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Today Wix launched it’s own search bar app for BETA testing. As a Wix Partner, we are in the BETA testing programme so we get to try out the new apps before they are released to the general public. After adding it to our own website, so far we have to say we are impressed (if you want to test it, check it out on our footer). It automatically adds a search bar to your header and then sets up a search results page, both of which can easily be customised, which our creative team likes as it means you can make it match your site’s site. We like the way the results are divided up into categories: All, Pages and Products as it makes it super user friendly and quick to find exactly what you are looking for, plus it searches your product/shop pages as well which is a huge plus as not all search apps currently do that. Wix informs us that the search results/suggestions will soon be displayed in a dropdown format - particularly useful for mobile sites. Analytics will also be available for the searches made on your site as well. There are bound to be a lot more tweaks and upgrades to it before it is launched, but keep an eye out for it in the coming months as we think it will be a useful addition to your Wix sites.

There is much discussion amongst our creative community over working for free. Some (perhaps most) are strongly against it and others see it as ok for a short while, perhaps while starting out to boost their portfolios and gain valuable experience. My view on this is that by working for free you are in fact devaluing your work and your own creativity. Just to be clear we never work for free at TP digital. If someone comes to us wanting a web design or any website assistance we charge for our time, creativity and expertise. This applies whether they are an influencer/blogger/YouTuber offering free exposure for a free site, or a charity or startup business asking for a free site because of limited/no funds - the answer is NO. After all, you wouldn’t go into Starbucks to order a coffee and then say you want to try it first before you buy it. So why should anyone ask an artist, photographer, creative or web designer to design them something for free so they can try it out first? Basic one-page website designs take a least one full day’s work (10 hours), and that’s not including any testing or client revisions, which is additional work. So asking someone to work a full day for free and use their creative and expertise to create something for you to use commercially to make money from is not just disrespectful of their creativity and expertise but also you are profiting from their goodwill. Please remember this when ask for something for free from a creatives, and to the creatives out there please stand up for yourselves and value your hard work and creativity by charging for your work even when you start out.

Gone are the days of waiting what seems like forever for your Wix site to load and wondering what you can do to speed it up. Today, Wix launched Wix Turbo - the answer to all your website loading speed prayers. In a world where we can get nearly anything instantly, no one wants to wait a couple of minutes for a website to load, we leave the site and look elsewhere. We all expect online data to load straight away whether we are on a desktop device, tablet or mobile phones. Website visitors expect speedy site loading times and if not they take their business else to your competitor. But fear no longer, Wix has "implemented breakthrough technology to drastically improve the performance of all of our websites." With Wix Turbo your site will load faster than ever! Wix says they have developed the following : "A unique set of technology for your website’s performance Our teams have worked on developing the finest technological solutions to ensure optimal performance for every website built on Wix: Faster interactions: With the integration of smart caching and efficient JavaScript execution, your site’s visitors will see images, videos and content appearing faster than ever on their screens. They can interact much sooner with your pages’ elements and therefore, are offered a smoother browsing experience. Faster layouts: You have invested a lot of time and energy into the creation of your website. You deserve to have your work appear just as you intended it to be. By utilizing the latest standards in CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) functionality, your website is revealed in crisp quality and pixel-perfect definition - all while maintaining a super fast loading time. Expect this level of result regardless of the device or browser of your visitors. Faster infrastructure: Wix now has four times as many data centers around the world. Wherever your visitors hail from (be it Cape Town, Nepal or Alaska), your website will automatically load from the closest server, for optimal performance. A major contribution to your online success As your website loads faster than ever before, you will be able to hook visitors from the moment they click on your link. Why? Picture this: With the data appearing faster, they will spend less time waiting in front of their screens, and more time scrolling through and enjoying your content. The possibilities of what can happen in those gained moments are significant. A speedier loading time means that your strategic elements (such as your calls-to-action, forms, etc.) are exposed more immediately to your visitors, resulting in higher engagement. Now that your website is shifting into turbo, you can expect to receive more clicks, more orders, and more subscribers - in short: more business for you and your brand." So just how fast does your Wix website load? Try it here to find out: Wix Turbo has the following features: 1. FASTER LAYOUTS - Advanced CSS - Wix uses the latest CSS functionality, so your site looks sharp and displays pixel-perfect. 2. FASTER LOADING - Smart Caching and JavaScript - Your site visitors will see images and videos faster than ever. Now your Wix site is optimized for the fastest JavaScript execution time. 3. FASTER INFRASTRUCTURE - Global CDN Coverage - Wix now has 4x as many data centers worldwide, so no matter where your visitors are, they’ll see your site even faster. Wix Turbo also gives you advice on how to speed up your site loading time even more!

