#it’s a bit of a learning curve but there’s plenty of templates videos websites and such to use for help
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Yeah :( I think it wasn’t the attention initially? But the knowledge I was doing it for good, and that— that I could help people. I liked the social aspect and the feeling of community. That I could make it so they’d never feel unsafe again.
Nowadays I don’t think I could guarantee that, though 😞
(ooc: how are u lovely person? hope ur doing well! <3)
What is your dream job?
(ooc: aw 🥰 thank you!!
I’m doing alright <3 I got notion recently so ive been having fun figuring out how to work it 🥰)
Well 🤔 I used to really want to run a zoo or aquarium when I was young. Or be a filmmaker!! But these days, ive been thinking I may put together a pitch for Q to make a second Big Innit Hotel. In the Nevadas this time 🥰
I’d like to have a place for people to stay and be comfortable and everything while they visit <3 I know we have a hotel already, but it gets full sometimes. And there’s nothing worse than having a friend or family visit but they don’t have a place to sleep!!
Plus, more visitors mean more money in Quackity’s pocket 🤭
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snowphat · 5 years ago
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Edit Video: The Best Free Video Editing Programs
Large videos in particular can be divided into smaller parts. The video editing program supports many formats compared to others, including VOB, 3GP, FLV, MP4, MPG, ASF, AVI, RM and WMV. You can easily get rid of unwanted parts of the video, such as trailers and credits. odnoklassniki video download The output settings such as video codec, size, bit rate and frame rate can also be adjusted , Video Edit Master is a free video editing program with a user-friendly interface and numerous functions for video editing and video editing.
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The costs are within the same range as for Adobe Premiere, which can only be subscribed to as a paid version. Accelerating (slow motion) or decelerating (slow motion / slow motion) film material is also possible without any problems. VideoPad Video Editor comes with more than 50 visual effects that you can use for transitions between clips, title animations and credits. The Windows program also masters advanced techniques such as green screen and subtitles. Videos can be customized with optical effects, supplemented with VoiceOvers (spoken text) and audio effects. You can easily adjust the device templates in all important audio and video properties from frame size to frame rate and save them as individual profiles. If you choose the DVD layout, the film can be burned to DVD directly from the program. The app crashes while splitting a file into video and audio while the object is locked.
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You can then choose an output format and save your video for further use.
Video editing shows better and better performances.
And frankly, I've repeatedly given up trying to find a solid one on many occasions.
Errors can hardly be avoided during video creation, so video editing is inevitably concerned with correcting these errors or removing unwanted parts. The tools required to cut out these parts are free video editing programs. This image editing program has a basic user interface and advanced tools. No powerful PC configuration is required. This free Movavi alternative is primarily aimed at basic photo editing and color correction. DaVinci Resolve Lite is a powerful video editor for amateurs. You can then capitalize the editor to adjust the resulting video accordingly. It may take some time for a beginner to get used to everything here. But I think that's something we should expect from a software solution that has so many tools. At least the learning curve is not as steep as with Adobe Premiere.
»Mr. Robot «
The free version has some limitations. Import in particular is particularly limited in AVI or MOV videos - but if you can live with it, there is plenty of power left. You get 3D transitions, cropping, video borders and side effects, sharpening and color tweaks, brightness and contrast settings, also a capable chroma key (green screen) tool if you are particularly creative feeling. The package has more than enough power to handle some very complex tasks.
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alesio3jphln · 4 years ago
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Then You Can Find Sites Like BigCommerce
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You don't need to be a web developer with a lot of cash, some time coding skills to generate a simple website that looks professional. Well-known website builders such as Wix, Weebly and Squarespace ensure it is easy even for a newbie to build something polished in a relatively limited time, even when they need advanced functions like an ecommerce platform or e-mail marketing.. Finding the website builder that is best varies according to the web site owners' particular needs -- the method could be overwhelming because there are a lot of choices. However the growth and complexity for the website building industry does mean you have got more choices than in the past, and you can easily discover the best website builder tailored to your wants and needs. Contribute to the CNET Now newsletter for the editors' picks of the very most important stories of this day. It's true that a couple of favorites have emerged -- and people website that is top options are often an excellent starting point -- but perhaps the front-runners are not ideally suited for every scenario. To make it simple for you, we've compiled all the information you'll want to make an excellent decision on the best website builder and progress to the fun section of designing your own website. We took under consideration factors including in the event that builder offers an SEO tool, a customization that is solid plus the strength of this company's customer care. Starting price does not include cheaper plans if they are ad-supported. Some vendors offer free domain hosting for the year that is first some plans as well. To compile this list, we researched the values, plans and features of over 12 different website builders and scoured reviews from several sites (including PCMag, Wirecutter, WebsiteToolTester, SiteBuilderReport, WPBeginner and much more) to see where there might be any consensus. We also surveyed the CNET staff, and ultimately spent time building some test sites utilizing the tools below (if we weren't already members). We paid particular awareness of the categories that do not only differentiate one site from another, but which in fact matter to business people, artists and creators such as SEO features, mobile-friendly website builders, live chat options, available plugins and customer care. If, by the finish associated with list, you're still not sure which direction to go, we have included helpful information at the end, including key questions you should really be asking yourself while you start your on line venture. Finally, if you curently have an internet site and just need a host or perhaps you're thinking about building a WordPress site, check our list out of best website hosting services. WIx Wix is the clear front-runner in the race for website builder dominance.
Top 10 YouTube Clips About BigCommerce
It is the player that is biggest with more than 110 million websites built and boasts the best volume of tools, capabilities, and freedom. Wix covers the full ease-of-use spectrum by providing an AI-fueled automatic website creator using one end ("Wix ADI") that will require minimal effort through the user, most of the way to Wix Corvid, an open development platform for advanced applications like Javascript, databases and data-driven dynamic pages. To maximize the experience, we do recommend choosing one lane (e.g., Wix ADI, specific templates or design-from-scratch), because it may be difficult to maintain consistency across your website design if, for example, you begin with a template but then decide you want to totally customize it. Like many competitors in this space, Wix offers a fundamental website that is free plan that lets you create a totally free website starter site with ads. If you prefer everything you see with the free website builder, you can spend up for reasonably limited, ad-free site. Pricing falls within industry standards with a $13-per-month "Combo" plan that covers most needs for a personal website. If an ecommerce is needed by you website builder for your ecommerce store, Wix offers a $49-per-month "Business VIP" ecommerce website policy for your on line store. Those prices usually do not include a domain, so that you'll need certainly to account for that separately. And if you have in mind stats and analytics, you'll either need to get a Google Analytics paid plan or another tool that is third-party as Wix doesn't always have a unique. Despite being the favorite that is clear most reviewers, Wix does have a couple of drawbacks. Wix was mostly of the builders which includes data limitations for every of its plan tiers, so if you want to upload endless photos and videos, or expect a lot more than 5,000 visitors per month to your internet site, ensure you perform some math before selecting an idea. Also, the editor's freedom and selection of options can be overwhelming for folks who don't have the time or inclination in order to make a lot of little decisions together with design flexibility means you need to be more hands-on with all the format and layout, in the place of more structured or editors that are limited you cannot draw past an acceptable limit away from lines. Squarespace strikes us as the cool kid in senior school -- flashy and hip at first glance but lacking substance underneath. We found it to be in between Wix and Weebly in terms of simplicity of use, though it did get consistently positive marks from reviewers for the grade of design. Where we think it really might shine is for small- to medium-size businesses who desire a nicely designed page and room for e-commerce growth with lower transaction fees.
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The Squarespace editor is not as intuitive as Wix and Weebly, requiring a bit that is little of unless you get the hang of it. It offers a good number of add-ons, web templates and tools, and the style that is universal and strong photo editing are helpful. The responsive website editor means that your internet site will always look good on a mobile device, but you will not be able to make mobile-specific edits like with Wix or Duda. We also found consistent high marks for helpful and responsive customer support, which will put business people' minds at ease. Squarespace starts off with a $12-a-month Personal plan, which include storage that is unlimited bandwidth and a domain, while offering an $18 Business website plan which includes unlimited contributors, a Gmail pro account, and e-commerce store builder capabilities. You can choose between $26 and $40 a month, the latter of which includes a few final touches like abandoned shopping cart recovery and gift cards if you go for an "Online Store" plan. You need to remember that the $26 online store plan, while maybe slightly above the market rate for an site that is e-commerce is sold with no transaction fees. So based on your sales volume on a given month, those savings for our online shop could really add up. Overall, Squarespace's website is a good analog for what you get having its products: clean, professional and inviting design, but minus the layers of design power or freedom you will get off their builders. Weebly Weebly flies underneath the radar relative to Wix with 50 million websites created, but offers some options that are excellent on your requirements. A large site (more than 25 to 30 pages), unlimited storage, site portability and affordable yet powerful online store capabilities, Weebly plays a good David to Wix's Goliath if you want a simple and easy-to-use do-it-yourself website editor. The editor is one of the easiest website builder options to utilize plus the low learning curve still nets great-looking sites. That ease-of-use means the editor is more limited with regards to add-ons and design flexibility plus it doesn't have the range of options or mobile customization that a builder like Wix has. Still, inside our testing, we never came to a point where we found those constraints to be limiting. For a high-octane web designer, though, it could show up. Weebly's prices are just like competitors like Wix or Squarespace, but its plan that is free option the most generous among free website builders as well as for just $5 per month you will get ready to go with your personal domain name (albeit with Weebly ads).
Seven Unbelievable BigCommerce Transformations
Its $ plan that is 12-per-month give you an ad-free site with analytics and commerce capabilities, as the $25 plan gets you more store tools, like tax and shipping calculators, inventory management and discounts. Weebly is a option that is good those who might be more limited in terms of their time investment and its own commerce options outshine competitors like Wix and Squarespace. If you are wary of committing to a website builder knowing which you defintely won't be in a position to pick up and leave later on, Weebly also offers the ability to download site files to help you relocate to another host, a rarity in the site builder landscape. Duda Duda is an inferior player set alongside the other builders above with around 15 million websites built plus it is targeted on a specific market segment: designers and design agencies. It caters to individuals and groups that make plenty of sites, however with a powerful and easy-to-use builder and a number of differentiated offerings, it's emerged as a great choice for anyone looking to develop an online presence. Duda's builder boasts a number of features that set it apart, including mobile site customization, detailed data analytics (e.g. advanced metrics like form submissions, time on page and bounce rate) and user personalization in order to easily display messages that are specific offers to users on the basis of the time of day, their location or their browsing history. It is also known for the multilanguage support and a e-commerce that is free that allows you to sell as much as 10 products. Duda's pricing is a bit that is little than its main competitors like Wix and Weebly, starting off at $14 per month for the Basic plan. At $22, you could add up to four editors for your site (rather than only one with Basic), access advanced analytics and begin using Duda as a white-label/custom-branded builder, a different one of Duda's selling points. Its "Agency" plan at $74 per month is aimed toward web-site designers that are building pages for multiple clients and includes eight websites plus the ability to download site files for portability. Duda is just a little expensive, but fills a number of the voids that the primary players have, like analytics, multilingual capabilities and better personalization and customization that is mobile. GoDaddy GoDaddy is best known for its custom domain names and website hosting services, that it also offers website builder software so it makes sense. The problem is so it quite definitely is like an ancillary service -- it does not seem like it is place in the growth effort and time that a few of the mainstream website building players like Wix, Duda and Weebly have.
Nevertheless, if you should be interested in simplicity and a user-friendly interface, GoDaddy could be a good option. The GoDaddy "GoCentral" builder is among the simplest tools available, but it's also probably the most restrictive. It is possible to build an internet site and obtain it reside in an hour or two and the rigid structures and lack of customization options means it's going to look good, if not dramatically unique. It is challenging in order to make specific site edits to your pre-made templates, just like pre-made templates you're generally limited to adding a content "block" which has preset text, image and formatting, in place of having the ability to add, drag or drop individual elements. The editor is a lot more of a Madlibs-style fill-in-the-blank as opposed to a responsive, free-flowing experience. It is slightly ironic that it does not include a domain name in its prices, given its core product offering, but apart from that you will findn't too many surprises. The ten dollars plan that is monthly straight-up basic; $15 gets you a PayPal option and an SEO tool and help; $20 tacks on extra email marketing and social networking integration, and its $25-per-month Ecommerce plan is for online store capabilities, that are actually pretty impressive. You obtain abandoned cart recovery, inventory management, discounts and promotions, and Amazon, Etsy and eBay integrations -- the majority of which are usually only available for an store that is online higher prices. GoDaddy is a well-known name, not because of its website builder. Still, we like this there's a super simple and not-too-expensive option available to you for people who don't care about specific style placements and nuanced themes and just need a website that is simple. That is very powerful, but it does take time to understand and still requires that you find a website host and domain name. It is much like the other builders in the list above and it is primarily geared toward bloggers and writers. The WordPress website editor is fairly limited compared to other services, it is an easy task to set up and contains all you need for blogging. We ought to also keep in mind that it is not an intuitive drag-and-drop website builder like Wix or Weebly. Its pricing is fairly cheap, starting off at $5 per to remove WordPress ads and giving you 6GB of storage month. After that it goes to $8 for 13GB of storage and selling that is online, last but not least a $25 option that enables you to definitely use custom WordPress theme options and add-ons. The $8 option appears like the best deal if you're setting up a blog and thinking about monetizing it at some time. Overall, WordPress caters to bloggers that don't want or have to spend a complete lot of the time on web site design, but it feels not a lot of for most other use cases.
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holytheoristtastemaker · 5 years ago
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The best new tools for designers are ones that make your life easier and your workflows faster. You’ll find some of those in this list this month for sure. From tools to help you capture and manage color palettes to AI-powered design analytics to simple animations, there’s something for almost every designer or developer.
Here’s what new for designers this month.
