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Starting a Blog for Making Money Online in 2019

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Recently I wrote a extensive post on “how to blog successfully and make your blog popular” ,  and I received a quite a few questions from new bloggers, who are  just getting into the blogging game asking me “How do they make money and start with blogging“. [updated 28 March 2019]

2016 moneymaker

The short story  is, that you will need a “Australian WordPress hosting”  account and  a good “WordPress Design Theme” to truly blog with freedom attract your audience  and grow  your  traffic to your blog.

Making Money from blogging

Making money from blogs  is not easy today, it used to be easy at one part of time but now everybody  and their dog is in the game.

Today  the blogging world  is kinda saturated  with mom bloggers, business bloggers, fashion bloggers, travel bloggers and all sorta bloggers ( my dog is a princess bloggers).

So you pick any damn niche and you already got competition.

 

It’s a struggle to survive – if your already in the game 

What google says  about what a blog is – “A blog is a website, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis” – I really like this simple and to the point definition.

 

Look and search everywhere, but there is no magic mantra or magic bullet  for a Sucessful Blog.

In addition, google keeps changing the goal posts with annoying algorithm updates that keep bugging SEO’s and bloggers.

Every year there is something new with google requirements  to be popular in their search engine , like now you need a https website  for security, your website design needs to be responsive, you need amp and what not.

Its harder and costlier  to make money every year.

What you should do  to become popular online ?

You should definitely get your blog a USP (Unique Selling Point) to stay on top of your competition.

If you get this right you will get blog viewers, likes and  sharing of your content, which will surely get your blog traffic coming back to you on a regular basis.

This will also encourage your  viewers  to  subscribe to your email list and also people to comment on your blog, which all creates a buzz around your blog.

These all work together in your favour and also help you #rank in google search

Trust me  people commenting on your posts  or  on the blog  and contacting you via your contact me button is a sure sign of you becoming more popular (or in some cases unpopular) in your blogging journey.

 

When you write quality interesting  content  better than most other blogs, have a professional looking designed website and you share  your top written content  in the right  social media channels and forums – Your blog will soon get  noticed and  be on its way to being successful.

 

If  all of this happens a lot (people interacting , commenting , likes on facebook, sharing your posts) and it happens more often, then your on your weay to becoming a blogging superstar so to speak and you don’t have to chase money, but the money will chase you sooner or later.

This shows people are listening(reading) to you, want to interact  with you and you  have become bit of a influencer, and companies and brands love that.

This is a sure sign of achieving success and if you get all these above tips/hints correct and implement it, you will be  lucky and will surely succeed. If your luckier  than most other bloggers/instagrammer’s then  brands will also approach you.

Success surely involves one important thing  in these times  and that is making authoritative and quality content  and getting the word spread  about that “Epic Content” you just created to the  blogosphere.

You do this  by getting it shared on social media ( Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Linked in)  and  also getting mentioned by popular people of note in  your blog niche.

Today many people do outreach  to amplify their best content  and get it shared online  and this can  work for you as well. Its not hard to do, outreach can be done by yourself or then  you can hire an agency to do it.

Influencer’s are kinda getting big right now on the Instagram platform. Some popular infleuncers get paid  quite well if they have a huge following and can earn even more than a full time job.

However Blogging aint getting any easier, so  don’t expect the great Matt Mullenweg of wordpress or Matt cutts of google to help you out with this. This job will have to be done by you – by doing the hard yards.

There is another option to speed things up, I would recommend learning from a experienced blogger who is already earning income online. I have got an online tutorial if you want  to get started today atleast getting your blog online as a start.

In relation to making money online, I would recommend Rosalind Gardner  who is a super affiliate and has helped many into  their online affiliate marketing careers, she has an in-depth  affiliate guide called – “Super Affiliate: How I Made $436,797 In One Year which covers how to start Your Own Home-based Affiliate Marketing Business.

These guides will surely teach  you how to go about and start earning  with affiliate marketing or  increase your existing blog income

Keeping on top of competition, also involves churning out  regular awesome content,  sharing it on social media, doing proper SEO so that  the content shines,  promoting the blog and updating it regularly to match what google search engine  needs(SEO) to keep it ranked high on their search engines.

My Post of

“The 3 Steps to Setting Up a Popular and Successful Blog”

just got published at dailyblogtips.com, so you might wanna check out this extensive post  to get some tips on – How to get a successful blog going!

3 steps to suucess in blogging

For People Looking to Start a blog

Luckily there are quite a few free platforms that help you start out on blogging  totally free and so you can start your blog without spending money.

Free Blog Platforms is not my recommended way of starting a blog  if your really serious about blogging, but if your cash strapped  then you can surely take  advantage of  this method and get started. 

Most successful bloggers would have used these free bloggin services at some part of time  or maybe even when they started their new bogging journey. WordPress.com offers free as well as paid options for a website, but if your after self hosted which is most suitable for making money with affiliate offers then the below offer might be more useful.

But, if you can  afford a reasonable >>  $3.49 hosting a month for a brand new self hosted wordpress blog. I would recommend this as a preferred starting platform. Not only  you will have 100 % ownership  of your own blog , you dont have the risk of ban or deletion of your website by google / tumblr /wordpress.com (whichever platform you decide to go with)

My recommended service for  a self hosted blog is  the wordpress software and the recommended service provider is Bluehost hosting. Below is a link to my blog post

startatechblog

With Bluehost WebHosting you get both Hosting and domain name , plus a 1 click install option to get your wordpress blog installed quickly.

The WordPress CMS is recommended, because it is one of the most versatile website software which give you 100 % flexibility in design. It also has  awesome flexibility in functionality  which can be added if needed with heaps of plugins , WP themes and tutorials available online.  Your website can be designed with easy install themes to make it look , just like any professional website. It is also one of the easiest to use blog/website software.

