Tag: Website

How to Increase Your Website Traffic Without SEO

SEO can be a brilliant strategy to increase your website traffic but it isn’t always enough. 

Imagine you rely on SEO for all your traffic. What happens when the Google algorithm changes? You risk losing potential customers! 

That’s why diversifying your methods of increasing web traffic can offer better results. If you have multiple traffic sources, changing algorithms won’t completely halt your business. You will have a toolkit full of optimization strategies to keep your business running. Diversifying your web traffic can also be helpful in cases where there’s little scope for search engine optimization (for example, podcasts). 

In this post, we’re going to look at effective strategies to grow your website traffic without SEO so you’re never left stranded by algorithm changes again. We’ll also look at practical tips you can start using right now, so you can get back in the game if your traffic has been low for a while. 

Why Should You Try to Grow Traffic Without SEO?

You can generate substantial traffic from SEO alone, but not all traffic is equal.  High-quality traffic (that includes users more likely to convert) offers better ROI, so you need to prioritize it. 

Plus, if you aren’t an SEO expert, you may want to focus on other strategies to grow your website traffic efficiently. 

This doesn’t mean you completely ignore SEO. All websites, irrespective of their niche, must follow the best SEO practices to avoid being penalized by Google and to ensure the site gets indexed. 

The strategies we’ll discuss below can be a helpful addition to a pre-existing SEO plan. 

Top Strategies to Increase Website Traffic Without SEO 

1. Content Marketing

If you have been reading about digital marketing for a while, you must have heard the term “content marketing.” In simple words, it’s a way to organically advertise your brand through high-quality content.

Content marketing strategies often include blog posts, podcast episodes, infographics, YouTube videos, downloadable PDFs, etc. 

For instance, Toggl, a time tracking software company frequently uploads informative blog posts and research data about productivity, work-life, and career. 

Informative blog post about productivity to increase web traffic.

This attracts users interested in time management, productivity, and wellbeing in the workplace. When they read Toggl’s blog, they eventually discover Toggl’s time tracking app, among its other productivity tools. Some of these users convert, helping Toggl increase their website traffic and ROI. 

Content marketing isn’t limited to blog posts. If you connect better through audio, you can try launching a podcast or host a webinar. 

Nowadays, most social media apps let you post a variety of content formats including photos, audio clips, long-form text, and videos. You can experiment with one or more of these formats to see what works best for your audience. 

2. Paid Ads

Content marketing is beneficial but it can take a lot of money, especially if you’re paying established writers to create original, well-researched posts for you. 

Most of these projects also take weeks or months to show results, which isn’t a practical timeline for many businesses. 

If you want quicker results with a budget you can control, why not try paid ads?

Seven in ten Americans use social media today. That’s more than two-thirds of the population. Think about the possibilities! 

Paid ads can instantly generate hundreds, if not thousands, of clicks to your website. Plus, with new advertising and social media platforms appearing and innovating regularly, getting your ads in front of the right people is becoming easier than ever.

For example, Facebook offers detailed customer personas and multiple targeting options so you can put your business in front of your target customers without wasting a lot of money on mass advertising. 

Facebook paid ads can help you increase website traffic

However, you don’t have to stick to the largest platforms for effective advertising. In fact, advertising on lesser-known platforms whose audience aligns with your products can be more effective in the long run. 

For example, if your ideal customer includes teens who enjoy memes and weird stories, you’d have much better results by advertising on Reddit, rather than Facebook or YouTube. 

Another option is dating apps. If your brand is focused on relationships or if you’re targeting young singles, advertising on dating apps like Tinder can help you find your target customers faster. 

If you’re worried paid ads will take a lot of money, remember, you don’t need to spend $1,000 on your first day. 

Test the waters with $5-$10 a day and see what happens. Do that for a week, just to learn how different media platforms work.

3. Social Media Strategies

One of the best ways to increase your website traffic is to meet your customers where they like to hang out. Like we discussed earlier, almost everyone is using social media today. Ramping up your social media marketing efforts can help you reach new users, develop brand awareness and increase website traffic. 

How to gain website traffic through social media?

When it comes to social media, you can’t just barge into “conversations” and ask people to buy something from you or to visit your website. 

Think about how you’d present your brand in real life when you meet an individual for the first time. Would you immediately talk sales in their face? How about providing details about your product/service without introducing yourself first?

Remember, users visit their preferred social media platforms for entertainment, not for being sold to. 

To make sure your efforts are well-received, you need to provide value first and develop positive relationships with your potential “followers.”

You can do this by sharing informative posts like How-Tos, or posting fun photos of your employees, like this post from Casper.

casper image how to increase traffic without SEO example

I wrote a detailed guide to increasing social media followers and boosting engagement. Here’s a summary of the top options to help you grow your website traffic. 

  • join relevant Facebook groups
  • share helpful articles/videos in these groups
  • post updates about your company’s latest products 
  • host contests and giveaways 
  • Leave thoughtful comments on user-generated content 

4. Link Building Strategies

When marketing teams talk about SEO, link building frequently comes to mind. When reputable websites link to your content, the algorithm favors your website and increases its rank on the search page.

Sounds helpful, but that’s not all. 

Did you know link building can help you increase web traffic without relying on SEO?

Link building for brand awareness is a process where you focus your strategies on expanding your reach, putting your content in front of new users, and generating conversations around your brand. 

This is more than just a casual backlink in a blog post. Link building for brand awareness takes more planning and resources, but the investment is worth the high-quality leads you’ll get. 

Here are some tips for developing effective link building strategies to increase website traffic:

  • Engage with your audience: Create interesting, shareable posts and encourage your followers to respond and share your content. 
  • Work with PRs: Recruit efficient PRs to help generate brand awareness and distribute your story to your desired audience. 
  • Guest blog intentionally: Choose unique publications that align with your readers’ key interests and post guest blogs on their page. 

5. Interact With Other Blogs

Guest blogging is an effective traffic-driving strategy aimed at leveraging somebody else’s audience to widen your brand’s reach. 

Think about it: Somebody in your niche has a large, engaged following. Imagine if you could put your content in front of them. How much traffic could you drive to your website! 

Why would someone publish your work?

Probably because you’re good at what you do. 

Everyone is looking for high-quality content. If you can provide a well-researched, helpful post for free, people are often open to publishing it on their website. After all, it’s benefiting their audience at zero cost. 

Why would you give precious content away for free?

It’ll help you gain access to hundreds, if not thousands of new users, many of whom could become long-term customers. 

It’s a win-win situation, but you have to be careful how you approach it. 

Start by searching for blogs and media publications that publish content relevant to your business. For example, if you run a recruiting company, publish content on business blogs read by people interested in the latest recruiting practices. 

If you want to find blogs in your industry that are accepting guest posts, use the following search queries to see more specific results:

  • name of your niche + “write for us”
  • name of your niche + “submit guest post”
  • name of your niche + “sites that accept guest posts”
  • write guest article + ‘name of your niche” + blog

Solvid provides a comprehensive list of places accepting guest blogs:

Publications that allow guest blogging to increase website traffic

In addition, research online biographies of specific companies and bloggers. More often than not, their web profiles contain a handy list of sites where they’ve been invited to guest post. That’s a plethora of most fitting guest blog opportunities presented to you on a silver platter.

Then, send a request. Most websites will have publication guidelines you can follow. Follow these instructions carefully to increase your chances of publication. 

There’s also the option of using blog comments as a way to generate traffic to your site.

In the past, I have managed to generate $25,000 as a result of 249 comments.

How exactly do you go about using comments to generate traffic?

When leaving a comment, make sure you are adding something worthwhile to the discussion.

There is no use in leaving comments like “Awesome post!” or “Nice website!”

If someone posts a question, make sure you take the time to answer thoughtfully.

This showcases your expertise in the given niche and will encourage someone reading to click on your name and be taken through to your site.

If you read an article on a subject you don’t know very well, it would be imprudent to voice your own thoughts as fact. In this situation, you should simply ask questions. Then the website owner would be able to elaborate more on complex topics or complicated sections.

If you’re knowledgeable about a subject, feel free to contribute (e.g., suggest something, recommend a solution, answer a question). If you’re a novice, it’s best to ask questions. Powerful questions can bring you website traffic by encouraging blog readers to check you out.

Avoid embedding links in your comments. It comes off as a wretched attempt to plant your flag on someone’s lawn.

It’s okay to use your website’s link in the URL field when entering your name and email address, but your comment needs to add to the conversation or challenge an idea without lazy attempts at driving traffic to your blog.

Refrain from using the name of your business as your “commenting name.”  Use your actual full name instead.

Using a random or fake name is a missed opportunity to build strong branding because your brand actually starts with your name. In fact, failing to use your full name will reduce your chances of the website owner approving your comment.

6. Email Marketing

If you read a few posts on digital marketing, email marketing would be mentioned in most of them. That’s because it’s still one of the most efficient ways to increase website traffic. 

One study suggests email generates $36 for every $1 spent, offering a shocking 3,600 percent ROI. What more could you ask for?

Email marketing lets you reach potential customers directly. It’s an ideal platform for building long-term relationships for improved customer loyalty. You can post questions, ask for feedback, introduce soft sales, and persuade customers for the “big buy.” 

Here are some tips for effective email marketing to increase website traffic:

  • Be real: Share stories, post behind-the-scenes content, and solicit original user-generated content. 
  • Offer value: Just like content marketing needs a high value to convert readers, emails and newsletters must provide value before they make an ask. 
  • Include all your links:  Make it easy to read and share your post.  Include links to your social media profiles, latest blog posts, and sales page in every email you send. 

7. Provide Excellent Customer Service and Ask Customers to Review Your Brand

Ramping up your social media marketing efforts to increase website traffic is useless if you offer poor customer service. 

According to a survey, 42 percent of customers said they bought more after pleasant customer service experiences.

Think about it: Users complain on social media, you offer a prompt and polite response. What happens? The person starts respecting your brand. 

Even when users complain privately via email, it’s important to offer the best possible service so they come back for more. 

How can you offer great customer service?

  • reply promptly
  • offer as many suggestions for customer problems as possible 
  • apologize when you make a mistake and offer coupons/refunds 

If you consistently provide great customer service, you can request users to review your brand. 

Platforms like Trustpilot and Yelp can be great for building positive reviews. Many users consult these websites before making a purchase decision, so having a solid profile can help improve your reputation. 

Increase Website Traffic Without SEO Frequently Asked Questions

Is it possible to increase website traffic without SEO?

Yes. You can use a combination of social media marketing strategies and content marketing techniques to increase website traffic without SEO. 

Are there ways to increase website traffic for free?

Guest blogging, posting on social media, and requesting user-generated content are some of the most effective ways to increase website traffic for free. 

Can I increase website traffic through marketing without an agency?

