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6+ Best Dental Website Examples for Inspiration

Updated November 4, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

So you’re creating a dental website, and you’re looking for dental website design examples for inspiration and guidance. You’re also wondering which website platform is best to use for your website.

But before we dive into examples of what professional personal websites look like in the wild on a variety of website builders and hosting platforms, there is one thing to keep in mind when you’re evaluating a website: it’s not just about how the websites look. The functionality matters too.

Think of it like buying a car. You have a make / model in mind, and you’re probably looking to see them drive by on the road to see how they actually look. However, you also care about how they operate. Does it accelerate well? Does it have the hauling capabilities you need? How is the gas mileage?

Looking at a dental website examples should be done in the same way.

Do you want the website to have appointment scheduling functionality? Do you want a patient portal? This functionality needs to be consider before you start choosing a website builder + hosting platform.

Find The Right Website Builder for Your Dental Website

We collected the following website examples not just to show you how they look on different platforms, but how they can function, so you can be sure you create a website that fits both the look and functionality you need!

WooCommerce Review: Pros & Cons of Using WooCommerce for an Online Store

Updated November 4, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

WooCommerce is the most popular ecommerce plugin for WordPress, which is the Internet’s most popular content management software.

Explore WooCommerce’s Feature Set

Explore my WooCommerce Setup Guide

WooCommerce was originally developed by a small theme / web design firm in 2011. It grew rapidly among the WordPress community due to its feature set, but also due to its business model.

Same as now, you could download & use the full WooCommerce plugin for free from the start. WooThemes made money by selling compatible designs, support, and from specific extensions (e.g. to connect to a credit card processor).

1 WooCommerce Install

In 2015, Automattic bought WooCommerce from WooThemes. Automattic is the software company run by Matt Mullenweg, the original author of WordPress software.

Ever since, the development of WooCommerce has been tightly coordinated with the development of both self-hosted WordPress and Automattic’s hosted WordPress.com software.

So that’s enough introduction. The point is that WooCommerce is legit, WooCommerce is growing, and WooCommerce can be a great fit for many storeowners…but not all.

Types of Digital Marketing: Examples, Uses, and Resources

Updated October 30, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Saying you’re going to start doing “digital marketing” for your business is like saying you’re going to the “Western Hemisphere” when someone asks where you’re going for vacation. Digital marketing is made up of a bunch of marketing concepts, each with their own strategies and purposes.

And if you’re wondering what types of digital marketing you should be using in your business, a bunch of grab-bag tips and techniques won’t help you until you first understand how digital marketing breaks down and exactly how each marketing concept works.

I’ve put together a guide on the different types of digital marketing with examples, uses, and resources so you can evaluate which digital marketing strategies support your goals.

I’ve broken digital marketing into three media types (owned, earned, and paid) to categorize the different marketing concepts.

Let’s dive in!

How To Design a Website Layout w/ Best Practices & Examples

Updated October 29, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

So you’re designing a website layout, either for yourself or for a client, and you’re looking for some best practices and examples to follow.

Maybe you’ve even spent some time digging through templates for inspiration, because hey… it can’t hurt, right?

Wrong!

Website templates are great… but they can be drastically affected by stock photos, brand assets, colors, fonts, etc.

Before you start browsing templates, you first need to understand what your site needs to do, what content you’ll have, and how you need to lay it all out for an optimal user experience.

So how do you do that? Great question! Here’s my step-by-step process to designing a website layout with best practices:

Step One: Set Your Goals

A website is more than just a collection of pages. Really, it’s a roadmap for your audience. It helps them find what they’re looking for when they’re looking for it.

Which means before you start looking at templates and designs, you have to first understand what your audience needs from your site to begin with.

What’s the goal of your site? Is it educational? Is it selling products? Is it a resume site to help you get hired?

Before you can start navigating somewhere, you have to know the end destination. The same applies to your website. Before you even start planning the website layout, define the overall goal of the site.

What to Consider:

Your website today doesn’t have to be your website tomorrow. Set your goals for what you want to accomplish right now.
Your overall website will have a goal, and each page will have a goal. Separating the two can help you get clear on the overall flow.
Your site is all about the user. What are THEY trying to accomplish?

What to Avoid:

Biting off more than you can chew. If you’re trying to do too much at first, you’re either going to end up with a messy site or no site at all.
Getting caught up in the nitty gritty. We’re not talking functionality, yet.

What to Learn:

How to create a minimally viable website

Examples to Copy:

Sean Halpin

Sean Halpin Portfolio

Sandy Springs Artsapalooza

Sandy Springs Artsapalooza

Step Two: Map Out Your Main Content

Once you have the main goal of the website, you can start to think about what content you need.

What types of information is your audience searching for? How should that information be grouped?

This will become the overall architecture of your site (and the navigation). Remember, your site is all about your audience’s journey.

The end goal is to get them to the information they need in the fewest steps possible. It doesn’t matter how beautifully designed your website is if no one can find what they’re looking for!

The key here is clarity. The navigation should be intuitive — your people shouldn’t have to dig for information.

Define your site’s primary navigation and content groupings before moving into design, so you can choose or design a template that supports an intuitive architecture.

