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What is the Best Web Hosting for Freelancers?

As a professional freelancer, a website in today's ultra-competitive environment is essential. It's better to operate this way than placing bids in cutthroat freelancing websites out there.

And if you need a website, then you're definitely going to need a reliable web hosting service provider. The question is: Which web hosting platform is the best choice for your business? Over the many years of working as an Online Business Consultant and affiliate marketer, I've built scores of websites with a variety of web hosting providers.

I'm going to share my 15 years of experience with you and help you choose what I believe to be the best web hosting for freelancers.

First, let's see what you should look for when it comes to web hosting...

What Does A Freelancer Need From A Web Host?

Before you get a web hosting service as a freelancer, it's really important to understand what you need to make a successful website. I will discuss the most important aspects of websites for freelancers in this section.

Website Speed

As a freelancer, you need a website that has speed. This means your website's page must load in lightning-fast time. It's natural for your website visitors to expect pages to load quickly. According to several studies, slow site speed can also affect sales. Simple truth is. If your website takes some time to load, your prospect is going to leave in a click!

Hosting Features

This refers to the kind of sub-services or integration that you can do with your website. At a minimum, you want a hosting service provider that allows you to use your own domain, has SSL, and other integrations like WordPress. A web hosting provider that cannot offer you these features cannot open upgrade opportunities for you. If you cannot add new applications to your website because the host cannot accommodate it, you cannot add new functionalities to your website at all.

Security

Security – your website has to be secure. It does not matter whether you are operating a big or small website—hackers will attempt to steal your information and your customers’ information. What you need, at the very least, is SSL. It stands for Secure Socket Layer, which is an encryption technology that prevents people from snooping into your site.   My take is that SSL should be free. It's not a good idea to pay for it, considering that security is a basic expectation. Security is also a fundamental requirement for your SEO. There are browsers now, and even search engines, that will not show a non-secured website to its users from the search results. If your website is not secure, then it will not appear at the top of the ranking pages. As such, you cannot get traffic, much less new clients for your business.

Cloud Services

Cloud is a technology where your website information is copied and stored in other servers. What this means is that the server closest to the consumer is the one that will provide the website info. It's much faster this way, and your website will have backups.

Is there a web hosting provider who can offer you as a freelancer all of the above?

Click here to continue reading “Best Web Hosting For Freelancers”

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AWeber vs GetResponse – Which One Is The Best Autoresponder?

Email marketing is a fundamental aspect of any online business. While there are free tools that you can use, nothing beats the full features of the paid ones. Two of the most commonly recommended are GetResponse and AWeber.

The main difference between AWeber and GetResponse is that GetResponse offers more services at a better price. For example, you can have a webinar on GetResponse, but you can’t do this on AWeber.

Today, in this AWeber vs GetResponse review, I will share with you all the facts you need to know so you can decide what the better option is. Over the years, I have used both, they are excellent tools but one of them is a better choice so let’s get down to it!

Main Features of GetResponse

GetResponse offers quite a lot of exceptional features that are designed to cover a lot of functions.

Below are some of its main game-changers:

1. Autoresponders

Sending repetitive messages can be time-consuming. With this feature, you can automatically deliver updates to your subscribers. You can embed email sign-up forms on your website, and then create a series of emails that the system, would send to your subscribers.

2. Ecommerce Integrations

GetResponse is flexible in the sense that you can use it on your website without coding. You can integrate it with your existing shops in Shopify, Etsy, and other web-building platforms.

What this does is that you do not have to hire a coder to do the integration. After you do it yourself, all the people who sign up in your subscription form on your website will be put in a list in your GetResponse dashboard.

3. Automation Flows

These automation flows will be responsible for determining your traffic’s behavioral patterns and setting the right marketing solutions according to the data gathered. This feature will allow you to provide a guided experience for your site’s visitors.

4. Webinars

The platform also offers webinars which will be useful for live discussions between you and your audiences. This is a good addition to generating leads and engagements. You can host a free webinar, or you can ask people to pay. The webinar also allows you to ask participants to register before joining.

5. Premade Funnels

Ready-to-use funnels are also available. These can come in the form of sales, lead magnets, list building, and webinars.

These are the main features that you want to get your hands on. The goal of GetResponse is to provide a functional service which explains its broad coverage for features. It also aims to cater to all sorts of businesses, from solo entrepreneurs to large companies.

Main Features of AWeber

Now, let us take a look at the features of AWeber.

1. Email Creator

The platform features a drag-and-drop email builder. It also has a template library, which you can use of you do not like to design your email subscription form. This means that you don’t need to have any experience in coding and programming to start designing.

Furthermore, their system is also equipped with an AI-powered designer that will automatically provide you with professional templates in seconds.

2. Automated Marketing

This feature will be responsible for delivering the right campaigns to the right people at the right time. It will identify the people you tagged to find other visitors with the same criteria. This will ensure accurate targets and personalized communications.

3. Performance Analytics

Real-time statistics about your strategy’s effectiveness are also provided instantly. This will help you in monitoring your actions and understanding what you lack. Results may include the number of opens, clicks, and gathered sales.

4. List Management

This will allow you to organize your subscribers and segment them into groups. This is significant in the process of customer engagement. This will also let you create sign-up forms to earn contacts.

5. Mobile App Services

AWeber’s features are not limited to desktops. They also provide tools for mobile users so they can still perform tasks remotely. Here are the applications you can use along with their functions:

AWeber Atom – For creating lead forms Curate – For designing and sending newsletters AWeber Stats – For monitoring analytics

Pros and Cons of AWeber and GetResponse 

Click here to find out the pros and cons of AWeber and GetResponse

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Hostgator vs AWS – Which Is Best For Your Business In 2022?

