logomotiveengine

Publish by Page: Smarter & More Efficient Workflows

Wed, 09 Jun 2021 20:48:19 GMT

Update a Particular Page On Your Website & Take It Live Without Worrying About Other Content You're Still Working On.

Our Enterprise clients can now make quick updates to a particular page without interfering with the rest of their website with our new Publish Page capabilities. This new feature allows you to make quick and simple modifications without having to republish your entire website.

#Awesome! Tell Me More & How Do I Use It?

Previously, you were required to click the "Republish" button from within your webspace editor.

Now you can enjoy the luxury of making instant updates to particular pages one-at-a-time directly from the Pages Panel.

Confirmation that your individual pages have been published are noted with icons as depicted below.

When Does This Come In Handy?

Let's just say that you'd like to begin working on making changes to a particular portion of your website but something comes up that requires immediate publication on a specific page. Instead of having to either rush through the project to "Republish" your website, you can now, make the changes to that one specific page and publish it without delivering the project in queue until it's ready to be released.

Things to Keep in Mind.

Updates to the header or footer portions of your site will not be published unless you publish the entire site using the "Republish" button.
We recommend that you make a backup of your website before making significant changes.

Twelve Fresh, Pre-Styled Pop-Ups #Delivered!

Sat, 29 May 2021 00:18:10 GMT

Control the Conversation by Directing Site Visitors Where You Want Them w/ a Dozen New Pop-Ups Designed for Every Occasion.

Pop-ups are an exceptionally useful tool for driving conversions. Give visitors a taste of your message with a simple call-to-action and convert, convert, convert!

To help you out, we've just dropped twelve newly-designed pop-ups right into the Pop-Ups Menu on your webspace editor that simply requires changing text and images for your convenience.

Where Do I Find These New Pop-Up Designs? And How Do I Use Them?

Click on the "Popups" tab under the "Pages" button in your Navigation Bar on the left side of your screen. Then simply select "Add New Popup" and choose the action that best suits your need. Design and decorate as you would any other portion of your website.

Pop-Ups In Action!

Popups are great for just about any occasion including announcing promotions, stimulating newsletter sign-ups to grow your list, making scheduling easy, giving directions to your events and many other creative applications.

Take a look below at how Davis Pest Control Services benefits from the use of pop-ups on their homepage with quick "click-to-call" and "click-to-text" buttons. #Genius!

Next Level Popups!

Take your #Popups game to a new level by utilizing the Personalization features already built into your webspace editor. As you probably already know, you can display pop-ups with a link or button anywhere on your website, but did you know that you can custom-tailor pop-ups to display under certain conditions?

Under the "Personalize" tab on your navigation menu on the left, you can set parameters specific to certain conditions triggered by certain actions including the number of times a visitor has landed on your website, the time of day your visitor visits, display based on their geographic location and more.

If you're not using "Popups," there's no better time to get started!

Manage Form Submissions w/ Ease

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 13:30:02 GMT

You Were Looking for a Simplified Way to Manage Form Submissions, and Now You've Got It!

Gathering information with contact forms on your website is absolutely vital since these prospects want to do business, want added to your mailing list or simply want to talk. But up until now, updating the recipients of those forms has been a hassle--mostly when needing to update multiple forms on a single website. Luckily, we've been working on a solution, and now you have it!

Now you can update one email address within your Content Library, and all of your forms will automatically forward to that email address. That's it! To take advantage of this feature, simply leave the recipient email field blank on each form you add to your website, and the email address you specified in your Content Library will receive those submissions going forward.

Not only is this new feature a time-saver, but it will also ensure that you #DontMissASingleLead!

Unlimited Fonts = Unlimited Styles

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 14:00:02 GMT

Bring Your Own Style w/ New Custom & Google Fonts Support!

In a world where first impressions are vital, site typography plays a huge role in keeping your brand consistent across all mediums. At first glance, your site visitors can feel your mood based on the tone you set in your site, whether it be playful or serious or anything in between.

The Google Font selection and custom font upload processes are super easy and quick to implement. And the best part: Once a font has been added, it’s accessible in every text element on your site including the Global fonts settings.

New site owners now have access to thousands of fonts available through Google Fonts or upload your own licensed fonts to keep your style seamlessly kosher on both digital and print media. Our new Add & Manage Fonts feature allows you to add an unlimited number of fonts from the Google Fonts library. And if Google decides not to play nice and carry your font, it's not a problem. Upload your own! #Bazinga!

#AmazeBalls! Now How Do I Install New Fonts?

We hoped you'd ask! [Insert #It'sSoFluffyI'mGonnaDie Face Here].

To add new fonts, simply click on the "Manage Fonts" link in the font selector of any text block while you're jazzin' things up (see image above) or go to Design > Global Text and click the "A+" button from the vertical options bar on the left side of your editor (see image below). Then all you have to do is select your font or upload your custom, licensed files.

Typography Tips & Best Practices

Changing trends doesn't mean your website has to be outdated. Using typography is one way to stay modern and hip, but #AllInModerationGrasshopper.

Use two (maximum three) fonts on your site. Too many fonts can distract your visitors and often leads to unattractive presentations. It's best to use a single font for paragraphs and general texts; use no more than two fonts for titles and subtitles. To manage this easily, made font modifications within the global design settings to keep things consistent.
Choose easy-to-read fonts. Don't confuse your visitors with tough scripts that leave them wondering if they need to pay a visit to their eye doctor. Choose fonts that are properly-sized and can be read clearly from an average distance on both desktop and mobile and that contrast well with your backgrounds. Throw in those areas you want to stand out sparingly and in key locations on your site.
Sans serif fonts create a relaxed feel. Want a more serious approach? Choose serif fonts. Serif fonts are the ones that have "little feet" or "curly cues" attached to the ends of the letters and generate a more formal look. #Suit&TieAnyone? Sans serif fonts don’t have the extras on the ends of the letters offering up more contemporary styles.

Note: We’ve reduced the number of default fonts automatically uploaded into your site editor for faster load speeds. This feature is currently only available on new sites launched on or after Jan. 22, 2021. We are working on implementations for you #OldTimers. ;)

MEGA Mega Menus

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 16:35:35 GMT

Amazing Mega Menus Start Here!

The most comprehensive navigation widget designed to handle large-scale menus for sites with categories, catalogs and large page counts has just landed. Our Mega Menu Widget is packed with features allowing you to determine the amount of columns in your menu, segment multi-level dropdowns, style with headings, icons and images that will delight your site visitors.

Awesome! How Do I Use the New Mega Menu Widget?

Because of the complexity of this widget and the various styling options, we've put together a mini-series that will guide you every step of the way. Producing large-scale navigation menus is easy once you see how it all ties together.

There are a total of four videos in this mini-series (Chapter 6) appended to our training modules available on YouTube.

*Note: There is a separate Mega Menu Mobile Widget designed to style your mobile site which operates independently of the desktop version. Both must be modified if used in conjunction, although, we recommend using the Mega Menu Widget for the desktop view while sticking with the standard navigation widget for mobile sites.

More Animation Power!

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 00:53:26 GMT

#GoFabulous On Your Website With More Animations.

You wanted more animations, so we over-delivered! In addition to having more options, you can not set animation triggers to viewport and scroll for more customization power than ever before. Control the duration of the animation, the intensity and a few other options to make your site look as fabulous as you can imagine.

Tell 'em Where to Look #Maestro!

Animations were made to attract your site visitors' eyes exactly where you want them. Need more button clicks? Animate it! Want them to notice new products or services? Animate it! Want them to pay attention to a new gallery? Animate it.

Choose from Entrance or Scroll animation triggers accessible directly from the widget design editor for convenience. Entrance animations are triggered when the site loads; Scroll animations are triggered when the animated area enters the viewport--the visible part of the screen on a visitor's device.

