Choosing The Perfect Web Hosting Service for Your Business

Introduction

In my article, “6 Steps to Building A Website for Your Small Business,” I gave six simple steps to launch your business’s online presence. In that article, I touched on selecting a host for your website. In this article, I will go into more detail about Choosing The Perfect Web Hosting Service for Your Business.

Where Do I Start?

If you are new to website building and hosting, “where do I start?” may be your most daunting question. Where do you start? Do not start by researching web hosting services, what they charge, and what they have to offer. From this research, you will only learn what is available and what it will cost. You could then make the mistake of choosing a hosting service based only on cost.

So, where do you start? Start with your business.

• What is the nature of your business?
• What do you want an online presence to do for your business?
  • Promote your business?
  • Capture a reasonable margin of the market share?
  • What will be your market reach (local, regional, national, global)?
  • Provide legitimacy for your business?
  • Sell products?

• What will be the nature of the content for your website?
  • Information?
  • Blogs?
  • Media (images, videos, etc.)?
  • Data?
  • eCommerce?

There is more that could be listed here, but these questions will give a good start at identifying the requirements of a website for your business.

What Next

Based on your answers to the questions above, you will have vital information to use in selecting a web host. You can then identify which category you fall into below :

Less than average usage – The following website content will result in less than average bandwidth and storage:

• Basic information about the business
• Informational blogs
• Low to moderate traffic (less than 30,000 users per month)
• Storage needs primarily consist of website images and a few files for download.
• A low amount of file downloads or uploads

Average usage – The following content will have moderate bandwidth and storage usage:

• Medium to medium-high traffic (30,000 to 150,000 users per month) – 100Mbps is needed for every 1,000 users.
• One or two of these activities in moderation:
  • Streaming music
  • Video conferencing 
  • Large image files
  • A moderate amount of data

• A moderate amount of one or two of these items:
  • Audio files
  • Video files
  • Image files
  • Databases

• eCommerce

Higher than average usage – Increase everything under average use to high rather than moderate amounts. As traffic increases, bandwidth will increase regarding every activity on your website.

What Kind of Hosting Will I need?

Assuming you have worked through the questions above, you now have enough information to consider the hosting you need.

To address hosting options, I will draw on the help of the staff at digital.com, referencing their article, “How To Choose a Web Hosting Provider.”

Using the information you have gleaned to this point, you have a general idea of your storage and bandwidth requirements. With this knowledge, consider the three hosting options: shared, virtual private, and dedicated, described in the digital.com article, “How To Choose a Web Hosting Provider.”

Shared Hosting

With shared hosting, multiple sites use the same IP address and reside on the same server. This is the most economical form of web hosting, as the hosting company splits the cost of a physical server among multiple sites.

The main advantage of shared hosting is its price. However, you are also at the mercy of the bandwidth other sites on the same server use. If a large amount of traffic goes to another location on the same server, it slows your site considerably.

Also, if another site on the same server is engaging in nefarious behavior and has its IP blocked by spam filters, your site may be affected as well. Reliable hosting providers prevent this but you should take this possibility into account.

Virtual Private Server Hosting

Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting is the next step up in web hosting technology. While you still share the same physical server with other sites, you are set up with a unique virtual server and a unique IP address. This unique IP address keeps your site separate from other sites on the server.

If you choose VPS hosting you have the advantage of being able to manage more features on your server yourself and eliminate blacklisting risks like those with shared hosting. There are some limitations on how much traffic a VPS can handle, but most sites for individuals or small businesses will never come close to exceeding these limitations.

Dedicated Hosting

With dedicated hosting, your physical server or servers are for your website only. This is a more expensive type of hosting, but it is also the most reliable.

Large companies require the use of dedicated hosting services to guarantee uptime and to secure their site. This option is best for efficiency; but, again, it is far more expensive. There are options that help deflect the cost. Through Amazon Web Services (AWS), for example, where you can pay as you go to maintain better control over the costs.

The Top Web Hosting Providers

In addition to the information about types of hosting, from “How To Choose a Web Hosting Provider,” digital.com offers their three picks for top web hosting providers:

Bluehost

Best Overall Hosting

For individuals or companies who decide that shared hosting fits their needs, you can’t get a better deal than Bluehost. It provides one of the least expensive starting packages for web hosting and includes a full 50GB of storage space at its lowest level plans. It also boasts an impressive 99.99% uptime. We found that its rates and support are among the best in the business for first-time users.

