Best Web Hosting Deals: August 2020

Shopping for a web host? Let’s take a look. There are some pretty good deals out there right now if you know where to look!

So many web hosts to choose from for your small business, but there are really only a few that top our list.

What kind of Web Hosting Do you Need?

I am not sure why, but it seems that web hosting companies like to make their websites complicated for 1st-time web host shoppers. Do I need Shared Hosting? WordPress Hosting? VPS? Dedicated Hosting? Cloud Hosting? Really.. is this necessary? Let’s break it down:

Shared Website hosting is typically adequate for small businesses with 1-2 websites and lower levels of traffic (like less than 20,000 visits/month).  Shared website hosting is just as it sounds.. your hosting company will put multiple company websites on 1 single server and is usually seen as the most basic hosting. As your small business grows or if it becomes a higher risk because you retain a lot of customer security information, you may find that you don’t want to share your website server and can easily upgrade. 

WordPress hosting is JUST for websites built with WordPress. It is specifically designed to handle the specifications and optimization of WordPress sites. If you are not building your website with WordPress, look elsewhere. If you are not sure, ask your IT person or website developer and they will tell you very quickly.

VPS Hosting is a whole different ball of wax.  First things first.. VPS = Virtual Private Server. It is best for people who want to have a lot more control over their websites. Many times people start with a shared hosting plan and then upgrade to a VPS if their business requires more dedicated resources (scaling quickly, etc). while your website may still technically share a server with other sites.. usually, there are many fewer sites on the server plus you get dedicated resources.  In essence, the main server gets divided into “virtual servers”.

Dedicated Hosting is the creme de la creme of hosting. Just your site on one server. Your site operates at the os optimized performance, but you pay for that benefit significantly.  If you are running a very large e-commerce site, this may be the solution for you given traffic, frequency of transactions, private consumer data, need to scale, security, and more.

Cloud Hosting is a total “tweener”. This type of hosting provides multiple servers, but they each have a unique role to play. If one server is compromised for any reason, back up servers are at the ready. This continuity planning aspect allows your site to stay at top performance. Plus, when your company grows and you need more servers, they are easier to add in the cloud.

what about costs?

Web hosting costs vary quite a bit based on type of hosting, so decide which one is best for you. In most circumstances, people will start out and upgrade as necessary, however, this can get costly.  Keep in mind that hosting companies LOVE to give you a promo rate and then jack up the price. Or reduce the monthly amount if you sign up for a longer period of time. We’ll highlight pricing for a few of the more popular hosting solutions:

Bluehost.com Web Hosting $3.95
  


 

 

 

THE Best Web Hosting Deal in August 2020?

That’s a tough question to answer as different companies have different needs and hosting REALLY depends upon individual requirements. If you are looking for shared hosting, the costs are all fairly low, just make you look at what features you get for the money (#sites, SSL, etc) AND how long of a contract you have to sign to save a few bucks.  VPS hosting all circes around $20/month so look carefully at those features included. Dedicated hosting gets much more expensive and right now BlueHost is the winner. Happy hunting!!

Just How easy is it to Build a Website online? 

When I started my first business, I had never built a website. Yes, I was good with computers, but never sat down to try to build a site before. I did TONS of research which helped me pick the perfect website builder software to build my website business online. It was easy! I’ll show you how!

It’s easy! Here is a step by step guide to launching a basic website in a weekend!

Coding NOT Required

Back in the day, only website coders could build a website online, business. Now, even if you have zero website building experience, you can do it too!

There are options out there and which one you should choose really depends upon how complex your site is today and how much you think it will need to change for tomorrow.  Let’s take a look:

  • Just need a very “simple” site with just a few pages with the ONLY goal of informing people about your business and providing contact information (click to call phone numbers, contact us forms, etc)? You can use any web page builder for this. Companies like Wix for example, will more than do the trick. just pay to get the upgraded version so your site doesn’t say “Wix” at the bottom (less professional). Your web hosting company might even have its own web page builder you can use as well. If you go this route, just be sure you don’t think you will need a lot more from your site one day as typically these we page builders are more limited. Plus, make sure you have contemplated the future growth of your business as typically, these types of sites are not transferrable.
  • If you think you may need more custom features or even to transact e-commerce on your website in the future, then it is best to pick a Word Press web page builder with more depth and breadth than those mentioned above. My favorite is Elementor. There is a free version as well as a “Pro” version. The Pro version is MORE than worth the cost as it gives you a ton more widgets (these are the things that make website building EASY!). Need an image somewhere? Drop an image widget in that spot. Need a video? Drop a video widget in that spot. widgets are your best friends when building a website, so my advice is to go for the PRO version and get all possible widgets to make your lief easier and expedite your website build.