Customization options include:

Duration: The length of the animation
Viewport top / bottom: Where the animation begins and ends
Intensity: The power of the animation
Delay: When the animation starts upon triggering

With these added controls and functionality, you now have more options to create the effects you want that suits your style.

Note: Animations must be set separately on desktop, mobile and tablet.

Use Cases & Best Practices

Use Animations Consistently: Be sure to choose the right animation for your theme and stay consistent across your site.
Set Animation According to Visible Content: For example, if you trigger text on scroll, be sure to leave enough viewport time for users to actually be able to read the animated text.
Use in Moderation: Animations were designed to help you get your message heard, but come on too strong, and your visitors will wander away from your site. To avoid overpowering your visitors, ensure that the experience you deliver feels natural & smooth without causing discomfort or significant delays for users.

Mobile Animations Have Arrived!

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 18:16:34 GMT

Get Their Attention with Dynamic Animations Now Available for Customization on Mobile and Tablet Versions of Your Website.

Draw your audience's attention and direct them where you want them to go with bouncing, fading and zooming available on images, buttons and complete columns.

Using Mobile Animations Is Easy

Getting started with mobile animations is so simple, you already know how to use them. In fact, our mobile entrance animations are simply an extension of the desktop entrance animations you love so much. To give you even more customization options, edits made to entrance animations on mobile operate independently of those on your desktop versions. So get going and start directing the eyes of your visitors where you want them to go during their mobile visits. #CueMaestro

Mobile Animations: Best Practices

Mobile Entrance Animations are the perfect way to draw additional attention to the areas that you want your visitors to take actions on. You can also get creative and animate a downward-facing arrow to get visitors to keep scrolling.

As we've already seen, adding mobile animations is easy, but you must be extra cautious to ensure you don't overdo it. Keep in mind that:

Mobile & desktop are unique cases. Mobile sites are often more playful, so the animation used should be a reflection of this: for instance, a fade-in animation on your desktop version may be better suited as a bounce-in on mobile.
Use animations moderately. Flooding your visitors' screens with too many animations can cause unintended distracts and confusion, so keep them to a minimum and get the most impact for your efforts.
Think in terms of site hierarchy. Animate those elements that are most important to draw your visitors to those areas quickly. Examples include animating a "Shop Now" button or Sliding in a "View More" link.
Style wisely. Not all animations are created equal. The "Bounce" animation is pretty bold and pronounced on entry while the "Fade" option is more subtle and easy on the eyes. Choose your animations accordingly to best fit your site's look and feel and your visitors' needs.

Product Gallery Upgrades

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 16:33:56 GMT

Now You Can Enter Custom Button & Label Text in Our Product Gallery Widget to Give Your Shoppers an Even Better Experience!

Add your very own custom "Buy Now" buttons and "On Sale" and "Sold Out" labels directly within our Product Gallery Widget. Go ahead and use these new capabilities to boost conversions and to match your store's overall look and feel.

Better User Experience = Increased Conversions!

More customization options means you can serve up a more personalized experience to your online shoppers. As of today, there are three key elements you can customize to our Product Gallery Widget allowing you to style your content to suit your audience.

Buy Now Button: Change the default "Buy Now" text to something more classy or hip and set the tone. Examples include "Purchase," "BUY," "Brew It," and "Get it."
On Sale Label: This label automatically appears anytime drop a price in your store. With this customization feature, you can display a message to your liking and even create a sense of urgency. Examples include "Reduced Price," "New Lower Price," "50% Off," "Last Chance," and "Get It Before It's Gone!" Keep in mind that this label will appear the same on all items in that particular Product Gallery Widget, so we recommend using a generic label.
Sold Old Label: Hey, you're sold out but saying "Sold Out" doesn't tickle your fancy. That's fine because now you can customize this label from the default "Sold Out" to anything you like like "Too Late," "All Gone," "Better Luck Next Time," and "More on the Way."

Oh, and the best news: On top of being able to modify the text on these individual elements, you can also modify the size, font, color and a few other options. #YourWelcome. :)

New Blog Feature: Scheduled Posting

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 11:39:44 GMT

Take Control of Your Blog While Juggling All of Your Hats w/ Scheduled Posting!

It's an exciting time for you bloggers as we roll out a new blog feature designed to help you take better control of your blog posting schedule by allowing you to schedule your posts for publication in advance.

This new features gives you more flexibility in time management by not requiring you to log into your editor to click publish. Using our blog scheduling feature also allows you to create a consistent drip posting schedule so that your readers know when to anticipate your new content. It also aids in collaboration between team members if you work with others on blog posts.

Sounds Great! How Do I Use It?

Because we love simplicity, all you have to do is click on "Schedule Post" next to the Publish button in the blog post manager and pick a date and time. That's it!

Revamped Text Editor Packed With Features

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 23:13:38 GMT

Meet Your Newly-Revamped Text Editor Packed With More Capabilities & Better Technology so That You Can Create Eye-Catching Designs With the Power of Typography.

Enjoy the freedom of designing text exactly as you want it with the new text editor. With great new capabilities like bigger fonts, letter spacing, custom line height and more, it's available in all text widgets (H1, H2, Paragraph).

Award-Worthy Typography Is Just a Few Edits Away!

Your newly-improved text editor has many new capabilities (and more to come), making it easy to add trendy, eye-catching text to your website. Some of the new capabilities include:

Custom line height: In addition to the defaults, you can now customize the line height to any size you want.
Multiple styles (headings & paragraphs) in a single element: Save time when adding text by setting both header and paragraph styles within the same text widget.
Letter spacing: Control the spacing between letters on text elements, for more design flexibility.
Text shadow: Add shadows to text, and customize the shadow color and position.
Strikethrough: Cross-out text to show that it's sold out, no longer relevant, deleted, or for effect.
Huge fonts: You can now enable font sizes of up to 500px .
Smoother copy-and-paste: When you copy-and-paste content from other workspaces, it automatically matches the site style, while keeping bold, italic and underline, so you spend less time fine-tuning and adjusting text.
More font weights that are part of the font selection

New Technology Generates Enhanced Stability & Performance

Besides what you see happening on-screen, there are also substantial upgrades made to the backend engines powering your new text editor. New text is automatically encoded with deep, functional semantic element improvements important to searchability within search engines. Text mark-up complies with HTML5 standards making your site's text human-friendly and bot-friendly across all devices. You can also expect a stability boost from the update.

Try out your new text editor and stay-tuned. There's more to come!

Control Your Image Slider Speed

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 20:05:43 GMT

Enhance Your Viewers' Experience by Controlling the Speed of Your Slides!

Image sliders are one of the top ways to capture the attention of your visitors. As soon as they visit your website, hit 'em with a great-looking image or graphic or a group of images by using a slider in a single section of your website.

Beginning today, you now have even more control by determining how long your slides stay in view on the screen. If you have text on your images, you'll want to delay the transitions, and if not, let them play through a little quicker. Oh, and because we've thought of everything, you can even allow slides to pause when your visitor hovers with their mouse ensuring the absolute best experience!

In case you didn't know you can also control the transition and animations on your image sliders.

Slides w/ Text

For best results, be sure to allow enough time for visitors to reach the text overlay on your images.

Simple Slides w/o Text

By shortening the time on basic slides, transitions happen more quickly and keep your visitors' interests for longer periods of time. And if the transitions happen too quickly, simply toggle the "Pause Slideshow on Hover" button, and let you visitor control the show.

Direct-Upload Videos Is Here!

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 18:43:05 GMT

Now You Can Add Them to Your Site Without the Need for a YouTube or Vimeo Channel.

Although we still recommend having a separate social presence on YouTube and/or Vimeo to boost your searchability, you can now upload your own videos directly to your website in pretty much any format you choose. Self-hosted videos allows you to bring all of the advantages of video to your website without the additional time requirements of uploading to a separate host.