Bluehost hosting , I recommend because I have had blogs on their servers for ages, besides they also have a 1 click install which is so easy to install a website or  blog in minutes, just by following their install  prompts.

Below is a current deal for you from my blog as I am an affiliate partner with them

Special Promotion Offer for 2019  from Digital Grog + (BLUEHOST)

Special Feb/March bonus, My readers can enjoy the ultimate steal of  $7.99 $3.95/mo  on the  shared hosting plan (this promo is for a limited time! – Get it here )

+  offer, $3.49/mo for 36 months (link here) on the Basic Plan.

A self hosted wordpress blog is a website that your run on your purchased hosting account and have full freedom over  this website.

Most hosting  companies provide a 1 click install nowadays  to get your self hosted blog set up easily.

 

Getting a self hosted wordpress blog will also avoid the hassle of moving your blog later on  which every free blogger does eventually.

Because for sure,  if you sign up with a free service like blogspot or tumblr or wordpress.com, you will move sooner or later  to a self hosted wordpress blog like most professional bloggers do.

This normally happens when they realise the constraints and limitations of using a free blog service or getting a blog deleted for a policy violation.

However, choosing what blog service you want to start with is totally upto you and so are below are some free blogging hosts listed for you.

  • WordPress.com (or  from wordpress.org)

WordPress.org is one of  the largest self-hosted blogging tool and software in the world, used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of people every day. You can check out their features here  and get a free or Premium blog at wordpress.com

Get a free or paid wordpress blog here

 

  • Blogger.com ( from Google)

Blogger is free blogging platform by google.com  with a host of features to make blogging as simple and effective as possible. You will need a google account  or gmail account or  then just create one for free when registering with blogger.com

Get a free Blogger blog here

 

  • Tumblr.com

Tumblr is a mini blogging or micro blogging service and  lets you effortlessly share anything, Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos from your browser, phone, desktop, email.

Get a free Tumblr blog here

These three services  are free to use  and if you get real popular fast you will have the option of breaking out or branching out from their services  to  transfer your blog to a paid server.

Most people when it is time  to upgrade, move to self hosted wordpress platform with their own custom domain name and webhosting.

As I said before , if you don’t want the hassle of moving hosts and your  blog  later when you get more traffic on your blog and start to earn some revenue, then I would recommend for you to sign up with Self hosted blog  choosing a hosting company  with 1 click install to get your blog started. Here are some price comparisons for hosting companies.

Intro – Digital Grog Blog Video

 

Review of website –>  Hosting 2019 ( Best WordPress Host Providers)

Website Hosting 2019 Australia 

However, just starting a blog is not sufficient to make money and the best way to ensure you are doing this the right way is to get the right training right from the start. This ensures that you dont have to waste time figuring things out and can start earning money quicker.

There are not many brick and mortar university courses that teach you how to earn money on-line  and the online courses that are available are for specific niches like social media marketing, web design and on-line marketing.

The on-line marketing course available in these universities go though the traditional approach and basic concepts of on-line marketing, but is often outdated as this subject matter changes rapidly.

It is best to take a course from a on-line marketing agency that is currently practising this in the market and that is why I recommend Rosalind Gardner  who is a super affiliate and has helped many into  their online affiliate marketing careers, she has  an indepth  affiliate guide called – “Super Affiliate: How I Made $436,797 In One Year which covers how to start Your Own Home-based Affiliate Marketing Business.

There is also Affilorama By Mark ling  and  click bank university .

Clickbank is one of the largest marketplace for digital products and has made many millionaires.

These courses, not only provide you training to earn money on-line as a affiliate (selling other peoples products through your blog/website) but also trains you for making and launching your own product and promoting it.

Some more Useful internet marketing courses

  1. The “Affiliate Blogger Pro”
  2. Affilorama By Mark ling
  3. CB Passive income for 2019
Step by step Instructions to start a WordPress blog 

If you don’t have a blog yet and you are ready to get started today with a wordpress website, then you might want to check my tutorial post with step by step instructions  on starting a website over here –  https://www.digitalgrog.com.au/australia/starting-a-tech-blog-in-six-easy-steps/. This post will give you a step by step break down of how to start your own WordPress blog today with bluehost webhosting.

You can start by choosing a good domain name  with our domain checker tool below

More tools : Bluehost Domain Checker

How to make money with  a wordpress blog

No one is going to give away  all their secrets for this one. But i can atleast point you int he right direction. Here are some tried and tested methods to make money with your website.

Google Adsense

This is one method whihc needs the least  effort  to make some money, but will also pay  peanuts if you dont have much traffic  to your blog or if your  blog is in a  niche where you cant earn much.

 

Affiliate Income

This is where many blogs earn top dollar, by promoting  products  in the niche they are bloggin about  to their audience.

Fashion bloggers can earn thousands of dollars promoting the right brands. Technology bloggers can earn thousands of dollars promoting technology and gadgets. Food bloggers can earn hundreds of dollars  promoting products in their niche.

I have seen  many people in all of  these mentioned niches doing  anywhere from $2,000 to $40,000 a month in revenue.

 

Ecommerce shop

This is a new trend where people are creating their own products and selling on platforms like shopify – online shops. 

They are many people not stock/products on hand, but selling stuff online and  getting it shipped directly to customers from vendors in china, while making a nice commission with no inventory, this is also called drop shipping.

 

 

Amazon Niche Websites (Amazon affiliate)

This income stream has taken off in the last couple of years. They are bloggers who write articles on certain niches. example fishing lures.

create an amazon store and product

The bloggers then have links to fishing products  from amazon on their website.  when a viewer purchase  a product from amazon, they earn a commission for advertising that product on their website and making a sale.