You can use techniques like guest blogging and content marketing to engage audiences without relying on any agency.

What's the best strategy to increase website traffic quickly?

Working on improving your social media strategies can help you connect with new users, develop brand awareness and drive organic traffic relatively fast. 

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Increase Website Traffic Without SEO Conclusion

You shouldn’t only rely on search engines to increase website traffic. Algorithm changes and SEO techniques become outdated quickly. 

The strategies we discussed today can help you create a comprehensive digital marketing plan to increase website traffic effectively. 

Whether you use one of these tactics in isolation, or you use all of them together, they can transform the way you attract customers.

Which traffic-driving strategy will you try today?

7 Tips to Highlight Product Features on Your Website

Whether your customers are shopping for tennis shoes or a marketing automation tool, they care about your product’s features. Features (along with price and design) are one of the main factors people consider when comparing products. 

Would you buy a computer without knowing how much storage it has? Or a pair of yoga pants without knowing whether they stretch? 

Despite their importance, many brands fail to make their product’s features clear on their websites—and that could cause revenue to drop. 

Your product’s features are massive selling points, so they need to be clear and compelling. Here’s how to get your product features right. 

What Is a Product Feature?

A product feature is a characteristic of your product that differentiates it from other products in the market. It could be how it looks (a design feature), how you can use it (a functional feature) or what it comes with (an added-value feature).

Let’s take running shoes as an example. The material of the shoe is a feature, so is the technology in the shoe. Both are highlighted in this example by Nike. 

Nike product features

What about a software product? 

Features typically center on the product’s functionality (what you can do with it), but they can also include integrations or data security. Slack’s feature page below highlights these types of features: 

Slack product features

Features don’t have to be unique to your product, though. As design, technology, and manufacturing processes evolve, some features become standard. You’d be hard-pressed to buy a smartphone without a touchscreen, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a feature brands can talk about.

Whether your product comes with ten features or two, you need to be talking about them across your website including your product descriptions, landing page, and even your homepage. 

Make your product features clear so customers can easily compare you to your competitors. It’s even more important if your product boasts the best features in the industry. The more you shout about them, the more likely consumers are to take notice—and maybe make a purchase. 

7 Strategies for Highlighting Product Features

You know what features are, and you know why they’re important to include on your site. Now let’s look at seven ways e-commerce stores and SaaS tools can effectively leverage them. 

Include Social Proof

Talking about how great your features are is nice, but every other company does the same thing. Even if your product features are superior, customers may not believe you. After all, only one-third of customers trust the brands they buy from. 

You need social proof to convince them your product delivers. Add quotes and testimonials from your customers or trusted third parties that mention your product features to relevant pages. Better yet, include images and videos of them using your product.

Featuring real people showing off your product’s features instantly makes them more credible and makes it much more likely consumers will trust your brand.

UK maternity brand Isabella Oliver does a great job of this, including a quote from Vogue in the product description of a maternity tank dress.

Strategies for Highlighting Product Features - Include Social Proof

Speak to Your Target Audience

You need to understand your target audience to write about your product features effectively. If you have buyer personas, make sure to refer to them while writing. This will help you prioritize which features your customers care about most.

Start by looking at reviews for your product and those of your competitors—G2 is a great place to start for software companies and Amazon for e-commerce brands. Identify the top features customers talk about and prioritize them.  

Be wary of trying to target everyone. This is particularly important for SaaS products that can have a dozen different use cases. Each target customer should have a dedicated landing page where you speak exclusively about relevant product features. If you try to speak to everyone on one landing page, you’ll end up not targeting any audience well. 

Everlane is an example of a brand who knows their target audience and what they care about. Each product description includes a link to the factory it’s made in and other information related to sustainability.

Strategies for Highlighting Product Features - Speak to Your Target Audience

Focus on the Benefits

Consumers only care so much about what makes your product special. What they really care about is how it benefits them.

Talk about a benefit whenever you mention a feature.

Writing about benefits requires a bit more effort and creativity. Your product’s features are fairly obvious, especially to you. What isn’t so obvious is how the user benefits from them. Think about your customer personas and spend some time reading product reviews. These will help you get into your customers’ minds and focus on the benefits they care about. 

If you really want to do a good job, interview your customers to find out exactly how they benefit from your product. It takes a little more effort, but this is hands-down the best way to tease out the benefits of your product.

One of Hootsuite’s most popular features is the ability to track social media mentions on their dashboard–but that’s not how the brand sells the feature to its users. Instead, they focus on the benefit: finding out what customers really think. They even follow this up with another user-generated benefit of the feature.

Strategies for Highlighting Product Features - Focus on the Benefits

Draw Attention to the Important Details

There are some features you’ll want customers to take note of more than others. That’s why it’s important to create a hierarchy of features and look for ways to draw attention to the features consumers care most about. 

To do this, break your page into sections and devote each section to a specific feature. Use a bold heading to grab your reader’s attention and back this up with short, sharp copy and eye-catching imagery. 

Google takes this to the extreme by letting each feature take up all of the screen’s real estate. There’s no way to miss them: 

Strategies for Highlighting Product Features - Draw Attention to the Important Details

Another is to remove the navigation menu from your landing page. With no way to move away from the page, users are forced to focus on your sales copy and read about your product’s features. Don’t get carried away using this tactic, however. Most customers won’t be happy with you removing the navigation bar, especially if you’re an e-commerce site. 

Make Information Scannable

Your customers are busy, and most aren’t going to read every word on your page. Instead, they’re going to scan it for key bits of information. It’s your job to make your product features as scannable as possible while still getting across the core message. 

Bullet points are an excellent tool because huge chunks of text are a massive turn-off for readers—especially if you want to share a lot of information. 

Target includes a bullet list of each product’s features on their listing page, so you don’t even have to click them individually to get the need-to-know information.

Strategies for Highlighting Product Features - Make Information Scannable

Use Video and Images

Words aren’t the only way to get across your product features. Images and videos are usually a much better way to get across exactly what your product can do. 

Images are an easy way to show customers how key features look and work. They are particularly powerful for design-focused features and most e-commerce products in general. Bonus points if you include user-generated photos in your descriptions.

UK furniture brand Made did a great job of including user-generated images in their product listings. Potential customers can see exactly what each sofa will look like in a range of settings. 

Strategies for Highlighting Product Features - Use Video and Images

Videos take a little more work, but they can be even more effective. For example, you could create an explainer video that highlights your product’s core features, or a separate video for each feature.  

Your feature-led videos can also be used as part of your onboarding process and by your sales team during client calls. They can even boost your search rankings, especially if you host them on YouTube. 

Write Blog Posts and Emails

If you have a SaaS product, blog posts, emails, and other forms of content marketing are one of the best ways to highlight your product features—particularly if those features come in the form of new software releases.

Make sure your blog posts talk about the benefits that users can gain from the new features and don’t just talk about the features alone. Plenty of screenshots are also a good idea, so is a video if you can create one.

Unlike other forms of content marketing, there’s no need to post these articles regularly. Writing them when you have a new feature to describe is enough.

Email updates should also be sent sparingly. Only email when you have a new feature to announce and keep your email succinct. Only include the key details in the email and link to a more in-depth blog post if necessary.

Existing users will learn about the new features when using the software, so it may be wise to only send an email about features that may re-engage lost customers.

Asana’s blog is filled with feature-focused blog posts. Note that many don’t focus on individual features. Rather they cluster feature releases around a particular topic and write about that instead.

Strategies for Highlighting Product Features - Write Blog Posts and Emails

3 Examples of Product Feature Highlights

If the examples above weren’t enough for you, I’ve got three more examples of brands that do a great job highlighting their product features.

Apple

Examples of Product Feature Highlights - Apple

Few companies are better than Apple at creating buzz about their products. There aren’t many better at highlighting their product’s benefits, either. 

Apple makes a point of creating a new banner for every feature, pairs each with a user benefit, and includes high-quality images and graphics. Even if you already have an iPhone, reading their product pages makes you want to upgrade.

Amazon

Examples of Product Feature Highlights - Amazon

Amazon is famous for its in-depth product listings, but those listings are also great at highlighting each product’s most important features. 

The clear layout makes it easy for customers to skim the product description, and bullet points highlight the most important features. There’s even a video showcasing the product in detail. 

Tesla

Examples of Product Feature Highlights - Tesla

Tesla combines several of the tactics mentioned above to highlight the key features of the Model 3. Each feature is given a hierarchy—security is first—and takes up the entire page. They also use graphics to illustrate points and annotations to draw attention to specific features.

Frequently Asked Questions About Product Features

What are product features?

Your product features are any characteristic of your product that makes it stand out and separates it from your competitors. It can include the look and design of the product, how it’s made, or what you can do with it.

What are examples of product features?

For an e-commerce product, the material the product is made with can be a feature—if it’s made from recycled plastic, for example. For SaaS products, features include the functionality of the product. The ability to instantly message colleagues is a feature of Slack, for instance.

What’s the difference between a product feature and a benefit?

A feature is a characteristic of your product. A benefit is how a customer can use that characteristic to overcome a pain point.

How can I highlight the features of my SaaS product?

A sales page is an excellent way to highlight all of the features of your SaaS products. Blog posts, videos, and demos are also great ways to highlight SaaS features.

How can I highlight the features of my e-commerce product?

Your product description is the best place to highlight the features of your e-commerce product. Make sure they are easy to read and stand out from the rest of your copy.

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The Conclusion of My Product Features Guide

Showcasing your product features is a hugely underrated tactic. Marketers and salespeople will tell you to focus on the benefits of your product rather than the features. While benefits are important, they rely on explaining your features clearly first. Features are also one of the most common ways potential customers compare your product with your competitors. 

Take time to determine which features are most important and get opinions from current customers if you can. Then use the seven tactics I’ve listed above to make them as clear as possible on your site.

Which features of your product are you most proud of?

5 Actionable Tips to Get Your Website Added to Google News

You can get thousands of clicks to your site from Google News.

And, you don’t even have to be a journalist.

Smart bloggers, news publishers, and digital content marketers are already tapping into this huge resource for targeted traffic and better search engine visibility.

Google News is reserved for sites and blogs that publish timely, topical articles. You don’t necessarily need to be a news site but if you are consistently posting newsworthy content it’s possible to get accepted. 

Danny Sullivan once said: If you aren’t a news site, Google News and its web crawlers won’t likely show you love. 

But that isn’t a guarantee.

What is News?

A major search engine like Google defines news as “newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent or important events.”

image07

If you’re at the forefront of your industry and reporting information that’d be of interest to your audience on a timely basis, then you’re a news publisher.

Google News is a content syndication platform that Google introduced to help organize the world’s news in many ways and to make it more accessible to its users, like a news XML.