SiteGround

Best Hosting for Customer Support

Siteground provides a suite of excellent services, including reliable web hosting and fully managed WordPress hosting. Their hosting also comes with useful addons for e-commerce, including WooCommerce.

While SiteGround tends to be slightly more expensive than some of its competitors, it consistently provides some of the best service and fastest speeds available on the internet. It is ideal for beginners (it has several easy-to-use drag and drop tools), and established companies. They are a solid choice for a web host.

Hostinger

Best Budget Hosting

Hostinger stands out as an especially good option for hosting users who are on a tight budget. While Hostinger’s plans are exceptionally affordable it doesn’t mean they’re missing any key features. It provides a wide range of services that will satisfy most small businesses. Its entry-level packages are very affordable and can scale up to meet the needs of more demanding sites. Even the lowest-level shared hosting plan includes SSD storage, a free SSL certificate, and managed auto-updates for WordPress.

More on Hosting

Have your questions on hosting not yet been answered? You can take a deeper dive by checking out these other articles at Digital:

• https://digital.com/web-hosting/
• https://digital.com/web-hosting/what-is-web-hosting/
• https://digital.com/best-web-hosting/how-to-host-a-website/
• https://digital.com/best-web-hosting/how-much-does-it-cost-to-host-a-website/

Other Considerations

Once you have settled on a hosting plan, it is time to consider additional features you will need for your website. These include Email, SSL security, and web builders.

Email Accounts – You will likely want multiple email accounts based on your business domain. For instance, sales@mybusiness.com. You will want to be sure the service you select includes email accounts in your hosting package.

SSL Security – SSL security assures that data transferred to and from your website is safe. Having this safeguard has become a must on today’s internet. Most browsers will either warn you or block you when you are about to enter a website that does not have SSL. Receiving an unsafe warning in your browser about the website you are about to visit does not engender confidence in the business that operates the website.

Whether or not a hosting service includes SSL in its hosting package, you can purchase and install a certificate yourself. But it is a nice perk if included in the package, saving you approximately $50 annually.

Web Builders – You will need an application to build your business website. What does the hosting service you are considering offer? Many include a website builder app with drag-and-drop features. These can be relatively simple to learn to use, but will they offer you the flexibility you need?

Apart from a web builder app included in a hosting service package, there are two main options: build an HTML website or use a CMS app such as WordPress. A significant percentage of websites on the internet are run on WordPress sites.

A WordPress website can offer greater flexibility than drag-and-drop builders, especially when using a custom theme. It is helpful to use a professional designer to get the most out of a WordPress site. I recommend Elite Web Presence services for a custom WordPress or HTML site.

Should you choose WordPress to power your website, consider selecting a hosting service that specializes in hosting WordPress sites. Such hosting services will usually offer additional tools to enhance your WordPress-powered site.

Conclusion

It can be challenging to decide on a web hosting provider with all the available options. To help you narrow down your choices, we’ve put together a list of factors to keep in mind and some top providers. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below!

Is there a topic you would like me to address? Please let us know in the comments below or on our contact form.

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My Personal Guide to The Best Features in Nicepage Part 2

Welcome to the Digital Chowder blog! It is part two of my guide to all of Nice Page’s most impressive features. 

I talked about the Nicepage subscription plans and desktop app in the first video. The app is available for both Windows and Mac. The app allows you to do your design work offline on your computer and do as much as you want online. Just an excellent feature that I have not seen with any other web builder in part two.

In this video, we’ll talk about some of the design features of Nice Page that I like. This article will not be a how-to but will highlight features I like about Nicepage.

Nicepage App Dashboard:

So here we are at the dashboard for the Nice Page app. I use the Windows version. You can see on the left side a list of the websites I am working with on Nicepage. I will select this site I set up as a demo site. So click on it, and we go to the front page of the website design.

Simple Format:

From here, we will talk about the simple Nicepage design format. With some builders, I need clarification on the format and help to know what to do. Also, with some builders, I feel locked into a structure that only sometimes works best for what I want to do. But Nicepage is different.

