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What size and type of pictures should I upload to websites?

Besides SEO, one of the most common topics designers ask the Rocketspark team about is picture files. Picture quality can really make or break a website, so I’ll explain how to avoid some of the most common mistakes when it comes to uploading picture files to display on websites. Before eventually moving into a design career following university, I spent 6 months in what felt like the wrong degree. The Bachelor of Computing and Mathematical Science is a 4-year computer science and maths degree...

The secrets of a successful shipping strategy—ecommerce shipping rates explained 🥴📦

Ecommerce shipping rates are one of the most confusing aspects of ecommerce for new merchants. Different courier providers structure their pricing in different ways. Bags, boxes, stickers, weight, size, free shipping, flat rate shipping, high dollar items, low-value items, extra-large or heavy items?  So how should I set up my shipping? This post showcases the most popular ecommerce shipping techniques used by some of the largest ecommerce retailers—and why they can still work for sma...

Why the best web designers take care of SEO as they design

As one of the co-founders of Rocketspark, I have seen many websites designed over the last 10 years. Some of those websites have been designed for a client where SEO (search engine optimisation) hasn’t been considered during the design phase of the project—the website might look stunning but when you search for a business like theirs in Google, their competitors show up and they don’t. SEO isn’t critical for every website but if potential customers are doing searches for services and...

Dropdown menus—help your website viewers find what they’re looking for

We are excited to announce the release of dropdown menus as a standard feature of Rocketspark on all plans. For over ten years we've been promoting the importance of clear, simple website visitor journeys—the kinds of experiences that don’t leave the visitor confused or overwhelmed. Used badly, dropdown menus can really go against the grain on that and lead to overwhelming rabbit warrens of a website structure and that’s why we’ve guided people towards alternatives. Over time, our vi...

A new look for a new decade

Designing the first Rocketspark logo from the bedroom of a Hamilton flat in 2008, I never could have imagined the adventure we would go on for the next decade.  What went from a bit of a DIY moonlighting project is now a business with thousands of clients in dozens of countries, employing nearly 20 staff. In December 2018, I sat down with our designer Natalie Trow and asked for her design vision for Rocketspark.  She listed a new website for Rocketspark, Full-width Stacks, Grid Gallery...

How to operate your business during Level 3 in New Zealand

Retail and hospitality businesses can now open for delivery and contactless pre-ordered pick up – customers cannot enter stores. If you’re a business owner, this is of course great news but understandably news that can be a little overwhelming to digest. With this in mind, we’ve put together a quick-start guide to help get you up and running online to meet the needs and wants of your customers during Level 3....

FiT Gym: Opening virtual doors to connect with our members in lockdown

There's no denying that gyms, fitness centres and dance studios have been amoungst the hardest hit in this pandemic.  Rather than give up, Kylie & Jamie, owners at FiT Gym continued to communicate and care for their members online with free classes on how to count calories and macros and even FiT Gym Pub Quiz nights! On March 23 2020 from their home garden, the owners made the announcement to their FiT family on their website, social media and with an email that they were closing their...

How to pivot your existing business during COVID-19—case study with Fiasco

As the effects COVID-19 started to be felt around the world, the event industry was hammered with blanket cancellations. The flow-on effect has and is being felt by 1000’s of contractors and companies New Zealand wide. Fiasco Cases needed to make a decision, either pivot and innovate or face closures....

How to build a subscription business—case study with Alexander Organics

As a so-called townie living in the quaint little Waikato town of Cambridge, I was really looking forward to going out into the countryside to meet with Ellen, owner/operator at Alexander Organics. From a marketing perspective raw milk is just so buzzy and Ellen and Jesiah’s story is an interesting one. At a more personal level though, it’s because for months I’ve been hearing whisperings around Cambridge of this family run business just out of town who’re selling raw milk on-tap an...

What to do with your website during the COVID-19 lockdown

In this blog we outline some simple actions you can take to ensure your website works hard for you to 1) update your clients and 2) lay a foundation for the future....

COVID-19: Hospitality and Food Service Playbook

Make the most of your online presence and plan for the future.Our thoughts are very much with our friends in hospitality and food service who have been so affected by the impact of COVID-19.  We want to help you where we can and we’ve created this playbook with some ideas to consider for your website....

What to do with your online store during the COVID-19 lockdown

We’ve prepared this guide to help you update your website to best manage the tricky scenarios that currently exist: not being able to ship ecommerce orders during the lockdown where you are able to ship online orders during the lockdown.  ...

COVID-19: Ecommerce playbook

This ecommerce express playbook aims to help get your business online, and fast.If you already have an ecommerce store, check out what to do with your online store during lockdown....