Build a Website online: Step by Step 

  1. Choose your domain name (you can go to Network Solutions to see if it is available and buy it, or even buy it directly from your web host).
  2. Sign up for website hosting. I like BlueHost (HostGator, SiteGround and A2 are great too)! To start, a low or middle tier “shared” WordPress hosting plan should suffice (unless you are dealing with large amounts of personal customer data and need significant security, requiring a dedicated server.. or you are doing major e-commerce on your site, in which you may need to go with a specific e-commerce plan). See my post on Choosing a Hosting Plan if you are unsure.

Bluehost.com Web Hosting $3.95 

  1. With your web hosting account is established, now you can install WordPress. Many web hosting companies, like BlueHost and SiteGround, offer WordPress as pat of their set-up process which makes it super easy, but if yours doesn’t, you can search for it and install from your web host’s account management panel. 
  2. With WordPress installed, next up, choose and activate your WordPress theme. There are a LOT of themes to choose from. Pay particular attention to where the logo is and how the navigation menu appears on each theme as this will differ.  Don’t worry about colors or font at this point or even the images in the theme, you can change all of those later. You can also change your theme later, but you want to make sure that you decide on a theme you love before you build your site.
  3. Now, take a good look at your WordPress dashboard. This is the “back-end” of your website and where you add pages and posts and manage everything related to your site. Familiarize yourself with it as you will see this view a lot.
  4. Next up, it’s time to start customizing the theme that you chose for YOUR business. You are beginning to build your website online!  This is where you can change the colors and fonts in your theme. You can customize your theme by clicking on “appearance” and then “customize”. Change your colors, font, add your social media buttons, button style and more. Your website will use these as your “default” selections as you design.
  5. Next up, it’s time to add content to your site. To do this, I suggest installing the “Elementor” plugin. It is the best solution I have found that will give you the ease to build your site today and the flexibility for it to grow with your business. It is easier than the WordPress Guttenburg editor.
    • Choosing a web page builder matters as you only want to use one on your site. So look on the left side of your dashboard for “plugins”, search “Elementor” and download it (either the free or the Pro version).  While I love free things, the PRO version is actually well worth it as it give you more widgets which makes building your website online that much easier. 
  6. Start with an “about us” page. If your theme didn’t include one, go ahead and add a new page (or post- you can do either). Click on “edit with Elementor” and begin to write the copy that describes your business. Don’t forget to click to “publish” the page when you are done. Congratulations! You just pushed your first page in your journey to build a website online! Don’t worry, if you publish a page and want to make edits, just go ahead and make the changes and click”publish” again. Your new page is now live on the internet!
    • Add images with the image widget
    • Change colors and font size from the default if you wish
  7. Continue to add a page for each subject area. Don’t forget to click “publish” when you are done. You won’t be able to see the new pages online until they are published.  Some example pages:
    1. Home page- This page should welcome your visitors and give an overview of your products/services and why they should come see you
    2. About us page- This should tell your customers why they should shop with you (your experience, etc) 
    3. Contact us page- This tells your customers HOW they get a hold of you. It’s a great idea to include a form with an Elementor form widget
    4. Product page(s)- have a page for each product category
    5. Privacy Page- Everyone has one of these. It should be your legal page (look at other sites for ideas if you don’t have one)
    6. There are other pages you can add like a “resource” page for videos, “Reviews” page for testimonials and more. It is really up to you how many pages you want, You can start with a few and more as your business grows. 
  8. Elementor has a ton of great “how-to” videos. Check them out on the Elementor site. Once you figure out the colors to the tabs and the widgets available, site building will be a breeze. The 1st page, like any new thing, will take you longer… and after that you will have it down to a science, you will be building pages like a pro.  I’ll do a specific post on working with Elementor soon to break down some of the tricks that I have learned! 

build a website online in a weekend

On Saturday, focus on steps 1-5 so that you are ready to actually build your site the next day. Then with Elementor,  publish a home page, about us page and a contact us page. These are the core pages of a website. If a customer were to visit your site, they would know WHAT you offer, WHY you offer it and HOW to get a hold of you to get it. This is the basic foundation of a site!  Going forward, you can choose to add additional pages (as you wish) to further explain your products to create a more robust site. 

Have faith that YOU can do this! Give it a shot and let me know how you do!

What Is The Best Web Hosting For Small Business?

So you need a web host for your small business? With so many to choose from, it can be overwhelming. We’ll break it down so you can tune out the noise and just focus on what may be appropriate for your small business. 

So many web hosts to choose from for your small business, but there are really only a few that top our list.

What is Small Business Web Hosting?

When you build a website (no matter how you build it), it needs a place to “live” the internet.  There are plenty of choices out there, but they aren’t all created equal.  You want to make sure that you go with a well-known and reputable website host for your small business. Why? Well, it will impact the customer experience that your brand gives to buyers. If your site is slow (because your hosting provider is slow) then your customer may think that your company isn’t very good. They may not take the time to wait for site loads or come back if your site is not up because your website host is having temporary issues.  

