Marketing automation software helps businesses streamline marketing processes. By automating marketing tasks, it’s much easier to generate leads, build customer relationships, and drive conversions at scale. As your business grows, it’s impossible to manage every single lead and customer manually. But marketing automation software moves customers through your sales funnel with ease. Marketing automation software provides leads with a consistent experience across multiple digital marketing channels. By leveraging marketing automation software, you can personalize the customer experience by providing the most accurate information and promotions to customers with different needs. While the terms are often used interchangeably, it’s important to understand that marketing automation software is not the same as email marketing software or CRM software. Marketing automation is a component of customer relationship management, and email can be a component of marketing automation—but the three are not one in the same. The Top 6 Best Marketing Automation SoftwareAfter conducting extensive research, I’ve narrowed down the top marketing automation solutions on the market today. Here’s an in-depth review of each one on our list: #1 – HubSpot — Best Overall Marketing Automation Software• Visual automations editor HubSpot is one of the most well-known names in the marketing world. This inbound marketing software has everything you need to automate dozens of tasks at scale. With HubSpot, you’re able to customize sophisticated and highly targeted workflows using a visual editor. You can use this tool for simple follow-up messages or even complex campaigns with multiple touch-points throughout the customer journey. HubSpot makes it easy for you to automate your emails with drip campaigns. Just choose from dozens of pre-set triggers, conditions, or customer actions. The HubSpot Marketing Hub starts at $50 per month. However, that package doesn’t give you the full automation benefits. Pricing for marketing automation features from HubSpot starts at $800 per month, billed annually. It’s a bit pricey, especially for smaller businesses with lower budgets. But when you buy a product from HubSpot, you’re getting more than just software. You’ll also benefit from HubSpot’s exceptional customer support team. If you’re a startup, you might be eligible for up to 90% off through the HubSpot for Startups Program. Contact the HubSpot sales team to request a free demo. #2 – ActiveCampaign — Best For Small Business• Starts at $49 per month More than 90,000 businesses trust ActiveCampaign for marketing automation. It’s arguably the best visual automation builder with drag-and-drop functionality on the market today. ActiveCampaign makes it easy for anyone, regardless of technical skill level, to set up both simple and complex marketing automations. From site tracking to event tracking, attribution, split actions, and automation goals, ActiveCampaign has it all. ActiveCampaign takes a complex subject and simplifies it with an easy to use dashboard and management tools, which is why it’s our top pick for small businesses. Pricing for ActiveCampaign Plus with CRM and sales automation starts at $49 per month. The price is based on the number of contacts in your list. This subscription comes with email marketing, lead scoring, ecommerce integrations, and more. If you want advanced features such as customer attribution, path to purchase, split automations, and machine learning capabilities like predictive sending, predictive content, and win probably, you’ll need to upgrade to ActiveCampaign Professional. This package starts at $129 per month. At both of these price points, ActiveCampaign is an affordable option for small businesses. Try it free for 14 days. #3 – GetResponse — Best Features For Marketing Automation• Starts at $15 per month GetResponse is a powerful and affordable marketing automation solution that’s used by small businesses and large organizations alike. Over 350,000 businesses across the globe use this software to automate marketing processes. From capturing new leads to generating sales, recovering abandoned carts, and driving engagement from your site traffic, GetResponse has tools to meet your needs. It’s easy to set up an automated customer journey by applying conditions, actions, and filters that will automatically trigger users through a pre-defined journey based on their behavior. You’ll benefit from advanced segmentation and lead scoring, which will ultimately improve the effectiveness of your campaigns. GetResponse is a top choice for ecommerce sites. It helps you understand your customers’ buying habits, browsing behavior, targets abandoned shopping carts and automatically recommends relevant products. Pricing for GetResponse starts at $15 per month. This comes with basic automation features like welcome emails, drip campaigns, click and open followups, and contact tagging. To get the most out of GetResponse marketing automation, you’ll need to sign up for the Plus package, starting at $49 per month. The upgrade gives you custom workflows, the automation builder tool, lead scoring, abandoned cart recovery, site tracking, event tracking, and automated segmentation. However, you’ll be limited to just five custom workflows at this rate. For those of you who need more than five workflows, you’ll have to upgrade to GetResponse Professional, which starts at $99 per month. It’s worth noting that the feature-rich automation software from GetResponse can be a bit difficult to navigate through. For anyone who is just looking for simple automation tools, you might find GetResponse to be a little overwhelming. But if you’re looking for as many automation features as possible at an affordable price point, look no further than GetResponse. Try it free for 30 days. #4 – OptinMonster — Best For Landing Page Lead Generation• Starts at $9 per month OptinMonster is a bit different compared to some of the other options on our list. This software is not really a full-service or all-inclusive marketing automation solution. It’s a lead generation and customer acquisition tool for your website that leverages marketing automation to grow your email list, reduce cart abandonment, and increase sales. More than one million websites use OptinMonster, making it one of the most popular solutions on the market today. OptinMonster has tools to help you design high-converting landing pages, popups, and website campaigns designed to generate leads. Then you can create automated and campaigns for website visitors based on their behavior and actions. For example, you can create campaigns for new vs. returning visitors. Trigger a popup or offer based on the amount of time that visitor has spent on the site or the number of pages they’ve viewed. You’ll also be able to automatically trigger landing page campaigns based on user behavior, such as exit intent. OptinMonster is undoubtedly one of the best lead generation tools on the web. But it lacks in other areas of marketing automation. You’ll need to integrate OptinMonster with your email or CRM software—it does not offer these features. But with prices starting as low as $9 per month, it’s a cheap add-on to your existing solution. Try OptinMonster risk-free 14 days. If you’re unhappy for any reason, you’ll get a 100% refund; no questions asked. #5 – Salesforce Pardot — Best For B2B Marketing• Starts at $1,250 per month Salesforce is one of the most reputable and well known CRM solutions on the market today. So it’s no surprise to see Salesforce Pardot rank so high on our list of the best marketing automation software. With that said, Salesforce Pardot is not for everyone. This software is made specifically for B2B organizations. Top features include streamlined lead management, smart lead generation, email marketing, and sales integration. Salesforce Pardot leverages the power of AI to improve your marketing efforts and sales strategy. You’ll also benefit from insightful ROI reporting to determine what campaigns are working and which ones need improvement. Here’s a quick look at the Salesforce Pardot pricing options: With plans starting at $1,250 per month, this software obviously isn’t the cheapest option on our list. But with that said, this type of pricing is expected for a B2B solution of this caliber. Pardot makes it easy for you to create data-driven campaigns with a powerful and flexible visual builder. Simply map out each touchpoint in your funnel to improve the customer experience and identify gaps in the process. Salesforce Pardot gives you detailed reports and analytics so you can improve automation campaigns based on real results as opposed to guesswork. For B2B organizations seeking marketing automation software, Salesforce Pardot is second to none. The biggest drawback is the price, especially considering that you need to commit to a one-year contract. But you won’t have to worry about performance. Salesforce Pardot has everything you could possibly need and more in terms of software in this category. Contact the Salesforce Pardot sales team to request a free demo. #6 – ConvertKit — Best Marketing Automation Software For Beginners• Starts at $29 per month ConvertKit is one of the simplest marketing automation solutions that you’ll find. For those of you who are new to using marketing automation tools, this choice should be toward the top of your list. ConvertKit is branded as an email marketing software, but its marketing automation features are much more advanced than just basic email functionality. This tool makes it easy for you to create powerful automation funnels based on a subscriber’s action. It ensures that you send targeted content to the right audience at the perfect time. Unlike other marketing automation tools on our list, ConvertKit is simple. You can set up basic automation rules that trigger a specific campaign, without having to go through complex workflows and settings. The visual editor is easy for anyone to use, even if you have zero experience with marketing automation. Whether you’re running a content site, ecommerce business, or selling SaaS, ConvertKit has the marketing automation tools that you need to succeed. One of the best parts about ConvertKit is the pre-built automations, so you don’t have to start from scratch. For example, they have automations for hosting a webinar, launching a new product, and surveying your subscribers. For new businesses, ConvertKit does a free forever plan for up to 500 subscribers. But that doesn’t come with any of the visual automation funnels. To access all of the features and benefits of ConvertKit, paid plans start at just $29 per month. You can get two months for free if you sign up for an annual contract. Try it free for 14 days. How to Find the Best Marketing Automation Software For Your BusinessFor the most part, there is no “best for everyone” solution. The best marketing automation software for you will depend on your specific needs. Finding the right marketing automation software for your business can be challenging if you don’t know where to look. Here’s an overview of the methodology I used to pick the options on our list. Take these factors into consideration when evaluating the needs of your business. Business Size and TypeMost marketing automation software is geared toward specific businesses. SMBs and enterprises will have very different needs. Smaller businesses and beginners should lean toward ActiveCampaign or ConvertKit, whereas a solution like HubSpot is better for mid to large-sized organizations. If you’re in the B2B space, Salesforce Pardot is the best option for your situation. For those of you who are running an ecommerce business, make sure that the solution you’re considering has ecommerce features and automations for sales built-in. The tool should also integrate with whatever ecommerce platform you’re using to power your website. Automation SetupYour marketing campaigns will only be as good as the initial setup. Regardless of the platform you’re using, you’ll have to create rules that will trigger a specific campaign or sequence. These are based on user actions, such as opening an email, subscribing on a certain landing page, returning to your website, or abandoning their shopping cart. The best marketing automation tools allow you to set up advanced automations for multiple actions throughout the customer journey. Visual automation editors make this easy for you to set up. But with that said, some of those editors are definitely easier to use than others. The best way to figure out how easy it is to set up an automation sequence is by starting a free trial or requesting a free demo. CRM and EmailNot every marketing automation software is an all-inclusive marketing solution. You need to determine if the tool you’re considering is a one-stop-shop for your needs. Lots of the options on our list as double CRM software and email marketing software. So you can handle everything from a single dashboard. However, other solutions won’t be as advanced. For example, OptinMonster is perfect for generating leads on landing pages using marketing automation. But you can’t use that platform to send emails or manage subscribers. You’ll need to integrate it with your existing email marketing software or CRM software. FeaturesChoose email automation software based on features that align with your goals. Exactly what are you trying to accomplish? Is it lead generation? Sales? Conversions? Is the software advanced enough to scale with you as your needs change? The best marketing automation solutions have advanced features for things like lead scoring, event tracking, sales integration, and more. It’s worth noting that lots of solutions will advertise lots of features, but don’t actually offer all of those features with every plan. So look carefully at the plan you’re interested in. Don’t assume that it comes with every feature advertised on the software’s homepage. If you’re looking for something simple, sometimes too many features can be overwhelming. It’s not worth paying extra for advanced features that you’ll never use. PriceIn most cases, the price for marketing automation software is based on the number of customers, subscribers, or leads in your contact list. But with that said, there is a wide range of price points in this space. Basic entry-level plans typically start around $30-$100+ per month. Prices on the lower end of that range might not come with all of the advanced marketing automation features that you’re looking for. Top of the line marketing automation software for mid to large-sized businesses and B2B organizations starts around $800-$1,200+ per month. In some instances, you can save money by committing to an annual contract. In other cases, an annual contract will be your only option. Month-to-month pricing isn’t available for every solution. ConclusionMarketing automation software can dramatically improve your marketing processes as your business scales. What’s the best marketing automation software for your company? It depends on what you’re looking for. We ranked HubSpot as the best overall because of its powerful features and benefits. But its high price point is definitely aimed at mid to large-sized organizations and businesses with substantial marketing budgets. However, startups can get up to 90% a HubSpot plan. Smaller businesses and beginners should lean towards options like ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, or ConvertKit. Salesforce Pardot is the best choice for B2B companies. Any business can consider using OptinMonster as an add-on for landing page lead generation. Regardless of your business size, type, or needs, you can use this guide to find the best marketing automation software. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-marketing-automation-software/
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Project management software helps teams stay organized and productive when collaborating on different projects. These tools are especially useful when multiple projects are in progress simultaneously. A project management solution ensures that projects are completed on time while holding individual team members responsible for specific tasks. These real-time workspace tools are much more effective than long email chains, writing things down manually, or having to rely on human memory. While it may sound redundant, it’s important to understand that project management software is made for projects—not ongoing work. Projects have start dates, end dates, and deliverables along the way. For example, creating a website is a project. But maintaining a website post-launch doesn’t have a clear start date or end date. Not every project management tool is the same. Some solutions are intended for large teams with complex projects, others are ideal for small teams and simple projects, and the rest fall somewhere in between. No matter what type of projects you’re managing, this guide will help you find the best project management software for your needs. The Top 7 Best Project Management SoftwareAfter some first-hand experience using these tools and hours of extensive research, I’ve narrowed down the top seven options in this category. Here’s an in-depth review of each one: #1 – Zoho Projects — Best Overall Project Management Software• Starts at $3 per month Zoho has a full suite of various productivity tools and SaaS for businesses. So not surprising to see its project management software, Zoho Projects, ranked first overall on our list. Zoho Projects is a cloud-based project management solution that accommodates the needs for a wide range of businesses, projects, and use cases. From simple to complex projects, this tool has everything you need to manage various workflows. You can even automate some routine tasks to save time. Use the drag-and-drop interface as a visual way to set up new automations and deploy projects. Collaborate on the go using the Zoho Projects mobile app. Zoho Projects is affordable, with pricing based on the number of people on your team. As you can see, your plan will also affect things like storage and project templates. You’ll be limited to just ten projects per month with the entry-level Standard plan; the rest are unlimited. Zoho Projects does offer a free forever plan for up three users and two projects, which is fine for individual use or a one-off task. Another reason to like Zoho Projects is its timesheet module. You can easily track both billable and non-billable hours for tasks. Zoho Projects also integrates with popular apps you’re already using like Slack, Zapier, G Suite, Dropbox, and other apps in the Zoho suite. Sign up for Zoho Projects and get a 10-day free trial; no credit card required. #2 – Trello — Best Free Project Management Software• Free for unlimited users Millions of users trust Trello to manage various projects. For small teams and simple projects, the free project management software from Trello will be perfect for accommodating your needs. People use Trello for work, side projects, and even for managing individual projects, like organizing a family vacation. Trello shines in terms of simplicity, which is one of the reasons why I use it to manage team tasks on my websites. Everything is organized with boards, cards, and lists. Each card represents a task or small project. Those tasks can be assigned to specific team members for collaboration. Cards have subtasks that can be managed and completed in real-time to show progress towards completion. Assigning due dates, uploading files, and adding comments on a Trello card is about as simple as it gets. You can move cards to different lists such as “in progress” or “complete” so everyone can see the status of a task at a glance. Trello has an exceptional mobile app for project management as well. In most instances, Trello is better for simple projects. If you’re managing complex projects with large teams, you’ll run into some restrictions with this platform. The best part of Trello? It’s free. Every user gets unlimited boards, cards, and lists at no cost. Paid plans start at $9.99 per month per user. This gives you access to advanced features like app integrations, calendar view, map view, advanced users, automations, and more. #3 – Wrike — Best For Marketing and Creative Teams• Starting at $9.80 per month More than 20,000 businesses use Wrike for project