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Invoices and infographics may seem like two entirely different business materials, but they actually have one key thing in common: they both exist to convey information.

However, while infographics are known for employing colorful designs and data visualizations, invoices are typically pretty straightforward.

Of course, conveying important payment information in a clear and concise way is the name of the game — but that doesn’t mean you can’t add a little brand personality to them.

To help you get a sense of the possibilities, we put together a collection of impressive invoice samples that may inspire you to rethink your current design. Many of them are free to download and customize.

14 of the Best Professional Invoice Samples and Templates

1. Pascale Dufour

This bold invoice sample is perfect for brands that boast a playful personality. The friendly copy —“Hi! This is your invoice” — catches your eye and helps to lead you through the statement.

Not to mention, the color choices on the taxes, deductions, and totals line creates just enough contrast to ensure you can’t miss the end amount.

2. Blue Service Invoice

This soft-colored invoice template comes from HubSpot’s own invoice generator, which you can try out for free right here. Its service-based form below the circular “Your Logo Here” header allows you to include multiple jobs and how much each one cost your client.

Download this template together with a pack of 10 free templates using the link in the header above the image — each design conveniently opens in Microsoft Word.

3. Fabio Basile

Business in the front. Party in the back.

This double-sided invoice sample offers an interesting twist on an otherwise standard design.

We especially love the “handcrafted for” language on the design side, which side helps to make the customer feel valued by the business they’ve worked with.

4. Front and Center

Put your final price to the client “front and center” using this design by Ari Krzyzek. Contact this designer using the link in the header — her project comes with matching letters and business cards. Or, simply use her concept as inspiration to create an invoice of your own.

The document makes great use of contrast in font color, allowing the red price to really pop against the thin black text surrounding it.

5. Green Shipping Invoice

This green template was also made by HubSpot’s invoice generator, and can be downloaded using the link in the header above the image. Dedicated to shipping-based services, the vibrant document is perfect for transactions that involved the transportation of goods.

6. JPWTemplates

This is a more specific invoice sample, focused on billing for services — in this case: photography.

This invoice uses an actual photograph in the header to highlight the quality of their services. This is a clever idea that can be leveraged for multiple services such as graphic design, illustration, interior design, and so on.

If you want to further personalize your invoice, you can use a photo or design from the customer’s specific project to give it a custom look and feel.

7. Classic Designs

Here’s an example of a straightforward invoice design that clearly details all of the important invoice criteria — contact information, itemized purchases, payment information, and so on.

The design leverages pops of red to call out key pieces of information to make the statement feel less overwhelming.

8. Orange Standard

It doesn’t get much more basic than the orange standard invoice template, shown above. Download this template for free using the link in the header above the image. It opens in Microsoft word, allowing you to insert your logo in the top-righthand corner and add additional service rows to match how many services you provided your customer.

9. Bold Stationary

This invoice sample uses a split design to divide contact information and payment information. This approach is free of any distractions or fancy elements, yet it still feels intentionally designed.

If your business is a bit more traditional, this sample serves as a great guide.

10. Novomatic

This invoice sample uses various shades of yellow to chunk out different parts of the invoices into digestible sections.

This invoice also leverages the footer of the statement to point customers towards the company’s social media channels as a way to offer a lasting connection.

11. Blue Minimal Standard

The minimalist invoice template shown above caters to services that are hard to describe in individual lines of services. Using the large “Notes” tile in the center of the document, you can put the focus on the nuances of your business, so it’s clear why you’ve charged your client the price you’ve charged. Download it for free using the link in the header above the image.

12. Yellow Minimalist

There’s something about yellow that makes a document friendlier. Vibrant but unaggressive, this template emphasizes your price in large font on the bottom-righthand corner, with a yellow border to make sure it doesn’t get forgotten in a pile of other white sheets of paper on your client’s desk.

13. Victory

This invoice template offers space for a logo on the bottom-lefthand corner, rather than the top, for professionals who want to make it clear right away that this document is a bill to be paid (hence “INVOICE” listed on the top-righthand corner).

The invoice’s midsection allows the sender to include a thorough description of each individual service provided — a helpful billing format if your business spanned multiple projects over a long period of time.

14. Soft Banner

Professional designers, here’s an invoice concept just for you. Showing your clients a colorful, brand-aligned invoice is a surefire way to get clients remembering you and rehiring you for more work. The centered price banner in this design uses a soft green background to make steep costs look a bit less frightening to the customer.

How to Write an Invoice

Want to make your own invoice? We’ve got you covered. Check out HubSpot’s Invoice Template Generator to create a professional invoice PDF in just a few clicks. Here’s how to use it:

1. Click this page to visit the Invoice Template Generator.
2. Click the dotted square on the top-righthand corner of the template to upload an image file of your logo. Or, drag and drop this image file into the square.
3. Use the circular wrench/paintbrush icon to the left of the template to change the invoice’s color scheme.
4. Hover your cursor over the “Item Description” section to “Add More” rows if you’re billing your client for more than one product or service.
5. Hover your cursor over each individual field to customize details such as invoice number, company name, item quantity, and relevant notes to the recipient.
6. When you’ve finished customizing your invoice, click “Download Now” just below the template. Your invoice will download as a 

The generator offers a ton of customizable elements, so you can be sure the design meets your exact business needs.

Inclusivity is a critical component for long-term employee retention, and even company growth.

For instance, a Catalyst report, Inclusive Leadership: The View From Six Countries, found the more included employees felt, the more innovative they reported being in their jobs, and the more they went “above and beyond” to achieve team goals. If you want each of your employees to invest time and energy into their work, you need to invest resources to ensure they feel included and valued.

To achieve inclusivity at your workplace, it’s crucial you encourage allyship across the organization to foster a sense of belonging for everyone.

Being an ally means working to develop empathy towards another group’s challenges or issues — and, ultimately, creating a culture in which that group feels valued.

Here, we’ve cultivated a list of resources to help you gain awareness on different perspectives, and ultimately become a more effective ally. While our list is by no means all-inclusive, it’s a good starting point for broadening your own views of the world, your unique privilege, and how you can help others feel included.

