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What Is WordPress Image Optimization?
If you want better SEO ranking and faster website speed, you need to do WordPress image optimization. In today’s technological world, both SEO and website speed matters a lot to website owners.
If your website speed is slow, your website visitors will have a bad experience at your site.
Starting a website is more than choosing a domain name. It involves everything from the geeky part (web development) to content marketing (how well you write your content).
Most website owners do not focus in optimizing their content (such as images) until it is too late. E.g. when their competitors are beating them to the ground.
At the same time, it is common that most webmasters assume WordPress image optimization as a method to improve website loading speed.
Truth: An optimized WordPress image helps to rank on Google too!
With that being said, this is my video for day 2 vlogging series.
Watch the video and tell me what you think!
Where To Start And How To Start?
The easiest way to start WordPress image optimization is through compressing the images (for smaller size). Next, ensure that the image file name is correct and represents what you want to rank for (keywords).
Last but not least, always remember that a good WordPress image optimization includes uploading at the right size, compress (lossy) and keeping it as high resolution as possible (hint: retina display).
Want to start WordPress imagine optimization today?
Young at heart and a deep passion for entrepreneurial success, Reginald is devoted to share everything he had learned about online marketing with the public. Follow him for more awesome postings.
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The Launch of vBlogging Series
I want to take the opportunity to thank my lovely wife for convincing me to start a video challenge. She told me that if big names such as Gary Vee and Peng Joon can do that, she don’t see any reason why I can’t!
So, today is the launch of my daily vBlogging series a.k.a. vlogging series.
Choosing A Freaking Awesome Domain Name
Choosing the right domain name is the first step of starting a blog. Make no mistake, a blog name is a name that you will be using for years to come. A lot of effort is needed to be put into this part to ensure that your brand name resonates with your niche and industry.
The full version of the blog post can be found here and this video is to give a quick snippet on the top ways to choose a domain name.
These steps are simple steps that I take all the time to find great blog names. However, out of the 16 steps, I do have a few of my favorite steps (which i list them below).
My favorite methods when choosing an awesome domain name are:
Choose blog names with dot com or dot net extension only
Avoid domain names that sound odd and strategy (especially when the blog names are combined)
Here’s an important disclaimer.
There are many ways you can use when it comes to choosing a domain name—and they all work well. You need to choose the best one that you are comfortable with!
Without further a due, let’s get the video rolling, shall we?
Question: What Other Methods Do You Use?
In this video, I highlighted just a tiny fraction of ways to choose a domain name—and I’m sure you have some tricks under your sleeves!
Do you mind sharing the tricks with me? You can do so by leaving a comment below.
Meantime, here are some new blog posts that you may find interesting.
About Me
Young at heart and a deep passion for entrepreneurial success, Reginald is devoted to share everything he had learned about online marketing with the public. Follow him for more awesome postings.
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How to Start a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog in 15 Minutes or Less
You want to start a self hosted WordPress blog and it can be for a variety of reasons—make money blogging, passion, affiliate marketing and for business. While the Internet been quite helpful in tutorials and guides, you are probably lost thanks to the enormous amount of guides out there.
I get it. The choice is very real and you read that WordPress is the right blogging platform for you.
But, there’s a little problem. There are over 75 million blogs on WordPress, one of several platforms that helps you to publish online. This number, according to one source, represents only 43% of all blogs, making the total somewhere around 180 million blogs. (I recently heard this number could be as high as 400 million).
These blogs are viewed by an audience of over 410 million people each month — and that’s only one place people are connecting online.
You know that a self hosted WordPress blog is the way to go—but how to go around with this? More importantly, how do you start a self-hosted WordPress blog? How do you create a WordPress blog from scratch?
The opportunity here is very real and is definitely something you wouldn’t want to leave out. We all have something to say. Blogs not only make that possible, they make it easy. All you have to do is act. It’s time to dive in and figure out what it takes to get your message heard, to see your cause spread. Of course, with the opportunity to make money on the side too.
Setting up a self-hosted blog sounds technical but is, in fact, easy to do. And yes, I think it’s worth investing a little money into having full control over your website. I’m going to show you exactly what you need to do (if you already have a blog set up like this, feel free to share this post with a friend).