Ease-of-Use

Taking advantage of direct video uploads is as easy as selecting the "Video" option from the appropriate panels including our Video Widget and on any row or column backgrounds you desire. Your videos will look great on all devices and can be customized by choosing to display controls, auto-play, loop and mute.

Built with SEO in Mind

Like everything we do, we've made sure your direct video uploads play nice with the rest of the Internet. Your videos will be optimized and served in MP4 format and will not slow down your site speed or degrade your Lighthouse score. Plus, videos used in row and column backgrounds render much better for your viewers than by using an external hosting source.

#BetterSiteSpeed #BetterQuality

Personalize & Save Your Color Palette!

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 18:00:03 GMT

Design More Quickly & Consistently by Simply Saving Your Colors.

Good designers value the color wheel and know using the same colors throughout a website is one of the best practices for the ultimate user experience. Our new "Saved Colors" panel allows you to save the colors you want to use for your website design including gradients.

Keep your company branding consistent with this new feature by extending your professionalism to the digital world. Our new "Saved Colors" option is available everywhere you find our Color Picker included in all widgets, fonts and design elements.

Improved Site Header Flexibility

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Thu, 07 May 2020 14:50:27 GMT

Shrinking Header Enhancements Include Color Changes on Scroll for Logos, Text, Buttons & Icons for Even More Design Possibilities.

Give your site a striking contrast as soon as your site visitors scroll with new shrinking header capabilities. You can now control the color of your logo, text, buttons, icons and more in your header which hovers over each of your pages' content when viewing the main portions of each page. These new features grant you greater design flexibility to create even more stunning websites than before.

What Is a Shrinking Header?

Shrinking headers are slightly narrower versions of your main site header that slims down in vertical dimension as visitors scroll through your desktop site. Their main function is to keep key information readily accessible to your site visitors while they navigate through your website making for a better user experience. Your business name and logo, critical calls-to-action, phone numbers, social icons and buttons are examples of what you may want to keep within easy reach, especially on websites that have long pages that require quite a bit of scrolling.

Overlap the First Row for a Trendy Design

With the release of our new Overlap First Row feature (located in the Header widget), you can give your hero images more visibility while creating a trendy look for your website with very little effort. It works especially well for businesses with large logos that take up more than one row while requiring less scrolling.

Previously, you had to utilize a workaround, but can now enjoy this capability with the click of a button. Plus, you can now create your design with a video background!

To use this new feature simply toggle the "Overlap First Row" switch to on (highlighted in the image below) and follow these guidelines:

Set your header background color to transparent or use a color with a decreased opacity.
Use top padding that is similar in height to your header for the first row.

What's New?

Before today, you could toggle your logo and the background color of your shrinking header on scroll. Now, you have complete control over

Text
Button Text
Button Background
Icons & Social Icons
Selected Page & Hover

Additionally, with the new "Overlap First Row" option, you can show-off your hero images without sacrificing easy-to-use navigation menus.

Use these new enhancements to create better contrast for your site visitors by highlighting icons, links, buttons and more when viewers scroll down your site.

Put Your Marketing on Auto-Pilot

Thu, 30 Apr 2020 17:19:35 GMT

Increase Sales & Customer Retention w/ Automated Store Emails

With the increase in online sales activity, it's more important now than ever to boost your brand loyalty. To help simplify the process, we've just launched your ability to automate emails based on key indicators so that you're in your customers' inboxes reminding them of why they love you in the first place. When paired with proper social media engagement, your customers will keep your brand top-of-mind when it comes to the products and services you offer. Increase engage with your customers along their buying journey by simply enabling automated store emails and fine-tuning them as you see fit.

Things You Can Do w/ Automated Emails

Be there at just the right moment alongside your customer's journey to enhance their shopping experience and your bottom line.

Cart Abandonment: If a visitor adds items to their shopping cart but leaves before completing the purchase, they will receive an automated email two (2) hours later reminding them to complete their purchase. To boost these metrics, simply add a coupon offering a freebie or a small discount to recover the otherwise lost sale.
Anniversary Reminder: Once enabled, your customers will receive an email letting them know that they made a purchase last year for a special event or occasion like a birthday or anniversary and may want to send something out to that special someone again. How grateful will your customers be when you help remind them that they need to send flowers to their significant others on their birthdays?
Feedback Request: Thank your customer once again for doing business with you and ask them if they wouldn't mind leaving positive feedback. It's also a great time to fix any mistakes that surfaced to delight your customer. These reviews can be by way of Facebook, Google, Yelp! or any other review engine that fits well within your niche.
"We Miss You" Emails: Customers who haven't visited your store but want to hear from you will receive an email giving them the opportunity to re-engage with you and make a new purchase.
Order Confirmations: These emails give your customers peace-of-mind knowing that you're handling their transaction swiftly and with care. Say, "Thank-you," and take advantage of another great opportunity to demonstrate related products that may be of interest to them leading to another sale at that very moment.

Improve your online sales and customer retention by enabling automatic emails in just a few clicks. The best part is that once enabled, your entire store email automation system is put on auto-pilot requiring no additional effort from you or your customers.

#Keep'EmComingBackForMore!

Benefits of Automated Emails

By simply taking 10-15 minutes to enable your preferences, automated emails will begin helping you boost customer engagement leading to increased sales with less effort and a perfect way to strengthen your marketing and sales funnel.

Increased Sales: Emails that arrive at just the right moment make you and your organization look like a hero by helping your customers complete tasks they either put off, got too busy to complete, were sidetracked or simply forgot about--like a birthday or anniversary. Customers love these reminders proven by higher open rates than traditional emails. Start the conversation and watch your sales grow. #BeAHero!
Effective Marketing: Business owners know that it is much less expensive to serve existing customers than it is to gain the attention of new ones. By simply targeting previous buyers, you'll make it much easier to retain and convert future sales strengthening your consumer habit loop.
Ease of Implementation: Once you've enabled automated emails, they require zero additional effort on your part--aside from fulfilling orders, of course. Customers will set them off by the ways in which they interact with your online shop.

Getting started is easy for you as well as we've already implemented these features in all Advanced and Unlimited subscriptions. The options will appear in your store panel under the Marketing tab where you can enable the right Automated Emails for you. (See image below.)

Sweeten the deal by adding coupons and other promotional offers, and be sure to include social media links to add a boost to your social engagement.

Note: Email automation features require an online eCommerce store hosted on our Advanced or Unlimited Plans.

Zoom Meeting Integration Is Here!

email@logomotiveengine.com (Jovani Gonzales) — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 14:41:24 GMT

Next Level Meetings Have Arrived!

With the recent need for online solutions as an alternative to meeting in person, many have turned to Zoom , one of the web's industry-leading video conferencing applications. Now, you can add a Zoom integration with a simple drag-and-drop onto your webpage!

More About Zoom

Zoom mobile apps are available on the Google Play and the Apple App stores. If you and your clients aren’t using it yet, it may be the right time to use your creativity and start operating via-video conferences to continue engagement. It works on desktop, Android and iOS, has built-in filters to make you look your best, lets you swap backgrounds to suit your taste, records your meetings for you, and even keeps track of attendance so you can make sure no one is left out of any promotions or offers to like to extend. You can even monetize password-protected online meetings with PayPal integrations making payment collection a breeze. Get creative and add Zoom to your arsenal and start communicating online giving your clients a more solid image of your company and your professional reputation.

Business Types Currently Using Zoom Meeting

Fitness Instructors including personal trainers, yoga teachers, martial artists, etc. who are all hosting online classes to keep their cashflow stream from exercise enthusiasts that can't afford to miss-a-beat.
Private Tutors supplementing public and private education.
Restaurants offering live-cooking classes and demonstrations while promoting online ordering and delivery options.
Therapists that have clients that simply cannot miss meetings so vital to their overall wellness.
Cosmetologists, Beauticians and Product Demonstrators who are used to face-to-face demonstrations now giving personalized tips to clients in groups or individually via-online conference.
Anyone who can offer online classes for one-time purchase or on recurring memberships.