Websites these days are being built using blocks of content. And that is the case with Nicepage. You can see two blocks in this design in the image above, in addition to the header and footer.

Adding and Designing A Block:

Adding a block is a simple matter of clicking on the add block link and then choosing a design template from the library or adding elements of my choice for a preferred design.

We can see in this first block that an image is in the block as an independent element. Behind it is another separate element called a shape. To the right is a list element comprised of three items called cells.

On the right is a box element. And within the box are a heading, text, and a button. And all of these are in the box. The box ties these elements together. The components within the box move with it, going where it goes. This functionality is essential for a responsive website. We are working within a desktop view, but we also want these elements to remain aligned in a phone view.

Another feature that helps to tie elements together for a responsive website is the grid. We can use 2, 3, or more cells in a grid. These cells can be independent of each other or can duplicate one another. 

And here is what the grid looks like with images in desktop view.

And here is what the grid looks like with images in mobile view.

Modal:

Next, we will look at the modal. I am still looking for the modal in other builders, but it is a feature I like to use. It is one of several ways to offer more information but allows the viewer to choose whether to view it. This feature helps keep a more straightforward and cleaner page rather than cramming in information viewers may want to avoid seeing. By so doing, we can prevent losing visitors who become impatient wading through content they don’t want to get to the content they do want.

Here is what a modal might look like, but view the video below to demonstrate how it functions.

Three choices are available for launching a modal:

• Button: Launch the modal by clicking a button.
• Timer: Schedule the modal to pop up a certain number of seconds after the page opens.
• Exit: Set the modal to pop up when the visitor intends to exit the page.

Modal Plus Slider:

A modal will allow the use of any element. I like to use the slider in modals. I suggest using an image linked to a modal so the viewer can click the image and have a slide show pop-up of other related images.

Animation:

Another neat feature of Nicepage is animation. You will need to view the video to see this in action. Two blocks in the sample web page utilize animation, activated by scrolling. As the block emerges on the screen, the animation is triggered. Scrolling triggers the main image in the block shown below to zoom in. Each cell in the grid also uses zoom animation.

Accordion:

The next feature to highlight is the accordion. If you are unsure what the accordion feature is, you may have seen one without realizing it was an accordion. The modal is often used for FAQs, though that is only one use for them. Shown below is a FAQ accordion.

Reordering Blocks:

Web page blocks serve as units of related content. As such, blocks can serve as visual highlights of their content by using different backgrounds and other graphic design features. An excellent quality of Nicpage is the ease with which you can reorder blocks. Without moving individual elements on the page, you merely need to click an up or down arrow on the block to reorder it above or below the surrounding blocks. Moving a block can amount to significant page editing with the click of an arrow.

Additionally, there may be a block with content that is temporarily unwanted. Will you delete that block you have spent time designing? After all, you will eventually want to include it on the page again. No problem. Hide the block so it does not appear publicly.

Tab:

A similar feature to the accordion is the tab. The tab, like the accordion, allows information to remain hidden until a visitor chooses to view it. So as the example below shows, the tabs identify the data contained under that tab. It is much like a file folder. Clicking the tab reveals its contents.

Menu:

The last feature to highlight is the menu. The unique and convenient factor of the menu feature in Nicepage is that it is unnecessary to leave the page you are working on to edit the menu. No need to go to the WordPress widget and menu section to make menu changes.

Items on the menu can be added, removed, or reordered within the page design. Same with design elements such as hover, active, background, font, etc.

Conclusion:

I hope this article has been helpful. If you haven’t already seen the video or article for part one of this series, I encourage you to read, “My Personal Guide to All the Best Features in Nicepage, Part 1.”

Also, I hope you will use this link for a free download of Nicepage and check it out yourself.

If you have found this article to be helpful, please leave a comment below.

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My Personal Guide to All the Best Features in Nicepage, Part 1

 

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to the Digital Chowder blog. I’m Wayne, and this is the first of four posts and videos I will be doing about All the Best Features of Nicepage, my favorite website builder. This post will not be a how-to about how to use Nicepage. Nor will it be a review comparing Nicepage alongside other web builders. Instead, I will highlight some of my favorite features found in Nicepage.