When you’re starting a new business, you may be put off building a website due to cost, lack of web design knowledge, time or even understanding exactly how a website will bring in new customers or increase sales.  Many businesses, especially those not selling physical goods in a shop setting, may think having a website is a bit of a luxury they can’t afford or necessarily need straight away. However, website design doesn’t have to be uber expensive, time consuming or tedious. With Wix, we can build you a beautiful, user friendly site that is SEO compatible in next to no time and also importantly for small business owners, the cost is not anywhere near as expensive as you would think. Plus, Wix has a super easy to use back-end system that means you and your team can quickly and easily manage your website content, post blogs, reply to customer enquiries and send newsletters without the need for any coding. But first we should explain just why having a website is one of the most fundamental things you need for your new business. A huge proportion of the world is online nowadays. As of June 2017, 51% of the world’s population has internet access - compare that with just 1% having internet access in 1995 (data from International Telecommunication Union and Internet Live Stats)! This is a figure that is surely only going to rise. Just stop and think how many potential customers that is who are looking for your business or brand and who can’t find it online if you don’t have a website. If you don’t have a website, you can bet your competitor does. And who would your potential customer find when searching for your business online? Answer: Your competitor. Not having a website and online presence for your business or brand is literally losing you money to your competitors. Still not totally convinced? Well did you know that a 2013 study from GE Capital’s Retail Bank found that 81% of consumers go online before shopping in store? People shop differently nowadays; they research a product, a supplier or a company online to find out as much as possible before they even get in touch with you or step foot inside your store. Think about how you shop and how you find suppliers, you do the same don’t you and research online first? That’s why it’s so important to have an online presence for your business or brand. You don’t have to be a big global business or brand to need an online presence. Even smaller local businesses should have an online business so people can easily contact them. Think about the last time you had lost a phone number for your local takeaway, you looked it up online didn’t you? While you were there you probably also checked out the menu and maybe even ordered it direct from the website without the need to step outside of your house. Having a website for your business allows you to answer these types of questions for your customer quickly and also gives them confidence in your brand. They are able to see your products and services, see your prices and even check out reviews all from your website. Not only will a website get you more customers, it will also save you time answering basic enquiries about your business. A website does not have to be mind-blowing and cutting edge, but a simple website that makes it easy for customers to research your products or services and answer any questions they may have is an absolute must-have! Your website is your online business card for your business or brand. It is something that should be taken seriously and should be top of your priorities when it comes to marketing your business or brand. A good website can be a huge asset to your business, it can literally make you money while you sleep, while a bad website can affect your business negatively and even lose you customers. The best way to ensure that your business or brand has the very best website design that is user friendly and promotes your business is to hire a professional website designer. They can advise you exactly what content you need on your site, what kind of designs would work best for your brand, set up your SEO for you, source images and even help you with copywriting. If you take your website seriously and see it as an asset to your business, you will quickly reap the rewards of being online!

So you’ve set up your own business and are in those first few weeks or months of trepidation, excitement, freedom and let’s face it stress. Well don’t worry, here we share some of our top tips to survive your first year in business and come out the other end sane and hopefully wiser and even more successful than before. 1. Become a more confident version of yourself When you are a small business owner and don’t have a business partner to support you, you are often the only one dealing with client acquisition, doing all the new business pitches and maintaining client relationships, as well as dealing with things when they go wrong or if you have a difficult client. So you will quickly need to become confident and stand up for yourself and your business (but not in a pushy way). This can be very difficult for those who are introverts or of a more quiet nature. The best advice I can give you is to put a character mode on, pretend you are the confident and successful business person you want to be. One of the best ways of doing this is finding an outfit that makes you feel super confident, dress for the person you want to be, you will be surprised just how great it makes you feel and how it gives you an extra boost of confidence for that first scary client meeting. 2. Trust your gut If a deal, client or project sounds too good to be true or too easy, unfortunately it most likely is exactly that. Always trust your gut instinct if something doesn’t feel right, don't do it or get involved, back out calmly and look for a client or work elsewhere. 3. Routine is key It can be hard at first to establish your own routine for your working day. Everyone works differently and of course it depends what you do and whether you need to be available for clients on different time zones. However, setting up a routine helps you become more motivated and keep track of what needs doing when and also allows you to feel like you accomplished something at the end of the day. Try out a few different routines, whether that's starting early and finishing earlier to pick up kids from school or perhaps you are a creative and work best late at night when it's quiet. The best routine is the one that works for you and remember you are your own boss now so you can set your own hours. Passion planner is a great way to structure your daily routine, focus on the goals for your business and for your own self development and a way to keep track of progress so you can maintain your motivation and accomplish your goals. 4. Exercise when you are stressed or need to make an important decision As Elle Woods once famously said "Exercise gives your endorphins.. endorphins make you happy", but exercise also gives you the chance for some much needed headspace and time to reflect. This "me time" is vital for any business owner, not just for your own sanity but also to make sure you process and make decisions correctly rather than just making snap decisions. 5. When making a big business decision, sleep on it Try and avoid making snap decisions or jumping into deals. Even though the initial excitement of setting up your business can make you feel you need to act fast to get the ball rolling, it is always wise to take your time over those big deals or investments to weigh up the pros and cons. If you can, sleep on it and always remember to trust your gut. 6.  Make some fellow small business owner friends so you can bounce ideas off each other and have some support when you are facing tricky situations. Running your own business can be extremely lonely especially if you are running it solo. Make sure you find some other fellow business owners that you can share your worries with, run ideas past and get advice from. There are often many small business groups or networking events in your local area and are worth checking out