The Hero Generator
The Hero Generator is a fun tool that will help you create just the right hero header without having to write the code yourself. Upload your image, set some specs for spacing and color, add a button, and out comes the code for an example that you can build right on the screen. Make sure to play with the gradient overlay to get just the right color and orientation to ensure that your hero header looks great and includes highly readable type.
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Sorted Colors
Sorted Colors groups named CSS colors in a way that shows related colors together. It’s a nice way to check colors side by side when you are trying to make a final decision about a hue or color palette. You could also use it to create a monotone palette.
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Attention Insight
Attention Insight is an AI-powered design analytics tool that allows you to compare multiple designs and to measure which object attracts the most attention. It uses a combination of heatmaps, percentage of attention metrics to help measure the overall clarity of your design. New features, such as a contrast checker, are also in the works. It works as a web app, plugin for popular software, or a Chrome extension.
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Color Copy Paste
Color Copy Paste is an app that you can use to capture a color from practically anything and then paste it to Figma, Sketch, or a web browser. It’s a quick way to snag little bits of inspiration when you see them.
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Runme
Runme, which is still in beta, allows you to build, deploy, and launch an application from any public Git-repo with one click. Enter a URL and a few commands and you are ready to go. This is an open-source tool and contributions are welcome.
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Rough Notation
Rough Notation is a small JavaScript library to create and animate annotations on a web page. It uses RoughJS to create a hand-drawn look and feel. Elements can be annotated in a number of different styles. Animation duration and delay can be configured or turned off. Choose from options to underline, box, circle, highlight, cross off, strikethrough, group items, and more.
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Trails
This is a simple, but useful goodie. Trails is a simple geometrical trail on an x and z axis that you can attach to Three.js objects. The simple animation is mesmerizing.
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Pose Animator
Pose Animator takes a 2D vector illustration and animates its containing curves in real-time based on a recognition result from PoseNet and FaceMesh. It borrows the idea of skeleton-based animation from computer graphics and applies it to vector characters. (It’s a fast way to cartoonize yourself.) You can build from a webcam video or single image in Chrome or Safari.
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Neumorphism UI
Neumorphism UI is a user interface kit packed with components in the neumorphic style. It includes more than 200 components, 10 sections, and five example pages to build a website in this style.
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3D Photography Using Context-Aware Layered Depth Inpainting
This project by a group of researchers proved that you can convert a single RGB-D image into a 3D photo, much like what you’d see from an iPhone. The included source code shows how to use a layered depth image as part of a learning-based model that creates a three-dimensional effect.
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Meanderer
Meanderer is a micro-library for scaling CSS motion path strings. And it looks pretty nifty. All you need is an object with a path (typically an SVG) and you are ready to try it out.
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Underline Animation
Sometimes it is the most simple of animations that can have the greatest impact on a design. This Underline Animation pen from Aaron Iker is an example of that with a nifty little underline that moves to an arrow.
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Create a Hamburger Menu in SVG & CSS
Love it or hate it, you’ll probably need to create a hamburger menu element at some point. This great tutorial from UX Collective explains how to do it from start to finish using an SVG icon and CSS. (This lesson is designed so almost anyone with a little dev knowledge can follow along with success.)
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Blush
Blush is a fun, semi-custom illustration generator. It uses drawings from artists around the world with parts and color options that you can mix and match to get just the right illustration for your design project. Choose your specifications and download a PDF. It’s that easy.
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Supabase
Supabase in an open-source alternative to Firebase and adds real-time and restful APIs to Postgres without code. (It’s in Alpha and free to use during that time.)
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Fluent Icons
Fluent Icons includes 965 icons in a Microsoft-esque style. These colorful and consistent icons are ideal for use across apps, presentations, websites, and infographics. (Free and paid options available.)
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One Word Domains
Looking for a quick and easy to remember domain name? One Word Domains lets you search all the available one-word domains available for purchase.
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Free Device Icons
This set of free device icons includes 67 elements that represent user interfaces and devices. They come in multiple file formats – SVG, EPS, PNG, and AI – as a line-style vector.
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Windups
Windups is a tool to help you add a typewriter-style animation to text elements. It’s a fun way to help people through your design and build dynamic content. You can see how engaging it is by playing with the Windups site with building blocks of text and “continue” buttons.
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Glorious Glyphs Game
Test your typography IQ with the Glorious Glyphs Game game from ILoveTypography.com. The game includes 30 questions about glyph characters, where you have to ID a font. It’s a lot tougher than you might think!
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Cosmos
Cosmos is a beautiful and colorful gradient font family. It contains letterforms with hologram, multicolor, minimal, glitch, and blur options is a readable and trendy style. This premium font family is available by the style or altogether.
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Ephemera
Ephemera is a groovy novelty-style typeface that has fun lines, plenty of common shapes and elements, and glyphs that pair for exceptional letter combinations. It could make a nice brand mark or an interesting display type element. It includes upper- and lowercase characters, numerals, and some extras.
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Kavo Serif
Kavo Serif is clean, modern typeface with five weights, and even includes logo templates. It’s a versatile font that works great in large and small sizes.
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Republiko
Republiko is a modern display typeface with regular and outline styles. While it is designed for display, the characters remain readable at smaller sizes as well.
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TT Lakes Neue
TT Lakes Neue is a font superfamily with 91 styles. It’s got a nice geometric shape and the package even includes a variable font. This is a premium typeface that you can buy individual styles or the complete package.
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Typo Ring
Typo Ring is a super round typeface with plenty of weights (although the free version has limited character sets). It’s highly readable and includes upper- and lowercase letters.
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XXIX
XXIX is a bold, futuristic slab with fun shapes and slants. It’s an all uppercase option with a limited set of numerals and glyphs.
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entrepreneurnut · 4 years ago
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SendLane Review - Does It Live Up To The Hype?
New Post has been published on https://entrepreneurnut.com/sendlane-review/
SendLane Review - Does It Live Up To The Hype?
Email marketing — love it or hate it, it’s a necessity for any online business that wants to thrive.
A lot of small-time and beginner marketers avoid using email in the beginning. It can seem daunting, time-consuming and expensive. But take it from the, the earlier you can start building a list, the better off you will be further down the line.
If you’re gonna incorporate email marketing into your business (and you definitely should if you want to build a scalable, long-term asset) then you will need to use an autoresponder service.
Besides now being a legal requirement for email marketing, using an autoresponder will also make your list building efforts considerably easier. Unfortunately, many fall short, in my opinion — I’ve tried quite a few of them.
In the past, I’ve found myself settling for “good enough,” but since this is such an important part of my business, I am always on the look-out for the next best autoresponder to test out.
It’s a marketers dream to find that holy grail solution — something that’s easy to use and affiliate marketing friendly with exceptional deliverability rates.
The latest contender for the cup? SendLane. Is it a good fit for your online business, too? Let’s find out. This SendLane review will cover everything you need to know about this up-and-coming automated marketing solution.
Things to Consider Before Buying an Autoresponder
Like most things in business — and life — finding the right option for you depends heavily on your preferences and needs.
Where SendLane really shines is in its simplicity of use and exceptional deliverability rates.
However, if you’re a marketer who handles massive campaigns for large organizations, then SendLane may not provide all the features you need. In this case, you may be better off with a higher-priced service that offers more automation, analytics, and bells and whistles, such as HubSpot.
However, if you’re looking for a powerful tool that’s easy to use and excels at its core features — email broadcasts, automation, and outstanding deliverability rates — SendLane might be perfect for you.
It’s an excellent fit for small to medium-sized businesses, and affiliate marketers looking for a simple user interface with plenty of automation options.
Yes, SendLane is affiliate marketing friendly! I heard this directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
This is a big consideration if affiliate marketing is a core part of your business. Unfortunately, most autoresponder services don’t like affiliates and will shut you down for simply including an affiliate link in your emails. It’s happened to me…
Still not sure if SendLane autoresponder is right for you? Consider the following while you read through the rest of this SendLane review.
The number of customers: How many emails will you be sending out, and how often?
The complexity of the rules: Are you satisfied with basic features like timed sending, or do you need to get fancier?
Analytics: Make sure you choose an autoresponder that provides you with focused analytics reports, instead of overwhelming you with unnecessary stats.
GDPR-compliant: Make sure that you stay on the right side of the law and protect your customers’ privacy.
SendLane: A Closer Look
SendLane is an easy-to-use autoresponder with some very high-end tools. It features advanced contact tagging, which allows the system to automatically group subscribers by geographic region, or pretty much any other criteria you desire.
Advanced list-building options such as this are fantastic to give your marketing efforts a laser-focus with precise market targeting.
These features alone can considerably improve both your open and your conversion rates.
Its simple interface also makes it a fantastic option for novice marketers or people running their own businesses who need to handle the marketing on their own.
In my opinion, 
it does take a bit of time to fully understand the system, but the results are well worth it. Having said that, all the autoresponder services I have used to date do have a bit of a learning curve.
SendLane Pros and Cons
SendLane Pros:
Intuitive design
Exceptional deliverability rates
Excellent support
Plenty of automation options with tons of triggers to choose from
High-end landing page and email editors
Simple to use drag-and-drop editor
Integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Zapier, and ClickBank available, with more coming in the future
SendLane Cons:
Can be spendy as your subscriber list grows
No onboarding process when you first install the software
Some aspects feel clunky
SendLane Features and Benefits
By now, you probably want to know more detailed info on SendLane’s features and benefits. So here goes…
Drag and Drop Editor
One of the features I like the most about SendLane is its simple to use drag and drop editor. It makes creating visually ravishing emails simple and hassle-free, which I find fun, and a big time-saver.
You can choose from a wide variety of email elements and customize them in any way you see fit to best represent your brand and help your conversions.
There are currently about 20 templates, which is about standard among popular autoresponders in 2020.
While you can customize these, I do wish SendLane offered a slightly more extensive catalog of options. It’s not a deal-breaker though as you can also create your own templates from scratch if you want to.
Landing Page Creator
If you want more than just an email editor, you’ll appreciate SendLane’s landing page creator. Unlike the email editor, you get over 50 templates to choose from with an impressive range of designs.
This is a great feature as it can save you money on third-party page builders like ClickFunnels, depending on your needs, of course.
Some templates even include countdown timers, videos, and pop-ups, which is really cool. However, I struggled to figure out how to add them to other templates.
Some people may appreciate this feature, but if you’re looking strictly for an email tool, chances are you won’t use this feature at all.
Advanced Contact Tagging and Automation
SendLane goes well beyond ‘drip-feed’ email functionality and lets you set up workflows that change your email delivery depending on what your subscribers do.
You can also tag subscribers based on where they live, their sign-up source, the device they use, and pretty much any other custom tag you can think of.
Even better, this incredibly powerful functionality is very simple to set up and use, even if you’re new to the world of marketing.
For me, this is one of the most important considerations when it comes to choosing an autoresponder. If it’s intuitive and easy to use then it’s a big plus in my book.
Standard Reporting and Analytics
Most marketing software gives you plenty of analytics to chew over, and SendLane is no different, offering data on:
Open rates
Click through rates
Bounce rates
Your most active subscribers with the highest open rates
People who unsubscribed, and their stated reason
Most of these analytics work in real-time, so you’ll always have an up-to-date view of what’s going on in your marketing campaign — without being overwhelmed.
SendLane provides a manageable amount of data presented in an easy-to-read format. Because of this, it is so much easier to act on your data to make improvements where you need to.
What I particularly like about the data the SendLane provides is that you can set up all your different campaigns and have it track all the clicks and conversions on your website as well as the conversions that come directly from your emails, as you can see below.
SendLane’s data can even help you track all the clicks and sales that are coming from each of your email campaigns, and report on how much each subscriber has spent with you.
As you can see from the screenshot below, this subscriber made a purchase via email of $99.
This is super powerful, especially if you run an eCom business or if you create your own digital products!
Automatically Optimized Send Times
Unlike many autoresponders that ask you to figure out the best time to send your emails, SendLane will optimize the process for you, which is awesome!
The program analyses previous email open rates and suggests the perfect time to send the next one.
Best of all, you can set up this functionality on an individual email basis, tailoring every single person’s experience to their particular habits, if you want to go that deep. Alternatively, you can save time and just let SendLane optimize the whole sending process for you.
Creating a List of Contracts
Lists are key to customizing your email campaigns.
SendLane lets you add contacts to as many lists as you like, and duplicates don’t count towards your contact limit.
This is important to be aware of as some autoresponders like Aweber will count contacts multiple times if they are subscribed to more than one of your lists. This means that you will quickly reach your subscriber limit and then need to upgrade to a higher priced plan. But with SendLane, you don’t need to worry about this.
You can even set different rules for each list, giving you granular control over your entire subscriber base.
Once you’ve set up your lists, you can also automate adding new subscribers to each particular list as they sign up.
SendLane allows you to create a form for new sign-ups or integrate your existing website API in some cases.
Email Broadcasts in SendLane
Email broadcasts are the bread and butter of email marketing, and SendLane’s process is streamlined and simple.
The broadcast tool gives you over 20 marketing templates along with customization for when to send out the email.
Email Automation in SendLane
We’ve touched upon this briefly when discussing automation, but SendLane offers a very powerful workflow tool that allows you to send emails in a very focused manner.
Workflow setup is pretty simple — you can either start with a template or from scratch.
Not only does SendLane have a comprehensive list of triggers, but it also allows for if/else functionality, which is pretty powerful.
If/else workflows let you customize your workflow even further. The simple flow-chart layout makes understanding the process significantly easier for people just starting in marketing.
API and Integrations
API, or ‘application programming interface,’ is a method for a particular program to talk with other programs.
If you want to integrate SendLane functionality with another program, you can use their well-documented API to do so quite easily.
SendLane also allows other programs to talk to it, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and ClickBank.
They are still working on adding more integrations with other common platforms, like WordPress, which is surprisingly still missing. However, if you use Zapier then you can integrate SendLane with pretty much anything.
Onboarding
SendLane takes the ‘throw them in the deep end’ approach to onboarding, in that they don’t offer any form of tutorial, which is a shame.