12 Resources to Read

1. How To Challenge Ourselves to Grow As Allies by Corey Ponder
2. Learning To Cope With Clinical Depression Has Made Me A Better Manager by Libby Maurer
3. Why LGBT Employees Need Workplace Allies by Sylvia Ann Hewlett
4. How to be an Ally in the Office by Natalie Stevens
5. The Complexity of Identity: “Who Am I?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum
6. Diversity in Tech: The Unspoken Empathy Gap by Jules Walter
7. Better Together: 8 Ways Working with Women Leads to Extraordinary Products and Profits by Jonathan Sposato
8. Ageism, Diversity’s Forgotten Cousin by Christopher Platts
9. Why Diversity Matters by Vivian Hunt, Dennis Layton, and Sara Prince
10. For Women and Minorities to Get Ahead, Managers Must Assign Work Fairly by Joan C. Williams and Marina Multhaup
11. All Mixed Up: What Do We Call People Of Multiple Backgrounds? By Leah Donnella
12. Blind Since Birth, Writing Code at Amazon Since 2013 by Neal Karlinsky and Jordan Stead

6 Resources to Watch

1. The Urgency of Intersectionality by Kimberlé Crenshaw at TEDWomen
2. The Surprising Solution to Workplace Diversity by Arwa Mahdawi at TEDx Talks
3. The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Adichie at TEDGlobal
4. The Paradox of Diversity by Dr. Marilyn Sanders Mobley at TEDx Talks
5. Implicit Bias — How It Effects Us and How We Push Through by Melanie Funchess at TEDx Talks
6. Are You Biased? I Am by Kristen Pressner at TEDx Talks

5 Resources to Listen To

1. Intersectionality Matters by Nephtali Navarro
2. Out at Work by Nancy, with Tobin Low and Kathy Tu
3. Code Switch by NPR
4. Women at Work by HBR
5. Tech Inclusion by Change Catalyst

From P&G’s “Thank You, Mom” to American Express’s “Small Business Saturday” to Dos Equis’s “Most Interesting Man in the World,” marketing campaigns have a way of sticking with us long after an impression or purchase.

Why is that? Well, campaigns make companies memorable. They promote a focused effort that guides consumers towards a desired action. They also give brands identity, personality, and emotion.

Marketing campaigns can do the same for your business. That’s why we’ve compiled this guide — to provide a clear, concise approach to your next campaign. Keep reading to get started or use the links below to jump ahead.

Marketing campaigns don’t include all marketing efforts for a brand. In fact, the word “campaign” is defined as “a connected series of operations designed to bring about a particular result.” That’s why politicians campaign for a specific election and militaries campaign for a specific battle.

Great marketing campaigns follow a consistent theme and promote a single or focused idea or goal (as we’ll discuss.)

For example, every Nike advertisement you see or hear on the way to work probably isn’t part of a campaign. But, if you see a Nike billboard, scroll past a Nike sponsored Instagram post, and receive a Nike email all promoting the same product … you’ve definitely witnessed a marketing campaign.

You’ve also probably heard the word “campaign” used for both marketing and advertising. What’s the difference?

Advertising is a component of marketing. Marketing is how a company plans to raise awareness of their brand and convince customers to make a purchase, while advertising is the process of creating the persuasive messages around these broad goals.

In terms of campaigns, an advertising campaign might be a facet of a bigger marketing campaign strategy. For example, if Nike were campaigning about the release of a new product, their advertising would be one piece of their broader marketing efforts, which might also encompass email, social media, and paid search.

So, campaigns are focused, acute marketing efforts to reach a singular goal. Despite their simple definition, marketing campaigns can take a lot of work. Keep reading to learn how to create and promote a successful one.

How to Create a Successful Marketing Campaign

Creating an entire campaign might be complex, but it’s a pretty straightforward process — if you do it correctly. Planning your campaign is just as important as designing the fun stuff, such as the creative advertisements and conversion assets.

Before you create what your audience will see, you must consider what you want them to do when they see it … or read it or hear it. (You get the gist.)

I’ve organized this section as a marketing campaign template of sorts. All you need to do is answer the questions — as accurately and in-depth as possible — to ensure a thorough, successful approach to your next marketing campaign.

Also, don’t skip ahead! Your responses to previous questions will guide your ideas and answers as you move along.

Planning Your Marketing Campaign

This step is crucial to the effectiveness of your marketing campaign. The planning stage will determine how you measure success and will guide your team and campaign when things (inevitably) go awry.

1. What’s the Purpose and Goal of Your Campaign?

Let’s start simple. Why are you running this campaign? What would you like your campaign to accomplish for your business?

If you’re having trouble defining your campaign purpose, start broad. Take a look at the goals below. Which one is most aligned with your own?

• Promote a new product or service
• Increase brand awareness
• Gather customer feedback or content
• Generate revenue
• Boost user engagement
• Advertise an upcoming event

This is hardly a definitive list, but it gives you an idea of some general business goals that a campaign could help reach.

For the sake of demonstration, I’m going to move forward with the third goal: Gather customer feedback or content. We’ll use this example throughout this guide.

Now, let’s take our broad campaign purpose and turn it into a SMART goal. To classify as “SMART”, a goal must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. SMART goals keep you accountable and provide you with a concrete goal for which to aim.

Continuing with our example from above, turning our broad purpose into a SMART goal would look like:

“The goal of my marketing campaign is to gather customer feedback or content.” vs.

“The goal of my marketing campaign is to gather user-generated content from 100 customers via a branded hashtag on Instagram featuring our new product line by December 31, 2018.”

The goal is Specific (user-generated content), Measurable (100 customers), Attainable (via a branded Instagram hashtag), Relevant (featuring the new product line), and Timely (by December 31, 2018).

See how my broad campaign purpose instantly transforms into an actionable, attainable goal? Determining such distinct measures for your campaign is tough — I get it. But making the hard decisions now will make your life — and campaign — much easier in the future.

2. How Will You Measure Your Campaign?

The answer(s) to this question will look different for everyone. You might answer this with “email open rates,” “new Facebook Page likes,” “product pre-orders,” or all of the above.

These answers will depend on your overarching campaign goal. Here are a few examples of metrics based on the campaign objectives I mentioned above.

• For promoting a new product or service: Pre-orders, sales, upsells
• For increasing brand awareness: Sentiment, social mentions, press mentions
• For gathering customer feedback or content: Social mentions, engagement
• For generating revenue: Leads, sales, upsells
• For boosting user engagement: Blog shares, social shares, email interactions
• For advertising an upcoming event: Ticket sales, vendor or entertainment bookings, social mentions

If your campaign involves multiple marketing efforts (such as social media, direct mail, and radio ads), it’s wise to define how you’ll measure your campaign on each medium. (Read more about these channel-specific metrics below.)