management. It’s trusted by large organizations like Verizon and Airbnb. Wrike makes it easy for you to view real-time reports and statuses for all of your team projects. You can enable and centralize your communication hub for everyone collaborating on a project. This software is perfect for marketers and creative teams. Wrike has specific project management tools for campaign management where teams can collaborate on tasks, track progress, and review the results of each campaign. Wrike also has project management templates designed for content creation. This pre-set workflow process includes everything from a creative brief to final delivery and reporting. Wrike has a free forever plan for simple projects. But most of you will benefit from the Professional or Business plans, starting at $9.90 and $24.80 per user per month, respectively. Once you select your base plan, you can add-on premium features depending on what types of projects you’ll be using Wrike to manage. It’s kind of a bummer that not every feature is all-inclusive. But it’s nice that you can pick and choose whatever you need. Wrike offers product bundles for marketing and creative teams. For example, Wrike for Marketers comes with Wrike Proof and Wrike Publish add-ons. It also comes with a Wrike extension for Adobe Creative Cloud. Contact the Wrike sales team for a quote on a project management plan for your marketing team. For a limited time, you can get a 6-month trial of Write Professional. You can try the other plans free for 14 days. #4 – LiquidPlanner — Best For Complex Projects• Best for complex projects LiquidPlanner is a top solution for engineering teams, software teams, IT teams, and professional services. It’s made for managing complex projects at scale with lots of contributors. This project management tool helps you manage uncertainty with best-case and worst-case scenarios for the outcome. LiquidPlanner automatically adapts to change during a project, which is inevitable for projects with a high level of complexity. LiquidPlanner gives you quick insight into the tasks, progress, risks, and budgets for every project that’s in progress. You’ll even be able to share the most relevant information with whoever needs to stay informed. LiquidPlanner offers an iOS and Android mobile app, time tracking, advanced analytics, API access, unlimited internal dashboards, and integrations with cloud storage services. You need at least five team members to be eligible for a LiquidPlanner subscription. Unfortunately, pricing is unavailable online. You’ll need to contact their sales team to request a quote, regardless of your company size. LiquidPlanner has plans that can accommodate the needs of smaller businesses and enterprises with multiple departments managing hundreds of projects. If you’re looking for a project management solution for something simple, like managing website content, LiquidPlanner is not for you. But for those of you with complex needs, you can try LiquidPlanner at no cost with a 14-day free trial; no credit card required. #5 – Teamwork — Best For Remote Teams and Agencies• Starts at $9 per month More than 20,000 businesses use Teamwork for project management. It’s trusted by big brands like Spotify, Disney, Panasonic, PayPal, and Netflix. Teamwork makes it easy for businesses with remote workers to collaborate on projects. It’s easy for everyone to communicate, stay connected, and have clear visibility over the progress of a project, no matter where people are located. This software management tool has built-in chat, simple project boards, and custom templates. Teamwork allows you to balance your team’s workloads by viewing everyone’s real-time capacity at a glance. Here’s a quick overview of the plans and pricing for Teamwork project management software: With a free forever plan for small teams and paid plans starting at just $9 per month, Teamwork is an affordable solution. Teamwork also has specific team management software for marketing agencies. This tool makes it easy for your team to manage their own projects in addition to client work. You can even add clients and third-party collaborators to your boards for improved visibility and communication. Take advantage of built-in time tracking tools to manage invoices and billable hours as well. Pricing for agency software is not available online. You’ll need to contact the Teamwork sales team for a quote. In addition to the free forever plan, you can try any Teamwork paid solution free for 30 days. #6 – Celoxis — Best For Enterprises and Large Businesses• Starts at $25 per month Celoxis is another top option for managing complex projects. But this software is not for everyone. Celoxis is an all-in-one project management software geared towards enterprises and large organizations. It’s used by companies like Adobe, LG, Tesla, Lufthansa, and Rolex. Celoxis helps you manage your teams based on skills, availability, and demand. You’ll benefit from automated cost and revenue estimates for every project in real-time. This software also makes it easy for you to share files and collaborate with both team members and clients. It even has a fully customizable client portal that you can take advantage of. Celoxis is a bit more expensive than some of the other options on our list, but it’s actually more affordable than other enterprise-grade software solutions on the market today. The cloud-based solution starts at $25 per month per user (with a five-user minimum). You can save some money if you commit to an annual or two-year contract. Alternatively, you can install Celoxis directly on your servers for $450 per user. This option is also a five-user minimum, but it’s just a one-time charge as opposed to an ongoing subscription. Celoxis really stands out in terms of the reports and data that it provides. You can easily send visual reports to your CEO or other decision-makers for specific projects. Try Celoxis free for 30 days by taking advantage of a free trial. #7 – TeamGantt — Best For Beginners• Free forever plan available Gantt charts are more than one hundred years old. At the time, these revolutionary charts changed the way that tasks were performed. They are the foundation for many project management solutions. As the name implies, TeamGantt is a project management software that leverages Gantt charts. So for those of you who are just getting started and learning about project management, TeamGantt is a top option to consider. More than one million users across the world trust TeamGantt for project management. TeamGantt has a free forever plan for up to three users managing a single project. Paid plans start at $24.95 per month for one user. That’s a bit pricey, especially for simple software. However, you’ll get a better rate per user with a larger team. For example, a team of ten starts at $114.50 per month, which is less than half of the per-user rate of a single person. That number drops all the way to $91 per month with an annual contract. So while the initial price might look steep at first, it’s really not that bad upon further inspection. For those of you looking for basic Gantt charts, I’d definitely recommend TeamGantt. If you have a complex project, TeamGantt will have restrictions. They do have an advanced plan with time tracking and hourly estimates, but it doesn’t go much deeper than that. Try a paid TeamGantt plan for free with a 14-day trial. How to Find the Best Project Management Software For Your BusinessWith so many project management solutions on the market today, it can be tough to choose the best option for your business. This is the methodology that I used to pick the winners in this guide. Generally speaking, there is no “best for everyone” project management software. It all depends on your specific situation. I’ll break down the evaluation factors that you should be looking for in greater detail below. Project ComplexityThe first thing you need to figure out is what you’ll be using your project management software for. Basic project management tools won’t always have the features required to manage complex projects at scale. On the flip side, if you’re just doing something simple like managing website content or need a tool for a one-off project, you won’t need software with tons of advanced features. Trello and TeamGantt are both excellent choices for simple projects and smaller teams. If you need advanced features for complex projects, LiquidPlanner and Celoxis would be better for you. Zoho Projects (as our top overall pick) meets that middle ground between simple and complicated projects. Team SizeThe next thing you’ll need to look at is the size of your team. Is everyone on your team going to be working on the same project? Or will everyone be working on multiple projects simultaneously? If you’re working on a simple project with just a few people, you might even be able to use a free project management solution. Lots of options on our list offer a free forever plan for two or three users. Managing larger teams is obviously a greater challenge. The best project management software shows the real-time capacity of each team member at a glance. This feature allows you to properly allocate tasks, responsibilities, and resources, without overwhelming people who have a full workload. Some project management software requires a minimum for the number of team members associated with a subscription. This usually starts around five users but varies from one platform to another. Ease of UseSimplicity is key when it comes to project management software. From the initial setup to onboarding team members and managing tasks on an ongoing basis, you want to make sure that your solution actually makes your life easier. The only real way to determine how easy it is to use project management software is by trying it out. Every option on our list offers some type of free forever plan or free trial. I strongly advise trying those out so you can get a feel for what works best for your purposes. FeaturesSome project management software will offer more advanced features and tools than others. But depending on your situation, you may not need anything too fancy. Common features that you’ll see for various project management software include storage limits, mobile apps, third-party integrations, built-in communication tools, advanced reporting, and user permissions. You’ll find some solutions with agency features, time-tracking tools, automation, and tools for managing your budget. It’s important to figure out what tools you’ll actually need as you’re evaluating potential project management solutions. PricePricing for project managing software is usually based on how many users you have on your team. Some solutions require you to pay for a minimum number of users to get started. Plans are typically billed per month or on an annual basis. The actual cost varies drastically, depending on your needs. Most tools have a free plan for basic needs and a handful of users. Paid plans start somewhere in the $3 to $25 per month per user range. Some solutions, like Wrike, charge you extra for add-ons as you essentially start with a basic plan and customize it based on your needs. Advanced solutions, like Celoxis, charge a one-time fee of $450 per user to install the software on your servers. With such a wide range of prices to consider, it’s important for you to choose something that fits within your budget. Project management software doesn’t need to cost a fortune. ConclusionZoho Projects is the best overall project management software on the market today. It’s affordable and checks off all of the boxes that we look for when evaluating prospective options. But with that said, this software isn’t for everyone. If you have complex projects or large teams, you’ll be much better off with LiquidPlanner or Celoxis. Smaller teams, beginners, and simple projects would benefit from Trello or TeamGantt. There are even use case-specific solutions, like Wrike for creative teams or Teamwork for remote teams and agencies. Regardless of your team size, project complexity, and business type, you can find the perfect project management software to meet your needs using this guide. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-project-management-software/ Want to jump straight to the answer? The best document management software for most businesses is eFileCabinet. Document management software has become a crucial component of running a business in 2020. So many organizations are either going paperless, have remote employees, or both. These new trends make it unrealistic to keep documents and paperwork in physical filing cabinets or boxes in an office. Document management software allows you to declutter your office, improve security, and access files or data from anywhere. This software also enhances efficiency when sharing documents or collaborating with team members. Are you ready to digitally upload, track, and securely archive your documents? You need document management software to achieve this. Whether your company is going paperless, or you just want to digitize your records for improved organization, this guide has everything you need to know about DM software (DMS).
Compare The Best Document Management Software Get matched up with a document management service that fits your needs. Compare Quotes
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of document management solutions on the market today. Cloud storage tools like Google Drive or Dropbox could technically fall into this category as well. But for the purpose of this guide, I focused on DMS for businesses. For this instance, there are really only seven solutions that I would recommend. The 7 Best Document Management Software
The reviews below include a brief summary, features, benefits, prices, and any potential drawbacks of each software. Use this as a resource to find the best document management software for your unique situation. eFileCabinetStarting at $15 per month eFileCabinet is one of the best document management solutions on the market today. Since 2001, this company has helped individuals, small business owners, and enterprise-level companies organize data and files online. The software makes it easy for you to stay organized and find a document, regardless of how many you have on file. You can search for documents or locate them based on folder templates or pre-defined file names. eFileCabinet also keeps a portfolio of your most used documents for quick access. The eFileCabinet solution does all of the hard work for you. Simply upload a document, and the software will file it for you. The automated workflow streamlines your time-consuming tasks to improve efficiency in the office. All of your documents can be accessed from anywhere with a web browser or mobile app. You can upload documents directly from your phone using the camera on your device. eFileCabinet also allows you to sign contracts. One of the biggest standouts for this solution is the collaboration features. The system allows you to create different levels of security, so only certain people can access data. eFileCabinet has encrypted file sharing and requests, two-factor authentication, and role-based permissions. You can even set IP or location-based authentication. The software integrates with popular third-party services like DocuSign, Salesforce, and Microsoft Office. Here’s an overview of the plans and price points for eFileCabinet:
All prices are listed per user and billed on an annual basis. Once you upgrade from the Starter plan to Advantage, you’ll need to pay for a minimum of three users. I’d only recommend the Starter plan to individuals. Sole proprietors or very small businesses can probably get away with the Advantage plan, but the Business package will likely be the best for the majority of you. With eFileCabinet, you get to choose if you want your storage either on-site or on the cloud. Personally, I prefer the cloud storage. But there are advantages to on-premises as well. M-FilesFree for 30-days M-Files represents the future of document management. The software leverages AI technology to automate your organizing process. When you upload content to M-Files, the platform automatically organizes the data based on what it is, as opposed to just where you want to store it. You even have the ability to connect M-Files to your existing network and systems to protect your information and categorize everything with AI, automatically and securely. Another top benefit of M-Files is that they offer industry-specific solutions. Some popular industries that they service include:
M-Files is great for larger teams that need to access documents at different times. If someone on your staff needs a file that was uploaded and saved by another colleague, they won’t need to search through different folders to see what the document was saved as. With AI technology, all you need to know is what type of document you’re looking for. Then you can organize the content based on criteria like project title, author, customer, or expiration date. M-Files will automatically detect duplicate content. Rather than having multiple versions of the same or slightly different documents on your storage system, it will automatically update the latest document to one singular file. This way you always know that you’re viewing or working with the latest version. With M-Files, you can store a wide range of document types, including emails. The software also allows you to collaborate with external users who don’t have M-Files. That content can be shared as a secure link. M-Files offers cloud storage, on-site storage, and hybrid storage solutions as well. You can try M-Files free for 30-days but pricing for M-Files is not listed on their website. You need to contact their sales team to inquire about a custom solution. TemplafyTry for free Templafy is a relatively new DMS. After launching in 2014, they have been providing all-in-one document management solutions for enterprises all over the world. It’s designed specifically for large businesses and helps streamline tasks to save time when it comes to storing and accessing files. More than 300 enterprises across 80+ countries use Templafy for document management. This translates to more than one million users. Using intelligence software, Templafy will automatically show the most relevant content to each employee based on their usage and position. Your marketing team doesn’t need to see accounting documents, and vice versa. One of the biggest pain points with DMS, in general, is having to create new documents using another platform. Templafy eliminates this pain point by giving users the ability to create and edit new content directly within the system. Both new and uploaded content can all be managed in a simple and singular feed on your dashboard. Templafy’s cloud storage software means you can access documents from anywhere, including on your smartphones and tablets. You can integrate Templafy with Microsoft Office 365, G-Suite, and other platforms that you’re using to run your business on a daily basis. You can even integrate Templafy with CRM solutions like Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics. Big brands like Pandora and IKEA trust Templafy to manage their documents with enterprise-grade software. In addition to managing documents and files, Templafy has solutions for maximizing employee productivity and creating an evergreen IT infrastructure. Security is another top benefit of using Templafy. You and your team can securely store and access content from anywhere, using any device, whether you’re online or not. Like most enterprise software, Templafy provides custom solutions for each unique company. So they don’t list any prices online. You can try Templafy for free before you commit to a contract by reaching out to their sales team. HightailLimited free forever plan Hightail is a document management solution with a specific purpose—sharing and collaboration. Other DMS on the market have features for file sharing as well, but Hightail takes this to the next level. I recommend Hightail to businesses that need the ability to send large files securely. Sharing is simple. Just drag or upload a file from your device or cloud storage solution into your Hightail account. Enter the information for who you want to share it with, and automatically send an email notification to the recipient. With Hightail, you’ll be able to track the delivery and downloads of content you shared. So you know exactly who opened it and when. Hightail lets you send files of up to 500 GB. You can add password protection to files and set expiration dates as well. Here’s an overview of the plans and pricing for Hightail: Lite — Free