Shared Website hosting is typically adequate for small businesses with 1-2 websites and lower levels of traffic.  Shared website hosting is just as it sounds.. your hosting company will put multiple company websites on 1 single server. As your small business grows or if it becomes a higher risk because you retain a lot of customer security information, you may find that you don’t want to share your website server and can upgrade to a dedicated server.  Let’s dig deeper…

what about costs?

Let’s talk about money. The last thing a small business wants to spend money on is web hosting, but it is important. The good news is that shared web hosting costs less than dedicated hosting. Most website hosts have entry-level pricing and then they jack up the pricing at a future date.  Website host players are well known for this tactic and then when they renew, you get sticker shock. Keep your eyes not only on the entry-level price but make sure to check to see that you can live with the price once it renews. Not all sites will be forthcoming about that but may tell you that it is “60% savings” from the basic rate, so you are able to calculate it.

For entry-level process, chances are for hosting for 1 website on shared website hosting plan, you’ll pay $8 or less per month, but that may double or triple on the renewal date.

Key Web Host Features

There are a lot of different small business website hosts out there, let’s look at some highlights:

  • Each host will have 3-4 tiers of shared hosting. The smallest and least expensive level usually is for 1 site with lower site traffic (although a couple of web hosts allow 2 websites). These lower-mid tier plans are usually fine to start out with and then you can upgrade as your business grows.
  • Make sure that the web host that you choose for your small business has the security features that you need. For example, SSL (security certificate) is key, make sure you get it. If you don’t, your website will say “Not Secure” when people visit it. 
  • Consider the other features that you need. Does the hosting plan cover 1 or 2 sites? Does it have security features like SSL and Backups? Does it support any e-commerce that you need to do? How is the customer service reputation? (nobody wants to wait on hold when they are having website issues!). Don’t forget about email! If you’ll want an email address that matches your website domain name (e.g. myname@mysite.com), make sure your hosting plan offers it. Plus, some website hosts offer free advertising dollars to get you started with Google Ads spend once your website is up and running.
  • Many website hosts may offer a free domain and a lot of people get pretty excited about that. However, to be honest, a domain is likely $15 so the savings aren’t huge. There is, however, something to be said for the “ease” of getting your domain through your host, so even if your website host doesn’t give it to you for free, you may want to buy it through them for ease of setup.
  • What if you already have a website and need to move it? That gets trickier. There are a number of web hosts out there that now offer “free migration”. Essentially, if you sign up for their website hosting plan, they will move your current site over for you which is fabulous for folks that aren’t the least bit skilled in the website world.  Read the fine print on this one though.. website hosting companies ONLY move existing WordPress sites to WordPress shared hosting, so if your existing site was built with Wix or SiteFinity as an example, they will not move the sites for you. 

Web Hosting For Small Business: A Look at The Key Players

  • BlueHost : We think that BlueHost is one of the best-all-round web hosting. It’s got the right features at the right price. Millions of customers use it so it is tried and true. They have great uptime and customer support. It is super easy to start a WordPress site as everything is loaded and ready once you sign up for hosting. WordPress recommends BlueHost as one of its three favorite web hosts. What does that mean for you? it just means that everything that WordPress does, BlueHost is more than ready for it (a very good thing).

Bluehost Web Hosting $3.95

  • HostGator: HostGator is owed by the same company that owns BlueHost. These people know website hosting! HostGator offers a low entry price for its shared hosting. One of HostGator’s benefits is its uptime, but to be honest, you can find several that are 98% uptime so this competitive advantage is not quite as impressive as it once was. If you want to start inexpensively, then this is a great solution, just be prepared to upgrade as your business grows.

 

  • SiteGround : We use SiteGround for one of our business websites (we try them all of course!). SiteGround is a very reputable hosting company and their accolades are well deserved. In fact, WordPress “recommends” SiteGround as a great WordPress host. Note, that doesn’t mean the others aren’t.. it just means that WordPress happens to love SiteGround. There is a lot of value for the dollar with SiteGround, so don’t leave them off of your comparison shopping list. 

 

  • GoDaddy: GoDaddy is primarily known for its domain sales, but they also provide website hosting. They offer their own website builder in case that is of interest and they have nice integration of website hosting and domain purchase as expected. Plus, they have a strong security offering, including backup plans so their hosting is fairly robust. Check out their pricing as they aren’t always the cheapest. Plus, GoDaddy will always be the domain specialist, not necessarily the most advanced web hosting company. 
  • InMotion Hosting: Our experience with InMotion Hosting has been very good. They are a strong contender in the space. They don’t typically offer a super low entry-level price, but the quality of their service is quite good and they offer unlimited bandwidth at low plan levels. Make sure to compare the ongoing monthly prices, not just the introductory pricing. Speed is heavily promoted for its WordPress hosting. They are also offering a free domain.

