DigitalSplendid.Work

Dec 08 2021

Nexcess: StoreBuilder is now a part of WooCommerce pages

For those of you unfamiliar with StoreBuilder, it is our smart intuitive store builder that allows a new customer to build a store in minutes by answering a few questions. Their store is created with our setup wizard with conversion optimization by industry already built-in. This is the first builder that can compete in your listing recommending Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix, yet uses WooCommerce and the power of OpenSource.

StoreBuilder has it’s own landing page but we have now included in our WooCommerce pages so that any customer interested in WooCommerce will be presented with all options. New customers also get their first months free by using code: SBRISKFREE

Jul 27 2021

Buying web hosting: Comprehensive options with Liquid Web for large enterprises and sister brand Nexcess for SMEs

Once you decide to start your own blog or a website, you have to take into consideration so many things. First of all, which platform am I going to choose? Will it be open source CMS like WordPress, Netlify, and Joomla or proprietary one like Weebly, Sitecore, and Squarespace. For an ecommerce store, you have open source WooCommerce, Magento Open Source or proprietary Magento Commerce.

If you choose proprietary ones like Weebly or Magento Commerce, often hosting will be provided by them only. So you need not worry about buying a hosting plan as the price includes the hosting as well. Sitecore provides both the option of choosing either their own hosting or launch Sitecore from your hosting space.

Many of us start with the most popular CMS WordPress through wordpress.com which provides a limited version of this open-source tool through their platform. They provide their own hosting. The free version comes with limited functionalities including .wordpress.com as part of your website address making you look amateur. Even the paid hosting plans by WordPress.com that need yearly commitment come with restrictions on which plugins you can deploy. This is not acceptable to many as the same against the spirit of the open-source movement.

It is the WordPress by wordpress.org that provides an open-source WordPress, hosting of which you need to have from a choice of your hosting provider. WordPress which is based on PHP programming language can be hosted on almost any web hosting package, say VPS by Liquid Web. Nexcess has managed WordPress and managed WooCommerce plans. WooCommerce is nothing but WordPress with an additional WooCommerce plugin.

Even if you are using proprietary CMS that provides their own hosting, we still believe owning your own hosting space will help make the best of web technologies. It is usual for businesses to use multiple web platforms with a combination of open source and proprietary software.

The cheapest way to start is shared hosting. The same resource is shared by many. While this may be okay for a small blog or a website with limited pages, not recommended beyond that. Issues such as lack of resources might frequently make your website down, leading to missed opportunities and poor branding.

With over 15 years of experience, 24/7/365 on-site Heroic Support® and 3 wholly-owned data centers, Liquid Web offers fast and reliable VPS, Storm Cloud, Dedicated Server, HIPAA Server within a fully managed environment.

Whether you’re using WordPress, WooCommerce, or Magento, Managed Hosting by Nexcess is one of the best in the industry. They specialize in scalability, security, speed, and support for Digital Commerce, reasons for Liquid Web merging Nexcess with its operation in 2019.

So what we recommend is to go for a dedicated server environment that can be VPS by Liquid Web that will facilitate the launching of all available popular open-source applications through one click using web admin tools like Plesk and cPanel. Or choose managed WordPress hosting, managed WooCommerce hosting, managed Magento hosting by Nexcess.

I should not use shared hosting the way it is used when you buy say 2$ or 3$ per month plans though technically resources are still shared under clustered server environment. These managed hostings come with an optimized server for the specific platform and also include many pro themes and plugins relevant to the platform. So, managed WooCommerce plans by Nexcess come with in-built PDF Invoices & Packing Slips WooCommerce Extension and Stripe Payment Gateway. The server is optimized to handle 500 sales in an hour!

Here is our relevant article: Nexcess of Liquid Web brand for Managed WordPress and WooCommerce Plans with features that justify premium pricing.

VPS by Liquid Web or managed plans by Nexcess?

VPS (Virtual Private Server): Power of a dedicated server and the flexibility of cloud hosting. Ideal solutions if you require the control of a dedicated server but need to keep your monthly costs down. With VPS, you can have WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, and any other open-source applications under one umbrella. Managed plans by Nexcess starts @19$ per month. For small businesses, you may need to take a call if to go for managed WordPress/WooCommerce/Magento hosting by sister brand Nexcess or VPS with introductory pricing of 15$ per month (360$ billed for 2 years).

