If you are still in the initial stages of creating your first website, you are probably handling the unsettling answers to what web hosting is. Every business with a website, despite the profit or asset margin, functions from the base of web hosting.

So, what is web hosting? It is the business of increasing accessibility of websites or webpages to the target audience. The elevation of web traffic for your business website means increased brand awareness, better sales conversion, and overall change in the reselling strategies due to an improved customer database. 

If you still need some explanation of how web hosting works, here is how. On a web hosting platform, your website is stored in your preferred type of server. When users have a link to your web address, they only have to click and be directed to your website. If not, they type the address in their browsers. Their computer then sends a signal to your server, and the webpage will open in their browser. 

Web hosting providers also offer a multitude of features such as a control panel, website builder tools, mailing list, customizing domain names, among others. There are a good number of web hosting types to choose from as well as those that are free and those that you pay for. We provide you with the best simplification on the complexity of web hosting.

Things To Consider When Choosing A Web Hosting Provider

Seeking answers to what is web hosting should influence the need to know how to pick a web hosting provider for your website.  

Increasing your online presence depends solely on which web hosting partner you have chosen for your business. In line to the web hosting provider, you will select there are other factors to consider. First, evaluate whether your website is hobby oriented or you are into the net to make money. Well, even hobbyist eventually turn into money miners. 

If you are using it to sell your products, it will be worth investing in a costly provider than resorting to cheaper dealers. Cheaper deals may appear attractive and affordable at first, especially if you are starting but the cumulative charges may be more expensive if you fail to understand the contract. 

Also, avoid falling into shady business by dealing with some broker agents. You can always confirm a provider’s reputation and trustworthiness by checking to see if they have a contact address, have information on the ownership of the business and have a list of genuine businesses that use their services. 

The provider’s reputation is often measured by the feedback from previous clients, features provided, and the support they offer, such as on the clock technical help. 

Lastly, you need to understand the benefits and repercussions of using alternatives such as website builders. 

When To Use Free Or Paid Web Hosting Services

If you are running a personal website juggling some experimental internet thing, access free web hosting for as long as your maneuvers secede. Free web hosting providers will, however, make money by running adverts on your website, and this may be very annoying to some users. Using free web hosting should ideally stop when you decide to get into a real business. 

The bottom line is that you cannot run a successful online business if you do not invest your money in paid web hosting services. The cheaper your service provider, the more complicated and troublesome your website will be. From decreased bandwidth to limited disk space, you have a lot to grapple with. Depending on your premiums, you have the option to choose which features you want.  

What Web Hosting Options Are Available In The Market?

Image by Mudassar Iqbal from Pixabay

When choosing a web hosting option for your business, you should consider some factors such as bandwidth, storage space, level of control, and the costs. Some of the best web hosting services you will find include:

• Shared hosting
• Dedicated Server hosting
• Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting
• Cloud hosting
• Managed hosting
• Colocation

Shared Hosting

If you are a small business startup with limited resources, shared hosting could be the ideal avenue for your venture. On a shared platform, your website is put under the same server with other sites. Server resources such as RAM and CPU will be shared across all domains, thus lower costs for you. 

This sharing, despite the costs, involved means that your website is more open to customer penetration hence an increase in the website user experience rates. 

Dedicated Server Hosting

When website owners want to gain more control over the servers hosting their websites, they can use a dedicated server hosting. However, you incur all the costs of operating the server because you get exclusive admin rights. Apart from accruing autonomous control on the server, it is also independent of other individual websites. 

Having the resources to maintain a dedicated server hosting is not merely beneficial if you don’t have the level of web traffic that requires optimal control and high performance. To handle such type of web hosting, you will require high levels of expertise from your technical team.  

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting employs both the principle of shared hosting and dedicated server hosting. It gives website owners some level of autonomy on control with lower investments compared to a dedicated server. 

Businesses with a couple of websites have these websites hosted on different virtual servers individually while still maintaining the same physical server with other users. However, they still lack the virtual infrastructure of mastering a rampant increase in web traffic. This type of hosting is an excellent option for users who want to use specific software. 

Cloud Hosting

As a business that is very specific on what they need, cloud hosting may reward such benefits. It is also most beneficial for a company with many computers running at the same time. It enables the shared use of computing resources without having to invest in their physical computing infrastructure. 

Managed Hosting

Managed hosting is similar to dedicated hosting in terms of control, only that it is outsourced. All the server system settings, technical support, hardware setup, software configuration, service and maintenance, and regular updates are handled by a hosting company. 

Colocation

For increased levels of bandwidth, a business may opt for leased space in the form of racks for server housing. This is referred to as colocation. The host for your server will also provide the cooling infrastructure, power needs, and IP location. 

Tips On How To Choose A Web Hosting Option

Image by Mudassar Iqbal from Pixabay

When it comes to choosing either a dedicated, shared, or cloud web hosting option, there are several things to consider. First, it’s the cost. For small businesses, price is an important aspect. The best option to go for when you can’t handle heavy web traffic is a shared service. It is often cheaper compared to the rest of the hosting options.

If you desire some more control with fewer cost implications, you can advance to a Virtual Private Network. A business that wants to commit to a dedicated server may have to part ways with more cash. This option is ideal for a company that wants total control to its server. This will often protect the website from problems that emanate from other businesses on a shared platform. 

One vital thing to look at when going for the dedicated server is the service level (SLA). Be informed of extra costs, such as server maintenance and hidden fees. If you oversee a high growth rate in your business, get ample server space that you can utilize when the time comes. 

Understanding The Difference Between Web Hosting And Web Domain

Before accessing the services of a web domain provider, you will need to have a business domain name. If you don’t have one, your web domain partner may be able to create one for you. You will use a web domain to create to have a server to your website and the domain as the address to which the server will redirect the user to. 

When users type down the address of your business on their browsers, they are using your domain name. Domain names are usually purchased and have to be maintained by paying as per domain provider terms. 

So, How Does Web Hosting Benefit Your Business?

Now that we have simplified your understanding of what is web hosting, it is necessary to understand just how important it is to your business. As pointed out earlier, your online business presence cannot be imprinted without web hosting services. 

Web hosting is like drinking water. It doesn’t mainly lie on one benefit but rather a collection of many that lead to higher business performance. Even when you are asleep and everyone else you have employed has done their billable hours, web hosting providers will stay awake round the clock to ensure that your website is running smoothly. 

Web hosting providers will also help you with other services such as domain name recreation when you are rebranding, troubleshooting problems such as email sending failure among many more. This allows you more time to focus on your profit-making ventures. 

The bottom line? Like a mosquito that survives on your blood, your website is like a parasite that has to survive on a host that is web hosting. 

Featured Image: Image by Olalekan Oladipupo from Pixabay Image icon source: flaticon.com

Meta: Have you ever wondered how to create a Wikipedia page? Here is some useful information on how to make one and how it can be helpful for your business. 

Introduction

This article will give you a brief overview of how to create a Wikipedia page. Wikipedia is a web-based encyclopedia that anyone can edit. There are more than five million articles in the English language alone.  

You can create any Wikipedia page by accessing a page title that has not been created yet. A red-colored link indicates that a page title does not exist. A blue link would mean that a linked page exists.

To create a Wikipedia page, click on a red link. It will then direct you to a blank page. While there, you can enter any text and click the publish changes button. This action should complete the process. It seems quite simple.

However, sometimes you can create a page by following a red link that already exists. These methods describe how to find a non-existent page when a red link is not apparent. Follow these steps to create a Wikipedia page.

Searching

In the Wikipedia search field, enter the title of the page you want to create. If your title does not exist, then it is not creation protected and is not technically restricted. If your topic is a well-known subject, it may already exist. If it does not, then the resulting page will tell you that the page does not exist yet, that you are allowed to create the page, and Wikipedia will provide you with a red link that you can use to access the new page.

If no article exists, ask yourself if it is a reasonable subject for an encyclopedia article, if it is an important topic, and if it is verifiable. If you answer no to any of these questions, then you should not create the article. Articles that are not notable or verifiable will not be approved.

Previewing a Red Link

Here is how to preview a red link:

• First, click edit on any page that you can access. 
• Next, surround the page title you want to create in two sets of brackets.
• Click on the show preview button. Make sure you do not click on the “Publish changes” button.
• Finally, click on the red link.

Saving a Red Link

Many times you will want to have continued access to the page that you created. You can save the link to the newly-created page at either your user page or your user talk page. Upon saving a red link and building the page, the color will change from red to blue. This change signifies that it will be accessible whenever you visit it.

• First, go to your user page or user talk page. These are both permanently linked at the top of a Wikipedia page.
• Next, surround the page title with two sets of brackets. 
• Click on the “Publish changes” button.
• You should now be able to click on the new red link. 