  • A2 Hosting: We have one site on A2 and can tell you first hand that their customer support team really knows their stuff. They dint just hire a bunch of people to answer phones and look up answers in a troubleshooting guide! These people walked us through step by step how to do something and we were comforted that they sleuthed out the issue and helped us resolve it. 

 

So What Is THE Best Web Hosting For Small Business?

That’s a tough question to answer as different companies have different needs. However, we would definitely look into BlueHost, SiteGround, and HostGator for sure. Compare the features and the pricing based upon the needs of your business (SSL, Backup, Email, Customer Service, Site migration, and more). These three hosting options typically have the best balance of lower budget/high feature offerings which is why we like them for small businesses.

Changing your website host down the road isn’t fun, so choose a web host that you can grow with into the future (all of the above hosts have growth plans and dedicated servers if needed). Plus, select one that has a good reputation and who will be around for years to come. Best of luck with your web host search for your small business! Let us know which web host you end up choosing and why so you can help others going forward. 

Divi Website Builder

Divi can be confusing. Is it a WordPress Theme? Is it a WordPress page builder? The answer is it is both! It is purchased as an all-in-one megatheme product most of the time. While you can separately use the Divi page builder with a non-Divi theme, we recommend that if you are going to use Divi builder… use the integrated theme too. Read on to find out why.

Divi is a great all-in-one option for someone who has some web building experience and wants to expedite the build of their site(s).

Tell Me About Divi

Divi, by Elegant Themes, is very popular and for good reason as there is lots to love about it. It is used on WordPress websites to both build the actual pages using the Divi Builder and leverage the integrated theme elements that are part of the Divi theme. It has a very nice visual editor so that you are able to drag and drop elements and “see” as you build each page. 

Divi is “fairly” beginner friendly, but has the ability for custom code adaptions for those who are more advanced. Divi claims that they are targeting Freelancers, Agencies, as well as website owners. Seems to be anyone who would want a website! 

And because the theme and page builder are designed specifically for one another, the page builder is fast. There is no waiting for the page builder to conjure up the visual for the change you just made, it’s speedy! 

what about costs?

Let’s talk money. Unlike some other page builders on the market, Divi page builder is not free. The cost of the all-in-one page builder and theme solution is $89/month for as long as you use it, or you can buy it for a one-time fee of $249. The $249 fee is for your lifetime use, so if you think Divi is for you and your website is going to be here for the long haul, go with the $249 and save yourself significant money.

While there is no “free” version of Divi, they do have a 30 day money back guarantee, so if you give it a shot and just can’t warm up to it, fear not, they have a no-risk trial period.

Plus, you can use the Divi builder on multiple sites, so the pricing is really not bad at all for a comprehensive page builder forever, on any site you ever build.

Give me the high points

There is a lot that I really like about Divi. Let’s break it down:

  • Since the Divi theme and page builder are an all-in-one package, they work together beautifully! This is not a “glitchy” experience. The tools works as it was designed to because it was designed specifically to work together. This isn’t always the case when you combine a separate theme with a separate page builder (although the most popular themes are always tested with the page builders).
  • Divi expedited your page building by providing page layouts to choose from. There really is no need to start a page from the ground up. Choose a layout that fits your needs and get started.

  • There are some great styling features.
    • Like other page builders, you can add cool shape dividers that automatically add design elements to a page. Plus Divi keeps track of the colors that you use in your site and keeps them front and center for you to use again.
    • There are a number of filters to choose from. These filters are similar to things that you might see on your phone (e.g. sepia color).  it’s just another way that makes your website best match the brand tone that you want to portray.
    • There is also text modifications as well. Of course you can choose your font, but with a few simple clicks of a button you can add more interesting shadowing and text styles. These are particularly fun when it comes to your site headings.
    • Divi makes adding animation super easy. While you don’t want to overload your site with moving objects, sometimes using animation is a way to capture the attention of the person looking at your site in a cool way (e.g. having a chart build in front of your eyes or an image suddenly appear on the screen).
  •  Another feature that I love about Divi is the ability to copy a page that you already designed and absolutely love to another page so you don’t need to start from scratch. Other page builders make this harder than necessary. This comes in super handy if you want to use the same layout/design for each of the services that you offer. Just simply start the new page by copying the one you already did and change the text.

  • Lastly, if you have the need for other language support, Divi has got it in spades. Last count, they had 32 languages to choose from.

What would i change about it?

Not everything is perfect right? There area few things that I would change if I held a magic wand:

  • At first, it’s can be confusing. Like all page builders, you will see icons for section, rows, columns and content blocks. However, on Divi it’s almost like there are too many icons and dots and you have to figure out which will change which element. It takes a bit to get used to.  As an example, check out these pictures. The top image is if you are building a page from scratch and adding rows, sections and more. The image underneath is what you see on the bottom of the screen (it expands to this after clicking the circle with 3 little dots) and gives you access to responsive views, importing layouts and page settings. That’s a lot of dots and icons to get used to!