Giving your business an online platform is one of the best things to do for growth. It will help you have broader market coverage.

Setting up a website, however, is more than just a design. You first need resources to give your new website a home online. This is done via web hosting and a good web hosting platform will give you everything that you need to get started.

Today, we’ll compare two of the most popular hosting services.  In this HostGator vs AWS (Amazon Web Services) hosting comparison, you’ll get all the data you need to see which is a good choice for your business.

We’ll discuss their features, pros and cons, as well as who should use each. Let’s get into it!

What is HostGator?

The first web hosting platform that we’re going to talk about is HostGator. Brent Oxley, its founder, released this in 2002. So HostGator is one of the most well-established web hosting platforms and is a reliable and trustworthy choice.

Hostgator is a scalable web hosting platform. What this means is that it comes with a lot of hosting types instead of just one. 

Here are the hosting options you can choose from:

Web Hosting

Cloud Hosting

Shared Hosting

WordPress Hosting

Dedicated Hosting

VPS Hosting

Reseller Hosting

Application Hosting

Windows Hosting

Each hosting type has different features to suit the needs of various site owners. Because of the several choices, HostGator web hosting is the go-to of both beginners and experts. HostGator has also earned a reputation for having one of the most reliable customer support teams.

Features of HostGator

HostGator comes with an extensive line of features. Below is an overview of some of its best offers:

Website Builder

The app offers an exclusive site builder along with its hosting service. Here, you can add images, access the media library, and customize layouts.

The best thing that you can get is its AI designer. You just need to answer a few questions about your site. Then, it will automatically generate a design that matches your needs.

Site Transfer

This feature will let you connect your current site to HostGator’s service. In this way, you won’t have to start all over again. Unlike others, you also don’t have to worry about lost data. What’s more, is this is free to use.

Domain Registration

HostGator allows both registration and transfer of domains. You don’t have to install and set up a separate app to do so. They also offer a free 1-year domain once you subscribe to a hosting plan.

Valid SSL Certificate

HostGator will also ensure your website is secure with an SSL certificate. This is also free. They will automatically provide you with this after purchasing a hosting plan. It is absolutely essential for your website to have a valid SSL certificate. Google expects it, and without it, your site will not rank highly in Google’s organic search listings.

One-Click App Integrations

If you want to expand the app’s features further, you can integrate other web services easily. Through their One-Click Integrations, you won’t have to go through hoops just to use two apps at once.

Note that features will vary depending on the hosting service you select. The ones above, however, are their common factors. 

What is AWS?

AWS stands for Amazon Web Service. It is a service of Amazon’s shopping site. Meaning, Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, is also the official one for AWS. The software first came around in 2006.

Unlike HostGator, AWS focuses mainly on cloud hosting.

What it means is that you will be using multiple servers rather than just one. It is a good thing. It assures better site performance compared to traditional hosting.

Here are some things you get from AWS:

Secure

Compliant

Hybrid

Scalable

Although AWS’ service is good, its features are limited to just one hosting type. This makes it ideal only for those who want to major in cloud hosting. Unfortunately, this also caters to limited expertise, which makes it lack flexibility.

Features of AWS

AWS comes with features dedicated mainly to cloud hosting. See the following:

Analytics

AWS offers a dashboard where you can track your site’s analytics. To be specific, you can monitor real-time traffic, search data, streams, and likes.

Migration & Transfer

Because you’ll be on cloud hosting, app and site migration will be much easier. You can also expect faster transfer times despite loads of data.

RoboMaker

RoboMaker will allow you to make robotics applications. It will best suit businesses that are in the tech field. RoboMaker is one of the app’s most distinct features.

Cloud Financial Management

One thing about cloud hosting is you’ll only be paying for the resources that you use. It can be both a good and bad thing.

This is good because you won’t be paying for more than what you need. Bad, on the other hand, due to the risk of overusing and thus, overspending. To help you with the latter, AWS has a Cloud Financial Management feature. It is where you can keep track of your budget and fees.

Developer Tools

This feature will give you access to a special set of tools. This is for developers who need more advanced tools to get by.

The platform has different tools for different hosting needs. One issue, though, is that some of its tools require another payment.

Pros and Cons of AWS

Click here to discover the pros and cons of HostGator and AWS

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Getresponse vs Mailchimp – Which One Is Best For Bloggers?

One of the most important aspects of running a successful online business is generating good quality leads, consistently on auto-pilot. The best way to do this is by using an autoresponder to collect emails on your blog or website. To do this, you offer your visitors a bribe such as a free ebook, a discount coupon, or a newsletter in return for their email address.

Two of the most popular email hosting services in the world today are GetResponse and Mailchimp. Both of these are autoresponders, which means you can gather the email addresses of your subscribers, save them, and then automate the emails that you send to them.

The main difference is that GetResponse has branched out into more services, for example, enabling you to build a webinar.

In this GetResponse vs MailChimp email hosting comparison, I will help you understand their core features. By the time you reach the end, you’ll know exactly which autoresponder works best for you.

Main Features of GetResponse

OK let’s begin by looking at the most important features of GetResponse.

As you now know, autoresponders allow you to automatically send and schedule emails to your subscribers. These may be updates about your products, blog content, or just a simple welcome message. Getresponse offers the following:

API/SMTP-Triggered Transactional Emails 

These are emails that will notify your customer about the updates of their purchases. 

List Management 

You will also be able to manage and organize your list of subscribers. With this, you can send emails to a specific group of people only, not all of them.  

Opt-in Forms 

You can create your own forms where people will provide you’re their email addresses. You can personally customize the form to fit your design standards using the drag-and-drop tool. The forms are also GDPR-compliant, so you don’t have to worry about a privacy breach.