Pro — $12 per month per user
Teams — $24 per month per user
Business — $36 per user
As you can see, the pricing is largely based on the file sending limits. But the features get significantly better with each plan as well. The free option is actually pretty good if you don’t need to send huge files, and even the entry-level Pro plan is suitable for a number of individuals. If you’re interested in a paid plan, you can try Hightail free for 14 days. MasterControlCustom enterprise pricing MasterControl is a DMS made for businesses where security is a top priority and concern. Certain industries have strict regulations for companies to comply with. MasterControl understands those compliance concerns and created a document management solution that meets any security requirements. One of the top features of MasterControl is its ability to track changes and revisions. If a document needs to be reviewed by a particular person, you can schedule a time and send out reminders as well. MasterControl can also limit revisions based on access. You have complete control over who can make changes to a document. You can also create custom watermarks, sequential numbering, and location tracking to control copies of your files. MasterControl is 21 CFR Part 11 compliant. This means that documents have a time-stamped audit trail, as well as e-sign functionality that complies with federal regulations. Another unique standout of MasterControl is its learning center. You’ll have access to tons of free videos, documents, and other resources to educate you about the platform and security compliance in general. If you need enterprise-grade security for document management in a strict industry, MasterControl will be a top option for you to consider. Contact their sales team for a custom quote. PaperTracerCustomized pricing PaperTracer has solutions for small, medium, and enterprise-level businesses. It’s a simple solution for document management. With PaperTracer, you’ll have the ability to automate your contracts and digitize all of your documents in a centralized database. PaperTracer has tracking and reporting capabilities and HIPPA compliant solutions as well. Your document management solution is completely customized. You can benefit from a cloud-based implementation with end-to-end workflow solutions. E-signature capability is also available with PaperTracer. PaperTracer is a top solution for businesses in healthcare and legal industries. Here’s a brief overview of the available plans, although all pricing is customized. Small
Mid Size
Enterprise
Demos and free trials are available for all three plans. I’d recommend PaperTracer for small and medium-sized businesses. While they do have an enterprise-grade solution, there are better options for that on our list. DocuWareTry it for free For those of you who are looking for a high-quality cloud-based solution for document management, look no further than DocuWare. This DMS is unique because it has specific solutions for tasks within your business processes:
DocuWare has everything you need for digital transformation and going paperless using cloud technology. This is another software that’s used by large businesses and enterprises. Sony, Toshiba, Levi’s, and Kellog’s are just a handful of their most well-recognized customers. But with that said, DocuWare stands out as a top option for small and medium-sized businesses as well. Small business owners can use DocuWare to automate their digital workflow, securely organize and store documents, and automate certain tedious tasks. DocuWare allows you and your staff to edit or annotate documents directly on the platform. Not every DMS on our list gives you this capability. I like DocuWare because it has features designed to connect remote employees and your deskless workforce. Anyone can easily access content at home or on the go from any device. More than 12,000 businesses in 90+ countries trust DocuWare for document management. So you know that the company is legitimate with a track record like that. It has specific use cases for things like contract proposals, finance processes, and HR tasks as well. The pricing for DocuWare follows a common theme in this guide. They offer a free trial, but you need to contact their customer support team directly for a custom quote. How to Find the Best Document Management SoftwareCompare The Best Document Management Software Get matched up with a document management service that fits your needs. Compare Quotes
Choosing a document storage solution can be challenging if you don’t know what to look for. There are certain features and benefits that you need to keep an eye on when you’re evaluating a prospective software. I’ll show you the methodology that we used to come up with the choices in this guide. You can use the same system to help narrow your search. Storage LocationIn most cases, document management solutions are either cloud-based or on-site. Some companies offer just one, while others let you choose which one you prefer. For example, eFileCabinet offers both on-premises and cloud-based storage. M-Files has both as well, and also has a hybrid solution. Other solutions, like DocuWare are completely cloud-based. I personally prefer cloud solutions because you can access content from anywhere. But for security reasons, some companies want files stored locally on their network. File Sharing and CollaborationWhat can you do with your files once they are uploaded and stored? While organizing files is obviously important, it’s useless for some companies if the documents can’t be shared with teams or external users. Look for a DMS that accommodates your internal needs for editing or collaborating on files. Features like automated version updates and in-platform editing capabilities are crucial here. The size of your files will also depend on which solution is best for your business. If you need to share large files, Hightail is the best choice. SecurityMost business-related files and data are sensitive. So it’s important to have a document management solution that can securely store information. Some solutions offer access permissions based on individual clearance levels or even location. Other platforms specialize in compliance for unique industries, like healthcare, legal, or government businesses. PricePricing for DMS is usually based on storage limits and users. At each price tier, you can expect the plan to have additional features and benefits. The majority of the solutions on this list offer custom plans and pricing. So to get a better idea of how much your document management software will cost, you’ll need to consult with a sales representative. For those of you who are looking for a cost-effective solution and instant sign-ups, eFileCabinet will be a top choice for you to consider. IntegrationsIdeally, you want to find document management software that works with the platforms you’re already using. Whether it’s CRM like Salesforce, or document editing and creation software like Microsoft Office 365, certain platforms have a wide range of integrations for you to choose from. However, other solutions that are niche-specific are a bit more limited. So make sure you use software that will actually benefit your workflow process. ConclusionDocument management software is extremely diverse. Each solution offers unique benefits for businesses based on size, industry, and many other factors. Still not sure which of the above is the best document management software for you? Use the tool below to compare products based on your specific needs. Compare The Best Document Management Software Get matched up with a document management service that fits your needs. Compare Quotesvia Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-document-management-software/ Want to jump straight to the answer? The best VPS host for most people is definitely Bluehost. When most people launch a new website, they use a shared hosting service to meet their web hosting needs. That’s because shared hosting is the most basic and cost-effective way to host a beginner website. But as your site scales, its hosting needs are going to change. That’s when it’s time to start looking for a virtual private server—better known as VPS hosting. Not sure whether VPS hosting makes sense for your business? Scroll to the bottom of this post for more on how VPS works and how it compares to other hosting options.
Finding the best VPS hosting plan can be intimidating. There are so many hosting providers out there offering VPS options. Taking the time to research all of them would take days. Fortunately for you, I’ve already taken the time to do all of the research. I’ve gone through dozens of VPS hosting plans and narrowed down the top options for you to consider. Here are my 7 top picks for the best virtual private server providers in 2020. Top 7 best VPS hosting providers:Read on for detailed reviews of the VPS hosts above. I highlighted their plans and pricing while explaining what makes each one a top VPS hosting option. You’ll also learn about some of the potential downsides or weaknesses of these providers as well. Let’s begin. Virtual Private Server ReviewsBluehost VPSNormally $29.99/month Bluehost is an industry leader in the web hosting space. Their VPS plans offer a wide range of hosting options, to accommodate the needs of nearly every website. The reason why Bluehost stands out as a top choice to consider is because their virtual private servers offer both power and flexibility. They allow multi-server management, meaning you can add more space to your plan at any given time. This is ideal for websites that need the ability to scale at a moment’s notice, without any delays or downtime. You’ll be able to accomplish this without any assistance from a Bluehost administrator, directly from your advanced cPanel. Here’s an overview of Bluehost’s plans and pricing: Standard VPS
Enhanced VPS
Premium VPS
Ultimate VPS
As you can see, Bluehost offers pricing and resources for websites of all shapes and sizes. I found in my complete review of BlueHost hosting that even if you’re looking for an entry-level VPS plan, I’d still recommend starting with the Enhanced VPS as opposed to the Standard. For just $10 more per month, you’ll get double the SSD, RAM, and bandwidth. Although it’s worth noting that the prices listed above are promotional rates only. You’ll end up paying $29.99, $59.99, $89.99, and $119.99, respectively, when your plan renews. All Bluehost virtual private server plans include 24/7 support and a 30-day money-back guarantee. For a fair price, you’ll benefit from plenty of resources, support, and uptime compared to other options on the market. InMotion VPSNormally $64.99/month Unlike other web hosting providers that are best-known for shared hosting or dedicated servers, InMotion specializes in VPS hosting. It’s a top choice to consider whether you’re upgrading from an existing plan or looking to host a brand new website. One of the biggest differentiators of InMotion is that they offer traditional managed VPS hosting as well as Cloud VPS hosting. Altogether, they have six VPS plans (three for each category). Let’s take a look at each one to see what’s best for your website. InMotion Managed VPS Hosting The managed plans are ideal for business owners, agencies, and resellers. Each plan offers free server management, updates, and free site migrations. You’ll also benefit from a resource monitoring dashboard, unlimited domains, unlimited email accounts, and unlimited MySQL databases.
To get these low introductory rates, you’ll need to sign up for a 2-year plan. All plans are ecommerce optimized and come with optional root access for those of you who want more advanced control over your settings. InMotion Cloud VPS The cloud hosting account plans offered by InMotion are best for developers and system administrators. That’s because each plan comes with full root access, including SSH keys, which gives you total control over customization. As a developer, you’ll essentially get a blank-slate to customize a VPS to meet the exact needs for your website. You can also code in the language of your preference, like Java, Ruby, and other population choices. InMotion Cloud VPS provides enterprise-level hardware, with SSD servers that are 20x faster than the competition.
In my review of InMotion hosting I found that in order to get the best introductory rates for cloud VPS, you need to commit for one year, as opposed to two years with the managed plans. As you can see, the pricing for the managed plans and cloud hosting plans are very similar. So the biggest difference between the two is basically how much control you want over the server. Unless you’re a developer, I think that the majority of you should lean toward the managed plans, just based on the simplicity. HostGator VPSNormally $89.95/month HostGator is another popular name in the world of web hosting. While they are best known for their low-cost shared hosting plans, they also have virtual private servers that are worth considering. HostGator offers competitive VPS pricing, although their plans aren’t the lowest that we’ve seen. Snappy 2000
Snappy 4000
Snappy 8000
The prices are fair for the resources. But like most hosting providers, these introductory rates will increase when your plan renews. However, HostGator gives you the option to lock in these low rates for the longest time compared to other options we’ve seen so far. You can pay these intro rates for 36 months. But with that said, the price increases are the most significant compared to other providers as well. The introductory rates are all roughly 75% cheaper than the actual rates. HostGator stands out with its reliable and multi-layer security network. This enhanced protection paired with the ability to easily scale your resources is what makes HostGator a top VPS choice on our list. They also offer good cloud hosting plans as I found in my review of HostGator cloud hosting. Just keep in mind that their customer service and support falls a bit short compared to other providers. LiquidWeb VPSNormally $59.99/month LiquidWeb isn’t one of the most well-known hosting providers on the market, but they still offer excellent hosting solutions. All LiquidWeb VPS plans are fully managed. They manage your hardware and the network. Their administrators also handle all security updates and patches as well as support for the operating system and all software. Unlike some of the other hosting providers we’ve seen so far, LiquidWeb doesn’t have any special or fancy names for their plans. You’re essentially paying for your resources, starting with RAM.
All of these prices are based on annual contracts. You’ll pay significantly more if you choose to go month-to-month. LiquidWeb has 2-year plans available upon request. But you’ll need to talk to their customer service team to find out those special rates for your website. Speaking of customer service, the support offered by the LiquidWeb team is exceptional. They are available 24/7 via phone, email, and live chat. All LiquidWeb virtual private servers have 10 TB of bandwidth, which is the most we’ve seen so far. The 16 GB of RAM plan has up to 200 GB of SSD disk space, which is also the highest we’ve seen so far. Most VPS providers don’t offer a 16 GB plan. I can’t imagine most of you will need it, but for those of you who do, this is where I recommend getting it. To put that into perspective for you, 16 GB of RAM is double the amount of the highest plans offered by both Bluehost and InMotion. Click here and use coupon code QUICKSPROUT to get 40% off 2 months of any Liquid Web hosting plan. HostPapa VPSNormally $49.99/month If you’re looking for an enterprise-grade virtual private server, HostPapa needs to be toward the top of your list. With up to 12 CPU cores, 24 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of SDD, HostPapa’s capacity is unmatched. Here’s a closer look at all of their plans and pricing. So for those of you who want as many resources as possible, you’ll have to pay top dollar to get it. The Extreme VPS plan starts at $249.99 per month and renews at $299.999 per month. It’s safe to say that’s a huge jump from their lowest price-point, starting at just $19.99 per month. For those of you who are developers or more advanced, you’ll have root access to make customized changes. Another top benefit of HostPapa is that you can increase your power and resources at any time. They also give you the option to manage multiple servers simultaneously. Regardless of your plan, you can always add an extra server directly from the HostPapa dashboard. So for those of you who are planning to scale significantly, you won’t have to worry about outgrowing your VPS. All HostPapa VPS plans are ecommerce optimized and provide enhanced security for online stores. HostPapa is a top choice for companies who want to build a web-based app as well. For technology and features that are so advanced, the cPanel interface offered by HostPapa is extremely easy to use. You can monitor all of your resources, and make any adjustments in real-time with just one click. If you’re currently using another hosting provider, HostPapa offers a free domain transfer and free VPS migration. They also have outstanding 24/7 support. With all of this in mind, I’d only consider using HostPapa if you need a plan with the most possible resources. Otherwise, you can get comparable plans at a better rate elsewhere. iPage VPSNormally $24.99/month If you’re looking for a low-cost VPS plan, look no further than iPage. With plans starting as low as $19.99 per month, iPage offers a quality service at an affordable rate. iPage has been around for more than 20 years. Over 1 million sites are using this platform for web hosting. So if you decide to go with one of their VPS plans, you know that you’re getting it from a reputable provider. Let’s take a closer look at their plans. Basic VPS
Business VPS
Optimum VPS
As you can see, these are the lowest prices that we’ve seen so far, even after the full-price renewal rates kick in. iPage also specializes in web design and other services that I discovered in my in depth review of iPage hosting. So for those of you who are building a new website from scratch and want to start with a cheap VPS hosting plan, iPage is a top choice. Even with these low rates, you’ll still benefit from quality 24/7 support. You just won’t get the capacity and resources offered by some higher-tier providers. A2 Hosting VPSManaged starts at $49.99/month A2 Hosting stands out because they offer both managed and unmanaged VPS plans. Typically, unmanaged VPS plans with root access and custom features come at a higher price point. But not with A2 Hosting. Experienced developers can get an unmanaged virtual private server for as low as $5 per month. Although with just 20 GB of storage and 512 MB of RAM, this entry-level plan likely won’t meet your needs. Here’s a closer look at A2’s VPS plans: Unmanaged VPS Plans
With the unmanaged plans, you can configure your server preferences for disk space, CPU, memory, and bandwidth. Obviously, any adjustments will impact the price. Managed VPS Plans and Core VPS Plans
The only difference between the Managed plans and Core plans is that the core plans come with root access. However, you won’t be able to configure your server the same way you would if you select an unmanaged plan. Overall, A2 is a great choice for developers who want complete control and customization over their VPS at an affordable rate. For traditional managed hosting, I’d probably look elsewhere. With that said, A2 Hosting has one of the best customer support teams on the market. So if that’s something that you prioritize, it’s worth taking a closer look at their plans. Check out my full review of A2 hosting for more about the company. How to Find the Best VPS Host For YouNow that you’ve had a chance to look at some specific VPS plans, it’s time to determine the best possible choice for you and your website. To make things easier, your decision should be based on two main factors.