Luckily, the user interface is simple to use, and the processes streamlined enough that you should be able to figure it out by yourself.
If you feel entirely lost, then you can click the red help button to contact customer support or check out some SendLane tutorials on YouTube.
Automation
Naturally, an autoresponder has to hit automation out of the park.
SendLane provides plenty of robust automation tools with a simple user interface to make your life easier.
The platform’s workflows are clear and effective. In my opinion, it provides everything that most digital marketers will need.
Deliverability
SendLane has a very aggressive list culling and hygiene processes in place to reduce the number of dead or false email addresses you have to deal with and pay for during a campaign.
The program also generates easy-to-follow deliverability reports, allowing you to see how many of your emails are actually delivered.
You can see exactly how SendLane’s deliverability compares to its competitors in this SendLane comparison chart here.
Ease of Use
Despite the lack of onboarding, SendLane is surprisingly easy to use. Even its most powerful features are simple to figure out.
With plenty of click-and-drag functionality and clear visuals, most users, even beginner marketers will probably get the hang of things on the first use.
Social Proof
While I could go on about the features I liked and didn’t like about SendLane, it’s also worthwhile to find out what other people think.
I scoured the internet to find out what people on the ground, such as entrepreneurs and small business owners, think of SendLane.
Most people overall seemed to like it a lot.
The reviews weren’t glowing across the board — I’d question their authenticity if they were — but, overall, SendLane reviews are quite positive.
Here are some of the SendLane reviews I found from business owners and marketers:
SendLane Pricing
As you no doubt understand by now, SendLane offers way above average functionality and provides several ways to help you increase your subscriber base and generate higher revenue from your campaigns.
Due to this, and the additional new features that SendLane have added to their service, they have recently changed their pricing structure.
Perviously, SendLane’s starting price was $25 per month, which was about middle of the road compared to its competitors.
While SendLane’s new pricing structure is higher, they do offer a very attractive starter bundle for new members, which is $497 for the year. This works out at just over $41 per month.
While this can seem like a lot to beginner marketers, those who have been in business for a while and understand the importance of the features that SendLane offer will likely see this as a great deal.
On the starter plan you get everything on SendLane’s more expensive growth plan for your first 6 months.
Below is a screenshot of their pricing table.
You can see SendLane’s full pricing page here.
SendLane Alternatives
SendLane offers a heaping plate of appealing features, but if it doesn’t meet your needs, there are plenty of other more time-tested autoresponders out there.
Here are some alternatives that you may also want to consider.
Aweber
The main difference between the two is the presentation and price.
While SendLane definitely has more advanced automation features, Aweber offers quite a few more templates, as well as a more competitive starting cost. This can be appealing for beginners who don’t need fancy automation processes.
It is a superb option for small businesses who want to dip their toe into email marketing without spending too much money.
SendLane, however, is a better option for marketers who want more powerful automation and a few nice extras that Aweber doesn’t have.
Aweber:
More affordable–starts at $19/month
Larger support team
More standard email templates
Affiliate marketing friendly
SendLane:
Comes with a landing page builder
Better automation features
$25/month starting price
If you’re looking for an email-focused product with plenty of support and a more affordable starting price, check out Aweber here.
GetResponse
GetResponse is an industry leader when it comes to email marketing. It’s the ideal solution for large-scale operations that handle thousands of emails per day and companies that want an all-in-one solution.
SendLane is a more customized tool that’s perfect for smaller businesses, e-commerce owners, and digital agencies that need powerful automation without many other marketing tools.
GetResponse:
High deliverability
Customized plans for added flexibility and scalability
GetResponse has been on the market for years, with the track record to prove it
Affiliate marketing friendly
SendLane:
Approachable and user-friendly interface
Email timing optimization
Tagging and list-based automation
If you want a cheaper starting price option than SendLane with similar functionality, GetResponse may be the right choice for you. Check out GetResponse here.
Mailer Lite
If you want an autoresponder that is very low priced and even has a free forever plan, but with good functionality then Mailer Lite is a good option.
It’s important to note that it’s not affiliate marketing friendly, but if your business does not revolve around promoting affiliate offers then this is not a problem.
One work-around to using an autoresponder that does not allow you to put affiliate links directly in the emails is to create a landing page with your affiliate link, and then link to the landing page from your emails.
As mentioned earlier, autoresponder service offers a free forever plan with limited functionality. However, when you do start paying, it is considerably cheaper than many other options on the market.
Pricing starts at just $15 per month for up to 2,500 subs! This starting plan also comes with unlimited user accounts and you can send an unlimited number of emails. It is also easy to use, which makes it a great choice for beginners.
Mailer Lite:
Free forever plan
Easy to use
Send unlimited emails on the lowest price plan
Not affiliate friendly
SendLane:
Better automation for personalized email marketing
Primarily built for affiliates and B2C businesses
Provides useful analytics data and web activity tracking
If you run an eCommerce, drop-ship, or digital product business, you’ll appreciate the powerful features that Mailer Lite brings. You can check out Mailer Lite here.
If you want to check out the top 7 autoresponders I recommend, you can see them here.
Summing It Up: SendLane in Review
Email marketing is a highly valuable lead generation tool, and is a cornerstone of any successful online business. However, if you’re using a sub-par, or even just the wrong autoresponder for your needs then email marketing can become a headache.
As you can see from the features that SendLane has to offer, it can simplify your digital marketing efforts, free up your time, and help you to generate more customers, and increase profits.
In my opinion, SendLane offers an excellent solution for small to medium businesses. It is intuitive and easy to work with that anyone can use it effectively in a short space of time. It also has plenty of powerful features that are usually only available on superior autoresponder services at higher prices.
If you’re interested in trying out SendLane then you will be pleased to know that they do have a 14-day free trial. While you will need to enter your credit cart info to sign up for the free trial, you can cancel at any time before the end of the 14 days and you will not be charged.
If you’d like to try out this autoresponder service then you can get a 14-day free trial here.
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regulardomainname · 5 years ago
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What To Look For In A Website Builder
You may be considering the idea of building your own website rather than hiring a team of developers to do it for you. If so, good for you! It’s a great idea. By building your own website you can take advantage of many benefits you would otherwise miss out on. By building your own website you can: * Save money that would be spent on developers * Quickly and easily make changes in the future * Keep your website updated without additional help * Create the version of your website you see in your mind * Customize your website to your liking However, there are also a few downsides to building your own website. For example, you will need to invest quite a lot of your own time, and building a website can be frustrating if you don’t have the right website builder. In this post, we have assembled a list of what you should look for before choosing a tool to build your website. Website Builder Options If you search the internet for “website builder” you will quickly find dozens of tools all claiming to be the best. How do you know which to choose? There are a few popular options to consider like WordPress or a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), which is a tool that lets you drag and drop website elements onto your page. WordPress WordPress currently supports 75 million websites, and there are thousands of helpful videos, articles, and tools to help you create the perfect website. The WordPress platform is often not thought of for website building due to the platform’s popularity as a blogging tool. However, WordPress can be used for just about any type of website from photograph portfolios to a fully equipped ecommerce website. WordPress is a very simple tool to use once you get the hang of it. However, there is a little bit of a learning curve. Luckily there are hundreds–if not thousands–of support resources available. So, make sure to gather resources and read up before you get started. Learn more about WordPress Hosting at Midphase.com. Website Builder Website Builder is the perfect tool for those who want to build their own website, but don’t want to spend a lot of time learning a new platform. It is especially great for people who don’t consider themselves to be very technical. Website Builder is a WYSIWYG tool that allows you to simply drag-and-drop the various website elements onto the page. There is even an ecommerce package that comes equipped with a shopping cart and payment portal. To be sure that you are choosing the best website builder tool, make sure that before confirming your purchase you see the following elements: * It is hosted by a reliable company that offers 24-hour technical support. * There is hosting, a website domain, and email account included in the package. * The specifications allow your website room to grow. * A variety of website templates to choose from. * A responsive WYSIWYG editor that allows you to customize your website. * Plenty of resources on how to use the website builder tool. Once you’ve decided which tool to use, all that’s left is to start building! Make sure to follow the Midphase blog for more helpful tips on how to build and maintain your website, domain, and web hosting package. From marketing to technical issues, Midphase covers all the information you need to make your website a success.   The post What To Look For In A Website Builder appeared first on The Midphase Blog. http://dlvr.it/RMpm5f www.regulardomainname.com
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templified · 5 years ago
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Yoga WordPress Themes | Templified
New Post has been published on https://templified.com/yoga-wordpress-themes/
Yoga WordPress Themes
Yoga is a really popular form of exercise, it’s popularity seems to grow every year.  It’s easy to see why, those who practice yoga see plenty of health and wellness benefits, it’s an activity that people of every age group, anywhere in the world can participate in and people can really increase their strength, flexibility and energy levels just by taking a few yoga classes per week.  With so many of us leading sedentary lifestyles, an exercise like yoga is a great fit, leading to mental and physical benefits alike.  Plenty of people who start by taking a few classes, in turn decide to start a yoga studio to pursue their passion as a business.  As with any business, you’re going to need a great looking website to help promote what you have to offer.
Many yoga businesses are very well funded and they have the money to build a completely custom website, but that’s not true for every yoga studio out there.  Competing with larger studios is a whole lot easier with a premium WordPress theme to give you a huge head start toward building your business.  We’ve gathered up several high quality, well organized, powerful and feature filled WordPress themes for yoga studios to help you pick one that delivers a great user experience.  These premium WordPress themes offer all the features, the flexibility and the user experience to deliver a great looking website to help promote your yoga studio.  These themes can really help you grow your business, build trust and brand loyalty.  I feel  like you really can’t afford to have a poorly performing website, so we hope you can find a great one in this collection.
So, here we go, the best yoga themes on the web.
Divi
Divi is a premium WordPress theme, it’s actually one of the most popular themes available anywhere.  With about 1 million users worldwide, it shouldn’t be too surprising that there are quite a number of pre-made styles perfect for yoga studios.  (The image above is from this free pack, though you can also download premium yoga studio designs too.)   This design includes seven pages to give you a big head start to build an amazing website for your yoga studio.  It only takes a few clicks and you’re off and running.