Google News sends 6 billion clicks per month to publishers all over the world. Even if you get just 0.0001% of these clicks to your web site, that’s huge. Do the math.

image13

That said, it’s a challenge in many ways to get your website indexed as a news publisher by the Google News sitemap file crawler and your articles indexed and ranked in Google News.

Let’s look at some of the best practices for getting added to Google News XML sitemap and how you can get real-time traffic.

Adhere to the Principles of Good Journalism

If you look at recent additions to the Google News sitemap syndication platform, you’ll notice that Google, for the first time, is no longer 100% focused on news-related “current events”- type content. You can tell that just from looking at the meta tags.

It’s evolved over the years as a news sitemap, leveling the playing field for bloggers, content creators, and news publishing experts. This evolution may not be obvious from the search term headlines but the content reveals this expansion.

image17

However, the principles of good journalism haven’t been discarded by this major search engine. Google still cares about the style and substance of articles, especially as part of its XML. Good journalism is all about being honest and as objective as possible.

Why do you think the Google XML sitemap crawls, indexes, and publishes third party website content from CNN, BBC, Techcrunch, The Wall Street Journal and others in its search results?

One of the reasons is because these sites are true news publishers and adhere to strict standard journalism practices. They’re transparent and they adhere to the same professional standard. Just take a look at their search history and you can see they take their news seriously. 

image11

To be included in news XML’s your reporting must be original, honest, and well-structured with quality anchor texts, meta tags, and an authoritative voice.

Standard journalism is all about investigation and not just about search engine optimization. So, you should be able and ready to investigate a story and authenticate it, before reporting it.

For your story to strike a chord with editors, who will in turn syndicate it at Google News, PBS recommends that you present information from the most to the least important content points.

There’s an established application process to get your stories featured on the XML sitemap of Google News. But, before you apply, follow these guidelines:

1. Don’t copy from other sites. Write original news articles.

First and foremost, you need to make sure that your stories are original.

A major search engine like Google doesn’t want to syndicate the same piece of content verbatim and it’s search algorithm will pull you up. You’ve got to make your story original with accurate data points from credible sources. Wherever you got your information from, whether it’s trawling through search history, sitemap files, or exploring web pages – make sure your sources are trustworthy.

Take a look at the Google News homepage. All of the featured stories are original content with credible sources. And, no site is ranked more than once for its stories.

Google is a credible company, a major search engine that is trusted by millions all around the world. Imagine Google reporting a story that’s false, it would be a metasearch engine disaster!

What do you think would happen to its credibility?

And, speaking of credibility, Google is equally concerned with Author Rank.

There’s no better way to become a reputable author than to write for other news and magazine sites. If you’ve never written for trusted news web sites, such as Forbes, Inc. or Business Insider, you need to begin.

Google knows that reputable authors and columnists don’t copy news stories from other sources which is why they get included in their XML sitemaps.

Instead, they go all out to get an original story. Famous authors who publish original stories over a period of time are given credit so that they can build “rank” and improve their reputation, no matter what online publication they choose to write for.

image08

One way to get your story added to Google News quickly is to use a co-author who has a high Author Rank.

In Google’s view and when looking for inclusions on their news XML sitemap file, such an author brings a higher level of authority to your site and the resulting story is more likely to be original and credible.

To get started reporting news, you need original stories. The resource guide below will give you more guidance:

The Origin of Stories: How Journalists Find and Create News in an Age of Social Media, Competition and Churnalism

2. Write keyword-rich headlines that communicate the story topics.

Your headline makes a promise to the reader. If you get it right, your news story will likely be picked up by Google and other journalists who can amplify the content’s reach.

According to Poynter, you should “try to keep your headlines straightforward and unadorned. Use concise and familiar words, if possible.”

You may be tempted to use numbers in your news story headlines. After all, users love numbers. But, if you’re going to use a “listicle” headline type, it should provide specific insights and steer clear of “linkbait” territory. There is no way that linkbait and lousy anchor texts are going to get you placed on Googles news XML sitemap file.

I’ve noticed that authority sites that report stories daily rarely use the listicle format or “numbered” headlines.

They simply write an accurate, clear and compelling headline. Let’s take a cue from Search Engine Land.

Just like blog posts, your news story headline determines whether your story will be syndicated by Google or not.

Here are some tips to help you write newsworthy headlines that are sure to appear in the search results and remember the same approach can be taken with your meta tags:

i). Don’t repeat words: The purpose of getting your website or story added to Google News XML sitemap is to get clicks and views from the huge user base. You don’t have to repeat words or keywords in the headline, as though you’re actively doing search engine optimization.

Here’s a weak news headline:

“How experienced investors can mentor about-to-quit investors”

Avoid this repetition of words like the plague.

ii). Use active voice: A news headline is a quick way to demonstrate what’s inside the story and will catch the eye of the search engine.

Don’t bore users or discourage journalists from picking your story. Avoid using a passive voice.

In the passive voice, the subject is receiving the verb. For example:

  • Passive voice: Mary was hit by a car.
  • Active voice: The car hit Mary.

An active voice starts with the subject. With an active voice, you can say more with fewer words from the very first time. Brevity is an essential news publisher tactic that captivates the audience.

image12

Using active voice in your news headline also helps to trim down unnecessary words. If you check Digg’s homepage, you’ll see that most of the syndicated stories have headlines written with an active voice.

Here’s an example:

image03

The passive-voice version of the above news headline is obviously weaker:

  • An Episode of ‘Top Chef’ Was Produced with Help From the CIA

iii). Write in the present tense: This is another important point to keep in mind when writing a story headline with the hope of getting it syndicated on the Google News XML sitemap file.

Even if the story itself or content is written in the past tense, the headline should indicate what’s happening right now. After all, that’s why it’s called “news”, and that’s what the XML sitemap is looking for.

image02

Several stories on the Google News homepage are written in the present tense. Take a look:

image16

iv). Know which words to capitalize: Have you noticed that not all words in a news story headline are capitalized? As a rule of thumb, capitalize the first word of the headline. You must also capitalize proper nouns.

On the Google News homepage, both title case and first word/proper noun capitalization standards are used.

image05

If you use title case, don’t capitalize articles. So, for example, “Judge Rejects Kesha’s Last Effort to Free Herself From Dr. Luke” is correct, but if “to” were capitalized as well, that would be incorrect.

3. Write news-related articles, not evergreen content.

In adding sites to Google News, remember that a major search engine like Google can only include sites that follow their Webmasters Tool Guidelines.

If there’s nothing timely about your topic or story, it’s not news. It’s as simple as that. In journalism, “timing is everything.” Timely content makes it to the top, others get lost in the pages of the search history.

image18

For your site to be accepted, you’ve got to write news-related articles consistently. Evergreen content just won’t work with Google News.

Aside from that, the major search engine Google also has specific types of content that they accept. In Google’s words:

“We generally do not include how-to articles, advice columns, job postings or strictly informational content such as weather forecasts and stock data.”

In the world of blogging, creating evergreen content is your guarantee for sustainable organic traffic. And Google rewards such content in its organic results.

But, that kind of content isn’t news, so a search engine like Google won’t syndicate it.

When you look at the Google News homepage, you’ll notice that the stories are timely – mostly as the events unfold:

4. Write at least 2 news articles each day.

Are you the only one managing your site? If you want to get added to Google News, you may need to make a change.

The majority of the news media sites that are syndicated on Google News are multi-authored. In other words, more than one person writes for the site.

Think about CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, New York Times, Huffington Post, and so forth.

These sites are updated every minute of the day, by a crop of prolific writers who are transparent and accurate in their reporting, it’s why they are so popular in the search engines.

You need more writers who can source for fresh stories, write about them and submit them within hours.

You may find you have to train good writers. You could start by hiring freelance writers, then train them on the journalistic approach that Google News and other media platforms and search engines require for every story.

You should also work to teach your writers how to follow your brand guidelines, especially if they are writing for you for the first time. Let them know the elements that should be present in a news story – the headline, the appropriate voice, the requirement for sources and the rules of citation.

Ideally, create an author page on your site, where you introduce each writer on your team. 

Google will ask you for a list of authors who report stories on your site. In fact, you’ll be required to submit contact details for each author, when you apply.

5. Establish authority with your blog.

Google is understandably strict about the content it considers to be news. Not every article is news-related.

Most of the time, it’s not about the story, but the context or angle by which the author covered it, this is why lamestream media can be so popular. 

Since Google is passionate about timely, up-to-date stories, you need a way to prove to Google that you’ve adhered to its guidelines.

You need to establish authority with your blog. Authority, on the web, boils down to how many user-friendly sites and web pages link back to yours. Webmasters tool can help you check where you stand. 

image04

Let’s say that your 3-month old blog has been reporting timely, up-to-date stories as they unfold.

Another site (say, Mashable) has more authority than your blog and established search history.

Now answer this question:

If your blog reported the same trending story as Mashable, and both news stories followed the news-writing standard, which of the stories do you think that Google would crawl first, index, and offer a high pagerank?

Did I hear Mashable?

You’re 100% correct.

The reason why is obvious: Mashable has more authority in the search engines than your 3-month old blog.

Mashable publishes more timely content because it’s got the budget for a sufficient number of authors. If you’re a small business, you can’t beat that.

Building authority with your blog isn’t a straightforward thing. And, it definitely will not happen overnight.

You need to get off of your site. You should be everywhere.

While you’re building your Author Rank, by contributing to other trustworthy sites, always reference your story in a natural way. Ideally, use your branded keyword or story headline as anchor text to link back to your site.

The more authority sites you contribute to and get links from, the more authority your blog will get and the more you will show up in the search results and the search history. Your blog will build momentum gradually. Be patient!

Social media is equally vital, so spread the love. Get active on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

Don’t try to copy or mimic another author’s writing style. Find your own voice. Stick to it. That’s the only way to stand out from the crowd and get your news-related articles added to Google News.

image01

When your content is unique and compelling, more people will click your headline, visit your site and take action.

But, when your news is like everyone else’s, you’re not making an impact. To the audience, there’s nothing in it for them. Consequently, they’ll leave.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve seen the possibility of getting your website and news articles added to Google News, it’s time to take action and apply.

Don’t be too quick to do this. You first need to create a path, on your blog, that a Google News bot or spider can follow to crawl your fresh stories as they’re published.

Google suggests that you add a Google News Sitemap to make this easier. If your blog is hosted on WordPress CMS, you can find Google News sitemap plugins in the WordPress repository.

Once you’ve installed one of the plugins, you can apply to Google News here. This will connect with your Google Console account, thus making it easier to add several of your sites to Google News. Be sure to use the webmaster tool to check your indexing status.

Does your site meet the Google News requirements? If yes, why aren’t you tapping into Google News for real-time traffic?

