Category: WordPress

  • WPX Hosting Review: Is This The WordPress Hosting For 2019?

    WPX Hosting Review: Is This The WordPress Hosting For 2019?

    We rely on web host a lot.

    And when our website goes down, we lose money, traffic and of course, endless headaches.

    In the past, I had experienced first-hand on countless web hosting services — which I’m sure you had a few for yourself, right?

    Here’s the thing.

    There is no perfect web hosting company and what really matters often boils down to website performance (speed), fixing issues and customer support.

    Among the above three, my biggest concern is always performance.

    This website itself serves over 150,000 visitors in a month. I need blazing fast servers that don’t buckle when a handful of people are viewing my website at the same time.

    So, will WPX hosting be any different from other managed WordPress hosting services?

    Keep on reading this review to find out more!

    Do you know that WPX Hosting is one of our top 10 WordPress hosting services that we truly recommend?

    Game Changer for Managed WP Hosting?

    WPX Hosting is one of our top 10 WordPress hosting services that we truly recommend.

    Before WPX Hosting

    Prior to using WPX Hosting for hosting my money sites, I was using Kinsta.

    And make no mistake.

    Kinsta offers (almost) everything I needed in a web hosting service:

    • Blazing speed thanks to Google Cloud Platform
    • Premium CDN (which is known as KinstaCDN) for faster delivery of resources
    • 24/7/365 live chat support which solves all my problems, every time without complaining
    • Nightly backup securely saved in servers around the world
    • 1-click staging, restore and backups for some development works

    Well, it was close to perfect …

    Except for the payment part.

    As you can see, here’s what Kinsta plans and pricing structures look like:

    Kinsta Pricing Structure 2019

    I took up the Business 1 plan that consists of 5 WordPress installs, 100,000 monthly visits. 15 GB of disk space and 200 GB of Kinsta CDN.

    But with over 150,000 monthly visits in a month, I’m constantly paying overages at $1/1,000 visits.

    While I don’t mind paying for the overages, I felt it is not worth the money.

    Just like any other bloggers, I decided to find for other web hosting alternatives that are more affordable (that don’t cost a bomb) and comes with superior server performance.

    I did a full list and decided these are the best alternatives to Kinsta.

    • SiteGround
    • Cloudways
    • Bluehost Pro
    • WPX Hosting

    SiteGround

    Siteground vs WPX Hosting

    I used SiteGround for quite some time and I love what they do. Beautiful website, great support team and above average server performance (with very decent web hosting price).

    The only problem I had with SiteGround was with my translation plugin. For every post I publish, the plugin will translate into various languages.

    And make no mistake. Other languages are driving a lot of traffic for my website.

    Take a look at the analytics here.

    WPX Is Better Than SiteGround

    While SiteGround is a great choice, I still have doubt on it.

    I wouldn’t want my website to be penalized simply because of any over usages.

    You can also read this post (on why I moved out of SiteGround).

    Nonetheless, SiteGround pricing really unbeatable at only $12 for a super optimized and fast web hosting servers. You can check out their features here.

    Cloudways

    Cloudways vs WPX Hosting

    I thought about Cloudways a few times and used them over the years too. Cloudways is a fully managed VPS service that fits perfectly well for WordPress websites.

    I love their pricing and I can even choose hourly or monthly charges (hourly comes handy in development mode).

    But again, I had some issues with them and to be exact, it was on April 2018.

    I took up a powerful server on Cloudways (sitting on Digital Ocean) with 4 cores. After ensuring the website can last through the heavy traffic, I shut down my laptop and went for a nice three days trip to Langkawi Island, Malaysia.

    I came back home hoping to see a few hundred dollars in advertisement and affiliate sales …

    But I was badly disappointed.

    via GIPHY

    The server crashed and while Cloudways promoted that there are automatic reboot after crashes, it didn’t happen for mine.

    And with that being said, I still have doubts using Cloudways especially when it comes to hosting money sites.

    You are looking for affordable WordPress VPS hosting, Cloudways is still a good option. With VPS services that starts from $10 per month, you can’t really complain. Seriously.

    Read more about Cloudways here.

    BlueHost Pro

    BlueHost Pro vs WPX Hosting

    I talked about BlueHost Pro a lot and this was definitely in my mind.

    BlueHost Pro is not like BlueHost shared hosting. Everything is way much better and the support is awesome too.

    I thought of moving my money site to BlueHost Pro and after some considerations, I decided not to use BlueHost Pro.

    Here’s why.

    “BlueHost Pro is good for many people, but not for me.”

    – Reginald Chan –

    For example, I don’t use Jetpack and thus, Jetpack Pro wouldn’t be beneficial to me. I don’t require BlueHost SEO because I am happy using Yoast SEO. Finally, I don’t require 100 free premium WordPress themes because I’m happy with StudioPress + Thrive Architect.

    While BlueHost Pro is really a great choice, I don’t see myself using it that much. You can check out the entire BlueHost Pro feature (by clicking on this) or read the review here.

    WPS Hosting

    WPX Hosting Review

    Finally, WPS Hosting.

    I heard about WPX Hosting and even used for my own non-money websites.

    But now, I’m my money site to WPX Hosting. This is entirely a different ball game because there are more at stake.

    My first impression of WPX Hosting is pretty bad. Firstly, I’m hoping for a professional business-look homepage. Instead, WPX Hosting is pretty much cartoon-like concept which isn’t really my taste.

    WPX Managed WordPress Hosting Review

    However, I read about what Matthew Woodward talked about WPX and I even had some of my sits hosted on it. So, there goes the benefit of the doubt.