Back to the review, Divi uses a drag and drop page builder to allow you the freedom to customize your site any way you want to.  The Divi builder is completely visual, you can drag and drop any element to your preferred location and get a really nice look for your website.  At first glance, it may appear to be overwhelming, but it’s got a pretty easy learning curve.  Features that you’ll want to incorporate include a scheduling system, class pages where prospective students can learn more about classes, and of course plenty of great images.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Aasana
Clean, flexible and nimble, this is Aasana, a WordPress yoga, fitness, gym and dance WordPress theme is suitable for just about any type of health-related website. If your business is about Fitness, this template offers you a lot of different possibilities to create a gorgeous site that can really attract a lot of attention. It also works great for meditation classes and wellness centers, not to mention other types of health-related businesses. With perfectly responsive Design, This theme looks great on all devices from mobile to desktop and everything in between. It comes with several different page types, white screen and boxed layouts and an unlimited amount of color schemes. The code is at the highest quality and the documentation is very simple and to the point. You got several features that are specific to health and fitness sites such as a useful time table option, membership packages and well organized events page.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Bridge
Bridge is a very popular, creative WordPress theme that has quite a number of demo Styles included, well over three hundred to be exact. Of these pre-made styles, I think that you will enjoy this yoga studio design. It can be imported with just one click and that can help you establish your website quickly. There is an integrated at search function, social media integration and step-by-step video tutorials to help you set up your website. Fully optimized for SEO, Bridge is a woocommerce ready theme with a very modern style and plenty of beautiful elements. If you need a one page Gallery, a landing page, this theme has the ability to adapt itself to almost any need.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Kallyas
This premium theme is called Kallyas.  This theme comes with a 65 different pre-made designs, each of them can be set up in just a few minutes. I’ve showcased the yoga studio, health and beauty template, though there is also a number of fitness themes that might be solid choices as well. With this theme, you get a visual page builder to help you organize your page. Simply drag and drop content elements into place and click inside to type in your text. This gives you a very rapid way to set up your site, giving you everything needed to make a wonderful first impression and keep people coming back for more. There are 100 or more pre-built elements to suit any type of website, these also can be dragged into place and adjusted to fit your needs. Revolution slider is one of the most popular slider plugins in the world and that is included for free as well. This is a real attention-getter that can help make your site memorable and highlight your most important content at the top of the page.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Yoga X
Yoga X is the name of this theme and it is specifically built for yoga, Pilates studios and meditation classes. If you need to create a professional website for any of these purposes, Yoga  is a great starting point. This can give your business a real edge, developing a website that is attractive and full of information about what you have to offer. There are a lot of specific features for fitness and health Studios like instructor details, class overviews, class details and schedules or timetables. You got an opening hour widget and a membership sign-up page that are pre-made as well. This entire theme is highly customizable, you can change up just about anything you need to fit your brand. If you run into issues setting your website up, the support and documentation or thorough and very helpful.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Kriya
Kriya has a very soothing color scheme right out of the box, making this a really nice theme for any yoga studio or pilates class.  This Kriya theme gives you tons of customization options, anything from the color palette to the way out, add-ons and plug-ins, There is almost nothing that you cannot adjust to fit your needs. With the built-in courses plug-in, you can display any sort of class schedule that you want to. I think that the overall design lends itself perfectly to any yoga studio, and the sales pages are very well organized and full of information. It’s easy to create any type of page that you want, because this theme comes with a visual composer. You can create Workshop pages 2 give out information about upcoming events, there are animated sliders to attract attention to your most important content and many different beautifully-crafted inner pages to Showcase what you have to offer. The support and documentation are very in-depth and quite helpful when getting started. This theme has a nearly perfect rating on themeforest, making it one of the better yoga themes out there.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Aqua
Aqua is responsive theme is ideal for Spas, salons, yoga classes and fitness classes of all sorts. With well over a thousand sales, this is quite a popular WordPress theme. It was designed and created from the ground-up to help promote yoga studios, fitness centers, wellness centers and other related businesses. It gives you a little bit of everything 2 craft a really nice looking site that attracts attention and keeps people informed about what you offer. Aqua comes with a reservations system, scheduling and booking plugins are built-in and I think the design itself is really soothing and beautiful, perfectly blending information with style that can turn visitors into repeat customers.  Here are some more WordPress beauty themes that might be of interest to you.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
The 7
The 7 is a multi-purpose WordPress theme that is sort of a website building tool kit. It’s one of the most popular themes around with over 150,000 sales so far. You got 40 different pre-made websites, Each of which can be automatically installed with just one click. Six premium plugins are included and this theme is deeply integrated with WooCommerce, allow you to accept payments on your website. There are over 1,000 theme options in 250 page options included too. You got free lifetime updates and Rock Solid support. This is a very flexible and Powerful theme, especially when considering the low price of just $39. This is a real bargain.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
BeTheme
Be theme is another wildly popular WordPress theme with multiple pre-made designs, including several that are perfect for fitness and yoga studios. This template has been sold over 160,000 times, making it one of the most popular themes for yoga studios anywhere. With some of these premium templates, things can get a bit bloated. However, with the recent updates to this theme, it’s more lightweight and fast living than ever. That can help you in terms of search engine opimization and when building a website, speed is incredibly important. There are 450 different pre-built websites ready to go with just a single click. I’ve highlighted one of the designs for a yoga studio, though there are several gym, fitness and yoga class templates included. This theme is well-supported and well-documented, fast loading and offers plenty of flexibility.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Ornaldo
Ornaldo is WordPress theme build for sports, fitness, gymnasiums and yoga studios. You get 12 different predefined demo styles, this theme is Gutenberg ready and the mobile version is fast living, light weight and looks great. You get multiple different blog layouts, portfolio Styles and Shop styles. I think that one of these dozen or so pre-made design could be great for your site, it’s simply a matter of picking the right images and knowing that all of the tools are there two help make your site a success. You got several premium plugins that are included for free include in Revolution Slider, an attractive and attention-getting slider plugin, WP Bakery Page Builder for creating new page layouts, there is a daily deals plug-in that is easy to configure, displaying a countdown timer for special products or offers. This can be a real call-to-action to get people to sign up for your classes.  Looking for more WordPress fitness themes?  Check out our huge roundup of the best.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Holistic Center
Holistic Center is a perfect WordPress theme for wellness centers, yoga studios and Fitness. It’s all about mind, body and spirit balance. This is an alluring at fresh, clean and well-organized theme that has advanced functionality. The design is crisp and beautiful, making it great for any type of website where a Serene, calm presence is needed. Perfect for Spas, salons and hair or makeup products, massage services and other types of websites. Theme offers full support for WooCommerce, allowing you to take payment for goods and services in your very own store. Compatible with all of the major page builder plugins, events calendar, WPML and Revolution slider, this theme is an attention-grabbing template that has several different stunning a demo designs to choose from, a perfectly responsive layout and built-in Mega menu.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Jevelin
This theme is called Jevelin and it’s one of the biggest, most powerful multipurpose WordPress themes to come along in the last several years. Jevelin is a premium, powerful WordPress theme that is highly rated and packed with features. This is a multi-purpose theme, I am highlighting one of the fitness demo sites. It works just as well for agencies, blogs and portfolios, as well as online shops. You get quite a number of different unique demo sites, dozens of custom-made short codes, one click website installation, unique layout templates and a drag-and-drop page builder. The amount of features is incredibly High, making this theme great for fitness centers and Studios. Accepting payments online through WooCommerce is always a great idea and that is why this is theme is completely and utterly adapted to use WooCommerce.  We’ve built a really solid collection of WooCommerce themes you might enjoy.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
Soledad
This is Soledad, among the most popular WordPress themes on the market.  I’m highlighting just one of the hundreds of pre-made designs, this one is all about fitness.  To be fair, nearly any of the demo sites could be perfect for fitness and yoga websites, it’s all about selecting the right images.
Soledad includes over 5,000 different real demo homepage Styles, each one available with just a single click. You can import these demos, swap out your images and add your text to get your website up and running very rapidly. There are over 1,000 different slider, blog and magazine layout combinations and the possibilities for this theme are Limitless. With over 600 different options for customizing your site, you will never run into a situation where you can’t achieve exactly the look that you are going for. You got six different portfolio layouts, three side part styles and you can display featured images exactly like you want to. Soledad Works hand-in-hand with WooCommerce to allow you to set up an online shop and if you would like to add a community to your site, it works perfectly with bbPress for online forums and BuddyPress for your very own Social Network. I think this could be a really interesting feature to offer for your yoga studio.
Check out some more BuddyPress themes here.
Demo More Information Get Hosting
So, that does it for our collection of yoga studio themes.  If we’ve missed a good one, please let us know in the comments.  Which is your favorite?  Do you have any experience using any of these themes?  We’d love to hear about it.  Thanks for reading!
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siliconwebx · 6 years ago
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The Best Free Graphic Design Software for 2019
Creative Cloud may be the gold standard, but some of us non-designer “designers” need something a little more…free. I totally believe in the power of top-of-the-line software, but if you’re not going to need or use the features available, it’s too expensive. Enter the world of free graphic design software.
Maybe you’re just getting the hang of graphic design and you want to start slowly and inexpensively for now. Maybe you have one specific graphic design need and full-service suites are overwhelming. Or maybe you’re like me and you need to create the random social media post or blog image, nothing more.
For creatives who need pared-down graphic design tools, there are Adobe-like options out there that still do a bang-up job. Choose the one tool that does exactly what you need or piece together a free graphic design software suite with every feature you need access to. Let’s check some of them out.
Build and Animate 3D Graphics
Daz Studio and Hexagon
Daz Studio and Hexagon offer free 3D programs and they can work together if needed. Animate, sculpt and texturize 3D models and create animated 3D scenes with Daz Studio. Build 3D models from scratch with Hexagon, then import them into Daz Studio or another program for animating, rendering or styling. The Daz3D website also has pre-made 3D models for purchase.
Learn more about Daz3D
Blender
Source: Blender
Blender is an open source 3D graphics program with a host of features:
Animating
Modeling
Rendering
Rigging and skinning
Sculpting
Soft body simulation
Texturing
Video editing
Create short or feature-length films with Blender, and make your own extensions and tools if you need more functionality. The interface can be tricky to learn, but there are a lot of YouTube tutorials to help you out.
Learn more about Blender
Edit Photos and Images
GIMP
GIMP is a general image and graphics editor, not too far off from Photoshop (for freebie software, at least). It has an easy interface for beginners, plus plenty of tutorials on YouTube and the GIMP website. GIMP has advanced brushes, filters, layers and masks, and it can be used for digital painting, creating materials like posters and flyers, and photo retouching. Here’s a bit more about what GIMP is able to do:
Source: GIMP
Learn more about GIMP
Pixlr Editor
If you don’t want to download software, use Pixlr Editor’s browser-based image and graphics tool for editing. You’ll see all the familiar photo editing tools, like brushes, cloning, filters, lasso and layers. You can crop and resize photos, and edit portraits to get rid of red-eye and whiten teeth.
Note that the quality of your images may look pixelated in the editor, but they should be fine once exported.
Use Pixlr editor here
Once you’re finished perfecting your images, protect them with a watermark. We rounded up eight water apps to check out.
Design Online Graphics
Canva and Snappa are so similar in terms of what they can do that I decided to talk about them together. Both tools have these features:
Create a variety of online graphics, including blog images, ebook covers and social media headers.
Choose from their library of pre-made templates and free icons, fonts and images.
Upload your own fonts and images to use in your designs.
User-friendly interface that’s easy for beginners.
Personally, I prefer Canva because I like its interface more and I think the quality of their templates is a bit higher:
On the other hand, Snappa has more templates for Facebook ads and infographics:
Source: Snappa
Both Canva and Snappa have many of their features for free, but the biggest difference is that Snappa only lets you download five projects per month, while Canva has unlimited downloads (for everything other than images with a transparent background).
Learn more about Canva here and learn more about Snappa here
Build Infographics with Easel.y
If all you want to do is create infographics, opt for Easelly. Build your infographic from scratch or choose from free templates, then incorporate graphics and fonts from their library. Projects are saved online, so you can edit or export them at your convenience.
Learn more about Easelly
Create Vector Graphics
Inkscape
General graphics editors don’t always support vector graphics, which is why you may want a dedicated tool. Inkscape has the basic vector graphics tools you’d expect, but it also has features you don’t see in other free graphic design software:
Alpha blending
Cloned objects
Markers
Trace bitmap images
Variable width strokes
Learn more about Inkscape
Vectr
Source: Vectr
Vectr is another option for creating vector graphics, especially if you’re collaborating with another designer or a team. It has standard vector features and plenty of options for using filters, fonts and shadows, but where it really shines is with its live editing and sync. Work on a project in real-time, see changes as they happen and provide feedback ASAP.
Learn more about Vectr
Draw and Paint with Krita
Krita’s excellent for making concept art, comics, illustrations and texture patterns, and it also has photo and image editing features. It has advanced drawing aids like layer masks, smooth shapes and vanishing points, plus templates and customizable brushes and tools. Here are a few of its standout features:
Brush stabilizers to fix shaky lines
Pop-up color palette for quick selection
Wrap-around mode for patterns and textures
Krita was created by artists, for artists, including the starving artist (as much as I hate that term) thanks to its $0 price tag. There’s a lot packed into Krita, which can make the learning curve difficult to navigate. You’ll want to look up tutorials to get the most out of it.
Learn more about Krita
Wrapping Up
Great designers can do a lot with free graphic design software. Novice designers can improve their skills without dipping into their bank account. Either way, the programs on this list have their place in (almost) every designer’s tool kit. The best part about them all being free is that you can experiment with them without any risk.
Want some cool fonts for your design projects? Check out these steampunk and Victorian fonts.
The post The Best Free Graphic Design Software for 2019 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.
😉SiliconWebX | 🌐ElegantThemes
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chrissyrholmes · 6 years ago
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Top 10 Free Resources For Learning React.js
The frontend ecosystem is dominated by React.js. It’s one of the fastest rising JavaScript frameworks on the web with no signs of slowing down, and there’s plenty of job opportunities for a skilled React developer.
But this library comes with a steep learning curve which can take weeks or months to understand. The best way to learn is to practice building stuff, but these free guides can help you learn a bit quicker and offer some structure to your React practice sessions.
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Egghead
The Egghead website has tons of courses on many different JS libraries. Some of these courses have a mix of free and premium videos, but many are totally free which is great for newbie developers.
I recommend their React Fundamentals course which is free and spans 60 minutes over a few dozen videos. It’s definitely an intro course, but it’ll cover a lot of crucial subjects that you’ll have to learn to pick up React.
Egghead video quality is also exquisite so this is definitely a site to bookmark for other courses too.
React JS Crash Course (YouTube)
There are dozens of React.js video tutorials on YouTube so it’s tough knowing where to start. This React Crash Course video covers all the basics including MVC architecture and the very foundational structure of React.js applications.
This video is just over 1 hour long and it’s certainly not a complete guide, but I think it’s a solid introduction to the library if you have no prior experience and little-to-no idea what React even does.
FB React Docs
If you go searching for free React resources you’ll undoubtedly stumble onto the Facebook documentation.
These docs can be terse and difficult to work through initially, but the quality is great and the writing is aimed towards people who don’t know much (or anything) about React development.
I specifically recommend this tutorial. It’s a true guided tutorial rather than a documentation overview, but you should try reading through both since there’s a lot of knowledge you need to absorb.
To-Do App With React
All the tutorials on Scotch.io are phenomenal. The writing, the results, and the actual code quality equates to the best self-taught guides you’ll find online.
Out of all their guides I specifically recommend their simple to-do app since it guides you through a typical workflow and teaches common practices for building webapps.
But the Scotch React category has dozens of similar tutorials you can pick up and work through. Many of them target intermediate-level developers so as a complete newbie you may struggle. But Scotch gets into so much detail that it’s easily one of the best blogs to revisit for future lessons.
React Enlightenment
The open source React Enlightenment guide is one of the better sites to use throughout your journey. It’s terse but straight to the point. And since it’s open source the whole thing is free to read online or download locally.
Every page of this guide is hosted for free on GitHub and it covers a lot of best practices for new developers. You’ll learn about ES6 and JSX/templating along with basic DOM manipulation and components.
Just note this guide does not hold your hand or wait for you to keep up. You’ll need to do a lot of Googling to answer questions you have along the way. But this guide can take you pretty far and it’s frequently updated with new information.
TutsPlus React Tutorials
Every tutorial I find on the TutsPlus site is phenomenal. They publish incredibly detailed content solving very specific problems, and most of the time you can follow these guides in a step-by-step fashion which is handy for beginners.
The TutsPlus React category has dozens of tutorials ranging from the complete basics to more advanced app dev guides. For a newbie I recommend Getting Started With React. It offers a solid introduction to all the tooling & workflows that come along with a React.js environment.
React.js for Beginners (YouTube)
One other YouTube video tutorial I like is this one by Dev Tigris. It’s a complete guide for beginners and the teaching style is very clear.
This vid is only one hour long but it should get you comfortable with the basics of React. This video won’t make you fully independent or able to craft detailed apps from scratch. But you will walk away knowing how React functions and thinking in a more React-oriented manner.
Tip: check the related videos you see in the sidebar of this video. Many of those are also great and well worth your time.
React Fundamentals
The React Training site is yet another half-free and half-premium resource for learning React. And if you have time to go through the free content you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
This works like an online course series where you can study topics along with other students, and the best free course is React Fundamentals.
All the course material spans a total of 4+ hours long with a master list of 48 different lessons. The course gets updated frequently with new React techniques and best practices so it’s worth checking back every so often.