This first post/video will address the Nicepage subscription plan, why I like it, and why it is a good fit for me. Then I will touch on the desktop app with Nicepage, giving an overview. Finally, I will discuss the options for publishing your website after designing it in the desktop app.

Nicepage Subscription Plans:

If you go to the Nice Page website and then to their premium page, you will see four subscription plans outlined. Each plan has two options: a subscription and a license. So what is the difference? With the license, you’re paying a one-time fee to purchase the software; with that, you’re getting one year of updates for the software. But beyond the first year, there will be an additional fee if you want any updates. I have chosen the subscription approach. With the subscription, you pay an annual fee and receive the software and all updates during the year. And it is ongoing.

When I started with Nice Page, I used the Personal plan since I only needed one website for my business plus a personal site. With the Personal plan, I could have as many as five websites. So that was quite adequate. But now I design websites for other businesses besides my own. So I need to use Nicepage for more than five websites. However, I don’t need an unlimited number of sites.

So, let’s jump over to the Elementor website and look at their plans to understand why the Nicepage subscription is a good fit for me. With Elementor, three plans start with the Essential plan, which is $59 a year. This plan allows you one website. If you jump to the Expert Plan, which is $199 a year, you are allowed 25 websites.

Now let’s go back to the Nicepage website. Back there, the Business plan offers a middle ground between the Personal and Pro plans, which Elementor does not have. The Business plan for $129 a year allows me 50 websites and additional features. This is just right for me. I need more than the Personal plan offers, but I don’t need all that the Pro plan provides. So the Business plan is the one I use. I would pay $199 annually at Elementor and only get 25 sites.

Desktop App:

The next feature I want to highlight is the desktop app with Nicepage. There is a desktop app for both Windows and Mac computers. If you’re building a WordPress website, then you also get a WordPress plugin, or if you’re doing a Joomla site, you get that Joomla plugin.

You can do the whole website on your computer before you import it to your WordPress website. But it is not required. Creating the site layout is the only portion of building a website that requires the desktop app. Once you have created a layout for your website, you can export the site to a zip file and install it as a WordPress theme. You can do the remainder of the design online. Or not! You can also build the complete site on your desktop before installing it online.

Once you have installed the design theme on your WordPress site, you can work back and forth between online and offline.

Once your site is online, you can edit it on the desktop or do it online, whichever you choose. I do both. I like to be able to do major edits on my desktop, knowing that when I do a save, it’s not going to go public.

Next, let’s look more closely at the desktop app.

You can check the video above to see what I’m talking about in the following comments.

As you view the desktop application listed in the left-hand column, you will see a list of your websites. Click the appropriate icon to open the site you want to work with. You can also delete a website you are no longer working with from this page. To create a new website, use the “New Site” button.

If you are creating a new website, you can start with a blank website and build the site from scratch, adding elements as you go. Or, you can use your graphics to form the bases of the site. Yet another option is to select a design template from the various categories listed. Once you choose a template, you can stay close to the template design or use it only as a starting point.

Publishing The Website:

When you are ready to export my website to an online host, I can click the “Publish” button. You can publish a temporary Nicepage-hosted site, an HTML format, or a WordPress theme.

The temporary “Website” option is quick and easy. Press the publish button to install the site on the Nicepage server. Then share the subdomain with a client for their review of the site. There is no configuration or installation or uploads to do to have a site looking like the one on your desktop.

Another option is an HTML site. This choice requires an FTP app to upload to the host server.

If you publish a WordPress site, use the output zip file to install in WordPress as you do with any other theme.

Conclusion

In this post, I have given an overview of Nicepage. In the next post, I will detail some of my favorite design features in Nicepage. Meanwhile, I encourage you to get a free Nicepage download and try it. Then come back to the other posts for further help.

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6 Steps to Building A Website for Your Small Business

Introduction

You need a website to promote your business but can’t afford to pay someone to build it for you. What are you to do? Your first option is to recognize it is unnecessary to be an expert web developer to build your website. Read on to learn six critical steps to building a website. We will point you toward some of the needed resources along the way.