Setting up meetings is easy and getting your own Zoom account only requires an email address. Get started today!

Enhance Your Forms w/ Images

Mon, 02 Mar 2020 16:20:50 GMT

Make Your Forms More Engaging w/ Photos!

Take advantage of another way to increase conversions by adding images to your contact forms. This new image feature can be added to the radio button and checkbox options directly within the contact form editor.

Get the Most Out of Your Forms by Following These Tips:

Using photos instead of plain text makes for an excellent way to solidify a transaction and reduce buyers-remorse at the moment of checkout. Food-related services like custom bakeries and room options at privately-owned hotels as well as clothing shops offering variations in color and/or designs are excellent candidates, but don't let us limit your imagination.

For best results:

Use images that look good together. Think #InstagramGrid.
Use high-quality images in the smallest size possible.
Pre-size your images on your phone or in our editor matching height and widths.
Use text as a label for clarify with your images.

WebP Image Auto-Conversions Are Here!

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 16:06:23 GMT

WebP Images For Faster Loading Speeds

To better enhance your site visitors' experience, Colorstorm Media is now serving up WebP images for all of the images on your website. Compressed images means faster loading times when your site is visited, which translates into an extra boost in site performance with absolutely no additional effort on your part--everything happens behind the scenes!

If you want to inspect the status of your images within a browser, navigate to the Network tab in your inspector and view your Images. As long as you've republished your site from this day forward, you'll see "webp" next to your image files.

What Makes WebP So Great?

WebP is an image format delivered by Google which provides lossless and lossy compression for images served on the web. The WebP format results in smaller images while maintaining rich detail. In fact, WebP lossless images are about 26% smaller than PNG image files and 25-35% smaller than JPEG image files.

Image Optimization On Overdrive!

Because we know it's important to have attractive web pages, we're constantly working to innovate and improve the delivery of our photo optimization services. In additional to converting image files to WebP formats, we're also making adjustments to the size of your images to better fit the containers you place them in on your website. All of this also takes place behind the scenes to enhance your site load speed and rank via-Lighthouse.

What Do I Need to Do? #NextSteps

To take full advantage of this new feature launch, simply click the "Republish" button from within your backend editor, and within seconds, you're good to go. That's it! Upon visiting your website in the future, site visitors will be served-up WebP images with quicker response times.

Things to Keep in Mind:

The reformatting process to WebP does not affect the image name of your files.
SVGs and GIFs will not be converted to WebP file formats.
At the time of this publication, Apple's Safari browser does not support WebP file formats meaning site visitors using Safari will continue to view the original file formats you've uploaded.

Transition Logo on Scroll

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 18:53:31 GMT

Eye-Catching Logo Transitions to Bring Out the Magician in You!

With our new Transition Logo on Scroll feature, you now have even more design flexibility in the header section of your website!

Enabling this new feature allows you to change the look and feel of your website as site visitors scroll by replacing the logo with another version of your logo. It's a super easy way to create an eye-catching visual effect as soon as your scrolls and you're using our Shrinking Header already built into your website editor.

How to Use This New Feature:

Click in the Header Section of your Website & Launch the Header Design Editor.
Enable the the Shrinking Header feature and the Change logo on scroll option (On mobile it's open by default so just scroll to the Change logo section)
Upload a version of your logo that works well on scroll such as one with contrasting colors, with transparency or that blends well with the design.

Subtle changes like these can make a big difference in how your website looks and is an easy way to refresh your website with little effort.

Stop Spam w/ Google reCAPTCHA!

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 06:05:52 GMT

Deploy Google's reCAPTCHA Algorithm & Make the Most of A.I. Technology.

We're excited to announce the implementation of Google's reCAPTCHA Technology built right into our form builder widget. The upgrade serves to help detect abusive traffic directed toward your website with little to no user friction. ReCAPTCHA Technology works by returning a score based on various algorithms weighing the interactions taking place on your website and provides increased flexibility to take appropriate actions.

Run That By Me Again...

ReCAPTCHA is a Google service that protects websites from spam and abuse by integrating an advanced risk analysis engine and adaptive challenges to keep automated software from engaging in abusive activities. The magic? It all happens while allowing valid site visitors to pass through with minimal effort.

Advantages of reCAPTCHA Integrations

Advanced Security: Enjoy state-of-the-art technology backed by a team determined to stay ahead of the curve when dealing with spam and abuse.
Easy to Use: ReCAPTCHA is cleverly-engineered to distinguish between true human interactions and even the sneakiest of bots while creating near effortless validations for your site visitors.
Improve the Web: Every interaction involved captures and makes positive use of human efforts to annotate images and aid in the development of artificial intelligence learning datasets that improve maps and solve complex machine intelligence challenges.

Sounds Great! How Do I Add reCAPTCHA to My Forms?

To employ this added layer of protection to your contact forms while providing a seamless experience to your site visitors, simply enable the "Add reCAPTCHA validation" button and select the most appropriate position on your form. (See illustration below.)

Enjoy the Benefits

Stop spammers from maliciously attacking your website by determining if a form submission is coming from a human or an automated bot.
Improve site visitor experienc e by quickly validating the reCAPTCHA behind the scenes if Google detects natural, human interactions.

Our integration allows you to choose how to display reCAPTCHA to your site visitors with a few styling options including an icon and text.

Learn More About reCAPTCHA Technology

Instagram Auto-Update!

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 06:29:33 GMT

Connect Your Instagram Account & Update Your Website With Every Snap!

Harness the power of Instagram with our new Instagram Integration available directly within the Photo Gallery Widget you already love. (See the image below for integration instructions.)

The biggest benefit is that you can expect an increase in site engagement by ensuring that you always have fresh content available on your website simply by updating your Instagram feed. It couldn't be simpler!

Instagram 2020 & Beyond...

Instagram is currently the world’s fastest growing social media platform sporting huge benefits for businesses, especially for those getting in early. Why Instagram? Isn't Facebook enough?

Instagram boasts 1 billion+ monthly active users making it the third most popular social network in the world behind YouTube and Facebook.
Instagram is gaining traction amongst the older audiences. The younger crowd got the ball rolling, but the fastest growing audience is 18+ making it imperative for businesses looking to market to the Millennial generation and their children.
Be where you customers are--8 out of 10 Instagram users follow a business. Social media makes it easy to take your message to where your customers and potential customers are--Instagram, along with Facebook, is where your audience is engaging and having conversations. You should be there, too.

To Chatterbot or Not to Chatterbot?

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 18:40:14 GMT

Your Customers Want to Chat. Don't Leave 'Em on RED!

To give our clients an edge in a highly-competitive digital world, the team at Colorstorm Media installed a few chat apps on select websites a few years back. What we learned was just how much clients love interacting by way of chat as it quickly became the lead performance communication channel on those websites! In our partnership with Facebook, we've launched Facebook's Messenger Chat application and are rollin' full-steam-ahead.

Use Live Chat to Boost Your Conversions

If you're looking to capitalize on more leads--who are we kidding? Everyone is after more leads which when done right, translates into more sales and a happier you--now is the time to embrace Live Chat integration into your website. Facebook Messenger Chat quickly became the preferred method of message communication during our testing phase, and we don't see any signs of it slowing down anytime soon.

Every online conversion, whether it be a sale, newsletter sign-up, account creation, or post like, consisted of a voyage for your visitor. Approximately one-in-four (or 25% for you analytic types) is lost along the way because of a complication: the voyage was too long or caused confusion, there was an error completing the process, visitors lost interest or stumbled and became frustrated, or creating an account took too long, causing them to throw in the proverbial towel. Chatbots can help with some of the challenges faced through the sales cycle, but visitors want the ability to communicate with a real life human where they can get guidance and have their questions answered. The best route is to be available for chat, answer a few questions, and convert your site visitors into your life-long customers.