  • When you want to start a page, you choose a pre-designed layout (determines how many columns you might want in the page as an example). The layout is presented as a blocked out graphic and you don’t get to see what it will look like on your page until you choose it.  Some other page builders have a better visualization at the layout stage. 
  • Divi has pre-built forms which is really great. The tool is very simple to select them. Unfortunately, as it isn’t a full-fledged form plugin, it really just works for simple contact us forms. This isn’t a huge deal as there are many free form plugins, like gravity forms as an example.
  • Divi has a decent selection of elements. Their elements are the equivalent of widgets in other tools. They can be dragged into your page and immediately the element appears. For example, you can drag a “form element” onto your page. Then you choose which form you want in that spot and magically, the form appears.  Divi has about 50 of these, while some other builders like Elementor have 90.
  • Lastly, there are certain shortcodes that Divi uses that just make sense to the Divi page builder. So if in the future you decide to move your site, then you may have some re-work on the short codes so that your new page builder deploys accurately. This is a negative, however, to be be honest, this is true of some other page builders out there too.

more than just a page builder and a theme

For the $89/month (or $249 lifetime) fee, you get the the Divi theme and page builder all-in-one tool, PLUS you get three additional products:

  • Extra:  Extra is Divi’s magazine style theme builder.  Building an online magazine format takes unusual layout and elements and Extra has what you need.
  • Bloom: Bloom is an email opt-in and lead generation plugin. This may sound foreign to you, but you have seen this before. When you are on a website and you see a box that says “subscribe to our newsletter” or “join our email list”.. well, that is many times accomplished with a subscriber plugin like Bloom. 
  • Monarch: Monarch is the Divi social media plugin. This plug in makes it easy to add your social media icons (FaceBook, LinkedIN, etc) to your site and link out to your social media accounts.

do We recommend Divi?

Divi is a great web page builder and theme combo. There are a lot of really great things about it. It is really a nice thing knowing that the theme is going to work 100% perfectly with the page builder.  If you have some web building experience or are someone who picks technical things up quickly, then yes, Divi is a viable option, although there are others on the market too (read my other page builder reviews). If you have never built a site before, then test it for 30 days and determine if it is the right match for you. Many people love this tool once they get used to it.

Elementor Website Builder

Elementor web page builder is a responsive plugin that makes building WordPress websites a breeze; no code is needed AT ALL. It comes in free and Pro versions and millions of people use it across the world. We started out with the free version and loved it. We think it is the most robust free web page builder option on the market today. Elementor Pro takes it up a notch and makes it even easier to build your site with more than 50 additional magical widgets (we think they are magical anyway!), WooCommerce functionality and a broader selection of motion effects. 

Elementor is our favorite page builder. It is simple enough to get started and flexible enough to handle your business needs as they get more robust.

BoldGrid Page Builder

BoldGrid is an easy to use WordPress site builder. It uses pre-built blocks to assist each webpage build-out. It is easy enough for 1st timers to use and will expedite any website build.We have used BoldGrid to build several websites, in addition to Elementor and Divi website builders. In a future review, we will compare all three, but for now, let’s just focus on BoldGrid.  We will highlight our thoughts on BoldGrid Premium as that is where most of the functionality is.

BoldGrid is easy to use and its functionality makes it an ideal choice for 1st time website builders.

Tell me about costs

The premium version comes free when you get web hosting at certain companies (e.g. InMotion Hosting), but BoldGrid works with all web hosts. If you buy it separately with the post and page builder it costs only $2.50/month!

Ease of Use

If you have never built a WordPress site before and are concerned that you may not be able to do it, BoldGrid may be the perfect web page builder for you! BoldGrid’s building blocks are among the easiest to select and insert into a page. It has controls to edit copy, columns, rows, and sections which gets a little complicated until you figure out which color arrow is going to impact which element. It isn’t hard, but it challenges a tired brain at times. It has enough variety in pages and blocks to build a solid, professional-looking site.  You can customize them any way you would like. However, if you want more advanced site build options for a more complex site, then Elementor or Divi may be a better match.

Blocks and Pages get Dropped Into Place

To choose a block, you simply click the “+”, and then a bank of available pre-built blocks appears. You simply drag and drop into your page where you would like the block placed. Then you can edit the dummy text, numbers, images, and colors as you wish and voila, the next section of your webpage is complete. Here are some examples of pre-built “pricing” blocks below. This type of block would be used if you have a product or service that had tiered pricing.

Of course, BoldGrid has text blocks, image blocks, and more and they are all drag and drop into the page.  BoldGrid also passes the “easy test” when it comes to inserting images that you upload. They give you options for slides, galleries, and single images of course. A website novice can use the tools as long as they understand uploading images. 