    Because I was capping around 150,000 visits in a month, I had to go with a bigger plan, Professional plan at $49.99 per month or $41.58 per month when I pay annually.

    This plan comes with a whopping 20 GB storage, 200 GB bandwidth and WPX Cloud CDN. Here’s the full pricing structure.

    WPX Hosting Pricing 2019

    I signed up for a brand new account around 10.54am and I submitted the request for a single website migration. I got an email at 10.59am to notify me that the work is in progress (and they require a little bit more information of my previous web host).

    I was impressed that they are really that fast in replying to me.

    Okay, I used to think that the customer support at WPEngine and Kinsta are rock solid. Now, WPX Hosting is also in the list!

    My choice for choosing WPX Hosting for my money site is simple. There are many web hosts which are terrible. They offer unlimited plans that are severely limited when you actually read the fine print. Not cool at all.

    They cram as many customers into each server as possible without considering performance.

    So, when simultaneous visitors land on a site, page load times skyrocket and user experience is ruined.

    Not sure if WPX Hosting is for you?

    Take a look at what WPX Hosting can offer right now!

    WPX Hosting Review Part 1: A Simple Interface That Simply Works

    WPX Hosting Dashboard

    One issue that I find with a lot of web hosts is that for first time users, or even some more experienced users – the interface can be unnecessarily complex.

    This is what the common and simple cPanel hosting looks like.

    cPanel Backend Dashboard

    WPX Hosting interface is simple and very straightforward. This is how it looks like on the backend.

    I came from Kinsta with custom dashboard, so it’s nothing much to “wow” about for me. But for other bloggers and website owners, this new interface is definitely a game changer.

    WPX Hosting Review Part 2: Handle Traffic Spikes Without Affecting User Experience

    This … is … golden.

    WPX Hosting infrastructure are designed to host large, resource intensive ecommerce websites. Therefore, hosting big websites aren’t a problem at all.

    Do you know that WPX Hosting typically leave 50% of a servers resources available? This results in fantastic performance and the ability to deal with traffic spikes.

    And not only that!

    As soon as the number of customers on a machine could potentially impact performance, they’re moved to another machine.

    WPX Hosting Review Part 3: How Does WPX Hosting Performs Under Load?

    WPX Hosting Review Hosting Performance

    Impressive is the word.

    With minimal optimization and a little help from MaxCDN (now StackPath), This is the kind of performance that’s possible:

    WPX Hosting Review Using LoadImpact Test

    The above image is a test ran with LoadImpact.com that tests how page load times are impacted with multiple visitors on the site at the same time.

    Most visitors experienced loading times of under 1 second, which is incredible.

    Here’s the good news:

    From November 2018 onwards, WPX Hosting offer their own CDN with 20+ endpoints around the world.

    It’s built by them – this isn’t just some other CDN slapped on the side. This means they can tweak and optimize it for better performance.

    And it is absolutely free!

    Yes, WPX CDN is included in all hosting packages.

    WPX Hosting Review Part 4: Beyond Excellent Customer Support

    I am a tough customer to handle, and I am not afraid to admit that.

    WPX Hosting support teams are well-trained and are very experienced. They know WordPress and they know managed hosting — and these make all the difference.

    Here’s an example of scenario which a web hosting company I no longer use and recommend:

    • My website was broken and I need fast resolution, only to wait for 20 minutes in queue for the live chat agent
    • The live chat agent was okay, but she wasn’t able to resolve the matter (and the ticket is escalated to the level 2 support)
    • They said they need to check on the problem, and they will get back to me via email
    • After two hours, my website is still down and they finally got back with the ticket — telling me that they would need to charge me $100 to do the needed repair (at this point, I went “WTF)

    Now, here’s what happens when you reach out to WPX Hosting support via live chat:

    • A warm greeting and response back to you under 60 seconds (super cool)
    • Attentively listen/read my concern and given assurance it is being looked at
    • Minutes later, I’m being responded via email or live chat that the job is done/resolved at no cost

    Time is money and a website that is down … is not going to generate any sales for you.

    WPX Hosting Review Part 5: Website Security Like No One Else

    WPX Hosting Website Security Features

    I choose managed WordPress hosting because of two things; website speed (performance) and security.

    WPX hosting provides free SSL and unlimited website migrations at no cost.

    If at this point you think that you can find this on any other web hosting companies, take a look at this email from them.

    I was reaching out to the support team over at WPX Hosting to check on the status of my website migration. They responded to me and even told me that one of my money site is affected with some malicious codes.

    This is where I go “WTF” — and my previous web hosting company didn’t notice anything about it!

    Before I was stomping the ground, I was pleased that the WPX Hosting team said that they will take care of everything. Now, that’s a huge relief!

    WPX Hosting Review Part 6: Is WPX Hosting Worth The Money?

    WPX Hosting Review 2019

    I decided to move all my websites to WPX Hosting because it is affordable and comes with superior support.

    As shared above, I’d looked at other WordPress specialist web hosts but the technical limitations and pricing structure put me off.

    WPX Hosting gears their plans around a monthly maximum bandwidth, which can be offset even further by using a CDN like MaxCDN (now StackPath).

    Here’s a closer look at their pricing plans:

    For more information on their plans & pricing, click here.

    WPX Hosting Review Part 7: Advantages & Disadvantages Using WPX Hosting

    Advantages and Disadvantages of WPX Hosting

    There are a lot of good things that WPX Hosting offers, and here are the most important ones.