Codementor React Tutorials
The idea behind Codementor is pretty simple. You pair up with a digital mentor who helps you work through different projects and libraries. But these sessions usually cost money, so to help beginners without a budget, Codementor shares free written tutorials on their blog.
You can browse through all their React tuts and pick through any topics that interest you. Some cover basic React setup guides, others cover React Native for mobile apps, and others cover wacky ideas like a React Pokédex app.
It’s good to have a little background in React before following these tutorials. They get into so much detail that it can be hard for complete newbies, but I guarantee you’ll improve your skills just by following some of these guides.
Curated React/Redux Links
Lastly, I have to include this massive React.js links list because it really is the ultimate place to find React.js learning resources.
Developer Mark Erikson curated this huge list of tutorials & guides organized by skill level and subject matter. You’ll find plenty of beginner guides on React, ES6 and JS app design patterns.
Keep this bookmarked for later reference because as your skills improve you’ll find a lot of value in some of the more advanced tutorials.
These free resources are just my personal recommendations but the React community is constantly changing and awesome new tutorials are published every year. Take a look through these links to see if any can help you get started, but if you’re looking for more alternatives definitely hit Google and see what else you can find.
from Web Designing https://1stwebdesigner.com/learn-react-js/
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simplypsd1 · 6 years ago
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Top 10 Free Resources For Learning React.js
The frontend ecosystem is dominated by React.js. It’s one of the fastest rising JavaScript frameworks on the web with no signs of slowing down, and there’s plenty of job opportunities for a skilled React developer.
But this library comes with a steep learning curve which can take weeks or months to understand. The best way to learn is to practice building stuff, but these free guides can help you learn a bit quicker and offer some structure to your React practice sessions.
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Egghead
The Egghead website has tons of courses on many different JS libraries. Some of these courses have a mix of free and premium videos, but many are totally free which is great for newbie developers.
I recommend their React Fundamentals course which is free and spans 60 minutes over a few dozen videos. It’s definitely an intro course, but it’ll cover a lot of crucial subjects that you’ll have to learn to pick up React.
Egghead video quality is also exquisite so this is definitely a site to bookmark for other courses too.
React JS Crash Course (YouTube)
There are dozens of React.js video tutorials on YouTube so it’s tough knowing where to start. This React Crash Course video covers all the basics including MVC architecture and the very foundational structure of React.js applications.
This video is just over 1 hour long and it’s certainly not a complete guide, but I think it’s a solid introduction to the library if you have no prior experience and little-to-no idea what React even does.
FB React Docs
If you go searching for free React resources you’ll undoubtedly stumble onto the Facebook documentation.
These docs can be terse and difficult to work through initially, but the quality is great and the writing is aimed towards people who don’t know much (or anything) about React development.
I specifically recommend this tutorial. It’s a true guided tutorial rather than a documentation overview, but you should try reading through both since there’s a lot of knowledge you need to absorb.
To-Do App With React
All the tutorials on Scotch.io are phenomenal. The writing, the results, and the actual code quality equates to the best self-taught guides you’ll find online.
Out of all their guides I specifically recommend their simple to-do app since it guides you through a typical workflow and teaches common practices for building webapps.
But the Scotch React category has dozens of similar tutorials you can pick up and work through. Many of them target intermediate-level developers so as a complete newbie you may struggle. But Scotch gets into so much detail that it’s easily one of the best blogs to revisit for future lessons.
React Enlightenment
The open source React Enlightenment guide is one of the better sites to use throughout your journey. It’s terse but straight to the point. And since it’s open source the whole thing is free to read online or download locally.
Every page of this guide is hosted for free on GitHub and it covers a lot of best practices for new developers. You’ll learn about ES6 and JSX/templating along with basic DOM manipulation and components.
Just note this guide does not hold your hand or wait for you to keep up. You’ll need to do a lot of Googling to answer questions you have along the way. But this guide can take you pretty far and it’s frequently updated with new information.
TutsPlus React Tutorials
Every tutorial I find on the TutsPlus site is phenomenal. They publish incredibly detailed content solving very specific problems, and most of the time you can follow these guides in a step-by-step fashion which is handy for beginners.
The TutsPlus React category has dozens of tutorials ranging from the complete basics to more advanced app dev guides. For a newbie I recommend Getting Started With React. It offers a solid introduction to all the tooling & workflows that come along with a React.js environment.
React.js for Beginners (YouTube)
One other YouTube video tutorial I like is this one by Dev Tigris. It’s a complete guide for beginners and the teaching style is very clear.
This vid is only one hour long but it should get you comfortable with the basics of React. This video won’t make you fully independent or able to craft detailed apps from scratch. But you will walk away knowing how React functions and thinking in a more React-oriented manner.
Tip: check the related videos you see in the sidebar of this video. Many of those are also great and well worth your time.
React Fundamentals
The React Training site is yet another half-free and half-premium resource for learning React. And if you have time to go through the free content you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
This works like an online course series where you can study topics along with other students, and the best free course is React Fundamentals.
All the course material spans a total of 4+ hours long with a master list of 48 different lessons. The course gets updated frequently with new React techniques and best practices so it’s worth checking back every so often.
Codementor React Tutorials
The idea behind Codementor is pretty simple. You pair up with a digital mentor who helps you work through different projects and libraries. But these sessions usually cost money, so to help beginners without a budget, Codementor shares free written tutorials on their blog.
You can browse through all their React tuts and pick through any topics that interest you. Some cover basic React setup guides, others cover React Native for mobile apps, and others cover wacky ideas like a React Pokédex app.
It’s good to have a little background in React before following these tutorials. They get into so much detail that it can be hard for complete newbies, but I guarantee you’ll improve your skills just by following some of these guides.
Curated React/Redux Links
Lastly, I have to include this massive React.js links list because it really is the ultimate place to find React.js learning resources.
Developer Mark Erikson curated this huge list of tutorials & guides organized by skill level and subject matter. You’ll find plenty of beginner guides on React, ES6 and JS app design patterns.
Keep this bookmarked for later reference because as your skills improve you’ll find a lot of value in some of the more advanced tutorials.
These free resources are just my personal recommendations but the React community is constantly changing and awesome new tutorials are published every year. Take a look through these links to see if any can help you get started, but if you’re looking for more alternatives definitely hit Google and see what else you can find.
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Top 10 Free Resources For Learning React.js is courtesy of The Simply PSD Blog
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sheilalmartinia · 6 years ago
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Squarespace vs WordPress – Which one is better? (Pros and Cons)
Squarespace and WordPress are two popular website builders that allow you to easily create a website without any technical skills or programming knowledge.
Recently, our readers asked us to compare Squarespace vs. WordPress because they were seeing a lot of commercials on TV for both platforms.
In this article, we will compare Squarespace vs. WordPress with the list of pros and cons for each platform. Our hope is that after reading our comparison, you can pick which one is better for you.
Note: This comparison is between Squarespace vs self-hosted WordPress (not WordPress.com). See the difference between self-hosted WordPress vs WordPress.com.
Since we want to create the most detailed WordPress vs Squarespace comparison, we have broken down the article into multiple sections. We will look at each section and see which platform offers the most benefit to a beginner level user.
Ease of use
Costs
Design and templates
Extensions and integrations
E-commerce
Data portability
Languages and internationalization
Ready? Let’s get started.
Ease of Use and The Learning Curve
Most business owners and beginner-level users are not familiar with HTML, CSS, and other code related things. They want a platform that helps them easily create a website without hiring a developer.
Let’s see how both WordPress and Squarespace stack up in this category.
WordPress
WordPress is the top choice among users who want to start a blog or small business owners building a DIY website. Over 32% of all websites are powered by WordPress.
While WordPress is fairly intuitive and easy to use, there is definitely a slight learning curve.
Beginners will need to familiarize themselves with WordPress terminology and concepts such as difference between posts vs pages, categories vs tags, understanding themes and plugins.
The default WordPress content editor is fairly easy to use. It comes with custom blocks to add content elements to your pages, so you can build beautiful layouts with media-rich content.
Despite the slight learning curve, in our experience, most users quickly adapt to WordPress.
Squarespace
Unlike WordPress, Squarespace does not come with a lot of choices. This lack of choice makes it very simple and easy to use. Even the absolute beginners can quickly write content and publish it.
Squarespace also uses a block editor similar to WordPress. Adding images, videos, and audio files is simpler than WordPress. There are plenty of content blocks, and layout control choices in the block editor.
Squarespace lets you customize your templates and pages using a visual editor. However, you are limited to the options available in the customizer. It is a controlled environment, which means your options are limited.
Conclusion
Squarespace fares a little better than WordPress out of the box in terms of ease of use for absolute beginners. However it’s limited features might not be ideal for all business owners.
On the other hand, WordPress offers beginners a lot of choices right from the beginning which might be confusing at first, but it is a lot more flexible in the long run.
There are several WordPress page builder plugins that you can use to create completely custom websites with drag and drop (without hiring a developer).
The Costs
Knowing how much each platform cost is important in making a business decision. Let’s look at how much Squarespace cost vs. how much WordPress cost.
WordPress
WordPress itself is free. You are free to download, use, and build upon WordPress. It is an open source software with a GPL license which gives you all the freedom and control.
In order to build your website with WordPress, you will need to registar a domain and signup for a web hosting account.
Depending on your needs, you can choose a shared hosting plan, VPS hosting, or even managed WordPress hosting. Shared hosting plans work for most small personal and business websites.
See our guide on how to choose the best WordPress hosting.
The cost of web hosting and domain name vary depending on which hosting provider you go with. You are in charge of how much resources you need for your website, and how much you will pay for it.
With over 6800+ free templates and 54,000+ free plugins, you can run your website for as low as $2.75 per month (which includes your domain name and hosting – we recommend Bluehost or SiteGround).
One of the reasons for WordPress’ popularity is that the overall cost of building your website with WordPress is very low.
Apart from that, you can change your hosting plan as your site grows. This means you will only pay for the resources you actually use, so it’s easier to control the cost of your website.
We have a detailed article on the cost of building a WordPress website and how to keep it under budget.
Squarespace
The personal plan for Squarespace starts from $12 per month (billed annually) or $16 month to month. That’s a little more than a shared hosting plan for WordPress.
However, unlike a shared WordPress hosting plan, this personal plan comes with very limited features. You can only add only two contributors to your site, and you cannot sell products.
Whereas you can start an online store with WordPress for less than that.
Squarespace business plan starts from $18 per month (billed annually) or $26 month to month. It includes eCommerce support, but they charge a 3% transaction fees. The business plan comes with unlimited contributors, pages, and additional advanced features.
They also have separate plans for online stores starting from $26 per month with no additional transaction fee.
Conclusion
WordPress beats Squarespace with flexible pricing plans available from a variety of web hosting services from around the world.
The cost depends on how much resources you use, and you get access to all WordPress features right out of the box.
Design and Templates
Both WordPress and Squarespace come with ready-made templates and design tools to make it easy for you to create a custom website.
Let’s see which one offers you more choices and tools to create well-designed websites.
WordPress
WordPress offers access to thousands of free and paid website templates. These templates are highly customizable, allowing you to use your own website logo, colors, upload your own images, and more.
Many WordPress themes come with multiple layout choices, drag and drop page builders, sliders, photo galleries, and tons of other features.
No matter what kind of website you are building, you will find hundreds of professionally designed templates for the job.
Many beginners find this abundance of choices a bit overwhelming. Here are some of our expert-picks of the best WordPress themes for different kind of websites.
Best free WordPress blog themes
Best WordPress themes for business websites
Best WordPress magazine themes
Best simple WordPress themes
For more on this topic, see our article on how to choose the best WordPress theme for your website.
Alternatively, you can also start with the Divi Theme which is a master theme with a lot of custom skins and complete drag & drop control.
Squarespace
Squarespace offers ready-made website templates neatly organized into different categories. There are themes for all popular website categories, with professional designs that look good on all devices.
However, this is a big area where Squarespace seriously falls behind. The number of pre-made templates are very limited, and your design options are also limited to the set of features available in the Squarespace customizer.
Themes come with a limited number of layout choices with each template. You can still do basic colors, fonts, website logo, and other things, but these templates are not as customizable as WordPress themes.
Conclusion
WordPress comes out as a clear winner in terms of design choices, customization options, and flexibility. Squarespace offers great looking templates, but they are limited in numbers and are not very flexible.
Extensions and Integrations
All website builders come with a collection of built-in features. As your website grows, you would want to add more features and connect your site to work with third-party tools and services.
Let’s see how WordPress and Squarespace perform in this regard.
WordPress
The real power of WordPress comes from its massive ecosystem of plugins. These plugins are like apps for your WordPress site that you can install to add new features or change the default behavior of your site.
There are currently more than 54,000+ free WordPress plugins listed in WordPress.org plugin directory alone. There are also thousands of premium WordPress plugins available from third-party websites.
If you can think of a feature, there is a good chance that you’ll easily find a WordPress plugin that does it.
WordPress plugins are so robust that many of them are full-fledged platforms with their own add-on plugins and a thriving community built around them.
We have a list of the essential WordPress plugins that every website should have.
Then you have specialized plugins to create ecommerce websites, build membership community, sell online courses, and more.
To learn more see our article on how to choose the best WordPress plugin.
Because WordPress is the most popular website builder, most third-party services and tools have their own WordPress plugins which integrate their services to a WordPress website.
All top email marketing services, SEO tools, live chat software, and lead generation tools offer seamless integration with WordPress.
Squarespace
Squarespace comes nowhere close to WordPress when it comes to extensibility and integrations.
It is possible to add third-party integrations and customizations but unlike WordPress, Squarespace doesn’t have powerful APIs that developers can build upon.
They do provide some official third-party integrations, but even those are limited and not all popular services are supported.
For eCommerce, you can use their built-in platform, but you cannot extend it in any way.
Squarespace lacks the functionality to allow custom websites that you might need for your online business idea.
Conclusion
WordPress is the clear winner here with an incredible ecosystem of thousands of plugins and integrations at your fingertips. Squarespace, on the other hand, has very few integrations and many of them are very limited.