In most cases, price and features will go hand-in-hand. If you need the highest possible RAM, disk space, and storage, then you should expect to pay higher prices. Aside from that, you could lean toward one provider or plan over another based on other features like customer support, security, and the ability to scale. Some of you might be wondering what qualifications and standards we used to determine which VPS services are the best. All of the plans on our list scored high based on the following considerations: Uptime RatesUptime is arguably the most important factor to consider in web hosting. Every VPS plan on this guide performed well in our uptime tests. Most providers guarantee a 99.9% uptime rate and they’ll credit your bill if they fail to meet those standards. However, you’d like to avoid this scenario altogether. Getting a few extra bucks back isn’t worth your site being down. So if you’re evaluating VPS plans from an uptime perspective, you can rest easy knowing that every provider on our list is a safe option. SpeedThe main reason why VPS hosting is so appealing is because it can drastically increase your website’s performance. Your website will experience a major speed boost now that it’s not sharing resources with other sites. Site speed is important for all websites, but it’s especially crucial for those of you who plan to experience high volumes of traffic. You want to make sure that you find a plan that can accommodate your traffic without sacrificing speed. ResourcesThe amount of resources required to effectively host a website will vary from site to site. Your needs will depend on the type of website you have and the size of your website. These are the primary resources that you need to look at when selecting a VPS plan:
The amount of resources you’ll get will be determined by the plan you choose. It all depends on what you need and how much you’re willing to spend. For example, we’ve seen RAM as low as 512 MB (A2 Entry Unmanaged VPS) and as high as 24 GB (HostPapa Extreme VPS). Root AccessTo be clear, not every VPS plan on our list comes with root access. But not everyone needs it. Root access is only necessary for those of you who are developers, technically advanced or want to make custom changes to your virtual server. The vast majority of you will be better off choosing a fully managed VPS plan. With that said, there are some fully managed plans that come with optional root access as well. So just make sure you know ahead of time whether you want to have root access or not, before choosing a plan. SupportDon’t underestimate the importance of web hosting. If you select one of the providers on the list above, there’s a good chance you won’t run into any issues. However, things happen. When something goes wrong, you want to make sure you have a web host that is easy to get in touch with. I’d recommend a VPS plan that comes with 24/7 phone and live chat support. Some of the choices on our list stand out for their support more than others. I made sure to point that out in the reviews. Add-ons and FreebiesWhile this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker, add-ons and freebies could sway you in one direction if you’re torn between two web hosts. For example, if you’re creating a new website from scratch then you probably don’t care about free site migrations. But for those of you who are looking to transfer from another provider, a free migration and free domain transfer could save you a couple of hundred dollars. What is VPS Hosting?VPS hosting is a step above shared web hosting. With a virtual private server, you’ll still be sharing a single server, but you’ll be sharing it with fewer websites. Here’s how it works. Basically, a virtual private server is one server that’s divided into separate virtual machines. Each virtual server can be run with custom configurations and separate operating systems. VPS hosting comes with dedicated server resources as well. So even though you’re sharing a single server with other websites, your RAM and CPU are independent of those sites. A virtual private server is best for those of you who want the benefits of a dedicated server, but don’t want to pay the high costs associated with dedicated hosting. Here’s a visual representation that shows the difference between shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers. Most of you probably don’t need a dedicated server. But you’ll eventually outgrow your shared hosting plan. Upgrading from a shared plan to a virtual private server will improve the speed and performance of your website. Since you won’t be sharing resources, your site will be more responsive on the user-end. VPS hosting is more equipped to handle traffic spikes as well. For more information on how VPS stacks up against other hosting options, check out my guide on the best web hosting providers. Virtual Servers Compared to Other Hosting OptionsBefore you finalize your decision on a VPS hosting plan, you need to make sure that a virtual private server is your best option. If you’re creating a new website from scratch and don’t plan on having too much traffic for a long time, then shared hosting will be your best bet. For those of you who want complete customization over your server and expect 100,000+ visitors each month, then you might want to consider a dedicated server. You can refer to my guide on the best dedicated hosting plans for more information on this. VPS hosting is for everyone else who falls in the middle. So if you’ve outgrown your shared plan but don’t need the resources offered on a dedicated server, then a virtual private server will be perfect for your website. Summary: The Best VPS Hosting for 2020With all of that in mind, I’ve put each VPS provider above into a “best for” category. Use can use list this as guidance to steer you in the right direction. As you can see, each review on our list stands out for a different reason. So I’m sure the needs of you and your website will fit somewhere into the categories below.
via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-vps-hosting/ Want to jump straight to the answer? The best cloud hosting company for most people is definitely SiteGround. Traditionally, there have always been three main types of web hosting. But cloud hosting is a newer type of web hosting that’s very appealing and rapidly growing in popularity. Your hosting plan and provider is the lifeblood of your website. So when you’re evaluating the best web hosting providers, you need to consider every possible option.
Just because something is new or unfamiliar, it doesn’t mean that you should take it out of the running for your decision. That was my inspiration for writing this guide. In many cases, cloud hosting is an ideal option for the majority of websites out there. So if you’re interested in learning more about this alternative type of hosting, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll explain exactly what cloud hosting is, how it works, and show you some of the best cloud web hosting providers on the market today. You can use this information to help you pick a cloud hosting plan that fits the needs of your website. Lets jump into the best cloud web hosting companies first and then I will cover more details around cloud hosting itself below. There are lots of hosting providers out there right now that offer cloud web hosting services. But not every plan is the same. I’ve taken the time to research all of the factors that determine a great cloud web hosting plan. As a result, I was able to identify the top cloud hosting providers: Top 5 Best Cloud Hosting Plans for 2020Check out the detailed reviews of each one below so you can determine which hosting provider has the best plan for your website. Cloud Web Hosting ReviewsSiteGroundStarts at $80.00/month SiteGround cloud hosting is perfect for websites that have outgrown their shared plans. These plans are fully managed, meaning that their DevOps configure your entire cloud account for you. With SiteGround handling the IT aspect of your hosting, you can focus on other areas of your business and website. You can add resources like RAM and CPU at any time with just one click in your admin settings. One of my favorite features is the ability to turn on auto-scaling, which will automatically render appropriate resources during times of unexpected traffic spikes. With SiteGround, you can completely configure your own cloud and plan based on the resources you need. But here’s a look at their basic plans: Entry Cloud
Business Cloud
Business Plus Cloud
Super Power
The Business or Business Plus plans should be more than enough resources for the majority of you, so that’s what I would recommend starting with. As I said before, you can always scale your resources to meet traffic demands. SiteGround provides advanced priority support to its cloud hosting clients. You’ll also benefit from webmaster tools like a dedicated IP, free CDN, free SSL, daily backups, and a private DNS. Check out my in depth SiteGround web hosting review for more information about their overall services. HostGatorStarts at $12.95/month HostGator is one of the most well-known names in the web hosting industry. Their cloud hosting plans are some of the most cost-effective options on the market today. Let’s take a look at some the three basic cloud hosting plans offered by HostGator: Hatchling Plan
Baby Plan
Business Plan
It’s worth noting that these prices are introductory rates for 36-month contracts. They are 45% cheaper than the actual price, which you’ll end up paying when you renew your contract. All cloud hosting plans come with a free SSL certificate. The Business plan comes with a dedicated IP, free SEO tools, and free domain as well. I like HostGator because the dashboard makes it easy for you to monitor the performance of your website. You can quickly view data related to page speed, uptime, reach, and more. Scaling your server resources is simple as well. This can be done with just one click, without any downtime, reboots, or data migrations. DreamHostStarts at max $4.50/month DreamHost has the easiest cloud setup in the industry. You can get your cloud servers live in less than 30 seconds. With that said, DreamHost cloud is best for developers. They have server options that are made for databases, web apps, and running tests in addition to websites. You can continue working the with DevOps tools that you’re already using. DreamHost also gives you full root access for complete control over your cloud servers. The best part about DreamHost is that you only pay for what you actually use. You’ll get charged for resources on an hourly basis based on the size of your server.
The 2 GB server is the recommended option for websites. You will not be billed anything when you sign up. Instead, you’re billed based on your monthly usage. The only area where DreamHost falls short that I found in my complete review of DreamHost web hosting services is their customer support. You can only contact customer service via email or live chat, which is only available for 16 hours daily. So if you prefer phone support or need help in the middle of the night, you’re out of luck until the morning. A2 HostingStarts at $5.00/month A2 Hosting has a reputation for being one of the fastest web hosting providers on the market. Their cloud plans are just as fast and reliable. I like the A2 cloud options because the plans are fully customizable based on your needs. Plans start at $5, $10, and $15 per month, respectively. But you only pay for the resources that you use based on how you configure your cloud servers. If you want to have cPanel, it’s an extra $19.95 per month and not available with the lowest-tier pricing plan. As I mention in my full review of A2 web hosting services they offer a 99.9% uptime promise as well as an anytime money-back guarantee. Although there are some contingencies to both, so make sure you read the fine print of your contract. If customer support is important to you, then you’ll definitely be satisfied with A2’s 24/7/365 guru support team. This cloud hosting provider is ideal for those of you who want unmanaged cloud hosting with lightning fast page loading speed. InMotionNormally $64.99/month InMotion may not be the most well-known hosting provider in the industry, but its cloud hosting plans are certainly some of the best. They have cloud hosting solutions for everyone.
Altogether, InMotion has 10 different plans and pricing tiers for cloud hosting, which is the most I’ve seen offered by any provider. For website owners, you’ll want to focus on the small business plans. InMotion makes it easy for you to scale your resources as your site grows I found in my complete review of InMotion hosting services. You’ll also get a resource monitoring dashboard, free auto backups, rapid provisioning, and full snapshots of your servers. InMotion offers a free SSL and free cPanel license with all of its cloud business plans. What Is Cloud Hosting?Broadly speaking, “the cloud” typically refers to remote storage solutions. For example, you can store pictures from your smartphone or documents on your computer to a cloud storage space like Google Drive. This is different than storing files locally on something like an external hard drive. I’m sure you’re familiar with both of these scenarios, and you probably even use cloud storage for something in your digital life. When it comes to web hosting, the cloud is a little bit more in-depth, but the same principles still apply. With cloud hosting, your web host isn’t connected to one physical location. Your website resources are maintained across multiple virtual servers in the cloud. Each cloud server is responsible for specific sets of tasks. If one of the servers in the cloud fails or goes down, the others will automatically pick up the slack to render those required resources. As you can see from this visual representation, your website will continue to run smoothly with cloud hosting, even if there is a problem with one of the servers. Your website will benefit from increased uptime rates and won’t be as susceptible to unplanned downtime. With a singular server, you’re essentially putting all of your eggs in one basket. This is a huge risk when you’re dealing with something as important as your website. In addition to fixing potential problems with one server, cloud hosting will keep your site stable, even as your traffic increases. Cloud hosting is also extremely easy to set up. For those of you who want to start hosting on the cloud right away, it can be a faster deployment option than something like a dedicated server or shared server. Who Is Cloud Hosting For?Cloud web hosting is ideal for medium to larger-sized businesses and websites that are growing rapidly. One of the major benefits of cloud hosting is the ability to scale resources on-demand, which is crucial for growing websites. Most cloud hosting plans have flexible pricing options, meaning you’ll only pay for the resources that you’re actually using. If you’re anticipating random traffic surges or a steady increase in website traffic in the coming years, then cloud hosting is the perfect option for you. Cloud hosting isn’t for everyone. For those of you who have a small personal website, small blog, or a micro-business, you probably don’t need to use cloud hosting if there is no growth coming in the future. A shared hosting plan is fine for those types of websites. When you’re ready to grow your website, you should consider upgrading to a cloud hosting plan as opposed to a VPS. While a virtual private server will be able to deliver enough server resources, a cloud plan is usually more cost-effective. Enterprise-level websites with the need to customize their server settings would benefit from a dedicated hosting plan rather than a cloud solution. Any website with more than 50,000 monthly visitors is a viable candidate for cloud hosting. It’s the perfect option for larger websites that can’t afford to have any downtime. How to Find the Best Cloud Hosting Plan For YouNot every cloud hosting plan is the same. Some hosting providers offer different features and benefits compared to others. When you’re evaluating a cloud web host, these are the factors that you should take into consideration. Scalable ResourcesYou need to make sure that you get a web hosting plan with enough bandwidth, storage, and disc space. In order to make this decision, you need to have some idea of how much traffic you’re going to get. But new websites face a common dilemma when they’re looking for a hosting plan. They have to decide if they want to get the highest possible bandwidth, even if they won’t come close to exceeding those limits. Or should they start with a lower bandwidth plan and upgrade as their traffic starts to increase? Cloud hosting solves this dilemma. Since your website is hosted on multiple servers, you won’t have to worry about exceeding bandwidth. If one server is maxed out, you can always pull resources from another. Look for a cloud hosting plan that lets you easily manage and configure your server resources in-real time. Here’s an example of what this looks like on HostGator Cloud, which is a provider that we reviewed earlier in this guide. I’d recommend a cloud hosting plan that allows you to scale your server resources without needing any approval from the provider. This is something that can be managed from your admin dashboard. PriceMost traditional hosting plans require you to pay a fixed monthly rate. You’ll be charged this amount even if you don’t use all of the resources on the server. But cloud hosting is much more flexible in terms of pricing. So I’d look for a hosting provider that charges you based on the resources that you actually use. Here’s an analogy. Let’s say you go to an all you can eat buffet, where the food options can also be purchased à la carte. The buffet price is $20 per person, which is the most you’ll have to pay, regardless of how much food you eat. But if you only eat $10 worth of food, then wouldn’t it be nice to get $10 back? That’s how some of the best cloud hosting plans are structured. This relates back to our previous point about being able to scale your resources on demand. For example, let’s say you just built a bunch of new backlinks and you’re expecting a particular blog post on your website to go viral. Rather than upgrading your entire plan (which you’d have to do with other types of web hosting) you can just increase the resources needed during that traffic spike and put everything back to normal when your traffic levels out. In this case, you’d only pay for the actual server usage during the surge. Here’s an example of this pricing structure from another one of the providers on our list, DreamHost. As you can see, pricing is based on usage. Each plan has a maximum monthly rate. Even the fine print at the bottom of the page states that you’ll only be billed for what you use. So look for a hosting provider that offers a similar pricing structure. Speed and PerformanceUptime rates, speed, and performance need to be a priority for every website owner. If your hosting plan doesn’t deliver the best performance, then it doesn’t matter how cool, new, or high-tech the solution is. The majority of cloud hosting servers will increase the capacity of your website, which boosts your page loading speed. Cloud hosting doesn’t put as much strain on a singular server, the same way it would if you had a shared, dedicated, or VPS plan. If your website has lots of resource-intensive data such as videos, images, and other media content, then cloud hosting is something that you need to take advantage of. Look for a cloud hosting plan that delivers content from the nearest remote server. This will ensure that all of your loading times are as fast as possible. At the end of the day, your website visitors don’t care what type of hosting plan you’re using. They just want your site to be responsive and load quickly. By prioritizing things like uptime and loading speed with cloud hosting, your website will ultimately perform better from the user end. SecurityNo matter what type of web hosting plan you have, security always needs to be a priority. Fortunately, cloud hosting is known to be very safe. That’s because your website is isolated from any potential problems with a physical server. Everything is being handled remotely, which wouldn’t be the case if you were relying on a singular server that’s hosted locally. If a local server was compromised, then your website would be at risk. Whereas if one server in your cloud network was hacked, failed, or had a system overload, your website would stay up and running without any downtime or delays. Look for a web host that offers any additional security protection as an incentive with your cloud hosting plan. ConclusionCloud web hosting is the perfect solution for growing websites. If your shared plan can no longer accommodate the needs of your site, then you should consider switching to a cloud solution. So what’s the best cloud hosting provider? It depends on what you’re looking for. Here’s a recap of the cloud hosting reviews above: Summary: Best Cloud Web Hosting Plans for 2020