Changing a URL

First, you click edit on an already existing page or a section. Then, change the title of your page, which you can see in the URL of your browser’s address bar. You should change it to the name of a page which doesn’t exist. Hit return or enter; the page will be the same as the one from a red link. It will allow you to create a page from the title you typed in.

Changing the URL of your browser’s address bar is very easy. In this way, you will be able to create a page with the title that you want. However, there are some exceptions to this.

Articles

Encyclopedia articles are automatically created without a namespace before them, meaning that all pages outside of the article mainspace start with the namespace and then a colon before the title. If your page is not an encyclopedia article, you must have a namespace prefix.

Category

Another exception to the above instructions is that links to a page that is in the Category namespace can only work if you place a colon before the namespace prefix. If you miss this step, the page will be placed into the category you typed.

File Namespace

Here is another exception in that media files can be created without using any of the previously mentioned methods. You can actually upload media files; you can do this through a separate interface. You can access this by clicking on “Upload file.” This button is in the tool menu on the left side of your screen.

Media files that have a free copyright license are compatible with the free licenses of Wikipedia’s content should be included in the Wikimedia Commons instead of being uploaded to Wikipedia. This way, all Wikimedia projects will be able to get to a media file. 

Restricted Namespaces

Education Program pages, MediaWiki pages, Mobile pages, and Special pages are four namespaces that have restrictions on creation. Only administrators and those who possess higher access levels can modify. Any user may form talk pages of the namespaces, except those in the Special namespace, which does not have direct talk pages. 

How it Helps

Why would you actually want a Wikipedia page? You may wonder how a Wikipedia page could be helpful. In today’s market, businesses have numerous ways to boost their revenue. Companies actually credit Wikipedia for driving leads and sales. By using Wikipedia, you can attract consumers to your company and generate leads.

First, if you want to create a Wikipedia business page, you must have a notable business. This term means that it is well-known for its services, products, or innovation. Make sure you investigate what Wikipedia requires for notability.

Notability could become an obstacle for new small businesses and those that have little exposure. Wikipedia editors may include small business pages with already existing articles. In this way, there would be no separate page for such businesses.

The purpose of Wikipedia is to disseminate educational and instructional information. Thus, Wikipedia has stopped many businesses from creating listings. It is tough to create a page on Wikipedia due to the notability standard. Many times a company’s age and size will be considered before you can create a new page.

Nevertheless, here are a few ways to acquire a separate business page for your organization. 

Citations

If your business has been referred to in media sites, articles, or other places, you can add citations to your business Wikipedia page.

Pages that have independent citations have a much higher chance of being approved by the editors versus those with very few citations. Generally, you should try to include at least four independent citations for your business in your Wikipedia page.

Always remember, the citations that you want to include in your page must be credible and verifiable. Mentioning your business in the local news is not a notable citation. But national news coverage is. 

Achievements

Make sure you advertise your business’ accomplishments on your Wikipedia page. If your company has won awards, make sure that you mention it on Wikipedia. So long as your achievements are noteworthy, you can refer to them.  

Helpful Tips

It is particularly beneficial for your business to have a Wikipedia page. It helps enhance your online reputation. Furthermore, it will improve your business’ credibility and allow you to get maximum exposure in today’s competitive market. And the more visibility on the web, the more successful your business will become. 

If you are not successful initially, you can submit a draft Wikipedia page to “Articles for Creation” with disclosure of your affiliation to your client or employer. You will let the site editors decide in this case. Remember, Wikipedia discourages people from contributing to the site solely for marketing purposes. However, sometimes, marketers need to collaborate with Wikipedia.  

Sometimes there are organizations without a Wikipedia page, but they genuinely qualify for one. These companies are B2B companies with a customer base that is not very active on Wikipedia. For this reason, no editors have taken the time to create the page. Maybe your business is one of these organizations.  

Google considers Wikipedia as a trusted source. Obtaining a link from Wikipedia will instantly boost your rankings and SEO efforts. Consumers conduct online research before making a purchase. A Wikipedia page will help convince prospective consumers that they should make purchases from your company. 

When creating a Wikipedia page, remember to consider the subject of your article. It must be a worthwhile subject, it must be notable, and it must be verifiable. Keep your material a reasonable length, usually no more than 5,000 words. Be sure that you remain unbiased. Statistics and facts are permitted so long as they are truthful. Use Wiki-formatting to make your article stand out. 

Do it Yourself or Hire a Professional

If you don’t feel comfortable creating your own Wikipedia site, you can always hire a professional to assist you with the process. They can help with the rules and guidelines for creation.  

In some cases, it might be advisable to have an outside entity write your article. A third-party might be considered unbiased and will write in a neutral tone.

Conclusion    

Now you know how to create a Wikipedia page. First, click on a red link. When you are directed to a blank page, you can enter any text and publish the changes. This action should complete the process. You can follow some additional steps to find a non-existent page when you do not have a red link.   

It is useful to have a Wikipedia page for business purposes. Wikipedia is one of the most visited pages on the Internet. It consistently ranks high as a search result every time. Its high domain authority is the reason why you will see it on every search made. 

Many companies will spend a lot of time and energy trying to create their page. However, the purpose of Wikipedia is to disseminate various information, not market business created listings. To have a Wikipedia page, you need to prove that you have a notable company.

If you think you have what it takes, submit your page. Then keep an eye out for editor comments and routinely update your page. Be prepared for some feedback. It will likely take some time for a Wikipedia page to be reviewed and published, but it will be well worth the effort.

If you are looking for the best blog fonts, you may be overwhelmed by the number of choices available. Our list of ten blog fonts will help you to narrow down your choices.

Product FAQs

When looking for a great computer font for your blog, you’ll want to understand the different kinds of fonts available and what makes one a better option than another.

What Are Computer Fonts?

A computer font is a collection of different characters and symbols that can be used to write text and create other visual art. 

Computer fonts are data files that contain the information to display the different-style characters, and these digitized shapes come in three formats:

• Stroke
• Bitmap
• Vector

Bitmap formatted fonts are faster when coding information for computer usage and are a matrix of different pixels that outlines the appearance of each character.

Vector formatted fonts use mathematical formulas to create their appearance, which makes them easily scalable without looked pixelated or blurry.

What Are the Advantages to Good Fonts?

A good font will be clearly legible and allow your readers to quickly read your posts without having to scale up the text size or resize the window of their browser. The type of fonts that are easy to read also make blog pages appear less cluttered overall.

Where Can You Get Different Fonts for Your Blog?

There are several sites online such as Font Squirrel, Dafont, and Google Fonts that all offer free downloadable font files that you can use in your text editor of your choosing.

How We Reviewed

To find the best blog fonts, we searched a variety of websites to find fonts with characteristics that have been shown to aid readers. The fonts we have chosen also have unique traits, such as allowing readers to read the text more quickly.

Overall Price Range of This Product

Most of the font sites that you visit online will offer a selection of free fonts. When choosing a font, it’s best to select one that is easy to read and allows visitors to make out the words in your posts clearly. 

Our Ten Best Blog Fonts for Easy-to-Read Text

These ten best blog fonts will offer your readers clear text that doesn’t slow them down or strain their eyes as they read your posts. It also provides your blog a clean and fresh appearance with neatly spaced text that isn’t overcrowded.

Montserrat

View Font

Key Features

This font designed by Julieta Ulanovsky and is similar to older posters and signs from the 70s and 80s. Its basic shape is very much like Sans Serif.

Pros and Cons

This font is easy to read, free to download, and is a basic font appropriate for a blog with any theme. The downside is that this font may be too bland for some applications.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Oswald

View Font

Key Features

Oswald has a simple shape similar to the “Alternate Gothic” sans serif family and designed by Vernon Adams. 

Pros and Cons

This font is a great option whether it’s extra-light or fully bolded as its readability stays the same. This font may be too serious looking for some blogs.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Zilla Slab

View Font

Key Features

Similar to typewriter font and created by Typotheque. Used by Mozilla for various designs.

Pros and Cons

Easy to read and comes in a variety of styles. Not a good choice if you don’t like typewriter text.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Roboto

View Font

Key Features

From the serif family and largely geometrically styled this font was made by Christian Robertson.

Pros and Cons

Very easy to read in any style variation but may be rather dull and old fashioned for some bloggers. 

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Raleway

View Font

Key Features

Made by Matt McInerney and adapted to other weights by other designers in 2012. Available in many different styles and widely used in the United States.

Pros and Cons

Many styles available but a limited number of symbols.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Merriweather

View Font

Key Features

Several different styles and part of the serif family this font was created by Sorkin Type in the United States.

Pros and Cons

Enjoyable to read on any screen and lots of symbols available. Similar to traditional type but takes up more space.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Lato 

View Font

Key Features

Created by a polish designer, this minimalist font from the sans serif family was established in 2010.

Pros and Cons

There are a limited number of characters available, and the modern styling may not be the best for all blogs.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Bebas Neue

View Font

Key Features

Another option from the sans serif family and created by Ryoichi Tsunekawa, this font is trendy and comes in multiple weights.