Research the type of website and features you need 

When you’re ready to build a website, the first step is to do your research. There are many different types of websites, and it’s crucial to pick the one that’s right for you. You’ll need an eCommerce website to sell products or services. If you’re a blogger or writer, you’ll need a site that’s easy to update and add new content. And if you’re promoting a brand or business, you’ll need a professional site that’s easy to navigate.

Once you’ve figured out what website you need, the next step is determining what features are important to you. Do you need a shopping cart? A contact form? A blog? A newsletter sign-up? Take some time to figure out what you need, and then start looking for a web builder with all the features you need.

Select a Web Builder and Web Host

Once you have determined the type of website you need and some of its requirements, the next step will be to assess your web builder. Here I’m referring to the application you will use to build the site. Knowing what web builder you will use will help you decide on a web host.

A web host is a service that leases storage space on its servers. Web servers have software specific for connecting or broadcasting websites to the internet. You will need a web host to make your website available on the internet. The amount of storage space and bandwidth required will determine the service’s cost. 

As suggested above, a site with a shopping cart will be more data-driven than one primarily used for blogging. Therefore, the shopping cart will use more bandwidth than the blog.

While storage and bandwidth are factors to consider when selecting a web host, your web builder will be another factor.

In its article, “10 Best Website Builders for Small Business: Compared for 2022,” WebsiteBuilderExpert recommends these five web builders for small businesses:

• Wix– Best small business website builder.
• Squarespace– Best for building your brand.
• GoDaddy– Best for businesses that need to get online quickly.
• Weebly– Best for value for money.
• Zyro– Best for business basics.

Each of these five builders comes as part of a web hosting service package. Each is respected, and each is drag-N-drop in functionality, and thus easy to use. Using Wix as an example, Wix is a hosting service. For $22 per month, you get a free domain and free SSL certificate for one year, plus the web builder. You also get 5 GB of storage and one hour of video play. The video play is their way of limiting bandwidth.

WebsiteBuilderExpert gives Wix the top ranking in this list of builders, so it is a quality builder, as are the others.

I will discuss WordPress in a different category, which is not on the list but is one of the most popular platforms for building websites. WordPress is independent of any web hosting service. That said, some hosting services cater specifically to WordPress. Two of these are Siteground and Bluehost. These two services are special WordPress tools included in their service.

Pick a domain name

A domain name is what identifies your website on the internet. The name must be registered with a domain service and configured to locate your website when entered into a browser. A fee is required to register the domain name and is due annually to remain active. While specific sought-after names can be expensive, the typical cost is around $15 annually.

Choosing the right domain name for your business is vital for several reasons.

• First, it’s one of the first things potential customers will see when looking for your site. Therefore, you want to ensure that it’s easy to remember and relevant to your work.
• Second, the domain name is a crucial part of your branding. It should be unique and reflect the image that you want to project.
• Third, you’ll want to choose an available domain name.
• Finally, you will want a domain name with good keyword value.

What is a keyword? A keyword is a term that best describes the content on your page or post. It’s what you want to rank for when people search for that keyword or phrase in Google or other search engines. So, when they search, your page should come up. Several keywords may describe a page’s content. In this case, you will want to use multiple keywords. Multiple keywords will broaden the search possibilities for finding your content.

Based on the name and nature of your business, there will be words that best describe your business and perform well in search engine search results. Therefore, it could be profitable to do some keyword research to find a good keyword on which to base your domain name. Some services offering free keyword research are Keywords Everywhere and Ubersuggest.

Create your website content

Creating your website content can be a fun and rewarding experience or a real chore. It will depend on your skills and interests. Even if you know what you want to say, you may be at a loss for how to say it. How can you say it using good grammar and sentence structure while capturing the attention of your audience?

