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What is a Domain Extension?

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Hosting

The post What is a Domain Extension? appeared first on HostGator Blog . When the time comes to buy a domain name for your new website or online project, you’re going to have a lot of different things to take into account. Not only do you have to find the perfect domain name for your website or business, but you have to find the right domain name extension, too. This can be difficult, especially when you’re not sure what a domain name extension actually is? Luckily for you, domain name extensions are an easy concept to understand. The most challenging part about domain name extensions is choosing the right one that’ll represent your website in the best light possible.  If you have ever asked yourself, “What is a domain extension?” you have come to the right place. Below we cover the ins and outs of domain name extensions, as well as their interesting history, so that you can choose the right one for your new website.  What Is a Domain Extension? Domain name extensions are the last part of a domain name . For example, in ‘hostgator.com,’ the domain name extension is .com.  You’ll also see domain name extensions referred to as top-level domains (TLDs). These terms will be used interchangeably throughout the post.  Your domain name and domain name extension give you a working domain name that your target audience can type into their browsers to access your website. There are a few different types of domain name extensions available: 1. Generic Domain Extensions These are the most common form of domain extension. For a while you could only choose between .com, .org, and .net. But, in recent years the number of generic top-level domains has exploded. Now you’ll find a lot of unique top-level domain names to choose from like .beer, .blog, and more.  2. Sponsored Domain Extensions This style of domain extension is restricted to certain types of organizations and groups. To register this style of TLD you’ll need to satisfy certain requirements and there are restrictions on who can register these domains. Common examples of this are the .aero, .gov, and .edu domain extensions.   3. Generic-Restricted Domain Extensions This type of domain extension is similar to a generic top-level domain, but they are intended for more specific types of websites. When you register this domain extension you’ll typically need to provide a bit more information about your website and it’s intended purpose. Some examples of this TLD include .name and .pro. 4. Country Code Domain Extensions Lastly we have country-code domain extensions. Each country has its own TLD that helps to identify that site as being from a specific country. Common extensions include .co, .uk, and .us. However, these extensions are more flexible and can be used for more than just identifying locations. For example, the domain extension .co is the TLD for Colombia, but it’s also used by businesses and startups the world over.   A Brief History of Domain Extensions If you were trying to access a website in the early 1980’s you would have had to type in a long string of numbers known as an IP address . The only way that early computers were able to communicate on this network was by using these numerical IP addresses. Having to type in these strings of numbers was inefficient and a definite hindrance on allowing the web to scale. It was a far cry from the consumer web that has become a routine part of our lives today.  Luckily, things have come a long way since then. Thanks to the Domain Name System (DNS), we can now type easy to remember domain names into our web address bars to access whatever website we desire. Instead of having to type in a complicated IP web address, we type in a domain name like ‘ google.com ’ or ‘ hostgator.com .’ Along the same time as the new DNS came into effect, so did domain name extensions. These were used to help classify domain names into specific groups. The first six domain name extensions created were .com, .org, .net, .edu, .gov, and .mil. When these were first created, there were rigid rules about what kind of websites could use these domain name extensions. Today these rules are much more relaxed, and hundreds of different domain name extensions have come into existence.  The introduction of domain name extensions made accessing the web much easier. It wasn’t the sole factor that led to the explosion of the internet, but it certainly did help.  Up until 2008, there were only around 28 different domain name extensions you could choose between. However, the TLD system changed dramatically when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) allowed anyone with enough money to apply to create their own top-level domain.  A lot of massive corporations jumped on this and applied for top-level domain names that could be used in conjunction with their own brand. Think companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.  Different Types of Domain Name Extensions Available Today there are thousands of different domain name extensions for you to choose from. Luckily, not all of these will apply to your website, so there’s no need to get overwhelmed in your search for the perfect TLD. Here’s a breakdown of the most common domain name extensions available today that you can use for your new website: .com – This is by far the most popular and commonly used TLD. It was initially created for commercial organizations, but there are no restrictions on who can utilize this extension.  .net – This extension is shorthand for the word network and was initially created for companies dealing with networking technologies and internet infrastructure. Today there are no restrictions on who can utilize this domain extension and it’s typically the number one choice after .com.  .org – This extension was first created to be used by nonprofits. However, this is no longer enforced and is a common TLD for education-based websites, schools, and more.  .co – This is a relatively new extension, but you’ll come across this one a ton in the startup space. It’s become known as the domain name extension that represents a company.  There are probably dozens of other domain name extensions that’ll apply to your new website.  When you register a domain here at HostGator , you’ll be able to see which domain name extensions are available. For example, here’s a quick look of the available extensions for the domain ‘ bakecookies.com ’: As you can see, our domain extension of choice isn’t available. But there are a variety of other domain extensions we could use instead.  