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  • Cleanest WordPress Theme: Thrive Themes vs StudioPress vs Divi vs WP Beaver Builder

    Cleanest WordPress Theme: Thrive Themes vs StudioPress vs Divi vs WP Beaver Builder

    Cleanest WordPress theme. All of us are looking for a clean, simple and elegant WordPress theme.

    But there’s one problem. We are spoil with choices. Which is the cleanest WordPress theme we should be using today?

    As a seasoned blogger, I understand and resonates with you completely. I am always in the hunt for the best and cleanest WordPress theme — and this also one of the reasons why I constantly change my theme (at least once every three months).

    In this article, you will discover some of the top and best clean WordPress themes for 2018.

    Let’s dive in, shall we?

    My favorite cleanest WordPress theme is …

    I want to start this article by sharing my all-time-favorite, cleanest WordPress theme and it is no other than Thrive Themes.

    It’s true that I had used dozens of WordPress themes since I started blogging back in 2004 but it terms of favorites, nothing comes close to Thrive Themes.

    I have been using Thrive Themes three years back and it is the best and cleanest WordPress theme I had ever used.

    What makes Thrive Themes my top choice? Here are the benefits using it:

    • Comes with an intuitive drag and drop builder (that doesn’t sucks)
    • Clean codes and is free from malicious codes
    • Professional support team to assist 24/7, all year round
    • check-circle-oEasily import demos with just a few clicks
    • check-circle-oCustomizing the design is easy and doesn’t require coding skills (at all)
    • check-circle-oHighly affordable
    • check-circle-oComes with multiple themes for choice and plugins to make your blog stand out from the crowd

    Here are the top four themes which I personally love from Thrive Themes.

    Rise Theme

    Rise theme by Thrive Themes offers clean design for bloggers and affiliate marketers

    Pressive Theme

    Pressive is a professional theme for corporate websites

    Minus Theme Cleanest WordPress Theme

    Minus is the cleanest WordPress theme I have ever used

    Performag offers a clean WordPress theme for magazine

    Performag offers a clean WordPress theme for magazine website

    Thrive Themes doesn’t only offer clean WordPress themes, all the themes come with conversion-focused areas to ensure that you can generate more leads, email subscribers and ultimately, grow your income through your blog.

    StudioPress — An excellent Thrive Themes alternative

    Make no mistake. StudioPress is one of the best WordPress themes in the market that is not only affordable but extremely versatile.

    StudioPress comes 62 premium WordPress themes under its hood and the list is ever growing!

    studiopress wordpress themes

    Yes, you are right. StudioPress doesn’t only offers clean WordPress themes, it also offers a wide range of features such as:

    • SEO-ready WordPress themes
    • Powered by Genesis Framework that offers reliability, security and performance
    • Strong community that provide support
    • Beautiful, mobile-responsive designs
    • Ultra-flexible foundational codes (clean codes)
    • Blazing fast performance
    • Rock solid performance

    If you are wondering, StudioPress is on par with Thrive Themes (click here to read the comparison between StudioPress and Thrive Themes) in many fronts. The only visible shortfall using StudioPress is the drag and drop builder which StudioPress lacks of.

    Apart from that, StudioPress is one of the best options if you are looking for the cleanest WordPress theme.

    WP Beaver Builder — For experience website developers

    Last but not least, WP Beaver Builder is an excellent and clean WordPress theme. You may have heard about WP Beaver Builder and how effective it is especially for website developers.

    WP Builder Builder or Beaver Builder in short is an extremely popular choice especially for website developers because it comes with some nifty features.

    Just like Thrive Themes and StudioPress, the Beaver Builder comes with some powerful features such as:

    • Dozens of gorgeous page templates
    • Position images and text with precision, and build column based layouts in minutes
    • Separate your page builder from your theme and get complete control of your content

    I got to admit that WP Beaver Builder isn’t really built for beginners and bloggers and it is slightly geared towards developers.

    Nonetheless, WP Beaver Builder theme is definitely one of the cleanest WordPress themes in the market today. Click here to see WP Beaver Builder theme in action.

    Divi by Elegant Themes

    Last but not least, Divi is definitely my top choice when it comes to choosing the cleanest WordPress theme.

    Divi by Elegant Themes is one of the most intuitive WordPress builder that allows you to create beautiful WordPress themes in minutes and not days.

    Divi is comes packing with all the features you ever need to clean a clean WordPress theme from scratch.