While all these methods are good, there is one basic  thing they need to make money – Qualified leads or  targeted traffic to your website.

If you are getting  the right people coming to your website  who are interested in your products, you will be making sales.

Targeted Traffic with Advertising

One way to get quick targeted traffic is online advertising with  the search engines themselves. I suggest Bing adwords as they are cheaper and more flexible with their  ads. Here are some free started coupons worth $50  to get you started.

With search engine advertising  you can make unlimited money if you get your advertising right.

New Business and website customers in the following markets receive free search adverting credits to help them get started:

 

Other methods for targeted traffic is as  I have said before – SEO for your website, awesome content on your site/shop or blog,  promotion on social media  by you or a hired agency – which will get you on your road to success.

If all this is not your cup of tea and you would just rather doe something quick and earn money , then maybe  you need to check  these survey websites out here “Make money surveys – Australia”  or  iSurveyWorld Surveys (Australia) and just fill out surveys and make some money online.

Good luck!

How to buy a domain name and website name buying 101

by 16 Comments

Buying a domain name is an easy process, you just need to choose a domain name, then pay for it and it is yours. The process after that – like setting up your website domain name with your website can be more involved.

While registering the website name you will need to provide an email in the sign-up process, so that you can receive the domain setup details in an email. They are many top-level domains (TLD) like .com  .gov .org   .edu   available today apart from the ever emerging new domain extensions being released like .club .news and many more.

For Australia  .com.au is a top level domain. The au domains are sought after in Australia. [updated 2 October 2018]

Pricing for all domain name extensions is different depending on what name you choose. Australian domain name extensions like.com.au require a minimum two-year registration and an Australian  Business Number (ABN) for you to register a name for yourself. The popular dot.com domain does not have this requirement and can be registered for just 1 year.

A domain name is the name of a website eg. my site  www.digitalgrog.com.au/ is my domain name and also my online website address. If you’re thinking about creating your own site or blog, buying a domain name or doing a “domain name search” is the first thing that you will do.

To make the process of starting a blog /website easier many website providers now provide both the domain name + webhosting together so that you can set up a website easily and quickly. Some of these providers also throw in a Free domain name if you purchase the webhosting from them, that is needed to set-up a website. Bluehost.com is one such provider that offers free domain name with webhosting account.

In Australia, you need to be an accredited registrar to resell domain names online and provide domain name registrations. AUDA is the authority that manages the Australian domains

Domain Name providers where you can buy or register a domain name.

When buying a domain name or starting a business- you want to be sure that the company you buying from is reputable and just won't shut down tomorrow. If they have other website related services like webhosting, site security, name transfer available, then it surely is a bonus and adds to their good standing.

I have a list of three names below because they fit most of my criteria eg. been in this business for years, reasonably priced domain names, regular promo deals and a good reputation.

If you want a domain name for cheap, then godaddy.com is your best bet. They are a wholesaler in the domain name business and this is what they do best. As a website builder, I also appreciate that their domain management interface is really easy to use for multiple domain names.

"Carly

1. www.Godaddy.com

godaddy australia

[Good Global domain provider with constant good deals and offers]

godaddy blog hosting vs australian blog hosting

99 Cent Domains

You can’t go wrong if you want to start a blog and want both hosting and a Domain name both in a convenient package. Bluehost provides this and I got my blog set up in an hour.

Blake

www.bluehost.com

bluehost.com.au

[ Provides Domains and Hosting in the same place]

bluehost comparison chart

5 stars

Very straightforward experience, it was very clear for what I was paying for. great prices! 28 Sep 2018

Anonymous Customer

www.namecheap.com

cheap domain names

[ Haven’t used them yet , but seems to have a good reputation]

cheap name for websites

5 stars

Most of time, my technical issues are resolved with level 1 or level 2 support and usually, they are resolved in a timely manner.

Dominic M

Melbourne It (now netregistry) – Get a Deal

Netregistry (Melbourne IT) is an Australian Internet company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Formed in 1996, its primary business is domain name registration in most of the major national and global top-level domains.Melbourne IT - Register your com, net, org Domains Now!Both godaddy and bluehost  provide both website-domain-names and hosting  but godaddy is known more for domain names and bluehost is more well-known for hosting,  so i have provided both options

How to acquire a domain name

First, you need to decide if you just need a domain or would you be requiring other services as well like web hosting for your website or blog. Possible Add-ons with a domain name can include webhosting, Website builder, SEO optimiser, Payment acceptance tools for your website etc. Web-hosting is necessary with a domain name purchase to create a website/blog.

If you already got a hosting account then you can just buy a domain and point it to your hosting account where your files or content will be hosted. If you need both a website name+ hosting, then you can just get a package deal. Bluehost and Godaddy have some good deals for names plus hosting which are also given below.

Both of them offer Hosting + free domain name deals but GoDaddy is also one of the larger domain name registration services that also registers Aussie .com.au domain names.

To register a domain name is as simple as checking if a domain name is available and then clicking buy and making a payment for your domain name.

How to check if a domain name is taken

If you’re hoping to attract many visitors to your blog or website, the name should be short and related to the content/topic of the website. If the name stands out it will help in the branding of the website as well.

Before doing a search for a domain name there are a few useful pointers – you my friend should keep in mind.

1. Keep it short and easy to remember name. NOT something like this ( www.jessejackson-knowstech–blog.com)

2. Keep the name interesting and fresh (like mine Smile)

3. Get a .com or com.au extension as they are more easier to remember rather  than   a  .org  .co or something that is not very popular

Go here and do a search for your name and just buy yourself a good website name if you find one. Make Sure you have your ABN number ready before registration- If you don’t have an Australian business number(ABN), you can get one here.