    • Built to handle traffic without sacrificing page load times
    • Fast and effective support
    • Amazing pricing in comparison to competitors
    • Supports emails (unlike some WordPress hosts)
    • Easy to use interface (all the important stuff is 1 click away)
    • Can support other content management systems (not just WordPress)
    • Enterprise level DDoS protection
    • Malware scanning and cleanup

    Just like any other managed WordPress hosting services, WPX Hosting is not protected from some disadvantages too.

    • Interface is lacking on features but this could be classed as a pro since the interface is easier to work with
    • No phone support (but live chat & email is very fast)
    • Dashboard not showing stats (compared to Kinsta)

    Summary: WPX Hosting Review 2019

    I host multiple websites (even clients’ websites) on WPX Hosting, and the experience had been great.

    But it gets better because they keep adding new features without adding to the cost. For example, they offer free malware cleanups and a free in-house built CDN.

    The bottom line is this.

    They really seem to care about their customers, unlike a lot of the big web hosts out there. And their page load times are impressive, and they have the support to match.

    WPX Hosting Review: Performance + Security + Affordability

    There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that WPX Hosting is definitely worth the money. Ranked number one on G2Crowd for web hosting, I’m sure WPX Hosting had “wow-ed” more customers than just me. Want to give WPX Hosting a run? Click the button below and give WPX Hosting a run for your money. Plus, you get 30-days (iron clad) money back guarantee if it fails to impress you.

  • Start A Weight Loss Blog: Do’s and Don’ts for Weight Loss Blogging

    Start A Weight Loss Blog: Do’s and Don’ts for Weight Loss Blogging

    You are planning to start a weight loss blog and you are ready to fire up the pistons. It is either due to passion, or you are a niche blogging who is trying to make some money online.

    I’m sure you had done your research and you realized that the weight loss niche is highly profitable. For starters, the idea is perfect and the number of search intent is massive.

    Weight Loss Search Intent

    The exact keyword, “weight loss” has over 1.4 million results and there are 368,000 searches related to this every month.

    Bu there’s a little, tiny bit of challenge that you almost certainly will face—one if you overcome it will help you build a super successful weight loss blog.

    The weight loss blogging space is really heavy on purely promotional sites, deceptive sales messages, or even scams desired solely to earn some quick money. 

    All this makes it really hard to build a credible brand that stands out from the crowd.

    There’s always a silver lining in anything and same goes to the competitive weight loss night.

    There are those who made big money thanks to weight loss blogging and here’s a simple list.

    Recommended Resources

    MindBodyGreen.com

    MindBodyGreen was founded by Jason WachobCarver Anderson, and Tim Glenister—all wellness experts and enthusiasts. Their team is one of the best in the business. From top yoga instructors to wellness gurus, and weight loss experts, there’s something for every interest and ability level on this blog.

    NowLoss.com

    A very successful blog in the weight loss niche by Andrian Bryant. NowLoss.com now helps over 1.5 million monthly visitors look good naked by losing weight, getting curves, and/or building muscle. NowLoss.com is the #2 weight loss website in the world behind commercial giant Weight Watchers.

    A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss

    A blog where you can join Erika in her journey from 330lbs to personal trainer. Everything she shares comes from her personal experience. An great blog with lots of personal touches.

    Now, let’s focus on how you can join the ranks of these quality weight loss blogs.

    Use Your Own Name And Personality

    personality for weight loss blog

    In this complex and heavy niche, the only way to rise above the competition is by creating a personality or a brand name that the public can trust.

    One of the common things such marketers do is that they never use their real names. Instead, they showcase some lame brand name, like HowToLoseWeightFast, or something.

    With the influx of content on the web, building a strong brand for yourself is crucial. 

    How to build a personal brand for your weight loss blog?

    1.

    Branding and name choosing the most complicated one of all time. There is no right or wrong and I would recommend you to find a name that resonates well with your overall concept.

    2.

    Search for the availability of the name on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.) and if they are available, make sure you get them as soon as possible.

    3.

    Use the same name in everything you do (blogging, outreach etc.) so that it is visible to the public. Brand building takes time, so be patience!

    Avoid Promising (In Weight Loss)

    do not promise in weight loss blog

    There is nothing definite in life, including weight loss. Anyone can lose weight, but how fast you can lose weight is determined by many factors such as:

    • Determination
    • Strategies
    • Food intake
    • Beverages intake
    • Types of workout

    Therefore, you want to be legit — and there should be no magic formula when it comes to weight loss. Your weight loss blog should focus on more workable solutions such as guided dieting, yoga, exercises and other weight loss strategies.

    “People are very careful now when it comes to believing any sort of promises. Whenever you say that something will bring massive results you’re immediately becoming suspect.”

    Always Get Started With A Name

    Find A Weight Loss Blog Name

    This is about the name of your site.

    Now, you can take one of two possible paths here:

    1. Get a custom domain at godaddy.com (or some other registrar) and your own hosting account.
    2. Register your blog at wordpress.com and get a free subdomain.

    Both approaches have their pros and cons. The first one is obviously more expensive. You have to spend $10 a year for the domain, and around $6 per month for hosting.

    But what you get in exchange is better credibility and a more serious look from the get-go.

    Custom Domain vs Free Domain

    See the comparison below to compare the custom domain to free domain.