For example, let’s say I was running my user-generated content (UGC) campaign on social media, email, and on our blog.

First, I’d define my key performance indicators (KPIs) for each medium, which may look like:

• Instagram engagements (likes and comments) and profile tags
• Email open rates and click-through rates
• Blog views, click-throughs, and social shares

Then, I’d define my primary campaign KPI: Instagram branded hashtag mentions.

While the above KPIs indicate how well my campaign is reaching and engaging my audience, my primary KPI tells me how close I am to reaching my SMART goal.

Lastly, let’s think about another question: What does “success” look like for your company? Sure, it’s exciting to reach a predetermined goal, but that’s not always possible. What (outside of your goal) would constitute success for you (or serve as a milestone)? What would make you feel like your campaign is worthwhile if it doesn’t involve meeting your goal?

When determining how you’ll measure your campaign, consider setting up some checkpoints along the way. If your campaign involves boosting brand awareness and your goal is to reach 50 PR mentions by the end of the year, set up some benchmark notifications at 10, 25, and 40 mentions.

Not only will it remind you to keep pushing toward your ultimate goal, but it’ll boost morale within your team and remind you that your time and money investments are paying off.

3. Who Are You Targeting?

Ah, the beloved “target audience” section. This is one of my very favorite things to talk about because your alignment with your audience can make or break the success of anything marketing or sales-related … especially a campaign.

Imagine constructing a bulletproof marketing campaign only to be met with crickets. *chirp* *chirp*

In that case, you might think you chose the wrong marketing medium or that your creative wasn’t witty enough. Regardless of what it might be, all of those decisions come back to one thing: Your audience.

The first step to answering this question is figuring out what stage of the buyer’s journey your campaign is targeting. Are you trying to bring in new customers, or are you attempting to gather feedback from existing clients? Are you marketing your brand to those who recognize it, or are you introducing a new brand identity altogether?

Your marketing message will vary depending on whether your campaign audience is in the Awareness, Consideration, or Decision stage. It’s important to note that a marketing campaign can include collateral for people in various stages of their journey. For example, while your campaign might target current customers, it might also bring brand awareness to new consumers.

Next, identify your audience interests and pain points. Here are some questions to ask yourself and your team to better understand your audience.

• What are my audience’s general interests? What magazines do they read? What TV shows do they watch? How do they spend their free time?
• Where does my audience hang out online? For what purpose do they use Instagram, Facebook, and other networks? Do they engage or merely browse?
• What kind of content gets my audience’s attention? Do they respond to straightforward sales messages, or would they rather consume witty, humorous content? What cultural references would they understand?
• What kind of problems do they have that my product, service, or brand could solve?

Becoming well-acquainted with your campaign audience will help you confidently answer these questions and any others that may arise during the campaign.

4. What’s the Concept of Your Campaign? Who / How Will You Create Your Marketing?

It’s time to talk about the campaign itself. At this point, you know why you’re running a campaign, how you’ll measure it, and who it’s targeting. Now, let’s talk about what the campaign will look like … literally.

Marketing campaigns are like their own brand. They require a mission, a vision, and a visual identity. Great campaigns are an offshoot of their parent brand, both visually and creatively — they stay consistent with the business brand but maintain their own identity.

When creating their campaign assets, some businesses use an in-house team while others opt for an agency. Another alternative is hiring a freelancer or contractor to complete a specific portion of the project, such as the copy or design.

Depending on your specific campaign goals, I’d recommend starting with your in-house team and moving forward from there. They are likely the experts on that portion of your business and can speak to what your campaign needs to succeed.

Following the example of my Instagram UGC campaign, I’d start by consulting with my social media team. They’d be the most familiar with what Instagram content performs well and what our Instagram audience likes to see. From there, I could assign the campaign to them, or outsource the creative part to an agency or freelancer.

This step will likely take the longest since you’ll be creating your campaign concept from scratch. Next, we’ll dive into how you’ll distribute your campaign assets and connect with your audience.

Distributing Your Marketing Campaign

This stage is all about the public-facing part of your campaign, including what your audience will see and when. If you’ve combed through the previous section, you should have all the answers you need to guide you through this step.

5. How Will You Reach Your Audience?

Let’s think about what type of marketing your campaign will use. This choice depends on your audience preference, budget, and brand engagement levels, among other factors.

Take a look at the current media channels you use to promote your company. Which perform the best? Which allow you to pay for advertisements? Which have the best engagement? Most importantly, where are your customers hanging out?

Also, while using multiple media is highly recommended, it probably wouldn’t be wise to publish your campaign on a brand new medium on which your business has no presence. So, stick to those marketing channels on which you’re already killing it.

Need a few ideas? Take a look at the PESO model, which breaks up distribution channels into Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned.

Source

Start by choosing two or three channels for your campaign. For example, I might promote my UGC Instagram campaign via social media (on Instagram, of course), email, and through my blog. I’d then pay to boost my social media campaign posts so they’re viewed by more of my audience.

Depending on your campaign goal, certain channels might not make sense. In terms of my UGC campaign, it wouldn’t make sense to invest in print advertisements or direct mail since the campaign is purely digital and my audience is mostly online. On the other hand, multinational product launch campaigns would probably involve most (if not all) of the media choices above. They’d want to reach the widest audience, both in-person and online.

Remember that you’ll need to alter or expand your marketing assets to fit whichever media channels you choose. Your campaign images, video, and copy might vary between social media, email, print, etc.

Lastly, even if you choose not to actively promote on a certain medium, you can always optimize it to at least mention your campaign. For example, you can update your social media bios, change your email signature, install a website header notification bar, add small calls-to-action (keep reading for more on these) at the bottom of blog posts, and more. These efforts don’t require much extra work or resources but they promote your campaign nonetheless.

6. How and When Will You Publish?

This section is all about timing. Establishing a deadline for your campaign (the Timely part of your SMART goal) gives you a much better idea of when, how, and how often you’ll promote it.

First, build a general campaign timeline. On a calendar, mark your campaign start date and deadline. This gives you parameters to work within.

Next, take a look at your marketing assets and chosen promotional marketing channels. Based on your people and financial resources, how often can you afford to post and promote your campaign content? Create a promotional calendar for each marketing channel. Decide on a cadence for each channel and map out your scheduled posts, emails, etc. on your calendar.