Pros and Cons

A very versatile font with many styles but may be stark for specific applications.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Font Squirrel website.

Playfair Display

View Font

Key Features

A “transitional” font that is both minimalist and features traditional 18th-century styling. Created by Claus Eggers Sorensen.

Pros and Cons

Comes in multiple styles and easy to read but limited characters and symbols.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Open Sans

View Font

Key Features

Designed by Steve Matteson, this font features humanist styling from the sans serif family.

Pros and Cons

Very easy to read and doesn’t make a page look cluttered. May feel a little too sparse for some blogs.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Noto Sans

View Font

Key Features

Similar to Open Sans in its design, this font was created by Google and is part of the sans serif family.

Pros and Cons

A very plain and easy to read font that may not have enough character for some applications.

Pricing 

This font is available for free.

Where to Buy

This font is available from the Google Fonts website.

Comparison table

Montserrat

• Key Features: Simple and easy to read, made by Julieta Ulanovsky
• Pros and Cons: Easy to read and has a vintage feel, may be too simple for some applications
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

Oswald

• Key Features: In the family of sans serif fonts with a clean look that’s easy to read.
• Pros and Cons: May be too serious or severe looking for some blogs, easy to read
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

Zilla Slab

• Key Features: Easy to read, used by Mozilla
• Pros and Cons: Lots of different styles, not a good choice if you don’t like typewriter-style text. 
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

Roboto

• Key Features: From the serif family, created by Christian Robertson
• Pros and Cons: Strong and geometric styling, somewhat old fashioned and humanist
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

Raleway

• Key Features: Made by Matt McInerney and later adapted to other weights, many different styles
• Pros and Cons: Many styles but rather thin and limited symbols available
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

Merriweather

• Key Features: Created by Sorkin Type and from the serif family.
• Pros and Cons: Lots of symbols to choose from, pleasant to read, similar to the traditional type and not very modern 
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

Lato 

• Key Features: Created by a polish designer in 2010, minimalist styling
• Pros and Cons: Limited characters and a modern feel but easy to read
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

Bebas Neue

• Key Features: Created by Ryoichi Tsunekawa, very popular in many different countries.
• Pros and Cons: Comes in multiple styles but may be a little too stern looking for some blogs
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Font Squirrel

Playfair Display

• Key Features: Transitional and 18th-century design by Claus Eggers Sorensen
• Pros and Cons: Easy to read, has a visual warmth, but limited symbols
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

Open Sans

• Key Features: Designed by Steve Matteson and features humanist styling
• Pros and Cons: Maybe too simple for some blogs but it is straightforward to read
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

Noto Sans

• Key Features: Designed by Google and from the serif family, this font is straightforward to read
• Pros and Cons: Possibly a little too plain, but there are a wide variety of symbols available
• Pricing: $0
• Where to Buy: Google Fonts

The Verdict

Although it will depend on the theme of the blog, we like the Montserrat font for its readability in all styles and the subtle warmth in the design. There are also enough symbols available for most users, and it’s a free download from Google Fonts.

Whether you are an independent professional or a small business owner, you need a professional website. An easy to use site builder comes in handy when you want to customize your website without necessarily hiring a designer or a professional developer. The app you choose depends on various factors such as your customer base, burden, and your business model.

Weebly is a must-have app. It’s easy to use and not complicated even to the beginners. It aims to provide users with up-to-date and advanced website tools. Ahead, we’ll take a deeper look into the app through our Weebly review.

What is Weebly?

Weebly is a widget-based website builder powering over 50 million websites around the globe. Weebly has become one of the most growing platforms. With its recent release of mobile website builder, it’s now easy to interact and manage a website with Weebly mobile options.

Even without having to come up with a line of coding Weebly builder makes it easier to launch and manage a decent standard site. To those with programming knowledge, they can use Weebly to edit website codes and come up with exceptional project design.

How does Weebly work?

Weebly is a tool that eases the process of establishing either your professional or personal web presence. The browser-based software that drags and drop contents to edit your website. It contains many creative website templates customizable to meet your preferred aesthetic.

Weebly begins with a theme. To start, select a theme, and then click “Start Editing.” On the left sidebar, you can choose site elements such as product display, buttons, images, and text. On the right side, drag the item into place through the visual site representation. If you host your site on a free Weebly.com plan, Weebly ads will be displayed, and it comes with a subdomain. A paid plan comes with a complementary domain name, and it has no ads. Users on a free plan get 500MB of storage while those on a paid plan have unlimited storage and bandwidth.

If you aspire to be an online store owner, know that eCommerce features usually increase with every upgrade plan. Once you get to a standard of displaying up to 10 products at a 3% transaction fee, you get to enjoy advanced inventory and shipping options, nil transaction costs as well as unlimited products with higher-tier packages.

Weebly Site Builder Features

Some of the great feature Weebly site builders have included;

• Visual editor
• Drag and drop builder
• Yelp integration
• PayPal integration
• Click to call
• Advanced Image editor
• Parallax and reveal
• Site search custom HTML/CSS and JavaScript
• eCommerce support

• Blogging with comments
• Free sub-domain
• Website templates
• Customizable contacts with a CAPTCHA
• Integrated with social media
• Ads integration
• Easy to use design tools
• Optimized for Mobile devices
• Premade themes

What makes Weebly Stand Out?

Every feature you could ever need to create a great website such as a built-in marketing tool to enable you to engage and email your clients are right there in the interface of the software. Besides, there are more than 200 applications to choose from covering a wide range of purposes such as social media integration, Chat features, accounting, etc.

Here are some of the main features that make Weebly website to be the most preferred;

ECommerce

ECommerce tools are on the left side of the screen that makes it easier to add and configure products wherever you want. It suits the needs of nearly every business. Even when on a free plan, once you have a shopping cart, you can set up Weebly stores. However, the difference with the premium plan is that you get extra tools to reorganize your vending thus the ability to sell more.

Email options

At this point, you could be asking yourself, does Weebly provide email option? Even though several website builders usually offer email services, Weebly doesn’t have it in the plan. However, the good news is that they have collaborated with Google and you can link your email address to the domain name. Even though premium plans don’t offer email subscriptions, you can create email addresses to work with the domain name. Email addresses that are Google-powered aren’t free but are relatively reliable and affordable.

Hosting Options

Unlike many other web builders that charges on web hosting, Weebly doesn’t charge anything. In all plans, hosting is free, thus no worry on any additional cost. Nevertheless, if you wish to link your site with the domain name, you will have to add extra expenses.

Customer Support

Every time you need help with your website, you can reach their friendly representative through chat, email or telephone. The chat option on the website builder bottom is a great option and the most preferred. You can also resolve any problem through perusing support forums and tutorials from the form on their site.

Weebly Video Hosting

Weebly makes it easier to integrate videos and update them on your website when necessary. Using corresponding links, you can choose to either upload video from the computer or embed YouTube videos. After uploading them, you can modify video settings. The process converts video files automatically and formats them appropriately so they can be on your Weebly based website. Every uploaded file is stored securely free.

SEO Tools

You can have a great website, but it may never help anyone if no one finds it. Weebly helps their platform users to be visible by offering them the tools and strategies they require to expand visibility. They provide lots of information on search engine optimization (SEO) through their many builders’ articles. They give detailed advice on the practices you can use to boost your ranking in search engines.

Pricing

• Basic- Free
• Starter-$8 per month
• Pro-$12 per month
• Business- $25 per month
• How Weebly Compares With Other Site Builder

How Does Weebly compare with other Site Builder?

No Weebly review is complete without comparing it to other, similar platforms. Below is how Weebly compares to other site builders.

Wix

With great useful tools and hundreds of templates, Wix allows you to create a website and sell. The drag-and-drop editor makes it easier to create a professional website.

Similar to Weebly, it has a free plan that allows users to create a website at no cost. However, it doesn’t give a domain name. Wix doesn’t allow you to connect your free site to the domain name. Due to that, you have to get a paid plan for them to allow you to customize the domain name.

One of the notable differences with Weebly is that Wix has a detailed payment plan available every month. For example, for the first year, it’s free to register a new name with the Wix website builder when you purchase a Combo plan or higher. You can also get a voucher you can use for only two months. However, in this plan, only a few extensions of the domain name are included such as .co.uk, org, net, or net.

Finally, Wix tends to offer a more robust set of functionality and features while else Weebly is more user-friendly. Even though Wix is rich in features in the areas of mobile design, blogging and E-commerce, it doesn’t offer “autocorrect” options the way Weebly does. If you have an online store, a sophisticated online business with a higher volume of transaction or a significant number of products, Wix will serve you better.