    Custom domain

    • More control over content
    • Not tied down to any terms or conditions
    • Better credibility
    • Costs around $10 per month (or less)

    Free domain

    • Lesser control over content
    • There are rules an regulations to follow
    • Lesser credibility
    • Free and premium packages available

    Conclusion:

    If you are serious in starting a weight loss blog, I highly recommend you to get a custom domain for yourself. Looking for a better deal?

    BlueHost is a prominent web hosting company that offers hosting services that start at $2.99 per month, and comes with free domain name! Click here get the deal.

    Always Focus In Building Credibility

    There are thousands of weight loss blogs in the market today, and you don’t want to get lost in the sea of information.

    Trust is the rarest commodity in weight loss blogging. If people don’t trust you, they won’t listen to your advice, and might even find it hard to believe your stories.

    via GIPHY

    Here are some powerful ways to build trust and become an authority in the weight loss industry.

    • Create a real profile of yourself,along with complete biodata and photo/avatar
    • Consider using storytelling and sharing personal insights to create a voice for your weight loss brand
    • Display trust elements to build strong authority by displaying honorable mentions from other relevant blogs or influencers within the same niche

    Be Honest — Talking About Negative Things Are Okay!

    There is a taboo in the blogging niche—that we should only talk about the good things.

    As in life, in weight loss, too, there are good and bad days. Good and bad products. Good and bad people.

    “Be strong in telling your story—whether it is good or bad. Do enough of this and you will create a trust worthy brand that others look up to.”

    Avoid Using Too Many Ads

    There is no denial that advertising is the most intuitive way to monetize a website. However, too many ads on your weight loss blog will just make it look bad and less authority.

    Your goal is to create a reputable weight loss blog that offers credibility and knowledge — and having too many ads is not going to help either one of them.

    Displaying too many ads will bring your credibility down very quickly. Just one block for AdSense ads (or any other provider) in the sidebar is really enough.

    Since you are using limited ads placement, it is important to ensure that you are placing ads on the right spots.

    Here are the best ads placement for most blogs.

    Start A Weight loss Blog Ads Placement

    Publish Only Real Reviews

    There is no denial that reviews are great ways to get a lot of sales. However the growth of technology also allows multiple fake reviews which hampers the entire review process.

    This is especially visible in the weight loss space where, as we all know, there are hundreds of products available … pills, diets, training programs, training equipment, DVDs, you name it.

    If you are planning to start a weight loss blog, focus in publishing on real reviews because it will help you to be more creditable.

    More importantly, ensure that reviews are done through proper research or through trusted sources.

    Here are some quick tips:

    • Always list the bad sides of the product (there surely are some)
    • Provide pictures of the product taken by you (or better yet, pictures of you using the product if that’s possible)
    • Get in depth to the core benefits the product delivers
    • Don’t quote any of the information from the product box or the official website
    • Give an honest final opinion

    Use Different Types Of Content

    Different Types of Content for Weight Loss Blog

    Do you know that there are many weight loss blogs on the Internet that are spam?

    Spam-bloggers publish only simple 400-word blog posts providing no actual advice. You can differentiate yourself pretty easily by looking at the topic of blogging much more broadly.

    Here are some blog contents that you can use for your weight loss blog:

    • Infographic (example, top 10 tips to lose weight)
    • Healthy food recipe download
    • Workout updates
    • Recommended weight loss plans
    • Workout videos
    • Podcasting on healthy lifestyle

    Now it’s your turn! 

    What do you think about using a blog as a way to document your weight loss story? Are you a weight loss blogger? What tips and advice can you share?

  • The Main Mistake That Every Amateur Blog Makes In Blogging

    The Main Mistake That Every Amateur Blog Makes In Blogging

    Do you know the main mistake that every amateur blogs make in blogging … that are affecting the money making opportunity and traffic generation?

    You see, I started blogging back in 2004 and I only make my first $1,000 after a few years into the business. I made way too many mistakes back then that indirectly (and directly) hamper the opportunity for me to make more money and faster.

    Carry on reading below to learn the exact, single biggest mistake to avoid in blogging.

    The Main Mistake Amateur Bloggers Do: Thinking Of Making Money Online

    How To Make Money Blogging

    Here’s the truth.

    Deep inside your heart, you know that you are blogging because you want to make money. Don’t worry, I get it too because I have the same thought!

    So, what’s the difference?

    Almost any blog that can generate stable traffic can make money online and therefore, the thought of making money online shouldn’t be your primary goal.

    “Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.”

    Brian Clark, CopyBlogger

    The above makes all the sense.

    You may have the best blog, the best website design, the best content (ever) and super detailed tutorial that cannot be found anywhere else on the web — but if you have no website visitors, all the effort will go into the drain.

    All the hard work, the sweat and the sleepless nights will be useless because there’s no one who will ever cherish your blog.

    This, my friends … is the biggest mistake done by many amateur bloggers today.

    Of course, this leads us to another question.

    How do I start making money through my amateur blog?

    Follow these exact steps, and I guarantee (yes GUARANTEE) that you should well be on your way to make money through blogging.

    I recommend you to bookmark this post as this is the exact steps I took to grow my blog traffic and earnings from $0 to over $1,000 a month.

    Step by Step Guide in Making Money Blogging

    1

    Define Your Blogging Niche

    Knowing what you want to blog is critical. While you can use a single niche or multiple niches per blog, knowing what the main topic you are blogging will ensure that you have the right structure for the blog.

    2

    Find Seed Keyword

    The way to make money from blogging is through defining the right seed keyword. Knowing your seed keyword is important because you are going to use this to search for more relevant, long tail keywords.