E-commerce
Are you building an online store? Let’s compare the eCommerce functionality of WordPress vs. Squarespace.
WordPress
WordPress allows you to integrate and use any payment processor or platform you want.
There are many WordPress plugins that allow you to easily accept online payments using Stripe, PayPal, Google Checkout, 2Checkout, Payoneer, Skrill, and even Bitcoin.
WordPress has plenty of eCommerce plugins that can turn your website into an online store within minutes. World’s most popular eCommerce platform, WooCommerce, is a WordPress plugin.
WooCommerce comes with its own ecosystem with its own WooCommerce add-ons and thousands of WooComemrce ready themes.
There is no limit on how many products you add to your website, how you display them, or how you sell them. You can run your own affiliate program and use all the tricks to grow your sales without any restrictions.
Squarespace
E-commerce is limited on Squarespace. You can only use Stripe and PayPal for payment processing, which are only available in select few countries.
There is no other payment system available which restricts your ability to accept payments from a larger global audience. For a growing business, starting with such limitations is not a great idea.
Apart from that, you can only sell products in Business or Commerce plans.
Let’s say you want to sell only one product, you will still have to pay for the Business plan, and the yearly costs of hosting a site with just one product to sell will be way higher than a shared hosting plan or VPS for WordPress.
As for third-party services, there are very few external services that you can integrate with your Squarespace website. This affects how you promote your website and the things you can do to make more sales and grow your business.
Conclusion
WordPress is way ahead of Squarespace when it comes to running an eCommerce website. The limitations of Squarespace are not so good for the growth of an online business.
The neat part about WordPress is that you can also use it alongside with Shopify. See our comparison of Shopify vs WooCommerce.
Data Portability
When signing a business agreement, you always have safety clauses. Such as if you’re not happy, then you can leave without any hassle.
This concept extends to online businesses as well, and it is called data portability. If you’re not happy with the platform, then you should be able to take all your work and move it somewhere else.
Let’s look at how WordPress and Squarespace compare in data portability and the freedom to switch.
WordPress
WordPress comes with built-in tools to easily export all your data. Not just your content and images, but you can also backup your themes, plugins, and the entire database. See our list of the best WordPress backup solutions.
You can then easily move this content to any other Content Management System you want. You can store your content anywhere else and change web hosts at any time you want.
Squarespace
Just like everything else, the export feature on Squarespace is also very limited. You can only export certain parts of your content in a XML file. This includes your pages, galleries, and one blog page with all its posts.
Your product pages, album pages, text, audio, and video blocks will not be exported.
Conclusion
The content you create on your site is yours, and you should have the freedom and tools so that you can move it elsewhere. WordPress again beats Squarespace with easy to manage tools to export your entire site.
Languages and Internationalization
We live in a global world and many businesses cater to a multilingual audience in different geographical locations. Let’s see how Squarespace and WordPress handle languages, multi-lingual content, and geographical locations.
WordPress
WordPress is fully translated into dozens of languages. Users on a WordPress site can choose their own language from their profile settings.
Most WordPress themes are translation ready and all popular WordPress plugins are also translated into many languages.
Basically, you can build a WordPress website in any language you want. You can even translate WordPress yourself if your language is not yet available.
WordPress does not come with multi-lingual functionality out of the box. However, there are excellent plugins to create multilingual websites that are SEO friendly and incredibly feature rich.
Squarespace
Squarespace platform is fully translated into six languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese). You can change your site language and choose different timezone / country.
You can only use currencies supported by Stripe or PayPal for your store products.
You can create multilingual pages by basically duplicating your pages. You will have to manually create a site structure or create different sites for each language (You will be billed for each site separately).
Conclusion
WordPress is way ahead in terms of languages and localization options. Squarespace again comes out as very limited and totally inadequate to create multilingual websites.
Summarizing Squarespace vs WordPress Comparison
WordPress is a far superior platform than Squarespace when it comes to building a website. Here is a quick breakdown of pros and cons of both platforms.
Pros of using Squarespace
Easier to use for small websites
Polished user experience
Hassle free website setup
Cons of using Squarespace
Costs higher than shared hosting website
Limited design choices
Limited set of features
Limitations put you at disadvantage in growing your business
Pros of using WordPress
Easy to use with a slight learning curve
Incredibly flexible to create anykind of website
Massive collection of themes and plugins
Truly powerful eCommerce platform
Can be started at a very low cost
Cons of using WordPress
You’ll have to install updates and make backups
You’ll have to manually scale resources by upgrading your hosting as your business grows
You’ll be responsible for managing your website security
Weighing in the pros and cons, we can confidently say that WordPress is a better platform to start a website.
The freedom to grow your website as you see fit, is important for all businesses. You should not trade that for any cost. WordPress provides you with this freedom at an much lower cost than all other platforms.
We hope this article offered you a side by side comparison of WordPress vs Squarespace. You may also want to see our complete WordPress review for a detailed overview of the platform.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
The post Squarespace vs WordPress – Which one is better? (Pros and Cons) appeared first on WPBeginner.
from WPBeginner https://www.wpbeginner.com/opinion/squarespace-vs-wordpress-which-one-is-better-pros-and-cons/
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dorothydelgadillo · 6 years ago
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Video Editing Software & Apps: The 14 Best for Any Budget or Skill Level
We all know the future is video.
Whether you have fancy lights and a camera that costs more than a car, or you have your iPhone taped to a broom, you know you have to come up with the best you possibly can to keep your audience engaged.
I’m not going to pretend that all media is created equally.
If you’re filming on an R3D, your interview or commercial will look better than if you just have a GoPro, but it’s not all in the capturing of the footage.
Arguably most of the creative storytelling comes from the post-production stage.
I mean, we’ve seen short films recorded on a handheld camcorder that probably cost $100 make it into Sundance. What I’m saying is, it’s about content and storytelling more than it is pixel count for most people.
Like with all content, with video, you really want to put your best foot forward. Showing the world a cohesive, stylized vision can help sell your brand the way you want to. Conversely, showing the world a haphazard video can lower viewer’s confidence and opinion of your brand.
But how do you make that story? How do you take the raw footage you have and turn into something that people will talk about and share? Especially as a marketer who may be new to video?
There are a lot of editing programs and tools out there for a variety of budgets and skill levels. If you know your way around an editing suite, great. If not, don’t worry. The internet is full of tutorials and easy-to-use programs.
Learn how to start differentiating your brand from the competition by telling a remarkable story that resonates with your audience.
Free (& Nearly Free) Video Editing Software & Apps for Beginners
If you've never edited a video before, don't panic. There are plenty of free and paid video editing options on the market that are easy to use. 
1. VSDC
  This free program provides a lot of bang for no buck. So, if you’re a beginner, it’s a pretty good place to start.
Included in the program are somewhat advanced options like blend overlays, and the options to mask and key. You can also control the speed of the clips as well as add filters transitions.
If your brand is  looking to get cinematic and try out some green screen footage, this might be a good program to start with and with its free filters, it would also be a good option for social media videos.
Some reviews say it’s not exactly user-friendly, and it does have its quirks, but if you’re looking to try out editing and don’t want to put any money behind it, there’s really no downside.
Price: Free! 
2. iMovie
  iMovie is a quick and easy way to edit videos for beginners.
There are a ton of templates which makes this the ideal software for quick turnaround projects and the transitions and animated titles give your production a little extra flare with almost no effort. It’s also good for just quick clip cutting and cobbling together something simple.
Marketers would find this useful for quick culture videos on social media or those that only need basic cuts and fades. If you’re new to video editing and intrigued by the idea of templates, I would steer clear of these when it comes to crucial sales videos or those on your website.
As iMovie is a popular tool among general consumers, using them could be seen as unprofessional or low-budget.
Aside from that word of caution, the only really annoying thing to note is you can’t transfer project files which has hurt me with a client before.
Price: Free (But only available on Macs)
  3. Shotcut
Now, this free program is easy to use once you get a hang of the UI.
It has good video and audio filters, making it a good choice for posting to social, but it has a limited amount of preset export formats.
Knowing the destination of your final export is important for quality. If you’re focusing heavily on YouTube or Facebook Marketing, you may not want to use this tool until you’re more familiar with the settings best used for each platform.   
There also doesn’t seem to be a huge support community for questions, which can be tough for newcomers.
Price: Free
4. Magisto
Magisto is basically automatic editing.
You can select your own music or use one of their suggested tracks, and it’ll put something together for you assuming you don’t need to trim anything out in the app.
This automation is cool and efficient if you need a video quickly, but it does limit creativity as there’s not way to control the order of the images you put in there.
There’s also a time limit for the length of your video with each budget. Still, it’s a fun way to put something quick together if you’re looking to post mostly to social. It’s especially great to use on mobile.
Price: Best value is their $9.99/month Professional Plan
5. Adobe Premiere Clip
Edit on-the-go with this free app!
It has a clean interface, comes with background music, and has a good collection of filters.
You don’t need a paid Creative Cloud account for this, but if you have one, you can export what you started on your phone and finish it in Premiere, oOr, finish it on your phone and upload straight to social media.
This is ideal for the marketer who’s always on the move, but posts to social media frequently. Adobe is always the peak of professionalism so it will make your Instagram and Facebook videos really stand out.
Make sure you film in  traditional, horizontal orientation though, because you can’t rotate your clip in this. There’s also no real templates or transitions, but it’s simple and fairly easy to use.
Price: Free
Advanced Video Editing Apps & Tools
Now, if you've dabbled in video editing before -- or you like to think of yourself as more of a video pro -- you probably want to dive right into video editing software that caters to the more seasoned marketer.
We are all for that, but not without a word of caution first.
Advanced tools may seem appealing to a beginner because you will get more "advanced" results. However, you should only take that step up in sophistication if you already have the skills in-house, or if you have a team member who is dedicated to learning the art of video editing.
In short, if you don't have advanced resources, don't pull in an advanced tool.
With that caveat in mind, here are a few of our favorite advanced video editing software options:
6. Adobe Premiere Pro
  I won’t lie, I’m an Adobe girl myself.
I basically started out editing on this program and have rarely been disappointed in it.
This is an advanced editing software, and while it is possible to learn, if you’re looking for a quick turnaround, you might want to start somewhere else.
That being said, if your team needs to edit an interview for a customer testimonial or has the need for a lot of graphics, it’s very easy for this to be your only software and be more than enough.
The essential graphics panel gives you presets that you can fit to your needs, whether it be names and titles for your lower thirds, or an opening graphic for your video.
These features do a lot of the work for you and make you look professional and polished. If you create your videos with it, you can publish confidently on any platform, whether it be social, web, film, or even TV.
You can get all sorts of paid and free third-party plugins to help you along in your creative adventure too!
If you keep reading, you’ll find a few of my favorites, but these plugins can range anywhere from color correction presets to light flares. They add that extra glitz to your videos that will make people remember them.
As a subscription SaaS, Premiere also rolls out updates to make sure you’re getting the most out of your software at all times. Sometimes they are glitchy early on, but they are quickly resolved, and the community is always helping out with solutions.
Plus, with literally millions of subscribers, you can bet that their online support community is solid. Only once or twice have I been unable to fix a problem thanks to their very specific forums.
Overall, this software is amazing, but is not really geared towards those starting out, especially with it’s monthly subscription pricing model.
Price: If you have the skills or have time to invest to learn the software and $40 a month, or $20 if you’re a student (or $20 for just Premiere, and not the entire suite), it is definitely worth it.
7. Final Cut Pro
I learned on this one when I first started at film school. When I used it, it was basically iMovie’s older brother. It has that same layout feel, and ease of use to it, but with a lot more function.
It now supports 360 and HDR footage, includes Mac Touch Bar support, and has over 100 video and audio effects. It’s also good for color correction, but bear in mind, this all comes with a bit of learning curve. There are a limited amount of codecs and file types included which will limit what kinds of footage you can work with.
This is a program that can give you a more cinematic look and feel to your projects. If you want your brand to look professional and artistic, but don’t have a huge budget, this tool will definitely help.
This program is for a marketer on a budget that wants to get the most out of their videos, and isn’t afraid to get into the weeds with their editing.
Similar to Premiere, you can add third-party plugins as well.
However, honestly, I’d say if you’re serious about putting together professional marketing videos, are a Mac user, and don’t need the razzle-dazzle elements of Premiere, this is the best choice.
Price: For a flat rate of $300, you are also entitled to any updates they do for free.
8. PowerDirector
Now, for the price, PowerDirector is definitely the PC pick for me. It is extremely user-friendly, but you get advanced features like 360 footage editing, motion tracking, and keyframing and it supports 4K as well.
If you’re looking to create complex videos and have an editor willing to learn, this is the software for you.
It can be a little overwhelming for beginners, but there are tutorials out there. Users have also reported weak color matching, but if you keep your white balance in mind while shooting, you should be fine.
Price: There’s a 30-day trial version you can do before you go for either the $100 or $130 version.
9. Lightworks
This Mac and PC-friendly software is free and quite robust. It supports a wide range of video formats, allows you to make proxies, which let you edit huge video files at a lower resolution and replace before exporting, and has easy timeline editing.
This program is for marketers with their eye on their budget, looking to post mostly to social media sites mainly because the exports it offers align with what is optimal for those sites.
Although you can use it on Mac, users of the machines have reported it isn’t very Mac-friendly and that there’s a steep learning curve.
Price: Free (but the free version only allows you to export to 720p web resolution. You have to pay extra to get more.)
10. Sony Vegas Pro
Sony Vegas Pro is on the pricier side for sure, but you get the pro-editor features like motion tracking, HDR support, 360 footage support, video stabilization, speed control, masking, and good presets for color correction.
This is for a marketer who knows what they’re doing and wants a professional finished product, but also has the budget. If you’re going to spend the money, I suggest you already know how to use the best features of this program (or have someone on staff who does).
If you’re looking for a flat rate program that nearly stands up to Premiere, this is your guy.