WordPress

WordPress is a widely known website for building website. Similar to Weebly, it has both free plan WordPress.org and paid plan WordPress.com. It has powerful features, and it is easy to use. One benefit of WordPress is that it is an open source and free website builder. Meaning, you have full control of your website. Nevertheless, you will need to host your site and have a WordPress hosting account which is easier to acquire.

It has thousands of amazing themes you can integrate into your website designs. With incredible drag and drop page builders such as Divi and Beaver Builder, you can easily design a beautiful page layout. Another thing is that WordPress has gone through translation into different languages; thus, it can build multilingual websites. You also get access to over 50,000 free WordPress plugins.

The downside of WordPress is that users need to be familiar with the system. Most users don’t find it hard as it is a slight learning curve, although it’s a bit hard to the beginners. Users will also need to create backups and keep up with plugin updates. With WordPress, web hosting and domain name cost $7.99 per month and $14.99/year.

Shopify

Shopify has over a million active users and powers over a million users. It is for e-commerce websites and online stores.

Unlike other web builders, Shopify allows you to sell through your Facebook page. It has a wide range of themes you can choose from both paid and free. More features include blogging functionality, PayPal integration, SEO functionality, ability to edit HTML and CSS stores.

If you happen to switch to a different theme when using Shopify web builder, your contents won’t reformat automatically. Additionally, you will need to create storefront between dashboard and editor which means you have to riffle between both.

Pro and Cons

Weebly improves its feature regularly which is rare with other web builders. Each year, they incorporate new features and continuously seek the client’s opinion on where to improve on. They redesign their page to accommodate new designs and give room for more responsiveness and interactions.

Unlike WordPress where you need to familiarize with the software since you the one in control, with Weebly, it’s a fully hosted platform thus no need to manage or install any software. They manage it and take care of any other software running in the backend.

The software comes with built-in e-commerce support allowing you to build an online store that helps you sell right away.

All Weebly site comes with features for sliders; photo galleries contact forms etc. that allows users to add features easily without having to follow a complicated process.

Finally, this website builder comes with Weebly Education project specifically for teachers enabling them to build educational website effortlessly. Even the most popular website builder lacks this impressive feature.

Even though they improve constantly, they lack a significant number of features. Customers keep on complaining due to lack of some features mostly on the blog while it’s hard to reach their support.

Every purchase you make through the e-commerce store, you have to pay a 3% transaction fee. To avoid these additional charges you are required to upgrade to their business plan.

As a fully hosted platform, it lacks some advanced features, limiting you only to the features they offer while else another builder like Squarespace has multiple editable templates.

Other features they lack are:

• Special member pricing
• Recurrent donations
• Peer to peer fundraising
• Unlimited emails
• A specialized newsletter or email templates

PROS

• Easy, quick and user-friendly
• Cost-effective for business and freelancers
• Ho hosting fee
• eCommerce options
• Customizable predesigned themes
• Drag and drop editor features that save time and energy
• Basic SEO design tools
• Simple process for publishing blogs
• Adjusts to mobile devices automatically
• Free personalized URL

CONS

• Lack of redo or undo edits option
• 3% transaction charges on all sales
• No website backup
• The way blogs function is not impressive

Conclusion

Hopefully, our Weebly review was able to answer some of your burning questions about the app.

Weebly is the best functional and economical website designing tool you can choose. Even with the free version, you get to enjoy a bite-sized of the full package.

It has easy to use interface and decent power. With its shining support and price point, you get the best offer if trying to save a few bucks. Nevertheless, you will have to sacrifice on design options though. Besides, you can manage everything on the desktop or on the go with applications that can work well on iOS and Android devices.

Image from Amazon

With the right strategy, your website will rank at the top of search engines and drive the right people to your content. In this article, we’ll dive into SEO vs. SEM and talk about the main and important distinctions every digital marketer needs to know about working with these two marketing processes.

What is SEO vs SEM?

Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are both widely known concepts in marketing, and they both aim to increase your brand’s visibility on search engines such as Google. To understand SEO vs. SEM, we’ll start with a definition of the two processes.

SEO is a marketing process where you optimize your brand’s website to gain free traffic from search engines. Optimized websites are easy for search engine crawlers to understand, which can drastically increase your chances of ranking higher and reaching the first page of search engine results. SEO follows two main rules to make your website more search engine friendly:

On-site

Rules you can apply to your website to increase your likelihood of ranking high, such as optimizing titles, using good headings and images, including detailed meta descriptions, incorporating top-ranking keywords, creating well-formatted URLs and quality copy, etc.

Off-site

This type of SEO process involves gaining votes from other websites to increase the search engine’s trust in your content, and it may include using social media to share your content. The more links to your site from other reputable websites (probably with a high audience of similar, trusting viewers), the higher you rank.

There’s also a technical aspect to SEO, which can help improve your viewer’s experience and help search crawlers relate to your content. Technical SEO involves the architecture and structure of your website, whether your website is mobile user-friendly, and how quickly your page loads.

Both SEO and SEM help your brand by:

• Appearing in search engine results
• Ranking near the top page on search engines
• Requiring you to optimize your website continuously
• Helping you understand your audience well
• Incorporating keywords and researching terms to uncover what your audience searches online
• Driving traffic to your website
• Gaining new followers

However, the main difference is in if you pay for the results or earn them organically.

SEM goes beyond SEO. It’s a subset of your overall Internet marketing strategy, as there are many other ways to increase your website’s traffic other than SEO and SEM. The main goal of SEM is to boost your website’s organic visibility on search engines, like SEO. However, the traffic can either be free or paid for, and usually includes advertising strategies as well.

Image from Amazon

By using PPC advertising and other tricks, you can automatically appear at the front of the search. All you have to do is buy the advertising space in the search engine results you want to rank for, and then pay for each click on your ad. Google AdWords is the most well-known paid search advertising agency, and it’s a great way to get fast results on Google’s search results. Other popular search engines, like Yahoo and Bing, also have a similar PPC system, but it’s not as widely used or successful.

So Why Is SEM Traffic So Important?

Because it’s a vital part of your overall marketing strategy that drives Internet traffic to your content. Search engines are a widely targeted and accepted way for people around the globe to find quick answers to their questions, and the more people you can get to click on a link to your website, the more likely you are to gain a new follower. Boosting your audience and relevant traffic is what makes SEM so valuable, and it results in a much higher return on investment (ROI) than other strategies, such as social media marketing.

7 Important Distinctions Between SEO and SEM

If you’re a digital marketer, you probably already know a thing or two about using SEO and SEM processes. The following list includes the most important distinctions between SEO and SEM that every digital marketer needs to know to create a lucrative marketing strategy.

1. SEO Optimizes, SEM Does More

SEM, or your overall search engine marketing strategy, includes tactics like SEO. However, it also uses other techniques to boost your website’s number of visitors and rank higher on search engines.

SEO is all about reaching better search engine rankings, while SEM is much more in-depth than optimizing your content to hit the best front-page rankings on search engine websites. SEM involves other methods, including SEO, to gain search engine visitors to your website, such as pay per click (PPC) advertising. While SEO helps you reach better rankings, PPC allows you to purchase that top ad space on a search engine directly on the front page.

2. SEO Continually Changes

While your overall marketing strategy is often tweaked and altered to help you progress, the SEO industry frequently changes. Each time search engines such as Google alter the way or order their algorithm displays certain websites, SEO strategies change as well. The industry fluctuates continually, and you must remain on top of industry trends to stand a chance.

3. SEO and SEM Are Equal

SEO and SEM are equally important, but the terms are not interchangeable. Marketers debate which technique is better, but that fact of the matter is that SEM won’t succeed without a successful and organic SEO practice. Organic clicks to your website are often considered the best because these people are more likely to enjoy your content and convert into your regular audience. Gaining organic traffic takes time, but it’s also a free method.

However, there are also times where PPC (a piece of SEM) works better than SEO. If you’re launching a new website, for example, you may want to pay for immediate visibility on search engines because it takes less time to reach your viewers. You might not gain the same amount of traffic in the long-run as you can with SEO, however, and the process can cost more than it’s worth if you don’t know what you’re doing or your site’s not optimized enough.

4. SEO and SEM Appear in Different Places on Search Engines

When comparing SEO and SEM, another main distinction is in how they appear in search results. SEM results can contain ad extensions, which allow you to add on to the information with a phone number, callout, or other additional information.

SEO results, on the other hand, include a featured snippet. This featured snippet box appears on the search engine results page after the PPC ads and above the organic search results. The content shown includes information from your website that attempts to answer the user’s question.

5. SEM Allows You to Choose Who Sees Your Link on Search Engines

Because SEM results allow you to select a target audience, unlike SEO results, you can better connect with the people who are interested in your website, products, or content. SEM allows you to specify what your target audience is and select the people who want to see your search result ranking. This is done using filters for age, income, location, habits, etc.