Countdown Timer 

This will enable you to create a sense of urgency on your page. You can add limited offers and deals to encourage conversions. The timer can be customized according to your liking. You can turn it on or off at any time, and you can make customers feel like they do not want to miss your sale or special offer. 

Abandoned Cart Solutions 

You can send reminders to customers about the products left in their cart. This can help in boosting sales. 

One-Click Ad Integration 

GetResponse will also allow you to integrate your ads in Facebook Ads. You can also create your own images and videos using the Social Ads Creator.

Polls and Surveys

For earning feedback and comments, you can conduct polls and surveys involving your audiences. 

Funnels 

Their service provides ready-to-use funnels to further optimize conversions. Specifically, they layout funnels for sales, lead magnets, list building, and webinars. They will also equip your website with e-commerce tools to make your store ready for the online platform. 

Analytics 

Lastly, you will also be able to monitor your progress through the analytics provided.

As you can see, GetResponse’s features are designed to help you with your all-around marketing needs instead of focusing on just one.

Main Features of MailChimp

Similar to GetResponse, MailChimp also formulated its features to optimize different functions. These functions revolve around audience management, creative designs, automated marketing strategies, and providing analytics. 

Here are some of the platform’s main features: 

Marketing CRM

This feature aims to build a strong relationship between you and your customers. A bespoke dashboard is provided to manage all the data gathered. 

Behavioral Targeting 

The goal of behavioral targeting is to further personalize your audience. The messages and updates that will be shown to the market will specifically cater to their needs. The feature will depend on a user’s past and present engagements to determine the right message.

Predicted Demographics 

You can perceive this function as your own data specialist. Based on existing information, it will predict the age group, gender, and others that may help you understand your audience better. 

Content Studio 

With MailChimp’s Content Studio, you will be able to store all your media files in one place. This way, you don’t have to keep switching between applications to import and export images and videos. 

Creative Assistant 

This feature is an AI-powered system that will automatically come up with designs and templates to save you from the hassle. 

Customer Journeys 

Here, you can build your workflow to guide customers from choosing a product to checking out their purchases. This is designed to help improve your customers’ experience in your site.

Smart Recommendations 

The purpose of this is to provide you with instructions throughout page optimization so you can instantly know if you need to modify something in your settings. 

A/B Testing 

Finally, MailChimp also enables you to conduct split tests so you can conduct better experiments between different marketing strategies.MailChimp pays attention more to customers and conversion, and thus, this will be a perfect tool if those are your goals.

Pros and Cons of GetResponse and MailChimp

Click here to find out the pros and cons of GetResponse and Mailchimp 

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Hostinger vs HostGator – Best Host For Your Business?

Nowadays, having a simple web host is not enough. You need to find one that offers full features. You won’t really benefit from one whose sole task is to put your site online. Using this kind of service will give you the best value both for your brand and your money. Today we're going to compare 2 such web hosts: Hostinger and HostGator. Site owners usually compare these two because of their similar hosting offers. If you want to know which one is the best fit for your online needs, then this web hosting comparison is for you. In the next sections, we’ll talk about each brand’s features, pros and cons and pricing packages.

What is Hostinger?

Hostinger is a product of a 2004 bootstrap. Initially, it aimed to be a full-on site builder. In 2007, however, it started focusing on aiding with hosting needs.

It only officially stood as Hostinger in 2011. As you can see, the brand went through a lot before reaching a stable user base.

The software’s main goal is to give convenience. So you can expect simple and easy-to-use tools from it. It also assures that they will fit the needs of all site types and sizes. Here are the hosting services that you can avail of from Hostinger:

Shared Web Hosting Cloud Hosting WordPress Hosting cPanel Hosting VPS Hosting CyberPanel VPS Hosting Minecraft Hosting CMS Hosting Ecommerce Hosting

As you can see, the program has a lot to offer when it comes to services. In fact, Hostinger has one of the most advanced host types in the market. It supports its claim of fitting most sites’ needs.

What is HostGator?

Brent Oxley started HostGator in 2002. Currently, it hosts 2 million websites from all around the world. This statistic makes it one of the largest hosting platforms online.

The program aims to give a hosting service that all users can easily use. Meaning, it won’t matter if you’re a beginner or tech-savvy. Either way, you won’t have issues getting used to the tools. They also made sure of the features’ power and scalability. Below is an overview of the hosting services offered by HostGator:

Web Hosting Cloud Hosting WordPress Hosting Reseller Hosting VPS Hosting Dedicated Hosting Application Hosting Windows Hosting

Like Hostinger, HostGator also offers a long list of hosting types. They, however, focused on varied fields.

Hostinger leans more to special niches like gaming and other cyber needs. On the other hand, HostGator offers handy options for both starters and experts. It creates a distinct line between the two.

Features of Hostinger and HostGator

Click here to continue reading this Hostinger vs HostGator comparison

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Email Marketing for Affiliate Marketers Made Simple

Having an effective marketing strategy is essential if you're doing any kind of business online. It will serve as a way to gather leads and maximize sales. One of the most effective online marketing strategies of them all is email marketing. Best of all, it's an easy and accessible tactic.

For affiliate marketers, email marketing should be a main focus of your efforts. It provides a way to maintain lead connections and thus, will help you to earn more commissions.

In the following sections, we'll take a detailed look at email marketing for affiliate marketers. We will also give you a clear view of the crucial role it plays in affiliate marketing and how it'll boost your commissions.

In this way, you will better understand why it’s best for both to work with each other. And we'll also introduce an email marketing service that meets the needs of affiliate marketers.

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is probably the most commonly deployed strategy in digital marketing. It makes use of emails to build a list of subscribers. Moreover, it serves as a way to build and maintain relationships with your leads.