5 Privacy Policy Generator Options For Your Website

If you collect information from your website visitors, you may be required by law to post a privacy policy on your website. 

While not every country has privacy policy requirements, many auxiliary laws make the addition of a privacy policy necessary for compliance. Plus, if you want your website to be visible to a global audience, you need to adhere to global guidelines.

Additionally, many third-party applications require privacy policies to use their services. Examples of this include Google Analytics, Google Play, Apple App Store, and Google AdSense.

The last thing you want is to be taken to court by a website visitor over something as simple as a privacy policy.

So, how do you create a privacy policy?

Luckily, there are many online privacy policy generators you can use to help keep your site compliant.

In this post, we’ll show you how to find, use, and implement your privacy policy with a privacy policy generator.

What Is a Privacy Policy?

A privacy policy is a legal document telling website users if, how, and why you collect and store their personal information.

Personal information can be anything used to identify an individual, such as their name, date of birth, address, credit information, or online behaviors. The exact definition may vary between countries and laws, so be sure to research what requirements you need to meet before using a privacy policy generator. 

A strong privacy policy should be informative and precise, without hidden clauses or confusing language. It should also include contact information in case your users need more information.

A privacy policy should include:

  • what information you collect from website visitors
  • how and why you obtain this information
  • details about how you store the data you collect
  • how and when you’ll inform users if your privacy policy is updated
  • to whom you give access to the information collected (third party applications, newsletter services, analytics software, etc.)

Not only are privacy policies mandated in most countries, but they’re also a great way to build trust by keeping your marketing tactics transparent. Even if you’re not required to have one, it’s a good idea to do so anyway.

Here is an example of our privacy policy.

Privacy Policy Generators - neil patel privacy policy

4 Reasons Why Your Website Needs a Privacy Policy

Regardless of whether you operate on a desktop, mobile app, or website, you need to have accurate and honest privacy policies in place to guide your users.

Here are the four most important reasons why your website needs a privacy policy.

1. Privacy Policies Are Often Required by Law

Many countries mandate privacy policies be available to help citizens understand their information rights.

In the United States, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires all websites that collect information from children to have a privacy policy. 

Here is an example of Disney complying with this law.

Privacy Policy Generators - disney website privacy policy

The California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) also requires any company gathering information from California-based users must display a privacy policy on their website.

Here is an example of this from the Wells Fargo website.

Privacy Policy Generators - privacy policy wells fargo

In the U.S., the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act mandates any businesses in the financial sector to provide honest statements about their collection and use of personal information.

Additionally, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires healthcare service providers to give written notice of their privacy practices.

Across the globe, many similar laws exist to protect the privacy of specific areas’ citizens. For example:

Ultimately, privacy is a concern across the globe, so adding a privacy policy to your website could build trust and help you communicate with a global audience. 

2. Customers Expect Honesty and Transparency About Privacy

People care about their privacy and want to be in charge of their information. This is especially true online, where information is often collected and stored without a user’s knowledge.

Displaying a privacy policy on your website shows your customers you care about their privacy and aren’t doing anything sneaky.

It also shows you have procedures to handle their information properly, which can help them trust your business.

While it’s essential to have a clear, concise, and transparent privacy policy to build user trust, feel free to get a little creative with your website’s privacy policy, you can find interesting or interactive ways to display your information.

Here is an example of Amazon’s Canadian privacy policy, which includes a clickable table of contents to help users navigate the policy.

Privacy Policy Generators - amazon canada privacy policy

3. Privacy Policies May Be Required by Third-Party Services

Many third-party services require a privacy policy to use their services, including Google Ads, Google Analytics, Facebook, and Apple.

This ensures they are also compliant with any international laws while you use their services.

For example, Google Analytics requires a specific privacy policy because it stores cookies on user devices and collects data. 

If you are using any of Google’s advertising features, such as Google Display Network Impression Reporting, Google Analytics Demographics, and Interest Reporting, or any services involving Google Analytics, you need a privacy policy.

The same is true if you’re developing a Facebook app, Apple app, or Google Play app.

If you use or plan to use any third-party services, check their privacy policy and disclosure requirements.

4. Privacy Policies Can Show Your Brand Personality

If in line with your brand, adding humor, personality, and wit to your privacy policy can showcase your brand’s personality and win the hearts of your customers.

Check out this creative privacy policy by Ecquire.

Privacy Policy Generators - privacy policy by ecquire

Or this example from Major Tom, which uses a David Bowie quote to add some flair to their privacy policy.

major tom privacy policy generator

The most important part of a privacy policy is the information you’re giving. Personality is a bonus if you can fit it in.

5 Best Privacy Policy Generators for Your Website

Now it’s time to dig into how you can create a privacy policy for your website.

Use a privacy policy generator like the ones listed below to create a clear and accurate privacy policy for your online presence.

1. FreePrivacyPolicy

FreePrivacyPolicy is an online privacy policy generator that helps you create a privacy policy online without the hassle of hiring a lawyer to write your legalese.

This free privacy policy generator can help you comply with CCPA, GDPR, CalOPPA, COPPA, Google Analytics, and more.

With this tool, you can also generate terms and conditions, cookie tracking policies, refund and return policies, disclaimers, and more.

Answer a few pre-generated questions, download your new privacy policy, and upload it to your site.

You can also update your policy later if your terms change.

Best Privacy Policy Generators for Your Website - FreePrivacyPolicy

2. Shopify Policy Generator

The Shopify Policy Generator can help you meet global privacy requirements and encourage customer trust.

This privacy policy generator is free with a 14-day Shopify trial, but you need to pay for a membership afterward.

Fill out a few fields on the Shopify website, and they’ll create a personalized privacy policy template you can customize later on.

You can also create a refund policy or terms of service policy with this same tool.

3. Privacy Policies

Privacy Policies is a free online privacy policy generator that can create privacy policies, EULAs, cookies policies, terms and conditions, and more.

Factors like your industry, operations, and platforms are considered to generate your privacy policy.

From there, you can modify, upload, and share your privacy policy with your website visitors.

4. Privacy Policy Online

Privacy Policy Online is a privacy policy generator tool that complies with international laws such as the CCPA, CalOPPA, and GDPR.

It also creates policies meeting leading advertising networks’ and third-party applications’ requirements.

Fill out a web form on the site, and Privacy Policy Online generates your new policy, ready for immediate upload.

With this tool, you can also generate terms and conditions as well as disclaimer notices.

5. Termly

Termly is a free online privacy policy generator to help you create a privacy policy for your website or mobile app.

It’s effective for GDPR, CCPA, CalOPPA, Google Analytics, AdSense, e-commerce laws, and more.

Termly also boasts automatic attorney updates, meaning whenever new legislation is approved, your current privacy policy will be amended and automatically updated.

You can create multiple policies for different platforms, helping to ensure you’re protected no matter where your services exist. 

Privacy Policy Generator FAQs

Can I use a privacy policy generator?

Yes, privacy policy generators are a great way to create a compliant, legal document to let your website visitors know how you use and store their information.

How do I create a privacy policy?

You can either hire a lawyer to create a privacy policy or use a privacy policy generator online.

How can I create a privacy policy for free?

Many privacy policy generators offer free services. Check out our list of privacy policy generators above to find the right one for you.

Can I copy someone else’s privacy policy?

No. Terms of use and privacy policies are copyrighted documents. You need to create a unique privacy policy for your business.

Summary of Privacy Policy Generators

Creating a unique and tailored privacy policy can be daunting.

Hiring a lawyer, using legalese, and adhering to global marketing laws is no easy feat.

Luckily, privacy policy generators are available to help you create a privacy policy for your website or business.

A well-crafted privacy policy can also help you build trust with your customers and improve your brand integrity going forward.

What’s your favorite privacy policy generator?

How to Create a Free Google Website For Your Business

A web presence is essential for getting found online, especially these days. According to Statista.com, nearly a third of consumers in the United States look online for a local business every day. It’s simple: websites are essential for attracting new customers.

A website proves invaluable in other ways, too, like showcasing your products and increasing leads. However, your website doesn’t need to cost a fortune and include the latest features. If you’re a small business that just wants to let customers know who you are and what you do, a free Google website may be just what you’re looking for.

What is Google’s Free Website Builder?

Google’s free website builder is part of Google My Business and helps customers discover you online.

When creating your website, Google takes the information in your GMB business profile and uses it for the building blocks of your website. Aside from some customization, you’re pretty much good to go from there.

Although there’s no cost, free Google websites are professional-looking and offer a selection of contemporary themes.

Google’s website builder is suitable for everyone, even for beginners. There’s no need for technical expertise with a free Google website and no worries regarding extensive backups.

Additional benefits with a free Google website are:

  • You don’t need to rely on social media: Not every potential customer is on social media, and many may not be on the platforms you like best. Having a website of your own, where people can Google your name or what you sell and find your information without signing in to Facebook or Twitter, can bring in those customers.
  • Ease of use: One of the main benefits of a free Google website is its simplicity, and it delivers great-looking websites. For instance, even the free version of WordPress can seem overwhelming for the absolute beginner, with menus, pages, sub-menus, etc.
  • It provides the essentials: If you’re not looking for the whole e-commerce experience, then a free Google website is all you need for reaching out to a broader audience.

Here are some more reasons why you should use a free Google website for getting online.

Why Should You Build a Website Using Google’s Free Tool?

Only 64 percent of small businesses have websites. Meanwhile, 70 percent of potential customers are more likely to buy from a business with a website.

This means 36 percent of businesses may be missing out on 70 percent of buyers.

Websites make businesses seem more legitimate, particularly if the website looks professional. Google websites, which take almost no time to set up and require minimal maintenance, can look like you spent hours of time and thousands of dollars to make it look great.

If Google’s free website gets you found, why not take advantage of its ease of setup and free features?

Google Website Builder Features

The number one thing that sets Google’s business websites apart from others is that it automatically makes the site for you. You can alter things as you need, but if you have a Google My Business account and select the website option, it automatically populates the information on a site for you using a template you choose.

Don’t let its simplicity fool you. A Google My Business free website offers you plenty in the way of features.

For instance, it provides you with built-in optimization so customers can:

  • contact or message you
  • place orders
  • get quotes for services
  • book your services or arrange deliveries

Additionally, a free Google website allows you to “showcase what makes your business special” via:

  • images
  • stories
  • posts

Other features worth mentioning are:

  • integration with Google Maps and Calendar
  • image carousel and video links
  • connection with Google Drive

Besides the above, Google gives you automatic updates, advertising, and it’s mobile-friendly too.

As you can see, a free Google website offers a lot to the new business owner, but how does it compare with others?

Google Website Builder Versus WordPress and Other Similar Tools

The Google website builder one-page format beats many other options in the simplicity stakes.