6. SEM Is Better for Testing Purposes

You can run or turn off an SEM ad when you want, which makes SEM easier to test. This allows you to revise your advertising copy or complete strategy, target a new audience, or alter that landing page content to help reach your viewers while the ad runs. You simply pause the ad, make your tweaks, and map out the differences in your strategy to view immediate results. However, SEO doesn’t allow you to do this because the changes take way too long to monitor and compare.

7. SEO Provides Higher Click-Through Rates

When using a search engine, the first few organic search results near the top of the page contain the highest click-through rates (CTRs). These are the websites that receive the most clicks, so if you can reach the top of the results through SEO strategy, you could outperform any SEM paid ad in terms of traffic. However, if your website ranks on the second or third page, your SEM strategy may produce more CTRs than SEO.

SEO vs. SEM: Which is Right for My Brand?

Depending on your specific goals, either PPC or SEO tactics will produce more results. To create a viable overall SEM effort, you need to use both.

SEO helps add value to your website over the long-term, while SEM doesn’t. SEM only works as long as you’re willing to pay for each click to your website. As soon as the ad no longer runs, the SEM strategy is over. On the other hand, SEO strategy grows over time and produces long-lasting results.

New brands may see faster results with paid results through SEM, for example, but SEO drives more lucrative, long-term results that cost nothing. The best strategy for your brand may depend on:

• What your industry competition is like – SEM has more competition when it comes to target keyword research while creating organic, informative content is competitive in SEO practice.
• When do your customers buy – SEM customers tend to search for what they want to buy right now, while SEO customers may research before they’re ready to buy.
• How old your website and business are – New businesses thrive with SEM strategies while older, better-established businesses already contain some authority online.
• The current SEO of your website – If your website requires improvement to boost your organic results, SEM may produce results quicker while you optimize your website to perform better.
• Your industries common cost per click – Industries vary, so SEO may be more lucrative if the cost in your industry is high.

Finally, when comparing SEO v SEM, think about your competition as well as what your audience wants. See how your website matches up to your competitors to ensure your strategies are the best.

Since you don’t write the content yourself and prefer to farm it out to a third party orsubcontractor, learning SEO will help you understand if the company you chose also understands its importance and optimizes writing for the best search engine placement. Taking the time to learn SEO is just good business sense. 

Online SEO Experts

Source: Pixabay.com

There is no better place to learn than from the people that make their living doing SEO. Many companies that provide services have also created online documents to help others through the process.

• Moz started out as a think tank for the best SEO minds in the industry and morphed into a consulting service. Even though they make money by helping people with their SEO, they have the most comprehensive beginners guide that walks you through step-by-step of what you will need to know. It is even listed by Forbes Magazine as the best place to start learning about SEO.

• Google, of course, has its own well-developed primer to help beginners understand SEO and other website optimization to get the best Google rank possible. It is appropriately called Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide. A second Google site to learn the basics of how websites get listed and how searching works is on their Webmasters page.
• Wordstream, an online advertising and consulting website, produced its own basics of SEO after repeated requests from users. They obliged and created a guide that includes explanations of reporting, analytics, goals, content, linking and design.
• Search Engine Land, another trusted source of SEO information, has a nine-chapter online guide for learning SEO. This educational resource guides usersthrough success factors, search engine ranks and results, and penalties formisuse.

These are just a few of the websites that offer free educational material for those wanting to learn the basics. Some of the sites even delve into more advanced topics as the users need or want more information. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it actually provides a stream of traffic to the website. Those who understand the basics may decide that they don’t want to expend the effort to do it themselves and will use the consulting and business services of the website itself. It’s a perfect marriage of marketing and education.

Free Education Websites

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Over the years, education institutions have opened their online programs for people to use for free. Other websites have been created specifically to provide free training on a variety of topics. If it’s more comfortable to learn when ideas are broken down into lessons, then one of the many massive open online courses, or MOOC, may be for you:

• Coursera is an online platform that has free lessons from top universities and experts. The courses often have video instruction, assignments and discussion forums to help students comprehend the work. Currently, Coursera has over ten different classes dedicated to SEO
• Udemy is another online platform with free and inexpensive classes on almost any topic of your choosing. They have an SEO class specifically designed by Moz.

There are many more MOOCs around the world that have classes specifically designed to learn SEO. Checking these resources using Class Central will help narrow down the sites that have the topics that you are looking to learn about. You may also find other topics related to SEO that could be helpful as well.

Online Magazines

Source: http://discovermagazine.com/

There was a time when trade magazines and journals could only be found in academic libraries and bigger public library systems. Today, many of these topic-specific fountains of information can be easily found on the internet. Search Engine Optimization has several magazines and journals dedicated specifically to this topic:

• SEO Magazine
• Search Engine Journal
• Search Engine Marketing Magazine

Other business-related magazines, such as Entrepreneur, may have SEO informationin them as well. When looking for good information, industry experts who writearticles are a good source of information.

Books

Source: Freepik.com

While it may seem that books can become outdated quickly, there are some great beginning guides available since the concept of web engine searches and SEO has been around a while. Plus, many people even prefer to learn material out of books compared to staring at a computer screen for hours.

There are many benefits of learning through traditional textbooks:

• Comprehension isn’t interrupted because of scrolling or pop-upadvertisements and is actually improved when we read from a book versus acomputer screen.
• There is a tendency to skim more using digital texts. More detailed learningcan take place when we focus on the content in a book.
• Books do not require wifi or batteries. We can learn even while being physicallylocated in a remote area.
• We can make notes in the book itself, provided that you own the book.(Please do not mark up any library books or books that you borrow fromyour friends).

Your local library will have many current and past books available to help you learn SEO. They may even have free or inexpensive classes being taught there on search engine optimization or other digital literacy topics. Bookstores will also have a good selection of computer related books due to their popularity. In some bookstores, you can take time to look at the contents of the book over a cup of coffee or tea and a pastry.

Two- and Four-Year Colleges

Many colleges offer classes on marketing. SEO would be part of that learning, as well as other important topics. Classes can often be taken independently as a non-matriculated student or through an actual certificate or degree program. Some colleges also offer enrichment classes, many of which are technology based. Checking a local community college or four-year university may uncover some different options, including face-to-face classes or online classes through the school.

Videos

Source: Freepik.com

If you learn better through videos compared to reading, then a quick search on YouTube will reveal a large selection of options. Some of the videos are just a couple of minutes long, which probably means that you won’t learn much, while other videos go for over an hour. These would probably have more detailed explanations and walkthroughs.

New videos can pop up at any time, so using specific keywords and keyphrases such as “how to learn SEO” will show you the most popular videos along with any new offerings.  Older videos with hundreds or thousands of views will probably have lots of relevant information also. A quick look at the comment section of the video will give a good indication if the video is worth watching.

SEO Conferences

The internet is constantly evolving, and it can seem as if certain topics may no longer be as relevant today as they have been in the past. The best way to get a feel for the current state of any topic is to attend a conference. The size of the conference and the quality of the speakers will give you an indication of the importance of the topic.

There are many SEO conferences every year that people can attend:

• MozCon – There is no surprise that one of the most popular of the conferencesis MozCon, which focuses no only on SEO, but also other important topics inthe online marketing industry such as analytics, content marketing,conversion-rate optimization, and much more.
• Search Marketing Expo (SMX) presents SEO and relevant topics throughoutthe world. They also have many breakout sessions and training workshopsfor those who register.
• Books do not require wifi or batteries. We can learn even while being physicallylocated in a remote area.
• Search Engine Journal Summit brings presenters who have published inthe journal, as well as other notable experts in the field to interact in smallgroup setting with participants. Attendees at this conference have a muchbetter chance to connect and interact with the speakers because of thesmall size. Unlike other conferences, this lasts just a day.

Hands-on Experience

The reasons for wanting to learn SEO are varied. Some people may have their own websites that need more traffic, others may think they want to work in marketing and need to learn it. Often, the best teacher is learning for a specific project. If you do not have a project in mind, you can volunteer to help some nonprofit groups optimize their websites. Many nonprofit groups would welcome tech-savvy volunteers who want to help drive traffic to their websites.

The Verdict

The internet can sometimes be a confusing place but abounds with self-learning opportunities. However, not all learning has to be done on the internet, even if the topic is concentrated in it. If one particular method doesn’t work to help you pick up a new skill, then another might, or perhaps a combination of learning platforms best meets your particular learning needs. These are just a few samples of the best places to find SEO information.

However, your slug is vital because as a part of your permalink, it impacts your site’s SEO.

A slug in WordPress is the URL valid name of your web page or post. It creates a permalink for your page or post that is user-friendly (i.e., readable). You don’t need to create a slug for everything you create: WordPress automatically generates them directly from your title. But you need to switch on the custom permalinks setting for it to turn up in your URL title.

Slugs In WordPress: Linking 101

A slug in WordPress is the user-friendly part of your URL after your site address.

If you publish a post called “What is a Slug in WordPress,” then your slug will likely be some variant of www.yourwebsite.com/what-is-a-slug-in-wordpress.

