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  • What Is Conversational Forms by WPForms?

    What Is Conversational Forms by WPForms?

    If you are concern on the form completion rate, you came to the right place.

    This article is all about Conversational Forms which is one of the popular WPForms addons.

    What is the Conversational Forms addon?

    Here’s what they are saying about the Conversational Forms addon.

    “Conversational Forms addon by WPForms helps make your web forms feel more human, so you can improve your conversions. Interactive web forms made easy.”

    – WPForms –

    Of course, this leads to one major question for all of us (including you).

    How does Conversational Forms works?

    Glad you asked!

    Carry on reading below to learn more.

    Meantime …

    Want to see WPForms in real-time?

    WPForms is known as the most advanced and absolutely beginner friendly for website owners, developers and bloggers. Don’t just hear my thought about — try WPForms right now!

    What makes Conversational Forms by WPForms unique?

    Conversational Forms Features by WPForms

    For me, the most important feature is the ease of using it. WordPress can be very complicated especially for beginners, and using WordPress plugins such as this one shouldn’t add more challenge to the matter.

    When it comes to ease of usage, there is no doubt in my mind that Conversational Forms rocks.

    Quick and easy setup i definitely for the win in this case.

    Reduce cart abandonment with Conversational Forms

    It is tough to drive traffic to your website … and it felt even worst when you are unable to convert these website visitors into paying customers.

    “Do you know that Conversational Forms is the first true interactive form layout built exclusively for WordPress that is guaranteed to boost form completion and your overall form conversions?”

    Question of the day

    Regardless whatever your plans or goals are in creating forms on WordPress, Conversational Forms should be in your arsenal.

    Here’s how an interactive survey can be done thanks to Conversational Forms by WPForms.

    Creating Interaction Forms and Surveys in WordPress

    How can Conversational Forms helps you to boost completion rate?

    The concept is rather straight forward … to be honest.

    Instead of asking all twenty questions at once, Conversational Forms takes the one question at a time approach similar to a face-to-face conversation. The full-page conversational form layout makes your form less overwhelming and more personal, leading to a better form completion rate.

    In other words, you can remove the anxiety and lack of time mindset which will lead to higher completion rate.

    How easy it is to setup Conversational Forms?

    Relatively easy. This is one familiar backend which you will see after installing WPForms.

    Conversational Forms Setup On WordPress

    Here, you can easily perform adjustment and amendments to the forms in just a few clicks.

    You can easily add custom header logo, color schemes and even enable/disable the Conversational Form mode.

    Want More?

    The best part about conversational form landing pages is that your users can complete the entire form using just their keyboard similar to as if they were having a chat conversation on Messenger.

    Conversational forms can also be used on:

    1.

    Survey Forms. Instead of overwhelming people with a lot of survey questions, use the Conversational Forms’ one-question at a time approach to improve your survey completion rate.

    2.

    Job Application Forms. 60% of job seekers abandon the job application forms because they’re too long or complicated. With conversational forms, you can make your job application forms easy (source).

    3.

    Event Planning Forms. As an event planner, you know how many questions you have to ask clients to plan the perfect event. The step by step, one question at a time approach helps you get the data you need without tiring your clients.

    What are you waiting for?

    Gte started using Conversational Forms by WPForms right now (click on this link to get started). You can also take a look at the full features here.

  • Safe Payments: What Do You Need To Know

    Safe Payments: What Do You Need To Know

    We understand that Internet payment processing can be difficult to grasp, especially for start-up businesses. Keeping that in mind, we have put together a guide below to help give you a better understanding.

    So, continue reading to find out everything you need to know…

    There is only one place to begin when it comes to secure payment processing and this is by establishing why you should bother with online payments in the first place.

    What Is Online Payment

    To be frank, consumers expect online payments nowadays, and this is a trend that is only going to grow and grow. If you do not present this option you are going to fall behind your competition by a substantial amount. 

    In addition to this, by offering an online payment option you will have the ability to appeal to a greater number of potential customers, consequently enhancing your profit levels.

    You are essentially making your products more reachable to different consumers. You can speed up the process as well, as manual payments can take a long time to clear, whereas online payments are processed at a rapid pace.  

    For individuals and businesses that are new to the world of online payment processing, it can often be a bit confusing and one of the reasons why this is the case is because of the terminology used.

    Let’s clear this up with some of the basics.

    You will have probably heard of the term ‘online merchant account’. You need a merchant account if you are to accept payments online. This account is where the customer’s funds will go once they have made a purchase. It is basically a special type of bank account that allows you to receive money from debit and credit card transactions.

    Other common terms include ‘payment gateway’ and ‘payment processor’. Let’s begin with the former. This is a service that directs an online payment request from your site to the payment processor.

    The payment processor then validates the debit or credit card details of the purchaser. It makes sure they can cover the payment by checking that they have enough funds in their account. They will then authorise the payment if sufficient funds are available.