Note: Buying a domain name or purchasing a domain is also technically known as “registering your domain name”. You can check for unlimited domain names over here

If you are looking to compare Australian website hosting or domain purchasing with US website hosting and prices, then you need to know the price difference. If you need a local Aussie provider, you can read a detailed review here.

How to check and register domain names

Before you register your www name online, make a list of several options or names for your website name. Be creative and open to different keyword options for a name.

Your first choice may not always be available as there are already billions of websites operating on the internet with millions of names already taken. Once you’ve got a good list of names do a search for your names that you have shortlisted.

Just  go here do a search for your name and if available, make a payment immediately and buy it – so that you dont lose it to someone else.

cheap web names

Decide what extension you want for your domain name. Options include .com, .org. and .co. and many more new ones are being added every year (latest extension releases is .guru .video .news as well )

The price is usually around $10 for a domain name but sometimes you can get it for as cheap as $1.99 or $2.95 when promo deals are on, but it can vary based on the company offering it and the add-on package you purchase with it.

When you find a URL that works, register and pay for your domain name, and you’re open for business.

If you need any help with setting up your domain etc go daddy has a 24/7 tech support line, which is very helpful and you can actually speak to a person in the US for help compared to some other hosting companies that provide support from overseas countries.

Now that you have sorted your domain name buying, An got an idea of hosting companies, you can read a detailed comparison of local and US hosting companies with prices for hosting in my next post.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Guide - Building a wordpress blog in 3 steps and more <a href="https://t.co/nQGKpA0Mm7">https://t.co/nQGKpA0Mm7</a> <a href="https://t.co/SEosYW3lxa">pic.twitter.com/SEosYW3lxa</a></p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->— DigitalGrog (@undermarrest) <a href="https://twitter.com/undermarrest/status/722657131422474240">April 20, 2016</a></blockquote><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>

If you are ready to get started today with your online business or just a personal blog, then you might want to check my post https://www.digitalgrog.com.au/australia/starting-a-tech-blog-in-six-easy-steps/ which will give you a step by step break down of how to start your wordpress blog easily today. They have some good recommendations on the list, where  you can get a Free domain name  with your  paid hosting  for a good reasonable price.

Is your Domain Name already taken?

Domain names are hard to get and most likely the domain name you want is possibly already taken. If you are willing to pay a premium sometimes you can still buy the domain by making an offer.

Below you can check if a name that is already taken can be still purchased by you

Get the domain you really want with Domain Buy Service from from GoDaddy.com!

Disclosure: Digitalgrog.com.au is a affiliate partner to most of the Hosting services and some other blog related promotion services that I have listed here on my blog and I use, which means that in addition to using their service, we also receive a commission for referring new customers. To be fair, though, we still use these services even if we weren’t an affiliate. We don’t recommend any particular host just because we’re an affiliate (every hosting company offers a similar affiliate program); we recommend certain Hosting companies because they are the best, most reliable option. Plus, because we’re a partner, these providers offers a special price for Digitalgrog readers. Take action – Get started today.

What does the surge in the Australian dollar mean for the global economy?

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australian dollar fx rate

There’s been great interest surrounding the Australian economy – both on these shores and overseas – since a surge in value for the Aussie dollar. As July turned into August, the dollar shot beyond 80 US cents – almost 10 US cents higher than the rate last November and far higher than early 2016 and September 2015, when it dipped below 70 US cents.

Those sorts of figures are always going to spark interest in everyone from people trading in the forex markets to big businesses, politicians and academics – especially since the trend has been in evidence for a couple of months now. But what do they show? Do these figures hint at any underlying trends in the global economy?

The US is important

For some time now, global economies have been closely intertwined. Countries the size and scale of the US are more linked that others, and much can be explained by keeping a close eye on the fortunes of America.

The US dollar is suffering from something of a slump at the moment – becoming weaker against currencies right across the world. The value of the Australian dollar fits into that wider narrative.

The trend is being partly blamed on the performance of President Trump – who seems to be locked into a cycle of constant political crisis – and partly on a policy choice to make the US more competitive by embracing a weaker currency.

Kristina Hooper, the global market strategist at Invesco, said: “We’re going to see continued weakness in the dollar. It is very much a vote of confidence, or lack of confidence, in the U.S. economy.”

Iron ore is in demand

But we shouldn’t ignore other factors. Renewed demand for Australia’s raw commodities has also been a part of the dollar’s surge – and also shines a light on wider trends in the global economy.

The price of iron ore and coking coal, as ABC notes, is up by about 15 and 10 per cent respectively.

Much of this comes from strong demand in the world’s other leading economy – China.

Indeed, it’s tempting to look at the two factors together as evidence of the changing of the guard – with China overtaking or rivalling the US as the world’s economic superpower. That’s up for debate – but it’s certainly a long term trend in the global economy that experts and analysts will be keen to track.

Nothing is black and white

Yet, while the rising Australian dollar is good news for importers and the falling US dollar good news for people wanting to take a holiday in America, it’s also worth noting that every bit of financial news that creates a winner also creates losers.

Exporters cannot afford for their goods to become uncompetitive, while sluggish wage growth also risks creating an issue with inflation.

Indeed, when it comes to competitiveness, AiG found that 80 US cents is a ‘tipping point’. It found that 79 per cent of manufacturers were ‘very competitive’ if the Australian dollar was valued at 70-80 US cents. That figure falls to 38 per cent if it reaches 81-90.

The global economy is full of winners and losers – and no-one should ever be fooled into thinking that things are ever black and white.