How to say what I want to say is where it becomes a chore for me. But I have discovered some tools that do much of the hard work for me and allow me to post content confidently:

• Jasper ai – Jasper uses artificial intelligence to generate content and word it clearly and engagingly.
• Grammarly – As its name suggests, Grammarly addresses spelling, grammar, and sentence structure. If you subscribe to the Jasper service, Grammarly will come with it. I subscribe to Grammarly separately, allowing me to use it wherever I write. Even in email. As I write, it is there offering corrections and making suggestions. When I complete an article, I don’t need a proofreader to catch what I have missed. Grammarly has my back.
• Ubersuggest – When it comes to writing content, Jasper and Grammarly are adequate. Ubersuggest is a multi-tasker. As I mentioned above, it does keyword research. But it also does website analysis and offers SEO help to increase traffic to your website. It has yet another feature for which I suggest it in this context. It, too, has an AI writer. Though it is not as robust as Jasper, it is beneficial in giving help with content. If I need a boost to start writing on a topic, I go there first to ‘prime the pump.’

Add Images

A website without images can be a very dull site, indeed! At least visually. But where can you find images, photos, or videos that are free or inexpensive, about which you can be confident you have permission to use?

We all know about Google images, a rich storehouse of graphic content. But which images can you use on a website, and which are prohibited? Sure, you can contact the content owner, but that takes time, and you may or may not receive a prompt reply. So I rely on four services:

• Graphic River – A combination of free and paid downloads.
• Unsplash – https://unsplash.com/ – Also a combination of free and paid downloads.
• Pond5 – Pond5 offers both a subscription and a pay-per-use approach. I usually pay, at most, $2.50 for an image.
• Canva – Canva is an excellent source for downloading images, but I use it primarily for graphic design. There is a free version that has some limitations. The principal limit is the inability to download a high-quality version of the image I want. Higher-resolution downloads require a fee. I use the Pro version, which gives me every advantage I want. It costs $119.99 annually.

Launch your website!

So you’ve built your website and are ready to show it to the world. Congratulations! Publishing your site can be daunting, but with some preparation, you can make it go smoothly. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you launch your website:

• First, Double-check your site for any broken links or errors. Nothing is more frustrating for a visitor than clicking on a link and getting an error message. Before you go live, test your links to ensure they work.
• Next, take a look at your site’s design and layout. Is everything easy to find and navigate? Is the overall look and feel professional and polished? If not, make some changes before you launch.
• Finally, once your site is up and running, promote it! Let people know where they can find your site and what they can expect to see there. Use social media, email marketing, and other strategies to get the word out. Launching a successful website takes effort and planning, but it’s ultimately worth it. With these tips in mind, you’re on your way to a successful launch!

Conclusion

So there you have it – a simple guide to creating your website. Do the research, choose the right web host and domain name, and produce quality content. You will then be well on your way to having a successful website that reflects your business in the best possible light.

Have questions or comments? Leave them for us in the comment section below or use our contact form.

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14 Online Apps & Services for Freelancers

Many online apps and services can help make you more productive if you’re a freelancer. This article will discuss 14 of these tools, including three writing tools, four website-building tools, three creative tools, and four productivity tools.

Writing Tools

Grammarly

Grammarly is a grammar-checking tool that helps improve writing skills. Before I learned about the app, I struggled to write clearly and concisely, but Grammarly has helped me greatly. My sentences used to be too long and complicated, but now I feel better about my writing skills. I use Grammarly for everything from blog posts and emails to website copy. It’s the best tool around for polishing up your writing!

Grammarly is constantly active, no matter what application I am using. As I write, it will suggest changes to improve spelling, style, and tone. Sometimes, it will rewrite sentences to make them neater and simpler.

I am confident in the quality of my work, free of typos, misspellings, and bad grammar.

Grammarly has indeed been a lifesaver for me and my writing.

Try Grammarly

Jasper

Before I publish anything, I use Grammarly to check my writing for errors. However, when actually creating content, Jasper AI is where I turn to spark my creativity.

Jasper AI is the perfect tool to help me quickly and easily develop original, engaging content. With Jasper‘s help, I can come up with dozens of ideas for blogs, product descriptions, and web copy.

This can all be done in a fraction of the time it would normally take, and because Jasper integrates directly with social media platforms, I can publish content on these platforms without any hassle.

Try Jasper

Sqribble eBook Creator

Artificial intelligence is increasingly automating tasks that have here-to-fore been time-consuming. Sqribble eBook Creator is a leader in using AI to automate the process of eBook creation. With just a few clicks, you can create amazing eBooks that will educate, inform and entertain your readers. And best of all, you don’t need any design, technical or writing skills to start!

