Finding a domain name can be fun. Setting it up? Not so much. That’s why we’re happy to announce five new additions to Hover Connect — Big Cartel, Weebly, 22Slides, Virb and Yola! This means that you can now easily point your domain name to your favourite website builder just by clicking connect, without ever looking up a single DNS record. 

If you’re already using one of these services, all you’ll need to do is login to your Hover account, select the domain that you’d like (or purchase one first if you don’t already have one), and then select ‘Connect.’ From here, select whichever service you’d like to connect your domain to and we’ll take care of the rest.

If this is the first you’re hearing of Big Cartel, Weebly, 22Slides, Virb or Yola, read on to see why they’re great options to build your next website with.

Big Cartel

If your time is filled working on your music, t shirt line, organic beeswax candles or any other creative endeavour, then Big Cartel is a great choice for your online store. It’s designed for the independent makers out there who are talented at whatever their passions are, but need some help when it comes to taking and fulfilling orders on the Internet.

To get started, you’ll first choose one of their sleek templates. The site can then be fully customized to match your own branding and merchandise without needing to edit a single line of code. If you want to roll up your sleeves and dive deeper, however, all of the HTML, CSS & JavaScript for your site is fully customizable.

Once your site is live, you can then track how effective it is in order to make improvements and get more customers. You can view stats like how many people have visited site and what search terms they used to get there, or you can get even more insights through their Google Analytics integration.

Of course, it all comes down to whether Big Cartel will help your receive and fulfill orders, which they do in spades. Orders can be made on your website, Facebook, or in-person with their iPhone app, and all payments are made securely with credit cards through Stripe or PayPal. Once orders are placed you can track your inventory (and automatically display “Sold Out” when an item is out of stock), search or download your full order history, see specific order details and history, print packing slips, and track which orders have been shipped.

Don’t worry if this seems like a lot of work — they’ve also got a friendly support team that’s ready to help you with whatever issues come up.

Click here to learn more about Big Cartel.

Weebly

No matter what type of website you’re making, Weebly is an easy-to-use platform that’ll help you create your site in no time. You can make sites ranging from a personal blog all the way to an eCommerce store, complete with all the features you’ll need like online payments and order management.

After selecting your preferred theme, it’s as simple as dragging-and-dropping the content you’d like to see on your page. All of this can be done not just on your computer but your smartphone or tablet as well with their iPhone, iPad and Android apps. If you want to go one step further, you can also edit your page’s HTML and CSS for even more of a custom site.

Weebly also has live support via email, chat and phone, as well as video tutorials and webcasts for added insight and inspiration.

Click here to learn more about Weebly.

22Slides

22Slides emerged from a full-service design and photography firm, and that expertise is very evident. It’s designed specifically for photographers, designers, models and other artists that need to bring their portfolios online.

The service prides itself on having no cookie-cutter templates, instead allowing different parts of the page to be controlled independently in order to create more possibilities. This makes 22Slides best suited for those with an eye for design who want to get hands-on with their websites in order to create something truly beautiful and unique.

There are many additional services like Flickr & Instagram integrations, online sales via PayPal, password protection for private galleries, retina/high-res images, and client review & file delivery. They also insist that their users are not ‘customers’ but instead are ‘clients,’ because their team is there to help you not just with your website but many of the other aspects that come along with being a creative professional with an online presence, such as lens selection or Lightroom presets.

Click here to learn more about 22Slides.

Virb

Virb is a Media Temple product, so if you’re a fan of their hosting services then Virb is a natural solution for building your website. There are many great-looking themes to get started with, all of which can have their CSS & HTML customized. You can then any one of the thirteen different page types to your site, including galleries, stores, menus, events and blog posts.

In addition to Hover, Virb has integrations with many other services too. You can bring in music from SoundCloud or Bandcamp, stores from Big Cartel or Etsy, and even import your Tumblr blog (just to name a few). If you’re uploading most of your content to your site, though, no need to worry; all sites come with unlimited storage and bandwidth.

Click here to learn more about Virb.

Yola

Yola makes it simple for businesses to create a professional-looking site with minimal time and effort. It has everything you’ll need to get up and running: themes, advanced customization, optional password protection, order management, and even widgets for things like contact forms or appointment scheduling.

It’s free to get started with your ad-free site, and you can upgrade to any of their affordable premium plans to use your own domain name.

Click here to learn more about Yola.

All Connect Services

Here’s a complete list of all of the services currently offered with Hover Connect:

• 22Slides
• Big Cartel
• Format
• Shopify
• Squarespace
• Tumblr
• Virb
• Weebly
• Yola

Looking for a service that isn’t there? Let us know in the comments!