What about widgets

The BoldGrid web page builderhas a number of widgets that make life easier as well. Inserting calendars, blog posts (with images!), RSS feeds, recent comments, and more are all easily done at the click of the mouse. For those wondering what a widget is in this context.. well you can click an icon called “title” and BodlGrid will drop the title on your page in the colors that you specified for your site. Or click an icon called “map” and then with zero coding required, a map shows up on your contact us page. They are magical and will reduce the time it takes you to build your site significantly.

Themes and Plugins

If you need an outside plugin, then like other web page builders, sometimes the plugin may not work 100% as intended. The good news is that usually there will be a plugin that will work just fine with BoldGrid, but you may need to try a couple to find the magic one. Also, the themes tested with BoldGrid are not as plentiful as you may find with other WordPress site builders, however, there are plenty of themes to choose from and since you can customize it all, it should not hold you back.

Extra Features

The premium version of BoldGrid comes with some great backup features in a tool called Total Upkeep. You can schedule your backups to occur at certain times or back up on demand. Plus, when you run a backup, it allows you to check your site to make sure nothing glitched in the process (that happens on very rare occasions with backup tools). If you see something that went awry, you get to “rollback” the site to pre-backup state. This is great, however, make sure you turn off the automatic rollbacks!  You can easily get burned if it is left on and it automatically rolls back to an earlier version and you don’t notice. Make sure you turn off the “automatic rollback” feature! If you don’t any recent changes will be lost.

Why a WordPress Site Builder?

We’re big fans of WordPress sites vs non-WordPress sites. There are simply more plugins available.  Plus, WordPress sites can be transferred from web host to web host (if needed) where others may not be able to (e.g. Wix).  

The Bottom Line

BoldGrid is a great WYSIWYG web page builder for those just starting out building websites or those who need a simple WordPress website. There is no coding required and it truly is plug and play. It is a great way to get a WordPress website up and running quickly. Plus, it has enough variety to give you a very cool, professional site.  Give WordPress + BoldGrid a shot to get up and running quickly.

Vistaprint

Business cards still matter, even in today’s digital age. When you network in person, you create your first brand experience. Handing over a flimsy, dull business card is a terrible way to start a business opportunity. Business card printing is a key part to that brand impression.

Vistaprint is our go-to for business card printing. They have this down to a science and for reasonable prices.

Do We Recommend Vistaprint? Yes.

There are several options when it comes to business card printing. We happen to really like Vistaprint. Here’s why… the pricing in this category is fairly similar from provider to provider. Sure, you might save a few dollars here or there, but none of it is a huge difference for a normal print run. Plus, Vistaprint simply has the business card printing process down to a science. Of course they also will print many more things beyond business cards, but let’s stick to the topic at hand. 

Getting a card design

Vistaprint gives you three ways to get a card design:

  • You can upload a design that you did or someone else did for you. For example, let’s say you used freelancer.com to get a business card design. You would simply take the electronic business card file you were provided by that designer and upload it to Vistaprint. If you really aren’t sure if you did it right, you can pay Vistaprint $5 (yes, $5) for the designer to make sure it all looks like the file you uploaded. For that price, they will make small tweaks to get it right.
  • If you don’t already have a business card designed, you can work with one of the Vistaprint designers. You simply let them know what kind of business it is, what colors you are thinking and any styles that you like. They will come back with some options for you. It costs $10 and you can choose to handle it all via email or have a 30 minute video chat with the designer. The only negative here is that you will get a few ideas, but not 20 different ideas. So, use this approach if you have a decent idea of what you are looking for. 
  • The other option is to browse through the business card designs on their site. You can upload your company name and contact details so that the samples you look at all have the correct information on them. It’s pretty swift way to see what styles you like or don’t like. It also helps you decide just how much information you want to jam on a card (less is more people).

Business Card Paper Stock

Once you have the design down for your card you’ll need to choose paper stock and any “finish” that you might like. This is where the decision process gets tricky. Matte? Smooth? Shiny? The world of paper stock has expanded! Remember this is your brand, so think about your company and what is represents when you choose these details. 

The paper stock should be premium or ultra thick paper. It’s totally up to individual style whether you go shiny or matte. I prefer matte as it looks more modern than a slick shiny card.  If you are a designer, then consider some of the styles that may match your brand. Whatever you do for a living, don’t try to save a buck on your business cards! 

The Bottom Line

Like we said.. business cards still matter (no need for matching stationary in 2020, although if you are a lawyer or other profession that frequently sends out printed letters, this may be more important to you). Vistaprint has other offerings as well, including logo design, but they charge $90 and you can have that done for much less on freelancer.com (plus get more designs to choose from). So stick with Vistaprintfor quick and easy business card printing, they do it right. Right now they have a FREESHIP coupon to save on shipping costs. Happy printing!

 

Logo Design

Logos are so important to your brand image. A business logo design needs to be uniquely yours and representative of the brand image you would like to have. Is your company a fun entertainment company? Then perhaps a lively, colorful logo. An accounting firm? Then a professional business logo. A design house? Then it better be creative! So how do you get a logo when you aren’t the least bit creative?  Here’s how to get it done.