If you are planning to launch multiple applications, we suggest going for VPS as with one hosting, you can launch WordPress/WooCommerce/Magento and all open source web applications and also custom applications powered by HTML, CSS and programming languages including PHP, Python, C, C++.

Managed WordPress or Managed WooCommerce even when you intend not to have an e-store?

If you intend to launch one WordPress site, I would suggest going for Managed WooCommerce instead of Managed WordPress. WooCommerce is nothing but a WordPress plugin that can be used even for displaying affiliate products, selling your in-house services. With Managed WooCommerce, you get a host of pro addons that can be handy not just for online stores for which WooCommerce is specifically built. This changes for more than one website. WooCommerce is priced 79$ for three sites against five sites for Managed WordPress.

Liquid Web plans for large enterprises

Starting with VPS (Virtual Private Server), Liquid Web has these packages for large enterprises:

Nexcess is focused on managed hosting services for small businesses. Now, even their starter WooCommerce managed plan can process 500 orders per hour. When I use the term small business in the context of Nexcess, this is rather to distinguish from the enterprise-level hosting (Fortune 500 company’s website) provided by Liquid Web to the likes of Eddie Bauer, Home Depot, National Geographic, Porsche, and Symantec. See stories, testimonials, and benefits of hosting with Liquid Web from companies like the Home Depot and Hotwire.

Feb 01 2021

Hiring content writer trained in SEO and web development for your website/online store

A website content writer trained in SEO writes content for websites/online stores while assisting in on-page and off-page search engine optimization (SEO). He or she specializes in writing standard web pages like About Us, Our Services while filling meta tag (meta descriptions, meta keywords) as part of on-page optimization. Also submits your business/website details to directories like Google My Business, Locanto as part of off-page optimization.

There are outsourcing firms in Kolkata that bag in order for writing press releases of business houses located in US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand by sheer strength of telemarketing. Writers have no idea what the business stands for and expected to write a number of articles and press releases per month based on keywords, contents already published on the owner’s website. The whole writing in such cases becomes hype bringing a bad name to the profession. A quick way to narrow your hunt for a content writer can be through online marketplaces like fiverr.com, freelancer.com, database of writers like on MyBlogU though it is better when content writer hired by you is not just a content writer writing for the sake of writing but performing other roles of your business like of sales manager, trainer.

The job of website administrators, content writers, SEOs, graphic designers is inseparable at times. As a content writer, it should not be difficult for me to do a small research regarding keywords using a software tool such as SEMrush while publishing my own articles. I can also post relevant images and videos by myself after editing. This is also convenient as control remains with me instead of someone else doing the same for my articles whose views may not match the substance of my articles. Also, it is cost-effective to hire one person to take care of all.

If yours is a brick and mortar shop and you want to launch a website with a description of your business, any freelance content writer with training in website development and SEO should deliver, suffice for tens and thousands of small businesses. It should not be difficult for a content writer to launch a website using WordPress CMS or website builders like the ones by GoDaddy. Your mobile shop now has a website with relevant content that adheres to SEO.

A freelance content writer may not deny a proposal to write blog content for your audit firm which might be better done by a contract to an ex-employee who also writes for financial magazines. For this, instead of hiring services of freelancers from online marketplaces like Fiverr/Freelancer.com, taking the help of a content company like Contently might do justice. Contently with its proprietary software screens writers based on niche/specialization before introducing them to a brand for their writing job.

When it comes to the future of content marketing, content for the sake of content will increasingly become unpopular. Content-heavy websites will be avoided because many of them are by content writers who do not have experience first-hand to opine about what they are writing. Suppose I am asked to write an article about a chemical. Am I in touch with chemistry except for my high school days? I am not the authority in the field. What is still happening (though reduced to an extent because of penalization of websites like Ezine Articles not just by Google search engine but readers as a whole) is there are writers who can write about any subject by doing a small research on World Wide Web, coining the same idea in different words.

