce world. Do it right. Do it now. Be ahead of your “competition”!
Commit to promoting your Filipinos business – start by registering a domain for your craft business website today.