    3

    Find Long Tail Keywords

    The only way to make more money from blogging is through having more traffic. In order to get more traffic, you need to target low competition and medium/high traffic keywords (also known as long tail keywords). Using free tools such as SEMrush (​click here for free trial) will help you discover profitable keywords without taking a whole lot of time.

    4

    Content (Blog Post) Production

    Once you have the profitable keywords, you should produce content that beats the current competitor. The easiest way is to use Google and search for the top 3 results and analyzing them. Kill the competitors with more backlinks, longer posts and shorter bounce rate. If done correctly, you should be taking over the top spot in under 90 days.

    5

    On Page Optimization

    Last but not least, keep building links to the posts created and don’t forget to update the post from time to time with more information. Once updated, head over to Google Search Console and request for a new round of indexing.

  • ClickFunnels for eCommerce: Should I or Shouldn’t I use ClickFunnels for eCommerce website?

    ClickFunnels for eCommerce: Should I or Shouldn’t I use ClickFunnels for eCommerce website?

    ClickFunnels eCommerce Review: Should I Use ClickFunnels for eCommerce?

    You heard that ClickFunnels is one of the best tools to convert cold website visitors into customers.

    As a matter of fact, ClickFunnels is often known as the king when it comes to converting website visitors into paying customers. But, how good is ClickFunnels for eCommerce?

    In this article, we will dive deep into ClickFunnels for eCommerce websites.

    If ClickFunnels is something new to you, then you are going to love this section.

    Let’s dive into what ClickFunnels is all about with’s product description.

    Product Name – Summary

    Quality

    ClickFunnels is the top sales page builder for eCommerce websites and stores.

    Speed

    Rapid implementation allows you to deploy sales pages within minutes.

    Cost

    Highly affordable for startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners.

    Overall rating :  4 / 5

    ClickFunnels in short, is a cool sales page builder that doesn’t suck. It is powerful and easy to use with numerous ready made templates ready to use.

    Why ClickFunnels for eCommerce?

    Based on the image above, that’s the typical sales funnel for an eComemrce website. 

    But there’s a little problem.

    In today’s world, there are hundreds or thousands of businesses just like you. This means that you are competing with every one of them, regardless of the size.

    Instead of sending website visitors directly to your sales page, you use ClickFunnels to do the ‘selling’ instead.

    Here’s how a sales page on ClickFunnels looks like:

    Samples ClickFunnels Sales Page for eCommerce

    Should I use ClickFunnels for eCommerce?

    There are two parts to this: Yes and no.

    Here’s why.

    ClickFunnels for eCommerce?

    Everything about ClickFunnels right here for your decision

    Yes

    • Wants to build sales pages without touching a single line of code
    • Have little or no coding skills at all
    • Looking for an all-in-one marketing tool to boost eCommerce sales
    • Looking for a simple sales platform with little or no learning curve

    No

    • Not willing to fork out $97 per month (ClickFunnels is a paid tool)
    • Looking for a much affordable tool
    • Don’t mind a higher learning curve
    • Have some knowledge in coding

    Conclusion:

    ClickFunnels is a great tool for eCommerce—and undeniably one of the best I had personally used. I recommend ClickFunnels for eCommerce websites (and business owners) who are constantly looking for ways to boost their sales.

    How to get started with ClickFunnels?

    Okay. Let’s say you are 100% confident in using ClickFunnels for eCommerce (good for you, by the way).You can get started right here by clicking on this link.

    But wait!

    What if you are unsure and undecided if ClickFunnels is the right one for your eCommerce business?

    ClickFunnels comes with 14 days free trial which you can use at no cost to you and cancel at anytime!

    What are you waiting for?

    Get started with ClickFunnels today and join over 100,000 entrepreneurs and business owners around the world!

  • Blogger’s Choice: Thrive Architect vs Divi Theme for WordPress Website Building

    Blogger’s Choice: Thrive Architect vs Divi Theme for WordPress Website Building

    This post is designed for bloggers only. If you are a web developer and deciding between Thrive Architect or Divi Theme, click here to read this post instead.

    When it comes to Thrive Architect and Divi Theme, which is the best WordPress drag and drop builder for bloggers?

    The answer varies depending on individuals — but for me, I still prefer Thrive Architect. But hey, let’s give both the fine WordPress tools a chance to showcase their worth, shall we?

    Back to Basics: What is Thrive Architect and Divi theme?

    Drag and Drop Website Builders for Bloggers

    Thrive Architect and Divi theme are two WordPress tools that are used by bloggers around the world in building beautiful landing pages, WordPress homepages and blog posts.

    While WordPress is the most popular CMS in the market, it requires heavy coding (HTML and CSS skills) to create beautiful websites.

    And if anyone talks about Gutenberg, I was having a freaking hard time with it when I was using it two days ago to design my new homepage (check it out here).

    Believe me, I was feeling like this (no joke!):

    via GIPHY

    Okay, I got to admit that I am like a spoilt brad thanks to both Thrive Architect and Divi theme.

    – Reginald Chan –

    Again, I have no issue with Gutenberg but I will NOT recommend it to anyone who are serious in building WordPress pages or content … because it’s freaking confusing!

    The Summary: Thrive Architect vs Divi Theme

    So, you might be rushing and you are not planning to stay more than 10 minutes in this post (even though I hope you will), scroll below to get the summarized comparison between Thrive Architect and Divi theme.