What to Consider:

Think about how a user who lands directly on a given page would feel (without having navigated from your homepage).
Think about someone how has accessibility needs, or is simply in a hurry would feel.
Again, less is more. If you don’t need multiple pages to say it, don’t use multiple pages to say it!

What to Avoid:

Burying important pages in a deep hierarchy. Prioritize key information
Death by content. Your website doesn’t have to be the final destination.

What to Learn:

Examples to Copy:

Au Lit Fine Linens

au lit fine linens

Lesley M.M. Blume

lesley blume

Step Three: Get your page layout down

I know, I know… it sounds counterintuitive to think about a layout before you start searching for a template. But again, this is all about organizing your information.

If you have an idea of the type of layout you need for each page, you’ll narrow down template options a lot sooner (and will be less distracted by frills that you probably don’t need anyway).

Again, the goal is to get people the information they need in the quickest way possible. Think about your own browsing behavior. You’re likely not reading each and every word on the site, right?

What to Consider:

Use size to distinguish between important info / details that may not be as crucial — the most important information should be the biggest on the page
Use headers and subheads to help scanners find key sections + information
Bold important phrases and key information
Use bullets / icons to break up text-heavy sections (see what I did here?)

What to Avoid:

Don’t sacrifice clarity for creativity
Don’t bury key information “below the fold” (AKA don’t make people dig and scroll endlessly for it).

What to Learn:

If you want a page-by-page breakdown, check out our guides on…

Examples to Copy:

Trello

Grovemade

Step Four: Lock in functionality

After you have a general layout in mind for your pages, it’s time to think about functionality on each page.

When we’re dealing with website design, remember that sometimes less is more, especially if you’re just trying to get your site up and running.

Having a minimally viable website can be more effective than having some juggernaut with bells and whistles that confuses people or costs you a fortune to get up and running.

Think through the minimum functionality each page needs.

For example, your services page probably doesn’t need social media icons / social sharing. However, you may want to include links to your social channels on your Contact Page, or bring in your Instagram feed on your About page if it’s applicable to your overall site goals.

A well-designed website isn’t about how advanced the functionality is. It’s about how quickly and easily can you give people the key information they need to accomplish their goals on a certain page.

What to Consider:

Think about the functions that would actually enhance your users’ experience.
What functionality is a must-have right now, and what’s a nice-to-have down the line?
Functionality isn’t built in a template — it’s supported by your software (AKA your website builder).

What to Avoid:

Functionality for the sake of functionality. You don’t want to overload your site or confuse your users.
Biting off more than you can chew. Having the ability to upload your latest YouTube episode is great, until you have to keep up with it.

What to Learn:

Examples to Copy:

Dave Horak

Cumberland Community Church

Cumberland Community Church Spanish Version

Step Five: Pick Your Template

So you’ve done the planning, you’ve sketched out your site, and you even know how the site needs to function. It’s time to finally, FINALLY start looking for a template (or creating your own)!

What to Consider:

Templates are really just HTML and CSS… which means they can be recreated almost anywhere. If you see a Wix template you love but want to use WordPress, you can easily recreate it.
Keep your layout needs in mind that you defined earlier, and remember that most templates are fairly customizable.
Look beyond the homepage. Look at how the subpages and unique pages are presented.

What to Avoid:

Again, functionality is NOT something that comes with a template.
Don’t judge a template based on the photography and logo designs. Often, a template will only look a certain way due to the mock-up creative assets.

What to Learn:

Examples to Copy:

Inherit Clothing

Beautiful Destinations

Beautiful Destinations

Next Steps

You’re all set! Just follow the step-by-step process outline above to design a website layout that’s clear, easy to navigate, and gets your users the right information at the right time!

How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency with No Experience

Updated September 30, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

So you’ve got some marketing skills, and you’re wondering how to start a digital marketing agency.

But there’s just one problem…

How do you start a digital marketing agency with no experience?

There have never been more opportunities to strike off on your own in the digital marketing space than there today. But how do you actually do it? Where do you start, and how do you scale?

The secret to starting a digital marketing agency with no experience is to have an actual strategy, grow organically as you learn, and deliberately build word of mouth with a specific type of client. It’s about taking aim vs. shooting randomly and hoping something lands.

There’s also a major misconception that starting a digital marketing agency has to mean a HUGE process that requires building a massive company and doing “all the things” and taking all the clients.

In reality, a digital marketing agency can be just…you. It’s not about the pricey software or offices or employees. It’s about determining who you help, how you help them, and then actually doing the work.

The business model of an agency is fairly straightforward. Sure, you can tinker around the edges about whether to bill by hour, by week, by task, or by project. But at its core, you are providing specialized knowledge for a fee. An agency of one and an agency of 10,000 work in basically the same way.

With that concept in mind, here’s how to start a digital marketing agency with no experience.

7+ Best Author Website Examples to Use for Inspiration

Updated September 27, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

So you’re creating an author website, and you’re looking for author website design examples for inspiration and guidance. You’re also wondering which website platform is best to use for your website.