    And what makes Divi a great choice is the super intuitive drag and drop builder. Take a look below.

    divi 3.0 drag and drop website builderdivi 3.0 reviewcheap drag and drop website builder 2018

    Divi makes it extremely easy for anyone to create their own WordPress theme without coding skills.

    Summary: Choosing the cleanest WordPress theme

    What is your favorite theme when it comes to clean WordPress theme? I hope you find this article useful and tell me what you think in the comments below!

    At the end of the day, Thrive Themes, StudioPress and Divi are excellent and cleanest WordPress theme in the market today.

  • Website Design Proposal: Your ULTIMATE Guide To Close More Sales

    Website Design Proposal: Your ULTIMATE Guide To Close More Sales

    How do you create (if that’s the right team) a great website design proposal?

    As an entrepreneur, I’m always finding for quick ways to make money online, on the side and without leaving my day job.

    Managing a website design company on the side is definitely one of the easiest ways to achieve such. It is also one of the highly recommended tips especially if you are looking for small business ideas under $50 and something that you can start this weekend.

    Without further adieu, let’s dive right into creating a website design proposal.

    What is a website design proposal?

    There are many versions to this and for me, the definition of a website design proposal is simple.

    A web design proposal is your opportunity to sell yourself as well as your work.

    This is the only platform you need to convince your potential client on your skills, expertise and knowledge in this field.

    And your website design proposal will determine whether you make it (or you don’t).

    How to create a website design proposal?

    website design proposal

    These are the steps you need to do before, during and after creating a website design proposal.

    Step 1: Creating a website design proposal template

    Template creation allows you to churn out web design proposals fast and without needing to spend hours creating one from scratch.

    The template should includes information such as:

    • Introduction of yourself (and your team)
    • Advantages/Benefits working with you
    • What you can offer
    • check-circle-oSamples of your work (or mock ups)
    • check-circle-oContacting you for quote

    Step 2: Getting started with the website design proposal

    professional photo

    You should start by introducing yourself. A professional photo of yourself and your team is critical to create the great first impression.

    In this part, avoid selling yourself or the services. Instead, focus to be as human as possible and being real is important.

    Give a short and interesting summary to avoid your potential clients getting bored.

    Step 3: What are the benefits working with you?

    Website development projects are always similar and what makes them different is the experience before, during and after the project.

    If you want to be a successful freelance website developer, you need to wear many hats including being a sales person.

    Always remember that having the best skills is not effective if you are unable to produce sales.

    Here are some of the benefits you can consider:

    • Fast turnover
    • Affordable prices
    • Addons and perks which are free of charge
    • checkMultiple website design revisions without charge
    • checkInclusive of web hosting and domain name
    • checkSSL certificate and other security features
    • checkInstallation of plugins

    Step 4: What are you offer (more than your competitors)?

    You are not the only one in the market and you should know your competitors.

    In this case, your website design proposal should include offers and benefits which are not offered by your competitors.

    unique selling point

    These are your unique selling points (or known as “USP”) which can possibly make your clients say “Yes!”

    Include these USP in your website design proposal to ensure that you stay a higher chance of closing the deal.

    Step 5: Samples of your previous web designing work or provide web design mock ups

    The next step is to show your clients on your previous works. If you are brand new in this industry and struggling to get your first web design client, consider using web design mock ups to portray your skills.

    How to create your web design portfolio?

    • 1Purchase a domain from Namecheap
    • 2Get a web hosting service from BlueHost
    • 3Install WordPress as your website content management system (CMS)
    • 4Install a professional website theme (I recommend Thrive Themes)
    • 5Create a landing page that serves as your portfolio

    Important note: I recommend Thrive Themes because it is easy to use and comes with 9 Thrive plugins that allows you to market your website and help you increase your sales. Read my 2018 Thrive Themes review or click here to see the Thrive Themes demo page.

    Step 6: Make it easy for your clients to contact you

    This is one of the biggest mistakes done by web developers when they are sending their website design proposal. They did not provide a point of contact for the clients!

    I’m a huge believer in making it easy for your clients to contact you. You need to provide these in all your website design proposal:

    • 1-click email (use mailto:email@yourwebsite.com)
    • Direct number
    • WhatsApp or WeChat phone number
    • check-square-oPhysical address (if applicable) for clients to find you

    There are clients who are less ‘techie’ and therefore, you need to make it really easy for them to reach you.

    Take a look at my digital marketing agency website, Marketing Lancers. There’s an automated chat box for them to contact me or my team at any time!

    The whole idea is simple. You need to reduce any barriers or reasons for them NOT to contact you for further discussion.

