As a proud website and business owner you sometimes want to do everything yourself. The truth is that a lot can be done by one man/woman, but given the time and resources needed to do the job correctly, certain services simply need to be used or outsourced.
Many professional website managers outsource website security, graphic, and UX design, link building, affiliate marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, etc.
Today, if you run an e-commerce website, you need all the external help you can get. The competition is fierce, it’s not what it used to be in 2010. Today’s online businesses must be put on steroids in order to survive and thrive in this new competitive online marketplace.
10 years ago I would build a webpage, write 3000 words, optimize it slightly, place a few backlinks here and there, and within 2 months the site would appear on the first page of Google for a semi-competitive phrase. Getting these results today is impossible.
If you don’t spend the money and time on outsourcing essential web services to professionals, your competitors will. Not only that, but they will do it with a vengeance.
Today, online marketing is like a war zone. It’s very competitive and it is also a lot more confusing than before.
Most website owners struggle with the fact that there are too many providers and a lot of misinformation. They simply don’t know which companies to trust anymore. That’s why working with a professional website manager who has navigated these dark waters in the past, is crucial to your online business.
As a web manager, I have often used what I felt were the most essential web services for any online business. My experience with the following web companies has been very good, both in terms of service delivery, as well as cost-efficiency.
On behalf of my clients and to my own expectations I only want to work with the most reliable, talented, cost-effective, and efficient suppliers in the web industry.
Domain names
Choosing the right domain name can be quite challenging. Even though you may feel that you chose the best domain name for your business, extensive research could show otherwise. There are many different aspects that need to be considered when you choose your domain name.
If your business is online, it’s logical to assume that your entire business will be structured around the domain name. Therefore, in my opinion, if you are serious about your online success, you should use professional help with domain names. You need to consider aspects such as inherent domain value (hint – .com is always worth more than .net, shorter is always better), SEO, marketability, keyword popularity, and trends, etc..
Of course, it is possible to succeed online without a great domain name, many businesses have done it in the past. Yet interestingly enough, once they became more successful, they invested in a better domain name to represent their business. Domain names should be treated as an investment whose value should grow over time.
NAMESILO
I’ve been investing in domain names for over 20 years and I’ve used many domain registrars. About 3 years ago I came across Namesilo. Although its member administration panel was different from what I was used to, it didn’t take long before I knew their system inside out.
The best thing about Namesilo is that they are very competitively priced and offer the whole spectrum of essential domain services for all types of domainers (the term used to describe domain buyers and sellers).
ICANN-accredited domain registrar founded in 2010, Namesilo offers a huge selection of various TLDs, no additional fees on renewals, free domain parking with 100% revenue, free domain marketplace, free email forwarders, free WHOIS guard (shielding the owner’s contact details – a service which is normally charged as an extra by other registrars), and a great 24/7 support, should you need it.
Visit NAMESILO official website
They seem to be very reliable. I personally never had any issues with them or their services and from web reviews, on the subject I’ve noticed that only a tiny fraction of reviewers were slightly dissatisfied. Most users were actually amazed by the value that Namesilo provides to its members.
Website security and protection
Website security is so important that there is no room for errors. If you’re spending thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on web development and marketing, your investment needs to be protected. It’s simple as that. If you think otherwise, you evidently haven’t experienced a devastating hack yet.
Trust me when I say that as soon as you do, you’ll be singing a different tune. Hacks can happen at any time, executed by an automated algorithm or a person. Some hacks can completely shut down your website and your entire online business.
This is why your website security should be your number one concern, especially if your website generates a considerable amount of traffic (200 unique visitors a day) or it is an e-commerce website that collects sensitive customer data.
Throughout many years of managing websites and witnessing various hacks, I used a number of website security companies. None of them could match the service and support levels of Sucuri, which is a dedicated web security company.
SUCURI – TRUE WEBSITE FIREWALL
Sucuri, as far as I’m concerned, delivers an amazing service to the web community and helps to make the Internet a much safer place. I have been personally using their services for many years and never experienced any issues. Let me repeat that: ‘Never experienced any issues.
Their support service is excellent and this is what really sets them apart from the competition. Their end-to-end encryption is very good, effectively protecting websites from DDoS attacks, malware infections, spam injections, malicious redirects, backdoors, website defacements, etc.
Yet in order to achieve high levels of security, your website needs to be correctly configured. All traffic must first pass through the Sucuri servers and their unique scanning and virus elimination engine.
WEB TRAFFIC
YOUR WEBSITE
They use a physical hardware firewall that filters all the traffic passed through it. This is completely different than running a firewall or antivirus plugin on your WordPress website. Their firewall is set up between your domain and your server where your website is hosted. Other firewall plugins run at your website level, which provides very limited protection.