Enhance Your Customer's Customer Service Experience

Live chat is the best way to enhance your customer service. In fact, we've learn that this one Facebook Messenger Chat feature allows clients and prospective clients the liberty of interacting with you on their terms and further reinforces your commitment to their doing business with you. To maximize your return on chat integrations, make sure you are attentive and respond in a reasonable amount of time--like immediately--to help visitors gain trust and confidence in doing business with you.

This All Sounds Great! Now How Do I Get Started?

Integration is easy and the learning curve is virtually non-existent as you likely already use Facebook Messenger in your personal life.

With Colorstorm Media's suite of products, you can now communicate directly with your clients and prospects ensuring they get the answers they’re looking for fast and with minimal interruption to you while you grow your business. Of course, our Facebook Messenger Chat application is just one of the many ways we help you increase your revenues. Get with us for a quick 10-minute demonstration at your convenience. We'll talk to you soon.

New Fonts Update!

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 06:00:00 GMT

Now You Have 14 More Ways to Style Your Website.

As if our font library wasn't broad enough, we've gone ahead and added a little over a dozen new fonts to help unleash the designer in you.

These new fonts include both serif and san serif fonts giving you more options for site titles and buttons and a few more serious fonts for those #AllWorkNoPlay moments and work best for paragraphs and bullets.

As always, our new fonts can be found within our Global Text Editor where you can update your entire website in one-click. Once you've found the right look for your website, simply click the "Republish" button, and your website will refresh in moments with your new updates.

Tips to Using Fonts Wisely

Unless you're an experienced designer, we recommend using no more than two or three fonts to style and design your website. Too many fonts can cause unintended distractions, lack of harmony on your website, and typically results in an unattractive presentation. Trust us, your site visitors will appreciate the consistency and order of your site content.
If you're going for a more serious look, choose serif fonts. Their little feet or "curly-cues" attached to the ends of each letter makes for a more traditional and formal presentation.
For those moments when you're feeling more #Chill, go with san serif fonts which create a more modern, laid-back feel. These types of fonts are typically easier to read and make the most impact on buttons, titles and short lines of text which can be bolded for an even more organized workflow like the "Tips to Using Fonts Wisely" above. (See what we did there?)
Note for beginners and the design-inept fellas: This is the time to use those eccentric fonts to draw attention to your text.
Above all else, make sure fonts are easy to read. A good guide for paragraphs is to go with a font size of 16px to 22px. Titles should range from 40px to 100px with the larger fonts found on the more important header tags.

Boost Your Social Status!

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 16:58:53 GMT

Make Your Social Posts More Attractive While Boosting SEO!

Our latest update now allows you to add unique images to be shared on social networks for each individual page on your website--by way of OpenGraph for you tech-savvy nerds.

When you add a specific URL or site page in the post field of your social networks like Facebook and Twitter, the link will appear with the images you place on each respective page.

Up until today, you could only add one generalized OpenGraph image site-wide. Now by clicking on the "gear icon" on each respective page and selecting "SEO," you can add a dedicated image to each page to reflect relevant content attracting more visitors and giving your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts a little boost!

The Title and Description reflected on most social channels along with the image you've chosen will automatically generate from the Title and Description of each respective page.

Examples of Ways to Integrate This New Feature:

Bakeries

Let's say you operate a bakery and want to incorporate a general images for your site but want to make individual pages stand out on your social channels. Upload an image of your bake shop as the general image used for the OpenGraph under the Site Settings and then upload individual images of Cupcakes, Wedding Cakes, Custom Cookies, and other specialty items under the SEO settings of each individual page, and you're good to go!

Realtors®

Upload a general site image of your office or other personalized image and then upload individual images of the homes for sale, rent, consignment, etc. on every listing page of your website. Then simply share the listing link on your social channels and watch it work like magic!

Let's Do the "Home Page Shuffle"

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 13:54:05 GMT

Now You Can Shuffle Your Home Page Around!

You've worked hard making changes to your website's main landing page and now you want to share it to the world. Whether it's because you are so busy you have to work on-and-off on your projects or because you're OCD and want to make sure everything is perfect before you "go live," you're not alone. Most designers opt to do this on a separate page and then have to copy-and-paste row-after-row from the "build page" to the home page.

Well, you're in luck. You can now shuffle your home page around!

That's right, with a simple click of a button you can now reset your home page to any other page on your website--all without losing your original home page so that you can re-instate your original home page at any time.

That's Great, but Why Would I Want to Do This?

The main advantage to converting another page on your website to the home page is to allow you to implement changes smoothly by working in parallel while your website is live. What does that mean exactly? Well, here are a few examples as to how this new amazing feature can make your life easier:

Under Construction

While you're making major adjustments to your website, you can easily build a quick "Under Construction" landing page and set is as the home page until you're ready to launch your new updates.

New Home Page

If you're working on a new look for your main landing page and don't want to have to do so in a hidden page that requires copying and moving rows to the main home page after you're finished, you can instead make your hidden page visible and launch it as the new home page. Then, at your discretion, you can remove the old home page and have your main landing page updated in just a couple of minutes.

Campaign Marketers

For serious marketers running numerous campaigns throughout the year, designing dedicated pages for those marketing campaigns is highly-important to you. With our "Set as Home Page" feature, now you can launch your marketing campaign as the main landing page and revert back to your "go-to" home page when finished--all in just a few clicks! #You'reWelcome! :)

Note: One thing to keep in mind when working with our new "Set as Home Page" feature is the redirect links back to your home page. If you have site links pointing to the original home page, those links will continue to re-direct back to the original home page and do not update automatically to your new home page--each of those links will have to be manually updated. To avoid encountering this dilemma, we suggest avoiding the creation of links and/or buttons that direct site visitors back to your home page. Instead, use your company's logo or branding icon as the only direct link back to your home page so as to only require one update throughout your entire site. The exception to this would be if you operate a website with very few pages making manual updates feasible.

Up Your Instagram Game "Insta"ntly!

Wed, 09 Oct 2019 17:56:44 GMT

The Ultimate Guide for Small Businesses Looking to Scale on Instagram

Owners and managers of small to medium-sized businesses are always looking for a way to stand out on social media, and Instagram is no exception. If you've been hiding under a rock for a last couple of years, don't worry, we've got your back! We've created a simple guide along with post ideas to ensure that your business account is engaging and reaching the right audience.

But First, Why Do You Even Need to Be on Instagram?

It's difficult to keep up with all of the various social media platforms that have gained traction in the last five years. If you're wondering if Instagram should be on your list, check out the stats below and convince yourself.

Instagram currently boasts 1 billion monthly active users!
70% of regular Instagram users look up brands on Instagram.
80% of regular Instagram users follow a business on the platform.

It's likely the audience you seek to serve is already connecting with friends and businesses in your neighborhood. Are you giving them the engagement they are looking for on the platforms they are using daily?

As Promised, the Set-Up Checklist

Before we get started, you'll need to make sure you have the Instagram app downloaded on your smartphone--the original app was designed to be used exclusively on smartphones but is expanding its reach as we speak.

Complete the sign-up process with a Business Account in order to track available metrics.
Be sure to add a Contact button so your fanbase call or request directions to your business directly through the Instagram app.
Showcase your best profile picture, write an action-oriented and compelling bio (#HashtagsWelcome), and include a link to your website.
Take advantage of Instagram’s built-in editing and filter features to make your photos stand out before you share them with the world.
Experiment with different post types and dates and times of day when you post to keep your feed varied and engaging.
Then go back to step #1 and track everything you possibly can.

I'm All Set. Now What???

So you've created an amazing profile for your business on Instagram but now don't know what to post to your feed. Don't feel bad, most business owners struggle with this area, too. Keep in mind that Instagram is a visual platform using photography to convey messages.

The obvious items to share include photos of the product and services you offer along with team members and/or employees in the very act.