In the next few minutes, I’m going to show you (exactly) how you can create a self-hosted WordPress blog under 15 minutes or less. The first stop would be a quick video on “why you need a self-hosted WordPress blog”, followed by an awesome infographic before ending up with a simple 5 step tutorial in creating your first self hosted WordPress blog.
P.S. Do you know that my primary goal of creating a WordPress blog is to own a personally-branded website I could have control over. And I put more effort into the blog, opportunities started flowing in—more than I could ever imagine.
What Is A Self Hosted WordPress Blog?
This is by far the most common I often get from others.
What is a self hosted WordPress blog?
What is the differences between blogging on WordPress.com to WordPress.org?
In a nutshell, self hosting your WordPress site means downloading your own copy of the WordPress content management system (CMS), finding a domain provider, and signing up for a hosting service to host your site on the Internet.
I hope the explanation below helps you clarify the matter.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
Self hosted WordPress blog a.k.a. WordPress.org. Here, you can download the WordPress CMS and install it on your own hosting server. Your URL would be something like this: yourdomain.com.
Hosted WordPress blog a.k.a. WordPress.com. This is NOT a self hosted WordPress blog. You partially own the domain and you are bound to the rules (such as no monetization etc.). Your URL would be something liekt his: yourdomain.wordpress.com.
Infographic: 5 Steps To Launch Your Self Hosted WordPress Blog (Without Coding Skills)
Tutorial: 5 Steps To Create A Self-Hosted WordPress Blog
If you prefer reading text versus viewing a video, here are the quick steps you can take:
Get a reliable web host. A web host is where your website “lives.” You own it, but you pay a small fee to keep it online (kind of like paying property taxes to the government). I recommend Bluehost for only $2.95/month (a special rate for my readers). It’s one of the most popular web hosts on the Internet, comes with 1-click everything (no coding skills required) and offers excellent, 24/7 customer service via live chat, email and phone.
Register a unique blog name (domain name). You can get a domain name (e.g. www.reginaldchan.net) through your hosting company. I recommend doing it this way, so you can keep everything streamlined. With Bluehost, this service is free with a hosting plan (as opposed to paying extra through a service like Godaddy.com). Take a read at this article on the 16+ ways to choose a blog name (don’t worry, you can thank me later). The trick of finding a good domain name is focus on a short and easy-to-remember brand name. Check out this video for more information.
Install WordPress. Blogging requires software, and the best that I’ve found is WordPress. It’s easy, quick, and best of all, free. You can set up WordPress through your host (Bluehost does this for you for free through it’s easy 1-click automatic installation and setup). Otherwise, you have to go through WordPress.org to download the software and then upload it to a host. It is important to note that WordPress.com and WordPress.org are two different blogging platforms.
Get a theme. When you start using WordPress, you get access to a bunch of beautiful blog designs (called “themes”), many of which are free. For those just getting started, I recommend Twenty Nineteen; it’s a simple, neat, well coded, mobile friendly and above all, an elegant WordPress theme. If you are serious in making started a self hosted WordPress blog for blogging business, I recommend you to use Divi by Elegant Themes (read the review) instead. This tool allows you to build blog posts without touching a single line of code. Take a look at the demo here.
Log in and start blogging. The URL for your dashboard (which redirects to the login page if you’re not logged in) is yourblogname.com/wp-admin/. Once logged in, click “Posts” on the left-hand sand, and then select “Add New.” Write a title and create some content for your new blog, and you’re off to the races!
And that’s it; now you’re blogging. Which is where the hard, but good, work of writing begins. If you’re ready to jump into this world of blogging, click the image below to get started with Bluehost.
See you on the other side!
What if you have already have a domain name?
This is a great question. If you already have a domain name and probably a web hosting, moving to BlueHost (or any other web hosting companies) is not that hard. Seriously.
Most web hosting companies offer free migration and make sure you ask the support team about it. The standard way to move a domain successfully from one web host to another is through changing the nameservers or IP address. In most cases, changing nameservers is the safest and highly recommended solution.