Digital marketers can deploy the strategy through an email marketing service. Currently, the most popular ones include: 

GetResponse Sendinblue HubSpot Mailchimp MailerLite

Generally, email marketing suits almost every business. Marketers can send emails to promote products. In most cases, they come as an alert about a purchase. Whatever the message, emails should be a call-to-action. It should guide the recipient towards the next step you want them to take. 

Why Should Affiliate Marketers Use Email Marketing?

If you don’t know yet, affiliates earn through commissions. Meaning, you can only earn once you get a sale. Though the task is simple, it can be hard to do if you stick to one marketing method. So it makes perfect sense for you to include email marketing in your toolset.

Main Reasons Why You Should Use The Strategy:

It will help gather and build a stable audience   It will provide a consistent lead connection Get relevant and high-quality traffic and leads Open up more chances to engage with leads Works well with social media and website marketing

In short, email marketing will allow affiliates to expand their market base. They will have more sources for leads and sales. 

Factors For Affiliates To Consider in an Email Marketing Service

There are a lot of email marketing apps online. If you’re just starting out on your affiliate journey, finding the best tool for your needs can be challenging. To help you, here is an overview of the factors that you should consider when selecting a service:

Click here now to read the rest of the piece

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AWeber vs MailerLite – Which One Is Worth Your Money?

Choosing the right email marketing service is crucial. You have to take factors like tools, features, and overall offers into account. Doing so will help you land on the best app for your needs. It will also ensure that you’ll get the best value for your money.

In this AWeber vs MailerLite head-to-head comparison, you'll see what these two popular email hosting services have to offer you. By the end you'll know which is best for your business.

Generally speaking, AWeber is more of an all-in-one platform. It's also very good for ecommerce needs. MailerLite, on the other hand, focuses on automation tools.

Let's look at both in more detail...

What is AWeber?

AWeber is an email marketing software. It is one of the most affordable services out there. Tom Kulzer, its founder, released it back in 1998. Currently, there are a million users favouring the app.

As of the present, their main goal is to help small-time businesses grow. Therefore, they design their tools and features for this certain goal. What makes the app good is it doesn’t stop when a site grows. Ultimately, its offers can scale depending on the user’s needs.

Here are some of the things that you can do with AWeber:

Build an audience Convert leads into sales Set up your ecommerce platform

All in all, you can expect AWeber to be an all-in-one marketing tool that you can use for most, if not all, of your needs.

Features of AWeber

Because AWeber is an all-in-one marketing tool, expect vast features. For an overview, refer to the following list:

Email Automation Tools

With the app’s email automation tools, you will find email sending a lot easier. One of the main features you can use is the "set it and forget it" command. It will let you create an email and send it at the time you prefer. This tool is a good way to maintain stable relationships with your leads.

Email Segmentation

The Email Segmentation feature will let you group your contacts. Doing so will make it easier to send one kind of email to multiple users. It means that you won't have to set a schedule for each subscriber manually.

List Tagging

List Tagging works with Email Segmentation. Putting tags to contacts will help you know more about what kind of lead they are. Hence, you can easily group and segment them once you have to send an email.

AWeber offers many other tools, including A/B Testing, Form Builders, Advanced Reports and Ecommerce Solutions. AWeber’s features will allow the user to do all of their site-related tasks in just one place. Hence, you won't need to buy a separate service for other needs.

Moreover, there is also a low chance that you'll need to connect to third-party apps. Because of it, you can save more time and effort on marketing.

What is MailerLite?

MailerLite is also an app that focuses on email marketing. In addition, like AWeber, it is also famous because of its cheap plans. As a result, about one million sites and businesses use this tool for their needs.

Initially, Ignas Rubezius founded the app as a web design agency in 2005. Over time, however, he and his team moved onto the marketing field. Thus, they came up with MailerLite in 2010. The app aims to make convenient marketing solutions for its users. It is why they mostly provide automation tools.

Below are some things that you can do with MailerLite:

Optimize content Automate work tasks Sell digital products

The app aims to make convenient marketing solutions for its users. It is why they mostly provide automation tools.

Features of MailerLite

Like we previously said, MailerLite focuses on convenience. Thus, you can expect most of its features to revolve around the purpose.

Newsletter Builder

MailerLite offers flexible builders. You can use a drag-and-drop form, HTML, and rich text. This feature is probably one of the best things about the app. It also comes with a template library for those that want ready-to-use themes. This feature assures well-made newsletters for your emails. Though simpler than AWeber’s, it’s already good for simple designing tasks.

Email Automation Tools

The app’s automation tools mainly work with workflows. Thus, you may have to set up more factors here. Even so, the idea of using triggered emails is still an efficient step. With MailerLite’s email automation, you can make a full-on sales funnel. You can set the “when”, “what”, and “how” of your emails.

Surveys

MailerLite will also let you add survey forms to your emails. With it, you can gather more relevant feedback from your list. It can also serve as a more personal approach to reach your leads.

Other useful tools offered by MailerLite include Embedded Forms and a Pop-up Builder.

The features of AWeber and MailerLite are very similar to each other. The former's tools, though, are capable compared to the latter. MailerLite also has fewer features. Even so, it’s still a good option if you don’t need that many resources.

Pros and Cons of MailerLite

To discover the pros and cons of AWeber and Mailerlite, please click here to continue reading

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Cloudways vs Bluehost – Which Is Best For Your Business

For your website to be up online, you need a hosting service provider. Before that, though, you should know the hosting type that you want. You have two choices. These are traditional hosting and cloud hosting. Traditional hosting requires servers. You’ll have a fixed number of resources that you can use. Cloud hosting keeps all your data online. Here, you can choose the resources that you want to get.

You can learn more about cloud hosting here. Today, we’ll compare two apps that you can turn to for each type. We’ll talk about Cloudways and Bluehost. You can expect to know which app will better suit your needs.