But before we dive into examples of what professional personal websites look like in the wild on a variety of website builders and hosting platforms, there is one thing to keep in mind when you’re evaluating a website: it’s not just about how the websites look. The functionality matters too.

Think of it like buying a car. You have a make / model in mind, and you’re probably looking to see them drive by on the road to see how they actually look. However, you also care about how they operate. Does it accelerate well? Does it have the hauling capabilities you need? How is the gas mileage?

Looking at an author website examples should be done in the same way. Do you want the website to have ecommerce functionality so visitors can buy books? Do you want people to be able to book you for speaking engagements? This functionality needs to be consider before you start choosing a website builder + hosting platform.

Find The Right Website Builder for Your Author Website

We collected the following website examples not just to show you how they look on different platforms, but how they can function, so you can be sure you create a website that fits both the look and functionality you need!

Most Popular Micropolitan Areas (Small Cities) for Startups According to the US Census

Updated September 23, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

ShivarWeb has a lot of DIYers and freelancers not living in the biggest, richest cities of the world. In fact, I originally started this business in Athens, Georgia, USA – not in larger Atlanta. As a fun post, I thought I’d dig into some data for my non-metro area readers.

The benefits of big metro areas for new businesses are well-known, but so are the costs in money, time, and health. In the era of remote work, you can get a lot of the benefits of the city anywhere with an Internet connection, except one – being physically around other new business-owners.

With that in mind, I decided to look at the Census Bureau’s data on cities to see if there were any places in America that hit a sweet spot between being small & self-contained and being a popular place to start a new business.

Micropolitan areas are populated areas that have too much population to qualify as a rural area, and too few commuting ties to a larger city to qualify as part of a larger metropolitan area. They are between 10,000 to 50,000 people and quite a distance from a large city.

In other words – micropolitan areas are true small cities.

There are 536 micropolitan areas in America with a core city of between 10,000 and 50,000 people plus the population of the surrounding area.

Here are the Top 20 Most Popular Micropolitan Areas for New Small Businesses in America based on US Census data from 2015-2016 (most recently available). You can view the full list of 536 areas here.

Zoho Sites Website Builder Review: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives

Updated September 15, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Zoho is a software company that has a suite of products designed to help business owners get their businesses up and running online. Their website builder, Zoho Sites, is an all-inclusive website builder, which means it includes everything you need to create your site (from the builder itself to the hosting).

See Zoho’s Current Plans & Pricing

Recently, I gave Zoho’s website builder a try for a full Zoho Sites Website Builder review. But before I get into the pros and cons of my review, let’s dive into an overview about tools to build a website.

There are so many considerations to take into account when choosing a website builder — and really, there are a thousand ways to get what you want in the end in terms of functionality, convenience, pricing, etc. The thing to remember is: whether you’re building a simple personal website or running a business, the way you build your site has a lot of consequences.

In the long-term, it affects your versatility, functionality, and, of course, your brand. In the short-term, it can certainly add/take away a lot of headaches. That said, just like choosing a physical house or office, there is no such thing as an absolute “best” or “top” choice. There’s only the right choice relative to your goals, experience, and circumstances.

What Is Zoho Sites?

On the wide spectrum of website building solutions, Zoho Sites lives on the end that is all-inclusive and provides everything you need to get started and grow your website. It contrasts with solutions where you buy, install, and manage all the “pieces” of your website separately.

Using Zoho is sort of like leasing and customizing an apartment in a really classy development instead of buying and owning your own house. You’re still in control of decor, cleaning, and everything living-wise – but you leave the construction, plumbing, security, and infrastructure to the property owner. That point is key because there’s usually a direct tradeoff between convenience and control.

Everything may fit together just right with a website builder like Zoho, but that may or may not be what you’re looking for.

As far as competition, Zoho Sites competes with all-inclusive website builders like GoDaddy, Wix, Squarespace, Jimdo, Yahoo!, Strikingly, and WordPress.com.

Compared to their direct competition, they focus on ease of use and integration with their plethora of Zoho products. Zoho offers several website templates you can customize with no coding or design experience required, and also gives you the opportunity to integrate with their marketing and optimization tools.

Shopify vs. Etsy: How To Choose, Differences & Using Them Together

Updated September 15, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

If you are building an online store, Shopify and Etsy are two of the biggest brands that you’ll encounter. But a frequent question that I get is – Shopify or Etsy? What’s the difference and how do I choose what to start with?

View Etsy’s Current Plans & Pricing

View Shopify’s Current Plans & Pricing

The core difference is fairly straightforward.

Etsy is a marketplace for handmade, vintage and artisanal products (here’s my guide to setting up Etsy).

Shopify is a hosted eCommerce platform. An eCommerce platform allows you to set up and run an online store on your own domain while they take care of the technical parts & customer support (here’s my Shopify review).

In other words, Etsy is a marketplace where you can have an account. Shopify is software that sets up a storefront for you.

If they had physical world equivalents, Etsy would be a local farmer’s market where you could set up a stall.

Shopify would be a shopping center owner letting you build out your own store at your own address.

But that still doesn’t tackle the question behind the question – so let’s look at the biggest differences & considerations so you can decide between Shopify or Etsy (or both!).