Additionally, it creates a website with almost no effort on your side, which is where Google’s product stands out from similar tools. It also lets you import images with a few clicks, and you can track analytics, so all in all, it offers you the essentials.

The other main advantage over its rivals is you’re not starting from scratch, and you aren’t making all the decisions yourself.

Although it may seem basic to some, Google gives you a functional, great-looking website, and with some imagination, it delivers impressive results.

For inspiration, look at what Steel Mailbox did with theirs. This Google business website starts with the basics that could be pulled in from their business information (e.g., the directions function).

Free Google Website - Steel Mailbox example

If you click the “hamburger” in the upper left, you see options the company chose to add, which jump you to different page areas. One cool feature they added was a list of mailbox types with brief definitions of each one. This allows people shopping for mailboxes to understand what type they need without having to dig through Steel Mailbox’s non-Google site.

Free Google website - Steel Mailbox links to main site

If a customer clicked on one of those blue links, they would be taken directly to the type of mailbox they’re looking for. If they went through the main site—and you can have both a simple Google business site and a more in-depth one—they would likely have to do more digging to find precisely what they need.

What a great feature for customers on the go.

When it comes to this type of website, perhaps its weakest area is ongoing SEO optimization, but you can use a free or paid-for tool to find keywords and include them in your descriptions and posts.

WordPress

While bloggers, Fortune 500 companies, and small businesses use WordPress to build their websites, it’s actually a content management system.

You’ve two options for getting started. WordPress.com gives you the free version, while WordPress.org offers a paid one.

At the free level, the most significant difference between Google and WordPress is that you can create multiple pages within your site, while Google has a one-page format.

Free Google website - competitor WordPress price levels

When you get to the paid levels, you can add additional functions.

While WordPress offers many more functions than Google websites, no matter which level you use, you have to start from scratch. Nothing is auto-populated. Nevertheless, there are plenty of tutorials online if you’re just learning, and you won’t need to do any coding.

Wix

Wix is another free website builder, although it also offers premium and e-commerce plans too. Getting started is simple. Just sign up or log in with Facebook or Google to get started.

Free Google website vs Wix

Like WordPress, the free level is relatively limited in functionality. If you’re willing to pay, though, you can access hundreds of templates, additional types of analytics, and more.

Wix provides 500 different templates, and its drag and drop feature means beginners can use it without needing technical expertise.

Other features include:

  • media galleries
  • mobile optimization
  • unlimited fonts
  • a personalized SEO plan

Wix also provides coding for visitor tracking, while its analytics tool shows your sales, traffic, and visitor behavior.

How to Customize Your Free Google Website

After you have set up your Google My Business page (detailed steps are in the next section), you’ll be able to see your site free google website in a standard setup. You can then start customizing from there.

Free Google website - Google my business

The list nearest your sample site includes things you can do right now, like add photos, text, and themes. The one furthest left includes:

  • home
  • posts
  • reviews
  • messages
  • products
  • insights

Take some time to get to know these options and which each one does.

From the home page, you can also:

  • finish your profile by adding opening hours, descriptions, and logos
  • update customers on news and events
  • create a custom @yourbusiness email address
  • launch virtue tours and create adverts

You can see the themes, add pictures with a photo gallery, and edit your site’s categories from the other menu.

Free Google website - Tony's SEO Shop website example

To best set up your site, follow these steps:

  1. Choose your theme: For customizing, the most obvious starting point is by looking at the themes. There are ten to choose from, all with different colors and styles of text. Click on them one by one to see which theme most closely matches your business’s style and the image you want to convey.
  2. Add Photos: Click on the top right-hand corner of the header picture, drag your photo, or upload one from your computer. To add other images, click on “photos” on the left-hand side.
  3. Editing: Edit text by clicking the blue “Edit” button under photos.
  4. Additional changes: Click “More” to change settings, publish, or for advice on getting customers.

It’s that easy! You’ve finished building your free Google website, and you should be ready to start getting noticed online.

How to Build Your Free Google Website

Before building your website, set up your Google my Business Page, if you haven’t already. Here’s how to do just that.

  1. Go to Google’s website builder.

    You’re looking for the “website” heading. It’s the third one along at the top.

  2. Add your business name and click the blue arrow.

  3. Add your business category.

    If your service or industry isn’t clear cut, add the class representing your company the best. Click “Next.”

  4. Select your location preferences.

    Now, Google asks if you want your business location to appear on your website. Either select “Yes, I want it to appear on my website” or “No, I prefer not to.” Depending on the type of business, you may need to include an address. Choose the appropriate option and click “Next.”

  5. Choose if your business provides deliveries or services.

    Choose if your business provides deliveries or services. This step is optional.

  6. Add your region and click “Next.”

  7. Add your phone number.

  8. Add your business address details, including country and zip code.

  9. Verify your accout.

  10. Do this by clicking on the “Home” page, which you’ll find at the top of the menu on the left, and following the “Verify” link.

You’re ready to start building your free Google website!

Create a Free Google Website FAQs

What Is the main benefit of a free Google website?

Unlike its rivals, you’re not starting from scratch, and you aren’t making all the decisions yourself. Although it may seem basic to some, a Google site gives you a functional, great-looking website, and with some imagination, you’ll get impressive results.

How do I set up a Google My Business Page?

Google provides step-by-step instructions.

Do I Need Technical Expertise to Build a Free Google Website?

No, a free Google website creates a professional-looking website with minimal input from you.

How Does a Free Google Website Compare With Its Rivals?

While other options offer additional features, Google outshines its competitors regarding simplicity and ease of use.

Conclusion

Having an online presence is a necessity these days. If would-be customers can’t find your website, you’re likely missing out on clients.

However, building a website doesn’t mean spending a lot of money or needing technical expertise. Instead, you can begin by starting with a free Google website and set it up in a few easy steps.

Once you’re online, you can start benefiting from additional leads, more customers, and increased conversions—all the things you need for increasing your business success rate and growing a thriving enterprise.

How has using a free Google Business website affected your business?

How to Block Bots From Coming to Your Website: Tools & Tips

If you have a website, you need to know what bots are and how they can find your site, as well as what they can do (either intentionally or indirectly) to cause frustration to your online marketing efforts. Blocking bots may be a necessity to protect your site’s speed, users, and security.

Let’s talk about what bots are and how you can put up some defenses to start protecting your website.

What Are Bots, and How Can They Be Bad?

Before we dive into the details of what they can do and how you can stop them, we need to take a step back and explore what a bot is.

A bot is a software script that performs a data task over and over again. It’s that repetition and data interaction that makes them a fellow member of the online world we interact with.

Some of the other names you hear bots associated with help explain what bots are and how they work. Think of terms like spiders, crawlers, or web bots.

Are They All Bad?

There are a couple of misconceptions we can set aside right away.

Even though the term is short for robots, bots are not robots in the form of metal, gears, and computers. They are bits of script, as we discussed, that run continuously over the data of websites or other online platforms.

Also, they are not necessarily maliciously driven by a hacker or person with ill intent. Sometimes they’re neutral or even useful, such as bots used by search engines to index websites.

How Do Bots Work?

As we mentioned above, bots are generally bits of software script that repeat a task over and over again. An outside person, either friend or foe, may deploy these to accomplish a specific task.

However, bots are getting “smarter,” so to speak, and some are created with artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning technology. Some examples of these are chatbots for e-commerce that brands can use to learn from human interaction and deliver a better customer

service experience for their audience.

Here’s an example of an e-commerce chatbot on the ModCloth website:

block bots - modcloth chatbot example

What Do Bots Do?

As we’ve said, bots can be useful, such as indexing for a search engine or improving customer experiences.

They can also be malicious and cause trouble for your website or other web presence. Some bots are intended to crawl websites and steal data like passwords, identifiable information, or personal data. They can also deploy malicious attacks on websites, computers, and other places. Some get sophisticated, unfurling a series of steps to cause chaos for another user or organization.

They can also be used to surge interactions online. This may come in the form of flooding a page or forum with comments, driving up purchases or popularity of something to stir up interest, bumping up social media interaction to improve views, or other ways to “game the system.”

These are often the ways you may start to see bot activity on your website.

How Can You Tell If Your Website Has Bot Traffic?

Do you need to block bots on your website? Here are some signs and how to check.

Red Flags You May Need to Block Bots

There are some signs that bots have been to your website, and those may be the first place to start. Here are a few to look for:

  • excess commenting in your blog or other pages
  • comments that don’t seem readable or human-generated
  • comments with excessive linking or obvious spam
  • excessively or suddenly high bounce rates on a particular page
  • a sudden surge of sign-ups for your newsletter or other forms
  • email sign-ups that don’t seem human-generated
  • log-in attempts from unknown sources
  • any other activity that appears fishy

Where Can You Check to Block Bots?

If you have a gut reaction that you need a bot blocker, you can do a deeper dive to determine whether bots are a problem for your website and whether it’s worth investing time to block bots.

Here are a few places to explore:

  • Google Analytics to investigate traffic on your site
  • A service like Copyscape to check if your content was plagiarized somewhere else
  • your web server logs to learn more about where people are coming from

10 Steps to Block Bots From Coming to Your Website

Trying to block bots from coming to your website can feel a little like trying to put up an invisible shield around your site to ward off invaders.

While it’s not quite so fanciful, taking steps to keep bots from invading and causing chaos on your website is about being proactive and putting processes into place ahead of any problems.

It starts with understanding the enemy, removing any current problems, and then preparing for future attacks. Here are some steps you can take:

1. Identify the Weight of the Problem

If you’re reading this far, you probably have some concerns about bots and want to know more about how to block website bots. Before jumping in, though, it’s always good to consider what’s happening on your website.

Are you having a significant problem with bots, or are you just noticing some increased activity?

Further, consider what the impact has been or could be on your online marketing efforts. As we mentioned above, some bots are good, and some are bad. Some are just neutral.

For instance, you might have a bump in activity on your website on a given day or a given page for no apparent reason. You can’t link them to a specific marketing campaign that promoted that page and caused a spike. The surge in activity may have come from a bot.

If the surge was short-lived and you haven’t seen any other issues, it may be worth looking into but may not warrant extreme or rushed reactions.

On the other hand, if you’ve found your e-commerce site was hacked, or if parts of your website have been infected and are no longer functioning properly, you probably want to act quickly to batten up the hatches and clean up your website. If that’s the case, you may want to jump to the later steps here and start taking immediate action.

2. Understand the Source

Once you realize that web bots have been bothering your website, you’ll need to go on a bit of an investigation to find out where they’re coming from.

I listed above some places that can help you explore whether bots are attacking your website. They can also help you figure out the origin of those bots.

For example, in Google Analytics, your web server access logs, or any log-in attempt emails, you may be able to see data related to those visiting your site. You can check for a pattern or a series of the same IP address repeatedly.