However, if the .com for a chosen domain is taken , it’s usually a good idea to just search for a new domain name. At the very least, you’ll want to do your research to ensure that there isn’t an existing website on that domain.   Restricted vs. Unrestricted Domain Extensions Even if a domain name extension is available, it doesn’t mean you can purchase it. A lot of domain name extensions are restricted. That means only certain types of companies, organizations, or institutions can use that given TLD. For example, only educational institutions can utilize the .edu domain extensions. The same goes for .mil: only military-related websites can use that domain extension. Likewise, the .gov extensions can only be used by government websites. However, there are still very popular unrestricted domain extensions you can use like .com, .org, and .net. Plus, most new domain extensions like .co, .xyz, and more are available for your use as well. If you’re interested in an entire list of the top domain extensions, Wikipedia has compiled an up to date list . You can also read our blog to see some of the most unique domain extensions that may surprise you. How to Choose the Right Domain Extension For You? With so many different domain name extensions, it can be challenging to choose the right one. The TLD you choose can influence how your visitors will perceive your website. Plus, some are more memorable than others and can end up enhancing or hurting your brand. Here are some best practices to follow when buying a new domain name . The domain extension you choose won’t influence how your site performs at all, but it can change how people perceive your website. For example, ‘ tools.com ’ gives off more authority than the domain ‘ tools.biz ’ or ‘ tools.info .’ As a general rule of thumb, you should try to obtain the .com for your chosen domain , and if that isn’t available, the .net could work. If both of those aren’t available, then you can begin looking for other domain name extensions. However, keep in mind that you’ll want your domain to be memorable . If someone can’t remember your domain name extension, chances are they’re going to try the .com. If this ends up leading to a competitor site, or a blank web page, then you might have lost that visitor forever.  Another common rule is to make sure that there are no other websites using the same domain name as yours . Not only could you be infringing on a copyright, but it’ll set you up for a whole host of issues down the road.  If you’ve come up with the perfect domain name, but the extension you want isn’t available, then it might be worthwhile spending more time coming up with another domain name.  You also have the option of using a novelty domain name extension . For example, if you’re building a website that shows people how to homebrew beer, you could pick up the domain ‘howtobrew.beer.’ But, novelty domain name extensions might be more difficult to remember as well. To sum up, keep the following best practices in mind as you choose your domain extension: Whenever possible, try to go with the .com TLD. Match your TLD with the type of website you’re running. Don’t choose a TLD for a domain that’s already being used. Novelty TLDs can work, but only if they make your domain more memorable. Should You Upgrade to a Unique Domain Extension? Maybe you already have a domain, but you’re thinking about picking up the same domain with a different extension?  When your website is picking up steam, it’s a good idea to go ahead and purchase any relevant domain name extensions as this will help to protect your online brand. Then, you can redirect all of your other extensions to your primary domain name. That way, if a visitor types in the wrong domain extension they’ll still end up on your site! Here are the most common reasons for upgrading or purchasing additional domain extensions:  Clever domain name. You’ve found a fun TLD and domain combination that you think visitors of your site will enjoy. This can even be used in a marketing campaign and still forward to your primary domain.  Target a local market. If you’re a local business, you can pick up a domain extension that’s branded for your local market. For example, ‘drycleaners.la’ for a Los Angeles based dry cleaner.  Your ideal extension is now available. Maybe when you first started your site, you went with a .net, and now you have the budget to purchase the .com. You can either migrate your website to the new extension or forward your new domain extension to your existing domain.  To strengthen your brand. It’s always a good idea to pick up as many domain extensions as you can that are related to your primary domain. This will prevent competitors from swooping up any related extensions, plus you might be able to pick up additional traffic by forwarding all of your extensions to your primary domain.  Choosing Your Domain Extension As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into a simple domain extension. Hopefully, you now have a better idea of why domain extensions are so important and how you can ensure you pick the right extension for your website as you do your domain registration. Choose the wrong domain extension and you’ll detract from your brand as a whole and deter your target audience. But, choose the right TLD and you’re on your way towards a strong and memorable online brand. Use the information in this post to ensure that you always choose the best TLD possible for your new online projects.  Remember, just like choosing the right domain name takes a lot of time, so will finding the right domain extension. Your domain and your TLD work together to help create a unique and memorable domain name.  For help finding the best web hosting package or domain name for your website, contact HostGator. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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How to Use Facebook Ads to Grow Your Email List in 10 Simple Steps

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Hosting