COVID-19: Retailers playbook

This playbook is for small owner-operator businesses who want to fight for survival in the face of adversity.  (Already have an online store, see What to do with your online store during the COVID-19 lockdown. Or, head to this blog post if you need to set up an online store in a hurry.)...

How to access government COVID-19 financial assistance

We are all starting to get our heads around how coronavirus will affect us personally, along with our businesses, our communities, country and world and I don’t think there will be very many people at all who will be unaffected.  It has been a relief then that a number of governments around the world have rapidly pulled together a range of support packages, and while these packages will cushion, rather than eliminate the financial impact of coronavirus, we have heard several stories of ho...

How to add a COVID-19 stack on your Rocketspark website

It’s a challenging time to be in business and the Rocketspark team wants to help you make the most of your website to serve your clients. A simple way you can help your customers is to provide them with information about any changes to your services due to COVID-19. You’ll be showing your customers that you are aware of any changes as they come into play, that you want to keep them informed, and you care about them. So, if you have a Rocketspark website, we're just going to show you how to a...

COVID-19: Pharmacy playbook

How to make your pharmacy website work hard for you during COVID-19With a global pandemic underway our pharmacies have a key role to play so we’ve prepared a playbook to help pharmacies make the most of their web presence to serve their customers and their community.  By talking to pharmacy owners over the last couple days we’ve gathered some practical tips which can help to keep your team and customers safe when they do come to your pharmacy....

Why you should maintain a web presence even if you’re pausing trade during a lockdown.

In uncertain times it can be necessary to identify and cut costs to try and stay viable. Generally there are some key activities that fall under this, but your website costs shouldn’t be one of them.  Our advice may seem akin to a one eyed all blacks fan refereeing the home team but hear me out as there are some important implications to consider rather than just turning out the lights for a while.   I’m going to lay out some key reasons as to why you should continue to keep a...

COVID-19: Tourism and Accommodation playbook

The New Zealand Government has released an alert levels system to help explain what is required if alert levels change related to COVID-19.  They have said that alert levels could change quickly and may chop and change not only at a national level but at a regional level, going up or down.  This playbook has been edited to explain what each of the plays in the playbook mean at different alert levels....

Remote working as a team—what we've learnt

We’re in uncertain and strange times as the world community changes rapidly around us with people getting sick, borders closing, fights over loo paper and shelves emptying of basic essentials. It’s impossible to predict where things will go and from our HQ in small town New Zealand we’ve been a little removed from the pandemic concerns.  I must confess we did chuckle at the sight of people with watercooler bottle head shields and cats with facemasks (poor cat!) but we’re seeing the ...

Video Series: Website design tips

Want to learn how to create WOW moments for your website viewers as they navigate around your site? Originally presented to our Design Partners at an evening of pizza and beverages, we're exited to be releasing this 9-part series (supported by a transcript) to all our customers. You'll gain some knowledge on how to use Rocketspark's intuitive design tools to make your website sing! We'd love your feedback on any changes you've made to your Rocketspark website after watching the series. Get in t...

How important is line length for great web design?

When you look at the work of the best web designers in the world, there’s a simple design rule they never break — optimal line length. Line length can have a significant effect not only on the visual impact of a website but also how much of your content the visitor actually reads. Getting your visitors to read your text content has been an age old battle for web designers, as website visitors resort to scanning headings for something that catches their eye.  So if you can tweak your...

Rocketspark, a website builder with Afterpay Integration

Rocketspark is a website builder that integrates with Afterpay, which means you’re able to connect your Rocketspark ecommerce website store with Afterpay to offer your shoppers another buy now and pay later option, with four easy payments and no interest!...

What is voice search, and how do I get my business ready for it?

Digital assistant is a catch-all term for Siri on Apple, Alexa on Amazon or Google Assistant. We are smack bang in the middle of generation ‘voice.’ I know for myself, especially driving, voice search queries make my life a lot easier. At the moment, especially in New Zealand, the use of voice search for ordering products - “Alexa, can you please order some toilet paper” - is almost non-existent. In the more mature American market, it’s common place to order without using a brand name....

It’s all-go for the Abandoned Cart emails—5 handy tips to get you started.

Rocketspark’s integration with Mailchimp ecommerce unlocks powerful email marketing and automation to help you sell more and build your brand. Cart abandonment is a rising challenge for all retail marketers and in a collation of results across a variety of studies by Baymard showed that in recent times over 75% of online carts are abandoned. Mailchimp reports that an average of 69% of ecommerce carts are abandoned and have also seen that with an abandoned cart email series you can see an avera...