    Payment Gateway

    Now, instead of seeking a payment gateway from one company, an online merchant account from another and a payment processor from another business, what is advisable is to seek a payment process provider. 

    This is a company that provides a bespoke solution to cover the entire payment process, ranging from acquiring your merchant account to offering an identity verification service to providing secure payment gateways. This makes life much easier for you!

    Now you know a little bit more about the dynamics of payment processing and what is legally required of you if you wish to take online payments. So, let’s take a look at some of the services you will want to benefit from in order to really maximise your ecommerce presence.

    Let’s start with payment methods.

    Payment Methods

    When it comes to online payment processing you will want to present your consumers with various payment options. This includes all of the major credit and debit cards, as well as alternative payment solutions, with PayPal being a prime example.

    Taking advantage of multi-currency payment solutions is also advised for growing businesses and established firms. Perhaps you want to take advantage of recurring payments as well, such as subscriptions. Diverse payment options ensure customers are not isolated.

    After all, not everyone has a Visa card!

    Aside from maximising the benefits of your online merchant account with various payment methods, one important factor that cannot be ignored is security. Secure payment is of paramount importance. The process needs to be fully PCI DSS compliant.

    This is pivotal.

    What does it mean for you? In essence, it assures you that they meet the twelve security requirements that are put in place by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.

    Overall this assures you that they generate and maintain a secure network, that they take steps to protect data of all cardholders, that a vulnerability management program is built and maintain, that strong access control measures are implemented, that they maintain a security policy and that they monitor and test their systems and process on a frequent basis.

    Another area of Internet payment processing worth thinking about is mobile optimisation. In fact, this is where a lot of companies are missing out at present, as they are overlooking the importance of having an effective mobile commerce solution.  

    Now is the time to adapt your ecommerce offering to make sure it suits the growth of mobile Internet. Mobile Internet is only set to get more and more popular and thus if you want to maximise revenue m-commerce is a must.

    Maximum transaction fulfilment is only going to be achieved if your online shopping options and payment options are geared to use on both desktop screens and mobile screens.

    Don’t make the mistake of thinking simply shrinking the screen is going to be enough.

    What about back office services? It is extremely advantageous to benefit from a service that takes your transactions from the start to finish.

    Don’t overlook the importance of gathering statistics, preparing accounts, bookkeeping and such like. In order to maintain precise reporting figures, you need a stream of internalised workflows.

    How can you expect to move forward and expand if you do not have effective accounts and reconciliation systems in place?

    From quarantining dubious transactions, to running summary reports, to searching transactions… you need to be provided with the ability to do all of this! Intelligence on your customers allows you to target them better and it ensures you are constantly improving and generating the maximum returns from your ecommerce presence.

    After all, you cannot remain stagnant when it comes to the online world, or you will only be left behind.

    Hopefully you now have a better understanding of how payment processing works, the fundamentals of what you need and the services you should consider making the most of if you truly want to excel.

  • 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.

  • How Can You Use Facebook to Market Your Business?

    How Can You Use Facebook to Market Your Business?

    Gone are the days that you had to channel a lot of cash to marketing campaigns. The most unfortunate part is that the return on investment was usually not worth the while. New forms of marketing, more so, digital marketing have saved the day. Businesses are not stuck to the ancient marketing techniques that were not only financially draining, but also did not have good tidings.

    Business owners are encouraged to have a presence on at least one social media platform. Facebook being one that hosts most people, provides you the perfect opportunity to market your brand. Here are tips on how you can use it to promote your business.

    1. Have a business page

    Most people get lazy and rule out the idea of creating a page specifically for their business. Your personal page will not cut it. 

    A business page has features designed to make your marketing easy. Also, you will have a section where you can share your detailed business information. That is your location, contacts, website, and other relevant information.

    Read of the day: Do you know what is the differences between ads manager and business manager?

    2. Promote your page

    How To Promote A Facebook Page

    Creating a Facebook business page is not enough. You need to start working. You will be working so hard to create content.

    However, you need to note that it will only pay off if people get to see it, and that will not happen until you start promoting your Facebook page.

    There are so many ways through which you can approach this. You can invite people to like or follow your page. You can also use Facebook advertising through Facebook Pages.

    Also, it will not hurt if you used traditional forms of marketing like business cards to create awareness of your page. Include your Facebook page in your business card alongside your website and email address.

    3. Post regularly

    Post Facebook Content Regularly

     The agenda of marketing your business is making it the first thing that crosses the minds of the customers when they come across a product similar to the one that you offer. The trick is to stick in the minds of your audience.

    Posting regularly will do the trick. Do it as frequently as you can. At least once in a day. The moment you stop posting, the customers will forget that you exist. 

    You should, nevertheless, not compromise quality for frequency. Ensure that your posts meet the needs of your audience. In so doing, it won’t be long before they start identifying with your brand.