    Thrive Architect

    WordPress Page Builder Designed for Online Business Creators

    Pros

    • Instant drag and drop editor
    • Front-end editing (what you see is what you get)
    • 274 beautifully designed and 100% conversion focused landing page templates
    • Pre-built conversion elements to replace dozens of plugins
    • Customizable buttons, testimonials, countdown timers and lead generation forms
    • Easily create high converting landing pages
    • Build effective sales pages without coding knowledge
    • Integration with major third party software and programs
    • 100% mobile responsive and AMP ready

    Cons

    • Slight learning curve
    • Slightly expensive if you are managing multiple websites
    • No live chat support (just forum support)

    Conclusion for Thrive Architect:

    Thrive Architect is a simple to use, WordPress page builder that allows you to build customized WordPress designs without coding skills. The single biggest advantage using Thrive Architect is that your website will not turn out gibberish when you uninstall or delete Thrive Architect. 

    Divi Theme

    Is this the ultimate WordPress theme and visual page builder?

    Pros

    • Real time design
    • Easily customize anything and everything on the page
    • No coding skills required
    • 48 different content elements to choose from
    • Responsive editing and mobile ready
    • Over 30 pre-made demo and elements ready to download
    • Yealy and lifetime plans available

    Cons

    • Uninstalling or deleting the theme/plugin will break your WordPress website
    • Impact website loading speed
    • Not recommended if you are using shared or cheap web hosting (resource heavy)

    Conclusion on Divi Theme:

    Divi Theme is an interesting WordPress page builder especially for developers. The lifetime plan is great for cost saving, and which is a great choice for agency level and WordPress freelancers. The only downside using Divi Theme compared to Thrive Architect is your website will break if you uninstall or delete Divi Theme.

    Question: Why should I use a WordPress builder instead of Gutenberg?

    The answer is simple. Gutenberg is buggy and the learning curve is crazily high!

    Don’t just take my words for it. I recommend you to try either one of these drag and drop WordPress builders, and then compare with Gutenberg.

    I’m sure you will see the differences.

    Take a look at the infographic below by WebBuildersGuide.com that discusses on the advantages using website builders:

    Advantages Using Drag and Drop Website Builders

    There is no denial that there are many advantages using website builders for your website (or for your client’s).

    Discover the top 10 drag and drop WordPress builders for 2019

    While I see enormous advantages using Gutenberg in the near future, it is still far from perfect and if you are looking to create the best WordPress design, there are more options compared to Gutenberg.

    Thrive Architect vs Divi Theme: Which is the cheaper option?

    Thrive Architect vs Divi Theme Best Website Builder for Bloggers

    Pricing is always the most sensitive part for everyone. Let’s dive down and see what they have in store for us, shall we?

    5.0

    Thrive Architect

    Thrive Architect is an intuitive drag and drop website builder that is not only easy to use, but highly compatible with bloggers.

    • $67 per website
    • Lifetime updates
    • Unlimited features and usage

    4.3

    Divi Theme

    Simple pricing structure that is right for both bloggers and website developers. Slight learning curve but it is still one of the most popular plugins around.

    • $89 per year or $249 for lifetime access (one time payment)
    • Unlimited usages

    Now, with that being said, Thrive Architect is much cheaper if you are going for year on year basis.

    However, if you are using for multiple websites, Divi theme is a much better option due to unlimited usage and lifetime plan.

    Which is the best drag and drop builder for bloggers?

    Which is the best WordPress builder for bloggers?

    The answer varies—and if you are looking for my answers, here’s what I think.

    “Thrive Architect and Divi theme are two of the best website builder tools for bloggers. However, I still prefer Thrive Architect (hands down) as it is super intuitive and don’t affect website loading speed!”

    – Reginald Chan –

    This is the exact reason why I choose Thrive Architect over Divi theme any time of the day:

    Thrive Architect vs Divi Front End Editing

    Here’s a bunch of things I can do with Thrive Architect:

    • Fluid drag and drop editing feature
    • Zero coding skills in developing a website design
    • Massive design library for elements (over 274 designs)
    • Super fast loading speed

    If you are having a tough time trying to decide …

    Then this question is going to help you. Period.

    How much are slow, lazy editors costing you? (if you value your time)

    Thrive Architect is build for bloggers and website owners who cherish the importance of website loading speed.

    In this competitive world, there is absolutely the needs of having quick implementation (Thrive Themes calls it “Rapid Implementation”) especially in building website designs, landing pages and blog posts.

    At the end of the day, bloggers should focus on using a WordPress builder that allows them to create the most effective website design with the least work and time required.

    Thus, the turn over time can be speed up and you can focus on creating more valuable content instead!

    If you want to learn more about Thrive Architect, click here to see it in action (and to get the best Thrive Architect discount 2019).

    Are you a blogger? Leave a comment below if you are using either the Thrive Architect or Divi theme!

  • Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: Is it worth paying for Kinsta hosting?

    Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: Is it worth paying for Kinsta hosting?

    In-depth Managed WordPress Hosting Review With Kinsta

    This Kinsta review is my first managed hosting review for 2019 and the stakes are high because I don’t want to disappoint you in anyway possible. This post is going to be long and I recommend you to bookmark this post for future references.

    If you are looking for answers for “What makes Kinsta different from other managed WordPress hosts?” — you are doing to find it here in this post. We will not only go deep into Kinsta hosting review, we will also discuss on Kinsta CDN, Kinsta DNS, Kinsta data centers, daily backups and even Kinsta staging environment.

    As a WordPress website owner, our biggest concern (apart from making money online) is web hosting. Generally, web hosting can be really cheap – costing you less than a cup of coffee (latte, macchiato or any of your favorite caffeine beverage) a month.