Top picks for Blog Website Hosting for Australians in 2019

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Post updated for 2019. Now I do know, that there are some good aussie web hosts in Australia , but if you are starting out with a new website or blogging site and need some cheap hosting  then it would be wise to do research before buying your webhosting.

I have used a mix of aussie hosts and US based web-hosting providers  in my list below and prices for blogging software and web-hosting can certainly differ a lot between these hosts.

US web-hosts can be quite competitive and affordable compared to some  of our local Australian companies.

I posted this price table below in 2017, but prices and features have been regularly updated. [ This post was updated on  09 January 2018 ]

Affordable Wordpress Hosting in Australia

I got this question asked to me on this blog ..

“I am planning to start a blog, most likely using the wordpress  blogging platform and  I am looking for a good web host (Australian preferable since most of my content will be for Australians).

– I have received many similar questions  since then –  so I decided to do this post

wordpress hosting for australia by go daddy 

I have purchased .com.au domains from smarty host (local aussie provider –now netregistry) when I started my bloggin journey,  they used to provide a website hosting service as well which i never tested out .

Net-registry are pretty  good  with their domain names service, however if you want to compare Australian web hosting prices against the  US based providers. Some of the US based  providers are definitely more affordable even with domain name prices(check my blog post where I recently bought .au domain name from Godaddy at a nice discount price here).

Godaddy also sell SSL certificates which help you secure your website and get https in your url (this help in ranking your website). Their custom plans also feature SSD hard drives now.

Below, I will also include smarty host(netregistry) in my comparison chart  for Australian + US hosting providers packages.

Dedicated servers are not listed  as they are more pricey and only shared plans which are affordable  have been featured here for bloggers and beginner websites .

I will rank them in order of my ratings  and preference with the best at the top of this list  as per my experience with them, except for smarty host  who I don’t  use for hosting  but just domain names – who is right at the top.

I have been using the rest of the Hosting companies mentioned for the last 10+ years while blogging. Some of these hosting plans listed below, also offer a bonus free domain name.

Australian Vs US hosting Comparison for blogs and websites

To keep it simple I have just added four columns  – Click the discount link  below to claim the most current discounts
[ninja_tables id=”5733″]

Step 1 –  Choosing the Hosting Platform

Most popular blogging platforms Overview

  • WordPress 60% 60%
  • Joomla Drupal more 20% 20%
  • Wix Weebly Squarespace 20% 20%

The figures in bar counter diagram are figures from self hosted managed CMS  platforms aggregated from online resources.

The below figures in circle chart are for websites from data  received  form survey done online.

"Wordpress

WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world and is used by nearly 75 million websites. According to WordPress, more than 409 million people view more than 23.6 billion pages each month and users produce and whopping 69.5 million new posts every month. It also powers more than 25% of the world’s websites.

The first thing  to do when you are starting your  own website rather than hiring a website designer or  web developer, is to  get the WordPress platform to build your website.

This platform is regularly updated  to keep you safe from hackers  and upto date with the latest version of wordpress.

I say this because I have also used Joomla and Drupal  website builders which are good content management systems, but they are not as good as the WordPress platform in ease of use and flexibility to customise as per your needs.

The ranking above is based on  my use of these service providers based on price, reliability, affordability, up-time, features, ease-of-use, server speed and overall support.

There is always the option to use premuim  Australian Web Hosting from good companies like rackspace or crucial, but budget shared US hosting is OK if your are just starting  a blog or website.

You can also get an .au domain name and still use US Webhosts  to host your Australian webpage.

Above in the chart –  Under features, I have updated the ones in green as essential things bloggers would  like to have in their hosting plan  and the ones in bold black font are the highlights /features of  that hosting provider

I have also written more detailed reviews before  for some of these web-hosts which can be found below

What is shared hosting?

Shared web hosting is what most people mean when they refer to “web-hosting”.  It simply means that many customers’ websites reside on a single web server, and that the server’s resources (CPU and RAM) are shared among every customer account on the machine.

Shared Plans is cheap because many people share one server.

one click install for wordpress

Most shared hosting plans  listed above offer free quick install scripts like above in the pic and sometimes also offer free design templates for your webpage,  Free domain email, FTP, $100 google adwords bonus   and Facebook advertising coupons etc.

Company Overview – Shared Hosting Plan Providers for  Blogs

Bluehost.com

Bluehost’s fast and reliable website hosting gives you everything you need to get your website online quickly. Bluehost is a web hosting company owned by Endurance International Group

Key people in bluehost –  Matt Heaton (Founder, CEO 2003-2011) Dan Handy (CEO 2011-2015) Mike Olson (CEO 2015-present)

They have servers in Provo, Utah, USA. Bluehost’s uptime is just about perfect (99.98%), well over industry standard which is around 99.90%.  Prior to last 6 months

"Bluehost

Hostgator.com

HostGator recently launched their new, premium hosting called HostGator WordPress Cloud.

Founded in a dorm room at Florida Atlantic University by Brent Oxley, HostGator has grown into a leading provider of Shared, Reseller, VPS, and Dedicated web hosting. HostGator is headquartered in Houston and Austin, Texas, with several international offices throughout the globe.

HostGator has been around since 2002, originally founded by Brent Oxley before being acquired a decade later by Endurance International Group (EIG).

"Hostgator

Godaddy.com

Bob Parsons the founder of godaddy is a serial entrepreneur. He sold his first company to Intuit, Inc. in 1994. Three years later Parsons started Jomax Technologies, renaming the company GoDaddy in 1999. In 2000, GoDaddy became an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar. Designated CEO Now: Scott Wagner (Jan 1, 2018).

They have many different kind of plans. While Deluxe and Unlimited WebHosting Plans support and host unlimited Web Sites, owners of single plans may experience periodic decreases in performance once they more than 400 Web Sites.