This is how you can change nameservers when moving your domain to BlueHost.
If you’re ready to get started blogging with Bluehost, you can use my affiliate link to get a little extra off the normal $5.99 price (only $2.95/month). They’re a top recommended host by WordPress and have great customer service. I’ve worked with them before and been very pleased with the service.
Young at heart and a deep passion for entrepreneurial success, Reginald is devoted to share everything he had learned about online marketing with the public. Follow him for more awesome postings.
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What Is Semi Dedicated Hosting (And Why It Matters)
I got to be honest that I am never satisfied with my blog loading speed. While “never” sounds like “never”, this is always the case. Regardless how good the server is, I am constantly searching for the best WordPress tweaks, using the best WordPress hosting (I’m hosted on a semi dedicated hosting by the way) and cache plugin to make my site loads faster.
And in many times, I broke my site countless times—like literally once a week or more!
Here’s the thing. Google and your website visitors are no fan of slow website loading speed. But with the constant demand of visual-first website, we often load the website with tons of iframes, images and other forms of media to boost engagement. While these setups look awesome to the eyes, it is extremely bad for website loading speed.
In this post, I’m going to share with you why I decided to move from WPX hosting to a semi-dedicated hosting.
Looking for the fastest WordPress hosting?
Here are the top 10 fastest hosting companies for WordPress websites.
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The Web Hosting Challenges I Faced In WPX Hosting
WPX Hosting is the real deal in managed WordPress hosting. They are awesome and I highly recommend them either. I like their support team (a lot) because they resonate well with me. They took time to understand my problem and were often kind enough to ‘chip in’ when I needed help. I even published my personal WPX Hosting review (which I highly recommend you to read).
While I always felt that WPX Hosting is the best managed WordPress hosting, it struck my mind rather hard—I’m paying $49 per month to host 3 major websites and one website having over 150,000 visitors in a month.
WPX hosting is one of the best WordPress hosting providers
Being a geeky web guy, I wanted to make my money worth. With WPX Hosting, my website is constantly loading around 1.62 seconds with 2.1 MB in size (homepage) and around 117 requests. For the record, my website is huge and chunky, and WPX hosting does an awesome job to minimize the website loading speed to slightly over a second.
But I wanted more.
In the past, I had 700+ ms loading speed and I wanted to do more. I ended up tweaking W3TC more than the recommended setting. Again, W3TC is known to be buggy, really complicated at times and I managed to shave off 0.1 seconds on average.
Having 1.5+ s loading speed isn’t making the cut yet.
I went over to WPMU DEV and used Hummingbird Pro … which lead to multiple crashes and tons of headache. I thought W3TC was hard but Hummingbird Pro was even worst. The plugin isn’t bad—but the way it works doesn’t fit my needs and my current website setup. Using Hummingbird Pro, my load time went from 1.5+ to over 2.1 seconds. That’s 0.6 seconds additional even with the help of WPMU Dev CDN.
I ended up ditching Hummingbird Pro and went back to W3 Total Cache.
My hunt for a faster website speed doesn’t end here. Instead, it opens up to a whole new environment.
I Decided To Move From WPX Hosting to A Semi-Dedicated Hosting
Migrating my WordPress website from WPX hosting to a semi dedicated server
I have reseller hosting which I dedicated to serving my clients. For years, I had the highest tier in reseller hosting package (that the company can offer) and I was seriously under-using it.
The web host threw me a question—asking me if I want to move my money sites back to my reseller hosting. Bear in mind, I did host with them some years back and the speed was “just okay.”
Mind you, I was reluctant but I kept my mind/options open.
I gave them my scenario: High traffic, massive database and all the stuff they could not imagine.
And they came back with a simple and smart solution.
They proposed I create a new cPanel account under my reseller hosting and allocate additional resources to the cPanel. Not only I could boost the performance of the server, but my website can also load way faster!
Here’s how the website loading speed looks like right now.
Semi Dedicated Hosting speed test using Pingdom at San FranciscoSemi Dedicated Hosting speed test using Pingdom at London
These are pretty sweet stats, right?