3. Make a Plan

Now it’s time to decide what to do.

If you’ve already suffered an attack, you’ll need to take steps to clean up the problem and patch any vulnerabilities in your site to avoid further problems.

If you’ve been seeing bot activity but haven’t been attacked, you should focus your plan on looking for vulnerabilities that could be exploited in the future and tighten them up now.

4. Stay Up to Date

Keep your website and all its integrations up to date with the latest releases. Whichever website CRM provider you use, ensure you’re staying current with that platform’s releases. For instance, if you use WordPress, you need to ensure that your theme and plugins have the latest updates.

Staying up to date has its advantages. First, bots may use older versions to gain access. Further, platforms are motivated to provide secure products to their customers. The latest updates may come with increased security features and bot blocker options.

5. Add CAPTCHA Tools

One way to block bots from interacting with parts of your websites (such as sign-ups, contact pages, and purchase options) is to ensure that only humans can perform those actions.

CAPTCHA forces the user to perform a challenge or other action to prove they’re not a bot. Unless a bot has the correct action written into their script, they won’t finish this task and move on.

Here is an example of a CAPTCHA you’ve probably seen before:

Block Bots From Coming to Your Website - Add CAPTCHA Tools

6. Check Your APIs and Other Connections

Especially if your website is a few years old, you may have installed many API integrations and other connections to other web platforms. If you’ve permitted that integration to connect with and share data with your website, APIs could be an area of vulnerability.

Conduct an audit of every API, plugin, connection, or other integration:

  • Do you use them all? Remove the obsolete ones.
  • Are you using the latest versions? If not, update them.
  • Are you using quality products? If they don’t have security measures in place, consider replacing them.

If you have questions, reach out to the platform owner and make sure they are secure.

7. Block Older Browser Versions

This is not foolproof, but another way to close up some ways bots can access your website is by blocking older versions of browsers from accessing your website. You might achieve this by requiring users to use new versions of browsers to view your website.

TechRepublic encourages using this method as most human users will be forced to update to a newer browser version.

This requires accessing and updating the .htaccess file of your website, so unless you are experienced with coding, we recommend engaging with a web developer for this.

8. Patch It

If you’re struggling to stay up to date with the bots coming to your website or feel like the problem may be bigger than you want to control, you can turn to a professional to start digging deeper into bots that may be heading to your website.

If you notice a specific bot that keeps arriving at your website and causing problems, such as offensive comments or attempts to gain unauthorized access, you can block that IP address from gaining access to your website in the future.

Many web hosts, such as GoDaddy, provide detailed information about how to accomplish this task. However, you should know that this is only a patch. It can stop a rather insidious attack in its tracks, but many hackers or malicious bot launchers have ways of coming in from other IP addresses, so the solution may not hold long-term.

Also, Hubspot reminds us that blocking an IP address means blocking all access from any person or bot from that IP address, so weigh the pros and cons before making a decision.

9. Keep Up With It

For a long-term solution, you may choose to pay for a bot blocker service. Although there are many different options, they all promise you a bit of peace of mind as their integrated solution stays on your website, comparing visitors with their information to watch for and alert you of any problems. A few options include:

  • DataDome
  • Cloudflare
  • Radware Bot Manager
  • ClickGUARD
  • Google ReCAPTCHA

10. Ongoing Monitoring

Bot blocking isn’t a one-and-done situation. You will need to continue to monitor your website for any problems.

You can watch for any of the problems discussed above and take steps to close up any holes. You may want to add this to your calendar to check in monthly or quarterly.

You can also keep an ear out for public data breaches. If you hear of any wide-scale attacks, take a look at your website and look for signs of any bot activity.

Conclusion

As AI in marketing continues to grow, our discussion of blocking bots, as well as adding them to our marketing stack, will likely increase as well. Bots can be helpful in our digital work and can support our digital marketing strategy.

They can also be malicious and attack your website at any time. The best way to block bots is to stay vigilant and keep your web presence up to date and cleaned up.

Don’t let vulnerabilities like outdated plugins or open access ports linger, inviting opportunistic bots. Monitor as you go and consider hiring an outside third party if the problem or the risks start getting bigger than you want to handle.

What’s the first step you’re going to take to block bots?

How to Use the Psychology of Color to Increase Website Conversions

You know your niche and understand your customers. You’ve also taken the time to research keywords and optimize your copy. Then you’ve checked that your website works as it should. 

Before you go any further, though, there’s an additional step to take: considering the colors and color combinations you use on your website.

We’re not just talking about branding or what looks good here: We’re talking about color psychology and the impact it can have on your visitors and subsequent conversions.

You may not realize there’s more to color than its aesthetic qualities.

The color scheme you use is a crucial part of the buying decision. Even minor adaptations like changing your CTA buttons’ color can dramatically increase your success rates, while your overall color scheme can increase brand recognition.

Let’s cover the impact of color psychology on consumers and how you can use it on your website.

What Is Color Psychology?

Color psychology is the science of how color affects human behavior. It is a branch of the broader field of behavioral psychology. In practice, it’s the science of how color affects human behavior and responses.

The psychology of color can influence how your customers respond to your marketing messages based on the color of your copy, call-to-action buttons, and links. 

It’s all part of understanding the customer mindset. However, not every individual responds to colors the same way. This means there are no guarantees for its effects on conversions and branding. 

However, it doesn’t mean you should dismiss color psychology and its impact. On the contrary, there are vital facts that are indisputable.

For example, studies show consumers take just milliseconds to form their views on your website’s visual appeal. In addition, color is powerful enough to elevate and evoke moods.

It doesn’t matter what niche you’re in, either. Whether you’re selling clothing, digital cameras, or tech services, it’s essential to make sure your colors work perfectly with every element in your marketing plan. Unfortunately, that’s not always straightforward, since choosing colors is an “imperfect art.”

Here’s what you need to know to make the most of this field. 

Misconceptions About Color Psychology

Although there’s little in the way of scientific evidence, there is plenty of consumer research available on color psychology. For instance, one study shows color influences the buying decision.

However, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. The impression a color has can vary depending on the purpose of your advertising and consumers’ age groups.

The impact can vary due to other factors, like:

  • The industry you’re selling in.
  • The culture you’re selling to and people’s personal beliefs.
  • Different genders and their individual preferences.

Additionally, you may see some articles insisting the same color will work well for every type of campaign. That’s just not true. You’ll need to test a mix of color choices before deciding what works best for each specific campaign or site. 

Where Should You Use Color Psychology?

Colors can impact consumers throughout the marketing and sales cycle. Whether you’re developing software, designing a book, developing a web design cover, or simply branding your business: colors define mood and influence responses.

This article focuses on your website color schemes and specific areas like website elements like:

  • hero graphics
  • headline type
  • borders
  • backgrounds
  • buttons
  • pop ups

However, you can apply the tips across a wide range of areas, including: 

  • logos
  • branding
  • landing page
  • menu bars
  • email marketing
  • social media posts 
  • cover photos
  • product design
  • videos

 The real problem is getting it right.

Why Is Color Psychology Important?

You can use color psychology to communicate value, as well as to sell a product. For example, when the Coca-Cola Company marked 125 years of offering excellent service, they used their classic, bold red to brand the campaign.

color psychology - Coca-cola example

Your brand personality is of utmost importance. The core benefits of careful color selection in branding include:

  • Clarity of purpose: Your web design or brand voice can be strengthened through the right color scheme. Unless you know and speak the language your prospects speak, your product may get lost in a sea of competition, no matter how valuable or effective it may be. 
  • First impressions: The careful use of colors to create an initial impression can captivate first-time visitors to your site while nurturing loyal customers.
  • Customer retention and new leads: With the smart use of color, you can boost email sign-up rates, inspire repeat customers, and give people a reason to share your brand with family and friends. 

Remember, though, color psychology is closely tied to memories and experiences. For example, if someone had an enjoyable experience while wearing a yellow shirt, eating at a fast-food establishment with yellow arches, or living in a home with yellow walls, then yellow may cause joy by memory association. 

How to Use Color Psychology to Drive Conversions

CRO is an integral part of building a successful website. The goal is to get the best ROI possible and to thrive, no matter how strong your competition might be.

Since color is the one thing most of us can relate to, color psychology is an option that should be explored and tested to give your marketing an additional edge. Below are some color psychology tips to keep in mind.

Which Colors Do the Different Genders Prefer?

Color preferences aren’t always easy to establish. You’ll find plenty of studies available, and, naturally, many of them don’t agree with one another. However, women and men do seem to have some obvious preferences.

According to one study, women prefer subtle tones of:

  • purple
  • green
  • red
  • blue

In contrast, men also like these colors, but prefer them in brighter tones.

How to Use Color Psychology to Drive Conversions - Which Colors Do the Different Genders Prefer

A case study shows much of this holds true, at least for women, with blues, greens, and lavender colors remaining popular.

For colors that can improve conversions, regardless of sex, then reds, greens, blues, purple, black, and orange seem standard. 

Also, keep in mind that gender isn’t considered as binary as it once was, so relying on a color that appeals to men versus women might not be as effective as you might think. 

Certain colors can also suggest specific qualities. Let’s look at a selection of them.

Use Blue to Cultivate Trust

Blue is heavily associated with trust, which may be why many financial institutions often choose it. PayPal, Capital One, Visa, and Bank of America are just a few of the financial companies using blue in their color schemes.

How to Use Color Psychology to Drive Conversions - Use Blue to Cultivate Trust

Although various shades of blue can suggest different things, it also symbolizes:

  • security
  • loyalty
  • responsibility

Everything most of us would look for from a financial institution. However, while blue is pretty much an all-around great color, it may not work well for food packaging. Research indicates blue is a natural appetite suppressant, but, again, not everyone agrees. 

Yellow Equals Caution

Yellow can signal caution. Warning signs, traffic signals, and wet floor signs all use yellow. That said, it’s not all bad. Yellow is a color we connect with warmth, positivity, and happiness. 

Yellow inspires creativity, joy, fun, and confidence, and the shade of yellow used can speak volumes, too. For example, a bright yellow incites attention and excitement, and golden yellow is correlated to curiosity. 

Green for Environmental and Outdoor Products

Green is associated with the outdoors, nature, and the environment: we see a product in green packaging, and we automatically think of it as healthy or eco-friendly. Additionally, green can inspire creativity, innovation, and balance. 

If your website’s focus has anything to do with nature, the environment, organic, or outdoors, you might want to select green colors.

Orange Is Positive 

Orange is a positive color linked to happiness, success, and determination. In addition, it gives a sense of warmth while appearing less aggressive than red. 

Like other warm colors, orange can feel energetic, and it may gain shoppers’ attention, leading to impulse purchases. 