The post How to Use Facebook Ads to Grow Your Email List in 10 Simple Steps appeared first on HostGator Blog . Email marketing is one of the most effective types of digital marketing. Two-thirds of consumers say they’ve made a purchase because of an email they received, and the average ROI of email marketing is $38 for every $1 spent. But for your business to see results like that, you need an email list. And not one you bought. Paying for an email list isn’t a good way to reach people who will actually care about what you have to say. And according to spam laws, it’s also illegal. What you need is an email list you built — one that’s made up of people who chose to opt in because they care about what you have to say. Email subscribers that chose you are extremely valuable, but hard to find. To build and grow a strong email list, you need a strategy for promoting it. There are a lot of smart techniques you can use to get more email subscribers . A good option that many overlook is using Facebook ads. 5 Benefits of Using Facebook Ads to Grow Your Email List Obviously Facebook ads have a cost in both time and money, so you want to be confident this is a tactic that makes sense for you. Facebook advertising has some strong benefits to offer. 1. It’s where your audience is. “Go where your audience is” is marketing 101. Today, that means Facebook. Even with recent scandals that put the social media network in the headlines, tons of people use Facebook.  The platform has over 2 billion monthly active users and many of those users are on there every day.  In the U.S., the average person spends 40 minutes a day on Facebook. Facebook is such a ubiquitous part of our lives at this point that no matter who your target audience is, you can trust that they’re hanging out on Facebook. 2. Facebook doesn’t offer much organic reach. Anyone can create a Facebook page for their business for free, so you may figure you should just work on reaching your audience on the platform that way.  But over the last couple of years, Facebook has made changes that make it increasingly difficult for business pages to gain followers and for the followers they have to see those updates. That doesn’t mean it’s a waste to create a Facebook page and work on building followers to it, but on its own, that won’t get you very far. To really gain traction on Facebook now, you have to pay for ads. 3. You can reach people in your target audience. If that’s the bad news, this is the good news. By paying for Facebook exposure, you tap into the company’s powerful targeting options. Your ad won’t show up indiscriminately for all of Facebook’s billions of users, you can specify who you want to see it based on factors like demographic categories, interests, and behaviors. 4. You can reach them at the right moment. The marketing ideal is reaching the right person with the right message at the right moment. Facebook’s targeting options include controlling the timing of when you reach people. If the items you sell would make great gifts, you can target your ads to people with an anniversary coming up. If your business blog provides travel tips, you can target people currently planning a vacation. While the goal of an email list is to build an ongoing relationship with potential customers, you can still increase sign ups by ensuring your promotion shows up right when people will most value what you offer. 5. Remarketing converts people who already showed an interest in your brand. A lot of people will interact with your brand multiple times before they make the decision to sign up for your email list. If someone visits your website and never sees mention of you again, they’re likely to forget you completely. But with remarketing, you can serve ads to the people that have already interacted with your brand in some capacity, increasing the chance that they’ll take the step of signing up for your email list before you slip from their memory. How to Use Facebook Ads to Grow Your Email List in 10 Steps Now that you know the why, here are a few tips to help with the how. 1. Develop an email marketing plan. Before you get to the point of using Facebook advertising to grow your list, you need to figure out what you’re going to do with your email list . There’s no point in working to gain subscribers if you’re not ready to follow that up with work to keep them. Create a plan for the types of emails you’ll send out and the schedule you’ll send them out on. You may want to create an email newsletter that goes out every month, or plan on sending a weekly update that includes links to the new content on your site. You can send out more directly promotional emails as well, but don’t make that all you ever do.  Promotional emails work best if the recipient is already familiar with your brand and has a reason to trust you. Your other emails will help build that trust. 2. Select “Lead Generation” as your campaign objective. One of the first steps to creating an ad in Facebook is choosing your campaign objective. After you click the Create button , you’ll see a few options you can choose from in a dropdown menu. Since your primary goal is building an email list, select “Lead Generation.” This ensures that the options Facebook provides as you go through the steps of creating your ads will match up with your goal of collecting email addresses from people in your target audience. 3. Clarify your target audience. One of the next steps is to set up your audience targeting. Facebook allows advertisers to narrow down who will see your ads based on wide variety of factors, including:      Geographic location      Age range      Gender      The language(s) they speak      Education level      Relationship status      The type of work they do      Their financial status      Whether they have kids or not      Their political preferences      Their interests      Their online behaviors      Whether they’ve interacted with you before Think about what your ideal customer looks like. Use this step to clarify who you want to reach with your ads so you get the most bang for your buck. 4. Choose what information to collect. You definitely want to collect email addresses — that’s the main goal here, after all. But Facebook will let you choose additional information to ask for in your ads, such as:   First name   Last name   City   Phone number   Date of birth   Job title   Company name On the one hand, the more information you ask for, the better you’ll be able to provide relevant emails to your new subscribers. On the other hand, adding more required fields for people to fill in before signing up may lose you some leads who decide it’s too much work. Most businesses should be fine sticking with name and email address, only add the others if they’ll help you create more useful, segmented lists. 5. Set your budget. Figure out what you can afford. You can set a maximum daily budget, and select whether to bid manually on your ads or let Facebook do automatic bidding for you. Automatic bidding is generally the best choice for anyone that’s not already an expert in PPC advertising . Keep in mind that the more you’re able to spend, the more people will see and interact with your ads. Try not to be too stingy here, while staying within a budget you can handle. 6. Create eye-catching images for your ads. Now it’s time to create the ads themselves. Social media is a visual medium, so make sure you include an image (or several) in your ad that will attract your audience’s attention, while still being relevant to what you’re offering. 