What is Cloudways?

Cloudways is a cloud hosting software. Uzair Gadit, Pere Hospital, and Aaqib Gadit founded it in 2009.

The app runs on a managed system. Meaning, it assures reliability and high-performing networks. This app caters mainly to agencies and e-commerce businesses. Developers will also find the built-in tools helpful. 

Here are some of the cloud-based products and solutions that Cloudways offers:

WooCommerce Hosting

Magento Hosting

Managed DigitalOcean

Drupal Cloud Hosting

Ecommerce Hosting

WordPress Hosting

PHP Hosting

Managed Google Cloud

Managed Amazon Cloud

Managed Linode

The goal of the app is to let its users focus on their site. It will take care of everything related to its status on the net. The features, on the flip side, will aid in your business’ growth. For best results, they also take pride in their dedicated customer support.

Features of Cloudways

Here is an overview of some of the most valuable tools of Cloudways:

Server Transfer

If you have an existing site, you can quickly transfer your data through the Server Transfer feature. You can do this even if it’s up on a different platform. Aside from data, your ownership will also come with your site. What makes this better is that the tool is possible with just one click.

Bot Protection

This feature will keep your site free from traffic and privacy issues. To be specific, this will prevent bots, hacking attacks, and malware. Through Bot Protection, you and your visitor can rest assured that your details are safe online. Note that the said tool uses Malcare’s technology, one of the top security brands.

Two-Factor Authentication

The two-factor authentication adds to your site’s security. By enabling this, hackers will have a hard time invading your website. Instead of the usual password system, this will send you a unique code before you sign in.

App & Server Cloner

With the App Cloner, you can copy a specific site’s details and duplicate them to make a new one. You can run an entirely new server. If you prefer, you can simply use this to track copies for your pages. Either way, the tool helps avoid data loss.

1-Click Backup and Restore

Losing your site’s data and progress is one of the worst things that can happen. With the 1-Click Backup & Restore tool, you can immediately keep a copy of your site. You can restore it once it’s needed.

What is Bluehost?

Bluehost is more of a traditional web hosting platform. Its founder, Matt Heaton, first released the software in 2003. 

Unlike Cloudways, the app at hand runs through connected servers. Because of this setup, you can expect high uptime. It can also give balanced levels of resources to avoid shortages. Its tools make it perfect for sites of various sizes and niches. Bluehost offers a lot of web hosting options. Here are the services that you can choose from:

Shared Hosting

WordPress Hosting

VPS Hosting

Online Store Hosting

Reseller Hosting

This software aims to make web hosting as simple as possible. The site owner has nothing to worry about except for maintenance. Bluehost mainly focuses on-site availability. You can also expect that its features and interface are easy to use.

Features of Bluehost

Moving on, here are the features that Bluehost will provide you with:

WordPress Site Builder

Bluehost is one of the few apps that offer a built-in site builder. Not only that, but the software works with WordPress to assure total site freedom. You'll be able to do things like adding media files, making templates, editing content very easily.

Because the feature is WordPress-powered, you won’t need to do any coding tasks. It is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop builder. Hence, this is perfect even for beginners.

Domain Manager

Whether you need to transfer or register a new domain, you can easily do so through the app’s domain manager. It comes in a dashboard panel consisting of all your existing domains. In this way, you won’t have to pay for a different platform. To help you get started, the app will even provide you with a 1-year free domain.

Built-In Security Tools

Bluehost has an abundance of features in terms of site security. This aspect is one of their top priorities. In particular, the software comes with malware detection and automated security updates.

Moreover, Bluehost will also give you a free SSL certificate. Therefore, you can establish trust with your visitors easier and this is also a ranking factor with search engines including Google.

E-Commerce Features

For e-commerce sites, you can also expect a certain set of tools to help you. The app has automated marketing tools to aid in your business journey. You will get a profile in Google My Business. SEO tools and ad credits are also guaranteed.

One-Click Plugin Installs

Extending Bluehost’s features is possible through the One-Click Plugin Installs. You can add any plugin that you want. Through it, your hosting service will give way to more opportunities for your site.

All of the app’s tools are easy to work around. Thus, you won’t need that much time to get used to the interface. Still, despite the straightforward tools, expect that they effectively keep a site up and working. Again, note that the features will depend on the hosting service and plan. 

Pros and Cons of Cloudways and Bluehost

To discover the pros and cons of Cloudways and Bluehost, click here now to continue reading

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GetResponse vs Constant Contact- Which Has The Edge?

Setting up an online brand can be difficult. However, having to market it across your target audience can make it even harder.

So it's crucial for you to have competent and reliable tools that will help you with your marketing goals. One of the tools you'll definitely need is a good platform for your email marketing needs. There's so many to choose from and it can be very confusing.

Today we're going to compare two of the most popular: GetResponse vs Constant Contact. Both of these have a lot to offer. It can be a hard choice since they also have similar features. To help you, we’ll dig deeper into each app’s features, pros and cons and pricing in the next sections.

What is GetResponse?

GetResponse is one of the top email marketing apps in eCommerce. Simon Grabowski, its founder, started it back in 1998.

Unlike some of its competitors such as Mailchimp and Mailerlite, it’s more of an all-in-one platform. Meaning, it doesn’t just focus on email tools. Instead, it covers almost everything that you will need to build your brand online.

Here are some areas covered by the tool:

Marketing Automation

Site Building

Lead Generation

List Building

Sales Boosting

Ad Optimization

Customer Support 

GetResponse mainly assures its users that with their services, you won’t need to avail another. At present, they have 350,000 marketers all around the world. These already include big brands like IKEA, UNESCO, and Hilton. Based on their list, several online stores, courses, SaaS, and likes, use GetResponse.