For example, Amazon.com uses orange to trigger action. The color suggests urgency, which makes the message more noticeable and actionable.

The color works best with other warm shades, but remember to use it sparingly. Try it on conversion elements of your site, so it stands apart.

Black Means Elegance and Luxury

Although we sometimes see black in a negative light, it’s a frequent choice for luxury retailers.

Aside from the mystery associated with black, the color suggests elegance, luxury, and sophistication.

In color psychology, black represents authority, power, and prestige. This would explain why Prada, Rolls Royce, and Chanel use it in their logos. 

How to Use Color Psychology to Drive Conversions - Black Means Elegance and Luxury

However, brands like Chanel are careful not to let black dominate on their websites, although it does play a part in their overall color schemes.

Use Bright Primary Colors for Your CTA

Multiple studies have looked at the best colors for CTAs, and as you may expect, many of them disagree with each other.

However, brands often favor bright colors like reds, blues, and greens. Then there’s Amazon, who famously uses its orange CTAs.

Nevertheless, the most important thing about your CTA isn’t necessarily the color itself: you need to look at the contrast, your audience, and your branding.

What About White in Color Psychology?

White space is paramount to good website design. It reduces clutter and gives a clean appearance, and there’s plenty of ways you can use it.

For example:

  • in simple, minimalistic designs
  • for typography and adding contrast
  • with a splash of color for that extra “pop”

If you don’t like pure whites, consider adding some warmth by using off-whites like ivory.

Color Psychology Best Practices

Updating your colors doesn’t mean starting from scratch. You may not be in a position to rewrite your style guide and pick your website color palette or font colors on the email template, but you still have some options.

Here are some solid takeaways you can use as you implement color psychology into your marketing and increase conversions: 

If the Colors Don’t Work, Suggest Changes

If you’re working with designers or decision-makers, speak up if you feel the overall design scheme won’t work. For example, if you’re selling a high-class designer product, you won’t want to pair a sophisticated color with an amateur-looking logo.

Explain why some color combinations won’t work and how the right mix can positively influence conversions.

Use Psychologically-Appropriate Colors to Complement the Existing Color Scheme

Sure, you need to adapt to the color scheme. Just make sure you use colors that blend well with the current choices, the brand, and the feelings you’re trying to evoke. For instance, if you use blue, combine it with a sunny yellow for a pop-up for a positive feel.

Test Several Colors

To improve conversions, try different colors until you find the one that works for your brand. For example, HubSpot found red outperformed green CTA buttons, but that doesn’t mean it will be the same for you. Whatever color you go with, just make sure the color “pops” for greater visibility and higher conversions.

Don’t Forget; Color Is a Conversion Issue

Yes, you’ll want input from a designer, but don’t let them dictate your website colors. You’re not just looking for something that looks good: you want a color scheme that converts. Therefore, you should be heavily involved in the color selection of your landing pages to improve your conversions.

Avoid Color Overload 

Too many colors can create a sense of confusion, so don’t go overboard: reign in your color scheme with white. 

Conclusion

It’s easy to overlook the potential of color psychology. However, the colors you choose for your website, branding, and marketing may be more powerful than you realize.

When choosing your color scheme, take an active part and don’t leave the decision down to a designer. Only you know what you want your website to say and what you want your visitors to do when they visit your website.

If you aim to increase conversions, for instance, then you may want to use specific colors, like reds, blues, and orange.

However, remember that the psychology of color doesn’t give guaranteed results, and the same colors won’t have the same impact on everyone.

Do you take color psychology into consideration in your website design and marketing? Tell us how you use it below.

Setting up a Business Email and Website to be More Fundable

When You’re Setting Up a Business, Did You Know You Need to Pay Attention to Your Company Email and Website?

Setting up a business means attending to what seems like a million little details. Your corporate email and website are two of those details. Don’t drop the ball on them!

But let’s start with business credit.

Business Credit

This is credit in a corporation’s name. It is not tied to the owner’s creditworthiness. Instead, biz credit scores depend on how well a company can pay its bills. Hence consumer and corporation credit scores can vary dramatically.

The Benefits

There are no demands for a personal guarantee. You can quickly get business credit regardless of personal credit quality. And there is no personal credit reporting of company accounts. Biz credit utilization won’t affect your consumer FICO score. Plus the owner isn’t personally liable for the debt the corporation incurs.

The Details

Getting corporate credit is not automatic. Building it requires some work. Some of the steps are intuitive, and some of them are not.

Fundability

Fundability is the current ability of a firm to get funding. Some factors are within your control. Others (like your time in business) aren’t. Your online presence and data are one area which is at or close to 100% with your control.

Business Credit, Fundability, and Business Funding Applications

The better your business credit and fundability are, the more likely you will get approval for financing. Today, let’s concentrate on your online presence, that is, your email address and your website.

Lenders Use Data to Decide on Your Application

They check information from a variety of sources, and they don’t tell you about any of them. Knowing what these secret sources measure can only help you. Understanding what matters the most makes getting a loan A LOT easier, because you know what to improve first. This information is the difference between getting an approval and getting a denial.

Lenders Use LexisNexis Information

LexisNexis is one source where many of the lenders reviewing loan applications get their information from. They offer information regarding likelihood to pay, or not. Lenders compare LexisNexis information to what you put on your loan application. If the application and LexisNexis don’t match, then, the loan providers will deny you a loan. They will see the inconsistency as fraud.

LexisNexis connects all of the data that pertains to you, both positive and negative. They have access to

  • criminal records
  • every email address you’ve ever used (these are your professional and personal email addresses)
  • your speeding tickets
  • any mortgage you have ever held

Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.

Lenders Use Online Information Including Your Business Email and Website

One place where lenders and vendors will be looking for your company is online. Even if they’re not specifically checking out your online presence, they may still need to know how to order your product or service, or where to send praise or complaints. Your online presence is where they will find that information, or not.

Your Business Email and Website: Your Website

What happens if your family member or a friend built your website? Maybe that person is talented, but corporate websites differ from personal ones. A business website needs to be easy to navigate. It needs to answer customers’ questions.

Styles differ. Wedding photographers and construction companies differ. They have dissimilar sites and design sensibilities, but they both have Contact and About pages, and information about what they do.

Make sure you own your domain, and not just your domain at Wix or WordPress or the like. You can do this by buying hosting. This is through hosting companies like GoDaddy or HostGator.

Your Business Email and Website: Your Email Address

Given that so much more of lending decisions is going on online these days, then your email address is an opportunity for your firm to puts its best foot forward. Don’t squander this easy and free opportunity! General email addresses like admin@yoursite.com tend to be best.

With a general email address, if someone leaves your employ, another employee can seamlessly take over that email address. A username like admin, webmaster, or even hello is far, far better than cutiepie or the like, even if you’re in a playful industry that caters to kids. After all, your bank and banker aren’t.

Your Business Email and Website: Records Congruency

Keep your records consistent! This includes your online records. LexisNexis and the SBFE (Small Business Financial Exchange) are looking at everything, so it had better match.

Inconsistent records will lead to a denial due to fraud because that’s how lenders interpret inconsistencies. This is a cause of denials which is in the owner’s hands. You have the ability to change and correct this.

This means your corporate name, address, phone number – everything! – must look the same in these places and more:

  • Every place you have an online presence (your website, Yelp, SoTellUs, etc.)
  • IRS records
  • Company records with Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax
  • All licenses needed to run your business
  • Incorporation documents

Copy/paste this information; don’t chance it with retyping.

Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.

Build Fundability on Business Credit Applications to Avoid Denials

Keep your firm looking fundable (legit) with:

  • A professional website and email address
  • A toll-free phone number
  • List your phone number with 411
  • A business address (not a PO box or a UPS box)
  • Get all necessary licenses

Your Business Email and Website: Online Fundability

There are some aspects of fundability where you should pay particular attention to what’s going on online. They include:

  • Firm owners listed and listed ownership uniformity
  • Company name and address uniformity
  • Industry aligned
  • Company domain
  • Information uniform on all records

Online Fundability: Business Ownership Listings

Records consistency matters here, too. Your website should show who owns your company. And that information needs to be consistent. So if the owner is named Susan Johnson on your website’s About page, then she can’t be listed as Sue Johnson on your Contact page. If your ownership changes, you need to show that here.

Business Name and Address Uniformity

Abbreviations can be your downfall here, as can punctuation like hyphens, commas, and colons. If your Contact page says your main office is on Main Street, then your About page can’t say it’s on Main St.

If you move, or you add subsidiaries and other locations, then you need to update that information everywhere. This even means whether you use your 5-digit ZIP code, or a ZIP plus 4 code (9 digits).

Fundability: Industry Alignment

If your industry is over the road trucking, then it needs to be listed that way. Pro tip: when your industry can be called several different names, like long distance trucking, mention those other phrases on your website.

Your Business Email and Website: Company Domain

When your company domain matches your company name, it helps with fundability. Pro tip: try to match what people will be searching for online, so if (for example) the word ‘brothers’ is in your company name, then determine if ‘brothers’ or ‘bros’ will be used by people searching for your company and its goods and services online.

Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.

Bonus: What Your Website Needs

Good websites can help you get funding and convert prospects to customers. While websites differ, there are some things they all need. Such as:

  • Easy to use navigation – hiding important information won’t help
  • Speed – if visitors have to hang around and wait for pages to load, they’ll go elsewhere
  • Intuitive organization – keep your address and phone numbers on your About and Contact pages because people expect that data to be there

Your website also needs:

  • Branding – if your company is known for the color green, but it’s nowhere to be found on your website, you’re losing an opportunity for connection
  • Visual design – ugly websites, and those which haven’t had a design update in a decade are not conducive to enhancing your reputation or making sales
  • SEO – search engine optimization means making your site easier to find. Stuffing in keywords doesn’t help with this, but writing honestly about your biz and using the kinds of terms people search for? That does

One of the more vital items your website needs is content. This can mean blogging, and it certainly means creating pages which explain what you do and what sets your biz apart from its competition. It also means a page devoted to each product you sell or service you provide. Again, you’re making it easier for your prospects to find you.

Setting Up a Business Email and Website: Takeaways

More fundable companies can get more money, and they tend to get more prospects who decide to become customers. One area of fundability you have total or near total control over is your corporate online presence. Keep it professional, uniform. and appealing, and easy to use. We can help you with even more aspects of fundability.

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How To Build a WordPress Website

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission. WordPress has officially passed the 39% mark and powers over one-third of the entire web.  It’s like the Oprah Winfrey of the web hosting world—reliable, has a loyal user base, an excellent reputation, and …

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The Truth About Website Hosting Costs

Every website needs a hosting plan. 

But there’s such a wide range of web hosting costs out there. It’s overwhelming for beginners and experienced website owners alike. How much should you pay for web hosting? Are you overpaying for web hosting? How much does web hosting really cost?