Why should you map your campaign visually? It’ll help you evenly disperse your campaign promotions and publish equally on each medium. It’ll also give you an idea of where your time and energy is going so that you can look back when assessing the effectiveness of your campaign.

If your promotional calendar seems very, very full, don’t fret. Social media and email scheduling tools can alleviate the pressure of posting daily. Check out tools like HubSpot, Buffer, and MailChimp to help you schedule and manage your campaign promotions.

The promotional stage is all about getting your campaign in front of your audience. But, how are you supposed to get your audience to follow the purpose of your campaign? Next, we’ll discuss how to optimize your campaign to convert customers.

Converting Customers Through Your Marketing Campaign

So, campaigns are a connected series of operations designed to bring about a particular result. We’ve talked about the “connected” part, and we’ve covered the “operations” part. This stage — the conversion stage — is all about how your campaign can lead to that “particular result.”

7. How Will Your Marketing Drive the Desired Action?

Even if your campaign is effective and drives a ton of traffic, it still needs to complete its desired action. By “the desired action,” I’m talking about that SMART goal you initially defined. Let’s take a moment and reiterate that goal.

For my sample campaign, my SMART goal was “to gather user-generated content from 100 customers via a branded hashtag on Instagram featuring our new product line by December 31, 2018.”

This step is all about calibrating your marketing efforts and channels to lead your customers to complete your desired goal. This is done through conversion assets like calls-to-action, landing pages, and lead forms.

These assets can be used separately or in conjunction with one another, such as featuring a lead form on a landing page, or creating a call-to-action asking your audience to fill out a form.

Calls-to-Action

A call-to-action (CTA) is a direct ask of your audience. It’s an image or line of text that prompts your visitors, leads, and customers to take action, and it’s absolutely crucial to your campaign success.

CTAs cut through the noise of today’s marketing and advertising world and give your audience a clear directive. But, there’s no one-size-fits-all for CTAs, especially in the case of marketing campaigns.

Your campaign CTA can’t simply ask them to complete your goal. You must also consider how your audience would benefit from completing your action and include that in your CTA.

If my UGC campaign CTA was “post a picture of our product with this #hashtag,” my campaign would seem uninspired and a tad bossy. CTAs might be direct, but they’re also meant to encourage, inspire, and convince.

In this case, a better CTA would be “Share a photo featuring our product and this #hashtag, and you might be featured on our Instagram page and next promotional video!”

The same benefit-driven CTA applies to product launches, brand awareness campaigns, upsell efforts, and other types of campaigns. Your audience won’t complete your “desired action” unless they understand how it benefits them, too.

Landing Pages

Landing pages give your campaign a home, a destination. They are a dedicated space for your audience to visit and learn more about what your campaign consists of and why they should participate. It also sets your campaign apart from the rest of your website and content.

Your landing page should be ripe with benefits for your audience, especially the unique value proposition (UVP) of your campaign. Don’t forget to repeat your CTA and make it clear how your audience can engage (i.e. with a download or by filling out a form).

High-converting landing pages also contain social proof and a variety of marketing assets like images, strong copy, and video.

Lead Forms

Lead forms are web forms dedicated to capturing information about a visitor. By filling out the form, the visitor then turns into a lead. Lead forms are not necessary for all campaigns (they wouldn’t do much good for my UGC Instagram campaign, for example), but they can be great assets for most others, such as product pre-orders and content offer downloads.

Lead forms transform anonymous website visitors into hard data you can use to make sales and learn more about your audience. They put your landing page to work. Try our Free Online Form Builder to build out your campaign form.

8. What Metrics Can You Monitor?

The campaign effectiveness metrics you’ll monitor will depend on what type of marketing campaign you’re running and what channels you’ve chosen. This section merely serves as a baseline list to give you an idea of what to watch.

Also, it’s tempting to focus on vanity metrics like generated traffic, click-through rate, and impressions. A bump in these is definitely a good thing, but since they don’t necessarily indicate a bump in revenue, they can’t be the only metrics used to measure the effectiveness of your campaign.

Here’s are some metrics to watch per marketing channel.

Email Metrics

• Click-through rate
• Bounce rate
• Conversion rate

Social Media (Paid) Metrics

• Click-through rate
• Conversion rate
• Cost per click
• Cost per-conversion

Social Media (Organic) Metrics

• Passive engagements (likes and shares)
• Active engagements (comments)
• Follows
• Click-through rate

Lead Magnet/Content Offer Metrics

• Opt-in rate
• Cost per opt-in
• Follow-up email open rate
• Opt-in conversion rate

Display Ads/Paid Media Metrics

• Cost per thousand impressions
• Click-through rate
• Conversion rate
• Cost per conversion

Direct Mail Metrics

• Response rate
• Cost per conversion
• Average revenue per conversion

Content/SEO Metrics

• Click-through rate
• Bounce rate
• Time on page
• Page scroll depth
• Conversion rate

This may seem like a lot of metrics (depending on your campaign), but keeping an eye on these numbers can help you assess your campaign accurately and better understand how to improve.

Assessing Your Marketing Campaign

The post-campaign stage determines your success just as much as the planning stage. Measuring and analyzing your campaign data can provide unique insight into your audience, marketing channels, and budget. It can also tell you exactly how (or how not) to run your next campaign.

9. How Will You Know If Your Campaign Worked?

Well, it depends on how you define “worked.” The easy answer to this question is whether or not your campaign met your initial SMART goal. If it did, great! If it didn’t, it can still be considered successful.

For example, if your goal was to increase organic blog views by 100K, any bump in views would be considered successful. But there’s a difference in a campaign that works and a campaign that’s worthwhile. A worthwhile campaign gives you an ROI that’s proportionate to the time and energy you put into it.

While it’s okay to celebrate any bump in pre-orders, leads, views, or engagements, don’t assume that’s enough. There’s a reason the very first thing to do is set a campaign goal. Sticking to that goal and calibrating your investment will ensure your campaign is worthwhile.

10. What Will You Do With the Campaign Data?

This step helps maximize your campaign’s business impact. When you analyze and apply your data, its value increases tenfold — not only did it help you measure and assess your campaign results, but it’ll also give you direction and clarity on your audience, marketing methods, creative prowess, and more.

Let’s return to my UGC Instagram campaign. Of course, images shared by my customers are helpful because they help me gather user content for my social channels and they promote my product to my audience’s followers. But this “data” also provides insight into who my audience is, when and how often they post on Instagram, what language they use, and how they use my product (assuming it’s the same as in the shared photo).

