With Valentine’s just around the corner, millions of moonstruck lovers are fervently looking for that special, electric, never-seen-before gift to surprise that special someone with. Even if you hate Valentine’s and feel you’d be better off beating yourself with a chain in the Ashura, you can’t ignore the fact that most people do love Valentine’s, look forward to it, and relish in the opportunity to spoil their loved one and spend a romantic day together.

This also means that they expect you – the small business owner – to acknowledge their feelings and supply them with a shopping experience to compliment their mood: a Valentine’s coupon, a better discount, a heart shaped cookie or a special package.

Even you don’t happen to be selling ‘I’m nuts about you’ kimono robes or scented-soy candles, with a little creativity, almost any business can make the necessary adjustments to become a Valentine-friendly website, and having a website on Wix means you’re only a few keystrokes away from wooing your clients through the Valentine season. Our editor is brimming with new icons and animations and you can add terrific strokes of color using our improved, sensitive color palate. So take your pick – there’s something for everybody – and you still have time to update your website if you haven’t already.

Meanwhile, you’re welcome to see this inspirational showcase of Valentine-themed specials, packages and promotions. It might help you crystallize your ideas and whom you might help this Valentine.

Enjoy!

1. Photographer Anji invites women to celebrate their sexuality and reconnect with their bodies in a special Valentine shoot that is guaranteed to tease the ‘Goddess’ out of any woman – young or mature.

2. A massage parlor offering special Valentine Day packages for couples and individuals alike.

3. Not quite what you’d expect from a hooker on Valentine’s but this special offer does have a certain appeal to those with partners in the outback.

4. ‘Tea and Tease Boudoir Photography’ offers a deliciously decedent Valentine’s special to women who want to surprise their partners with -emm- you’ll see. Don’t miss a free cup of tea on arrival.

5. A basket of fresh, hand-dipped chocolate strawberries sure sounds good to me. I’ll marry the first person who sends me one of these. Please, not all at once.

6. These two sweethearts are Amy and Gianna, the coolest duo on the web. They’re best friends but love teasing each other, have a wicked sense of humor and a special Valentine’s page they created. So what if the music videos don’t work? Amy and Gianna show you that nothing can really go wrong when you have your best buddy around.

From the comic book industry to used cars salesmen, everybody’s talking about how the new iPad will change their small business. Once again, Steve Jobs caused a minor earthquake when he presented the new Apple gizmo and now people are eager to prepare themselves for the post-iPad era. Which brings us to the question, what revolution will the iPad bring to the world of web design, if any?

The first obvious novelty that the iPad brings along is a new size. We’re talking 9.7″ and 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 PPI. True, the Kindle also has a 9.7″ display, and I’m sure other widgets as well, but the iPad is aiming to bring these measurements to the mainstream. So are we saying goodbye to oversized headers? Will the iPad mark the return of pop-ups? Or will scrolling on the touch screen make everything a lot easier?

One major questions is the flash issue. Adobe were quick to post a statement saying: “It is our intent to make it possible for Flash developers to build applications that can take advantage of the increased screen size and resolution of the iPad”. Basically, they plan to adjust their “Packager for iPhone” (which converts flash content for iPhones) to the iPad. It will not happen right away when the iPad is released, but Adobe is in a rush to make it ASAP. Naturally, using flash techniques on this platform will put a smile on many web designers’ faces. Anyway, the iPad news already opened a new front in the war between Apple and Adobe. With Steve Jobs calling Apple “Lazy” and Adobe accusing Apple with restricting programmers’ creativity, it looks like the cat fight is heating up.

Another interesting influence that the iPad might have on web designers is due to its purpose(s). The iPad will have numerous uses. It offers an alternative to the family photo album, to your library, to your school notebook and what not. If it delivers on all these promises, it will become omnipresent. It’s hard to predict which design aftereffects this will bring, but web designers are unlikely to remain indifferent. For one thing, an emergin need for new apps can lead to a bonanza for talented designers.

There are, of course, those who claim that the iPad is nothing more than a bigger iPhone and that it will bear no new gospel whatsoever. The majority of people whose lives have changed because of the iPod or the iPhone will beg to differ. It also doesn’t really matter, because the hype already started. We don’t need to wait for the iPad release to see the changes. They’re already on course.

