We are getting close to launching our new Emailer app. With this app you'll be able to send email blasts and newsletters out to a list of subscribers. This is the first app that will be completely html5 and use our new editor for building the content. So if you think you might need an app like this for your business or you just want to try out our new editor, let us know in the comment selection below and we'll give you access to our beta test when it launches.

As part of our ongoing commitment to helping you build the best website possible and offering our users exceptional support and experience we are going to be regularly posting tips to help you go further with your website. All along the way, we want your feedback on what you would like to know and how we can help you. We are passionate about your experience on SnapPages and want your website to really work for you.

So let's get going, for those of you that have gone through the website wizard, and are ready to take the next step you can begin with content and customization. To see what your site currently looks like go to http://username.snappages.com (replace the username in this example with your username used to login).

The content on your pages such as text, images and buttons are edited within the Web Pages app, which can be found on the homescreen or from the apps drop down at the top of the screen. Simply choose the page from the list on the left that you would like to edit or add a new page and then customize by adding or editing blocks on the page. The block choices are listed on the left when editing a page and are grouped by type.

For most blocks, if you select to edit the block when placed on the page options for customizing the block will appear in the lower left hand portion of the editor. Across the top of the page editor, there are options to change the page layout and add a billboard to any page.

Note: The Page when in "edit" mode will not show your theme applied. Instead you will see a standard view that is the same for everyone (generic theme). If you preview the page (lower right corner), you will see your content with your chosen theme applied.

The Themes app manages the overall look and feel of the site, such as the shell color, font choices, logo, background image or color, links and images in the header and other things related to the website's look and feel. In the Themes App, you can add your logo or choose a different theme to customize. You can find a little site inspiration in the SnapPages Showcase.

Note: Changes and selections made in the "Themes" application will not be reflected in the “Web Pages” application (and vice versa). You can see the changes made to your content within your chosen design theme by visiting it online at http://yourusername.snappages.com (replace in this example the words "yourusername" with your username used for login.

If you have not purchased a domain name yet, you can purchase one and add email (optional) by going to the Domain Names App, purchasing your product(s) and then connecting your domain to your website. If you already have a domain that is hosted elsewhere, you can quickly and easily point your domain name to your SnapPages website (no transferring required) - read this post on Pointing a Domain Hosted Elsewhere to Your Website. SnapPages purchased domains can connect to personal (free) accounts or Pro accounts, however domains purchased elsewhere can only be linked to a Pro Account. Not to worry, we offer a free 14 day trial of the Pro Account and a credit card is not required for the trial, just select any of the upgrade to pro icons.

When you're ready to do so, you can actively promote your new website by sharing it via email, through building a Facebook fan page and connecting your site with the top social networking sites and if you have a Pro Account you can easily submit your sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools. Additionally you can explore purchasing Google AdWords, listing your business with Google Places, and encouraging clients to post reviews on review boards such as Yelp, and other relevant review sites.

Understand Your Website Visitors: Google Analytics for Website Traffic Analytics

One tool you definitely won't want to live without is Google Analytics; it gives you information about who visits your website, where they're from, what keywords they are using to find you and much more. This information can help you tailor your content for your audience. Within the settings area of your account under plugins, there is an area to add a Google Analytics Code - read this post on adding Google Analytics in SnapPages. (Please note that in general it takes a few days before you start to see traffic data for your website.) This feature is available to our Pro Account users - select any of the upgrade to pro icons within your account to start your free 14 day trial (a credit card is not required for the trial).

You'll want to make sure your website has a descriptive title, a description (both are setup within the website wizard start-up) and then for Pro Account holders, be sure to submit your website's sitemap to Google via Google Webmaster Tools. You can fine-tune your metadata in your account's Settings Area under SEO. After updating your meta tags, and linking a domain to your website (if you plan on doing so), then you can submit your sitemap to Google via Google Webmaster tools. Here is a post on how to submit your site to Google Webmaster Tools within SnapPages.

So go ahead… dive on in! If you ever need a hand, go to the "Help Center" found on the left hand side of your account’s home screen. Also, you might find the answers to many of your questions in our knowledgebase or get help from other SnapPages users in the SnapPages Community Help Forums. Be sure to show us your website creation after you have finished by sharing it on our Facebook page and in the Site Review section of the forums.

It's hard to believe that it was three years ago that I was standing in the demopit at TechCrunch50 trying to show off SnapPages to whoever would walk by. SnapPages was first officially launched at this event and we got some great reviews and exposure. Jason over at TechCrunch even wrote that Apple should "envy or buy" us.

Well, three years has gone by and while we are still waiting for that acquisition offer from Apple, I'm proud to say we have come a long way and it's all thanks to our awesome users, and the other awesome people I work with here at SnapPages. In fact just last week we hit a milestone of having 100,000 registered users. This might not sound huge when compared to the other internet giants out there, but for a small company with nothing but word-of-mouth marketing, this feels like a pretty big accomplishment.

The best is yet to come.
We've added a lot of great new apps and features over the years but I can honestly say that the best is yet to come. Over the next 12 months we'll be launching some new apps as well as a complete re-launch of almost all of our existing apps. These updates are going to be so big that internally I've been referring to it as SnapPages 2.0.

The most dramatic change is probably the fact that these apps will be almost 100% HTML5. This is going to allow us to do a lot of really cool things that we weren't able to do before. There is going to be a lot more design flexibility (custom layouts anyone?) and advanced features included that just weren't possible with our current apps. Of course we are still going to make it all just as simple and easy to use as our existing apps, but for those of you that have been begging for more control, you are going to get it!

The first place you will see this new editor will be when we launch our new Emailer app in a few weeks. This app will allow you to set up an email list that visitors can subscribe to from your website, and then you can build and send out newsletters to them. I've attached a screenshot of the email editor below. Of course it might change some before it's officially launched but at least you can get a feel for what it's going to be like.

Don't forget your party favors!
In honor of our 3rd birthday from now until the end of September 2011, you can save 30% off an annual subscription of a Pro or Developer account by entering in the promotion code "happybday" on the upgrade form.

As always, thank you again to all our awesome passionate users who are spreading the news about SnapPages. We couldn't do it without you so keep it up!

Go checkout our showcase as there are some great new sites up there. You guys have been building some awesome websites using SnapPages and I've been meaning to update our showcase for a long time, but I've been pretty busy. I promise it's because I'm working on some really big mind-blowing stuff (more about that next week)!

As always if you want to be considered for our next round of showcase updates, be sure to let us know. Keep up the great work!

We've had a lot of new users over the past year, so we are going to upgrade our servers tonight to help accomodate for all this growth. This should make everything load faster, including your websites. During the upgrade your website should not experience any downtime, however the editor and any other apps will be unavailable for about an hour starting at 10pm CST tonight.

Other then that it shouldn't really effect anything. Let us know if you have any questions about this.