    Are you ready to send your first website design proposal?

    I hope you find this guide useful especially in creating your own freelance website design business.

    Need help in starting a web design business? Click here to read the guide!

  • How To Build An Email List Without A Website

    How To Build An Email List Without A Website

    An email list is important because it keeps you one step closer to your readers. An email list is regarded as a high value resource that allows you to earn high ROI and sales revenue.

    You can easily built an email list by installing email list building plugins on your website. Here’s one question most beginners and business owners ask.

    How to build an email list without a website?

    I mean, is it even possible to do so? The answer is “yes” and in this post, you will discover effective ways to build an email list without a website.

    Let’s dive in, shall we?

    1. Social Media Platforms To Build An Email List Without A Website

    Who doesn’t have a social media account? As a matter of fact, everyone has a social media account on some platforms.

    How to build an email list without a website and using social media?

    Most email marketing solutions allow you to connect lead in forms with your social media platforms.

    For example, you can use AWeber sign up form and integrate it with your Facebook Page. This allows you to collect emails without having a website.

    2. Collect Emails By Offering A Freebie

    Do you know that you can easily collect emails by offering a freebie?

    Using AWeber for example, you can create a lead generation form which is hosted by AWeber itself.

    This means that you don’t need to have a website to have a landing page — as the landing page can be built and hosted on AWeber itself.

    Here’s one sample of AWeber’s form that you can build and use.

    aweber forms

    It looks pretty cool, isn’t it?

    Data collected from this opt in form will then be added into your mailing list, which you can send out emails and create engagement with your subscribers.

    3. Buying Email Lists From Reputable Sources

    This is controversial but it is really effective.

    Buying email lists from reputable sources is a great way to build a community without a website. On average, these email lists costs around $1 to $5 per email and it worth all the money if you have the right autoresponder and strategy.

    Buying email lists is only effective if you are using an email marketing solution that provides autoresponder system.

    The best thing with email autoresponders?

    They never get tired and they are always working around the clock.

    Important tip: Buying an email list is not an easy way out to building an email list without a website. To make your investment worth, you need to constantly provide quality information and updates to make sure they don’t unsubscribe!

    Are you ready to build an email list without a website?

    I hope you find the three tips above useful and have any thoughts or reservations on this topic?

    Leave a comment below and let’s discuss further!

  • 3 Ways In Getting Traffic To Blog 2018

    3 Ways In Getting Traffic To Blog 2018

    Getting traffic to blog is not an easy task. Most bloggers (and business owners) face this daunting task on a day to day basis.

    According to Internet Live Stats, there are 1,871,364,591 websites which are active right now. That’s 1.8 billion websites!

    The number of websites that grow each year also increases year over year and the figures are not stopping anytime soon.

    website stats 2018

    As a blogger, I’m constantly finding more ways to get more traffic to blog.

    This task isn’t entirely a walk in the park, but if you have the right strategy, you are going to make it big. Here are the top 3 ways to getting traffic to blog.

    1. Getting traffic to blog using SEO

    Search engine optimization or SEO is one of the best way to get traffic to blogs. This strategy involves focusing on keywords that will increase traffic to your blogs.

    SEO involves:

    • Keyword research
    • Niche selection
    • Keyword density
    • check-square-oCompetitor analysis
    • check-square-oAnalyzing and monitoring

    There is no fast way to do SEO especially when you want to do SEO correctly. The right SEO strategy takes time, effort and patience.

    More importantly, you need to understand that SEO is a long term business. On average, you will see improvement in Google ranking within the first few months into doing SEO.

    When it comes to SEO, it is all about producing the right content and focusing on the LSI keywords.

    If you are interested to learn more about SEO, take a look a this step by step guide in increasing ranking on Google.

    2. Getting traffic through email marketing

    You should invest your time into email marketing. No matter how small or big your blog is, you should start email marketing like right now!

    Email marketing helps you get more traffic to blog by keeping your subscribers informed on new posts and updates.

    Email marketing works using this simple mechanism:

    3. Getting traffic to blog using social media

    When was the last time you share your content on social media?

    Sharing content on social media will drive clicks and traffic to your blog.

    By default, you should share new posts and updates on main social media platforms to ensure that your audience is kept updated.

    When it comes to social media, I recommend using Agorapulse for social media scheduling. It allows me to share the right content at the right time and to the right audience — without needing to pull my hair and waking up 3am in the morning!

    Plus, the metric is a killer!

    Agorapulse social media tool

    Summary: Getting Traffic To Blog

    Are you ready to get more traffic to blog?