Craftivisim is the practice of engaged creativity regarding political or social causes. By using creative energy to help make the world a better place, craftivists help bring about positive change. Craftivist create work that stands out in a chamber of voices.

Socially conscious art has been around for centuries. Traditionally, sculpture, pottery and jewelry have been the medium of choice for craftivists. However, as artists are taking their expertise to the web, graphic design has become increasingly important in expressing ideas.

One recent example of digital craftivist work is the “Obama: Hope” poster created by Shepard Fairey. This image had a tremendous impact on the 2008 presidential election. On a lighter note, Matt Mitchell had similar success with his pro-Conan, “I’m with CoCo” campaign.

Wix users giving back

In March of 2009, we showcased several Nonprofits using Wix. Since that article, thousands of nonprofit and socially motivated websites have been created on Wix.

Elizabeth Graves of Yellow Butterfly Designs has volunteered her time to design a web site for Village Medicine. Shiri Design Studio has created a template for sale whose proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross to benefit Haiti. Luke Callaghan has invested his time in designing the IDAHO Sydney exhibition site.

The web allows for instantaneous community interaction, something that traditional arts lack. Furthermore, the web provides visitors with an immediate call to action: “click to donate” or “sign up for more information”. The web facilities participation and allows users to get involved.

If you support a social or political cause, we urge you to get let your message be heard. Please share your links below!

New, sleek, Flash web designs have just been added to our overflowing template bank!
Choose from our new assortment of business, photography, lifestyle, music and online shop layouts!

See New Templates >>

Feedback is something we love getting, be it good, bad or somewhere in between. We get hundreds of emails each week, some thanking us for our great service, others asking that we implement new functionalities, and a handful of emails accusing us of poisoning wells, shooting horses, and stealing UNICEF charity money from senior citizens in Wyoming.

This week, however, we received a wonderful email from a member who brought a piece of exciting news to our attention:  this wonderful website – consumer-rankings.com –selected Wix as Top Web Design Service of 2010!

Well, I have to say we were caught a bit unawares: no thank you speech prepared, no fresh cufflinks, no mint breath spray. But we do feel extremely humbled and honored to get this amazing vote of confidence from a group of people who truly seem to know their internet.

Here’s a tidbit of what consumer-rankings.com had to say about us:

“Wix is a great option for artists, musicians and even corporate practices looking for a trendy and attractive website that can showcase one’s portfolio or simply describe the practice on a platform with an aesthetically appealing design”.

Read the full review.

This week I’d like to talk to you about a great new idea for promoting your websites. Many of you have used Wix to create a Flash website for your business or non-profit organization and this could be particularly interesting for you.

Submit your website to Google’s local business center listings. According to Google’s statistics, 82% of searches for local business information go through Google. By submitting your website to this service you can control the way your business is listed in Google and its appearance on Google maps. This definitely gives you an advantage as you can also get information on the actual searches. The best news? It’s a free service so this is really a win-win situation.  Take a look at the short video they prepared explaining how to list your website. If you search ‘plumbers in New York’ for example, the first results will show the best results from Google’s local directory with a link to their website and a phone number alongside the Google map pin pointing their location. Putting it bluntly – this is good for business.

So What are the Advantages?

Getting your page listed is just the first advantage. With this listing, your traffic will increase, leading to an improved ranking for your website in general and the other keywords as well.

Also, you can get all sorts of information on your business you would not have had access to before, such as what type of keywords are being used to find you, what area of town they’re coming from,  and  the type of traffic arriving at your site. Understanding trends amongst your clientele will allow you to cater to these specific needs.

If you have a restaurant for example, you may discover that 40% of the people reaching your website are searching for seafood or are coming from a specific area of town where you may want to open a second branch.

Knowing which keywords are working for you can give you a better idea of how to optimize your website textually, which words to emphasize and which words are just not working for you.

In short this is a win-win situation allowing you to get more from the search engine and putting your business on the map.

Good Luck!

When hearing the word “blog”, many people think about teenage girls dissing whatever, web wizards philosophizing or hipsters trying out new clothes. It is true that most blogs contain some kind of commentary, interpretation, ranting or other styles of writing that are considered personal. Why, then, would a company, a small business or an online service require a blog? Certainly not only to display the price list. Yet major companies will not even consider excluding a blog from their websites, and small businesses are catching up more and more.

So what are the advantages for adding a blog to your business site?