Last month, Wix launched its latest new product - the Wix Logo Maker - aimed at allowing anyone to make a professional logo without the help of a designer. But just how good is it and how does it work? We tested it out for you and below you will find our unbiased opinions and recommendations. How does it work? 1. Go to Wix Logo Maker site: 2. Login to your Wix site then if required select “New logo” 3. Then you will be asked to enter the name of your business and a tagline (if you have one). 4. Next you pick adjectives that best describe your brand - you can select as many as are relevant. 5. Now vote on some logo options and whether you like or dislike the style and colour scheme. This allows Logo Maker to find your style. 6. Finally select your favourite version that have been created for you 7. Make any edits to colour scheme or fonts. 8. Download your free logo Our review: Positives: - Easy to use - Some level of adaptability with regards to fonts, colours and icons - High resolution file download option so you can use it for business cards and promotional marketing materials as well as your Wix website - Saves previous work in your account so you can easily return to a design or start a new one Negatives: - Not much option for customisation as can’t import images or graphics or upload your own fonts - Can’t add more than one icon/shape so not suitable for more complex designs - Not completely free (only the free sample is free). To download the high resolution files that you will require for promotional marketing materials, there is a fee of £34.74 to download the professional logo version and £9.03 for the basic logo version

If you’re looking for a quick way to build your Wix website, one route you can go down if you want to build it yourself is by choosing one of Wix’s ready made templates to customise yourself. Wix has many hundreds of different templates to choose from, with different styles, colour schemes and functionality, but how do you find the right one for your website? 1. Decide what you want your website to do Before you start looking at different templates, the most important thing is to decide what you want your website to do. Is it an information only type of website? Should it be a lead generation type of website where you want to collect information from people in the form of getting them to contact you through a contact form, subscription, or them filling out a database style form. Or are you looking to sell a product, take a booking, or have media files in forms of music or video on the site. Deciding it’s end purpose is important as it will tell you what you need to have on your site. This will then tell you what functionality you need and knowing the functionality and apps you will need, will help you decide on the design. 2. What kind of look or style are you wanting to achieve? Do you want bright colours and patterns or more of a minimalistic approach? There are hundreds of different types of template style - some are minimalist and monochrome, others use bright colours (sometimes even clashing colours), patterns, animation sequences, parallax scrolling and videos. Starting with a template in the similar style to the one you are looking to achieve for your brand can be helpful in getting you started. Also, don't forget you can use the Wix ADI feature to help build a site and you can even select colour schemes there also. 3. Don’t limit your template perusal to templates within your business sector, look outside the box If you’ve seen a template you like the look of and functionality of but it isn’t for your business sector, it doesn’t matter, it’s a template. That means you can customise it with your own branding and make it work for your business. 4. Make sure you check out the mobile version If your prospective customer base is one that will predominately access your site via a mobile, make sure you also check out the mobile versions of the site templates you are considering and that these would work well for your customer. The Wix mobile site is editable through the Wix Editor, but making sure you have a template you like the mobile design and layout will save you a lot of time.

Today, Wix launched Vector Art - a collection of over 3,000 illustrations that you can customise and use on your website for FREE! Cute motifs are a hot trend right now, not just in web design but also in the fashion world. Thanks to the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana, trainers, bags, scarfs, hats, and an array of clothes in the last year have been adorned with cute badges and embroidered motifs, from hearts and stars to tigers, cats, dogs and dragons. Thanks to Wix Vector Art, you can now create a similar effect on your website. Vector Art will look great as accent illustrations on your site, adorning banners, callouts, promotions, normal text, headers and footers. You could even use one of them to create your logo and animate it - the options are pretty much endless. You can even play with the settings of each vector art, adjusting the opacity and colour to suit your style and make it your own. The great thing about vectors is that they are perfectly scalable, which means that no matter how large or small you scale them to be, you won't lose the sharpness and image quality will be maintained.