Just like there is a consensus among computer programmers to use the existing library of programs while building new applications (why reinvent the wheel?), so can be a consensus to go for already published quality content instead of generating fresh content (there is a difference between fresh content and fresh news). Check this nursery plantation website. In its blog section, how effective it is to post an already written article Lawn Care Tips than trying to come out with a fresh article that may miss points that the veteran writer in gardening highlights. It appears unfair to go for something of lesser value to the audience when it comes to educating your website visitors just for the reason that Google will give higher priority in its search results if I write and publish a unique, fresh article! The objective of Ezine Articles appears novel, trying to stop wastage of time coming out with fresh articles if existing ones serve. But greed to rank publishing the same idea by playing with keywords backfired.

Career strategy for apprentice SEO

In India, business process outsourcing (BPO) is a flourishing business. There are many call centers providing SEO services to offshore clients, mainly from US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In these BPOs as part of internet marketing, there are freshers employed as SEO doing activities like article submission, listing of local business on search engines and directories. These SEO professionals work in association with content writers who provide them with articles, press releases, blogs to be distributed over the web as per instructions by clients and in-house managers.

However, from an individual level, these SEO employees face a crisis. They are too dependent on content writers. Many are not confident to come out with even a small tagline that is accurate in terms of grammar and punctuation. Without a grip on computer programming, they even could not progress in SEO beyond routine activities. It is risky to try specializing in only SEO without a grip on content writing or web development. As a consequence, it is recommended that such SEO employees take their skill to next level by improving English writing and learning the basics of computer programming/web development.

Jan 29 2021

Planning your online business centered around developing saleable starter websites and affiliate marketing

A. Four ways I have been monetizing my content websites or blogs developed on WordPress CMS:

A.1. Affiliate Marketing & Affiliate Posts

A.2. Pay Per View/Pay Per Click

A.3. Business Consultancy/Developer

A.4. Sale of Website/Domain Name

B. Case study with DigitalSplendid.XYZ

B.1. Discounted Domain Name

B.2. Web hosting: Cost Can Vary Depending upon Your Choice of Hosting Provider

B.3. Managing with Free and Paid Themes/Plugins: Depending upon Needs Specific to Website and Budget

B.4. Content Creation: Blog Posts/Articles Define a Content Site

B.5. Custom Email for Seamless Transfer and Monetizing from Affiliate Links

B.6. Adding a Page Similar to Hire Us/Consult Us Page for Lead Generation

B.7. AdSense and Google News Approved

B.8. Shop Section for Adding Recommended Affiliate Products

B.9. Social Media Handles for More Visibility and Better Bargain during the Sale of the Website

C. The Way Forward: Executing a Well-Crafted Business Plan with Client Management and Team

A. These are the four ways I have been monetizing my content websites or blogs developed on WordPress CMS:

A.1. Affiliate Marketing & Affiliate Posts

As a publisher, affiliate marketing is promoting products of third parties (advertiser/merchant) on the condition that I will be rewarded for leads/sales generated through affiliate links placed on my websites or shared on social media, email marketing, and other such channels. Neither I am investing in any kind of stocks nor advertiser/merchant paying me upfront (like in display advertising). So, it is free for both publishers and advertisers (or merchants) to start with. As a publisher, I just redirect my website/social media audience to the website/e-store/app of the advertiser. In case of a sale, I will be paid commission (there might be variance like some affiliate programs reward for leads generated, and even at times no. of clicks/impressions generated).

Coming to my experience, in order to be viable, it is affiliate posts (paid upfront by the advertiser for blog posts under affiliate marketing) that contribute a lot. At times, 80 to 100 percent of my monthly revenue from affiliate marketing is from affiliate posts. So content writing is a skill that one needs to hone in order to leverage opportunities in affiliate marketing as a whole. Taking the help of paid content writers will raise costs. In case you want to scale up, definitely working with a team of paid content writers the way. Given negative reviews on Quora and throughout the internet about Fiverr and Freelancer.com, one needs to be cautious. However, since this post is from the buyers’ on Fiverr perspective, you can submit your needs after chat with the freelancers there. Indeed, you can get your job or so-called gig done by spending as low as 10$. Since Fiverr will only release the payment to the freelancer provided you are satisfied and approve, I find Fiverr handy with a low chance of a scam (and in worse case even if there is a scam, on small gigs, the same should be manageable).