First of all, to keep your visitors updated on new developments, new products, new versions, special offerings, etc. The blog platform allows the business to introduce these novelties in detail, accompanied by images or technical stuff that you just can’t fit into a twitter feed.

But a blog that offers nothing more than news is not only boring to read, it’s boring to write. In order to generate real interest in your company’s blog you need to create a dialogue with the readers. That’s another great advantage of keeping a company blog. It allows you to connect with your clients on a more personal level. You can use the company blog to share the “backstage” working process, to ask for your clients’ advice on certain issues, to post answers to recurring questions and so forth. If you do that successfully, the readers will react through the comments and you will have a valuable communication channel with them. Super!

Another great thing about company blogs is that they are good for SEO. Most business sites don’t have enough text to enjoy SEO benefits, but blogs always do. Playing it smart with a blog can increase the number of quality visitors substantially.

One more important reason to manage a company blog is that it adds character to the site and to the business in general. The blog is the place to loosen the tie a little and have some fun. Clients tend to appreciate a business run by humans with humor and personalities rather than corporate clerks. You don’t need to completely lose your head. It will not be a good idea to joke about your work if you sell cremation urns- You just need to find the right tune that fits your business and play it.

And in the spirit of good will, here are a few cool business blogs that were designed by Wix users:

Sparrow Memories

RK Organics

Pure Palette

Ok. Truth be known, we don’t know who uploaded these images to our Clip Art gallery but there’s a studio-wide manhunt to find the suspects and bring them to justice. Meanwhile, we thought we should bring these findings to the public’s attention as our Editor apparently requires more and stronger regulation.

If any of you are using these images, we’d like to know about it! Send us the URL for your website and we’ll send you a neat gift – it’s the least we can do for you, buddy.

Exhibit no. 1 – A very pink pig standing on two legs.

Is this the version of ‘Babe’ that was never released? I mean, this fella looks kind of, eh, disoriented?

Potential uses:  Pig flu awareness websites.

Exhibit no. 2 – Pig theme again. A piggy van.

Interesting. What we have here is a large pink van with a tail, wearing a pig’s mask. There’s a non smoking sign on the door and some sort of a tagline in a South East Asian language.  Is this a convoluted metaphor for an anti-smoking campaign? Does smoking turn you into a pig? Give your pigs cancer? What?

Potential uses:  Wedding car-hire service websites. Your guests will never forget it, nor will you.

Exhibit no. 3 – Rubber ducks wrapped in shrink-film.

Ok, am I the only one feeling uncomfortable here? Or does it seem like this picture was taken out of some hardcore fetish DVD? Did you notice the chilling ‘send help’ note on close-up? This is not right.

Potential uses: Moving companies websites. “We’ll wrap anything, your ducks and all”.

Exhibit no. 4 – A pill.

The Pharmaceutical industry is booming all over the globe and every Joe Shmoe is selling fake Viagra from his grandmother’s garage.  This pill looks quite mysterious though – will it turn you invisible? Grow hair on your palm? Wanna try and find out?

Potential uses: Scientology websites warning against prescription drugs.

Exhibit no. 5 – Sushi.

I love Sushi. I truly do. Is this tamago in the middle? With some salmon roe on top? And a pickled daikon radish? We can’t be too sure.

Potential uses: DIY websites for the legally blind.

Our first feature for the new year is here!

The brand Accordion Gallery is a fabulous way to share your photos with the world!

Our programmers have been working hard with the studio and this beautiful gallery is the result:

You’ll find it in the editor Galleries > Accordion

And that’s not all! All our gallery now come with new skins and expand modes!

Follow this link to check out all the new gallery features.

Or jump into the Wix editor and start using them.

P.S. Learn how to customize the Accordion gallery

Wix.com has just wrapped up its final day at the 2010 Imaging USA Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Over 10,000 photographers from around the country traveled to the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center to share ideas, become inspired and keep up to date with the latest imaging technology.

Learning sessions at the conference included included SEPCON classes, PPA certification, as well as keynotes by Garrett Nudd, Joe Buissink and J. Scott Applewhite, Barrack Obama administration’s AP photographer. At the center of it all was the Imaging Expo where our team was able to connect with hundreds of new Wix users. We also had the privilege to meet existing users as well!

As our team bids adieu to the heartland of country western, we look to the future with great appreciation for our loyal and talented group of Wix photographers.