Price: Another flat rate program, it’s yours in differing packages from $400-800. Only available for PC.
11. Blender
I love me some 3D animation and this software lets you do it!
You can get some truly amazing stuff out of this program, and there are tons of websites like Turbosquid to lend a hand in free and paid objects for you.
Whether it’s realistic 3D renders of under-construction real estate, or animated characters for an explainer video, there’s not much you can’t do with 3D animation.
Blender can help you add a little variety to your videos, and possibly add a lot of value if you get someone who becomes a pro. There’s also a ton of tutorials and online support, which you’ll need to get going since it’s a little quirky.
If you’re looking to get started with 3D editing, this is a good place to start.
Price: Free
12. Adobe After Effects
There’s so much you can do with this program. I’m obsessed with it, honestly.
Marketers will get the most out of this program if they’re looking to do advanced/custom motion graphics, a lot of motion tracking (for example, personalized videos for Vidyard), or animated explainer videos.
Like Premiere, it updates with new features every so often, the support community is amazing, and the tutorials are seemingly limitless. It also integrates with C4D, another 3D editing software, which comes with it for free.
There are also tons of amazing paid and free third party plugins. I mostly use it for motion graphics, but have been known to use the occasional green screen or even turn someone’s eyes into demon eyes for Halloween.
You can do almost anything you set your mind to in here. That being said, it’s not geared towards newbies, and it’s still that monthly Adobe rate instead of the flat fee.
Price: If you have the skills or have time to invest to learn the software and $40 a month, or $20 if you’re a student (or $20 for just After Effects, and not the entire suite), it is definitely worth it.
13. DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve offers full editing, but most of my editor friends that use this program don’t necessarily do their cutting in here. They do rely on it for color correction pretty heavily, however. It’s compatible with Final Cut, Avid, and Premiere so you can move the color correction or whatever you do between projects easily.
With a helpful community, you can find great info on color correction, motion tracking, and even noise reduction.
These functions can help bring your video to that Hollywood style color that you see in movies (with enough practice) for no cost.
It is a steep learning curve, and you really need two screens, especially if you want to color correct, but if you’re a detail oriented person, you’ll like this program.
Price: Free!
14. Avid Media Composer
This is the most  sophisticated video editing software you’ll get for free.
It has a lot of high-end tools like speed control, color correction, and footage stabilization that can take your footage from looking merely amateur to pro pretty quickly.
If you’re looking for really technical controls to add some polish to your videos, but you don’t want to pay for it, try Avid.
It does have a steep learning curve, and the free version doesn't support 4K, or a lot of image formats.
Price: Free (or upgrade for more features starting at $19.99/month)
Editing Extras
Editing programs are all well and good, but sometimes you need or want a little extra sparkle.. These are like the sprinkles on a delicious donut - not necessary for the final product, but definitely make it look better.
Shutterstock
A great toolkit to have to start out with can be found here on Shutterstock.
They have a ton of animations, transitions, LUTs, and overlay elements for free. I personally love adding a little dust or some light leaks sometimes, and it can be hard to get those organically.
These are awesome for that extra touch for someone with no budget to make your videos pop.
It also comes with instructions on how to use it. It’s compatible with Premiere and Final Cut Pro.
Price: Free
Red Giant
I couldn’t resist putting this in here.
If you have a serious budget and a serious will to learn, you can have a lot of fun with Red Giant’s plugins.
I got to play around with their trapcode suite and things you can do with it are incredible. You can create volumetric light, smoke, snow, rain, or almost any other VFX you can imagine.
These plugins range in complexity. There are almost Hollywood level VFX you can achieve, but there’s also motion graphics packages if you want to make your intro cards and lower thirds really stand out.
It’s compatible with a fair amount of programs too, but probably best used on Adobe. There’s also a lot of support and tutorials for it, so you won’t be alone in your investment.
Price: Ranges for each suite, but you can expect anywhere from $100-$400 for each suite
Video Copilot
Basically anything from Video Copliot is awesome.
I love their tutorials, and their plugins look amazing. They have an elements package that gives you a huge range of sound effects, motion graphics, and 3D elements like fluids and particles.
If you want to channel your inner JJ Abrams, they have a package of optical flares you can buy, starting from around $125,or, if you’re a Michael Bay fan, maybe go for their Action Essentials package, starting at around $100.
This is an add-on for a marketer on a budget who just needs a little extra flare to their videos.
It’s also compatible with After Effects, Final Cut Studio, Premiere, and other QuickTime based software.
Price: Depends on the package, but usually in the $50-150 range
What It All Comes Down To
Whether you’re just starting out, or into the weeds with editing, these are some helpful tools to get the most out of your footage.
This isn’t the dawn of film. Audiences can spot a bad edit, even if they don’t know technically why it’s bad.
Having these valuable tools can make or break your video marketing strategy because what you create, and how well you’re able to create it will tell the world exactly what value you have to offer.
If this seems way too overwhelming, we can help with that. Whether it’s our video training services, or our in-house production team, we can assist your video needs.
from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/video-editing-software
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dyernews · 7 years ago
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Countdown to Small Business Saturday: Small Business Website Tools
Does your small business have a website? Sure, having a Facebook page and other social media profiles may seem like enough to some entrepreneurs, but there are more benefits to having a site of your own — from search traffic and SEO to e-commerce — that you may not have considered. Moreover, thanks to advances in technology and some competition, building a sharp looking and functional website is now easier and cheaper than you may realize.
While it may be too late to build and see results from a new business site before this year’s Small Business Saturday, now is a great time to explore your options for the coming year. Let’s take a look at some of the tools available for building a small business website of your own.
Hosted Platforms
There was once a time when building and designing a site of any quality was a major investment. Between buying domains, hiring a website builder, and paying for hosting, the process of getting a site up was understandably intimidating for some small business owners. However a lot has changed in recent years, making site building far more DIY-friendly.
Hosted platforms can be a great option for business owners lacking in web knowledge and who want a simple, one-stop solution for building their sites and/or blogs. These platforms include Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, WordPress.com, and even Tumblr. In many cases, these sites will offer a number of templates and customization options, along with drag and drop design tools. Several also provide you with a subdomain address (e.g. dyernews.wordpress.com) for free, although you can typically upgrade to a branded URL (e.g. DyerNews.com) for an additional fee. Alternatively you can purchase a domain name separately and have it forward to your site.
While hosted platforms can be a great starting point for small business sites, the downside of these platforms is the limitations they place on you and your site. This could include an inability to utilize certain third-party tools and could also make it difficult to move your site to a new platform down the road. Still, even with those restrictions, hosted platforms can be a good starting point for businesses that are new to the web.
Self-Hosted Options
If hosted platforms sound too limiting, there’s always the option to go the self-hosted route. This involves registering your own domain, finding your own hosting, and then utilizing one of several content management systems (CMS) to build your site. Obviously this is a bit more advanced than utilizing a hosted platform but might still be navigable for those with some tech-savvy or an ability to learn from the numerous YouTube tutorials available.
One of the most popular CMS platforms is WordPress.org — not to be confused with WordPress.com. Although the same company owns both sites, WordPress.com offers hosted solutions while WordPress.org provides open source software you can utilize on your self-hosted site. In fact, approximately 30% of the world’s websites currently run a version of WordPress.
Despite that staggering statistic, most laymen probably don’t realize how many of the sites they visit on a daily basis utilize WordPress. That’s because there are a vast number of free and paid themes available that are designed to meet different needs. It should also be noted that while the themes featured in WordPress’s gallery are vetted for malware, you’ll want to exercise extreme caution when considering any free themes from elsewhere.
While WordPress is the most popular CMS, they’re far from the only ones. Some alternatives include Drupal and Joomla among others. However these tend to require even more technical know-how, so be prepared for a steep learning curve if you choose one of those alternatives.
Domain Registration
As mentioned, if you’re not joining a hosted platform, you’ll likely need to purchase a domain for your site. If you have a unique business name, this should be an easy process but, for those with popular names, you may need to get creative. Luckily, with the list of domain extensions seemingly growing all the time, you do have a few options. One thing I’d recommend doing before trying to register your domain is to head to Namechk.com and see what’s available for both site names and social media accounts.
Once you are ready to buy, you also have a few choices for whom to purchase your domain name from. This list includes GoDaddy, NameCheap, Moniker, Domains.com, and many others. Each of these services might offer different deals on certain domains as well as some additional features. For example, while registering a site will often make your information publicly available in the WHOIS database, some of these sites will allow you to keep your info private for an additional fee. Finally, be sure to keep up with then your domain registration is set to expire so you don’t accidentally release it for others to snap up.
Hosting
With your domain registered, the next thing to consider is who will host your site. For most small business owners, this will likely mean starting with a shared hosting platform such as HostGator, SiteGround, A2Hosting, or AccuWeb Hosting. It’s relatively easy to get set up on shared hosting platforms like these and can be great options for sites that aren’t pulling in a ton of traffic just yet. However, as your site grows, you may want to consider upgrading.
An upgrade in this case means moving from a shared hosting platform to either a dedicated hosting option or a VPS. Both of these options are built for high-volume sites, although VPS solutions tend to be cheaper. Additionally, both choices are more secure than shared hosting. Some companies, like Liquid Web, actually offer both VPS and dedicated hosting options, allowing you to compare plans and see what makes the most sense for your site.
Payment Processors
A small business website can serve many functions, from providing basic business info to hosting a blog about the latest news in your field. Of course there’s also a huge opportunity in e-commerce for many businesses. But, before you can start selling on your site, you’ll need to consider how to process credit card payments.
In addition to payment options like PayPal that you can integrate into your e-commerce site, services like Square and Stripe will help enable you to accept credit card payments. Depending on the type of account you choose, you will likely be assessed a small fee per transaction. For example, both Stripe and Square charge 2.9% plus $.30 for each e-commerce credit card payment. Each of these services also provides support for recurring payments for subscription-based businesses along with many other options to fit your company’s needs.
E-Mail List Services and Plugins
Given the current climate and buzz, you might be led to think that it’s all about social media and that e-mail is no longer relevant. In reality this couldn’t be further from the truth. That’s why one of the features you’ll want to include on your website is an e-mail list sign up.
Starting your e-mail list begins with signing up for a service that will not only allow you to keep track of your subscribers but also craft media rich mailings to highlight your content and commerce. A few popular options include MailChimp, AWeber, and GetResponse. These services will also integrate with WordPress, Shopify, Drupal, and others, making it easy to gain sign-ups and keep in touch with your customers.
Mobile
Another important aspect of reaching potential customers these days is ensuring that your site is mobile friendly. Beyond the benefit of having a fast-loading page and allowing mobile users to easily consume your content, mobile-friendliness is becoming increasingly relevant in terms of search engine optimization (SEO), with Google preparing to switch to a mobile-first search index some time next year. Thankfully there are now a few tools you can utilize to provide your mobile site visitors a better experience.
In October of 2015 Google introduced the Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP project, which is designed to speed up websites, in particular mobile sites. Big publishers, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Buzzfeed, as well as e-commerce giant Ebay, quickly implemented the new AMP code base to improve their mobile websites. Sites using AMP have reported increased page views and higher conversion rates as a result of the faster loading pages.
Although there are many benefits to AMP for most small business websites the technical requirements are too difficult to implement. There are a few AMP plugins for WordPress but they all create stripped down versions of your page that lack any of the features, i.e. no multimedia, no advertising, no contact forms, etc., one would expect in a modern website. Because of these issues the adoption of AMP by companies without large web development teams has been limited.
However that might be changing very soon. This site, DyerNews.com, has been running on a fully AMP compliant WordPress framework from AMPWPToools.com for over a year now. We were lucky enough to get into their beta testing program and I have to say it’s been a great experience. As you can see we have all of the elements you would expect, videos, commenting system, email sign ups, and ad network support, along with a fully mobile responsive site that loads lightning fast. For new small business websites it makes sense to get ahead of your competition and adopt AMP now that there is a good WordPress solution. Taking that step now means you can enjoy the benefits of better SEO and higher conversions today and into the future.
With 2018 approaching, nearly every small business should have its own website. Furthermore, while pricing and technical hurdles may have been legitimate excuses in the past, these days there are plenty of tools for building a great-looking site all by yourself. Whether you want a site that help searchers find your business, have a hub to share all of your latest news, or build an e-commerce platform to help grow your profits, these small business site tools will help you promote future Small Business Saturdays and reach customers all year round.
The post Countdown to Small Business Saturday: Small Business Website Tools appeared first on Dyer News.
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lesliepump · 7 years ago
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Why Lawyers Should Use WordPress Instead of Squarespace for Law Firm Websites
Squarespace and WordPress are currently the two most popular services for law firms looking to build or redesign their website. But does either have the edge over the other?
Related Want help with your website? Use our free assessment to get a recommendation based on your needs and budget.
The comparison is a bit difficult to make. Squarespace is a straightforward website building service, while WordPress is an open-source platform for all types of web content, meaning they fall in slightly different categories. Still, these are the two primary services people choose between for their web design projects, which makes it essential to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each.
While Squarespace can seem like an attractive choice for firms, lawyers who need flexibility and scalability should choose WordPress.
In the interest of full disclosure, it’s worth pointing out that Karin builds WordPress websites. That said, we definitely agree that WordPress is almost always the better option for law firm websites. —Ed.
Ease of Use
Squarespace’s most recent version is significantly easier to use than the previous editions. It has a clean, uncomplicated interface. Users do not need to know how to code. This is Squarespace’s primary advantage: everything you need to design a custom website and publish new posts and pages is all in one place, with no real technical expertise necessary.
WordPress has a slightly larger learning curve, as it is more of an overall CMS (content management system) than a simple site-building tool. If you already have some experience in building websites, WordPress is an excellent option.
Related “30-Minute WordPress Setup Guide”
In general, Squarespace is easier to use at first for beginners, but it has some significant caps on its capabilities. WordPress seems slightly more difficult at first, but does not have anywhere near the same limits in place, and still has plenty of beginner-friendly theme and plugin options. In the long run, WordPress is the better option for ease of use for any law firms that want anything beyond the most basic website available.