"Godaddy

Crucial.com

The Sydney-based company has focused on delivering a better experience for customers, with the roll-out of an industry first concept; Managed Google Apps.

Crucial’s roots trace back to a student bedroom in Bondi in 2003 where the company was first formed, and its headcount currently sits at 20 employees before the AVS buy.

"Crucial

Hostmonster.com

HostMonster has been providing hosting solutions to thousands of business and personal web sites since 1996. Our internet hosting package helps businesses and individuals get high-powered service at a fraction of the cost.

Features

  • Unlimited disk storage
  • Unlimited domain Hosting
  • Free drag and drop builder
  • cPanel Account Control Panel

Hostmonster Deal

Hostmonster : GIMMEMORE Coupon Code

Some of the links on this blog are affiliate links  an I might earn a commission from it ,  rest assured  the review is honest and written from my own perspective. The Webhosting features and pricing are as current at the time of writing and links when clicked will update to the most current advertised or discount deal.

I hope, I have helped you in  choosing a good hosting provider to get started building your website.review of wordpress themes

After getting your domain and hosting sorted , there is just one more thing  left  to complete the picture  and  make it all come together , which is your blog design and look.  A good professional looking wordpress theme is essential for people to get attracted to your blog and also trust and like you blog.

Check out my review post on some of the wordpress theme providers I have been using for a long time.

You can use the free google advertising coupons  to boost your website in Google search to get more traffic to your website

Digitalgrog.com.au is a affiliate partner to most of the Hosting services and some other blog related promotion services that I have listed here on my blog and I use, which means that in addition to using their service, we also receive a commission for referring new customers. Digitalgrog is  a Bluehost/ Hostgator/ Hostmonster/ Godaddy /Dreamhost/Ipage affiliate partner and we also have purchased accounts with these services

To be fair, though, we still use these services even if we weren’t an affiliate. We don’t recommend any particular host just because we’re an affiliate (every company offers a similar affiliate program), we recommend certain services because they are the best or better more reliable option. Plus, because we’re a partner, these providers offers a special price for Digitalgrog.com.au readers. Get your hosting today and get started.

Because we’re a partner, Bluehost offers a special price for digitalgrog.com.au readers: only $3.95 a month  which includes a domain name. We already have our godaddy $1 special  offer  listed above i.e if you are looking for  a cheaper deal.

Links provided above in the table  will take you to  the latest updated promo and discount deals. Feel free to pick which host suits your budget or preference and good luck to your new start 🙂

Some local reviews  ( from whirlpool.com.au)

.com.au, .net.au, .org.au Domain Names

NameScout

I found the cheapest provider to the public at only $59.99 per domain (2 years registration included – I  think this is pricey ), they had a really nice site, great functionality (they create redirecting email address’ on their servers that randomly generate so you don’t get spam from who is lookups which is awesome).

Only downside was their customer service, not only they don’t answer emails on weekends, they operate from Barbados, so if you send an email during the day you tend to not get a reply till early the next morning (e.g. 2 am). (Quote: eXtreme)

GoDaddy!

The cheapest I found was which was $7.95 US (on special) but normal price was $8.95 which is still great, and they offer the same management features as most other registrars. Only downside is they have a fair bit of ads on their site (no pop-ups), but since you barely ever visit your registrar it is no problem. I found registration very easy and they customer service was excellent. (Quote: eXtreme)

NameCheap

Namecheap is good: $8.88 US a year for .com, .net, .org and SSl certificates (https in your domain name)
Just registered 2 domains with them – no problems so far. (Quote: pcpowerplay)

Incoming Searches

  • Should I use an US web host in Australia
  • Website designing
  • Website design
  • Web developers
  • Domain registrars
  • How to start a blog Australia
  • Making a website with WordPress

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Looking for Australian article writers for websites

by

If you own a blog or website one of the most time consuming work you would be doing to make you blog or website more popular would be writing  great articles and good content for your website. Many bloggers or website owners wish they could outsource this task to other people.

Are Australian Article Writers – Hard to get

In fact many bloggers have already started doing it  , but many have since realised that the quality and engagement created by the article is not worth the money or then they are not getting any Google love due to the weak articles produced for cheap money spent.

content management

 

Websites offering Content writing

Websites such a

freelancer.com

and elance.com

odesk.com and other similar websites  – focus more on website development  and is pretty good for that , but fail to deliver on copy writing  or content writing in my opinion  as these areas are not their main focus.

The professional level of English sought for the articles for a well established blog or website are often hard to get from these kinda websites due to the writers bidding for the projects not being that professionally adept for the job.

check it out

I Currently have a free $20 bonus from freelancer  for new sign ups, so feel free to use this for any writing or website project of yours that you are planning  to outsource to someone on freelancer.

Content produced by a professional like copyblogger is often hard to get , or if not hard to get  then quite pricey  to afford  ($80 for 300 words wow..they might be writing with a gold pen ) for a blogger or website owner  to make any financial sense  to them. Often you have to search  hard until you get the perfect candidate for writing.

With the new google panda update affecting how we manage our blog and content on it  and also now search engines like bing are getting in on the act of re-defining their SEO and search parameters.

A post οn Webmasterworld frοm Duane Forrester explains that if a user searches for a term and reaches your website and  quickly clicks out of your website  its obvious the content is not as interesting or good and they search engines are definitely taking into account these statistics into their search algorithms.

Get Australian article writers for your blog or website

article creation copywriterIf you’re looking for a good copywriter in Australia or another country for your web pages or other online marketing material,  I write articles about finance , technology, Stock market and Business and political issues with a Australian focus  but can also write  for an international focus.

I mainly do only these articles  as I like to follow the news  around these topics.