See how my campaign “data” provides more value than simply reaching my campaign goal? The same can go for your data. Whether you collect lead information, pre-orders, social engagements, or offer downloads, your data can equip you to not only meet your campaign goal but also expand your marketing efforts as a whole.

Lastly, spend time with your team reviewing your campaign. Ask yourselves questions like:

• What could’ve been done differently?
• How could we have saved money?
• For anything that went wrong, why do we think it went wrong?
• What did we learn about our audience or marketing channels?
• What kind of feedback could we gather from participants or customers?

Final Thoughts

So, marketing campaigns involve a lot of information, decision-making, ideas, and observation. But the process of creating and running one isn’t as scary as you thought, was it?

If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at some great campaign examples below. Now that you know what goes into each one, you might have a better idea of how to build one for yourself.

Great Marketing Campaign Examples (and Why They’re So Great)

This wouldn’t be a HubSpot Ultimate Guide if I didn’t show you some examples from the pros. Sometimes it’s helpful to see concepts at work, and that’s why I collected some of the best below.

Cheerios’s #GoodGoesRound

General Mills ran a non-profit campaign called Good Goes Round via their Cheerios brand, lobbying to raise enough money to fund one million meals. The campaign featured its own landing page, video marketing assets, and hashtag (#GoodGoesRound), separating it from its “parent” brand and making it shareable among its audience. They also paid to promote the Good Goes Round URL on Google.

 Apple’s “Shot on iPhone”

Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” series highlights the high-quality videography and photography that customers can capture on the iPhone X. It’s a product launch campaign that focused on one specific feature of the new Apple smartphone. This campaign was unique, because it’s similar to a user-generated campaign but was also promoted heavily by the brand itself. Apple launched its own Instagram account to share the #ShotoniPhone content, collaborated with professional photographers and videographers, and ran official TV advertisements. 

Metro Trains’ “Dumb Ways to Die”

“Dumb Ways to Die” was Australia’s PSA campaign that took the advertising world by storm. Created in Melbourne, the campaign was Metro Trains’ effort to encourage railway safety. The campaign was initially shared on social media in 2012 but went viral soon after.

According to CampaignLive, “The musical video, which shows animated characters dying in amusing circumstances, has already racked up 50m views on YouTube, over 3.2m shares on Facebook, been retweeted over 100,000 times on Twitter and become the third most viral ad of all time. The music track was popular, too, charting on iTunes in 28 countries.”

The campaign also has its own Wikipedia page and live website on which visitors can play games or shop for toys and apparel. 

If you’re looking for more excellent campaign examples, check out these other HubSpot blog posts:

• 14 Offbeat, Extreme, and Downright Unusual Ways Brands Have Promoted Their Products
• 11 of the Best Olympic Marketing Campaigns, Ads, Commercials & Promotions This Year
• Converse, Old Spice & More: 6 Famous Brands That Made Inspiring Comebacks
• 7 Feel-Good Examples of ‘Joy Marketing’ Campaigns
• Throwback Thursday: 7 Old Marketing Campaigns We Miss

Over to You

Marketing campaigns aren’t easy, but they’re valuable and integral to growing a successful brand and business. Campaigns set apart certain deliverables from general promotional efforts and touch your audience in creative and exciting ways. If you’re not sure where to start, consider what would be valuable to your audience … and go from there. Your audience is, after all, the lifeblood of your campaigns and company.

The first time I was prompted with “Tell me about yourself” in an interview, I reeled off a canned spiel about how I love helping people — I was positive it would impress my interviewer. But after my cliched answer triggered a disappointed look on her face, I panicked.

I ended up rambling about how “fun” I was, citing my time as the lead singer and guitarist for a Blink-182 cover band in the sixth grade as compelling evidence. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job.

If you’re in the process of interviewing for a new role, you know how difficult it can be to find a unique and compelling answer to this common prompt. “Tell me about yourself” is extremely open-ended. But it’s also how most interviews begin, so your answer has a huge impact on your interviewer’s first impression of you. And as the old saying goes, you never get a second chance at first impressions. So to nail your interview, it’s crucial to nail this question.

To gain some insight on the best way to respond to “Tell me about yourself”, I asked Claire McCarthy, a recruiter for HubSpot’s Growth Team, about the best way to respond to the prompt.

She said there’s no cookie cutter approach to responding to it, but if you view the prompt as a chance to pitch your value proposition to a hiring manager, you can make a strong first impression.

“There’s no ideal answer to ‘Tell me about yourself’,” she says. “But I always encourage candidates to create a value proposition for themselves that touches on a couple things.” According to Claire, the ideal value proposition covers:

• Your motivation to come in to the office and do your job every day
• The specific challenges that excite you
• What you can bring to the table
• Why you want to work for the company you’re interviewing at
• Why you want to work for them now
• Why this job is a good fit

Armed with Claire’s advice, we’ll help you develop a strong, cohesive value proposition that answers all of these questions. And hopefully, you’ll be able to use it in your next interview to not only nail the “Tell me about yourself” prompt but also to land your next job.

1. Describe what motivates you.

One of the most important (and common) traits hiring managers typically look for in candidates is their intrinsic motivation. Research suggests intrinsically motivated employees produce a higher quality of work than extrinsically motivated employees do.

So if you can recount a personal anecdote that proves you’re a craft-driven professional, and not just someone who is enamored by the company’s lucrative stock options, you’ll immediately grab the hiring manager’s attention. To do so, lead off your value proposition like this:

“As I approach my five-year anniversary working in the content marketing space, I’ve learned a lot about myself. More specifically, I’ve realized I feel the most fulfilled when I can craft gripping stories that actually help and inspire people.”

2. Explain what challenges excite you.

Hiring managers don’t generally hire candidates to maintain their team’s status quo. They hire candidates who will challenge it and propel their team to greater heights.

To show that you can be a catalyst on the team, speak to the challenges about your industry or this particular role that excite you, just like the example below:

“Today, we both work in an industry where countless brands fight for a limited amount of attention, saturating our space with mediocre content. It’s never been harder to cut through the noise. But this doesn’t intimidate or discourage me. It actually excites me because it forces me to keep innovating and finding new ways to connect with an audience.”