Sqribble provides over 50 alluring eBook templates belonging to 15 distinct niche categories. So, no matter what book you want to write – whether it’s a cookbook, a self-help guide, or an eBook on your pastime – we have your back.

With customizable templates, you can make your eBook unique by adding photos, videos, and text. And if you need help along the way, a support team is always available.

Try Sqribble

Website Tools

Nicepage

Nicepage is a website design app capable of turning out sites in WordPress, Joomla, and HTML.

Nicepage is my choice for web design. It is the tool I use for my website and to build sites for other businesses.

With Nicepage, you can create stunning websites without writing a single line of code! Just use its easy drag-and-drop website builder software to implement your ideas. Install its desktop app and get started designing your website. There are over 10,000 designer-made templates to choose from, so you can find the perfect one for your business. And if you want to customize anything, it’s easy to do with no coding required. Websites created in Nicepage are mobile-friendly, so they’ll look great on any device.

If you want a website that runs on WordPress or Joomla, design the general layout in the Nicepage desktop application. Afterward, export it as a template file and install it onto either WordPress or Joomla. A Nicepage Plugin will be included with the installation to enable you to continue the design and do editing from within the CMS.

Although I recommend Elementor, I prefer Nicepage because it is more flexible and gives me more freedom. With Nicepage, my creative ideas aren’t restricted by its capabilities. This saves me a lot of time not having to find a way to make my ideas work — they do.

Try Nicepage

Elementor

With Elementor, you can create a stunning website without any coding! With its easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor, you can create beautiful pages in no time. And with 100+ full website Kits and endless possibilities, you can let your creativity shine. Plus, Elementor‘s world-class hosting and robust security features will give you the peace of mind you need to focus on creating the website of your dreams. 

Elementor attempts to do it all with its own built-in features that eliminate the need for other plugins and thus do away with plugin clutter. And with 90+ widgets and countless built-in capabilities, you can create any website you can imagine. 

You won’t go wrong with Elementor as your choice for website creation.

Try Elementor

Pretty Links

Pretty Links isn’t just for those looking to make money from their content with affiliate links. It has plenty of other benefits, too. Pretty Link’s main purpose is link shortening, but it also tracks clicks for each link created within the program.

While this obvious perk is especially enticing to affiliate marketers, anyone wanting to see how many people are clicking on certain parts of their website can benefit from Pretty Links‘ click-tracking feature. Use Pretty Links as a link shortener for every link on your website, and you will easily track what parts of your website people are viewing or interacting with.

Plus, Pretty Links makes it a breeze to put links on your site. Just add a keyword or phrase when you create the link using Pretty Links. Then, Pretty Links will automatically insert that link any time the keyword appears. And if you ever need to change a link, you will not have to go through your site to change every link usage. Simply update it in one spot – Pretty Link – and it’ll be good to go sitewide!

Try Pretty Links

Pond5

Pond5 is a great resource for finding professional content at an affordable price. It has everything you need for your project, with millions of royalty-free photos, videos, audio clips, and more. And their license allows you to use their content without worry.

The main reason I use Pond5 is that a subscription isn’t required to access the media library- you can pay for each item separately. Most of the photos I purchased cost less than $5.00. If you would rather have a subscription, though, they are available at different price points depending on the content you want to access. You can also buy Credit Packs, which offer a 20% discount off the total purchase price.

Try Pond5

Creative Tools

Snagit

Techsmith’s Snagit is a screen capture software that lets you quickly and easily share what’s on your screen with others, so you don’t have to waste time with back-and-forth emails or messy file attachments. Just share a link to your Snagit capture, and they can view it in their browser.

With Snagit, you can not only take screenshots and mark them up, but you can also record a video of your screen. This is especially useful if you want to show someone how to do something or navigate a process step-by-step. Plus, once you’re done recording, Snagit will automatically turn it into a shareable video that’s easy for anyone to understand.

Snagit is my favorite tool to use when I need help with website design or illustrations for blog posts. The video screen capture feature also comes in handy whenever I need to show someone how a particular software works.