The website or blog content you receive from me will be high quality and unique. It will not be sold to others or re-used and it will not have been created by any article spinning software that some cheap article writers use on some of the more popular freelancing providing websites.

Writing is a process of constant learning and self-improvement, but the good news is, there is a wide range of organisations and and services across the country devoted to helping writers improve their craft.

If you are interested in getting a article writer and want to contact me or get an example of the different articles I have written, send me an enquiry from the contact me page.

 

How To Become A Freelance Web Developer

by

by Rosie Allabarton

If you’re reading this then you’re probably thinking about becoming a freelancer, or a web developer, or best of all some combination of the two.

computert v keyboard freelance writing for developer

It’s a good idea! But, err, how?

You could have a number of reasons for making the decision to break out of the corporate machine, but if you’re looking for examples, here are four that you might have considered while sitting at your desk job, imagining all the creative ways of saying “I QUIT”:

1. A better work-life balance – you can have breakfast with your boyfriend/girlfriend again!

2. Being your own boss – you can work all morning (or all night for that matter), and then spontaneously take a couple of days off to, I don’t know, play disc golf?

3. Freedom to choose your working hours/clients/rate of pay – say a polite ‘no thank you’ to that miserable client and a ‘no thank you’ to his criminally low budget too.

4. The chance to work on more interesting projects – no more monotony, each month bringing a variety of work, clients and opportunities. Cue envious looks from your former colleagues.

Perhaps you’ve already trained in Ruby On Rails, or you learned HTML at college, or you’re a dab hand at Java. If so, now could be the perfect time to join the freelance movement and become your own boss.

Who should consider freelancing as an option?

If you’re a developer already, in all likelihood you’ve been working for the same company, or bouncing from opportunities year by year, leaving every time something that started out fascinating became quickly mundane. For a while now you’ve been thinking about calling your own shots, and breaking away from your circular work life.

On the other hand, if you’re a tech junky looking for a way to build a skillset that allows you to work on your own terms, this is a pretty stellar option.

Being your own boss has a huge number of advantages, and not just because you get to decide the theme for the office Christmas party (Jumanji, anyone?) but getting started is tough. As a freelance web developer you put yourself in a high value position, but only for as long as you are able to run your own business, which includes managing the worst kind of employee you know… you!

Just kidding, but let’s face it, self discipline is tough when your other options are watching movies on your sofa with a box of cookies. You have to be strict, but incase you need the motivation, here are a few things about being a freelance developer that work to your advantage:

  • Your skills are highly sought-after in every industry (AKA lots of demand)
  • There is a huge shortage of web developers worldwide (AKA lots of demand)
  • Contract salaries are frequently high (AKA … awesome)

Think this might be the career choice for you? Thought so. Then let’s get you started!

1. Find Your Niche

Wanna stand out from the crowd? Find yourself a niche and upgrade your skills. While it’s great to be a programmer that can do a bit of everything, your value will be higher as an expert in just a few.

“Becoming known as the solution to a particular set of problems is crucial to your freelance career, so you need to be willing to differentiate and then lock it in.”

– Ted Johnson, longterm freelance developer.

If you’re not sure your current abilities solve a common enough problem, consider learning a new language altogether, or try building a skillset of complementary abilities other than coding, such as User Experience Design, or User Interface Design for the more creative types. A developer who can also plan out a usable and effective information architecture is rare, and this dual-skilled approach could see you turning clients away left, right and centre.

You don’t ever just want to be “that developer guy/girl I know” but rather “an expert developer for [insert problem here]”. It’ll be much easier to advertise your skills and make a name for yourself if you can say you’re the best in a particular, sought-after area, or the only one who can do it.

Not sure what’s hot on the market right now? Here are the three most up and coming demands you’ll find today:

Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is an open source web application framework which runs via the Ruby       programming language. Currently the hottest of the hot among startups worldwide.

Swift

Swift is Apple’s new innovative programming language for Cocoa and Cocoa Touch.           Structured for iOS development, syntax is concise yet expressive, and apps run lightning-fast.

Node.js

Node.js is a platform built on Chrome’s JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications. Many argue it is the up-and-coming competitor to Ruby on Rails.

As our friend and expert web developer Stephen Young (http://aestheticio.com/) put it:

“Focus on the underlying principles and driving forces behind new technologies.”

2. Start Building, Anything & Everything

So you’ve found your niche. Now it’s time to get building. The best place to start is your portfolio website, the one website you will update, edit and continually develop for your entire career. Your portfolio is a way of displaying your skills and having an easy reference for potential clients. If in doubt, remember that your goal in self-representation is to be easy to find, easy to remember, and good to know. But once you’ve published your CV, previewed samples of your past and added a contact form, what should you do?

“No one hires based on where you’ve been, they hire based on what you’ve done.”

– Emil Lamprecht, CMO CareerFoundry

Build your ideas, they are what make you, you.

Once you’ve built your portfolio, you need things to put in it, which is your opportunity to boost your personal brand by:

  • Practicing your niche skill
  • Building your own ideas
  • Exhibiting your technical chops

You’re essentially killing two birds with one stone: you’re improving on and applying your new skills while simultaneously showing your wares. Your portfolio is your shop window, so make sure that it, and its contents, represent your very best work.

And if you want help making it better, help others! Keep a blog that explains your process, ask and answer questions on social media and build, build, build every day.

3. Build Your Personal Brand

Getting your name out there as an expert in the field can be tough, but if you want the freelance lifestyle, you’ll have to hustle for it, so get ready for some sleepless nights.

There are so many opportunities for professionals to get known without spending a penny that advertising is not a route you need to go down, not at this stage. By showcasing your work, building a network and teaching and blogging like an expert you will find more than enough ways to connect with people and for people to find you.