3. Highlight your most relevant skills.

Once you explain what challenges pique your interest, you can then naturally segue into how you possess the necessary skills to overcome them and excel at the role, like the example below:

“There’s a fierce battle for attention in content marketing right now, and it has pushed me to master both my writing and analytical skills. Data drives decisions in our industry, and I know if I want to make an impact on a team, I need to be both a creative and a strategist. Thankfully, my ability to adapt has allowed me to pick up the necessary skills to accurately extract insights from data and weave them into a compelling story.”

4. Spell out why you want to work at the company you’re interviewing at.

Highlighting your most relevant skills will capture your hiring manager’s attention. But to truly impress her, communicate how your passion and skills align with the company’s interests and goals, like the example below:

“That’s why I think I’d be a high-impact employee here — you guys care a lot about doing two things right: making objective, data-driven decisions and telling great stories. I believe I can help you get better at both of these things.”

5. Illustrate why you want to work for the company right now.

After you spell out why you want to work for the company, delve into why you want to work for them right now. This shows that you took initiative to learn about the company’s most recent updates, and the hiring manager will definitely take note of your proactiveness. Check out the example below:

“This is also one of the best times to work at HubSpot — I was at INBOUND in September and was impressed with all your new product launches. It’s clear that HubSpot is doubling down on innovation and strives to propel to the top of the industry. I’d be pumped to be apart of that.”

6. Prove that you’d be a good fit for the job.

To pack a punch at the end of your value proposition, show the hiring manager how you’ve used your skills to improve your current team by quantifying your accomplishments. 

These previous experiences will prove your worth and qualify you as the employee who can take the team to the next level. Cap off your answer with something like this:

“And as the top-performing content strategist at my current company, where I’ve doubled blog views and grown our email subscription list by 40% in only one year, I think I could help you develop a killer content strategy, write some of the best stories in MarTech, and build an even more loyal audience than you boast now.”

“Tell me about yourself” Sample Answer

All together, a strong answer to the “Tell me about yourself” prompt would look like this:

As I approach my five-year anniversary working in the content marketing space, I’ve learned a lot about myself. More specifically, I’ve realized I feel the most fulfilled when I can craft gripping stories that actually help and inspire people.

Today, we both work in an industry where countless brands fight for a limited amount of attention, saturating our space with mediocre content. It’s never been harder to cut through the noise. But this doesn’t intimidate or discourage me. It actually excites me because it forces me to keep innovating and finding new ways to connect with an audience.

There’s a fierce battle for attention in content marketing right now, and it has pushed me to master both my writing and analytical skills. Data drives decisions in our industry, and I know if I want to make an impact on a team, I need to be both a creative and a strategist. Thankfully, my ability to adapt has allowed me to pick up the necessary skills to accurately extract insights from data and weave them into a compelling story.

That’s why I think I’d be a high-impact employee here — you guys care a lot about doing two things right: making objective, data-driven decisions and telling great stories. I believe I can help you get better at both of these things.

This is also one of the best times to work at HubSpot — I was at INBOUND in September and was impressed with all your new product launches. It’s clear that HubSpot is doubling down on innovation and strives to propel to the top of the industry. I’d be pumped to be apart of that.

And as the top-performing content strategist at my current company, where I’ve doubled blog views and grown our email subscription list by 40% in only one year, I think I could help you develop a killer content strategy, write some of the best stories in MarTech, and build an even more loyal audience than you boast now.

Framing “Tell me about yourself” as “Pitch yourself”.

“Tell me about yourself” might be one of the most dreaded prompts in the history of interviews. But if you understand why hiring managers prod candidates with it, you can effectively turn your answer into your pitch. And if you structure your value proposition the way we did above, you’ll be able to nail the “Tell me about yourself” prompt, make a strong first impression, and significantly boost your odds of landing the job.

“Do you have any questions for me?”

We’ve all been on the receiving end of that question in an interview. If you’re prepared, you’ve probably got some good questions you usually cycle through.

But we want to be better than “good” in an interview. We want to be standout candidates that hiring managers are excited to extend an offer to.

One thing you can do to separate yourself from other applicants? Ask good questions.

“I’m always surprised at the lack of good questions candidates have, and I always respect the candidates that ask insightful questions during interviews,” says Andrew Quinn, former VP of Learning and Development at HubSpot.

To help you prepare to stand out at your next interview, here are some questions that’ll make hiring managers’ ears perk up. Then, discover some valuable questions you might want to start the recruitment process with when you’re on the phone with human resources (HR). Try them at your next interview and see how the conversation changes.

Questions to Ask the Hiring Manager During Job Interviews

1. How does this role contribute to larger company goals?

It’s not terribly difficult to find a candidate that can execute on a role. It is terribly difficult to find a candidate that can not only execute on their role, but also understand how it fits into larger goals. This includes being able to self-manage, prioritize high-value activities, and grow their role in a direction that aligns with the company’s growth.

How It Helps You

This information can be hard to come by if your company isn’t very communicative or transparent, so this is a good chance to get that information while the gettin’s good, and use it to guide your decisions if you land the role.

2. What do the most successful new hires do in their first month here?

This question shows that you’re the type of person who likes to hit the ground running, instead of spending a week filling out HR forms. It also shows that you recognize patterns of success and want to replicate only the most effective performers.

How It Helps You

Every company has its weird nuances, its own environment, and its own unspoken expectations. This helps you start with a little bit of the insider info so you don’t suffer a case of “if I knew then what I knew now” in six months.

3. What metrics would you use to measure success in this role?

Asking a question like this shows that you’re goal-oriented and aren’t afraid to be held accountable for those goals. You don’t shirk accountability. You welcome it — and will work hard to hit the goals you’re responsible for.

How It Helps You

It’s shocking how many people don’t actually know what they want from their employees beyond a vague idea of some work that needs to get done. Asking this question will force a hiring manager to figure it out — and then can communicate it to you, so you can execute on it.

4. What are some of the challenges or roadblocks one might come up against in this role?

A question like this indicates that you’re already envisioning yourself in the role and thinking through a plan of attack, should you land the gig. It’s also a sign that you’re well aware that no job comes free of roadblocks. It shows that not only are you not afraid to deal with those challenges, but you’re also prepared for them.

How It Helps You

The response you receive should help you better understand some of the less-than-ideal aspects of the job — difficult colleagues, bureaucratic processes, internal politics, and so on. You can use that information to decide that the role really isn’t a good fit for you … or that you’re up for the challenge.