7. Write copy that emphasizes the benefits of subscribing. An image can’t tell the whole story, so couple it with words that tell your audience what they’ll get out of subscribing to your email list. Make sure you focus on the benefits to them. It may be accurate that signing up means learning more about your brand and products, but that won’t convince most people. What problems will your emails help them solve? How will you make their lives easier or better? 8. Include a clear call to action (CTA). You want them to take an action, so tell them what to do. You can test out different language to use here, but be sure you explicitly ask people to “Sign up today” or “Subscribe now.” Facebook will provide some options for you to choose from here. 9. Set up a relevant email drip campaign for new subscribers. Every time someone subscribes, it’s a win! But it could quickly turn into a loss if you don’t manage to keep them. One of the best ways to convince new subscribers that you’re worth sticking with is to set up a series of welcome emails that automatically go out to new subscribers. Use these initial emails to explain to your subscribers what they can expect from your email list, make the case for why it’s worth sticking around, and provide them a reward of some sort for joining (such as a discount offer or exclusive content). Providing value right away while the decision to sign up is still fresh in their memory will give you the chance to establish the relationship and show them you’re worth their time. 10. Test and tweak. You won’t know what will get results until you get started. Pay attention to your analytics — both for Facebook and your emails — to learn what’s working. Test out different images, copy, and CTAs to see what your audience responds to best. Over time, you’ll learn more about your target audience — what they respond to and what they care about. That knowledge will enable you to run better ads, strengthen your email marketing campaigns, and provide better service to your customers. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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SEO vs. PPC

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Hosting

The post SEO vs. PPC appeared first on HostGator Blog . After all the hard work you put into designing and launching your website, now you get to the even harder part: getting people to visit.  A website can be a powerful tool for driving more awareness of your business and convincing people to buy, but it can’t do any of that unless people find it. And in an overcrowded online marketplace, getting noticed by the people you want to reach is a serious challenge. Once you start looking into online marketing tactics to promote your website, you’ll notice two marketing options get a lot of attention: search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC) .  Often, new website owners with a limited budget try to figure out: “In the argument of SEO vs PPC, which should take dominance?” Before you can determine which tactic makes the most sense for your business, you need to understand what they are.  SEO and PPC are the two sides of search engine marketing (SEM). They have one main thing in common: they help you get found by people searching for what you do on the search engines, especially Google.  But they also have some notable differences. What is the Difference Between SEO and PPC? The difference between SEO and PPC is all about where on the search engine results page (SERP) you show up and how you get there.  What is PPC Marketing? With PPC, you buy spots on the SERP that show up at the top of page (if you pay enough), at the bottom, or to the side. PPC results often have the word “Ad” next to them, or show up in an image carousel with shopping details at the top of the page.   Brands get those spots by paying for them. Search engine ad platforms use a pay-per-click bidding model to sell ad results. The businesses willing to spend the most, get the best placements for the keywords they bid on, but they only pay when someone actually clicks on the ad, hence the name “pay per click.”  An SEO strategy operates differently. What is SEO Marketing? With SEO, you work to earn spots in the organic results—that’s the term for all the results on the page that haven’t been paid for. For many search terms, that means they show up below PPC results, but not always. Sometimes organic results can claim a rich snippet , like the answer box that shows up at the top of some SERPs. SEO results can’t be bought, they have to be earned. You claim organic spots by practicing a number of SEO tactics , including: Working to optimize your website for relevant keywords you want to target. Making sure your website provides a good user experience, especially when it comes to things like site speed and mobile friendliness.  Working to build authority for your website by earning backlinks from other sites.  Those are the basic differences between SEO and PPC to be aware of, but what does that mean for website owners? SEO vs PPC in 7 Categories Small business owners don’t have a lot of money to spend on an online marketing strategy, so what you really want to know about SEO vs PPC is how they shake out in comparison to each other in terms of things like cost and performance.  Here’s how the two SEM tactics compare in seven main categories.  1. Cost This is a tricky category for comparison. While it may seem like there’s an obvious answer, since PPC is paid advertising and SEO must be earned with work, you may assume PPC is more expensive. In reality, measuring SEO vs PPC in cost is complicated, as which costs more will really depend on how you approach each. To truly see results with SEO, most website owners will need to hire an SEO expert to help. A recent survey found that SEO consultants charge an average of around $500-$1,000 a month . While technically, you can spend nothing on SEO but time, more realistically, you should expect to spend around this amount.  One benefit of PPC is that costs are within your control. You can set a maximum daily spend within Google Ads , and the network will stop running your ads once you’ve gotten enough clicks to reach that amount. That means you can name your budget and never go over it. But if your budget is too low, you’ll run through your maximum spend too early in the day to get the results you want, and it will take longer to accumulate the data you need to build better campaigns.  