These differences will highlight Shopify vs. Etsy specifically – but they can also be applied to any alternative to Shopify, whether it’s WooCommerce, BigCommerce or others.

Keep in mind that these are all differences/considerations – they are not pros & cons. Everything has a tradeoff that might be a good or bad thing for you depending on your goals, resources and priorities.

Domain Names Explained

Updated September 13, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Domain Names are human-readable words (e.g., amazon.com) that direct Internet browsers to specific files on a specific server.

As an analogy, a domain is like a physical address… but on the Internet. Like a physical address, they don’t really do anything on their own, but they are critical to understanding when you are building an online project.

1&1 IONOS MyWebsite Review: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives

Updated September 1, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

1&1 MyWebsite is an all-inclusive website builder from German web hosting company IONOS. Their website builder is geared toward helping small businesses get up and running online with pre-made templates that include images and text based on your niche. Their platform requires zero code or design skills, meaning even those with no website experience can create a good-looking site in minutes.

See 1&1 MyWebsite’s Current Plans & Pricing

Recently, I gave 1&1 MyWebsite a try for a full 1&1 MyWebsite review (I have previously reviewed their hosting services). But before I get into the pros and cons of this website builder review, let’s dive into an overview about tools to build a website.

Homestead Website Builder Review: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives

Updated August 29, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Homestead is an all-inclusive website builder that’s tailored to helping businesses build their websites quickly, so they can have an online presence. Their platform includes “ready-to-use” templates that DIYers can customize to meet their needs, or simply “plug in” their content and hit publish.

See Homestead’s Current Plans & Pricing

Recently, I gave Homestead a try for a full Homestead Website Builder review. But before I get into the pros and cons of my review, let’s dive into an overview about tools to build a website.

Dynadot Review: Pros and Cons of Dynadot as Domain Registrar

Updated August 27, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Dynadot is an ICANN-accredited domain registrar and web host headquartered in California. They were founded in 2002 by a software engineer and state their primary focus is engineering and designing excellence.

Dynadot’s main pitch is to help customers “register domains names and create websites simply and affordably”.

They are one of the myriad smaller domain registrars that have a dedicated but smaller following than the big brands like GoDaddy.

Do they hold up to their mission? Here’s our Dynadot review with pros and cons.

NameCheap Shared Hosting Review w/ Pros & Cons

Updated August 25, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

NameCheap is an independent (ie, not owned by a big holding corporation) ICANN-accredited domain name registrar founded in 2000. In addition to domain registration, they offer a complementary spectrum of hosting services.

Check out NameCheap’s plans & current pricing here.

NameCheap also provides email, a website builder, SSLs, and various services with 24-hour support and a 30-day money back guarantee.

I reviewed NameCheap as a domain registrar here, but have received questions for years about their hosting services. Readers ask because NameCheap Hosting is really cheap – like, suspiciously cheap.

Although I like to keep my hosting and domain registration separate, I had a small project to launch, so I decided to put it on NameCheap and see how the service turned out.

Here’s my NameCheap Shared Hosting review – structured with pros & cons based on my experience as a customer.

WordPress Hosting vs. Web Hosting Explained

Updated August 24, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Choosing the best web hosting plan for your specific project has always been a bit confusing. Plan features never line up. Terminology never matches. And pricing varies according to current discounts and plan length.

But that was before the latest trend – WordPress-specific hosting plans.

Nearly every hosting company offers a “WordPress Hosting Plan” in some form.

View my guide to WordPress Hosting companies here.

Sometimes those plans are nothing more than a headline change. Sometimes they are very well-priced for the extra services. And sometimes they are plainly upsells with dressed up “features.”

It’s maddening – because here’s the thing. WordPress software runs fine on typical web hosting.

You do not need “WordPress Hosting” to run WordPress software. All you need is a Linux-based hosting account that supports PHP and mySQL.

Both are run of the mill features since the early 2000s. So what’s with all the WordPress Hosting plans vs. Web Hosting plans?

Well – sometimes a WordPress-specific plan is absolutely worth paying for. WordPress does have some needs & requirements that are not “generic” so some companies can offer seriously better service, support & performance for WordPress installs.

Here’s how they differ along with features worth paying for, and what to look for when shopping for the right host for your specific project and next steps.

Shopify vs. Wix: Online Store Builders Compared

Updated August 21, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Shopify vs. Wix – they are two of the most well-known online store builders. I’ve written a Shopify review here and Wix review here. But how do they compare directly to each other?

View Shopify’s Current Pricing & Plans

View Wix’s Current Pricing & Plans

First, a bit of background. Over the past few years, online store costs have plummeted, and the technology to get a website from idea to reality has blossomed. Whether you’re using a text editor and uploading to the Amazon cloud, hosting your own site powered by WordPress + WooCommerce or using a drag and drop online store builder, there’s never been an easier time to create an online store.

All-inclusive eCommerce builders have been particularly interesting. Companies like Squarespace, Weebly, Wix, Shopify, and BigCommerce – not to mention platforms like Etsy, eBay, and Amazon – have brought eCommerce to everyone regardless of their coding skills.