Features of GetResponse

1. Email Marketing Features 

Let’s start with the app’s email marketing tools. One of the things that you can use is an email creator. It comes with built-in themes and templates for easier design. It also works through drag-and-drop, so you won’t have to worry about codes. It also optimizes your emails for both web and mobile views. You will also get autoresponders and transaction emails for an easier workflow. With these, you won’t have to manually send emails repeatedly. Hence, you will be able to save more time and effort. Other features include email analytics and list management. These will mainly help in ensuring that your emails stay at the top of their performance. 

2. Conversion Funnels 

For conversion funnels, you will get two workflows. The first one is for sales, and the other is for making lead magnets. You can create your own or use ready-made ones. Either way, expect that it will be easier for you to earn leads and sales with these. 

3. Automation Features 

GetResponse will also provide you with automation tools. What makes it different is it doesn’t only focus on emails. It will pay attention to your overall marketing needs. For instance, you can automate reminders about abandoned carts. The possibilities are endless since you can just set triggers and actions depending on what you want. 

4. Builder Tools 

The app comes with complete builder tools. You can build and design your site, landing page, and the signup forms that you want to embed. The editor also comes with drag-and-drop controls, so it will be easy even if you’re a beginner. Like the email builder, this also comes with themes. 

5. Live Chat 

The Live Chat feature of GetResponse will allow you to connect with your leads in real-time. With this tool, you can give more reliable support to your customers. You also won’t have to create a new email for every concern. 

6. Webinars

Finally, one of GetResponse’s most unique offers is the Webinar feature. Depending on the plan you’ll buy, you can hold either a free or a paid webinar. Either way, it’s a good tool to reach out to leads. You can also have seminars and training here, which can serve as a lead magnet or another income source.

Taking GetResponse’s offers into account, it’s safe to say that your online business will get everything it needs. And you can expect good marketing tactics to full-on customer support. 

What is Constant Contact?

Constant Contact is a marketing tool that mainly focuses on email needs. Randy Parker developed it in 1995, which makes it a little older than the former app. It initially started as “Roving Software”. Its name, “Constant Contact,” only became official in 2004.

This service provider solely pays attention to email tools. Moreover, they target small businesses. Hence, you should expect that their goals and features will fit small-sized sites better. Here is a list of where the app’s solutions can help: 

Site Building

List Building

Sales Boosting

Social Marketing

Because Constant Contact works with small businesses, you can see that it covers fewer fields than GetResponse. As of 2021, the app stays as one of the largest providers. It caters to more or less than 600,000 customers. Again, however, most of these are starters in the field. 

Features of Constant Contact

1. Email Marketing

The platform’s email marketing features come with an email editor, autoresponder, and analytics. For the editor, you will have a drag-a-drop builder with built-in themes. Its autoresponder, on the flip side, will allow you to set triggers for email sending. It also comes with tools for segmenting and tagging your list. Its unique offer lies in its Auto-Resend feature. It will automatically resend an email if your lead leaves it unopened.

2. Ecommerce Solutions 

For online stores, you will get tools that can help gather more leads and sales. These will also work around email marketing. In particular, the app will provide you with segmented mails that focus on engagements. 

3. Social Marketing 

Out of all the app’s features, they mainly excel in Social Marketing. Here, they will give you tools for social posting like scheduling and analytics. Once you connect it with your Facebook or Instagram, you can easily sync your posts and emails together. It can help when sending newsletters to your list. Moreover, the social tools will also boost your online presence without having to spend too much on ads. 

Pros and Cons of Constant Contact

Click here to discover the pros and cons of GetResponse and Constant Contact

[iamcjmac]

Email Marketing For SaaS – Can It Grow Your Business?

Email marketing is one of the most used digital strategies. It keeps a close yet professional touch with leads. And it's a highly-effective strategy that will certainly benefit SaaS companies as you'll see. Software as a Service (SaaS) companies mostly run on subscriptions. Thus, they need to reach out to their audience constantly. But, of course, it will be hard to do it manually.

So this is where email marketing comes in. With this strategy, they can keep up with their leads without spending too much time or effort. If you want to know more about the benefits of email marketing for SaaS, then keep reading...

Advantages of Email Marketing For SaaS

Email marketing will bring many benefits to your SaaS company, just as it is doing for millions of businesses, big and small!

So, what are the main advantages that a SaaS company can expect from email marketing? See below:

Cost-Efficient

Unlike SMS marketing, you won’t need to pay for every email that you will send. In addition, you will get complete tools alongside email features. You won’t have to purchase another service. All in all, you can expect to save a lot more. With the right service, you may even get more than your money’s worth.

Direct and Targeted Messages

Email marketing provides a channel where you can directly send emails to your list. You can do the task through segmenting and tagging tools. Not only that, but you can also target the right leads so you will have more relevant results. Because of it, you can send the right emails to the right people at the right time.

Multi-Purpose

With the strategy at hand, you won’t have to stick to solely sending promos. You can also send emails about reminders, purchases, sales recovery, feedback, and more.

The options are basically endless for SaaS brands. Depending on the service you will use, you may have even more benefits than the ones above. 

How Can Email Marketing Help Sell Services?

The main goal in having a SaaS product is to gain sales. The right use of email marketing can also help you with this task. Here are some of the most common tools that you can use to optimize sales:

Funnels

Using funnels is a good step to guide buyers in buying your product. It can come in many forms. You can use one for sales, conversions, lead magnets, and likes. Anyhow, expect that funnels from email marketing services will help increase your sales.

Autoresponders

A lot of potential buyers back out from buying a product when they can’t reach the brand. Of course, it can be hard to always be on standby. At the same, losing even one customer for this reason is a big loss. 