What Is A Semi Dedicated Hosting?
The differences in semi dedicated hosting vs shared web hosting
A semi dedicated web hosting offers more performance over typical shared web hosting.
In a shared web hosting, you are hosting your site with hundreds or thousands of websites. You have no control on who your neighbors are and server customization because you are paying a rather cheap price (like $2.99 per month).
In a semi dedicated hosting environment, it is different—you have more allocation of server resources through lesser websites hosted on a specific server (or living in a nice cozy housing environment). Servers in semi dedicated hosting are also oftentimes much stronger and powerful, thus being able to provide a lot of firepower to your website.
Do you know? A Semi-Dedicated Server, is an affordable solution offering you more resources than Shared Server but is more affordable than a Dedicated Server!
Want to know more about semi-dedicated web hosting and how you should really consider using it?
Watch this short video to learn more!
Choosing A Semi Dedicated Hosting?
Do you know that there are over 5 steps you need to do before you are able to choose the best semi dedicated hosting for your business?
These are the exact steps I took (and I recommend you to follow them as much as possible).
1. Server resources
I believe the most important part of this is to understand ‘under the hood’. What are you getting is critical because you are going for semi dedicated hosting for power a.k.a. server performance.
Here are some of the important server performance you should take a look at:
Number of dedicated cores
Number of shared cores
Disk space
Memory space
2. Datacenters
Most semi-dedicated hosting services allow you to choose your datacenters. The easiest way to define this is by understanding where your website traffic is coming from.
If you are serving a wide range of web visitors from the US, then it is logical to have your datacenter located in the US for faster delivery. However, if you are serving web visitors from around the world, I recommend you to have it served through datacenters in the US or Europe for more global reach.
3. Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Integrating CDN into a semi dedicated hosting will speed up your website loading speed
Semi dedicated hosting often comes with more firepower … and having a CDN could lead to an improved website loading speed (faster than fast).
A content delivery network or content distribution network is a geographically distributed network of proxy servers and their data centers. The goal is to provide high availability and high performance by distributing the service spatially relative to end-users. Wikipedia.
The usage of CDN allows static files to be pushed through faster and more effectively—thus, your website visitors will enjoy much faster website loading speed.
For example, I am using semi-dedicated hosting using HostWithLove. It comes with CloudFlare and CloudFlare Railgun which helps to speed up website loading speed.
4. Semi Dedicated Hosting Price
Last but not least, pricing matters. Semi dedicated hosting is always more expensive compared to a shared hosting service.
Knowing how much you can spend in web hosting, along with the performance, would allow you gauge the semi dedicated hosting service fee (on average).
There is no point too much or too less for semi dedicated hosting services that you don’t require.
Best Semi Dedicated Hosting Services
There are many semi dedicated hosting services that you can choose from. Scroll below to discover the top ones that fit your needs.
Not many web hosting services offer semi dedicated hosting. Therefore, what you will find below is a list of reputed and high performance web hosting companies that offer both semi dedicated and dedicated hosting.
HostWithLove. This is still my number one option—simply because this website is hosted with HostWithLove and I’m super happy using them. The most basic semi dedicated hosting package starts at $14.93 per month and comes with 2 dedicated cores and 2GB RAM. Take a look here.
BlueHost. While BlueHost is not my top favorite, this is an excellent option for website owners who require tons of server performance. Dedicate hosting starts at $79.99 per month and it comes with 4 cores and 4 GB RAM for all your website processing needs. Take a look here.
SiteGround. A good alternative to BlueHost is SiteGround. Currently, it offers datacenters not only in the US but also around the world. The most basic semi dedicated hosting package is called as GoGeek plan and its hosting plan starts at $11.95 per month. Take a look here.
NameCheap. If you are looking for powerful semi dedicated/dedicated servers, NameCheap offers affordable dedicated hosting services that starts at $36.88 per month. The lowest hosting package comes with 4 dedicated cores and 8 GB DDR3. Take a look here.
Exabytes. If you are looking for dedicated servers in Malaysia, Exabytes is an excellent choices to go with! Priced at RM499 per month, these servers are excellent choices for startups and heavy traffic websites. Take a look here.