    What is your top ways in getting more traffic? Leave a comment below and tell me all about it!

  • Top 5 Content Restriction Plugins for Your WordPress

    Top 5 Content Restriction Plugins for Your WordPress

    A high-quality content plays a crucial role in the success of any website. It not only brings a large number of visitors to your website but also helps your site to get high ranking on search engines.

    There is no doubt that a web design is important in making a good first impression on your audience, but the high-quality content is what will keep users coming back to your site.

    However, it is essential to figure out how much access your users should have on your content because the content is the most important of your site. There are a number of content restriction plugins available that allow users to access the certain parts of the content available on your site.

    By using these plugins, you can organize your users and restrict content differently for every user.

    Let’s have a look at 5 popular content restriction plugins for WordPress Site.

     

    1. PrivateContent

    PrivateContent is a popular and high-rated WordPress plugin that offers various user management features all in one place.

    The plugin is built by Aldo Latino having more than 9,000 active installations at present. It uses a shortcode to showcase a portion of a post content only to users of a certain roles. For instance, you get an option to display the hidden text to editors and authors only. However, an administrator can read editor’s private content.

    The best part is, the plugin is quite user-friendly, you don’t need to be proficient in scripting knowledge to use this.

    Speaking of its features, it comes with various advanced features like you can lock down your site entirely with a single click including the menus. Let’s check out its other features.

    Features

    -It is a complete solution to restrict any site content.

    -It comes with an advanced user management system along with complete tracking.

    -The plugin also supports a custom skin builder. If you want to know how you can use custom post types in WordPress, read out the complete guide on 000webhost.com.

    -It supports developer friendly API and hooks.

     

    2. Restrict Content

    Developed by Pippin Williamson, Restrict Content is a well-known content restriction plugin for WordPress that lets you restrict access to your content to logged-in users. The plugin is highly rated, which is specially designed for web developers and more advanced users. From free to $ 499, the plugin comes with a variety of pricing options. Moreover, the plugin comes with an extensive documentation and numerous add-ons.

    Plugin Features

    -It allows you limit access to content with a simple shortcode. For instance, [restrict] This.

    -You can limit access to full content through a simple interface.

    -You can display a registration form on any page of your site for new accounts.

    -For existing users, you can display a login form on any page of your site.

     

    3. MemberPress

    MemberPress is all in one WordPress plugin which lets you build a professional WP membership site and accept credit cards without any fear.

    With this plugin, you can charge your users for accessing your content and digital products like e-books and software.

    Using this plugin, you can confidently manage and examine all your digital content and membership subscriptions. Besides this, MemberPress lets you grant and reverse access to pages, posts, feeds, digital files, tags, and communities on the basis of what services your users have purchased.

    Features

    -It is quite user-friendly, you can immediately start charging your audience for accessing your digital content.

    -It leverages various great features of WordPress and other 3rd party services such as forums, social communities, content management, etc.

    -It supports easy integration for running affiliate programs, processing payments, etc.


    4. WP Customer Area

    It is another renowned all-in-one WordPress plugin that helps you manage private content on WordPress. Using this plugin, you can share private content such as pages, tasks, conversations, and files with one or multiple users.

    WP Customer Area plugin was developed by MarvinLabs and at present, it has more than 10,000 active installations.

    The plugin ensures that your member-only area is accessible to authorized users only. With this plugin, you need not worry about the security of the shared content. All the content which is shared in the space is fully secured. Even search engines don’t index this content.

    Its basic version allows you to share pages and files privately for absolutely free.

    Features

    -It helps you secure customer area.

    -You can easily assign private pages and files to a particular user.

    -You can customize the appearance of the plugin by using your own templates and themes.

     

    5. User Access Manager

    If you are looking for a solution to manage the access to your posts, pages or file, User Access Manager should be an ideal option for you.

    The plugin lets you create a user group, add registered users to this group and set up the rights for them. User Access Manager plugin is going to be quite useful for you if you want to add a member area or a private section on your blog. You may use this plugin to allow users to write on your blog as well.

    Features
    -You can build user groups.

    -You can set individual access for editors and readers.

    -It lets you add time-based access.

    -You can set default user groups.

    -You can hide elements in the navigation

    -It supports multilingual.

    -It protects your RSS feeds.

    -It gives access by IP-address

     

    Wrapping Up-

    Have you ever used any of these WordPress plugins to restrict your content? If yes, do share your experience with us. If we have missed any of your favorites let us know in the following comment section, we will be glad to add that to this list.