via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-cloud-web-hosting/ My quick take? I prefer Domain.com over other top registrars. They have great prices and super easy to use. It’s the registrar that I personally use and always recommend. Click here to get 25% off with my special coupon code: QUICKSPROUT But in case Domain.com isn’t the best option for you, I’ve reviewed it along with six solid contenders based on years of experience. Over the course of my career starting, running, and selling businesses, I’ve bought hundreds of domain names. I’ll walk you through what makes the best domain registrars stand out from the rest, plus a few I would not recommend, how to skip the upsells you don’t need, and how to get your features up correctly. This guide will help both the first-time and the experienced buyer pick which of the thousands of accredited domain registrars to use to buy a domain name. Read on to learn more about each of my top picks for the best domain registrars of 2020. The Top 7 Best Domain Registrars Ranked
Pro Tip: How to Get a FREE Domain Name!Get a free domain name when you bundle domain registration and web hosting together at BlueHostFree domain name included Although you may be tempted to bundle domain registry with your web host, if you’re planning on buying more than one domain over time, you should keep them separate. It’s not a big deal to go ahead and buy them together if you’re doing something simple, like starting a portfolio site or a small personal blog. But, domain names and web hosting are two different competencies and it’s best to use expert providers for each. With that said, if you have a very specific need and don’t think that you’ll ever need more domain names, you can save money by registering with Bluehost when you start your website or blog. Bluehost offers a free domain name with their web hosting plans. This is my recommendation for those of you who want to bundle these services from the same provider. How the Best Domain Registrars Compare#1. Domain.comStraightforward and easy to use Whether you’re a first-time or experienced buyer, Domain.com is the most logical place to start your domain name registration process. It’s my top overall pick due to the simplicity and quality of the service. You can get a .com domain from Domain.com for just $9.99 per year. During the checkout process, you have the option to purchase your domain for up to five years, which is one of my favorite features offered by this provider. I can set it and forget it. Privacy and protection overwrites your WHOIS information. The name and address of every domain owner is available publicly. Obviously, this can cause privacy issues. Domain registrars will offer to overwrite your personal info with their generic info to help protect your privacy. Some domain registrars offer this for free but Domain.com charges $8.99 per year per domain. I get around this by having my domains under a company name which I’m fine being publicly available. If you’re buying domains personally, I’d definitely protect your personal info even if it means paying a bit more. As you continue through the checkout process, Domain.com will hit you with some additional upsells, which is standard procedure in the domain registrar industry. They offer things like G Suite, web hosting, SSL certificates, and SiteLock. You can skip these add-ons. G Suite is something that you can purchase independently and directly from Google. SSL and SiteLock should come with your web hosting service. The entire purchase process can be completed in a minute, at most. This is ideal for those of you who plan to purchase multiple domains. With helpful 24/7 customer support, Domain.com is a great option for domain transfers as well. Overall, I can’t find anything bad to say about Domain.com. It should be one of the first places you look for a domain. Get 25% off with coupon code QUICKSPROUT #2 BluehostFree domain name with any hosting plan In most cases, it’s best to keep domain registration and web hosting separate. But if you’re starting a new website and want to bundle your domain and web host, Bluehost is the only provider that nails both of these services. More than 2 million websites across the globe are powered by Bluehost. They are an industry leader in web hosting. If you don’t plan on buying any more domains then you can save money by registering with Bluehost. A free domain comes with all of their hosting plans. With shared hosting plans starting as low as $2.95 per month, you really can’t find a better deal elsewhere. At least not from a provider that offers quality hosting and quality domains. As soon as you select a hosting plan, you’ll be brought to this page to set up your domain: The Bluehost domain manager makes it easy for anyone to buy, track, transfer, and update domain names from a simple dashboard. You’ll also get a free SSL certificate, which is something that other domain registrars try to add-on as an upsell. Bluehost also offers autorenewals for domains, so you won’t have to worry about your domain expiring because you forgot to renew every year. Add domain privacy and protection to your registration for just $0.99 per month. You can also prevent any unauthorized domain transfers with domain lock, which is $1.99 per month. #3. NamecheapFree privacy protection Namecheap’s checkout process is simple, with very limited upsells. There’s nothing confusing about the process and nothing to slow you down either. It’s everything I want in a domain purchasing experience and nothing I don’t want. I’m able to search for a domain name and purchase it in under two minutes. How to navigate the Namecheap upsells During the purchase process, Namecheap will hit you with a few questions. You can blast through that section pretty quickly using this cheat sheet of which to add and which to skip:
As I said before, web hosting and domain registration are very different. It’s tough to find a company that nails both. If you’re looking to bundle domain registration with hosting, then my recommendation would be Bluehost. Otherwise, you can get your domain from Namecheap and check out my guide on the best web hosts for alternative options.
If you want a business email, it’s always free to forward emails from Namecheap. If you’d like cloud storage for that email, or to send emails from your domain name, we recommend not buying it from your registrar. My universal recommendation is a no-brainer: G Suite ($6/user/month), which includes Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Calendar, and Hangouts.
This is the going price for G Suite but I think it’s simpler to keep your billing for G Suite directly with Google. That way, if you ever leave Namecheap, you won’t have to get them to transfer your G Suite account back to Google. You don’t save much time (once you get your Gmail on autobill it’s the same amount of work — none). And you risk entangling things that you’ll have to detangle later. Build for the long term for the start by setting up best-in-class accounts across the board and separate their billing.
You’ll need an SSL certificate if you plan to accept payments or collect other sensitive information on your website, but not this one. The PositiveSSL Namecheap is upselling here is just a Domain Verification. I recommend getting your SSL from your web host instead.
You’re here to buy your domain name and only your domain name. If you want managed WordPress hosting, I recommend using a top web host that focuses on hosting. SiteGround and Dreamhost both have some good managed WordPress built into their shared hosting plans. But Bluehost will still be your best bet if you want to get WordPress hosting and domain registration in the same place. Namecheap’s $0.18 Fee That $0.18 ICANN fee is a mandatory charge from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, for each domain registration, renewal, or transfer. It’s negligible, although noticeable, especially considering other registrars, including NameSilo, absorb it. Free Domain Privacy Namecheap provides a WhoisGuard subscription for free forever. You definitely want WhoisGuard. It’s a privacy protection that prevents your personal contact information from being displayed in the publicly accessible Whois database. As long as your domain is with Namecheap, you’ll never pay for WhoisGuard. GoDaddy, on the other hand, charges $10/year and most web hosts that offer domain registration charge $12/year. Note: WHOIS Privacy is also free with NameSilo, Gandi, Google Domains, and Hover. Once you’ve purchased your domain, the dashboard is clearly laid out. I’ve found Namecheap’s knowledge base to be thorough and helpful. Great documentation is key: buying and setting up a domain isn’t part of most people’s expertise. It’s just not something you do every day. If you need more support, Namecheap has 24/7 live chat help and a 2-hour ticket response time. #4. NameSilo
At first glance NameSilo is laughable, especially compared to its competition. Its aesthetic seems to be late 90s PowerPoint — although a new site is thankfully in beta testing. I suspect this is in large part due to NameSilo being acquired in early 2018 by software company Brision Innovations. It’s almost impossible to believe that it’s the second fastest growing domain registrar in the world (based on November 2018 sales). Even more impressive, NameSilo’s CEO says this growth isn’t fueled by marketing dollars: “The fact that NameSilo is growing faster than nine of the top ten domain registrars in the world, most of which are public companies with at least a billion-dollar market capitalization and very large marketing budgets, is a testament to the team and the service we are providing our customers. This growth by NameSilo has been accomplished with a near zero marketing spend.” NameSilo’s comically outdated site isn’t stalling growth. What I appreciate about NameSilo It’s a domain registrar and that’s it. It’s really cheap (even cheaper than Namecheap), throws in domain privacy for free (though you’ll need to opt-in by selecting it in your cart), and offers a full-blown discount program for bulk domain purchases. There are virtually no upsells and you can start configuring your domain in checkout — linking it to a third-party service (like a website builder) and entering custom NameServers. Customer support is also comparable, with a rich knowledge base and 24/7 live chat. So, if you don’t mind some (hopefully temporarily) outdated interfaces, NameSilo is a great option. You can start configuring your domain name during NameSilo’s checkout flow. Don’t forget to opt-in to WHOIS privacy protection. #5. Gandi
For over $15/year for the same domain we can get for $10–12/year from Namecheap, I want to see more from Gandi. It has a beautiful interface, and is well-regarded amongst developers, but there’s not much it offers that Namecheap or even Google Domains doesn’t: free domain privacy, free SSL for one year, email hosting. One standout is its domain bundles. You can score a deal if you want to buy multiple domains at once. If you want to bundle domain registrations, Gandi will give you a good deal. #6. Google Domains
I like the familiar and simple Google-style interface. It’s clean and there are literally no upsells and absolutely zero flourish. But, most web developers prefer not to share more information with Google than is absolutely necessary. I felt the exact same way. One huge downside with Google Domains: If you need help, you won’t be able to dig into a rich knowledge base. However, there is chat, email, and phone support in English, 24 hours a day, and in French, Spanish, and Japanese with more limited hours. In February 2019, Google hosted an early access program for users to pay extra to register a .dev domain through Google Domains through its early access program. As of February 28, 2019, these .dev domains are available without any additional fees — just the annual registration charge of about $12 to $15. Google has a filterable list of domain registrar partners. (Namecheap, NameSilo, Gandi, and Hover are on that list.) If you buy a .dev url, you’ll be joining GitHub, Women Who Code, and Codecademy. Google Domains makes no fanfare of its free privacy protection — make sure you turn it on. #7. Hover
Hover spit my domain name request through a thesaurus. We’ve all been there, desperately trying to find an available domain after hitting hundreds of dead-ends. Any tool that can offer new ideas when buying a domain name is super helpful. I also like that there are limited upsells in Hover’s purchase flow, and privacy protection is included. Email forward isn’t free though, it’s $5/month. My biggest worry with Hover ultimately is its backend. Browse through Hover’s outage history and you’ll find hours-long outages are frequent. Domain Registrars I Don’t Recommend
I do not recommend 1&1 or GoDaddy. In terms of price, customer service, and overall value, you can do better elsewhere. Avoid any domain registrar with a bad reputation or history of poor customer support. This includes any company on Spamhaus’ list of the worst domain registrars. I’d also stay away from GoDaddy and 1&1. There are lots of unfavorable reviews of these registrars online. GoDaddy has even been suspected of throttling down outbound transfers, which is obviously not great. My Methodology For Ranking The Top Domain RegistrarsWhen I research and rank the best domain registrars I look for those that meet these criteria:
Why the reputation of your domain registrar matters In mid-March 2019, the 9th largest domain registrar by volume went dark — out of nowhere. Customers could not renew expiring domains, couldn’t log into their accounts, and couldn’t buy new domains. Their domain registrar was out of business and their domains were in limbo. When this happens, panic sets in. “Am I about to lose all my domains?” In cases like this, ICANN steps in to de-accredit the registrar and bulk transfer the domains to an accredited registrar. The new location of the domains is announced on ICANN’s bulk transfer page. Even though there’s an established process, the last thing any of us want is to be at the mercy of a bulk domain transfer to another register. Too many things can go wrong. And there’s too much at risk. Losing the wrong domain would kill my business. Pro Tips For Buying a Domain NameBefore you settle on a domain registrar and buy a domain name, review these tips to make sure everything goes smoothly. Don’t bundle domains and web hosting from just any providerIt’s common for domain registrars to offer web hosting services. It’s also common for web hosting providers to offer domain registration. These bundles might seem tempting, but in most cases, you should keep each service separate. This gives you a lot more flexibility with changing web hosts and/or domain registrars in the future. It also improves the quality of service on both. I’d only recommend registering a domain and getting hosting with the same company if you’re not planning to buy more domains in the future. And if you’re going to bundle your domain and web host, you should use Bluehost. They are the only provider that is able to nail both of these services. This is a great option for something specific and simple, such as a blog or small personal site. Always opt in to domain privacyMost domain registrars include it for free. Those who don’t charge about $12/year. Buy it. It’s what keeps your personal information (including your name, phone number, email address, and mailing address) from being listed in the Whois public database — and therefore out of the hands of spammers. You can also use the your business info since it’s already publicly available. Definitely don’t use your personal info though. Remember to turn on automatic renewalIn a lot of businesses, auto-renewal is sneaky way to charge you for something you never use and forgot you bought in the first place. But when it comes to domain names, I absolutely recommend it. If there’s anything you know your business will always need is its website. Forgetting to re-up means your site will go down, which happened to automated marketing powerhouse Marketo in 2017. Even worse, if you have a covetable domain name, it might get scooped up before you can rebuy it. That’s what happened to Google.com back in 2016. If someone else buys your domain, it could be gone forever. Don’t ever let you domain registrations lapse. Prioritize your URL over your registrarFor the most part, if a name is available, you will probably be able to purchase it through any of the best domain registrars. But some accredited registrars only offer limited top-level domains (TLD). (A TLD is the stuff that comes after the dot.) This is especially common in smaller registrars or providers that offer domain registration as a secondary service, like a web host. (For example, InMotion Hosting, one of our favorite web hosts, can only register .com, .net, .org, .biz, .us, and .info domains.) That’s because a registrar is different than a registry. Registries are who actually hold the TLD and their associated names — for example, VeriSign controls all .com and .net domains while PIR controls all .org and .ngo domains. Registrars manage the reservations of the names provided by the registries, and have to act in accordance with each one they are involved with. Not all registrars work with all registries, which is why some only have access to specific TLDs. What matters here is that you get the URL you want — if it’s not available at the first place you check, look around. You may also be able to buy it with the help of a broker. Don’t make a big deal of tiny price differencesRegistrars are middlemen between you and domain registries that hold all the domains. It’s similar to how department stores are the middlemen between shoppers and clothing manufacturers. The registries set their prices — the equivalent of wholesale prices — and registrars add their fees on top. That’s how they make money. A registrar selling a domain for more money than its competitor is just making more money off the sale of the same product. (Some registrars are making headlines for registering domains “at cost,” including Cloudflare, the content delivery network provider.) If you are price-comparison shopping, take into account the renewal fee, the price of privacy protection, and the cost of your time should you need to wait on hold longer for worse customer service. Recap of the Best Domain Registrars for 2020Buying a domain name can be intimidating if you’ve never done it before. Finding a reliable domain registrar will make your life much easier. These are the best options for you to consider:
Regardless of your situation, budget, or website type, you’ll be able to buy a domain name from one of the registrars on this list. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-domain-registrar/ Want to jump straight to the answer? The best blogging platform for most people is definitely Wix. When it comes to creating your own blog, you have two options. The first option is to build a website and blog there. Building your own website and blogging on it is the old-school way to build a blog. To do this, you’ll need to use software like Wix or do everything yourself through WordPress. This requires more work upfront but you’ll own and control your site completely. The other option is to use a blogging platform like Medium, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram. Even if some of these platforms aren’t technically blog platforms, you can get more success from them by treating them as blogs. It’s a lot easier to get in front of millions of people and takes less than 15 minutes to set up. The downside is that you’ll be beholden to their rules and algorithms. In this guide, I’ll break down both ways to set up your blog and help you pick which blog site, software, or blogging platform is best for you. Let’s get to it.