Serverfreak. Last but not least, Serverfreak is an alternative to Exabytes … especially when you don’t require much server performance and the heavy price tag. Semi dedicated server plans start at RM180 per month that comes with 20G SSD space, 2 dedicated cores and 2 GB burstable RAM for sustainable performance. Take a look here.
Which Semi Dedicated Hosting Services Do I Recommend?
How to choose the best semi dedicated hosting servers?
This is an excellent question … one in which it depends highly on your requirements and needs.
If budget is not a concern for you, I recommend you to go with BlueHost. This web hosting company offers reliable performance and multiple packages to ensure that you get the best dedicated servers for your website.
If you are in a tight budget (like I do), I recommend you to go with HostWithLove as this is by far, the most affordable semi dedicated hosting service that comes with massive performance.
Of course, if you rather go for the big names with affordability in mind, SiteGround GoGeek hosting offers an unbeatable pricing!
Summary: Semi Dedicated Hosting
Semi dedicated hosting is not for everyone. It is best for websites with high traffic and best when you require dedicated resources for your website.
On average, semi dedicated hosting is priced higher than most basic web hosting services and in return, it comes with superior performance.
If you are serious in blogging, I recommend you to get a semi dedicated hosting for better server performance, uptime and increased in user experience.
About Me
Young at heart and a deep passion for entrepreneurial success, Reginald is devoted to share everything he had learned about online marketing with the public. Follow him for more awesome postings.
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The Importance Of Keeping Track, To Any Kind Of Business
About Me
Young at heart and a deep passion for entrepreneurial success, Reginald is devoted to share everything he had learned about online marketing with the public. Follow him for more awesome postings.
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How To Find Keywords In Google Analytics (To Dominate Your Competitors)?
Google Analytics is one of the best God-given keyword analysis tool for bloggers.
Some years back, searching for keywords using Google Analytics is easy but not, you will ended up with (not provided).
Lucky for you, this is not the end. This article will explain to you everything you need to know about Google Analytics keywords and how you can leverage these keywords to boost your website ranking.
How nice would it be to be able to see what keywords you are ranking for in Google Analytics? The trick is simple—connect Google Search Console to Google Analytics and you will magically discover all the keywords you are ranknig right now.
Wait a minute.
here’s what you might be thinking right now:
“I have no idea how to use Google Analytics”
“What is Google Search Console?”
“How to find keywords using Google Search Console?”
“I need help—I’m a complete newbie [help!!]”
Okay, I hear you and I got you covered for sure.
This post is aimed at showing you quickly and simply how to set up Google Analytics, Google Search Console and how to integrate both so that you can find powerful Google Analytics keywords.
Bonus: How I Generated Over 5k+ Traffic Each Day Through Proper SEO Strategies?
For those who are wondering if SEO really works, the answer is “Yes!”
Using SEO tools such as KWFinder, Google Analytics and Google Search Console, I am able to locate high quality keywords to start ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs). This helped me in generating over 5,000 unique and organic blog traffic daily.
What Is Google Analytics?
What is Google Analytics?
This guide is not just a how-to guide. My aim is to make this guide super informative and serves as an all-in-one Google Analytics keyword too for you. Of course, this means going through the basics such as this one.
Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic, currently as a platform inside the Google Marketing Platform brand.
Google Analytics gives you the tools you need to better understand your customers. You can then use those business insights to take action
How Do You Setup Google Analytics (For Keyword Research)?
The process involves putting in a small line of code in the <header> part on your website. This is how you can find the code.
Register/Login to Google Analytics
Head over to the admin button (pressing the gear button on the bottom left of the screen)
Head over to Account > Property > Tracking Info > Tracking Code
Setting up Google Analytics code correctly is important for tracking
The above is the sample of my Google Analytics tracking code. As you can see, the tracking ID is UA-41731702-1. Each website will have a different tracking ID.
If you scroll further below, you will see Google Site Tag. This is the code that you need to copy (exactly) and place it in the Header part of your website. If you use WordPress theme builders such as Divi or Elementor, it is really easy to input in the codes in the header (without messing around the codes).