On the wide spectrum of eCommerce store building solutions, they all live on the end that is all-inclusive and provides everything you need to get started and grow your website.

That is in contrast to solutions where you buy, install, and manage all the “pieces” of your website separately. That’s not a good or bad thing. But it is something to be aware of when you’re choosing one of them as a solution since it affects your website both long and short term.

In the long-term, it affects your versatility, functionality, and, of course, your brand. In the short term, it can certainly add/take away a lot of headaches. That said, just like choosing a physical house or office, there is no such thing as an absolute “best” or “top” choice. There’s only the right choice relative to your goals, experience, and circumstances.

Using an online store builder is like leasing and customizing an apartment in a really classy development instead of buying and owning your own house. You’re still in control of decor, cleaning, and everything living-wise – but you leave the construction, plumbing, security, and infrastructure to the property owner. That point is key because there’s usually a direct tradeoff between convenience and control.

Ecommerce Real Estate Tradeoffs

Shopify, Wix, and other options like BigCommerce and Weebly as a group compete with options like WordPress (which provides the free software to build a website that you own & control – see my WordPress setup guide here) all the way to options like typing actual HTML code into a text file.

The last preface I’ll mention is that Wix is an all-around website builder with eCommerce capability.

Shopify, in contrast, is strictly an eCommerce platform. This focus puts Wix behind as an advanced tool and Shopify behind as a super-easy-to-use tool. With their respective free trials, you can quickly see the differences.

Make sense? Awesome – let’s dive into the comparison.

Side note – if you want this comparison in a BuzzFeed-style quiz, you can take my online store builder quiz here…

You can also look at my posts on –

Otherwise, we’ll look specifically at pricing, onboarding/user experience, design features, technical features, eCommerce features, marketing features, and customer support.

GoDaddy vs. SiteGround Web Hosting Comparison

Updated August 21, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

GoDaddy vs. SiteGround for hosting is a tale of the established, name-brand, corporate giant against the rapidly growing, scrappy, independent company.

GoDaddy’s Current Plans & Pricing

SiteGround’s Current Plans & Pricing

While there is no such thing as the “best overall” hosting company, both of these companies excel for certain types of projects & certain types of website owners.

In this comparison between GoDaddy and SiteGround, I’ll break down the differences that I’ve found in seven different areas ranging from pricing structure to customer service and market focus so that you can decide which is the best fit for your project.

Let’s dive into GoDaddy vs. SiteGround…

Squarespace Review: 5 Pros & 4 Cons of Using Squarespace

Updated August 21, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Squarespace is one of the best known brands in the website building space. They do a ton of advertising with everything from podcasts to the Super Bowl and have a beautiful product with a long trusted history. I recently had a project that was a fit for a bundled website builder software. I gave Squarespace a try, along with several other brands. Here are my 5 pros, 5 cons, and full Squarespace review.

But first, a bit of an overview. There are a lot of considerations that go into an choosing a website builder.

There are also a ton of options, tons of pricing – and really a thousand ways to get what you want in the end (aka for someone to type in a website address and see your information in their browser). Whether you are building a simple personal website or running a business, the way you build your site has a lot of consequences.

In the long-term, it affects your versatility, functionality, and, of course, your brand. In the short-term, it can certainly add/take away a lot of headaches. That said, just like choosing a physical house or office, there is no such thing as an absolute “best” or “top” choice. There’s only the right choice relative to your goals, experience, and circumstances.

What Is Squarespace?

On the wide spectrum of website building solutions, Squarespace lives on the end that is all-inclusive and provides everything you need to get started and grow your website. It contrasts with solutions where you buy, install, and manage all the “pieces” of your website separately.

Using Squarespace is sort of like leasing and customizing an apartment in a really classy development instead of buying and owning your own house. You’re still in control of decor, cleaning, and everything living-wise – but you leave the construction, plumbing, security, and infrastructure to the property owner. That point is key because there’s usually a direct tradeoff between convenience and control.

Everything may fit together just right with a website builder like Squarespace, but that may or may not be what you’re looking for.

As far as competition, Squarespace competes directly with all-inclusive website builders like Weebly, Wix, and WordPress.com.

Compared to their direct competition, they try to allow for more customization and code access. Squarespace tries to appeal to the non-developer customer AND the developer community. It’s a tough pitch to sell – but they try it.

Those options as a group compete with options like self-hosted WordPress (which provides the free software to build a website that you own & control – see my WordPress setup guide here) all the way to options like typing actual HTML code into a text file. Make sense? Awesome, let’s dive into the Squarespace review.

Strikingly Website Builder Review: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives

Updated August 8, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Strikingly is an all-inclusive website builder that’s tailored to helping entrepreneurs get up and running online quickly and easily. They’re platform requires zero code or design skills, meaning even those with no website experience can create a good-looking site in minutes.

See Strikingly’s Current Plans & Pricing

Recently, I gave Strikingly a try for a full Strikingly Website Builder review. But before I get into the pros and cons of my review, let’s dive into an overview about tools to build a website.