    The cheapest web hosting package is shared hosting and that can easily costs you under $5 a month. However, hosting your WordPress site on shared hosting giants such as BlueHost and SiteGround may not be sufficient for your needs. Regardless it is the server performance, website loading speed, support or security, the alternative to shared hosting is managed WordPress hosting.

    The first impression most bloggers and website owners is this: Managed WordPress hosting is expensive. And I totally get it.

    The truth is pretty much the opposite. Managed WordPress hosting may be more expensive than generic shared hosting, but it is certainly not as expensive as you think!

    As a matter of fact, managed WordPress hosting such as Kinsta is really affordable and highly scalable based on your website traffic.

    More information about Kinsta managed WordPress hosting.

    What Is Managed WordPress Hosting?

    What Is Managed WordPress Hosting

    Managed WordPress hosting is similar to other web hosting services in many ways – with a twist.

    According to WPBeginner, managed WordPress hosting is a concierge service where all technical aspects of running WordPress is managed by the host.

    The idea behind managed WordPress hosting is to offer a completely hassle-free experience, so you can focus on running your business and doing what you are good at.

    One of the best parts about Managed WordPress hosting is the premium support. Your support is provided by real WordPress experts with lots of experience rather than someone who is reading a support manual.

    What Are The Advantages Using Managed WordPress Hosting?

    What Are The Advantages Using Managed WordPress Hosting

    • Blazing Fast – Managed WordPress hosting servers are configured specially for WordPress. Therefore, these servers are really fast and are able to sustain even when hosting high traffic websites.
    • Security – Your website is practically hacker-proof when you go with a managed WordPress hosting provider. The super tight security layer that actively scans for malware on a daily basis and block all hacking attempts will secure WordPress websites.
    • Expert Support – Unlike other web hosts, majority (if not all) of the staffs are highly knowledgeable in WordPress. They will be able to advise you against using plugins that impact performance, solve your website problems faster, and many more. It is like having an army of WordPress experts on your side for assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
    • Daily Backups – Automatic daily backups and multiple restore points are available to you if you ever want to revert (great for developers and anti-hacking activities,
    • Automatic Updates – You don’t have to worry about updates because they are done automatically.
    • No downtime – No matter how much traffic your site gets, your website will probably never go down – like N.E.V.E.R. ever.
    • Dev Tools – Although it varies with different managed WordPress hosting service providers, you will find some useful dev tools such as staging area, version control, etc. within the dashboard.

    What Are The Disadvantages Using Managed WordPress Hosting?

    • Price – Price is the biggest turn down for many website owners. Managed WordPress hosting is significantly more expensive when compared to shared hosting. The most basic WordPress hosting plan usually starts around $15/mo. where as shared hosting plan starts at $2.95/mo. But if you factor in the cost of running a large website and the salary of system admin, then this will sound like a pretty darn good option.
    • Limits – Because the server architecture is specialized for WordPress, often you are limited to run only WordPress based sites. But that’s what you were looking to do anyways. There is also the possible that you Are not able to run all your favorite WordPress plugins. Managed WordPress hosting providers block plugins that slows down your site. So this is not entirely a disadvantage, but it can be an issue for larger companies.
    • Less Control – Since someone else is managing all the technical aspects, you don’t have nearly as much say as to what gets changed. But isn’t that the point? You don’t want the hassle of managing things yourself.

    Now that we had completed the advantages and disadvantages of using a managed WordPress hosting, let’s start the Kinsta managed WordPress hosting review.

    My Experience After Moving To Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting

    Managed Hosting Versus Shared Hosting

    Apart from providing a review on Kinsta hosting, I have incorporated my personal experience using Kinsta. If you are managing a growing blog and you often find yourself stuck in technical hosting jargon, this article will be a life-changer for you.

    I started my first website back in 2014 and it was hosted on the Blogger platform. Within a year, I moved to the entire website to my first shared hosting service on HostGator. My traffic wasn’t really a big shout to be honest but I realized a much bigger problem – technical aspect.

    As you can see, I wasn’t entirely an experience website developer back then. For major changes on my site, I would require assistance from the web hosting company to get the job done for me without charge. Sure, I live by that rule for some good years until one day where I decided that enough is enough because my site was hacked.

    That was the turning point.

    I was making decently on my site but just like many bloggers out there, I wasn’t ready to increase my monthly web hosting spending. After doing extensive surveys and research, I concluded that using managed WordPress hosting is the best bet for me.

    For the record, I have used several managed WordPress hosting such as WP Engine, FlyWheel and Pagely to name a few. But nothing interests me as much as Kinsta does.

    Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: Ultimate Speed

    Kinsta Hosting Speed For WordPress

    Kinsta is one of the managed WordPress hosting that runs on Google Cloud Platform and that contributed a lot to the fast website loading speed.

    Kinsta is not only fast. Kinsta is blazing fast.

    I have tested many web hosting including VPS, but nothing really come close to what Kinsta can offer. Take a look at the speed tests I done below.

    Insert Image

    On contrary, most shared web hosting could probably load around 1.3 seconds even on the most optimized servers. This is what I mean.

    Kinsta WordPress Hosting Review

    My experience had taught me something deep about website hosting. Shared hosting is really cheap but in terms of website loading speed, it is not even close to managed WordPress hosting service.

    >> Click here to read on the top 10 fastest WordPress hosting in 2019 <<

    Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: Datacenters

    Multiple Datacenter Locations For Faster Website Loading Speed

    It is no accident that WordPress websites hosted on Kinsta loads a fraction of the speed. The answer lies within the Google Cloud Platform. To be exact, it is the huge list of datacenters (15 of them) which you can choose from.