5. What is the biggest challenge the team has faced in the past year?

While the interviewer might be trying to paint a pretty perfect picture of what working on the team might look like, asking this question will help you uncover some of the realities the team has been facing recently. If you end up joining, you’ll inevitably hear about these challenges — and you may have to help solve them, too. This is a question our principal recruiter Katie Donohue says she likes to hear during interviews.

How It Helps You

It really helps to know what challenges you could find yourself or your team up against ahead of time. In some cases, it could affect whether you accept the role. Not only that, but learning about these challenges could give you some great insights into the steps the team has taken to overcome these challenges already.

6. Why did you decide to work at this company?

This question gives an interviewer a chance to do two self-serving things: talk about themselves and perform a no-holds-barred sales pitch on the company. For promising candidates, the sales opportunity is welcomed. And most people love any excuse to talk about themselves. 😉

How It Helps You

This gives you insight into what motivates your future colleague or manager, as well as insight into what the company offers its employees. If those all line up with what you’re looking for in a job, you’ve got yourself a good fit.

7. You’ve been at this company for while. What keeps you motivated?

If your interviewer has been at the company for several years, understanding why could give you some really interesting insight into the company, how it treats its employees, and a taste of what motivates the people who work there. Plus, it shows you’ve done your research on the interviewer, which is always an impressive sign.

How It Helps You

Depending on the interviewer’s answer, you might learn something about the company’s career training, leadership opportunities, workplace flexibility, internal job opportunities, and more. You might dig a little deeper by following up with related questions, like, “What do you enjoy most about working here?”

8. Where do people usually eat lunch?

Do they take the time to go out? Do people bring lunch but eat in groups? Do folks normally eat at their desks because they’re too busy to socialize? Asking this question serves as a great way to find out a little bit about the company culture. Plus, this is a more lighthearted question that might relax a stiffened atmosphere or lead to a conversation about shared interests.

How It Helps You

Along with learning about company culture, it doesn’t hurt to get a few good lunch suggestions for the future.

9. What is your company’s customer or client service philosophy?

This is an impressive question because it shows that you can make the connection between how the company thinks about its customers and the end result. In other words, how the customer is treated on a day-to-day basis, and in turn, how that shows up in the product.

How It Helps You

While you might be able to find a canned response to this question on the company’s website, it’ll be useful — and possibly eye-opening — for you to hear it more candidly from an employee. How the company treats its customers could end up informing your decision to join if you are offered the job, especially if you’re applying for a job where you’ll be communicating directly with customers.

10. What are some of the less tangible traits of successful people on this team?

Ever work with people that just get it? That’s who hiring managers are looking for. This question demonstrates that you understand a job is about more than just going through the motions. Successful people have a specific frame of mind, approach, attitude, work ethic, communication style, and so on — and you want to know what that mix looks like at this company.

How It Helps You

Because these characteristics are often hard to pin down, this question forces a hiring manager to articulate that “it factor” they’re really looking for — even if it wasn’t written in the job description.

11. What behaviors do the most successful members of the team exhibit?

Asking a question like this shows you’re interested in getting a practical example of what success looks like to the manager of the team you’d be joining. Plus, when you phrase the question in this way, “you leave no room for a hypothetical answer,” says Dave Fernandez, a former recruiting team lead at HubSpot. Instead, you’re pushing the hiring manager to think about their top performer.

How It Helps You

Because this question forces an example, the answer to this question will give you a strong idea of what success actually looks like. That way, you’ll learn what it takes to impress your colleagues and be a star candidate.

12. What behaviors do the people who struggle most on the team exhibit?

Follow question #9 with this question, and you’ll show the hiring manager that you’re really trying to get a concrete idea of what to do and what not to do as an employee on the specific team you’re applying to join, says Fernandez. And while this question can make a manager uncomfortable, it’s impressive because it shows that the candidate is not afraid to ask tough questions.

How It Helps You

First, you’ll get an idea of what poor performance looks like, which will help you set expectations for the position. Second, you’ll learn how the hiring manager handles a tough question like this — which can teach you something about how office politics are handled in general.

13. How do you deliver negative feedback?

If you would be working with the person interviewing you, this is another tough question that can give you some insight into how the team works. It pushes the hiring manager to think about how he or she would handle an uneasy situation, while at the same time showing your level of maturity in that that you (realistically) expect to receive tough feedback sometimes.

How It Helps You

Just like different people take negative feedback differently, different people give negative feedback differently. Does this person tailor their feedback approach depending on whom they’re giving feedback to? Do they make feedback a two-way street? Their feedback style — especially when it comes to negative feedback — will help you understand how well you would be able to work with them.

14. Do you have any questions or concerns about my qualifications?

This question shows that you’re not afraid of critical feedback — in fact, you welcome it. Interviewers tend to make note of red flags — whether it be something on your resume or something you said — to discuss with a colleague following the interview. This question gives them the green light to ask about any of the things that are holding them back from being 100% on board with hiring you.

How It Helps You

You get a chance to address concerns face-to-face without being too confrontational. This could be the difference between an offer and a rejection — or maybe even a higher opening offer.

Before you meet the person you’d be working for, you’ll likely meet a member of HR via a phone screening. Although this initial phone call is a standard first step for most organizations today, it’s also an opportunity for HR to take notes on you as a candidate and relay those notes to the hiring manager.

Make a good impression on HR — it matters more than you think.

Here are some appropriate questions to ask at this initial stage of the recruitment process so you can put your best foot forward.

1. What do you like most about working here?

This question can be a breath of fresh air to HR reps who primarily answer questions about benefits (which are valuable questions, don’t misunderstand). Asking an HR employee what they like about the company tells them you care about the company’s culture and that you care about the opinion of someone whom you might not work with directly.

In other words, talking to people like people is always a good idea.

2. How has this position changed over time?

It’s easy to forget that someone might have once held the position you’re applying for — or, more importantly, that the role might have evolved since it came on your radar. Don’t be afraid to ask HR what this job looked like before you were interested in it. This can include what the responsibilities looked like, how many other people currently hold this position at the company, and even where HR thinks it’s going in the future.

Getting HR’s perspective on the history of your potential role can give you unbiased insight into your department, and let HR know that you’re interested in your future at the company — not just your present.

3. What does this team’s role hierarchy look like? How does this position fit into it?

This is another big-picture question that HR should be equipped and eager to answer for you. You might not want to bluntly ask “who would I report to?” It can show resistance or insecurity before you ever set foot in the role. But, it’s still something you might want to know.