According to one survey , small businesses that do PPC spend an average of $9,000-$10,000 a month. That doesn’t mean you’d have to spend that much, but it probably means that’s the amount others have found gets the best results. Winner: SEO, usually 2. Control SEO is all about doing your best to signal to Google the keywords you think you should rank for, and proving you’re authoritative enough to gain those rankings. While you can target specific keywords, you ultimately have very little control over what terms you’ll show up for, where you’ll show up in the rankings, and how your website will show up on the SERP.  For that last point, you can provide your own meta descriptions and use schema markup in the hopes that Google will display the information you’ve provided on the SERP. But it’s still up to the search engine how your website shows up—if it shows up at all.  With PPC, on the other hand, you have much more control. Paying for ads means you can decide: Which relevant keywords your ads show up for   Who sees your ads , in terms of categories like demographics, geography, and consumer behavior What your ads look like , since you decide on what the ads says, and can include elements that increase clicks like images, or ad extensions that provide useful information such as special deals and delivery information. Winner: PPC 3. Speed of results SEO is a long game. Expect to spend months, or even years, practicing SEO tactics before you start to see results. And even then, your first results won’t be for high-competition keywords.  For example, a small business that sells hot sauce will see results for long-tail keywords—the SEO term for keywords that are less competitive—like “hot sauce shop san antonio” or “ghost pepper hot sauce” long before it has the chance to claim a broad term like “hot sauce.” That doesn’t mean SEO isn’t worth doing. It absolutely is! There are plenty of benefits to SEO . It just requires patience.  With PPC, by contrast, you can start showing up on page one and getting new traffic the first day you launch a campaign. PPC is often a smart choice for businesses who are doing SEO, but want to start driving traffic faster while they’re waiting for SEO results to pay off. Winner: PPC 4. Amount of work Both SEO and PPC require ongoing work. With PPC, you need to complete keyword and audience research to figure out the best targeting for your campaigns. Then you need to set up your campaigns, monitor them to learn what’s working, and make updates to improve your results and make sure your budget goes further.  As with PPC, SEO should start with keyword and audience research, then you have a list of tactics to stay on top of: Optimize each page of the website for your chosen keyword by including it naturally in the title, headings, page copy and meta tags of the page. Consistently create high-quality content to keep your website fresh and target more of the keywords on your list. Undertake link building strategies to get other websites to link back to yours.  Maintain a SEO-friendly web design On the whole, doing SEO well usually requires more work than PPC. Winner: PPC 5. Trust As you’d expect, people generally trust the results that have earned top spots more than those that paid for them. 46% of people said they consider organic results more trustworthy than PPC ones, and 65% said they were more likely to click on an organic result for product-related searches. SEO is therefore a better way to earn the trust of people searching for the kind of products you sell. That said, a sizeable portion of the population— around 57% — don’t even register the difference between the paid and organic results on the SERP.  Google’s always changing how the SERP looks, so that number is subject to change, but there’s a certain type of consumer that won’t think any less of your PPC ad than if you earned that top organic spot. Winner: SEO 6. Click-through rate Recent data shows a clear winner in this category, but also shows that a lot depends on the type of device people are using. The click-through rate (CTR) for organic results on desktop computers is at over 65%, as compared to a little under 4% for PPC ads. On mobile devices, organic results get around a 40% CTR, with mobile earning a little over 3% (many searches on mobile don’t result in a click at all).  Either way, organic results get more clicks, making SEO rankings more valuable for traffic once you get them.  Winner: SEO 7. Analytics Analytics give you the power to consistently learn from everything you try, improve your campaigns based on that knowledge, and get better results over time. With both SEO and PPC, you can tap into valuable analytics.  Google Analytics , which is entirely free, provides a lot of data on how much of your traffic comes from organic search, where you rank for target keywords, and which pages people are finding through SEO.  And you can supplement all that free information with the additional data included in paid SEO tools that helps you clearly identify how your website compares to your competitors in rankings and what they’re doing differently to achieve the rankings they have, such as their backlink profile and the keywords they’re targeting. While SEO tools can provide a lot of useful information, ultimately there’s still a lot of guesswork behind why certain pages rank higher than others.  By contrast, the analytics provided in PPC campaigns can tell you exactly which ads perform well. And because you control every part of the ad, you can do A/B testing to gain insights into what your audience responds to—providing information you can apply not only to your future PPC ads, but also to every other part of your online marketing campaigns.  Winner: PPC SEO vs PPC Frequently Asked Questions Even with that extensive rundown, you may still have some questions. Here are answers to some of the common questions website owners have about the difference between SEO and PPC. Which Is Better: SEO or PPC? It depends on your priorities.  PPC drives faster results. You can start getting visibility and traffic on day one, but you have to continually pay for every person it sends to your website.  SEO is slower, but once you gain relevant rankings, the results last longer. A good ranking will continue driving traffic for as long as you stay near the top, and you can count on getting more traffic from a good SEO ranking than a PPC one. And while there’s a cost to the work involved in getting on page one, once there all the traffic it sends your way is free.  Does PPC Traffic Help SEO? Not directly, but some of the metrics SEO experts commonly believe to be ranking factors require getting more relevant traffic, which PPC sends your way.  For example, when people click on your ad and like what they see long enough to stick around, it results in a lower bounce rate and longer time spent on site—both metrics that signal to Google that people are happy with the page they land on.  