There are so many considerations to take into account when choosing a website builder — and really, there are a thousand ways to get what you want in the end in terms of functionality, convenience, pricing, etc. The thing to remember is: whether you’re building a simple personal website or running a business, the way you build your site has a lot of consequences.

In the long-term, it affects your versatility, functionality, and, of course, your brand. In the short-term, it can certainly add/take away a lot of headaches. That said, just like choosing a physical house or office, there is no such thing as an absolute “best” or “top” choice. There’s only the right choice relative to your goals, experience, and circumstances.

Hover Domains Review: Pros & Cons of Hover Domains as Domain Registrar

Updated August 8, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Hover Domains is a domain registrar founded in 2009 as an offshoot of Tucows Inc. (the second largest ICANN accredited domain registrar online). Hover’s M.O. is that they stick to what they know, and that’s domains.

But let’s be honest, you probably only know them from their podcast ads on shows like Hello Internet and 99% Invisible. While Grey and Roman might plug them – you want to know how they actually stack up.

Well – this domain registrar deals solely with buying, managing, and transferring domains on their platform. They do offer email services but they do not offer other complementary products such as hosting, website builders, etc.

Check out Hover’s products & pricing here.

It’s important to remember that a domain is not a website. It’s not an email, an app, or any other service. It’s simply your online address. It helps people locate where you are. If you want to set up a website, you’ll still need to get hosting or a website builder / eCommerce provider that provides hosting (which Hover does not provide).

I’ll dive deeper into this in the pros and cons, but it’s an important distinction to make up front because it helps us understand what Hover’s goal is. They’re not about being an all-in-one solution — quite the opposite, actually. Their focus is only on simplicity. They’re all about getting you your domain and letting you use it wherever you need it through app integrations.

How does Hover stack up against other domain registrars? Here’s our review of Hover Domains as a domain registrar with pros and cons.

iwantmyname Review: Pros & Cons of iwantmyname as Domain Registrar

Updated August 8, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

iwantmyname is a New Zealand-based domain registrar company focused solely on domain registration and management. The company, which was founded by employees from several ICANN accredited domain registrars, has been around since 2008 and prides itself on its simplicity, transparency, and ethics.

iwantmyname believes in making the domain buying, managing, and transferring process transparent and simple. They’re big on company values (like transparency) and give off the “good guy” vibe when it comes to domain registrars.

Check out iwantmyname’s plans & pricing.

So, how does this domain registrar stack up against the rest? Here’s my experience so far and my full iwantmyname review with pros & cons…

Shopify Review: Pros & Cons of Using Shopify For eCommerce

Updated August 8, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

There are a lot of options for running an online store – Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce solution that I’ve used to run several online stores & consult with clients since 2009. Here’s my Shopify review – with 6 pros and 6 cons of using Shopify for your online store.

View Shopify’s current Plans & Pricing here.

I’ve been using & consulting with clients on Shopify since 2009. This Shopify review was originally published in 2013 and is re-published frequently with updates to reflect new features / pricing / opinion. From 2016 through 2019, Shopify has improved on several fronts, especially with a much-improved checkout process. Just in the last year, they added same domain checkout – previously a big disadvantage.

But first, a bit of intro.

There’s a lot of options for running an online store, and your choice of best eCommerce platform can have just as big of an effect on your business as choosing a building or location for a physical store. It’s not the end all of the business – but it certainly can make or break your business – and can either expand your opportunity or severely kneecap your business.

What Is Shopify?

Shopify is part of a group of turn-key eCommerce (aka “hosted eCommerce”) solutions that provide everything you need from end to end (minus the product and business know-how) to set up and start selling your product(s) to the world as opposed to you putting all the pieces together yourself (see Shopify’s plans here).

It’s sort of like hiring a general contractor to build your house, over being the contractor and hiring sub-contractors yourself. You’re still in control, but you let the general contractor use their expertise to make the project happen. My go-to analogy is with real estate.

Ecommerce Real Estate Tradeoffs

There are pros and cons to the approach – which is what we’ll get into. But basically know that Shopify competes mainly with BigCommerce and Volusion – all three of which provide turn-key eCommerce solutions, which in turn compete with non-turnkey solutions (like setting up your own store with WordPress).

And these hosted solutions sort of compete and integrate with eCommerce “marketplaces” like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. I wrote more about how Shopify can work with Etsy here and how Shopify competes with website builders like Wix here.

Aside – Shopify also has a “Buy button” functionality that allows you to use Shopify as Point of Sale (POS) / Inventory option – and let customers click to buy your products anywhere online (Pinterest, Facebook, WordPress blog, Tumblr, etc). I’ll be looking less at that – and more at Shopify’s full online store package. You can get the Buy button only as part of the Lite Plan, but it competes with PayPal rather than full online store options.

How Does Shopify Work?

Shopify is fairly straightforward – which is sort of their whole selling point. The broad process is as follows –

Pick a Shopify plan that fits your budget and feature needs.
“Point” your domain that you bought from a registrar like GoDaddy or NameCheap to your Shopify store. You can also buy one via Shopify.
Choose a design/template for your store. You can edit a free one via their drag/drop tool or buy a premium one or hire a designer.
Add your products, page content, payment options, etc.
Go get customers! Here’s an eCommerce marketing strategy to get you started.