A.2. Pay Per View/Pay Per Click

Google AdSense is the most popular one. It is recommended to apply for AdSense approval even if the revenue generated is peanut from this medium. Other things remaining constant, being a Google AdSense approved site commands higher sale value when put for sale in marketplaces like Flippa. From the buyers of a new website perspective, as per Google rules, Adsense account is non-transferable. You need to apply from your own Google account, and there is no guarantee that the same will be approved. Given these days each site is approved after AdSense team go through the site unlike earlier when you just need to have your first website be AdSense approved and you were then free to add the code on any of your other websites, buying AdSense approved website means the site passes the stringent test on a number of parameters including not having thin content.

Relevant Link: Webmaster Guidelines by Google AdSense on affiliate programs

Found this comment from an expert in AdSense community forum relevant and so reproducing here: Adsense is a big business, and very few sites are accepted nowadays. Google has no idea whether someone has bought a site – it’s irrelevant to them. All they look at is the quality of the content, and the expertise, reliability etc of the site owner, as stated in the ‘about’ page (obviously that needs to have your own credentials if you are taking on a site, with your qualifications that enable you to continue updating and maintaining the site). (https://support.google.com/adsense/thread/125052051/adsense-approval-of-an-existing-approved-website?hl=en)

A.3. Business Consultancy/Developer

Even as I continue blogging, I make sure to have a page like Hire Us. In this way, there is a possibility to get new clients who will contact me through online form/chat/phone/social media and hire for content writing, developing website (usually WordPress CMS), or digital marketing.

A.4. Sale of Website/Domain Name

Initially, I owned just one website (digitalsplendid.net, purchased August 2017) and posted articles (or so-called blog posts, a term which might not go well with many when it comes to marketing) while making money from the first three. In July 2019, I was in need of capital and found that putting together content from diverse niches all in one website is not good when it comes to selling a website.

Relevant Article: Three ways to flip a domain name with connected website

During the time of sale, the website (digitalsplendid.net) had 85 published articles out of which 73 articles written by me over a span of a decade (earlier published on other platforms of mine such as free Blogger website).

As evident, while Content Creation and Web Development & Internet Marketing somewhat related, Economic & Social Issues appearing odd. Fail to qualify as a niche website.

However, armed with the above content, I could get an approved AdSense account, which translates into higher sale value while flipping. Also, approved CJ, ShareASale, ImpactRadius, Awin, and PartnerStack affiliate accounts from where approvals from the likes of GoDaddy (under CJ); Liquid Web/Nexcess (under ImpactRadius); OptinMonster, WPForms, Tailwind, Cloudways (under ShareASale).

Some of the advertisers/merchants also pay for affiliate posts/affiliate videos. What I do is to take part in all such opportunities. This helps in five ways:

Receive payment for affiliate posts/affiliate videos which can be anything from 10$ to above 100$, with most ranging from 25$ to 50$. Even if it is a contest and I do not qualify, I benefit from the remaining four ways.
Earning commission from any lead or sale generated from attached affiliate links with such affiliate posts/videos.
More traffic to the website because of fresh content, which means more income from impression/pay per click ads.
Increased probability of getting new clients. Someone reading an affiliate post or viewing an affiliate video might contact through Hire Us page or phone call for one-on-one service.
With more content, your site ranks higher on more keywords. All these lead to higher website value in terms of scores like Authority Score on Semrush.

B. Case study with DigitalSplendid.XYZ

Popular Domains for just 99 Cents at Namecheap!

Here are the nine points I find worth mentioning:

B.1. Discounted Domain Name

Domains such as .xyz, .work, .store are heavily discounted for the first year on NameCheap/GoDaddy. So, what you can do is to buy a number of domains based on the niches you intend to promote through affiliate marketing. This is not to deny that .com commands the highest valuation closely followed by TLDs like .net and .org, other things remaining constant.

B.2. Web Hosting: Cost can Vary Depending upon Your Choice of Hosting Provider

DigitalSplendid.XYZ hosted on AWS Lightsail under Plesk Ubuntu 5$ per month plan that allows three WordPress websites (Plesk Hosting Stack on Ubuntu: 3 websites under one instance with plans starting 5$ per month on Amazon Lightsail and a demo of migration with free Migrate Guru plugin). My web hosting cost zero since as a startup founder received 6000$ in credit from AWS. Here is how you too may avail: Cloud technologies and AWS for startups: Tips based on our experience as a startup from India. You might choose a hosting provider of your choice.