Try Snagit

Camtasia

Camtasia is another app created by Techsmith. With Camtasia, you can quickly and easily create professional-looking videos without prior video editing experience. Camtasia is quick to learn and easy to use, so you’ll be up and running in no time. It is the ideal tool for creating high-quality videos that engage your audience and help them learn more than text alone. Camtasia is perfect for creating video tutorials, how-to videos, software demo videos, meeting recordings, training videos, and lessons.

Try Camtasia

Canva

Canva Pro is an excellent choice to up your design game. This design software makes design simple, convenient, and reliable. With time-saving tools that make anyone look like a professional designer, you can create anything you need in no time.

Need to add some curved text, photo effects, or image enhancer? How about adding frames to photos or even text to videos? It’s all covered. And if you want to take your content to the next level, the online video recorder and converter let you record, edit, trim, and splice videos — all in one place. Plus, you can easily convert them to MP4 format for easy sharing.

When it comes to design, I’m a novice. But with Canva‘s array of templates and tools help my ideas take shape by imitating the professionals. Not only does Canva have great samples that spark creativity, but their design tools are user-friendly. Whenever I need graphics for product promotion or to design a logo, business card, or flyer, I go to Canva.

Try Canva

Productivity Tools

Keeper

Keeper Security offers a top-notch solution to protect your passwords and personal information from cybercriminals. With Keeper you will be Joining millions of people who use Keeper to protect their online identities. You’ll never again have to remember or worry about a password.

Powered by cutting-edge technology, Keeper offers unparalleled protection against ransomware attacks by generating high-strength, random passwords for each website, application, and service you use. In addition, BreachWatch® monitors the dark web 24/7 and alerts you if your credentials are detected in a public data breach so that you can take action immediately.

I have depended on Keeper for several years. Not only does it enable me to retrieve a saved password quickly, but it will also manage the process of registering a new user account and storing the necessary username and password for later use. It is not only for passwords, though. You can also use it to store credit card accounts, driver’s license numbers, and health insurance credentials.

I use Keeper’s Chrome extension to quickly locate the URL of any website I frequent from Keeper’s database. Once the desired website launches, Keeper is on standby to automatically enter my username and password so I can easily log in.

Try Keeper

Todoist

As my task manager and to-do list app, Todist is my choice to keep me more focused, organized, and calm. With Todoist, you can add tasks like “read work emails every day at 10 am” in seconds using natural language recognition and recurring dates. Plus, your to-do lists are automatically sorted into Today, Upcoming, and custom Filter views to help you focus on your most important things.

Todoist allows you to break big tasks into smaller ones, share projects with your team, and add reminders. You can also use Todoist’s apps, extensions, and widgets on any device or platform, so you’re never far from your to-do list.

Todoist seamlessly integrates with your voice assistant, calendar, and over 30 other tools to make productivity effortless, whether at home or on the go. Todoist also has the added bonus of promoting a sense of calm by letting users know that they won’t forget any new tasks that come to mind–enter them into Todoist!

Try Todoist

Hubspot CRM

CRM stands for “customer relations management,” but at Hubspot, it means much more than managing your contacts. With the easy-to-use HubSpot CRM, you’ll never have to manually update reports or wonder how your team tracks toward quotas. Get a real-time view of your entire sales pipeline on a visual dashboard.

Access detailed reports on sales activity, productivity, and individual performance. Then use those insights to track team performance and spot opportunities for growth. Enjoy unlimited users, data, and up to 1,000,000 contacts with no time limit or expiration date — whether you’re a team of 1 or 1,000.

Using Hubspot‘s WordPress plugin, people who sign up to join our email list are automatically added to our Hubspot list. Their activity on our website is tracked so we can track preferences and habits.

Try Hubspot

ezyCollect

ezyCollect has cutting-edge technology to help you get paid faster and protect your business from unpaid invoices. What’s even better, their system is fully automated so that you can save time and effort. You’ll feel like you have an extra person on your team! And with their humanized automation, you can connect with customers more personally.

Within the first 12 months of using ezyCollect, businesses typically see a 43% reduction in outstanding overdue bills. That’s huge! And with their easy-to-use payment portal, customers can view and download invoices, pay one or more invoices on the spot, part-pay, or pay later while they get paid upfront. This makes it super easy for them to pay their invoices and means you don’t have to chase them up for payment.

Try ezyCollect

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