How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform for YouTo point you in the right direction, I need to ask you two questions: one about money, the other about your blog niche. 1. Do you plan to make money blogging?If so, go with Wix. Wix has all the features you’ll need to make money with your blog and is a lot easier to use than other platforms. • 14-day free trial If you’re not trying to make money blogging, use one of the best blog sites I list below instead. These blog sites are great if you aren’t trying to create an income: They have built-in audiences and you won’t have to pay anything. My recommendation of which one to choose is based on the outcome that you’re trying to achieve. Which leads me to my next question. 2. What is your blog like and who do you hope will read it? In other words, what is your blog niche?
If you hadn’t thought about creating your blog on anything other than a website builder, it might be kind of hard to wrap your mind around these blog sites. I’m not saying they’re best for every blog, they’re a great way to go if your audience already spends time on those platforms. In other words, a social platform might be a better fit for you than a true “blog.” That’s why I recommend that designers, photographers, and artists skip blogging entirely. Go start an Instagram account, you’ll build an audience much easier that way. Reviews of the Top 6 Best Blogging Platforms and Blog Sites for 2020Here are our in-depth reviews on the most popular blog platforms. Wix – Best Website Builder for BloggingI like Wix for blogging because it’s one-and-done. If you want to go the easy route for owning your own blog, this is it. It’s an easy runner up to WordPress for the best blog platform. The templates are great looking and you can customize them with a drag-and-drop editor. The blog manager is simple and intuitive, and you’ll get analytics and SEO built right in. It’s simple to add the basic features you might want on your blog: social tools, likes, comments, hashtags, categories, and a subscriber forms. All of the SEO features you need are easy to access too: alt tags for your images, internal links, SEO titles and descriptions (that are different from you post title), and nofollow tags for external links. Wix blogs have an automatic email subscribe feature and a social media bar beneath each article for sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and more. To build a blog on Wix, you’ll sign into your account and pick a template. There’s a Blog template category, which is a great place to start. Once you have your template selected, I suggest updating the font, colors, and logo to personalize your template and help it stand out from the rest. Writing a post is as simple as clicking Create a Post, writing and adding images. You can save drafts, or even give other contributors writing privileges for you site. This is all just as easy from a mobile device as from a desktop — no app required. Make sure that you update your SEO settings for every post: this is what’s presented in the search results page and is critical for ranking in organic search. The resulting post will have an automatic read-time count, like a Medium post right next to the author’s name, which I also like a lot. I also like the ability to live-chat with your readers in the Wix app. If you build a real community in your blog or are open to answering reader questions in real time — say about an online course you’re offering or a webinar that’s coming up — then it’s a cool feature. Pros and Cons of Creating a Wix BlogYou can also build your blog using Wix. It’s an all-in-one drag-and-drop website builder. It’s an easy option if you’re looking to have your blog on your own site, rather than on a blog platform or service like Medium or another form of social media. The downside is you’ll be paying a subscription fee and you’ll be locked into Wix’s themes and tools. So, you’ll trade some convenience for some flexibility. For most users, we think this trade-off is worth it. WordPress – Best Blogging Software for FlexibilityWordPress by far the most flexible option. No matter what you want from your blog, it can be done with WordPress. To build your own site, you’ll need to buy a domain name, get web hosting, and set up your WordPress account. There’s more information on our post The Best Web Hosting and on The Best Web Hosting for WordPress, which is about selecting a managed host that’s designed for WordPress. You will need to spend time configuring your site, that includes picking a theme, configuring it, setting up your WordPress settings, adding SEO WordPress plugins, getting all your content uploaded. For first-time bloggers, it can be overwhelming. That’s the trade-off with WordPress. It’ll do anything you want but it takes more time to learn than an easier platform like Wix. Pros and Cons of Blogging with WordPressThe main reason to use WordPress is the complete flexibility. No matter what you want to build or how big you get, WordPress can handle it. This is the biggest benefit os using WordPress. There are millions of plugins that give you all sorts of extra features. And if you really want, you can start changing the code yourself. WordPress is open-source which means you can do whatever you want with it. If you know PHP or are willing to hire a developer, you can change WordPress however you like. But with such flexibility comes a lot of learning. You have to learn WordPress, the plugins, your theme, and how to write posts well. It’s a lot to take in when building your first site. If you just want to launch your site so you can start blogging right away, WordPress won’t be the easiest option. Medium – Best Traditional Blogging SiteIt’s hard to pin down how many users Medium has — they focus on sharing how much time is spent on the platform reading instead. I dig it. The platform, was founded by Twitter co-founder and former CEO Evan Williams as a response to the hyper-short limits of Twitter, hence the name Medium. At one point, there was some distinction between even longer blog platforms, but that’s dissipated by now. In 2017, Medium had 60 million unique visitors. From personal experience, I know that when I read on Medium, I read with curiosity and intent. I’m ready to put in some time reading, and the read times on each article get me to commit to sticking it out for the whole thing. Posting with Medium is super simple. There’s a clean, very white WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. Basically, as you type, you see what the post will look like when it’s published. There are a lot of tips and tricks to format your post that are a little hidden in the simplicity of the interface. Don’t stop at this point though. Instead of just a profile, I recommend creating a Medium Publication. This gives you the option to add other writers and editors to your blog. More importantly, it gives you a lot more options for controlling what is essentially your blog homepage. Take a look below at the difference between Patagonia’s basic Medium profile (top image below) and REI’s Medium publication (bottom image below). Above, a consecutive stream of your posts. This is all you’ll get with a Medium profile. One is a simple chronological feed and the other is a designed page with useful menu options. When you create a publication like REI has you also unlock the ability to send a newsletter to all of your followers. Pro Tips for Blogging on Medium
Pros and Cons of a Medium BlogMedium is the best all-around traditional blogging platform. It’s where the majority of readers who’re looking to read classic blog-style posts are right now. The downside is built into the choice of picking to create your own blog or build one an a platform — you won’t own the traffic and you won’t be able to do things like sell ad placements, for example. Deciding to blog on WordPress vs Medium isn’t an either-or choice. You can also publish your site and re-publish some posts on Medium to take advantage of its benefits, just like you would any syndication deal. You can thoughtfully approach this, but there are some technical how-tos we’ll get into below. You’ll need to import your posts to Medium properly and set the canonical tag, so you’re not penalized by Google (at worst) or simply out-ranked by the Medium version of the post (at best). Overall, though, I prefer to see each channel as a separate channel and create and publish unique content for that channel. LinkedIn – Best Blog Site for BusinessThere are 590 million LinkedIn users, 154 million of them in the US. And a lot of them are active: 44% are monthly active users. LinkedIn used to be basically a resume hosting platform. In a lot of ways it was like a job-hunting dating app: you’d go on if you were looking to hire or looking to get hired but not much else. In the last few years that has changed dramatically. If you’re building a business blog, the audience on LinkedIn is premium: 45% of LinkedIn article readers are in upper-level positions (managers, VPs, Directors, C-level). In an article for Forbes, “Is LinkedIn Poised To Be The Next Big Social Network … For Brands?”, Ryan Holmes nailed what’s great about the platform, “Hardcore LinkedIn users know that there’s a certain warm professionalism that underlies many exchanges on the platform. In short, LinkedIn offers a kind of stability, civility and real value that’s sorely needed on some social platforms.” I completely concur. The platform has a ready made culture and set of expectations that a business blogger would dream of creating on their own site. Why build it when it already exists? LinkedIn is a social network. Your influence grows in proportion to the size of your network. The more posts you publish, the more connection requests and followers you’ll attract. Writing consistently not only expands your network, it also reinforces the message about the depth and breadth of your knowledge of the subjects that you write about. — Glenn Leibowitz, “10 Tips for Writing LinkedIn Blog Posts That Expand Your Influence” for Inc. Publishing doesn’t make you a LinkedIn Influencer, unfortunately. That’s a hand-selected group of people that rotates throughout the year “to include only the most engaged, prolific, and thoughtful contributors and to ensure that their expertise matches our members’ interests,” according to LinkedIn. An article isn’t a post and vice versa. A post is a smaller update you’d share with your feed and connections. Think quick anecdote or pro tip. They’re limited to 1,300 characters, which is about 5 lines. Articles are longer and more in-depth. They’re something that the broader LinkedIn audience would be interested in reading. A person who reads your article can also follow you from there, so they’ll be alerted when you publish your next article. Any articles you publish will appear in the Articles section of your LinkedIn profile. Pro Tips for Blogging on LinkedIn
Want to improve? Check out LinkedIn’s own course on getting better at blogging on the platform, Writing to be Heard on LinkedIn. Because when they own the platform, what’s good for them is successful content that people want to read and engage with! Pros and Cons of Blogging on LinkedInIf you’re blogging about business, or something related, like management, then I’d say to build your blog on LinkedIn. There’s a pre-existing community of people there talking about those topics and ready to read your posts too. You’ll be able to build business followers, which is different than a “connection.” The audience on LinkedIn is premium: 45% of LinkedIn article readers are in upper-level positions: managers, VPs, Directors, and C-level. If you’re building thought leadership, brand value, or community, rather than trying to make money, I recommend going to where your audience is rather than trying to woo them over to where you are. Build content for them where they already are and they’ll love you for it. You’ll be able to build your network and your business opportunities, but like all blog platforms, the cons here are that you’re beholden to the algorithm and don’t own the site or the traffic. Instagram – Best Blog Site for CreativesInstagram is primarily visual — the feed is all the images or videos, and very little of the captions. You can use the caption field for your text, and users like a long caption. You’ll be capped at 2,200 characters or about 300 words. Instagram is perfect if what you’re sharing is visual: a lifestyle, art, dance. Or if there’s some way to share it visually like in a how to mini-video. In fact, in a lot of ways, Instagram has killed the entire genre of lifestyle blogging.
Instagram is so good now that it’s hard to want to go anywhere else. The downside is definitely that you’re beholden to the algorithm and the feed, and the changes the platform makes. On the flip side, you also don’t have to be the product manager, hire a developer, or build an audience from scratch. You’ll have to weigh the pros and cons yourself! You can also host vlogs on Instagram Live — simply tap the camera icon (top left of the screen, or by swiping right from the Feed) and tap Live at the bottom. When you’re ready to actually go live, it’s as simple as tapping Go Live. You’ll be able to see the number of viewers you have at the top of the screen and comments will pop in at the bottom. When you’re done, tap End. From here, I recommend tapping Save to save it to your camera roll, and tapping Share to add it to your story. It’ll live there for 24 hours to be replayed by anyone who wasn’t around when it was actually live. Pro Tips for Instagram Blogs
You can only have one link in your profile, but with something like Linktree, you can add more links. I don’t think it’s a great idea to build a blog somewhere hoping to get your readers or followers to move from there to somewhere else on the regular. It’s feasible to get your Instagram followers to also subscribe to your newsletter, but it’s not really logical to hope they’ll leave Instagram after ever post and go read your blog. They’re scrolling through Instagram, not trying to read your website. Think about your own behavior here — how much momentum does it take to get you to follow a link that leads away from the platform you’re in? For me, it takes a lot of work. There has to be something I really want to buy, or really, really want to read. It’s more likely that I’ll follow someone on Instagram for a while and then one day I’ll buy something from that person, or follow them somewhere else. Instagram, and all blogging really, is about creating a relationship with the people who’re reading your posts. Once that relationship is strong enough, then people will be interested in going wherever you’re taking them. Until then, you’ll need to deliver on that relationship within the platform itself. Pros and Cons of an Instagram “Blog”If you’re a creative — especially in a visual field, then your blog should really be an Instagram account. You can post images of your work and use the caption field for your written post. If you’re not used to this idea, it might seem kind of zany: That’s not a real blog. But it is. People read Instagram captions of the accounts they follow like they’d read a blog — and your visual work will be well highlighted in your feed and the general feed. The cons are self-explanatory: you’ll have to follow the Instagram format, and are subjected to the feed’s algorithm. It’s not impossible to monetize your Instagram feed, but you’ll be limited to those that you can feature in an image or caption. All of the monetization opportunities will need to be natively integrated. Facebook – Biggest Blog AudienceI mean, what’s 1.49 billion daily active users to you? It’s a huge number, and one that’s worth noting. How many of those active users will make it to your page or your post, now that’s another question. Organic reach on Facebook was once not such a wild aspiration, but in 2016 there was a huge decrease in organic reach. SocialFlow found that brands saw a 42% decline in organic reach over Q1 and Q2 2016. The easiest way to build a blog on Facebook is to create a group or a page for your business or brand. From there, your posts will literally be Facebook posts. To make it easier to post and handle all your interactions in one spot, I recommend using the Facebook Creator Studio. It’s an all-in-one dashboard for publishing and analyzing your content. If you’re new to Facebook and are really using it as a classic blog platform, you’ll want to create Notes. These are the closest things to blogs: a header image, a title, and text down the middle. From here you can also go live, post videos, gifs, polls, recommendations — any type of Facebook post you’ve seen you can create from this dashboard. You can even save, schedule, and backdate posts. Pros and Cons of Blogging on FacebookOf course, Facebook is the juggernaut in the room. It has the largest audience of any of these platforms. Creating a Facebook page might be all you need to build a blog — post on Facebook like you would on your blog and build your audience right there on your page. The comments and interaction on Facebook are even better than a traditional blog. You can really focus on building true fans on Facebook. The cons of Facebook have really been blasted through the media lately. There are privacy concerns, there’s the issue of an ever-changing and pretty secretive algorithm, and all of that. You probably already have an opinion of Facebook — let that inform your decision here. If you build your blog on a single platform that you do not own, well, then you’ve built your blog on a single platform you do not own. That means you’re beholden to another person’s business and their algorithm for your business. What’s good for their business and algorithm may not be what’s good for yours. That’s why I say if you’re here to make money, you should own your site. You’ll have more control. Recap of the 6 Best Blog Sites and Blog Platforms for 2020Best Website Builder for Blogging — WixIf you want to have to your own site and keep things easy, go with Wix. It’s a drag-and-drop editor that’ll get you up and running quickly, and you’ll still be building your blog on your own website, not on someone else’s platform. Best Blog Software for Flexibility — WordPressI’d recommend going this route to anyone serious about customizing your site and need complete control Best Traditional Blogging Platform — MediumIf you’re not creating your own site and your blog is a classic blog — long form posts about a topic that’s meaningful to you — I like Medium. It has a built-in audience that’s interested in reading and an interface that’s seamless. Best Blog Site for Business — LinkedInBlogging about business or hoping to be a thought-leader in a certain industry? You could go with Medium, but a more rabid and useful audience might be waiting for you on LinkedIn. I know, it might not seem like a blogging platform, but LinkedIn users are really engaged and content hungry. Best Blogging Site for Creatives — InstagramIf you’re doing anything with images, art, creativity, or lifestyle, you’ll probably find your audience on Instagram. There are already so many people there and it’s easy for new followers to discover you through hashtags, comments, and the other people you and they are following. Largest Audience — FacebookLastly, the biggest audience is on Facebook. There are millions of people there, and though organic reach on the platform isn’t what it once was, it’s still a massive platform. It’s also a great spot for building a community page element to your blog. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-blogging-platforms/ Wix is our top recommendation for building your online store. If you want to skip all the other stuff and jump straight into building, start your free trial: • 14-day free trial There’s a bunch of things to think about when starting an online store:
All of these are important decisions. For now, one thing matters more than anything else to get your first sale. What’s that one thing?