In addition, when you set up a firewall with Sucuri, you get a CDN (Content Delivery Network) for your website for free! CDN speeds up your website internationally which can also improve your Google rankings in addition to making it safer. Their CDN servers are scattered in different regions of the world. By keeping a copy of your website on each server your website can be served quicker to the local audience.
If you have a small website, you can start with a basic Sucuri firewall with a CDN for only $10 a month. No annual contracts, no additional fees. Their firewall is highly recommended and a no-brainer if you’re running an e-commerce website on a limited budget.
Visit SUCURI Firewall’s official website
Naturally, there are other companies offering website protection, but they are often much more expensive than Sucuri and aren’t necessarily much better. Sucuri Inc. is an honest company with thousands of positive reviews from clients all over the world.
Keyword research and link building
Without extensive keyword research, your online marketing efforts can be completely wasted. You could be spending a lot of money and resources on trying to obtain good search rankings for keywords that are not really relevant or simply don’t convert very well.
Imagine how much time you would need to prepare and configure your SEO or PPC campaigns, such as Google or Facebook ads. If you combine the cost of your time with the cost of running the campaigns for a month, you will soon realize that your monthly advertising budget will run into hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
The truth is that finding the right keywords that your potential customers use to look for products or services is one of the most important aspects of SEO and link management.
Knowing the keywords and phrases that convert well, will not only optimize all your marketing campaigns but also your entire business model. You will be able to zero in on your customers’ needs and this way improve your service and offer.
LONG TAIL PRO – KEYWORDS DIGGER
Long Tail Pro is a very neat and insightful online application that helps you find the most relevant keywords for your online business. Every SEO professional should start by looking at the keywords first, before setting up content and link-building campaigns.
What’s most interesting about this service is that it also generates long-tail keywords that people use to find what they are looking for. Knowing these long-tail keywords is extremely helpful in targeting specific searchers without the need to compete in oversaturated markets and chase rankings for one or two-word keywords, which may be very expensive and very time-consuming.
This online software includes a long tail keyword generator and suggestions, keyword analysis, complete competitor link analysis, ranking monitor, domain analysis, and many other interesting and useful features.
The people behind LongTailPro have developed a simple step-by-step system to find thousands of profitable, long keywords. Each keyword phrase is given a competitiveness score for any niche. This is very useful because it allows you to go after the less competitive and cheaper long keywords that can still bring a lot of sales and leads.
For example, it will be difficult to rank well on Google or other search engines for keywords like: ‘green Nike shoes‘. Although the phrase consists of 3 separate words, it’s still a very general term. There will be a lot of websites matching this type of general search.
However, the keyword phrase: ‘green Nike shoes with gold finish 2015‘ is a lot more precise and cheaper to rank for because it is less competitive. Additionally, it should convert better for a customer who is looking for this type of product. LongTailPro will help you find these types of keywords.
If you are a blogger and rely on content marketing, then the LongTailPro system will provide you with the content ideas you need in less than a minute. Finding the right topic for a targeted article is really easy using this advanced keyword system.
Visit Long Tail Pro official website
Unfortunately, like most things that are useful for businesses, LongTailPro is not free to use. The online app costs $25 per month and $297 per year. Fortunately, you can test it for only $1 for a period of 7 days. After the 7 days pass, you will be charged the full amount.
SEMRUSH – SEO ANALYSIS SOFTWARE
SEMrush is used by many SEO professionals as the no.1 tool for finding relevant, high-converting keywords and valuable backlinks to their website.
One of the most interesting and useful features of this online software is the ability to spy on the competition and replicate their success, and/or to improve on their mistakes.
SEMrush is actually really easy to use for beginners, but it is also very useful for advanced digital marketers. In the right hands, it can be a very powerful tool for online marketing and save the user a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on outsourcing to agencies.
The SEMrush dashboard includes search marketing tools like position tracking, site audit, on-page SEO checker, social media tracker, brand monitoring, volatility score, backlink audit, organic traffic insights, and more. Things in the beta include very useful features such as SEO writing assistance, domain analytics, and even topic research.
For web managers, the most interesting features will be the lead generation tool, marketing calendar, and the ability to add numerous projects with reports.
Visit SEMRush official website
Although each website should be analyzed individually to see what it really requires, these companies are usually a good fit. Any service you purchase, however, will need to be configured individually. A dedicated web manager can do that for you.
I can help you to configure and use any of the above-mentioned services. Contact me for more information.