It’s crucial that you talk to people. Online and off.

The internet, as you may know, is a marvellous marketing tool. There are so many opportunities for creating and building on new relationships that with a little tact your voice will quickly become vastly superior to any ads you’ll produce. Always keep in mind that you’ll have to talk to a lot of people to find and land clients, so get used to it!

As professional freelancer Rebecca Shapiro told us:

“Make sure that you seek freelancers outside of your industry, as well. Be as far reaching as possible. Go into building these relationships with an attitude of giving instead of getting and you’ll find you’ve easily built a reciprocal referral network.”

From a visibility standpoint, keep your goals simple. Getting Google to find you if you have a normal name can be tough, so focus on attaching your name across your portfolio, social profiles and content to the terminology of your niche skill, and the problems your clients will search for.

To kick it off, here are some great websites for online marketing:

  • Twitter – create a following by tweeting about current news in your niche, having conversations with people in your field and answering questions.
  • Quora – answer questions from people interested in your niche. Make these as detailed as possible: the more content you write the more likely Google is to associate your name with web development.
  • YouTube– create online tutorials and upload them using YouTube. Put them on your own website. Give them easy-to-Google titles like: “What is ” or, “How to ….” so that people can easily find them when they search. Try to make them personal and funny – without going too far off-topic – the more watchable they are the more people will come back to you for more videos.

Finally, a great opportunity for web developers to build a brand with is teaching. There are thousands of opportunities across the web for building, writing and mentoring in your particular niche, including on this platform, CareerFoundry.

4. Get Organised

Becoming a freelance web developer is not just about knowing how to code. It’s about being a project manager, a sales person and head of customer care. You might not have had much experience in these areas but they are just as crucial to the success of your freelancing career as anything you can do with your programming skills. This means you need to get organised!

Check out these time and project management tools and you’ll see how things have moved on since the days of the Filofax.

  • Quoteroller (www.quoteroller.com) is a practical, time-saving way to create and send professional proposals to clients in a matter of minutes. You can chart your proposal’s performance and even see when the client has opened it.
  • Toggl (www.toggl.com) can be a great way to track projects and see how much time you are spending on each one.
  • Asana (www.asana.com) is an excellent project management system, especially if you are working with others and need to delegate tasks or collaborate.
  • Google (www.google.com) has an infinite range of calanders and management apps.
  • BillingsPro (https://www.marketcircle.com/billingspro/) can be used to do project management and invoicing.
  • FreshBooks (http://www.freshbooks.com) can organise your projects, invoicing and expenses all with one app.

Do your research, ask friends, colleagues and other freelancers what they use.

Josh Boyd, longterm freelancer and writer for Crunch (http://www.crunch.co.uk), gave us his advice:

“The most useful thing I realised about freelancing was not to despair when things went a bit wrong. New tax forms to fill out and late-paying clients would make me reconsider, but it’s worth remembering freelancing is meant to be a challenge. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be half as rewarding.”

5. Build up your experience, project by project

Now that you’ve got that new, in-demand skill under your belt and a slick website, it’s time to do some real projects to show potential clients.

Elance (www.elance.com)

oDesk (www.oDesk.com)

and Freelancer (www.freelancer.com) are great online marketplaces for newbies in the field to start taking on jobs and gaining experience. In fact i can give you$20 bonus right now for your first project  to spend if you sign up right now.

check it out

Do this while you’re still in your fulltime job to get a feel of the amount of time you’ll need and what you can realistically start to earn per project. While you are still finding your feet, experience is what counts.

It’s a learning curve…

You are still very much in the learning process here: Learning how to be a business person and a freelancer. Use this step as a chance to learn how to handle clients, to find out what they will expect from you. It might also be worth doing projects for local charities, schools or small businesses who simply can’t afford to pay a web developer’s rate. As Joshua Kemp writes in his blog,Confessions Of An Unlikely Developer (http://joshuakemp.blogspot.de/ ):

“Find a friend with a TINY small business (any business) or you can just find a crappy old site that needs a serious facelift.”

By doing this you are building up your portfolio and getting great references for your CV; crucially, you’ll learn how to deal with people.

6. My last piece of advice? Be brave.

Let’s face it, when you start out you’re not going to be an expert in your field. You may take on projects that you aren’t sure how you’re going to finish. If that’s the case, if you’re not 100% confident of how you’re going to complete a project…

Give your client a realistic idea of when they can expect that work back.

If you tell them it’s going to take longer than they expect it’s better you tell them that now than when the deadline has passed. No one likes (bad) surprises. Particularly people who are paying you to do something.

Our reliable friend Google (www.google.com) can help you with almost every kind of programming query you have, as well as websites like Stackoverflow (www.stackoverflow.com). But don’t let lack of confidence stop you from taking on these bigger projects. It’s how you’ll develop as a freelancer and how you’ll learn your trade.

So, in summary, how do you become a freelance web developer?

1. ) Find your niche

2.) Build, build, build

3.) Get your name out there and establish a network of other freelancers and industry professionals, as well as rebuilding links with previous colleagues and employers

4.) Do some research into and invest in some decent management and invoicing software

5.) Start getting experience every which way you can until you’re ready to….

6.) Take on your first big client.

It’s not easy. It’s damned hard work. But the rewards of the freelance lifestyle will outweigh all of this hard work by 100 times if you do it right from the beginning. Building your reputation as a hard worker, a reliable, honest web developer who treats his or her clients well will pay off time and time again as you continue along your freelance journey.

Word of mouth recommendations are worth a hundred of any advertisement you could pay for. So don’t take short cuts. Don’t rush a project or treat any client better or worse than the next one. Get as much experience as you can and always, always do a good job.