Your marketing. That’s right, how you choose to market your store completely determines how much money you’ll make. Get the marketing right, everything else falls into place. Get it wrong or neglect it, you’ll spend years on your store without selling a single item. There’s 6 Steps to Starting and Launching Your Online Store
Step 1: Pick Your Marketing StrategyBefore you open your online store, you need to pick your marketing strategy. Don’t even look at templates for your storefront, or color palettes, or logo designs, or anything yet. (We’ll get to the how to setup an online store stuff soon — I promise.) First, pick your marketing strategy. If there’s one step that will make or break the success of your online store it’s this one. It’s not a hard choice, but it is one that you need to make thoughtfully and in advance. Most online stores use one of three marketing strategies:
Let’s go through each. SEO for Online StoresThis marketing strategy is pretty simple: find keywords for products that you want to offer, then get your site to rank in Google for those keywords. In this example, IKEA, Wayfair, and Walmart.com are winning the organic spots (the ones underneath the carousel and the ads) SEO for the search term “bookcase.” If you get this strategy to work, you can make a lot of money with your online store. SEO has a few benefits that are ideal for a businesses:
Dependable, high volume, and profitable. It’s everything you could want. There is one major downside: SEO takes a lot of time and effort. Even if you’re pursuing a product category without any competitors, it can still take a good 3–6 months to see your site appear on the first or second page of search results for a keyword. The traffic volume will be pretty small until you get your page into the top 1–3 rankings on a keyword. If your category is even modestly competitive, it can take years of effort to get to that point. If you go with SEO as the marketing strategy for your online store, you’ll focus on three things:
When playing the SEO game, there are only two things that matter: content and links. So that’s where you’ll spend the bulk of your time. Paid Marketing for Online StoresSome online stores do exceptionally well with paid marketing. This includes sponsored posts on Instagram and Facebook, and paid results in Google search. Paid marketing are ad placements you buy. But is paid marketing right for your business? My general rule of thumb: paid marketing is a great option if your product is the type of thing that could be featured in a mall. Why? The biggest paid marketing channels right now are Facebook and Instagram. Instagram in particular has gotten very popular for online stores in the last few years. But think of the frame of mind that someone has while scrolling through a Facebook or Instagram feed. They’re relaxing for a few minutes, laughing at a few photos, and leaving quick messages for a few friends. They’re enjoying themselves. It’s a lot like how people shop at a mall. Sometimes, people are looking for a particular item, but a lot of people go to the mall to enjoy themselves. Malls have known this for a long time and stores have optimized around this browsing experience. Products that sell effectively in a mall are also likely to do well with a paid ad in Facebook or Instagram. These products typically:
If your product meets all these criteria, you should seriously consider going the paid marketing route. Google Ads (formerly AdWords) is one exception to this. Since you’re bidding on keywords within Google, you put your ad in front of people who are already actively searching for that type of product. As long as the keyword has enough search volume and the ad bids aren’t too competitive, it’ll work very nicely. The biggest downside to paid marketing is that you’ll have to invest a bunch of money up front before you know whether or not you can turn a profit. Many of us don’t have those thousands of dollars to invest without a reliable chance of getting it back. Most paid campaigns don’t turn a profit initially; they usually take a lot of iteration and work before they start making a profit. Most professional paid marketers need 3–6 months before their campaigns become profitable. So be careful and make sure you don’t invest more than you can afford to lose here. If cash is too tight for you, choose one of the other marketing options. Platform Marketing for Online StoresThis is a completely different direction than the two methods above. Instead of creating your own store and using a type of marketing to acquire traffic, you’ll leverage one of the main ecommerce platforms:
It’s definitely possible to be successful at any of these three. We recommend that most folks go after Amazon. Amazon’s audience is much larger which gives you more upside and just about every product niche already exists on Amazon. The main exception is if you’re doing a craft business of some kind, like making your own bookends to sell to people. In that case, Etsy is a better fit since the audience expects more craft-oriented products. eBay is still great if you’re doing a bunch of buying and reselling. But if you’re producing the same types of items consistently, the potential on Amazon is much higher. You treat whichever platform you choose as your marketing channel. First, you’ll create your store on that platform and list all your products. Second, you’ll optimize your store to the best of your ability so the platform wants to feature your products. Optimizing your store usually involves focusing on two areas:
As you improve your search terms and reviews, more people will see your products on that platform, which will produce more sales for you. How to Choose the Best Type of Online Store for YouLet’s recap what we’ve covered so far. There are three types of online stores you can open. These types are based on the marketing strategy you employ. The three marketing channels for an online store are:
I strongly recommend that you pick one of these and build your entire business around it. That’s right, just one. “Why can’t we do more than one? Wouldn’t we want to use multiple marketing channels for our store? More marketing means more sales right?” I’ve made this exact mistake so many times myself. After a decade working in online marketing alongside some of the most well-respected marketers out there, I’ve noticed one overwhelming trend: folks that are good at one type of marketing are generally pretty bad at the others. Why would this be? A couple of reasons why it’s hard to be good at more than one kind of marketing:
If you stick with one marketing channel, you’ll get through the learning curve a lot faster. The faster you unlock your marketing channel, the sooner you’ll be making real money with your online store. OK, step one is done. It was a long one, but it’s important that you spend time on it — it’s the very foundation of every other choice you’ll make in the process of setting up your online store. Step 2: Find the Right Product Niche for Your Online StoreAfter choosing your marketing strategy, picking your product niche is the most important decision that you’ll make. Slow down and take your time to do some genuine research here. A huge mistake that I’ve made in the past was jumping into hobby categories. Yes, being personally interested in the category really helps with building the business. But it’s also a common trap for picking a category that won’t support a thriving business. If there isn’t much demand in my niche, it doesn’t matter how great of a job I do, I’m doomed to fail from the beginning. There are a few things I look for in a good product category for an online store. First, avoid picking a category that’s too unique.A common best practice in marketing is to differentiate yourself. And this is powerful advice — it’s a huge advantage when you have it. It’s also tricky to find a genuine way to differentiate yourself that the market is willing to pay for. There are countless ways to differentiate any given product, but only 1–2 actually matter. Does the top-rated toothbrush holder on Amazon need to do something wacky and unique? Not at all. It needs to be simple, easy to use, reliable, have a good price, and have a ton of reviews on Amazon. That’s it. Instead of trying to differentiate yourself from every other product in your category, find a category with competitors that aren’t dominating their marketing channel. Are the Amazon reviews low for all the top products? Are the SEO results low quality? Are there no companies putting serious ad dollars behind a product? If the answer is yes, there’s an opportunity for you to out-compete them with your marketing. A moderate price is also key.Avoiding product categories with a low price makes a lot of sense. After all, if you only earn $1 in profit for each sale, you’ll have to sell 100,000 products every year to support yourself. After taxes and overhead, that’ll give you about $50–60K per year to live on. Selling 100,000 of anything is a lot of work. No easy task. Now let’s assume that you’re selling something for $80 and making $40 in profit on each sale. To make $100,000 per year, you’ll only need to sell 2,500 items. That’s much more manageable. However, you also want to avoid selling something with a price that’s too high. As price goes up, so does buying behavior. Prospects demand more proof. They may even demand a completely different buying process. How many people buy cars without test driving them at a dealership? Most don’t. They want to see the car and talk to a real person before making a purchase that big. Cars require a lot of extra work and sales skill to sell effectively because of their higher price point. We recommend finding a product that you can sell between $50 and $100 dollars. It’s high enough that sales will add up quickly for you. It’s also low enough that the buying process will be straightforward. Lastly, make sure there’s demand.You can usually tell if there’s demand by doing some category research on your marketing channel. For SEO, Google Ads (formerly AdWords) has a Keyword Planner that tells you how many times something is searched in Google every month. If the keyword for your product gets less than 1,000 searches per month, it’s probably too small to build a business on. Same thing with Amazon, if you have trouble finding products in your category with more than 100 reviews, it’s probably too small. These days, I’d much rather pick a category that I have zero experience in but has genuine demand. That’s much better than realizing that a passion category of mine has zero demand later on. Step 3: Pick a Name for Your BrandThe bad news: everyone hates this step. Trying to find a good name that’s not already taken gets really annoying. The websites are taken, the best names have been trademarked, and you’ll feel like you’re hitting dead-end after dead-end. Good names are tricky to find. Whenever I look for a new name, I feel a temptation to cut corners. After several full days of brainstorming names and hitting dead-ends, all I want to do is pick a less-than-ideal name just so I can move on to the next step. I have to tell myself that it’s worth the effort to keep looking. It’ll pay off if I keep going and it always does. Here’s the naming checklist I use:
We have an in-depth guide on how to pick and buy a domain name here. Once you have your name picked, grab the domain using your domain registrar. Or if you’re buying the domain from someone, get it transferred into the domain registrar that you want to use for the long term. Step 4: Open Your Online StoreIf you’re pursuing an SEO or paid marketing strategy, this is a super important step. The quality of your site has a huge impact on how much of your traffic will turn into buyers. First, we strongly recommend Wix for building your site. • 14-day free trial There are other tools out there like Shopify and Bigcommerce — none of them compare to Wix. It’s super easy to use, has all the features that you’d ever want, and a very reasonable price. The one exception to this is if you’ve already built out a blog with a large audience and want to add a small online store to it in order to sell a few items. In this case, adding WooCommerce to your WordPress is a good option. Otherwise, always go with Wix. We’ve put together a detailed guide on creating an ecommerce website here. And if you’ve picked one of the platforms like Amazon, treat your company and product pages with great care. Make the copy as compelling as possible. Use every feature that they give you. Get the highest quality photos that you can. Do everything. Really make your pages stand out. Step 5: Do a 60-day Marketing BurstAll of our stores start from scratch. When we’re just getting started, any bit of momentum goes a long way. That first review, that first page that ranks in Google, that first purchase using a paid ad — it’s life changing. At this stage of the process, I never worry about systems, scalability, or trying to do things in an efficient way. I’m looking for momentum any way that I can get it, no matter how much outreach or personal work I have to do. The goal at this stage is to put in a huge burst of personal effort and get some momentum. Even if you have to do things that you know aren’t sustainable over the long term. Here are a few examples:
I’m looking for any marketing idea that involves my time but also allows me to quickly get my first few wins. At this stage, do some research on your marketing channel and come up with a list of 50 ideas that you could personally do yourself. Then prioritize them and plan a 60-day Marketing Burst. Ship as many of those ideas that you can within those 60 days. Work long hours, drink too much coffee, and really push yourself during that period. By the end of the 60-day Marketing Burst, some of your marketing ideas will have worked and you’ll have your first couple sales. You’ll also have a small but steady stream of sales coming in because you’ve focused on a single marketing channel. That steady stream is enough to start building your marketing flywheel on. Step 6: Build Your Marketing FlywheelOnce you have some initial momentum, it’s time to start building the marketing machine that will grow your business around the clock without you having to personally accomplish every task. In the early days on Amazon, you’ll need to personally ask for a lot of your first product reviews. But that’s not sustainable. Instead, look for marketing tactics that help create Amazon reviews for you without you asking for them. Here’s an example. A popular tactic on Amazon is to ask customers to leave a review. Some will even promise a discount code on the next purchase if a review is published. You can automate that tactic. Have an assistant send the same templated email to every new customer, asking for a review and promising a discount code on their next order. All the platforms allow you to message customers personally through the platform. So while you can’t email blast all your customers at once, you can have an assistant send messages out one-by-one every week on your behalf. That’s a repeatable flywheel that doesn’t take up your time. A quick side note on this review tactic: Before you try something like this, make sure to check the guidelines and policies of the platform you’re on. There are always rules about these sorts of things and every platform is slightly different. Be careful to not push things too far, putting your store in danger of getting removed entirely. Look for as many of these repeatable marketing flywheels as you can. Instead of creating content yourself, can you pay someone for content? If you did the keyword research, made a list of requirements that you want on each piece of content, and hired someone else to write the post itself, you could create a lot more content to help you win with an SEO marketing strategy. That’s a flywheel. Instead of optimizing your paid ads yourself, can you delegate that? If your conversion rates are consistently improving and your cost to acquire a customer is going down, that lets you buy more customers with the same amount of capital. That accelerates your business without your personal effort. Another flywheel. Focus on your core marketing channel and then build a marketing flywheel that will keep your online store growing without any effort from you. This is the key to opening an online store, generating sales quickly, and accelerating its growth. So what are you waiting for?Start your free trial with Wix today and start your online store in just minutes. Then follow the rest of my tips above to get an edge on the competition. • 14-day free trial via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/start-online-store/ There are only 3 easy and good ways to build a website. Just three. Make sure you get it right, switching this later could cost you months worth of revenue and time to switch. I’ve done a few of these site migrations, I dread them with every fiber of my being. Before you jump straight into building your site, take a few minutes to make sure you’re using the right method to build it. If you get this decision right, everything else will be cake.
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By answering just two questions, you’ll know exactly how to build your site.
There’s only one way to build ecommerce sites and that’s Shopify. More on that below. (We also have a very detailed, completely free guide on how to create an ecommerce website that will walk you through every single step of the process.)