Unless you or a trusted friend is creative, we suggest running a contest on freelancer.com.

Logo Design options

There are several ways to have a logo designed for your company. Here are the most frequently used options:

  • You can try to design it yourself for free. Unless you are the creative type, this may not be your best bet. Remember, your logo is your brand identity and needs to be both professional and appealing and uniquely yours (no copying!). If you happen to lean to the creative side, go for it, it could save you some money if you can design something you love. Most people are unable to design their own logo, so don’t worry if this just isn’t your thing.
  • You can hire a local designer and spend a few hundred dollars for a handful of logo options (cost depends where you live as some larger cities will cost more).  Usually if you contact a local advertising agency, they will create a logo for you.
  • You can hire an established “branding firm” who will sell you a comprehensive corporate identity package. The package will typically include naming ideas, logo, business card and stationery designs. This approach will cost you thousands the vast majority of time, but you will get a truly professionally designed logo and materials. For most small businesses, this is overkill, a local ad agency will do.
  • You can use a tool like www.freelancer.com to hire a creative person who will design your logo for you.  we love this option for small businesses who want a nice looking logo for not a ton of money. Freelancer.com has designers from inside and outside the U.S. who are really quite skilled. Of course, it also has many who are less skilled. How do you know which designer is which? We have a trick.. read on to learn more!

the trick to using freelancer.com

On freelancer.com you can either hire a specific freelancer and pray they are good (not what we suggest)…or you can run a “contest”. For as little as $40-$50, you can run a logo contest and if you “guarantee a winner”, you will likely get over a hundred entries. Yes, over a hundred entries. In fact, we have run contests in the past and had over 400 logo entries for that amount! Nobody really needs hundreds of logo designs to choose from, but about 20-30 will be ones you might actually consider.

Going through the entries is super easy as freelancer.com loads all contest entries and you simply scroll through and rate each with a star value on how much you like it.  We like to give 1-4 stars at first pass, then sort so that the highest ranked logos are first. Then go through and only give 5 stars to your top few. It just makes it easier to decide among all of those entries.   

choosing the final logo on freelancer.com

If you like one logo a lot, but want it tweaked, go ahead and ask the designer to make the desired tweaks. Freelancer.com has an easy chat system.  Once the logo is perfect, then mark that designer’s logo entry as the winner! You sign off on a standard Freelancer.com transfer agreement saying that you own the logo outright, then the designer sends you the final files of your logo over the platform. You pay the designer through freelancer.com and all communication is done through the platform as well so you never have to provide you personal information to the freelancers.

The Bottom Line

Unless you or someone you trust is a creative genius, we suggest hiring this task out. We have found the best way is to use freelancer.com.  

Freelancer.com is a great go-to source for getting lots of logo design options to choose from at a low price.  Remember, once you have your logo, if you need business cards (or even old school stationery), printing will cost extra. So just keep that in mind as you budget. We have always used Vistaprint as our go-to for printing business cards. Call them on the phone so they can set up your business card upload and make sure it is aligned as they typically don’t share a test print with you. Your logo will be looking good online and in print in no time!

 

HostGator WordPress Website Hosting

HostGator was founded in 2002 and is a solid WordPress website host option. Like their competitors, they have 3 levels of shared hosting for you to choose from.  They offer dedicated hosting as well if you require your own server for speed, security or just prefer that approach.  For the purpose of this review, we will focus on shared hosting options as that is reasonable option for most small businesses. 

The free site migration, even at the lowest level, makes HostGator an attractive WordPress website host option. 

Pricing

Like other website hosting HostGator plays the low entry price game. It seems to be the norm in the category. Expect to pay a lower monthly amount for a limtied period of time, so keep your eyes on the introductory price as well as the regular monthly amount.  HostGator shared WordPress website host options:

  • Hatchling Plan= In this plan, you get 1 website free SSL, free domain, 1 free WordPress site migration, unmetered bandwidth. All of that comes at a cost of $2.75 to start ($4.58 regularly).
  • Baby Plan = For $3.95/month ($6.58 regularly) you get unlimited websites, free SSL, free domain. Plus they will migrate 1 WordPress site for you for free. 
  • Business Plan = For $5.95/month ($9.92 regularly) you get unlimited sites, free SSL and domain. They will migrate 1 WordPress site for you as well. Plus they add in extra features like free SEO tools (claimed $50 value), and upgraded SSL that comes with a TrustLogo site seal for site credibility.

Choosing a Plan

Ultimately if you need just 1 website, the entry plan may be ok for you to get started and then upgrade plans as your business grows. Don’t be fooled by their package names, their lower level plan (even though it isn’t called “business”) is just fine for startups just getting rolling.  And, don’t be off put by their naming… it’s just a way to get people to upgrade to the business plan. For $3.95/month, we are fine being in the “baby” plan!