You will want fast page load speed. For that, you need a hosting service provider that uses the latest technologies. Instead of shared hosting (out-of-memory errors, 500 errors, the site cannot be found type of things related to low server resources), you will want managed hosting in which I like managed WordPress hosting by WP Engine and Nexcess.

NameCheap that has both shared and managed hosting plans comes in between. For 10 websites or more, I find $22/mo plan of Cloudways unique in which you can choose servers from AWS/DigitalOcean/Google Cloud/Linode/Vultr.

At one point, 14 WordPress websites of mine were live on Cloudways on $22/mo plan.

For starter websites like DigitalSplendid.XYZ, the cheapest viable option as per my experience is shared hosting by Hostinger.

B.3. Managing with Free and Paid Themes/Plugins: Depending upon Needs Specific to Website and Budget

For DigitalSplendid.XYZ, I used free plugins. Your cost will be yearly domain name registration, web hosting in case you use a free theme like Astra, and content creation and administering WordPress site done by yourself. I used a premium StudioPress theme priced 99.95$ received as a perk being WP Engine Agency Partner. You can apply for your agency request here.

B.4. Content Creation: Blog Posts/Articles Define a Content Site

Published three original blog posts or articles written by me (under Blog) during the time of sale.

For a content website, it is the quality and quantity of blog posts that will define it. If the content is king, this is all the more for a content website. Now, out of the 3 articles, I am paid 100$ for one article and 25$ for another article (not disclosing the exact source because of privacy clause with advertisers) upfront as paid affiliate posts. Also, in this period, there were numerous sales from placed affiliate links with the posts and website as a whole.

My call to action is to hire content writers who will help replicate the above business of flipping websites on a bigger scale. From choosing your niche to buying a domain name and developing a website (I use WordPress), one of the most time-consuming processes will be coming out with original blog posts (500 – 2000 words each blog post). It is here where one can take the help of freelance content writers.

B.5. Custom Email for Seamless Transfer and Monetizing from Affiliate Links

Created custom email id for the domain name admin@digitalsplendid.xyz. When I sell this domain name connected with the website, the buyer gets a system in place with a free version of Semrush, Hubspot account created through my affiliate links using email id admin@digitalsplendid.xyz.

Activated free Hubspot WordPress plugin and added chat functionality.

With Hubspot, the buyer avails subscribers in place which he or she can continue to monetize with activities like email marketing while continuing with the existing Hubspot account created using email admin@digitalsplendid.xyz.

With a ready SEMrush account, there will be motivation to further work on raising Authority Score. It goes without saying that in case the buyer opts for a paid version in the future of Hubspot or SEMrush, I will receive an affiliate commission.

B.6. Adding a Page Similar to Hire Us/Consult Us Page for Lead Generation

I make use of the free version of Jotform (using email id admin@digitalsplendid.xyz that will help the seamless transfer of ownership once the website sold. Also, being a Jotform affiliate, I will earn commission in case the buyer opts for paid version going forward).

WPForms is another option but the free version does not allow storing of records. By including a page similar to Hire Us/Consult Us, you are keeping an option open to book new clients despite your focus on generating content as part of affiliate marketing and raising authority score in quest of getting a better sale price when put for sale (Flippa is my choice).

B.7. AdSense and Google News Approved

Add news received from affiliate partners giving due credit to the source. In this way, you will not be charged for plagiarism/duplicate content. Apply for Google News approval. Google News approved websites (like AdSense approved websites) get a better valuation on Flippa, other things remaining constant.

To be honest, although I have my own approved AdSense account, yet not able to get timely approval for the above websites (except DigitalSplendid.Work, all the above three are sold on Flippa while being approved for Google News program).