I’ve spent my entire career in online marketing. Building sites, getting traffic, optimizing funnels. It’s what I do. But… A lot of sites don’t need tons of traffic. All the fancy traffic strategies are overkill. For some businesses and projects, all you need is a basic website that gives relevant info for people looking to learn more about you. Restaurant websites are a perfect example. They need to have the name, menu, hours, phone number, and the location. That’s it! No fancy SEO strategies, no lead funnels, no viral growth hacks. None of that stuff matters. A basic, informational site is more than enough for a restaurant. If you fall into this category, you’re in luck. You can skip a ton of the extra stuff that I always have to do and get yourself a super easy site. There’s a bunch of site builders these days that can get you a brand new site that looks fantastic within minutes. Now let’s say you do need a boatload of traffic. Then what? Well, you’ll need to get your site built on WordPress. It’s still easy to set up on your own, you won’t need to code anything yourself. But it’s not quite as streamlined as the site builders. It does come with extra features that help you build traffic though. So it’s worth the effort in that case. If you need traffic, you’re going to want the extra control from WordPress. Here are your two options:
Let’s go through all the options in detail. Creating an Ecommerce Website For Your Online StoreIf you sell physical goods, you only have one option for creating your website: Shopify. Yes, there are technically other options that you could consider. But Shopify is so good that there’s no point in choosing anything else. When you build your website on Shopify, you get:
Get all the details from our in-depth review on Shopify. There’s really no downside to going with Shopify. They’ve built a high quality product at a fair price. If I was building a website to sell physical goods, I would sign up for Shopify immediately. I wouldn’t think twice about it. If you’re not selling physical goods, Shopify won’t make much sense. For other types of websites, there are easier, cheaper, and more valuable ways to build your site. Also, I’ve met several people that have worked at Shopify over the years. They’ve all been amazing people. Shopify has not only built an incredible product, they’ve built an amazing company. That means the product will continue improving for years to come. Visit Shopify to try it for free. WordPress Vs. Website BuildersNow you have a choice to make. You can either use a website builder or build the site yourself using WordPress. Website builders like Squarespace make things extremely easy. Simply go to their site, pick a domain that’s available, and use their software to put everything together. They walk you through every step. Website builders are absolutely perfect for:
Sites like these don’t need to get serious with traffic building strategies. They simply need a site that has a few pages when people want to know more about the business or project. Website builders do have a downside. They don’t handle large sites and lack the advanced features you’d need for building large amounts of traffic. Most businesses don’t need this anyway so a basic website builder is more than enough. You’ll get more value out of the simplicity and won’t notice the lack of advanced features. You won’t need them anyway. What about WordPress? When does it make sense to go the more advanced route? If you plan on building a large website or your business depends on lots of traffic visiting your site, use WordPress. WordPress literally powers a third of the internet and for good reason. It has everything you want when getting serious about your website:
So WordPress is free, has all the advanced features you need to build large amounts of traffic, and is completely customizable. That’s why it’s so popular. But compared to website builders, WordPress is more complicated. You have to set up web hosting, get WordPress installed, then configure your site using WordPress and find the right theme. Sometimes you can easily make the change that you want to your site. In other cases, you might need to edit your website’s code or have a developer help you. It all comes down to the goals that you have for your business. If you simply need a basic website that has info on your business, use a website builder since they’re so much easier to use. If you’re building a large website, use WordPress since it’s completely customizable and has the advanced features that you need. WordPress Vs. Other CMS SystemsThe other day, I went to a brewery with a friend of mine. He had recently sold his media business which had millions of visitors per month. It had a great brand, a huge site, and tons of traffic. At one point, he mentioned “You know, we built our whole site on Drupal.” I almost spit my beer all over him. “You did what?!” “Yeah, our whole site is on Drupal. That was one of my biggest mistakes.” About a decade ago, WordPress had a few big competitors. Drupal and Joomla were the main ones. This was around the time I got started with my career, I did a fair amount of freelance migrations from Drupal to WordPress. Even back then, WordPress was clearly the superior choice. Every other option was less user friendly, more feature limited, and not maintained as well. This gap has only widened over the years. These days, there is absolutely zero reason to even consider any other CMS beyond WordPress. Every other option is worse. My friend chose Drupal and he deeply regretted it, don’t make the same mistake he did. I wouldn’t personally touch a site built on Drupal or Joomla, I’d walk away on the spot. What about WordPress.com?It’s a bit confusing, there’s WordPress.com and WordPress.org. They’re both managed by the same company. WordPress.org has all the free, open-source stuff. When you sign up for a web host and install WordPress, you’re using code from WordPress.org. WordPress.com, on the other hand, is the commercial side of the business. You can use WordPress.com to set up a website for you. It’s like getting WordPress and a web host at the same time. They offer free sites that comes with restrictions and paid options. This used to be a great option for people that wanted an easier option than setting up their own web host and installing WordPress. But over the years, two major things have changed:
While WordPress makes websites a lot easier to manage, it can be too complicated for some folks. The biggest complaint from users is the difficulty that some basic tasks require. Website builders, on the other hand, have completely solved this problem. So if you want an easier way to create your website rather than getting a web host and installing WordPress, you should use a website builder instead of WordPress.com. The Pros and Cons of Hiring a ProWhat about hiring someone to build your site for you? It’s certainly an option. My main piece of advice is to pick the right tool yourself. So make the decision on whether you need Shopify, WordPress, or one of the site builders. Don’t let someone else make this decision for you. And once you’re on the right tool, you’ll be able to look for someone that has a lot of experience with the tool that you’ve chosen. Whether you’re working with a freelancer or an agency, find someone with experience in the tool that you’ve picked. Folks that have a lot of experience with WordPress tend to not have as much experience with Shopify. And vice versa. The quality of your site will be higher if you find someone with plenty of experience on that tool. All of this is completely optional though. If cash is tight, skip all this and do it yourself. Both Shopify and WordPress have tons of themes that you can use. They might not be perfect but they’re more than good enough to get your site off the ground. These days, themes that cost $30-150 are often just as good as sites built by hand. Even many of the free themes are indistinguishable from top-tier sites. When picking a freelancer or agency to work with, ask to see their portfolio of live sites. Pick someone that has built sites that are pretty close to what you want. Most likely, you’ll get a site that’s very similar to their past work. If you’re using a site builder, you don’t need to pay someone to put it together. Since there isn’t much to customize or configure, you’ll be wasting your money. The site builders are designed for complete beginners, you’ll be able to get everything live within an afternoon by yourself. They also produce sites that look fantastic without any extra customization. Time to Build Your SiteLet’s recap. There’s only 3 ways to build your website.
Do You Need Help With Website Design? Get help with designing your website or blog today. Get Startedvia Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/how-to-create-a-website/ Every business needs a website. They used to be much harder to create, cost a lot of money, and require serious expertise. That’s not the case any more. I know it can still be intimidating, but you can create a website today in hours. I’ll show you how. I imagine you’re on board with creating a website and I don’t need to tell you that it doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re launching it — whatever it is, it needs a website. Even if it’s just a very basic “digital business card,” you need to have a website to increase your reach and establish a digital presence. It’s 2020 and that’s just the way it is. The most basic version of a website is a place people can find essential information about you and/or your company: your location, phone number, and email address. If you’re going to sell products and services online, your website will facilitate those transactions.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s get back to the task at hand: how to create a Wix website. There are tons of different website builders out there, but Wix is the one I recommend. I think it’s the best website builder. I like that it has an AI-powered engine that will help you do things like pick a template, match your site design to your logo colors, and upload pictures from your social media accounts. When I used it for the first time, I was really surprised by how much of the creative work Wix did for me. I was already expecting Wix to make coding simple with its drag-and-drop builder, but it helped in ways I didn’t know I wanted help on. Wix is free to start. You’ll eventually want to upgrade to one of the premium plans, which are very affordable, but we’ll talk about that in greater detail later on. 14 day free trial Even though it’s easy to make a Wix website, you can still cut some of the trial and error out by using this step-by-step guide as a reference. I’ll show you the sites I built using the AI generator and what it’s like if you skip that feature. 1. Create an account.Like almost anything else you do online, the first thing you need to do is set up your account. It’s really simple and should only take you a few seconds. From the Wix homepage, click on the “get started” CTA in the center of the screen. If you’ve been doing research and find yourself on another one of the Wix pages, you can still “get started” without having to navigate back to the homepage. Just look for the CTA, which might be worded slightly differently depending on the content that you’re looking at. For example, from the “Explore” page, you’ll want to click “Create Yours Today.” It should be pretty self-explanatory, but if you’re struggling, you can always go back to the homepage, or just click here to create your account. Unlike other platforms that ask for nearly everything but a blood sample to sign up, Wix asks for just two things:
It’s optional, but Wix will ask you some follow up questions to help you create exactly what site you’re looking for. These questions help Wix’s ADI builder create a site you like faster. Who are you creating a Wix site for?
What type of site Wix site are you building?
What is your level of expertise building websites?
Here’s an example of what this might look like for you, depending on the options that you’ve selected above. From here you’ll have two options:
2. Answer the questions.Creating a Wix website is like doing your taxes with TurboTax — you don’t have to be an expert and you don’t have to guide the conversation. Simply grab a cup of coffee and answer every question that comes your way. The questions start out really easy, and honestly they don’t get much harder from here. First up, the name of your website. If you don’t have a name yet, Corry wrote a great post about coming up with a name and buying the domain here. So, if you haven’t done that yet, you can start over there. Or, you can create your Wix website and come back and update it later. Everything you create today will be private until you press Publish. I’ll share you the screenshots I took along the way. You’ll even have an option to upload your logo. If you don’t have one yet, Corry also wrote a post about that. It’s called How to develop your first brand identity on a budget. At this point, you may be thinking, Oh crap, I don’t have a logo or colors or any of that — breathe in. It’s totally OK. You can start in any of these places, with a name, a brand, or a website. Once you get the other pieces in place, you can go back and update the others. Don’t let the number of different parts of this process slow you down. Just keep cranking. Remember, it’s just like doing your taxes: answer the questions and don’t freak out. The software is here to help. At Quick Sprout, we do have a logo, so I uploaded it. The Wix AI pulled together a trendy color palette that looks great. It’s clean, modern and professional. Honestly, it’s the type of color palette I’d have to expect to pay a lot for. Next, you’ll be asked to pick a theme you like. This is different from a template. It’s more about picking the look and feel of your site. Think about the type of person who’ll visit your site. Imagine your ideal customer. What do you want them to think about when they get to your site. What words will pop into their mind about you? Or, if you want to keep it simple, which look do you like best? For my test site, I chose Minimal. It suits the clean and straightforward growth approach we have at Quick Sprout. Grand was a little too grand, Soho a little too fresh or hip. I considered Bold — it was definitely my runner up. 3. Choose a template.At this point in the process, Wix will give you a few ready-made options: Pretty great that I did that in about five minutes, maybe fewer. The pages look great and I could happily stop here. Scroll through each of them and pick the one you like best. This doesn’t have to be a perfect match. You’ll still have a chance to change every feature in the following steps. If you don’t use the Wix AI tool, you’ll jump into the process here at the template level. If you know what you want already this is a good place to start. Also, if you don’t like what the AI builder came up with, you can always jump over to picking your own template. You’re never locked into anything. There are hundreds of standard Wix templates available at no charge. You can search for a template based on category. For example, let’s say you want to create a Wix business website. Some popular categories include:
All of the template options are located on the left side of the dashboard. Take some time to scroll through and find one that fits best for the type of website you want to build. Check out the first template on this page. It’s a “Coming Soon” landing page. Even if your website isn’t built just yet, it’s important to least start off with this type of landing page. For startup companies, creating a website may be the first thing you do, even before you actually register your business name or create an LLC. Wix understands this, which is why they give you this option. Alternatively, you can select a blank template and build your own from scratch. While this is definitely something you can consider, I recommend going with one of the pre-designed templates. This will make your life much easier in the long run, especially if you’ve never made a Wix website before. If you’re up for a challenge and want to be a bit more unique, go ahead and give the blank template a try. When you hover your cursor over each template, it will tell you if it’s free or if you have to pay. Once you find a template that you like, just click “edit” to continue. 4: Edit your siteAfter you select a template, you’ll be brought to the Wix Editor. I went with a template I picked on my own, so my Wix auto palette isn’t applied. Basically, this is what your website will look like if you decide to publish it right now. It’s up to you to make the necessary changes to make the website your own. Here’s a basic look at what you’ll see when you’re editing the content on your future site: Anything can be changed just by clicking on it. Start with the basics, like replacing the template company with the name of your actual business. For our purposes, let’s just say I am redesigning the Quick Sprout homepage with Wix. In less than one minute, look at what I was able to accomplish. I replaced the Axis Group with Quick Sprout on the center of the page, as well as the in the top left corner of the menu bar. I also swapped out the dash on a red background with the letter “Q” on a green background in the left corner of the menu bar. The financial consulting texted was changed to “Grow your business, faster.” You can also see that I changed the red “get started” CTA to a green “contact us” CTA. Look at the menu options at the top of the screen as well. The original template had a “news and updates” page. I clicked on that and changed it to “blog” because that makes more sense for the site that I’m building. Again, I made all of these changes in less than a minute. All you have to do is click on what you want to change, and follow the instructions on the screen. It’s that simple. You can replace images when any custom photos you’ve taken for your website. Or you can refer to our guide on the best places to get website images (paid and free). It’s easy to drag and resize any of the content on each page, too. The Wix Editor allows complete customization based on your personal preferences. Step 5: Optimize your site for mobile devicesThe mobile version of your website should not look the same as the desktop version. Part of having a good website means that it needs to be easily accessible from smartphones and tablets. If you don’t have a good mobile site, you could lose more than half your customers: more than 52% of all Internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Fortunately, Wix makes it easy to optimize your web design for mobile users. Just click on the mobile icon at the top of the screen to switch between desktop view and mobile editing. Wix does a great job of changing the content for you, so it’s automatically optimized. However, you may want to manually make some changes on your own. The changes you make here won’t impact the desktop version of your site. Before your site goes live, make sure you go through the mobile version of each page to ensure that’s it’s properly optimized to your liking. Step 6: Connect your domainBefore you can publish your site and have it go live, you’ll need to connect your domain name. The easiest way to do this is from the dashboard. Just click “Connect Domain” to proceed. By default, your website domain will be: yourusername.wixsite.com/mysite You’ll have the option to change the “my site” portion of that domain for free. But, that’s definitely not how you want your site domain to look. When was the last time you went to a legitimate and credible site that had all of that extra stuff, including the website builder in the domain name? It’s not a good look for your business. Wix gives you the option to buy a domain name directly from their platform or connect a domain name that you already own. I recommend not buying your domain from Wix, but at a place that specializes in domain names, and putting a lot of thought into get the right domain. If you haven’t done this yet, refer to our recent guide on how to buy a domain name. Wix lets you create a website for free, but you’ll eventually want to upgrade to a premium account. This is when (and why) you want to do that. Without paying for a premium account, you’ll be stuck with the “wixsite” in your domain name. Packages start at $11 per month, but if you’re using this site for business purposes, you’ll want to pay more than that. Even Wix’s most expensive business plan is just $35 per month. It comes with features such as:
So review all of the premium plans to find the one that’s best for you. Depending on what you select, it will only cost you between $132 and $420 per year. That’s pennies considering how much money you can make with a website. ConclusionIt’s that simple. You’ve learned how to make a Wix website. There’s not much to it — just six easy steps. Once you go through everything outlined above, all you need to do is publish your website, and it will be live on the Internet for everyone to see. To recap, create a Wix website for the first time by following these simple instructions:
That’s it. Once you complete the steps, you can publish your site and start generating leads, driving traffic, and selling products online. Your opportunities are endless. 14 day free trial via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/how-to-make-a-wix-website/ |
Sean BrianWhile radishes deter certain insects naturally, they require similar growing conditions as carrots. Although the crops both have roots, radishes grow and germinate quicker, allowing carrots to continue growing in the soil space available when the radishes are harvested, Archives
April 2023
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