As mentioned, WordPress generates a slug for you from your post title, but you don’t have to keep it. If you do edit it, stick to lowercase letters and use dashes in place of spaces. If you don’t, WordPress will correct your slug anyway.

To use slugs, you’ll need to enable your permalinks setting in WordPress.

Image via Pexels

How To Turn On Your Permalinks

Have you turned on your Permalink function yet? Here’s how to do it in a few simple steps.

First, open your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Settings.

From here, click Permalinks and switch them on. 

That’s all you need to do. Once you enable the permalinks function, your post URL appears below your post title when you are on the Post Editing screen.

How To Change Your Post Slug

Don’t like your auto-generated post slug or find it too long? Did the substance of your post change with an update? You can change it within the post’s page. You’ll need to open the page up for editing by clicking the Quick Edit button.

Once you open up editing, you can alter your post slug.

You should avoid changing your post slug when you can and stick to title updates. Once you publish a post, changing the slug will publish the same content on multiple pages—one with the original link and another with the new one. The hyperlink to the post you published first (the original one) will break, and broken links impact your SEO.

How Post Slugs Relate To SEO

Slugs make it easy for users to read your permalink and URL. But slugs do more than promote an aesthetic. It can also boost your SEO rankings, and Google uses slugs to determine what your page is about and where to place it.

There are three rules of writing a slug two are technical, and one is SEO related:

• Use lowercase letters
• Replace spaces with dashes
• Focus on your most important keywords

Keywords are the fundamental SEO tool, and your use of them in a slug changes how Google reads your post.

If your title is “Why WordPress Slugs Change SEO Rankings” and your slug is “why-WordPress-slugs-change-SEO-rankings,” then Google knows that your page is about both WordPress Slugs and about SEO. It then knows to bring it up when someone searches for “WordPress slugs” and “SEO.”

If your title is “Why WordPress Slugs Change SEO Rankings” and your slug is “P5523-SEO,” then Google see the SEO keyword, but it doesn’t know what your article is about beyond that. Because Google isn’t sure where your page fits in, it won’t show up in the top search rankings.

What does that mean for you? It means you want to optimize your slug for SEO whenever you can.

Image via Pexels

How To Optimize Your Slug For Killer SEO Rankings

The raison d’etre of SEO is to connect people of the internet with the precise information they need when they initiate a search.

Your challenge, then, is to cater your site to Google’s search algorithms to make it digestible.

Optimizing your slug isn’t hugely technical. It relies more on meeting a few simple characteristics with an emphasis on simplicity and focus.

Here’s how to get it done.

Filter Out Filler

What are the words most critical to your title? These are your keywords, and you don’t want to distract from them with filler.

You’ll want to start by removing all those words that make grammatical sense in your post title but aren’t necessary for your slug. We’re talking about:

• A
• The
• And
• Or
• But
• Why

These filler words (or stop words) distract from the primary keywords, so they need to go.

But don’t stop there. Get rid of all the filler in there and bring your slug back to basics.

How you do this depends on your subject. In theory, you can reduce your slug to a single keyword if, and only if, you won’t have more pages or posts that require the same title.

For example, if you run an SEO blog, you want to include SEO in your SEO-related slugs, but you won’t ever use “SEO” on its own because you have so many relevant pages and posts.

On the other hand, if you are a blogger running a single sponsored post from a cream cheese brand, then you could theoretically shorten it to “brand-name-cream-cheese.” It’s short, to the point, and meets both your and your sponsor’s SEO goals. “blogger-eats-brand-name-cream-cheese-in-the-park-with-crackers” is too long and half the post is purely descriptive rather than functional.

Remember, you still have an SEO description to share more of the details of your post.

Should You Include Dates?

Sort through blogs and content strategy pages, and you’ll see a lot of URLs with dates in the permalink.

Some people argue that keeping the date is necessary because it denotes the most recent and therefore the most valuable information. That’s not necessarily true.

You didn’t write old blog posts to watch them disappear into irrelevancy. By adding dates to slugs, you’ll encourage this process by directing people only to the most recent information.

Image via Pex​​els

Ensure Your Slug Is Keyword Rich

If you have an SEO strategy, then the content or page includes a list of primary and secondary SEO keywords in the text. Be sure you don’t miss out on keywords when you pare your slug down.

You don’t need to stuff keywords in, but you should always make sure you include your primary keyword (and your most valuable) in your slug. Keep your focus keyword within the first few words of your slug, but don’t worry about making it the first word if it doesn’t fit naturally.

A consistent keyword strategy in your URLs and slugs makes a significant difference in your sites SEO results.

Keep It Consistent

Google itself doesn’t worry so much about consistency in your URLs and slugs, but you should, ideally from the beginning, try to keep a consistent style throughout your site.

Your permalinks and slugs impact your user experience (UX) of your site. When you build the architecture of your website, you want it to flow naturally. You try to harness what your users would think as they navigate your website so that you can guide them through your site and ensure they find the information you need.

Sites with a struggling architecture and permalinks (and slugs) that go unoptimized look jumbled up, almost a ball of string that instead of wound into a tight ball is a cartoonish mess.

When your permalinks (and slugs) follow a flowing site architecture, it improves the user experience both for human users and eventually Google.

What does this look like in practice?

First, if you choose to use short slugs, then keep it consistent throughout your site. Don’t optimize some without optimizing them all. 

Second, use slugs to categorize your pages for easier navigation. For example, if you sell jam, candles, and blankets, you’ll want a page slug that includes “/jam/berries” for berry jam. It signals that you are on the pages that tackle jam and then devolves down to berries.

Third, always avoid dynamic URLs that don’t signify anything. Avoid any nonsensical group of letters, signs, and numbers because there’s no way to optimize it from a UX perspective.

Choose Your Slug In WordPress Wisely

A slug in WordPress is the part of your permalink that identifies the page in a user-friendly way. It’s an integral part of your site’s overall architecture, and it’s a critical piece of SEO. Google’s ranking algorithm needs to scan your slug without missing the point of your post.

Your goal is to make sure it includes your primary keywords without too much fluff and also ensures it remains a user-friendly part of your site’s entire architecture. Generally, that means removing unnecessary words and numbers and keeping your primary keyword close to the front of your slug.

How do you write your permalinks? Have you found a way to combine your SEO practices with your preferred UX aesthetic? Share your thoughts below.

A PPC management firm deals primarily with creating pay-per-click (PPC) ads that appear on Google. These small text ads appear on search engine pages, as sponsored listings. You only pay when a visitor clicks on one of the ads. 

You will bid on PPC ads – you don’t buy them “out of the box.” The highest bidder is listed first on the search page; the ads for companies who pay less appear farther down the page.  

PPC enables you to gather more leads for your busy. A PPC agency may also deal with other aspects of web marketing, such as blog and content creation, email marketing, and graphic design.

Over two billion people are online, and 93 percent of online begin their web session on Google or another search engine. PPC advertising drives people to your site from the search page. Potential customers don’t need to read an article or access you through a link on another website. Users come directly to you from the search engine page.  

Small businesses can choose lesser-known keywords that big companies miss, and you can see, and adjust, your ad campaign in real time for better results. 

PPC ads can also drive people to your store if you have a physical location. Pay-per-click improves your attribution, as your customers will become more familiar with your brand after seeing your name on PPC ads.  

Here are eight more key reasons why your business will benefit from hiring a PPC agency.  

An Agency Helps You Clarify Your Marketing Campaign

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A PPC agency helps you determine what you hope to accomplish with your marketing campaign. Do you want to increase sales, get more leads, boost brand awareness, or achieve a combination of all of these goals?  

A company offering professional services or luxury items should consider a lead generation to convert visitors into leads and eventually, clients. 

Your agency can also help you with business metrics, such as customer acquisition cost (CAC). Add advertising costs, fees for in-house and outside marketing, and sales associates’ salaries and divide by the number of new customers, and you’ll get CAC.  

Return on ad spend (ROAS) is determined by taking the number of leads sold and multiplying them by the amount received per lead. (350 leads sold to doctors at $100 per lead, for example). Then you take that amount and divide it by the amount spent on your AdWords campaign. The result is your return on ad spend. 

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) indicates the total amount a business is likely to receive from a single customer. This business metric shows which customer segments provide the largest revenue streams.  

Once your PPC agency determines business metrics, it will be easier to find keywords to attract target customers. Data from current landing and product pages will help you figure out PPC conversion rates.

​Experts Should Monitor the First Month of Your Campaign 

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You should try everything you can during the first 30 days of your PPC campaign. Some approaches may not work, but you’ll be able to collect data to find out what will work for your long-term plan. 

Launch a broad match modifier and exact keyword set at the start of your campaign. You’ll see which exact match keywords drive conversions, and you’ll see which keywords aren’t working at all. Get rid of negative keywords, which aren’t relevant to your product, and use money keywords which are responsible for most sales. 