All it takes is the camera on your smartphone and a little creativity. With a little practice, you'll learn to all about framing, lighting and camera angles. Do your best to create consistency in the images you share using the built-in editing tools to crop and edit your images.

Events, Giveaways and Specials are pretty point-blank as well, but be sure to sprinkle these types of posts in sparingly as your audience may be off-put by constantly being bombarded with promotions.

When you do run a promotional offer or giveaway, be sure to encourage your crowd to include their friends with the tagging features built right into Instagram.

Here’s a great example:

Video & Boomerang Content

When possible use video to engage with your audience, but keep them short and sweet--no one likes an Instagram-hog. ;)

And be sure to employ the Boomerang feature allowing you to take a burst of images and speed them up to create a video sequence that loops back-and-forth.

#SwitchItUp!

Go live on Instagram Stories to share in-the-moment content.

Instagram Stories works especially well when you have something to share with your followers but you don't want to dedicate it to a post. By adding to your story, your crowd can interact with it for 24 hours, after which it will automatically be dropped from your feed.

Testimonials!!!

If someone takes the time to say something nice about you, share it with the rest of your community. Take a positive quote, image or other testimonial and make it part of your feed so that other followers and potential customers can see how much you are loved!

User-Generated Content

Like that of testimonials, except your followers are creating posts on your behalf!

Instagramers often include tags and geo-tags on business pages they frequent. Keep an eye on these actions by checking your notifications often and then share these posts with your entire following. You can also click on the heart icon within your account to see who is actively promoting you through tags and mentions making it easy to find posts that you can re-share on your own Instagram account. Be sure to include a #ShoutOut or a #ThankYou when tagging your fans.

If you really want to streamline your workflow, download reposting apps like "Repost" (available for Android and iPhone) to make it easier to republish user-generated content.

How Often Should I Post on Instagram?

Another great question we hear often. Before we dive into that, though, it's worth mentioning that you should always strive to post content that is relevant to your audience and not random publications. Remember, your followers are following because they like you or what you serve and are yearning for originality.

Now back to the question about when you should post and how frequently you should do it. It is an answer often avoided because the algorithms for your particular industry may not parallel that of another. We suggest experimenting early on with different types of posts at various times of day and then measuring the metrics to see who engaged with you and at what times you reached maximum engagement. Tally your likes, comments, shares and any other data you can get your hands on and customize future publications within that scope.

Regarding frequency, try to hit your feed two to three times each week varying times until you have a schedule that works for you and your audience. Smartphone users look at their smartphones hundreds of times a day and surf Instagram on their way to work, after work and before bedtime and reach for them first thing in the morning, especially on the weekends.

As stated above, the more important thing is to post relevant content that is original to your business and enhances your followers' lives in some aspect keeping true to the "quality over quantity" saying. Promotional offers should make up no more than 15-20% of what you publish.

Love This Guide So Far, but How Do I Add Some Pizzazz to My Posts?

Great news! Instagram makes it easy to enhance your images before you post with built-in tools for adding text and filters which also help you keep an consistent look across your feed. To better create consistency, find a few key colors you'd like to emphasize, like those in your logo, to represent your brand with every post helping your followers to #FeelYourVibes.

Be sure to keep captions short and sweet and implement hashtags when and where appropriate.

For the absolute best way to manage your Instagram Business feed, reach out to the team at Colorstorm Media where we'll introduce you to Social Post--our own proprietary social media management platform that allows you to jazz up your posts and schedule them all from one convenient editor. For the ultimate in efficiency, you can also keep tabs on your metrics from within your dashboard, as well!

Engage With Your Community

Engaging with your Instagram community parallels that of posting in order of importance! You've done a great job getting likes, comments and mentions. Now let them know you appreciate them!

Use the mobile app to

Respond to comments and mentions
Reply to questions
Like, comment, and share other users’ posts

By simply interacting with your community, your brand will reach more Instagram users than simply posting alone. Essentially, you get to piggy-back on your influencers and create a chain-reaction since their friends likely have similar interests making you an ideal match. Once they land on your profile with lots of high-quality, engaging content, they'll join your club and put you on repeat.

"Insta" Like a Pro!

Once you have your business account set-up, Instagram is a great tool to use to build and maintain a following. By nature, we are highly-visual people, smart business owners will leverage that knowledge and maximize their returns with Instagram and other social media channels.

In summary,

Be sure to create and post highly-visual and engaging content.
Switch up your posting days and times to discover your peak periods for maximum impact.
Employ one filter, similar filters, or a consistent color scheme for brand recognition.
Utilize local, popular, and relevant hashtags.
Interact with other Instagram users to get more eyes on your profile and brand.

Buttons That Convert Float!

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 16:18:38 GMT

Conversions That Stick Start w/ Floating Buttons!

Showcase your most important click-thru actions with our new Floating Buttons feature built right into the Button Style Tab. This new feature allows you to ensure that your call-to-action is front-and-center at all times, even while your site visitors are surfing from page to page.

Use floating buttons to encourage site visitors to Contact You, Request a Quote, Register for an Upcoming Event, Subscribe to a Newsletter, Shop Your Online Store, Call You and pretty much anything else you can think up. These call-to-action triggers will remain in a fixed location visible on each page of your website regardless of where your visitors scroll.

Tips & Tricks to Keep In Mind When Getting Started:

Once a button is set to float, it will appear on every page of your website.
Want to position the button in a different place on desktop and mobile? No problem, simply customize the button float parameters per device.
When placing a floating button on your mobile view port, we suggest placing it in the bottom corner of the screen to make it more readily accessible to site visitors.
If you’d like to display an icon rather than text, choose the appropriate layout.

We've made it incredibly easy to keep your site visitors focused on your call-to-action--just another way Colorstorm Media is looking to help you engage with our site visitors.

Bonus: We’re working to expand our floating capabilities to other widgets and will let you know as soon as they’re ready!

Google MyBusiness + Social Post

Fri, 20 Sep 2019 18:05:19 GMT

Amp Up Your Social Game With Google MyBusiness!

Now you can post to Google My Business directly from Social Post and take advantage of all that Google has to offer with the new highly-effective GMB tool which is perfect for growing your business network. As an added bonus, regular postings to GMB allows physical locations to increase search visibility on Google and Google Maps!

Keep in mind that Google My Business operates under different rules that traditional social media networks in that any content you post expires after one week (7 days) and will no longer appear in Google’s search results, which is where Social Post is incredibly helpful. Since Social Post allows you to publish on a predetermined schedule, you can schedule your post in advance and always be relevant on all of the popular social networks. We recommend that you schedule ahead and repeat evergreen posts with our publishing features via-Social Post to stand out in Google Search and Maps.

If you're already using Social Post, we hope you like our latest update. Thanks again for your support. We would not be where we are today without you guys.

If you're interested in getting started, reach out to the team at Colorstorm Media today for a free trial and see how easy it is to #AmpUp Your Social Game! Harnessing the power of social media is but a conversation away.

#HappyPosting!

Social Media Icon Improvements

Wed, 14 Aug 2019 00:29:02 GMT

Jazz Up Your Website With New Social Media Icons!

Social media is the modern way to promote your business through various channels where your customers are and link them back to your digital home. Our Social Media Icons Widget allows you to link your current social media accounts quickly and now features WhatsApp, Google MyBusiness (GMB) and Waze in addition to the already popular Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube channels. Our latest release also got a bit of a face-lift with some design tweaks for channels like Instagram's gradient, YouTube's signature red and LinkedIn's latest font. If you haven't added our Social Media Icons Widget to your website, now is the time to start promoting your business's social channels and begin engaging with your customers!

What's Up w/ WhatsApp?

WhatsApp is one of the most popular mobile messaging apps with wi-fi phone call integration used throughout the world. With a simple click of a button, you can now add WhatsApp to your Social Media spread on your website and add yet another channel for communicating with your clients.