You can’t buy SEO results with PPC ads, but getting traffic from relevant visitors is one of the first steps to doing a lot of things that do pay off in SEO. How do PPC and SEO Work Together? Good question! While the framing of this piece has pitted SEO and PPC against each other, for most businesses the goal should be SEO and PPC working together.  PPC helps you get the initial boost you need in visibility and traffic when your website’s new, or when it’s underperforming based on your goals. It’s a good strategy for short-term wins while you’re waiting for your SEO work to start coming through. SEO is the long-term strategy that delivers bigger and more reliable results once it starts working. But it’s hard when you’re starting from scratch, and PPC can bring some of the initial traffic and attention you need to get your SEO efforts off the ground.  For the Win: SEO and PPC Integration A good online marketing strategy combines the two tactics. If that sounds like a lot of work, well, it is. But you don’t have to learn both SEO and PPC from scratch to start getting more traffic for your website.  You’ll get better results, faster if you outsource the job to someone who already knows what they’re doing. HostGator offers both SEO and PPC services. Our team includes skilled professionals with years of experience in both types of SEM. If you’re ready for your website to start delivering bigger results, let us help . Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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How to Create a Membership Site with WordPress (Step by Step)

Posted on June 6, 2019 by Hosting

The post How to Create a Membership Site with WordPress (Step by Step) appeared first on HostGator Blog . Are you considering creating a membership site for your courses, products, or services? If so, it can be a great way to cater to your target market and increase your business’ revenue among many other benefits. A membership allows you to build a list of loyal members, create an active email list , and position yourself as a leader in your industry if it gains enough traction. But what exactly is a membership site? Put simply, it’s gated content that’s only accessible to members and subscribers. Most of the time there is a fee or recurring payment involved, but sometimes it can be as simple as signing up for an email list. Why Create a Membership Site? A membership site means you can sell practically anything: online courses, ebooks, coaching, you name it. What makes it exciting is its exclusivity and the perks that come with an engaged subscription. Premium services tend to offer subscribers more value to the point where paying a monthly or yearly fee is worth their money. If you’re able to rack up a solid list of subscribers, your revenue will increase drastically. It’s also a great way to build a list of loyal subscribers who genuinely enjoy your content to the point that they’re willing to pay for it. Think of Youtube Premium or Spotify Premium. Sure, with their free options you get to enjoy their content, but you’re bombarded with ads and can’t enjoy the full, uninterrupted experience. What makes these services powerful is that they deliver an optimized UX and, therefore, have a customer base that consists of happier customers. Gating your content allows you to offer your target audience the products and services they want while your business expands its subscriber list and grows monetarily. Before getting started, you need the following: A domain name. This is your website’s URL and it’s crucial that it matches your brand and the products and services you’re selling. WordPress web hosting. HostGator provides quick and easy set up so that even beginners can create their own website. You can also register your domain name here at HostGator. A membership plugin. MemberPress is simple to install and requires no coding knowledge to set up a membership site you’re proud to call your own. What to Look for in a Membership Plugin There are many options to choose from when it comes to membership plugins , but what it really comes down to is what best suits your business and its customers. It’s essential to keep them in mind when creating your membership site. Here are a few questions to consider when choosing a plugin: What is your budget? What are your measurable goals? How well do you know how to code? How many membership levels will you need? What payment gateways do you want customers to be able to use? Are there extra features you want to be included, such as add-ons and integrations? If you want to create a fully functional, easy-to-use membership site with WordPress, here’s how to get started. Install and Set Up MemberPress The very first step to creating a membership site is to use a plugin. This is what’s going to turn your regular WordPress site into a members-only website. MemberPress allows you to sell physical and digital goods, downloads, subscriptions, and more. It’s easy to set up payment gateways, restrict access based on different subscriptions, and design beautiful pricing pages so you can create the look you want. First, you need to create an account with WordPress. Then, purchase a subscription with MemberPress that suits your budget, goals, and business needs. Consider what features are most important to you when choosing your pricing plan. Sometimes it’s worth it to pay a little extra to give your customers exactly what they want. Plus, your membership fee could end up giving back to your business with an increased ROI . Once you choose the plan that’s right for you, go to MemberPress and download the .zip file. From your WordPress dashboard, click on Plugins > Add New > Upload. Select the file and click Install Now. Then click Activate Plugin and your MemberPress plugin will be activated. You should now be able to see a MemberPress menu option in the sidebar on your dashboard. From the menu, click Options where you can configure the plugin’s settings to your liking. Your plugin is now fully installed and ready to be optimized for your business! Getting Started with MemberPress Creating a membership site is a way to target a specific audience and cater to their specific needs. It makes selling products and services easy and builds a list of happy customers who enjoy content that matches exactly what they’re looking for. MemberPress is a fully functional plugin that makes creating a membership site on WordPress an easy and pleasant experience. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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What Is Drupal Hosting?