    Here are the datacenters that you can choose from using Kinsta.

    Kinsta Data Centres

    I’ve used many managed WordPress hosting and while they too offer datacenter choices, I have not seen one that offers that many datacenters as Kinsta does.

    Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: Website Management Using MyKinsta

    MyKinsta is Kinsta’s customized website management system. You can also consider MyKinsta as the control center for your sites. From tracking bandwidth, visitor stats to creating SSL certificates, all the tools you need are in one convenient location.

    This is how it looks like on the backend:

    MyKinsta Custom Domain Management

    MyKinsta dashboard lets you track important data for each of your sites separately; such as visitors, bandwidth usage, response times, and more.

    MyKinsta was built from the get-go as a companion to our services. It allows you to manage your sites with the ease and precision you would expect from Kinsta.

    As you can see below, there are many dev tools you can access on Kinsta’s backend system, including creating Let’s Encrypt SSL, clearing the cache and even enabling/disabling Kinsta CDN services.

    Kinsta CDN Services

    In short, MyKinsta is built from ground up to make sure you have an excellent time managing your websites.

    >> More information about Kinsta managed WordPress hosting. <<

    Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: How Secure Is Kinsta?

    How Secure Is Kinsta

    Kinsta managed WordPress hosting is close to bulletproof. When you add your website to Kinsta hosting, you are in safe hands and Kinda’s security feature is close to Fort Knox.

    Kinsta security guarantee includes:

    • An inspection of the site and deep scan of the sites files to identify malware.
    • Repair of the WordPress core by installing a clean copy of the core files.
    • Identification and removal of infected plugins and themes.

    While Kinsta provides over the top security features and malware scanning, it is important for website owners like you to understand how WordPress websites are hacked.

    Basically, there are two common methods which will make your site prone to hacking cases:

    • Exploits targeting WordPress: using outdated or poorly coded plugins and themes or using outdated versions of the WordPress core.
    • Compromised credentials: an attacker captures your WordPress admin, MyKinsta, database, SSH, or SFTP credentials.

    Therefore, securing WordPress websites are job for both you and and the web host (in this case, Kinsta) to make the perfect team.

    If you want to know how secure it is using Kinsta hosting, I would say it is pretty damn good – assuming that you taking simple steps to secure your WordPress (such as using strong password and updating the themes/plugins regularly).

    Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: How Good Is The Support Level?

    Kinsta Live Chat Support

    Do you know the feeling when you need help (like super urgent) and you can’t seem to find one?

    At Kinsta hosting, this will never happen to you, EVER. Kinsta support team is available around the clock and the fastest way to reach them is through the live chat option (available by default when you login to MyKinsta).

    Kinsta WordPress Hosting Support

    The best part about using Kinsta live chat and support system is the automatic email notification.

    How does the live chat system works?

    Click on “New conversation” and the chat will start instantly. If you close the browser or leave abruptly in the middle of the support, you will be notified immediately via email when there is a response from the support team.

    With the support team working around the clock 365 days a year, I would say this is probably the best WordPress support you can get!

    via GIPHY

    Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: How Much Does Kinsta Costs?

    The smallest plan starts at $30 per month and you can easily scale it up to higher plans based on your website needs.

    Here’s the full list of Kinda managed WordPress hosting pricing:

    How Much Does Kinsta Costs Per Month

    If you are looking for Kinsta coupon or discount, you can use this link to sign up and get 2 months free hosting (when you pay annually).

    Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: Inbuilt Cache, Kinsta CDN, Site Cloning and Staging Area

    Kinsta Managed Hosting

    Most of us use managed WordPress hosting because we don’t want to get our hands dirty with web hosting matters. If that’s the case for you, you are going to love Kinda’s inbuilt cache, Kinda CDN, site cloning and staging area.

    When you use Kinsta hosting, you don’t have to setup cache plugins such as W3 Total Cache. The server and inbuilt cache are optimized for your website to load at blazing speed and you can focus on your business more!

    If you are a website developer, you are going to love the Kinsta staging environment feature. Take a look at the image below.

    Kinsta Staging Environment

    In just a few clicks, your staging environment will be ready and you can test out new themes, layouts or codes without worrying of breaking your site.

    Lastly, if you are a big fan of website loading speed like I do, you are 100% going to appreciate the Kinsta CDN feature. Kinsta CDN is available on all hosting plans and you can easily activate it from the settings.

    The usage of Kinsta CDN will ensure that static files will be served to your website visitors faster and through the datacenters closest to them. As a result, your website will load faster for them.

    Summary: Is Kinsta WordPress Hosting Worth It?

    Kinsta hosting review conclusion – should you choose Kinsta?

    This is the most important question to answer before I wrap up Kinsta managed WordPress hosting review. Based on my personal experience using Kinsta (as well as the features offered), Kinsta hosting is definitely worth it. As a matter of fact, I even host all my sites with Kinsta hosting.

    Kinsta managed WordPress hosting is packed full with features and tons of geeky tools to make other web hosting companies look bad. It’s cloud platform allows WordPress sites to load super fast and comes with bulletproof security as well.

    With its data centers located around the world, you can easily choose the ones that are closest to you (for even faster loading speed).

    Overall, Kinsta WordPress hosting is not only affordable but extremely powerful and suits small and large websites.

    >> More information about Kinsta managed WordPress hosting. <<