- How do I setup a website?
It's quick and easy. Simply create an account with TheHoopla.com, click "Create a Website," answer a few questions, and your site is live! You can edit it with our powerful suite of online editing tools immediately. Add image galleries, calendars, an online store, a private network -- and much more!
- How much does it cost?
It's FREE to setup a website. You can post photos, calendars, blogs, music, videos -- all free. (Some features require an upgraded account, such as an Online Store or a Hoopla Private Network).
- How do I set up an image gallery on my website?
To create an image gallery on your website, first create a new page (see Tutorial "How to Create a New Page". While creating the page, click Image Gallery for the "Type of Page". Once the page is created, click the "Edit this Page" button at the top. When the page opens, click the "Upload" button. Find the photos you wish to put into the Image Gallery and click enter. Add as many photos as necessary for your Image Gallery. Click "Save".
- How do I set up a slideshow on my homepage?
From your homepage, click "Edit this Page". Next click "Image Slideshow" from the top Navigation Bar. Click "Upload" and find the first picture you wish to include in the slideshow (the size of the picture needs to be 980px X 300px). Click "Enter". Repeat this process until you have all the slides you need. Once all the slides are in, you can determine the rotation and transition speeds.
- How do I set up a calendar?
To create a Calendar on your website, first create a new page (see Tutorial "How to Create a New Page". While creating the page, click Calendar for the "Type of Page". Once the page is created, click the "Edit this Page" button at the top. Pick a date and click on "Add Event". Fill in the information and click "Save". Add more dates as needed.
- Can I add a store to my website?
Yes! Add a store in the same way you would add any other page to your website. Your store can consist of thousands of pages of products -- there's no limit -- and can facilitate secure, online transactions, all within your website. To get started, be sure you're logged into your Hoopla account, and looking at your website. Click the "Add a Page" button at the top of the screen, and give your new page -- your online store -- a title. Click "Continue," and select "Online Store" as the type of page you'd like to create. Click "Continue" again, and place your online store within your Site Map. (This determines where your store's initial page will be placed). Click "Finish" and you're done! You will be taken to your new online store, where you can add products, tweak settings, and begin accepting transactions.
- Can I have a login section on my website for my clients or employees?
Yes! Hoopla Private Networks were designed specifically to meet this need. With a Hoopla Private Network, you can private a secure, password-protected website or sub-site to your clients, employees, or collaborators, making online collaboration & project management, customer service, and file-sharing quick and easy.
- How do I set up a blog?
To create a Blog on your website, first create a new page (see Tutorial "How to Create a New Page". While creating the page, click Blog for the "Type of Page". Once the page is created, click the "Edit this Page" button at the top. Click "Add New Post" and give the entry a title, subtitle, and fill in the content. Should you need to change anything, click "Edit" and add the changes. Click "Save".
- How do I post videos to my website?
You can post videos to your webpages using YouTube, Vimeo, or any other online video service with sharing capabilities. For detailed instructions, {TUTORIAL}.
- How can I optimize my website for search engines like Google?
We take steps to automatically optimize your site for Google, but there are a number of steps you can take to improve your site's search engine optimization. For example, it's a good idea to:
- Create unique, accurate page titles. Titles should be brief, but descriptive.
- Give each page a description. When you edit a page, click the "Advanced" tab, and enter a brief, relevant page description under "Page Description." Ideally, it's best to give each page on your website a unique description. We use this description to generate a "Description" meta-tag for the page, which is important to search engines like Google.
- Create friendly URLs. Give each page a "friendly" URL such as www.example.com/friendlyurl, instead of www.example.com/123456. Not only are friendly URLs easier for your visitors to remember, they can be useful to search engines in properly matching your page with a given search query. By default, we automatically give your pages friendly URLs, but you may want to change them. To create a friendly URL for a page, make sure you're logged into your Hoopla account, navigate to the page you want to edit, click "Edit This Page" at the top, and then click the "Advanced" tab. Under "Friendly URL," give the page a unique one-word identifier (or separate multiple words with a dash or underscore, which are URL-friendly characters).
- Offer quality content and services. Organic or word-of-mouth buzz is what helps build your site's
reputation with both users and Google, and it rarely comes without
quality content.
- Make your anchor links brief, but descriptive. When you create a link to another page (also called an "anchor"), it's best to avoid using words like "click here" or "page". Instead, offer a brief description of the page to which you're linking.
- Give your images descriptions. Whenever you insert an image on a page, make sure you give it a description. We use this description to generate an "alt" property that is used by both search engines and screen readers. For example, a good description will help Google display your image better for related searches in Google Images.
- Use a blog to announce new content or services. Setting up a blog with TheHoopla.com is easy, and effectively helps you promote your content to your userbase.
- Promote your business on Google Maps. If you run a local business, adding its information to Google Places
will help you reach customers on Google Maps and web search.
- For more helpful information, check out Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide.
- Will my website be accessible on mobile devices?
Yes! We automatically create a mobile version of your website that is optimized to look and function well in mobile browsers like those on iPhone, iPad, and Android phones.