Google MyBusiness (GMB)

Add Google's incredibly powerful GMB social icon to your website. Why? Well, in case you didn't know, Google powers the most powerful search engine known to man followed by its just as impressive mapping software--Google Maps. By adding a GMB icon to your social bar, you'll help your business get discovered by shoppers in your area as well as boost your local SEO rankings.

Oh, Let Me Count the "Waze!"

Your customers are enjoying the newest community-based GPS mapping application known as Waze. Instead of using Google Maps traditional navigation interface, Waze offers a sleek and minimal look developed with more modern design languages. Add our new Waze social icon to your website and help customers that prefer Waze to Google Maps find your store more quickly.

Why Should I Add Social Media Icons to My Website?

For the same reasons that you run radio ads, newspaper ads, Facebook Ads, Google Ads and various other campaigns--to be where your customers are. Social media is today's and tomorrows channels for communication accessible nearly everywhere including on smartphone devices and wearables.

Make it as easy as possible to keep in touch with your clients and potential clients. Your website visitors are more likely to follow you on Facebook or Instagram than they are to sign up for your regular newsletter. By incorporating social media icons into your website design, your clients and future clients will have an added method for engagement with you and your products and services once they leave your website.
In today's world, social media gives your website visitors the feeling that your company is genuine and dynamic, especially if you post content regularly on various social media channels. While an "About Us" page may be useful to those that read it, social media channels allows followers to "grow up" with your story and all of the added value you bring to your local community. #TheStoryGoesOn
Consolidate all of your social media channels in one central location. The entire reason for having a website is to manage and maintain your digital space where you can aggregate all that you are and all that you offer. Imagine being able to allow your website visitors to select the medium of communication and engagement that best fits their personalities, preferences and conveniences.

Now that #YouKnowWhy, add our latest icons to your website and take customer engagement to a whole new level!

New Table Widget

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 13:45:16 GMT

A Great New Way to Display Your Information!

Our New Table Widget makes for a great new way to display information on your website in an orderly fashion. Sample uses include contact details for various parties, cooking ingredients for recipes, branch locations and events and tour dates.

Best of all showcasing information in an attractive and eye-catching format is super-easy and lots of fun. Simply place the table widget where you'd like to see it displayed and add your content manually or via CSV and customize the font style and colors for the header, even rows and odd rows.

Once you've styled-up your table, your site visitors will be able to view your information more effectively.

Our new table widget looks fantastic on mobile and is loaded with three mobile layout options:

Scroll is excellent for large tables with several columns and rows.
Squish is great for tables with just 2 or 3 columns.
Collapse is good for tables with relatively few rows.

Sample Table Designed for Product Descriptions

How to build this table in your website

Add a row with 2 columns.
In the left column, add a background image and set the position as desired--"cover" for this example.
In the right column, add 4 widgets: shape, title, text and table. Add your content to the table.
Set the header and row background color to black.
Set the header and row color to white.
Remove the border (set it to 0px) and set the alignment to left.

Sample Table Designed for Contact Details

How to build this table in your website

Add 2 rows. In the top row, add a background image and title widget.
In the second row, add a table widget. Add your content to the table.
Set the background color of the header to light blue and set the text to bold and black.
Set the even row background color to white and the odd row background color to grey. Set the text to black.
Set the border to gray and the alignment to left. Turn on the frame shadow.
For mobile, set the layout to Collapse.

Round Those Corners!

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 06:04:29 GMT

Rounded Corners for Columns and Inner Rows Has Arrived!

Rounding corners is an easy way to subtly adjust the design of your website giving it a fresh update with a modern appeal while making it easier for viewers to focus on the content.

Why would I want to do that?

Well for one because it's easier on the eyes, and two because it requires fewer cognitive processes. But don't believe us, have a look for yourself below and see which one you prefer.

I'm sold! How do I do it?

Simply select the "Style" tab from the fly-out panel and adjust the "Rounded Corners" slider to the desired setting.

That's all there is to it! Now round those corners to your heart's delight.

NEW Google Calendar Widget!

Mon, 03 Jun 2019 01:20:28 GMT

At-A-Glance Event Scheduling Made Easy!

Your loyal followers will always be up-to-date with our brand new Google Calendar Widget making it ever-easier to engage with your site visitors. Showcase upcoming events, workshops, seminars and anything else you can schedule on your public Google calendars complete with expected customization options. Best of all, your calendar will look great on mobile devices which is important for all of the obvious reasons.

At-A-Glance Calendars Are Perfect For:

Entertainment Venues: Concert venues, activity centers, sports teams, zoos, parades, art exhibits, and tourist attraction managers can update upcoming events quickly and easily while providing a simple and sleek presentation all on one page.
Schools & Educators: Provide easy access to all athletic events, debate forums, concerts and plays, PTA meetings, dances and prom announcements, etc. all on the front page of your website keeping students and parents in the loop simply by updating your Google Calendar!
Nonprofit & Fundraising Organizations: Deploy a simple calendar to promote all of your fundraisers, special events and community activities.
Gyms & Recreation Centers: Display upcoming schedules paired with a contact or sign-up form to increase engagement and class attendance.
Restaurants & Food Trucks: Post daily and weekly specials, holiday meals and let your most loyal followers know where you'll be at all times. Need a full-service online ordering solution to go with it? Give us a call. You're going to love what we have in store for you!

At-A-Glance Google Calendar Widget Customization Made Simple.

Simply sign-in to your Google email account to sync your Google Calendars. Any updates you make within your Google Calendar will display on your website. It really is that easy! #YourWelcome :)

Additional styling and customization is all possible through our traditional web editor where you can adjust the color, font and style for the month and days of the week. When your site visitors select a specific day, an event popup will display with that day's events.

*Be sure your calendar is set to "public" in order to use this widget. Need help with this? Click Here .

All Posts Blog Widget Gets An Update!

Mon, 03 Jun 2019 00:11:36 GMT

Increased Mobility & Flexibility for Better User Engagement.

With our much-improved All Posts widget, making blog posts more attractive and enticing is easy. The updates include new layouts and greater text and image control giving you better flexibility over how posts appear to your site visitors.

Image Customization Made Easy

Draw additional attention to your posts by customizing images by size specific to each device and with hover effects.

Text Style Control

With more control over the text in your posts, you can style each page exactly how you want it making it even easier to attract your site visitors’ attention. Now every text element is at your command including blog titles, post titles, post descriptions and the name of your author.

New & Improved Blog Post Layouts!

Our updated All Posts Widget now features four customizable layouts. Choose the number of posts you want to display to your site visitors and the number of descriptive lines you want with each post. You can even add rounded corners to each of your posts and give them textures by adding a drop shadow.

Blogging Tips

Take advantage of all your blog has to offer by

Keeping post titles similar in length since multiple posts may be shown in the same row at the same time depending on your settings.
Be sure to include great thumbnail images for each of your posts since these are the first images your site visitors will see when viewing the All Posts Widget on your page. (These images are managed under the Post Settings portion of your Blog Panel.)
Tag your posts--especially if you plan to have lots of them! Doing so enables you to sort various posts based on the tags you've specified. This is a great way to features the All Posts Widget on various pages or sections of the same page with different content.

Enjoy the New Updates & Start Boosting Blog Traffic & Visitor Engagement!

Before & After Widget

Thu, 25 Apr 2019 22:51:48 GMT

Now You Can Serve Up a Little Magic w/ Our Before-and-After Widget!

A new way to engage with your site visitors has arrived, and you're going to want to get started right away!

With our Before & After Widget, you can compare two images side-by-side in an interactive way that keeps people entertained and yearning to do business with you.

Set-up & Customization Is Super Simple.

First, upload your before and after images to the content image folder of your choice.

Next, add our Before & After widget to the desired page.

Then, add your images to the appropriate field on the flyout box within your editor.