Posted on May 1, 2019 by Hosting

The post What Is Drupal Hosting? appeared first on HostGator Blog . You’re doing your due diligence as you start your new new website—doing all the research into your different web hosting options in order to make sure you make the right choice before you buy. That’s smart! While it’s always possible to switch to a new web hosting plan down the line, it’s a lot easier to stick with the same company if you make the right choice from day one. You may have come across an option called Drupal hosting , and now you’re wondering what that’s all about. What is Drupal Hosting? Drupal hosting is any web hosting plan that promises compatibility with the content management system Drupal. All of the hundreds of thousands of Drupal websites require a web server and hosting to be accessible to visitors on the wide web. Where Drupal provides the basic framework for building a website, Drupal hosting is the necessary component that makes that website available to the masses. For many of sites that use Drupal, choosing an application web hosting plan that specializes in providing hosting services for Drupal sites is the best choice,   What is Drupal? Drupal is an open-source content management system that powers hundreds of thousands of websites online. It’s particularly popular with professional developers, who appreciate how powerful and flexible it is, and by government and enterprise websites that choose it for the high level of security it offers. The Drupal core—the main framework it provides—consists of the main features and functionality common to content management systems in general (more on that in a bit) and can work as a good foundation for any kind of website. But while the core is powerful, where Drupal really sets itself apart is the customization options developers can tap into with the use of Drupal modules. As long as you, or someone you hire, has the skills to run a Drupal website, you can do just about anything with your website you could want. What Is a Content Management System? To really understand what Drupal is and whether it’s right for your website, you need to understand what a content management system is . A content management system, or CMS for short, provides a number of important functions to website owners. Some of the top features common to pretty much all content management systems include: 1. An intuitive interface for making website changes One of the main reasons individuals and businesses use content management systems is because it saves you from having to know and use coding languages when you’re building your website and then again every time you have to make an update to your website. For businesses, that can save you the cost of having to pay a developer for every time you have a minor update to make to a web page. A CMS gives you the power to publish new content to your website, change the layout of pages, add media and images to the website, and manage your menus—just to name a few functions—all through a user interface that’s easy for most beginners to figure out. It removes the headache of trying to get code just right every time or having to know a coding language to begin with. 2. Content management and organization options   As the name makes clear, a big reason websites have for using a CMS is that it helps you manage your content. For any website likely to have a lot of content—which includes government websites, enterprise websites, media sites, entertainment sites, and businesses doing content marketing—you’ll end up with a lot of different content pieces to keep up with. A CMS allows for collaboration on pieces of content, since you can control who has access to content in the system and what they can do with it (e.g. who has the power to view, edit, and schedule a piece of content). With a CMS, you can schedule out content in advance, making it easier to plan out and stay on top of a content calendar. And you can easily track which pieces of content are still in draft form, which are scheduled, and which are already published, which helps you keep everything better organized. If your plans for a website include the potential for a high volume of content, a CMS is an extremely valuable tool for managing it all. 3. Account management and permissions Business or media websites typically have a large number of people that will need some level of access to make changes and updates to the site. Content creators, editors, designers, developers—the more people using a website, the more risk you’re potentially opening the website up to. What if a writer with limited technical skills actually does something that breaks a page on your website? Or what if an angry employee you let go uses their access to make malicious, embarrassing changes to the site? A CMS reduces your risk by allowing the website owner and any administrators they trust to manage the accounts associated with the website and the levels of access each one is allowed. A writer only needs to be able to load the text on the pages they’re working on, for instance, and doesn’t need the ability to mess with your menus or plugins. Through this feature, a CMS increases the security of your website and gives you more control over it. How Does Drupal Measure Up to Other Content Management Systems? The features described above are common across the different types of content management systems, so can provide insights into whether you should use a CMS or not. But there’s still the question of deciding which one makes sense. Drupal is one of the three most popular content management systems, falling behind just Joomla and WordPress in popularity. The reason those two beat Drupal in market share is pretty clear to anyone familiar with the CMS market: Drupal’s harder to use. WordPress and Joomla are accessible for beginners with limited experience building or maintaining websites. They’re democratic software options that put website updates into the hands of almost everybody. Drupal, on the other hand, is mostly used by professional developers who come to it with some web design skill to begin with. Drupal requires more work to learn and use, but the tradeoff