Move the best keywords into their own ad group to improve your quality score. 

You’ll also want to look at click-throughs and landing pages. You should split test copy to find the best headlines and text for click-throughs. 

Check landing pages to see which ones have a lower bounce rate. Compare successful and poorly-performing ads, landing pages, and campaigns to see which ones have the most conversions. Imitate the converting ad copy and page designs in your other campaigns. 

Managing PPC involves hard work and strategy. You’ll need to get your marketing plan in place, along with some alternatives, before going live or even bidding on Google ads.  

​​Funnels and Landing Pages Drive Sales 

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A funnel describes the journey a potential customer takes from surfing the web to clicking on a text or banner ad, to visiting your website, and finally connecting with your company. 

For example, a funnel for Amazon visitors involves arriving on the website, clicking on a particular product, putting in their shopping carts and them purchasing it. 

You want to create a similar funnel for your product and ensure that visitors don’t click away from the funnel before they arrive at your marketing objective (a purchase, email subscription, etc.). 

Create a landing page for every marketing campaign. A fresh landing page for every campaign addresses the needs of a particular group of users, and you’ll gain their trust. You’ll be able to convert a potential customer if he or she trusts identifies with your message. 

Landing pages help avoid website clutter and drive people to convert faster. A funnel guarantees that users will engage and move towards conversion or purchase. You should determine what actions you want from your users and figure out how to make them follow through.

A PPC agency knows what routes lead users to buy or convert. You’ll lose customers to other websites if you neglect funnels and neglect a clear direction for site visitors.

​​​PPC Helps with Conversion Tracking

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A conversion occurs when a customer fills out a form, subscribes to an email list, books an appointment, or makes any direct contact with your company. You’ll need to supply code in your site’s back end to track conversions. Tracking tools let you know what marketing techniques attract conversations. 

You’ll learn which keywords, landing pages, and ads attract results, and which ones don’t work with conversion tracking tools. A PPC management firm has experience in tracking conversion results so that you can optimize your marketing dollars.

​​​​Finding the Right Keyword is Time-Consuming  

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PPC marketing uses search queries and keywords for your Google ad campaign. Your company bids on keywords or search engine queries typed into Google. You pay only if your ads are clicked on by legitimate visitors.

You can choose from hundreds of different keywords and keyword variations. The demand and search volume also factor into the right keyword for your ad. PPC agencies have experience in matching keywords with clients and marketing campaign.  

​​​​​It Takes Experience to Craft Effective Ad Copy 

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You’ll need a convincing ad copy to go along with the right keywords.  A PPC agency knows how to write copy geared at your prospects and convince them to click on your ad. The best ad copy gives potential customers reasons to buy your product or service. 

Writers should use keywords in headlines and focus on product benefits, urgency, and information pertinent to the target audience. Know what the target audience wants, and think as they do. Look at a potential sale from their point of view. Address the target customer directly by using the words “your” and “you” in the ads. 

Use positive emotions to draw the customer into your ads, such as hope or nostalgia. Make your ad message stand out – there’s nothing worse than a dull ad. People like sale prices or statistics to convince them to check out a site. Use exact amounts instead of rounded numbers if you mention product cost.   

Take advantage of all the space allotted for Google ads – two 30 character headlines and an 80 character description. Set yourself apart from other businesses by distilling what’s unique about your company. What is our selling point? What does your company have that other businesses lack? Have you won awards?

Create an original “call to action” by avoiding “call now” and other clichés. Use save, join, or another strong verb in your copy. 

Consumers trust local businesses more than huge national corporations. AD

The best ad copy boosts quality scores and lowers the cost per click.   

​​​​​​Click Fraud is Always a Possibility 

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Click fraud may happen, despite the best efforts of any PPC marketing company. Your marketing service can go through log files and statistics to find click fraud. This internet fraud involves the illegal clicking of paid text links or banner ads. A person, online bot, or automated software clicks the ads or links to reduce the competitions ad budget. 

A PPC expert can determine if click fraud has occurred, and get your money refunded for these invalid clicks.  

​​​​​​​A PPC Agency Lets You Focus on Your Business 

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The most successful business owners concentrate on their products and customer service and leave web marketing to the experts. A PPC management company will plot your strategy (after input from you and company executives) and devise the best plan to drive customers to your website.

Most PPC agencies offer the following services:

• Keyword research
• Targeted media channel selection (Google, Bing, social media)
• Keyword monitoring and optimization
• New ad and funnel testing
• Analysis of competition 

PPC companies also help you put ads in groups. You create ads for a particular product using certain keywords. You’ll want to use ad extensions to boost your Quality Score and increase ad appeal. 

Google analytics let you know which parts of your funnel get results. Your analytics page shows you which keywords bring people to your site, where your visitors come from, and how long they stay on certain pages. 

Employ split testing to determine how to improve your ads. Collect as much data as you can to study and change insufficient marketing strategies. Different split testing strategies include different display URLs, using different prices and statistics, using a call to action in various locations and testing different calls to action. 

Basic plans feature the Google and network, but more aggressive plans also target Bing and Google Shopping Management. Large plans may target up to 10,000 keywords. 

Other services that may be included in PPC marketing plans are YouTube Video ads, Google text ad remarketing and banner remarketing, international campaigns, social media PPC advertising, translation and set-up of rule-based bidding.  

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What Does SEO Stand For and What’s Its Deal?

Understanding what an acronym stands for is the first step to knowing more about the subject, so we’ll start by answering the question of “What does SEO stand for?” In short, the abbreviation means “search engine optimization”—but it also brings up another issue of what does that combination of terms mean?

Most of us are familiar with search engines; Google is easily the largest, and other sites like Yahoo!, Bing, and even YouTube fall under this category as well. Optimization is another common term, used to refer to the process making something as useful as possible and into its optimal form. But SEO isn’t talking about improving search engines.

Instead, SEO is all about optimizing your content for search engines. The easier it is for a search engine to connect your webpage or article with what someone types into the search bar, then the easier it becomes for people to find the content you’ve created and put on the web. Since people heavily rely on search engines when they want to know about a topic, SEO becomes invaluable for several reasons.

How Does SEO Work?

Even when you understand what SEO stands for, it may not be as obvious to understand how it works. The answer to that question is that SEO works in many ways, depending on the strategies you adopt. It can mean creating content that matches the key terms you think people will search for online. The effective use of keywords is one of the most common strategies for getting search engine hits.

That said, keywords aren’t the only things that search engines care about finding. The algorithms for generating search results can be complicated, and they generally have the aim of giving search engine users the content they want without hassle. The practice of SEO can involve making your web content as appealing to these algorithms as possible. Aside from keywords, common strategies include:

• Creating meaningful and helpful content
• Appealing to specific keywords
• Building your content to specific geographic areas
• Mobile browser optimization
• Use of photos and video
• Social media integration

While these are only a handful of SEO strategies you can use, their implementation can still have a substantial impact on your web content.

Why Should You Care About SEO?

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Not everyone in the world needs to care about SEO. There are plenty of people who use the internet for social media, entertainment, and other things that won’t have to worry if their Twitter posts following SEO practices. However, for people who produce content for the web, be it bloggers, companies, or advertisers, SEO is something you can’t ignore.

Think back to a time when you last searched for something on Google. How many results did you get for your search? How many pages were there? Did you find what you wanted? Did you even need to go past the first page? If you didn’t see what you wanted, did you click forward, or did you type in something different in the search bar in hopes of a better result?

With how much information is available through the internet, we tend to expect fast results. If we find what we’re looking for on page one of Google, we likely won’t make to page two—let alone the hundreds of results pages after that. For the content that’s on those following results, it won’t make it to a searcher’s attention, even if it’s what they wanted to see.

Search engine optimization then becomes essential for anyone who wants not just to make content online but also wants others to see it. Without SEO, your content ends up buried in the landside of information that appears when someone searches; with it, you can reach your intended audience, which allows you to gain views, subscribers, customers, or whatever your goal is.

What Are Some SEO Best Practices to Follow for 2019?

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As you may have guessed from the list we mentioned earlier, various factors play into SEO. If putting your best foot forward on all these fronts isn’t challenging enough, SEO is continually changing with new trends, search engine updates, and more. One of the best things that you can do for your SEO strategy is to stay on top of best practices.

While we can’t cover everything in this short article, we can touch on some key points that you should consider for improving SEO for your content, no matter what it may be.

Using Keywords Effectively

Keywords are an essential factor when it comes to SEO, but you can’t just stuff them onto your webpage and expect to have the search engine hits and visits rolling in. Search engine algorithms can tell when you go overboard with your keywords and will penalize you for it. Use a keyword enough that it will get a ping, but make sure the use is natural for the size and type of content.