Is Shopify Worth It?

It depends! That is a maddening answer, I know. But it’s true. Shopify is a tool. It might not be for you. If you are selling a single digital product on your blog, then Shopify is probably not worth it. A PayPal button or a WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress site would work. But if you need to run a multi-product eCommerce store with inventory, marketing tools, customer records, etc – then Shopify is absolutely worth it…if the pros / cons balance out for your based on your goals, resources, expertise, etc.

Make sense? Cool. Let’s dive into the actual Shopify review.

A2 Hosting Review: Pros & Cons of Using A2 Hosting

Updated August 5, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

A2 Hosting is an independent web hosting company founded in 2003. They are based in Ann Arbor Michigan but serve hosting markets globally. A2 Hosting positions themselves as a high performance, speed-focused hosting company with excellent support.

See A2 Hosting’s Current Plans & Pricing.

A2 Hosting offers a full spectrum of hosting solutions ranging from shared Linux hosting (what most businesses need) all the way to cloud, WordPress, VPS, and dedicated server solutions for large, growing websites.

Like InMotion Hosting and SiteGround Hosting, A2 Hosting is one of the faster growing independent hosting companies (i.e., not owned by a larger corporate holding company like Endurance or GoDaddy). They have a large dedicated fanbase in addition to some high-profile bloggers as customers.

I recently had a couple small websites that needed their own hosting accounts. Since I’ve had readers ask about A2 Hosting, I decided to give them a try.

Here’s my A2 Hosting review structured with pros and cons based on my experience as a customer.

9+ Best Professional Personal Website Examples for Inspiration

Updated August 4, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

So you’re creating a personal website, and you’re looking for professional personal website design examples for inspiration and guidance. You’re also wondering which website platform is best to use for your website.

But before we dive into examples of what professional personal websites look like in the wild on a variety of website builders and hosting platforms, there is one thing to keep in mind when you’re evaluating a website: it’s not just about how the websites look. The functionality matters too.

Think of it like buying a car. You have a make / model in mind, and you’re probably looking to see them drive by on the road to see how they actually look. However, you also care about how they operate. Does it accelerate well? Does it have the hauling capabilities you need? How is the gas mileage?

Find the Right Website Builder for Your Personal Website

Looking at a professional personal website examples should be done in the same way. We collected the following website examples not just to show you how they look on different platforms, but how they can function, so you can be sure you create a website that fits both the look and functionality you need!

1&1 IONOS Web Hosting Review: 4 Pros & 4 Cons of 1&1 Hosting

Updated August 1, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

1&1 IONOS is one of the largest brands in the Internet services industry, and I get a lot of reader questions about what their hosting product is like. I’ve worked with 1&1 IONOS web hosting several times for clients, and recently bought a hosting package for a separate project I’m running. Here’s my first 1&1 web hosting review in a series that looks at their hosting product overall & in comparison with other top hosts.

Check out 1&1 IONOS’s current plans & pricing here.

1&1 IONOS offers a wide range of products from domain names to hosting to website builder packages. 1&1 IONOS is actually one of the oldest web hosting companies – founded in 1988. And they are also one of the more aggressive advertisers with full-page ads in magazines and TV spots. Anecdotally, I think only GoDaddy rivals them in terms of mass-market advertising and brand awareness.

They recently merged with one of Europe’s largest cloud providers to create a new company. They’ve redesigned a lot of their products, and restructured their products.

1&1 Rebrand

But big brand doesn’t always mean a good product – and that’s one thing I wanted to look into with a full 1&1 IONOS web hosting review.

7+ Best Web Design Portfolio Examples for Inspiration

Updated July 31, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

You want to create a portfolio website to showcase your web design work, and you’re looking for web design portfolio examples for inspiration and guidance.

Chances are, you’re also wondering what platform is best for your portfolio.

But before we dive into examples of what portfolio websites look like in the wild on a variety of website builders and hosting platforms, there is one thing to keep in mind when you’re evaluating your portfolio: it’s not just about how it looks. The functionality matters too.

And given we’re dealing with web design portfolios, chances are, you want your portfolio to be an example of what you can do. With this in mind, we’ve pulled a variety of examples from a variety of platforms, but you’ll notice a trend towards portfolios built on self-hosted platforms that give designers more freedom and flexibility to showcase their style.

7+ Best Web Development Portfolio Examples for Inspiration

Updated July 30, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

You want to create a portfolio website to showcase your web development work, and you’re looking for web development portfolio examples for inspiration and guidance.

Chances are, you’re also wondering what platform is best for your portfolio.

But before we dive into examples of what portfolio websites look like in the wild on a variety of website builders and hosting platforms, there is one thing to keep in mind when you’re evaluating your portfolio: it’s not just about how it looks. The functionality matters too.

And given we’re dealing with web development portfolios, chances are, you want your portfolio to be an example of what you can do. With this in mind, we’ve pulled a variety of examples from a variety of platforms, but you’ll notice a trend towards portfolios built on self-hosted platforms (like self-hosted WordPress or WordPress alternatives) that give developers more freedom and flexibility to showcase their style (beyond a Github profile).