Some plans start below $1 per month. Others start at over $2,000 per month!

To make matters even more complicated, there are 330,000+ web hosting providers on the market today. Trying to find the best web hosting plan for your site without overpaying can feel like an impossible task. 

Fortunately, I’m going to let you in on a little secret—you don’t need to overpay for web hosting. 

This guide will teach you the truth about web hosting costs. I’ve identified the top costs associated with web hosting and how to evaluate those costs as you’re shopping around. You’ll learn more about how much you should pay for certain web hosting benefits and whether or not you even need specific features in your hosting plan. 

My Favorite Tool for Keeping Web Hosting Costs Low

Bluehost is my favorite tool for keeping web hosting costs low. 

As an industry leader in the web hosting space, more than two million sites worldwide rely on Bluehost for hosting. They have packages for everyone. Whether you’re starting a small personal blog or looking for a new provider to host your business site with millions of monthly visits, Bluehost can accommodate your needs. 

To be clear, Bluehost is not necessarily the cheapest web hosting provider on the market. Some providers offer free web hosting or web hosting for less than a dollar. But you should avoid free web hosting at all costs—there is always a catch. 

But Bluehost really delivers in terms of value. They offer low entry-level pricing for new websites, and their web hosting services help keep other costs low over time. 

Continue below to learn more about general web hosting costs. I’ll even explain how Bluehost can help save you some money in some of these categories. 

Cost #1: Web Hosting Type

The type of web hosting plan you select will have the most significant impact on the price. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but generally speaking, here’s the order listed from cheapest to most expensive:

  • Shared web hosting
  • Cloud web hosting
  • VPS (virtual private server) web hosting
  • Dedicated server web hosting

Depending on the hosting provider, cloud hosting and VPS hosting might be switched. But the list above is a good rule of thumb. 

Check out this pricing page from Bluehost as an example:

As you can see, there’s a significant price gap between each type of web hosting. The starting price of a dedicated server is roughly 20 times higher than the shared starting rate. 

Unless you’re expecting huge traffic surges out of the gate, the vast majority of new websites should stick to a shared plan. That’s the best way to save some money, and you can always upgrade down the road as your site grows. 

Most shared plans can accommodate anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 monthly visits. Once you start getting into the 50,000 monthly visit range, you should consider upgrading to a VPS or cloud package. I wouldn’t consider a dedicated server until you eclipse 100,000 monthly visits, and even at that point, it’s not 100% necessary. 

Cost #2: Contract Length

Generally speaking, you’ll need to commit to a longer-term contract to get the lowest possible rate. This is one of the best ways to save money on web hosting costs, especially as a new customer. 

Depending on the provider, plans are typically offered in 12, 24, 36, and up to 48-month contract terms. Month-to-month web hosting isn’t very common. So expect to commit to a year, at a minimum. 

Here’s an example of the different prices offered by Bluehost based on contract length:

As you can see, there’s a $2 per month difference in price between the 36-month contract and the 12-month contract. This isn’t life-changing money or anything like that. But it will save you $72 over the course of three years. 

Just understand that you’ll need to pay upfront for your contract in full when you sign up. In this case, $3.95 per month for 36 months actually means $142.20 today. 

Cost #3: Renewal Rates

Locking in a long-term contract also helps you avoid renewal rates. It’s standard practice in the web hosting industry for providers to offer low promotional rates and then jack up the prices when your contract renews. 

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like they aren’t upfront about it. But most people don’t think about the costs they’re going to incur three or four years down the road. Some providers double, triple, or even quadruple your rate upon renewal. 

Let’s take a closer look at the shared hosting packages from Bluehost. You can clearly see the renewal rates below each introductory price.

In this case, the renewal rate is more than double the introductory price. Believe it or not, this is actually fairly reasonable compared to some of the other web hosting providers on the market today. 

There’s not a whole lot that you can do to avoid this increase. Your best bet is to just lock in a long-term introductory contact. That’s the best way to save the most money. 

Once your website has been up and running for a few years, the extra costs upon renewal shouldn’t feel like too much of a burden. 

Cost #4: Hosting Resources

Every web hosting plan allocates a certain number of resources to your website. While this might vary slightly from one provider to another, here’s a basic overview of what to expect:

  • Bandwidth — How quickly your server can transfer data. 
  • CPUs — Central processing units to handle all the requests on your site. 
  • RAM — Short-term memory for processing multiple requests simultaneously. 
  • SSD Storage — The maximum allowed size of your website. 

Generally speaking, the more resources you have, the higher your hosting costs will be. 

Here’s a screenshot from Bluehost’s VPS pricing table to illustrate my point:

As you can see, the SSD storage, RAM, and bandwidth increase at each tier. The number of CPU cores remains the same from the Standard to Enhanced plan but doubles at the Ultimate package level. 

Some providers offer “unlimited” or “unmetered” bandwidth. Just be forewarned that you’re not actually getting unlimited bandwidth. Unlimited bandwidth doesn’t really exist. Even the best servers have limits. Unlimited bandwidth just means that you can use as much bandwidth within a particular range offered by the provider. 

So, how much bandwidth do you need? This isn’t an exact science, but generally, 5 GB of bandwidth can accommodate up to 15,000 or 20,000 visitors per month browsing pages with an average size of 50 KB. 

Consider a cloud hosting plan if your traffic varies significantly from month to month. These packages typically allow you to scale resources on-demand to accommodate traffic spikes. 

Cost #5: Setup Fees and Site Migrations

Most web hosting providers offer free setups. This is especially true with entry-level packages, like shared hosting plans. However, if the provider actually needs to take in-depth steps to get you started, you might incur some setup fees. 

Setup fees are more common at the dedicated server level, where providers need to physically add hardware components based on your plan requests. 

If you’re transferring your website from one hosting provider to another, you might incur a site migration fee as well.

Bluehost charges $149.99 for site transfers. Other providers offer this service for free, but it shouldn’t make or break your decision to use one web host over another.

You can justify the cost by having a professional handle this for you. I don’t recommend trying to migrate a website on your own. Too much can go wrong, so pay the fee and don’t think twice about it. 

Cost #6: Domain Registration

Normally, I wouldn’t mix domain registration and web hosting. It’s usually in your best interest to get your domain name from a domain registrar and your hosting package from a web hosting provider. 

That said, new websites can bundle the two, especially through Bluehost. All new Bluehost customers get a free domain for one year with a web hosting subscription. 

It’s cheaper long-term to get your domain directly from a registrar. Bluehost’s domain renewal rates will be a bit higher. But overall, the added cost is pretty marginal. 

Most new website owners will just find it easier to bundle everything under one roof, as opposed to using different platforms for a domain name and hosting plan. 

Cost #7: Security

I don’t care what type of website you have; security needs to be a top priority for everyone. 

There are a handful of different security measures that should be added to your site. I’m referring to things like network protocols, spam filtering, malware scans, firewalls, and more. But you can get additional security directly from your web hosting provider. 

At a minimum, every web host should be offering you a free SSL certificate. That’s become an industry standard, and I wouldn’t recommend any host that charges an extra SSL fee. 

The exact security options vary from provider to provider, but here’s an example from Bluehost.

For $2.99 per month, SiteLock Security Essential gives you automated malware detection, unlimited page scans, blacklist monitoring, file-level scanning, automatic malware removal, plugin scanning, weekly reports, and more. 

Alternatively, you could always skip this and beef up security on your own. If you’re using WordPress, there are plenty of great WordPress security plugins to consider. 

Cost #8: Managed Support and Server Maintenance

Managed web hosting has become increasingly popular over the years. The term has different meanings depending on the plan and provider you’re using, but in short, a managed web host will take care of all the server operations behind the scenes. This typically includes setup, maintenance, server monitoring, support, updates, and more. 

Alternatively, high-traffic websites could consider a managed WordPress plan. 

The entry-level managed plan from Bluehost starts at $19.95 per month and can accommodate up to 50,000 visitors per month. These plans scale all the way up to sites with 500,000 monthly visitors. 

If you’re using a dedicated server, you definitely need to think about the maintenance costs. Dedicated servers are typically offered with managed or unmanaged options. 

The unmanaged plans will be cheaper if you’re just comparing rates side-by-side. But you’ll be responsible for the cost of maintaining and updating the server on your own. Unless you’re really technical or have a dedicated IT team, it’s generally better to just get a managed plan from your hosting provider. Long-term, it’s cheaper than managing a server on your own. 

Cost #9: Package Extras

Every web hosting provider makes an effort to sign you up for as many different services as possible. Navigating through upsells is just part of shopping around for web hosting.

With that said, you can skip the vast majority of add-ons and upsells offered by web hosts, especially the ones that aren’t directly tied to web hosting. 

Here’s an example to show you what I mean:

The web hosting costs highlighted above come to $142.20. But if you add-on all of the package extras to your plan, your total becomes $277.83. That’s a big jump from an advertised price of $3.95 per month.

Believe it or not, Bluehost actually doesn’t even offer that many extras compared to other hosting providers. Some will offer double or even triple this amount. 

The key here is knowing what to select and what not to select. 

A single domain SSL isn’t necessary, as you’re already getting a free Let’s Encrypt SSL with your plan. You don’t need the marketing or SEO tools. SiteLock Security Essential is something we discussed earlier. 

If you’re not going to get security features elsewhere, adding it on now is a good choice.

Codeguard Basic is another 50/50 option. It includes daily backups, one-click restores, and other helpful tools. But you could always get this later on from other plugins or services. 

Cost #10: Downtime

Downtime is an indirect cost of web hosting. It’s not something that you’ll see on your bill.

But every time your site goes down due to a server crash or network error, it costs you money. The type of website you have and your monetization strategy will dictate exactly how much money you’re losing. 

You can use uptime monitoring from Pingdom to see how different web hosts stack up with each other. Here’s an example showing Bluehost’s uptime stats over the last ten months. 

Don’t just look at an uptime guarantee from a hosting provider and assume you’re in good shape. Those guarantees typically come with all types of contingencies. In the event that they fail to meet the uptime agreement, you’ll just get credit off of a future bill. 

But that $0.50 or $1.25 credit two years from now isn’t worth the cost of losing customers today. 

Always look at reviews to see what real people have to say about the uptime reliability of different web hosting providers. Frequent downtime can be costly long-term. 

Conclusion

What’s the truth about web hosting costs? You don’t need to pay a fortune. 

Your total cost to host a website will depend on several different factors. I’ve identified the top ten costs associated with web hosting above. As you can see from this list, it’s actually fairly easy to keep hosting costs low if you understand what to look for. 

Bluehost is my favorite way to save money on web hosting. So if you sign up with them, you’re on the right track. You’ll even get a free SSL certificate and free domain name.

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