With email autoresponders, it’s safe to say that you won’t have to go through the issue anymore. It will automatically reply to emails for you. All you need to do is to set the right actions and triggers. 

Transactional Emails 

Transactional emails can also help with sales. With this tool, you can easily confirm orders, send reminders, receipts, and more. It guarantees a smooth transaction, which can be a big plus for your leads. 

Click here to continue reading

[iamcjmac]

Best Web Hosting for Entrepreneurs

What is the best web hosting for entrepreneurs who are starting an online business?

A business has to meet basic expectations. For example, if your website is slow, there is no chance in this world that you will succeed. I know this, and I learned it the hard way.

I do not want you to go through the same misery that I did. What I am going to do today is to share with you the best web hosting service for entrepreneurs operating an online business.

Problems for Online Entrepreneurs

Success in the online business is not as simple as putting up a website. It requires more than that. The engine that runs your business must be capable to deliver the service that today’s savvy online customers expect.

Over the years, I came to realize that entrepreneurs have common gripes about hosting. These problems should never exist, but they do.

Website Speed

It’s vitally important that your website page load times are as fast as possible. So website speed is a factor you must pay attention to.  If pages load slowly, your prospect will either click away or just close the browser. Different marketing researchers said that on average, it takes less than three seconds for a user to leave a website that is slow.

So, no—a customer will not wait for your webpage to load. Instead, they will just search for other websites that offer the same thing. They can click away from your website in a heartbeat!

Slow speed also damages search engine optimization, especially from Google. If you do not know it yet, Google wants to provide the best service to its users. If it recommends a website that is slow, the user will not have a good experience.

And if so, people will no longer trust Google. Because of this, Google has algorithms that detect the speed of a website. If your website is slow, Google is not going to show this at the top of the search results.

If this happens to your site, you will not get traffic. Website traffic comes from pages that are at the top of the search engine results pages or SERPs, and site speed is one of the many determining factors by which Google makes this decision.There are a number of free tools you can use to measure the speed of your website. But the main ones you should use are Google’s because you want to know how Google sees your site. These are the two I always use to measure the speed of my clients’ websites:

Google Page Insights and Google Test My Site

Both will give you free reports for you to hand to your developer if site speed needs to be improved.

Hosting Costs

Of course, the cost is an important factor. It is like rent in the physical world. What you want is to pay an affordable amount for your online real estate. It does not make sense forking out hundreds of dollars for web hosting. If you do this, the hosting company will only eat up your profits.

Ease of Use

A good web hosting company must offer an interface that is easy to understand. If it is too complex, you are going to waste valuable time learning how it works.

Dependability

Finally, you need a web hosting service that you can rely on. It does not matter if you have the most aesthetic website if it is no accessible. You must only get a hosting service that can guarantee 99.9% uptime.

What you need now is a web hosting company for entrepreneurs—one that was specifically designed for selling. There are so many out there, but one stands out from all of the others because it delivers a complete service that meets the needs of online entrepreneurs.

What Entrepreneurs Need for Web Hosting

To succeed in your online business, there are a few things that your hosting company must provide. These things are non-negotiable. I strongly recommend you resist the temptation to sign-up with any hosting service no matter how cheap if one of these is not available.

Click here now to continue reading

[iamcjmac]

Explaining Sales Funnels for Beginners in 5 Easy Steps

If you are into online entrepreneurship, you will always hear experts talk about the sales funnel. The sad thing is that this is rarely explained, so I decided to share my knowledge about it step by step. By the end of this sales funnels for beginners tutorial, you will know what it is, its parts, and how you can best make a sales funnel on your own.

What is a Sales Funnel?

Before you think of the sales funnel, you have to think of a real, tangible funnel. It is a kitchen tool with a wide mouth. The bottom has a tube. You insert that tube into a bottle’s opening, and you pour the liquid into the funnel’s big mouth. From there, the liquid will be transferred into the bottle, without spilling anything.

The sales funnel works the same. Simply put, it is a strategy to drive sales. In it, you start by looking for a huge volume of people, and then you take them step by step until they finally buy. At this point, only a few people are left.

While many people sell supposed “secret funnels,” there is no single sales funnel that works for everything. The sales funnel you make depends on the kind of business you have.

In this article, I’m going to explain sales funnels for beginners. You’ll see how a sales funnel works and I’ll also give examples of different types of sales funnels. Let’s get to it!

How Does the Sales Funnel Work?

In the physical world, you need foot traffic to make a sale. You can do this by showing ads, displaying your products in the store, and many more. Not all people who see your ads or products are going to buy.

What you have to do is to filter them. This is because you need to find the ones who really need your product, and then do some sales actions that will lead to a sale. So, if 100 people showed interest in your product, we can say that in the end, only 10 people will buy.

In the physical world, you can talk to people. This is difficult to do online. On the internet, you rarely have an opportunity to tell them the benefits of your product.

And this is where a funnel comes in. Below is a typical sales funnel process:

Traffic – you get 1,000 people who see your ad and go to your website Subscription – you ask them to subscribe to your email list or browser notification; let us say that only 100 people subscribed Nurturing – you send them emails that are of value Sale – in time, you can convince them to buy; it is typical that from 1,000 people, only 1.5 – 3% will buy

So, that is pretty much how a funnel works. You start by getting traffic. These people are called leads. They found themselves on your website, so it means that they have an interest in the product you are selling.

The next step is to find a way to be able to contact them. From there, you have to nurture these leads. You need to warm them up. You have to give them value. Finally, they will see you as a trustworthy person, and then they will buy what you are selling.

Do You Need a Sales Funnel?