Features
Squarespace has plenty of features, including built-in apps and widgets. It has most of the tools any law firm needs to build a website, such as blogging functionality, ability to import and export content, connectivity with social media, and the ability to have multiple users with different levels of access.
WordPress is also extremely flexible and has more plugins and widgets, as well as SEO packs and commenting systems.
WordPress is much more scalable, which is more important for more complex websites or websites with higher demands for unique features. This makes WordPress the better option for law firms looking for a variety of high-quality features for their websites.
Design Options
Squarespace has around 60 templates for websites and 9 for online stores, each of which automatically includes a mobile version.
WordPress has many free and paid themes—estimated at more than 10,000 right now. Some of these designs are responsive; some are not. It can take some time to learn how to customize these themes, and sometimes that customization requires a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and PHP.
But if you are working with a developer, your options are nearly unlimited with WordPress. It allows for complete control and customization (provided you have the knowledge to edit CSS and PHP), so your website is entirely editable, where with Squarespace you are constrained to their templates.
Related “Best Law Firm Websites“
For design options, there is no comparison. WordPress has a much greater variety, and while the quality can vary, it is quite easy to find a sizable amount of high-quality themes for free or for a relatively low price.
Support
Squarespace has plenty of support options, including live chat, email support, and support through its Community Forum.
WordPress does not have an email or phone number for support, but there are countless video tutorials, forums and additional online resources dedicated to helping WordPress users with their websites. The open source nature of the site has built up a lot of communities that are centered on tinkering with WordPress’s functionality and features, meaning you have plenty of potential helpers to guide you through your digital innovation.
Portability
If you are unhappy with either platform, it’s essential to be able to move your site to a different platform with relative ease and without losing data or traffic. WordPress excels at this function, having built-in tools that allow you to export easily, and then import, your data into a different WordPress install or another platform.
Squarespace is also limited here, only allowing you to export certain features into an XML file, which may not be compatible with your new platform. You will not be able to export your text, audio, video blocks, or album pages, so you could potentially lose a lot of content if you decide to move your site from Squarespace.
Cost
Squarespace starts around $10/month for very limited features. You are required to use Squarespace as your host, which can be problematic when it comes to integrating other services such as payment gateways, email opt-in systems, or client management software.
WordPress is open source and free. You will need to purchase hosting and would be good to get a WordPress-managed hosting account. That cost varies, but this will allow you to be in control of where your site is hosted so you can arrange for a plan that supports all the features your firm needs.
Ultimately, most law firms are better served by using WordPress, which offers more freedom, is more extensible and portable, has significantly more design options, and more features.
Why Lawyers Should Use WordPress Instead of Squarespace for Law Firm Websites was originally published on Lawyerist.com.
from Law and Politics https://lawyerist.com/law-firm-websites-squarespace-wordpress/ via http://www.rssmix.com/
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repmrkting17042 · 7 years ago
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3 Digital Marketing Strategies That Won’t Cost You a Dime
3 Digital Marketing Strategies That Won’t Cost You a Dime
Digital marketing covers a huge range of potential channels, tactics, and occasionally even a dash of strategy. Being an expert in everything is nearly impossible, and a big part of why agencies like Portent have a job. The risk of low return on ad spend, or even low return on your sweat equity is enough to freeze a lot of small business owners and even trained marketers into inaction. That said, there are some channels and tactics that you can tackle at no out of pocket cost, and a decent learning curve, that can really make a difference for your business.
Disclaimer: this post is fairly focused on local businesses. The approaches here are tailored to small businesses with tighter marketing budgets. That said, they apply to nearly any business and most scale up or can be repeated as your business expands its footprint.
Own your local listings
For local businesses, your local listing can often be the primary way people learn about you. Some small businesses don’t even have a website, but instead rely on directories like:
Google My Business
Bing Places
Yelp
Yahoo Local
Facebook
Yellowpages
In addition to these major directories, most industries have more specific communities that are often even more important to your prospective customers than the big platforms. The more focused and relevant, the better.
Showing up on these directories prominently and consistently doesn’t happen on its own, though. You have to claim your business.
Owning your business means gaining control over the information that is provided by the directory. Many of your potential customers are searching on these directories so being clear, consistent, and accurate can help them find you.
For small business owners and marketers, this is about as easy as it gets in terms of a learning curve.
Local SEO
When a potential customer searches for a florist to buy a bouquet of flowers, how can you ensure that your flower shop shows up first in search engines instead of your competition? Moving out of the small pond of niche directories into the wider ocean of search engines can be daunting. If you weren’t already, you’re suddenly competing with every giant in your industry, local or not.
But there are some basic things you can do to signify that you’re the most relevant option for a local human being in need of your product or service. Own your listing on all directories (not just Google), be consistent with the information provided, link your listing to your website (if you have one), and get more local links from other sites in the area. Links from local chambers of commerce, local press, businesses in your city, all of these say to both prospective customers and search engines: “I’m a great option in this city.”
And if you do want to spend a little, you can use Moz Local to give you an edge, track progress, and save time finding opportunities to improve. It’s a fairly inexpensive tool and helps with everything here, except for the legwork of building the links themselves.
You should still have a website
No matter how you slice it, it’s still incredibly valuable to the overall health of your business to have a website that people can link to, learn more about you, and share. There are plenty of tools out there to create basic template websites like Wix.com and WebsiteBuilder.com. They cost a bit, but the value of a site is well worth it.
To make this an even easier decision, Google recently created their own free website building tool built with small businesses in mind. It makes the entire site building process easy and free. Translation: we’re all out of excuses not to have a website.
Collect reviews from happy customers
For most businesses, customer testimonials go a long way towards building trust and winning that next sale. This is especially true for local businesses. In the example below, which of the three options are you going to choose if you need to order flowers for your upcoming anniversary?
Not a trick question: the obvious choice is C. Not only does Florist C have the best star rating on Google, but they also have the most reviews. I can take one look at this, see their phone number, and make a call right away. Instant customer at no additional cost to the business.
So how do you model your online presence after the winner here? Just “ask.”
You have customers who know and love you already. There is no shame in finding ways to encourage them to speak out and share about their positive experiences with you. It’s quick and easy to send a follow up email with links asking for them to share or even ask verbally when you know you know you have a happy customer.
While you can’t push people to give you five star reviews, we know of one business that turned this process into a win-win. At the end of a day-long excursion, they prompted users to give a review at a kiosk. Instead of telling them how to rate the business, they prompted with a single question:
We hope you had an amazing time with us. If there was anything about your experience that was less than five star, what was it? We’d love to make it right for you, and improve that for all of our passengers.
Feel the difference? Now get out there and let people show the love. It costs nothing but the time to ask, and hopefully you’ll get the same kind of valuable feedback in the process.
Create great content and share it
Content can mean a lot of things. It may mean the information you have on your website, blog posts, video tutorials, social posts, the list goes on. Having a comprehensive and well considered content strategy is an important part of an effective internet marketing program.
For local businesses this is true as well, but even though great content takes time and effort, it doesn’t have to be a huge financial investment. How’s that you ask?
You know your business better than anyone. Meaning you know your market just as well as anyone, even if that means a specific market in just your city. So who better to show it, and answer prospective customer questions about the right solution to their need, by creating great content? Here are some easy options that everyone can tackle:
Blogging
If you don’t have a blog on your website, start one. Producing even a blog post or two per month about the things your customers care about isn’t asking much, but it will help people find you. It will also build trust so you have something to back you up when you say you are an industry expert.
One easy way to get started: think about the informational questions your customers ask most often and answer them in posts.
Need help creating interesting ideas about your industry? Try the Portent Content Idea Generator.
Social sharing
As you produce quality content, share it. Most people are on social sites like Facebook so posting about your business and engaging with your customers will help keep people coming back. Social sites are a great place to let your customers know about upcoming deals and events too.
Bonus: Use Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool. It’s also very easy to set up. One small snippet of code in the header across the site and you can have full visibility into how people interact with your website, where they are finding you, how long they interact with your site, where they drop off, whether they convert, etc. This is very powerful information that should inform business and marketing decisions.
Go make it happen
The digital marketing world is vast, but not everything has to cost an arm and leg. What they will cost is some time and effort. If you prioritize what to tackle first and get to work, over time you will build a stronger online presence. And if you need help or have questions, ask us (or read more of the content we produce to help prospective customers). We do this for a living.
http://ift.tt/2vGCX4O
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personalinjurylawyer93555 · 7 years ago
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3 Digital Marketing Strategies That Won’t Cost You a Dime
3 Digital Marketing Strategies That Won’t Cost You a Dime
Digital marketing covers a huge range of potential channels, tactics, and occasionally even a dash of strategy. Being an expert in everything is nearly impossible, and a big part of why agencies like Portent have a job. The risk of low return on ad spend, or even low return on your sweat equity is enough to freeze a lot of small business owners and even trained marketers into inaction. That said, there are some channels and tactics that you can tackle at no out of pocket cost, and a decent learning curve, that can really make a difference for your business.
Disclaimer: this post is fairly focused on local businesses. The approaches here are tailored to small businesses with tighter marketing budgets. That said, they apply to nearly any business and most scale up or can be repeated as your business expands its footprint.
Own your local listings
For local businesses, your local listing can often be the primary way people learn about you. Some small businesses don’t even have a website, but instead rely on directories like:
Google My Business
Bing Places
Yelp
Yahoo Local
Facebook
Yellowpages
In addition to these major directories, most industries have more specific communities that are often even more important to your prospective customers than the big platforms. The more focused and relevant, the better.
Showing up on these directories prominently and consistently doesn’t happen on its own, though. You have to claim your business.
Owning your business means gaining control over the information that is provided by the directory. Many of your potential customers are searching on these directories so being clear, consistent, and accurate can help them find you.
For small business owners and marketers, this is about as easy as it gets in terms of a learning curve.
Local SEO
When a potential customer searches for a florist to buy a bouquet of flowers, how can you ensure that your flower shop shows up first in search engines instead of your competition? Moving out of the small pond of niche directories into the wider ocean of search engines can be daunting. If you weren’t already, you’re suddenly competing with every giant in your industry, local or not.
But there are some basic things you can do to signify that you’re the most relevant option for a local human being in need of your product or service. Own your listing on all directories (not just Google), be consistent with the information provided, link your listing to your website (if you have one), and get more local links from other sites in the area. Links from local chambers of commerce, local press, businesses in your city, all of these say to both prospective customers and search engines: “I’m a great option in this city.”
And if you do want to spend a little, you can use Moz Local to give you an edge, track progress, and save time finding opportunities to improve. It’s a fairly inexpensive tool and helps with everything here, except for the legwork of building the links themselves.
You should still have a website
No matter how you slice it, it’s still incredibly valuable to the overall health of your business to have a website that people can link to, learn more about you, and share. There are plenty of tools out there to create basic template websites like Wix.com and WebsiteBuilder.com. They cost a bit, but the value of a site is well worth it.
To make this an even easier decision, Google recently created their own free website building tool built with small businesses in mind. It makes the entire site building process easy and free. Translation: we’re all out of excuses not to have a website.
Collect reviews from happy customers
For most businesses, customer testimonials go a long way towards building trust and winning that next sale. This is especially true for local businesses. In the example below, which of the three options are you going to choose if you need to order flowers for your upcoming anniversary?
Not a trick question: the obvious choice is C. Not only does Florist C have the best star rating on Google, but they also have the most reviews. I can take one look at this, see their phone number, and make a call right away. Instant customer at no additional cost to the business.
So how do you model your online presence after the winner here? Just “ask.”
You have customers who know and love you already. There is no shame in finding ways to encourage them to speak out and share about their positive experiences with you. It’s quick and easy to send a follow up email with links asking for them to share or even ask verbally when you know you know you have a happy customer.
While you can’t push people to give you five star reviews, we know of one business that turned this process into a win-win. At the end of a day-long excursion, they prompted users to give a review at a kiosk. Instead of telling them how to rate the business, they prompted with a single question:
We hope you had an amazing time with us. If there was anything about your experience that was less than five star, what was it? We’d love to make it right for you, and improve that for all of our passengers.
Feel the difference? Now get out there and let people show the love. It costs nothing but the time to ask, and hopefully you’ll get the same kind of valuable feedback in the process.
Create great content and share it
Content can mean a lot of things. It may mean the information you have on your website, blog posts, video tutorials, social posts, the list goes on. Having a comprehensive and well considered content strategy is an important part of an effective internet marketing program.
For local businesses this is true as well, but even though great content takes time and effort, it doesn’t have to be a huge financial investment. How’s that you ask?
You know your business better than anyone. Meaning you know your market just as well as anyone, even if that means a specific market in just your city. So who better to show it, and answer prospective customer questions about the right solution to their need, by creating great content? Here are some easy options that everyone can tackle:
Blogging
If you don’t have a blog on your website, start one. Producing even a blog post or two per month about the things your customers care about isn’t asking much, but it will help people find you. It will also build trust so you have something to back you up when you say you are an industry expert.
One easy way to get started: think about the informational questions your customers ask most often and answer them in posts.
Need help creating interesting ideas about your industry? Try the Portent Content Idea Generator.
Social sharing
As you produce quality content, share it. Most people are on social sites like Facebook so posting about your business and engaging with your customers will help keep people coming back. Social sites are a great place to let your customers know about upcoming deals and events too.
Bonus: Use Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool. It’s also very easy to set up. One small snippet of code in the header across the site and you can have full visibility into how people interact with your website, where they are finding you, how long they interact with your site, where they drop off, whether they convert, etc. This is very powerful information that should inform business and marketing decisions.
Go make it happen
The digital marketing world is vast, but not everything has to cost an arm and leg. What they will cost is some time and effort. If you prioritize what to tackle first and get to work, over time you will build a stronger online presence. And if you need help or have questions, ask us (or read more of the content we produce to help prospective customers). We do this for a living.
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