So you’ve come up with a great idea for a new service or product and have plucked up the courage to start your own business. But now what do you do? Should you leave your paid job to throw all your energy and time into your new business, where do you get funding from and how do you get your first clients? Here we have outlined some of our key steps and tips to get you started, although not an exhaustive list by any means, we hope it will help you on your journey to thinking about how you will run your business, make your first sale and start to grow your business. 1. Step One: Get a mentor and do some research Starting a new business can be a scary and sometimes lonely place, but it doesn’t have to be. The first thing we suggest you do is find yourself a mentor - great if you can find someone in your field or area of business who has themselves started off from scratch and built a small or even large empire, if not, a willing friend or colleague with experience in your chosen field who is a good listener will be just as good to lend an ear and some advice during those tough times. They can even help inspire you, lend ideas and keep you motivated during the dark days. Next step now you have a mentor is to start doing some research about your product or service: find out what the market is like. Who will buy your service or product? Where do they live? How do they shop? Who are your competitors? What is different about your product to your competitors? How will you produce your product or service? 2. Step Two: What type of company do you want to form? And what are the legal and financial risks and obligations you will need to be responsible for? Finding an accountant. Research the different kinds of company setup and the pros and cons of each so you fully understand your financial reporting obligations, tax obligations and what kind of protection is available should anything go wrong. Make sure you check out companies house (or your country’s equivalent business registration authority) for information about business setup. In the UK you can also form and register your company using a company formation/registration agent such as UK plc . When meeting with banks about setting up a business bank account, shop around for deals and see what different banks offer small startup businesses. Also don’t forget to ask banks for advice about accountants and which ones they would recommend you use in your local area. A lot of accountants give a free initial consultation to small business owners, which is a great way of finding out all the information you need to know about tax obligations, VAT and much more - so make sure you go to that meeting armed with a notepad and pen and lots of questions! 3. Step Three: Starting your business. Setting up a website - should you do it yourself or hire a designer? Should you set up social media? Now you’ve registered your business, got your business bank account and an accountant on standby you are ready to start promoting your business and selling your products. But what do you do next? The first thing people look for when using a new company is their website and online presence. We recommend one of the very first things you do when starting your business is set up your website. You can either build your own website quickly using a wix template or if you are looking for a bespoke design or functionality, you can hire a wix website design agency such as ourselves. Wix Webmasters such as ourselves are trained and certified by Wix about all the design and functionality features of the wix platform and we have the know-how to make sure your website looks great and is super easy for your customers to use. Good design is good business. Next you need to set up some social media accounts so your potential customers can find you. We would recommend that you set up a facebook page for your business and a twitter account and then start promoting your business and its products through there. Don’t forget to share your facebook page and twitter handle with your friends and colleagues and ask them to share it with their friends. You will quickly see your social media presence start to grow and you may even get your first sale from a friend or a friend of a friend who followed you on social media. 4. Step Four: Getting your first clients: Where should you look for your first clients? How should you advertise your products? Your first clients often come from your family or friends, so don’t forget to tell them about your new business and your products. They will often be keen to help and support you and will also promote you to their network of contacts. You can find clients anywhere at any time, always carry some business cards on you just in case you bump into your new customer on a train or in a coffee shop and you overhear them talking about how they are looking for something related to your business. Politely introduce yourself and mention you have a new business that could be offering exactly what they are looking for and hand them a business card. Don't try and push a sale on them straight away instead use this opportunity as a way of starting a discussion. Your local area is a great place to start looking for new clients. Make up some leaflets and post some leaflets about your new business around your local neighbourhood. If you are selling a product, why not visit some of your local shops and see if they would be interested in stocking it for you. Advertising is a great form of marketing your business to people outside of your circle of friends and local area. There are many different types of advertising from online advertising, such as Google adWords which will drive traffic straight to your website, facebook and twitter advertising, as well as newspaper, radio or TV advertising. If you are looking to do a large-scale advertising campaign, we recommend you find a reputable advertising or marketing agency to manage this for you. Large scale advertising campaigns can be very expensive so make sure you employ a trusted ad agency keen to get you good results. 5. Step Five: Don't give up! If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Running a business can be tough, especially in the early stages when you are setting up your business, learning what services to offer, how to offer them, finding funding and sorting out your business accounts (not to mention working long hours for little or no pay). But if you have a good idea and believe the service or product you are offering is a useful one, chances are someone else out there will too and will want to pay for it. Every business owner makes mistakes, even Bill Gates, Donald Trump and Steve Jobs. It is through trial and error, and most importantly learning from our mistakes that we make our successes. The most important customer in a startup business is not the happy repeat customer, it is your unhappy one. Find out why they are unhappy with your service or product, listen to their feedback and if need be make changes to your service or product. Adapt and evolve your product and service to meet the needs of your customer, this is how you will become successful and gain many repeat customers.