B.8. Shop Section for Adding Recommended Affiliate Products

B.9. Social Media Handles for More Visibility and Better Bargain during the Sale of the Website

Open a Facebook page, Twitter handle, Instagram, and Pinterest account for each website. In fact, Buy It Now (BIN) option with Flippa allows you to bundle sales and can be updated frequently with a listing. Though I did not get the time to create social media accounts for digitalsplendid.xyz, let me share my experience with other of my websites. During the sale of DigitalSplendid.Host, it was 2 hours left for the auction to complete and 90$ current price. I revised BIN pricing to 150$ with a transfer of one of my existing Facebook business pages and won the auction.

In another instance for HowToSplendid.com, I offered with BIN transfer of my existing Twitter and Facebook handle for 250$ with success.

C. The Way Forward: Executing a Well-Crafted Business Plan with a Team

Once you scale up, in addition to content writing, you can delegate website development, SEO, social media marketing, logo designing, video creation jobs for your websites. For coming out with a business plan, you can use LivePlan.

Relevant Article: Business plan: LivePlan’s free 90-day trial

Savvy businessmen can outsource complete projects including developing websites, content creation, video editing, SEO, and digital marketing tasks as part of executing a well-crafted business plan. With a managed hosting cum client management product like Growth Suite by Flywheel, your buyer of website will have the option to continue with your hosting, in which case you will have a billing system in place. You can enter into an understanding with the buyer of some kind of additional partnerships like you will take care of fresh blog posts and SEO. In fact, each buyer will need a different approach. Some will just transfer domain name and hosting to their existing hosting accounts. Others will want your assistance in applying for them a fresh AdSense account and affiliate marketing programs. In any case, Growth Suite will systematize your services/partnerships with the new buyer and accelerate your business model of flipping websites.

I have shared my experience developing content sites using WordPress CMS centered around affiliate marketing as a way to monetize before selling on Flippa under Starter Website. There are so many other online business models under e-Commerce, Content/Advertising, Apps, SAAS, Services that you get to know once you browse through live Flippa listings. Most of the listings explain elaborately their business models with attached income reports. Zero in the idea that you feel more comfortable working with.

Apr 08 2022

Omnisend: Now you have access to something shiny and new— give it a go!

Source: Omnisend newsletter dated 7 April 2022

Email continues to drive our customers’ revenue, with 29.6% of all orders in 2021 coming from email marketing. So it’s important to send emails that are visually on point and represent you and your brand.

So without further ado, we’re pleased to finally introduce our new Email Builder . It’s another step in empowering our ecommerce merchants to be even more confident in their marketing skills, without the technical complexities.

Keep driving sales send after send with new solutions like:

Branding every template using your company logo, social media icons and colors.
New templates that not only look great, but are also optimized for mobile devices.
Huge content library with pre-built templates, making email creation as easy as one, two, three.
Plus, everything inside the editor now comes with greater flexibility and customizations to move blocks around, realign content, better layout options, increased font choices, and more.

You’ll have the ability to create emails the way you want them, with no time wasted on complicated workarounds!

Customers already using the new Email Builder have an increased happiness rating and are generating on average 1.9 orders per email!

Are you ready to put the new Email Builder to the test?

Create a Campaign with the New Email Builder

Best,

The Omnisend Team

Dec 11 2021

All new OptinMonster subscriptions are up to 60% off for Green Monday!

Did you know every dollar spent on planting and caring for a community tree yields benefits that are two to five times the investment—benefits that include cleaner air, lower energy costs, improved water quality and storm water control and increased property values?

OptinMonster wants to do our part to help while sending website traffic your way!

This Green Monday, a portion of OptinMonster sales are going to benefit the Arbor Day Foundation, the largest 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. More than 1 million members, supporters, and valued partners have helped them plant more than 350 million trees.

And to get sales really moving, all new OptinMonster subscriptions are up to 60% off for Green Monday!

No coupon code necessary – the discounts are automatically applied during checkout.

Grab OptinMonster Black Friday Offer

It’s never been easier to help our planet and businesses!

Jul 12 2021

Accounting software: QuickBooks for brick and mortar business owners and FreshBooks for freelancers

Both QuickBooks and FreshBooks are popular online accounting software based on double entry system of book keeping.

As per this review by Hubspot, QuickBooks can be a better choice for brick and mortar business owners while FreshBooks for freelancers. Features like time tracking make FreshBooks useful for freelancers.

Both FreshBooks and QuickBooks have starter plans priced 15$ per month.