Google Analytics code should be placed in the
section
How To Find Google Analytics Keywords
Once the Google Analytics code had been fitted into the right column, the collection of data will start almost instantly.
Head over to Google Analytics > Acquisition > Landing Pages.
Google Analytics offers one of the most comprehensive data for website owners
Next, you will see the data sorted out for you as follow. Remember that this data gives you exact information on the specific blog posts that generates the most views/clicks.
Generate keywords ideas in Google Analytics by understanding the top landing pages
By integrating Google Search Console to Google Analytics, keyword research can be done easier (and more effectively).
Take a look at the Landing Page tab. This tab allows you to determine the top performing landing pages on your blog and how you can monetize it further.
Getting Keywords Into Google Analytics
Now, here comes the fun part.
The most effective method to find Google Analytics keywords is through integrating with Google Search Console.
Just like Google Analytics, Google Search Console is a free tool for website owners/bloggers to understand more about how their websites rank on Google.
Integrating Google Search Console to your blog/website is extremely important for SEO
With just a few clicks, you can determine the top performing pages, guessing the right keywords, bounce rate and many more.
Want to know how it is done? Follow these steps.
Head over to Google Analytics > Acquisition > Landing Pages. If you have not integrated Google Search Console to Google Analytics, this is what you will see.
Integrating Google Search Console into Google Analytics in just a few seconds
Click on “Se up Search Console data sharing” to start intergrating Google Search Console with Google Analytics.
Next, click on “Adjust Search Console” as seen below.
Pay attention when integrating to ensure you can find relevant keywords on Google Analytics
The above step allows you to connect your Google Search Console property to Google Analytics. Ensure that you are linking the right one (such as non-www or www) to Google Analytics.
Common Problems During Integration
The guide above is rather straightforward—especially when you are finding for Google Analytics keywords by integrating Google Search Console.
However, there are also challenges that you might encounter when taking the steps above. Here are the common challenges, as well as the solutions to solving them.
Google Analytics and Google Search Console Are No Owned By The Same Gmail Account
You see, it is common that we have several Gmail accounts and not all of them are connected to one another.
As complicated as it sounds, the solution to this problem is rather simple.
Here are two simple solutions to this.
Option 1: Create a new Gmail account for both Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Next, connect both the properties under the new Gmail account.
Option 2: Focus on having just one Gmail account to integrate both properties together. You need to have admin rights for both the Google tools.
Multiple Versions of Your Website On Google Search Console
This is by far the most common challenges faced by many. This is what it looks like on the backend.
Having multiple properties in Google Search Console could be a challenge for some
Here is a quick solution to encounter this and to start searching for keywords in Google Analytics.
The best practice on Google Search Console is to register both versions of your website (www and non-www). Next, you need to set preferences for the one that your site actually uses.
For example, I have both https://www.reginaldchan.net, https://www.reginaldchan.net, https://www.reginaldchan.net and https://www.reginaldchan.net set up on Google Search Console. I set my preference to https://www.reginaldchan.net as this is my default URL.
When you do this, you will have two “properties” (websites) to connect with Google Analytics. Make sure you to go with the one that has “preference” in Google Search Console to capture the actual data and visitors.
Don’t worry if you do that wrong. This can be edited in the settings at any time.
Are You Ready To Find Keywords In Google Analytics?
Congratulations.
You had completed the process of intergrating Google Search Console with Google Analytics.
In the next few moments, you will be able to see a range of keywords in Google Analytics.
Like what you read? Leave a comment below and tell me if you need any assistance!
About Me
Young at heart and a deep passion for entrepreneurial success, Reginald is devoted to share everything he had learned about online marketing with the public. Follow him for more awesome postings.
![How To Start A Blog [Infographic]](https://www.reginaldchan.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/How-To-Start-A-Blog-Infographic.jpg)
![Easiest Way To Find Google Analytics Keywords [Complete Tutorial For Beginners]](https://www.reginaldchan.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/How-To-Find-Google-Analytics-Keywords.png)