Customize the labels, colors and fonts, and you're good to go!

Best of all, you'll look great on all devices.

A Creative Way to Showcase Your Work

We're excited to see how you put our Before-and-After Widget to work. We imagine some of you will show off home renovations, hairstyles, and progress on your workout goals because #HardWorkPaysOff, while others will highlight their photoshop editing capabilities. How will you use it?

Here are some examples:

Ideal for:

Handymen, Builders & Home Renovation Specialists
Beauty Salons & Stylists
Nutritionists & Personal Trainers
Landscapers & Gardeners
Photographers & Photo Editing Services
Pet Grooming Services
Orthodontists
Dermatologists
Carpet & Upholstery Cleaners

Ready, Set, Go!!!

Fri, 01 Mar 2019 05:49:30 GMT

Countdown to Your Next...

Looking for a great way to increase visitor engagement or build excitement around your next product launch or event? Check out our new Countdown Timer. Now you can get your site visitors' attention and stimulate a sense of urgency to close more deals fast with our nifty Countdown Timer!

Encourage Your Site Visitors to Take Action by Letting Them Know

About Sales and Promotional Offers That Are Scheduled to End Soon
When Your Next Pool Tournament, Swim Meet, Trivia Challenge and Other Events Are Scheduled to Start
How Much Longer They Have to Sign-Up for Your Next Giveaway
When They Can Expect to Sample Your Newly-Brewed Seasonal Beers, Book Appointments, Sample or Purchase New Product Arrivals or Begin Making Reservations
When a Sold-Out Product Will Restock or New Feature Will Launch and More

Add our Countdown time widget anywhere on your website such as over the main image, in a pop-up or on a banner. With our selection of layouts, you can decide how to best display time that has passed and set the message that displays when the countdown zeros-out.

Check Out Some Appealing & Functional Examples & Let Your Imagination Run Wild!

Place a Countdown Timer Widget in the hero image of your landing page. We recommend using a high-contrast background as the frame color to highlight the counter.

Display your Countdown on every page of your site by placing our Countdown Timer Widget in the header.

Use a Countdown Timer as the ultimate Call-to-Action stimulus to grow your newsletter, sell more tickets, and get more leads by generating a sense of urgency on accompanying forms.

Add a Countdown Timer to a popup and let them know that your SALE will be ending soon.

Counting Down Is Now As Easy As 3, 2, 1...

Instantly add excitement to your website by integrating our Countdown Timer the next time you plan to have a sale, release a new product or feature, or host a special event!

Enhance Your Customers' Shopping Experiences w/ Custom Filters

Mon, 25 Feb 2019 22:16:33 GMT

Make it easier for site visitors to find exactly what they’re looking for with NEW product filters!

Let your shoppers search for specific products by category, attributes and price. When it’s easier for your shoppers to find what they’re looking for, you can expect more sales!

This powerful new feature is available with our eCommerce2500-product stores. To get started or upgrade, Get in Touch with us right away.

Make More Sales When Your Shoppers Can Find What They Want.

Product filters make it easier for shoppers to find what they’re looking for quickly. They can filter according to price, inventory level, promotions, keywords, product options and attributes. This is especially useful with large inventories.

The best filters are those that are pre-configured and enabled according to the number of products you have, available product options and attributes, promotions, stock levels and more. You can add/remove filters manually to refine the experience you want for your shoppers.

Filters update automatically whenever you add, update or remove products, or when products get sold. This means your shoppers always see relevant filters when they visit your store.

Filtering Is Easy!

1. Go to MANAGE STORE

2. Click on SETTINGS > PRODUCT FILTERS

3. Click on ENABLE FILTERS

4. Select the filter criteria you want to present

There are so many ways to customize your online store and with filters now you can optimize sales and increase engagement. If you're not signed-up already or want to upgrade, Get in Touch with us, and we'll have you filtering options in no time!

New Shapes Widget Helps Add Style to Your Site!

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 18:34:51 GMT

Use Cool Customizable Shapes to Add Flair to Your Site

Our new Shape widget allows you to add 20 different types of shapes to your site which can be further tailored to your liking. Cool custom shapes make for eye-catching banners, tags, award notifications, buttons and more. You can control your shape's size, text, background color, add an image and finish styling with shadows.

Below are examples with step-by-step instructions of various ways you can use our Shape widget to create interest on your site and make information, promotions, images and calls-to-action "Pop!"

The Shape widget is another tool designed to make it easier and quicker to design uniqueness to your site.

Note: By turning off the "Keep proportion" toggle switch, you have even more shapes at your disposal by adjusting the width and height independently.

Highlight Information

1. Choose the round wavy shape and add a title and short description.

2. Select colors for your new shape and texts.

3. To position your new shape so it overlaps the top of a column, use a negative top margin (spacing > margin > -30px top margin).

Highlight a Popular Plan or Service

1. Choose the flag shape and add a title and/or short description.

2. Toggle off “Keep proportion” so you can adjust only the height or width.

3. Select colors for your new shape and texts.

4. To position the shape so it overlaps the top of a column, use a negative top margin (spacing > margin > -30px top margin).

Create a Trendy Visual Shape in Your Header

1. Create a row with two columns.

2. Choose an amorphic shape and add it to the right-side column.

3. Make the shape as big as the column.

4. In the design tab select the layout with the background image and change it to the one you.

Create a Special Button by Adding a Link & Hover Effect

1. Choose the circle shape and add a title and description.

2. Select colors for the shape and texts.

3. To position the shape on the corner of an image, use a negative margin on the left side of the shape (spacing > margin > -50px left & top margin).

Create a Section Divider Scroll Button

1. Choose the diamond shape and add a title.

2. Toggle off “Keep proportion” so you can adjust only the width.

3. Select colors for the shape and texts.

4. To position the shape on top of an image, use a negative top margin (spacing > margin > -50px top margin).

HTTPS Simplified

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 22:28:51 GMT

What's all the fuss with HTTPS?

What is SSL or Secure Sockets Layer? I've never heard of it.
An SSL certificate creates a secure connection between your site and your site visitors while they are on your website. Essentially, any information they provide such as credit card numbers, birthdates, social security numbers, addresses, usernames, passwords, etc. remain private when the information is relayed. It is a requirement for online shops but is now also mandatory to rank well on Google through Google's Chrome browser.

How can I tell if a website has an SSL certificate?
The easiest way to tell if you are on a website that is secure is by checking in your browser's address bar for a "lock icon." The domain name or URL may also be preceded by an "https://" denoting the same, depending on the browser you are using.

Do I need to have an SSL Certificate if I don't sell anything online?
Having an SSL certificate to ensure you website renders the secure version of your .com, .net, etc., is a good idea, even if you don't operate an online store. Data transferred in a non-encrypted format is vulnerable to interception, eavesdropping and theft. Cybercriminals who intercept unencrypted communications may gain access to this data and can use it for fraudulent purchases and activities and will wreck havoc on your organization in the media.

The are rumors that SSL Certificates boost my ranking in search. Is that true?
Google, through its Chrome browser, is now taking SSL certificates into consideration when visitors search giving an advantage to those websites that have an SSL Certificate in place. We anticipate SSL certificates will become the norm and for other search engines to follow Google in the decision to make the Internet a safer place.

How do I get an SSL Certificate?
If you have your website powered by Colorstorm Media , then you need not worry as we no longer launch a website without an SSL Certificate. The integration is our standard of operation and is included with our hosting services. If your website is provided by a different provider or you operate it yourself, get a FREE SSL Certificate by visiting https://www.instantssl.com/ssl-certificate.html where you you will also be given the option to upgrade depending on services that benefit you and your business or organization most.

Final Words about SSL Certificates
People more confidently provide personal details and information when they can trust your website is secure. Get with us if you want to learn more about SSL Certificates and website security practices to best protect your business or organization. Site visitors will thank you for ensuring their information remains secure!