Additionally, you can also use keywords in your webpage titles, which is a good practice. By balancing your primary and secondary keywords, your article will seem relevant to whoever is searching. If you run a website with multiple pages, you want unique title tags to make your content stand out to the algorithms.

Seek Out Areas with Less Competition

Let’s be real: there’s a lot of content on the internet, and some of it will overlap with the type of content you want to produce. Not paying attention to these trends can make you lose out, but it can also have you fighting losing battles; if everyone is trying to create content for a topic, you’ll have way more competition to getting on that front search engine results page, let alone in the number one slot.

That doesn’t mean that should give up on your chosen content, but that you should pick your battles wisely. One way is to check out sought-out subjects through tools like Google Trends or BuzzSumo, which can help you find the best time to post about certain topics or find specific keyword combinations that have less competition for them.

Aiming for Featured Snippets

Have you ever searched for something and received not only links to webpages, but also a special section at the top that provided a condensed version of your query? These results are known as featured snippets, and they can do you a lot of good for SEO. Not only will they appear first on the results page, but they’re often the result read through voice search and assistants like Alexa.

Since there can only be one featured snippet for a query, it can be challenging to land a spot. Having organized content, lists that provide answers, and tables are all things that search engines look for when generating a featured snippet. Even smaller sites can have a good chance of landing this spot if it has the right structure.

Doing keyword research, thinking about your audience, and creating the content your viewers want to see in the correct format can allow featured snippets to benefit you.

Think About Search Engines Besides Google

Google is what most of us think of when it comes to search engines, but it’s not the only place SEO can serve you well. What about the results that appear through Amazon Alexa units? What about when people are searching for apps in the Apple app store? Of course, not every piece of content will appear in every type of search, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to apply SEO ideas to these areas.

Thinking about your audience can let you know if you need to think about optimizing for these other platforms; after all, SEO doesn’t do you any good if it’s not on a platform your desired audience uses. But if you know that you have a target in those areas, customize your content to meet the best practices for where you are, whether it be Google or even a social media platform.

Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are another area you can’t ignore when it comes to SEO. After your title claims what a webpage is about, the meta description provides more info. If you don’t set one, the search engine will generate one on its own, but you’ll much more effectively appeal to your audience if you write one yourself.

Take caution that meta descriptions must fit into a strict character limit. Including relevant keywords to your topic and using calls to action will encourage search engine users not just to see that your content exists, but also click through to it.

We hope that you know not only understand the answer to the question “What does SEO stand for?” but also other aspects of this important concept for content creation and marketing.

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What Is MaxCDN?

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MaxCDN is a development tool designed to help improve how quickly a website loads. The CDN allows the storage of data on a network of servers that can be accessed from various locations. With the CDN installed, visitors to your site will have a more pleasant experience.

There are several factors that can influence how quickly a site loads. For instance, images, advertisements, and videos can all slow down a site. The slower the site loads, the more inconvenient it becomes for users. After a few seconds of waiting for the site to load, users are more likely to leave the site.

The CDN stores the data so it is quickly accessible, which means a faster load time. Visitors are likely to stay longer on the site, and you have an increased chance of getting their business.

How Does It Work?

MaxCDN works by storing a cached version of your site in various locations. The locations, or points of presence, each have servers that can store the data from your site. Regardless of where a visitor to the site is located, there should be a cached version of the site available nearby from which the data can be loaded.

For instance, without the CDN, if your site originates in the United States and a person in Australia attempts to access your site, his or her request will have to travel from Australia to the United States, be processed, and the data sent back to the visitor. This could take a considerable amount of time.

With the CDN, data would be stored on a server in Australia. When the Australian visitor accesses your site, his or her request will only have to travel to a server nearby that has a stored version of your site. Your site could load within seconds instead of minutes.

CDNs are used by most large-scale websites, but they are particularly popular for mobile, gaming, and education sites. However, the tool can be useful for any site.

What Are the Benefits of Using MaxCDN?

There are several benefits to using MaxCDN for your website. The most obvious reason for using the CDN is that it helps to load your webpages quicker, but there are many other features that make it worthwhile.

MaxCDN helps to reduce the amount of bandwidth being used by the host server. The CDN can also help to balance the load on the server when there are traffic spikes. Too much traffic on the server can cause it to crash, which can have a negative impact on your business.

The CDN also helps improve your search engine ranking. Search engines use several factors to determine the ranking of a site, and the speed at which your site loads is one of the most important ones. If your site has a high conversation rate, it is likely to rank higher, which gives you an edge over your competitors.

Better search engine results also mean your site could have more traffic. Most people tend to click on one of the first few links in search engine results. More visitors to your site could mean more customers.

MaxCDN also has some features that are unique to the tool. For instance, the control panel is one of the easiest available. You can keep track in real time your bandwidth usage, content zones, and the amount of data being accessed from each zone.

You also have access to numerous video tutorials and documentation that provide support for MaxCDN. Regardless of which content management system you use, you should be able to find support for any problems you experience.

If you are still having trouble, MaxCDN has year-round technical support available by chat, fax, and email. There is even a dedicated support manager for enterprise customers.

Security is always a concern for webmasters. With the MaxCDN, you can protect your account and prevent a hacker from accessing your site’s cached data with the help of two-factor authentication. You can even receive alerts for attempts at accessing your account and an activity log that details when your account was accessed and from what location.

Are There Drawbacks?

Even though MaxCDN has several benefits, there are a couple of drawbacks to consider. For instance, there is a bandwidth limit for websites. However, the limit of 100GB is usually enough for most websites.

Another issue to consider is that it can take awhile for a change on your website to update in the stored locations. It can take up to 10 minutes for a change to be applied to all the cached versions of your site’s data, and this can sometimes make debugging difficult. It can also leave customers with an outdated version of the site.

MaxCDN does have security features in place, but there are some areas in which it could be strengthened. For instance, it does not protect against some types of attacks and does not include an SSL certificate as part of the basic tool. However, the certificate is available to purchase for an additional fee.

​Pricing

​Unlike some of its competitors, MaxCDN does not offer a free version of its tool. However, the pricing plans are reasonable for most webmasters. All the plans include 24/7 support.

The entrepreneur plan starts at $9 a month and includes 100GB of bandwidth. You can purchase additional bandwidth if necessary. The plan can cover two websites that fit within the bandwidth limit. If you are a starter company or a blogger, this is a good option.

If you need additional bandwidth, you can opt for the 500GB professional plan. It starts at $299 a month and is ideal if you have a high amount of traffic to your websites. With this plan, you can have 10 websites covered.

The custom plan starts at $1,149 a month and gives coverage for 25 websites. The plan also gives you access to a dedicated account manager and VIP support.

MaxCDN does have an affiliate program that can help offset some of the monthly costs of using the tool. A referral for an entrepreneur plan can earn you $20. A referral for a custom plan can lead to a $2,400 payout.

Users who are new to MaxCDN can sign up for a free one-month trial. If the tool does not function as expected, the account can be closed without any penalties.

What Do Others Say About MaxCDN?

MaxCDN has a 4.5 rating on TrustPilot from users and a 4-star rating on TechRadar. Most users believe the tool is easy to use and affordable. Users who recommended it cited the customer support and the features included with MaxCDN as reasons to invest in it.

Users liked MaxCDN because it only copied files that were necessary to help the website load quickly. They also cited the improvement in their search engine rankings after installing the tool.

What About Competitors?

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There are several other reputable CDNs currently available. However, MaxCDN is often compared to CloudFlare, which is one of the first CDNs to hit the market.

CloudFlare and MaxCDN have some similarities. CloudFlare also has an easy-to-use control panel that can monitor the status of the data stored on various content zones. It even has features designed to decrease the chances of a cyberattack, including two-factor authentication.

However, there are some key differences between CloudFlare and MaxCDN. CloudFlare has 31 data centers, also known as content zones, on which data can be stored. Most of the zones are within North America and Europe. By contrast, MaxCDN has 57, which includes Asia and Australia.

Another key difference is that CloudFlare does not charge for its basic plan. However, the plan is limited and does not offer support to all browsers. Unlike MaxCDN’s real-time updates, CloudFlare only offers updates every 24 hours for the basic plan.

CloudFlare’s next plan is $20 a month for the first site and an additional $5 for additional sites. Whereas MaxCDN has a bandwidth limit for each tier of its pricing plan, CloudFlare focuses on the number of pages. For instance, the CloudFlare second tier plan allows for 20 pages of content.

​Should You Get MaxCDN?

Although there are several CDNs available on the market, MaxCDN stands out. The CDN offers a reasonable price and is easy to use. It also offers 24/7 customer support, which is crucial for webmasters. For developers who have little experience, MaxCDN is a great option for learning more about how to use the tool.

Experienced developers will love the customizable features that make it easier to maintain content in various zones. The tool is easily integrated with various content management systems. With more search engines placing greater importance on loading times, MaxCDN can provide the edge needed to stay in the top of the results.