to that is notable: it also provides more flexibility and power. Anyone with especially specific or complicated plans for a website will need a solution that enables them to make their vision a reality, and Drupal is better for that than the other top CMS options. Who Should Use Drupal? Drupal is most commonly used by companies and organizations that: Have professional developers on staff Care about security Have complex and specific needs For the most part, small businesses or individuals aiming to create a fairly basic website will be better off with either WordPress or Joomla. But enterprise companies and government entities that have more advanced needs and the budget to hire the right talent to realize the potential Drupal can offer will benefit from the greater flexibility and higher level of security it provides. The Benefits of Drupal Hosting Plans Choosing the best CMS for your website is an important early step in building a website. But a CMS doesn’t usually provide web hosting on its own. If you decide to use Drupal to build a  website , you’ll still need to purchase a web hosting plan separately. Most web hosting plans you consider will work for a Drupal website, but you can benefit from specifically seeking out an application web hosting plan  that supports Drupal. Here are a few good reasons to go with Drupal hosting specifically. 1. Drupal hosting will offer easy installation. Working with Drupal requires skill, but adding a Drupal site to your web hosting account shouldn’t. A Drupal hosting plan will offer one-click installation that you can complete within minutes. You might have to hire developers for some of the other updates and specifics you want for your website, but linking your CMS to your web hosting plan is something anyone on your team will be equally capable of getting done in a matter of minutes with Drupal hosting. 2. There’s no cost for adding Drupal to your web hosting account. Because the Drupal platform is open source, using it is free. You’ll likely pay for the developers you hire for it, and you’ll need to pay for your web hosting plan. But with a Drupal hosting plan, you can avoid one more cost because you’ll know for sure that using Drupal with your web hosting account won’t cause any additional fees. 3.  Compatibility is assured. One of the biggest annoyances of the technology age is finding yourself with two tech products that aren’t compatible with each other. After you’ve put money and resources into developing a website on Drupal, you definitely don’t want to face compatibility issues with the web hosting plan you choose. When you start by choosing a web hosting plan that specializes in Drupal, then you’ll know with absolute confidence your web hosting plan will work well with your Drupal site. 4.  You have two sources for helpful support. The Drupal community is well known for being large, devoted, and supportive. A large, skilled community means a huge library of modules and extensions—many of them available to the larger community for free (although some for pay). But it also means access to many people willing to offer support and guidance on using Drupal. The Drupal community gathers online in Slack channels and on other chat tools. Regional groups meet up in person around the world to commiserate over using Drupal, and you can find conferences and other events that are all about Drupal. In addition, many members of the community work hard to develop resources and documentation to help other Drupal developers. Choosing Drupal taps you into this thriving community, but choosing a good Drupal hosting plan also gives you access to a helpful team providing customer support. While web hosting customer service professionals won’t necessarily be experts in using the Drupal platform, they’ll often be able to provide helpful information on a large number of other issues or questions you’ll encounter when working on your website. And if you choose a web hosting company that provides customer support around the clock, you can count on getting those answers at the moment you need them. Ready to Find a Drupal Hosting Web Plan? If everything in this blog post has convinced you that you should use Drupal and specifically seek out a Drupal web hosting plan, then you’re probably wondering now how to find the best plan for you. Here are the main features we recommend looking for: Room to grow. If you’re using Drupal, it likely means you have big plans for your website. You need to know that as your traffic grows and as you add new functionality to your website over time, the web hosting provider you choose will still work for you. Don’t just look for the web plan you need now, also look at the other plans your provider offers to see if they match up to what you’ll need down the line. Security. Drupal is one of the best options for building a secure website, but you can never be too careful in our era of frequent data breaches and website hacking. Choosing a web hosting provider that values security and does their part to keep your website safe is one of the best choices you can make to avoid vulnerability. Uptime . Anytime your website’s unavailable you run the risk of losing trust or angering your attempted visitors. For businesses, it also means lost money and a blow to your reputation. Make sure you find a Drupal hosting provider who can not only provide at least 99.9% uptime, but also backs that up with a money-back guarantee. Web hosting is a service every website depends on. To make sure your Drupal website can do its job—remaining accessible to your visitors at the moment they need it and keeping any information they provide secure—choose a Drupal hosting plan that covers all the most important bases.At HostGator, we offer a variety of different hosting plans. Whether you are looking for a cloud hosting service or a dedicated server hosting package, our online resources are ready to help. To learn how to build a website , register a domain , or for any other web hosting questions, please contact our support team at HostGator today. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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