Blogger Review: Pros & Cons of Using Blogger (aka Blogspot)

Updated July 29, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Blogger is the grand old man of Internet publishing. In fact, they arguably started the whole “everyone should have a voice online” ideal. Evan Williams started the company way back in the 1990s.

After Evan Williams sold Blogger to Google, he went on to found both Twitter and Medium – both pillars of Internet publishing in their own right. Additionally, it was Matt Mullenweg’s dissatisfaction with Blogger that led him to create the first version of WordPress back in the early 2000s.

All that to say – Blogger is an Internet standby. In fact, it’s such a standby that it gets unfairly disregarded for many web projects simply due to its age.

I recently gave Blogger a try for a small project, along with several other website builders. I tried to approach Blogger not as the platform that had my first blog back in 2004, but as a serious platform that might be a good fit for someone’s web project today, post-2017.

Check out Blogger here.

But first, a bit of an overview on website builders in general. Whether you go drag and drop builder, an installed Content Management System (CMS), or hand-coded HTML files, there are a lot of considerations that go into building a website and/or blog.

In the end, you really want someone to type in a website address and see your information, presented well with the right functionality in their browser. Whether you are building a simple personal blog or running a business, the way you build your site determines a lot both long-term and short-term.

In the long-term, the tools you use to set up your website affects your versatility, functionality, and, of course, your brand. In the short-term, it can add/take away a lot of headaches. In fact, one of the most common headaches is moving a successful blog off Blogger. That said, like choosing a physical house or office, there is no such thing as an absolute “best” or “top” choice. There’s only the right choice relative to your goals, experience, and circumstances.

What Is Blogger?

Blogger is Google’s blog-focused platform that focuses on accessibility, ease of use, and free for the price. Blogger made blogging a thing you do on the Internet back in the day, and still appeals to people looking to publish their words on the open Web rather than “closed garden” social media sites.

On the wide spectrum of website building solutions, Blogger lives on the end that is all-inclusive and provides everything you need to get started and grow your website. It’s in contrast to solutions where you buy, install, and manage all the “pieces” of your website separately.

It’s like trading off some control for more convenience.

Using Blogger is like leasing and customizing an apartment in a nice development instead of buying and owning your own house. You’re still in control of decor, cleaning, and everything living-wise – but you leave the construction, plumbing, security, and infrastructure to the property owner. That point is key because there’s usually a direct tradeoff between convenience and control.

All the functionality and design that are included with Blogger work seamlessly together as a platform. That’s what allows them to have drag and drop design, layout, and content.

One note about Blogger is that it focuses 100% on blogging – ie, reverse-chronological publishing of posts. It has very little in terms of content management (as I’ll mention in the cons section). Google has a product called Google Sites that focuses on static websites.

As far as competition, Blogger competes directly with all-inclusive website builders like Weebly and WordPress.com in addition to pure-play blog/social networks platforms like Medium and Tumblr.

Website builders as a group compete with options like WordPress.org (which provides the free software to build a website that you own & control – see my WordPress setup guide here) all the way to options like typing actual HTML code into a text file. Make sense? Awesome, let’s dive into the Blogger review.

8+ Google Sites Examples for Inspiration

Updated July 24, 2019 By ShivarWeb Staff

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

So you’re considering Google Sites as your website builder, and you’re looking for Google Sites website examples for inspiration and confirmation that you’re making the right choice.

Google Sites is Google’s free website builder software that it offers as part of the G Suite of Drive, Email, Hangouts, etc. It’s a template-based website builder, which means you have a set of templates that you can customize to a certain extent.

It makes nice designs incredibly accessible for DIY-ers while leaving the heavy-lifting (AKA hosting, functionality, coding) to someone else.

I wrote a full review of Google Sites here. It’s free, even for everyday users. If you are logged into your Google Account, you can start a Google Site here.

But before we dive into examples of what Google Sites look like in the wild, there is one thing to keep in mind when you’re evaluating a website platform: it’s not just about how the websites look. The functionality matters too.

Think of it like buying a car. You have a make / model in mind, and you’re probably looking to see them drive by on the road to see how they actually look. However, you also care about how they operate. Does it accelerate well? Does it have the hauling capabilities you need? How is the gas mileage?

Find the Right Website Builder for Your Website

Looking at a website platform should be done in the same way. We collected the following Google Sites examples not just to show you how they look, but how they can function so you can be sure you have a website that fits both the style you want and the functionality you need.

Namesilo Review: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives

Updated July 22, 2019 By Nate Shivar

Disclosure - I receive a commission when you make a purchase from the companies mentioned on this website. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a customer or consultant to a customer.

Namesilo is an ICANN-accredited domain registrar who boasts cheap, easy, and secure domain registration and management. They have been around since 2009.

See Namesilo’s Current Plans & Pricing.

Does Namesilo hold up to their mission of being a cheap and easy-to-use domain registrar? We recently tried them out. Here’s our full Namesilo review with pros, cons, and alternatives.