    4. Work with influencers

    How To Work With Influencers On Facebook

    Influencers are yet another powerful tool that you can use on Facebook to market your business. All you need to do is find an influencer in your niche and create a relationship with them.

    This will help you reach bigger audiences and grow your customer base from the influencer’s loyal following.

    5. Engage your audience

    Engage With Your Audience On Facebook

    For successful marketing on any social media platform, you need to humanize your brand. There is no better way to go about it than through engaging your audience. Engaging and interacting with your audience will make understand that your focus is not only on making profits but ensuring that their needs are being met too. 

    Engaging your audience will give you the opportunity to understand the challenges that your customers are facing. Also, you will find suggestions that will help you better your brand. Do not ignore private messages. Set aside some time to respond to them.

    6. Track your performance 

    Track Facebook Page Performance

    There are tools that have been designed to help you monitor the progress of your social media marketing campaigns. A good example is rank tracker tools, which can help you establish how your content ranks against the competition. Is it essential? Well, it is the only way to know if your efforts are paying off or you need to go back to the drawing board.

    If done right, marketing your business on Facebook can be rewarding. Employ the tips listed above, and you will have a lot to smile about.

  • Huge Website No-No’s To Avoid Your First Time Online

    Huge Website No-No’s To Avoid Your First Time Online

    Huge Website No-No’s To Avoid Your First Time Online

    When deciding to put your business online, you have certain desires. You likely want to make a positive impact. You want to be proud of the product you’re putting out there. You likely wish to feel comfortable and worthwhile in your approach. But you also want to generate interest. You want to be vindicated. You want to feel as though this has been worth it.

    Of course, feeling all of those satisfying feelings will take work, energy, and an effort on your part to succeed. The first step is to believe you can. Then, it’s time to start taking practical steps. One of the best measures of getting ahead and being accepted by an audience is to offer an output that positively needs to be seen.

    This means considering the hub of your business – your website. However, while website design has become much easier to tailor in recent years, it can also be you fail to achieve certain necessary measures in the long-term. To us, that can sometimes be a problem. With the following advice in this article, we hope that you avoid all of the troublesome no-no’s you should be avoiding as a business.

    Misdirected Links

    When we come to a 404 on a website, we know that there’s been an error. Either a link we were given is now outdated, or perhaps the navigation of a website is flawed.

    One word comes to the mind of any user who experiences this – incompetence. You might have noticed some websites seem to offer cuter and more humorous 404 messages to help you feel positive about the whole thing.

    Perhaps you’ll see a sad robot with a speech bubble apologizing for sending you to the wrong place. But no matter how this interaction is masked, or whatever artifice you use to cover this approach, misdirected links wastes the time of your guest, and also negates an opportunity to give them functional access to your website intent.

    For that reason, regularly inspect your backlinks. Keep on top of your referrals. Ensure that 404 reports are logged, so you can look into their origin. And by the heavens, ensure that all pages are functional. If you can do this, you can avoid the plague of misdirected links.

    Bad Advertisements

    Bad Advertisements

    Advertisements on your website page are one thing. It’s something to promote a product on another page, or to personalize results, but to make them intrusive? This can be odious to a visitor. On top of this, ensure that your outreach is taen care of.

    Bad adwords support for example might not only attract visitors to pages that longer longer exist (as we’ve already explored,) but it might attract the wrong type of visitor. For this reason, learning the best automation of Adwords PPC could be your best approach here, and give you something much more engagement for your efforts.

    After all, functional advertising isn’t the be-all and end-all. Optimized advertising is.

    User Account Utility

    Website Security

    If offering your users the ability to make accounts – good heavens, please, make it functional. It’s important to offer your users the chance to change their password and contact details, to save their payment information, to even add 2-factor authentication. 

    They should be able to view their recent orders or bookings, skip support security measures thanks to logging into the account, and also count on website security whenever logging in.

    On top of that, they must also be able to access all data you hold on them should they request it. And, most importantly, they should be able to delete the user account at a whim, perhaps behind a secondary settings menu, but it should be there none-the-less.

    Too many firms fall into the trap of hiding user account cancellation behind a phone call  or other support request.

    Not only does this come across as a deceptive manner of trying to reel customers in, but it can cause hassle for your support staff.

    Security Woes

    Always Audit Your Website Security

    Your website needs to be secure. No ifs, and’s or buts. You need to have a valid, up to date security certificate.

    You must detect dodgy account behavior. Your staff must log into their administrative modules through secure VPN accounts, and using a hosting service that can protect against DDOS attacks or other forms of intrusion can be worthwhile.

    Host your user data on a secure server, and employ important account management procedures such as forcing users to register a password with a capital letter, a symbol and a number.

    With these tips, you’re certain to avoid huge website no-no’s as a first-time business.

  • 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?