Site Migration

One of the nice added features with HostGator is free site migration even at the lowest level of hosting. One thing to keep in mind though.. site migration for HostGator (and most others as well) means a site migration of a WordPress site to their WordPress hosting plan. If you have a site that was not built in WordPress (e.g. Wix), then their seemingly fabulous feature may hold no value to you. We see this issue arise all of the time. People get started with a non-WordPress site as a startup and then their business grows and they need more functionality. In this case, they may have to rebuild the site, which is why we always recommend that people start in WordPress, even if they use a web page builder to make it plug & play. It just gives people much more flexibility than they will have otherwise.

Additional benefits and Features

HostGator gives every plan level some great security features, especially the highest level with the upgraded SSL and trust seal.  Trust seals add a certain level of credibility in the eyes of your future consumers, especially if they are providing their personal information anywhere on your site. HostGator customer support is strong with an abundance of videos that walk customers through common issues for self-help. They claim the value of the SEO tools that come with the highest level package is a $50 value. The true value ultimately depends on which SEO tools the user likes, but it is a good way to try a certain tool and learn from it. 

The Bottom Line

We like HostGator as a WordPress website host option. In the shared hosting space, the alternatives start to blend a bit and have few standout features.  HostGator’s free site migration at every level is a clear plus. So, if you have an existing WordPress site you need to move, HostGator, is one to consider for sure.

Our friends at HostGator have offered a special promotion for our readers. Check it out if you are interested!

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BlueHost WordPress Website Host

BlueHost is one of the best  web hosting for small businesses (and large ones too!).  Not only does it have attractive plans packed with needed features, it’s also endorsed by WordPress (and not everyone is). This just gives that added sense of stability that  all businesses need.

BlueHost is one of a small handful of web hosting companies recognized and approved by WordPress. 

Pricing

BlueHost has 3 levels of shared hosting for you to choose from (they offer dedicated hosting as well if you require your own server for speed, security or just prefer that approach). Shared hosting options for your small to large business:

  • Basic =  Their best web hosting plan for small business. At $2.95/month (regularly $7.99), you get hosting for 1 website, 50GB of storage, 5 parked domains, 25 subdomains and a $200 marketing credit.
  • Plus = The middle tier option with BlueHost. For $5.45 (regularly $10.99), you get unlimited websites, unmetered storage, unlimited parked domains and subdomains, a $200 marketing credit and 1 Microsoft Office mailbox free for 30 days.
  • Choice Plus = The most comprehensive shared web hosting plan. At $5.345.month (normally $14.99), you get everything in the Plus package and the benefit of CodeGuard basic backup for extra site security.

One of the best web hosting for small business

BlueHost has a solid reputation as a strong web hosting provide for small and large businesses alike. They have a robust security package to keep your site up and running and safe, all at one of the lower monthly prices on the market. They make life easy with 1 click install WordPress, and a staging environment so you can make updates to your site in a clean way before pushing live. 

Features we love

For those requiring multiple websites, this may be the best web hosting for your small (or large) business. Even the middle tier in their pricing model offers unlimited sites for fairly little expense. Plus we love their $200 marketing credit to get those businesses kickstarted! Of course, they have an easy to use panel to download frequently used online tools to keep your website up and running strong. Plus easy to use backup services and email setup is a breeze.

Their 24/7 customer support is very responsive. We’ve used their live chat both in tests for our review (and for real questions) and it is actually quite good. They are not only responsive, but are quick to provide solutions and answers. One additional thing we love, they are happy to help you get started with your site. This is a big one for those folks headed into new website waters. They have a team of folks who are happy to walk you through the setup of your WordPress site (there are some basic settings that may be new to you if you have not built a site before). 

just one Feature we Don’t love

If you need to migrate an existing WordPress website, BlueHost may not be ideal for you as they charge a hefty $149.99 for site migration where others offer it free with higher level plans. However, before you count them out for this, remember two things. First, this cost only matters if you are migrating a current WordPress website from another hosting company and need their help. Second, that fabulous marketing credit of $200 makes this migration fee a wash.

A wordPress approved hosting company

Lastly, we would be remiss if we didn’t highlight that BlueHost has been cited as one of three approved hosting companies for WordPress websites.  While you can use any hosting company, the fact that they are cited as “WordPress approved” gives us that extra dose of confidence that everything is up to date and that they are able to handle the latest and greatest from WordPress. 

The Bottom Line

BlueHost is a great go-to hosting choice. We’ll even go so far to say that we think it is the best web hosting for small business (and large too). They are highly regarded as a WordPress website host, they have a plan for every business need, plus they have plenty of security features to protect your site and keep it up and running without significant down time.  Plus we love that it is an approved WordPress host.. in a world of too many website hosts to choose from, this endorsement goes a long way.  Plus, they have a cool page on How You Can Set Up a WordPress Blog in 15 Minutes.