Yes, all entrepreneurs need a sales funnel. This is the only way you can increase your revenue. Essentially, the sales funnel is like a roadmap to your goal. It is like the blueprint plan so your business can achieve its target revenue. Without a sales funnel, you do not have a strategy, and you only depend on luck.

Examples of Sales Funnels

In this section, I want to discuss some common sales funnels that you can use depending on the medium of your business. As I said earlier, there is no single funnel that fits all.

YouTube Sales Funnel

Let us say you are an entrepreneur, and you have a YouTube channel. What you can do is to find a problem first.

Here s my recommended funnel sequence:

Step 1: Create videos that solve a problem Step 2: Ask your viewers to like and subscribe Step 3: Keep creating content that is valuable Step 4: Include links in the descriptions to your products Step 5: The viewer clicks the link and buys

For this type of sales funnel, you first offered value to your viewers. Also, you do not directly sell something to them. What you are doing here is earning their trust. Once they trust you enough, you can start redirecting them to your sales pages.

And if you also set up a blog, you can also ask your YouTube subscribers and audiences to read articles and content you post there.

Blog Sales Funnel

The next sales funnel I want to talk about is another common type—the blog. All online stores must have a blog. There really is no going around this. without a blog, your site will never be found in the algorithm. If you do not have the time to write, you can always hire a dependable freelance writer to produce content on our site regularly.

Here is how a blog sales funnel typically works;

Step 1: You get traffic to your site Step 2: You post your affiliate links Step 3: The prospect clicks your sales links for your product or clicks on your affiliate links Step 4: The prospect completes a purchase

Email Marketing Funnel

Another tried and trusted sales funnel method – and one I recommend especially for beginners – is an email marketing funnel:

Step 1: You get traffic to your site Step 2: You ask the prospect to subscribe to your email list Step 3: You send regular emails to your subscribers; the email has links to your offers Step 4: Subscriber buys

Now, it is at this point that we will transition to the most common sales funnel where you need a landing page.

Click here to continue reading the complete article

[iamcjmac]

Best Web Hosting for Beginners

Building a website can be a confusing and daunting task for beginners. And this is most especially so if you do not have a background in computer programming at all.

The good news is that you don’t need to learn how to code or do any other technical stuff. You just need to choose the right web hosting service provider. 

Today, I want to share with you what I believe to be the best web hosting for beginners. And I’ll provide you with a detailed explanation of why this is the best solution for your online business.

What Should You Expect From A Good Web Hosting Service?

If you are a beginner, the very last thing that you want is to have to get involved with complex technical stuff. Technical skills take a long time to acquire and it’s not what you should be focusing on. The web hosting service provider you choose must be able to give you all of the tools that you need to get started.

So, what are the things that you need?

- Ease of Use: First off, you want a dashboard that is easy to use, not an old and clunky dashboard where you have to type codes to be able to access features.

- WordPress:  This is a content management system. A good host must have this, so you do not have to build your website from scratch. With WordPress, you only have to click some buttons and links to build a website, its pages, and overall structure. WordPress is also very easy to use and has a wide variety of plugins so you can add extra features to your website

- Secure Socket Layer: This is an encryption methodology that prevents people from accessing your website and taking control of it. It’s important to choose a provider that offers this for free because this can cost up to $250 per year.  When you browse a site, if you see a lock icon in the top navigation bar, that denotes a website is secure. Look at the top of this page for an example

- Domain Integration:  Your website must have its own name. The problem is that as a beginner, you will be hard-pressed doing the integration yourself. Choose a web hosting provider that allows you to buy a domain name, and have it used on your website as a URL with a single click of a button

As a beginner, the ultimate thing you want is ease of use. It makes no sense to have to go through all the technical complexities of building a website. If the hosting service cannot provide you with a seamless and effortless experience, look elsewhere.

Before you make a commitment to any provider, make sure that it provides all of the above. You do not want to sign up for something that makes things unnecessarily difficult for you. What you want is a service where all you have to do is to click some buttons to be able to build a website.

Is there such a web hosting service? There certainly is! 

Continue reading the full version over at:

https://hostingsmarts.com/best-web-hosting-for-beginners/

[iamcjmac]

How Can Email Marketing Help Your Business Grow Quickly?

Email marketing is one of the most used marketing strategies online, especially in affiliate marketing and e-commerce businesses. The reason behind this is because email marketing is easy to set up, and it won’t require you to spend too much money at once. Depending on the platform, this can also have a beginner-friendly interface.

If you’re just starting out, however, this concept can come off as a little confusing. So if you’re asking “How can email marketing help my business?” we are going to provide you with a detailed overview of what it is, how this will work, and how this can help you with growing your business. 

What Is Email Marketing?

To start our discussion, let us first give you a definition of what email marketing is. This concept is one of the many marketing strategies that an entrepreneur or marketer can implement in their business. This involves sending emails to your subscriber base to build a stable relationship with them and possibly converting them to sales-generating customers.

Here’s some examples of the types of emails that you can send to your audience:

Welcoming/Introductory – for new and/or returning subscribers

Newsletters – One of the  most popular types of email, used to send your subscribers information and latest company or industry news

Promotional Emails – for sales discounts, limited stocks, new releases, exclusive vouchers

Sales Recovery – for abandoned carts, and lost sales

Reminders and Updates – for upcoming payment deadlines, instalments, bug fixes, service unavailability, and disclaimers

Confirmation Emails – for confirming purchases and order receipts

Customer Support – for refunds, returns, warranties, guarantees, and responses for concerns

To sum it up, you can send anything that you may deem necessary as long as it is relevant to the business. Of course, you also have to follow certain rules and guidelines, both unwritten and written, for the privacy of your clients. These may involve terms such as the security of the users’ information, the frequency of emails, message confidentiality, and the ability to opt-out.

How Email Marketing Can Help You To Grow Your Business Quickly