Phrasing your question the way it’s phrased above is a professional gesture that can reveal who your boss would be and indicate to the company that you’re mature enough to put your role in context of your department (an admirable move).

4. What are the main things HR does to assist the department I would be working for?

Similar to the first question on this list, this question shows you know HR is more than just the company’s first line of defense during the recruitment process.

Take your phone screening as an opportunity to become acquainted with the human resources department and find out how you’d interact with them on a regular basis from your department. It’s a friendly question and one that shows your interest in how the whole company operates — not just your own team.

5. What are you most excited about in this company’s future?

Want to inject a little positivity into your phone call with HR? Ask them what has them pumped up right now. What motivates them to get up in the morning? Put yourself in HR’s shoes: Wouldn’t you love to answer this question, especially if you love the company you work for?

Asking the HR rep what they’re most excited about shows them that you, too, thrive on enthusiasm. It also brings the best out in your interviewer — a good headspace for HR to be in as they hand you off to the hiring manager.

6. What is something the company is still working on getting right?

As a flip-side to the seventh question above, also consider asking HR what they think the company’s greatest challenge is right now. While other candidates might be skittish around a business’s weaknesses, this question shows HR you’re willing to accept the current negatives and join them on righting the ship.

Note the phrasing of this question, too. By asking HR this question precisely this way, you put focus on the positive and show the company that you have natural optimism (a desired trait in future leaders, just so you know).

7. What should I expect to wear on my first day?

Dress code can be a touchy subject in interviews — you don’t want to reveal that you have deal-breakers so early into a hiring process. But, it is an important aspect of the job for many professionals. Sometimes business wear just isn’t your thing, but you still want to maximize your chances at getting a job offer.

If you want to get an idea of the company’s dress code without suggesting it’s a big deal to you, simply ask HR what you’re expected to wear on your first day. It’s a harmless question that gives you the information you need at the same time.

8. Is there anything about my application that makes you doubt my qualifications right now?

Cap off your phone screening with this confidence play. Asking HR what they’re skeptical about with respect to your application can show them you welcome feedback and you can take criticism. It also helps you better prepare for your next interview.

Want more interview tips? Find out what questions design candidates should be asked in interviews.

In case you missed it: People really, really want virtual reality (VR) to become a mainstream technology.

At least, one person in particular does. That would be Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook — who at the 2017 Oculus Connect developer conference announced his lofty vision of one billion people using VR.

Of course, there’s a backstory. In 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus: a maker of VR hardware, like headsets. Since then, the company has made efforts to make virtual reality more mainstream, like introducing its “affordable” ($199) wireless, standalone headset, the Oculus Go. 

In September, at the 2018 edition of Oculus Connect, Zuckerberg filled us in on the progress to one billion people in VR:

Zuck is feeling funny today. Here’s a graphic showing the progress to his projection/goal last year of getting 1 billion people into VR #oc5 pic.twitter.com/hsHmmIo0s9

— Motor Vote (@Amanda_ZW)
September 26, 2018

So, what’s stopping VR from going mainstream? After all, at a minimum, it’s fun to play with. The use cases for education via VR have been lauded by some. And as headset technology continues to improve, so will the experience of using VR for many.

We decided to find out, and asked hundreds of users for their thoughts on VR. Here’s what we found.

VR’s Value Proposition Is Unclear

We asked 745 people across the U.S., UK, and Canada: If you do not own a VR headset, why not?

The highest number of respondents — 27% — indicated that they do not own a VR headset because it “wouldn’t benefit” them.

This response could indicate that use cases for VR remain unclear — and, therefore, so does the value it could add to the user’s day-to-day life. These findings align with those for a second question we asked of 773 people across the same region: If you owned a virtual reality (VR) headset, what would you use it for the most?

Nearly half of respondents — about 41% — said that they would primarily use this hardware for gaming, which is generally a leisure activity that’s available through a number of other platforms that might be seen as more accessible than a VR headset.

That brings us to another possible barrier to VR’s mainstream market permeation.

VR Headsets Are Viewed as Too Expensive

In addition to a seeming misunderstanding of VR’s value proposition, about 21% of survey respondents indicated that they don’t own a VR headset because it’s too expensive.

Those findings align with the aforementioned point about gaming serving as the primary use case for VR. Gaming is available across a broad range of platforms, ranging from most smartphones to high-end standalone consoles, like Xbox products.

Consider that, currently, the most expensive Xbox console is priced at $499, and the Rift, the most expensive Oculus headset, is $399.

Sure, the Xbox console is more expensive. However, its name comes with a bit more brand recognition than Oculus, a fairly new name in what’s already an emerging area of technology. And, as a partial result, the purpose of the Xbox — playing video games — is fairly explicit. 

Nearly half of survey respondents say they don’t plan to buy a VR headset

The general purpose of any VR headset, meanwhile, seems to be less clear — perhaps because fewer people have had the opportunity to use it. One of its key differentiators from other gaming platforms, however, is the immersive, 360-degree experience it offers, which could serve as a channel to more widespread consumption.

“Developers likely will not chase markets that do not exist, and will typically build experiences for the market that exists for them,” says Paul Mealy, author of Virtual & Augmented Reality For Dummies and director of interactive at POP. “At the moment, the largest public mass-consumption market for virtual reality is gamers.”

People Want to Learn More About VR Before Investing in It

Finally, nearly a quarter of respondents (23.1%) indicated that before buying a headset, they “need to learn more about VR.”

That response points to the idea that VR still remains an emerging, new technology that most users have yet to experience — unlike traditional video games or social media, of which most users now have a clear understanding of their purposes.

But as we saw with our second survey question, that’s not the case with virtual reality — and many people don’t understand what purpose it would serve in their homes or their lives.

“VR has two major barriers to break through in order to become the mass-consumable device most users think of as ‘mainstream’ – price and experience,” Mealy explains. “What many are finding is that, like the age-old adage of ‘quick, fast, cheap: pick two,’ VR is struggling through ‘price or experience, pick one.'”

However, that may not always be the case. When we posed our question about what users would do with a VR headset, should they own one, the responses beyond “gaming” were diverse — with a fair amount of respondents indicating that they would use VR to watching movies or TV shows, explore a new place, connect with distant friends and family, or learn a new skill.

And as more users begin to understand the purpose of VR — and the hardware is scaled to an increasingly accessible price point — its use cases may not even be so flashy in the future, causing it to potentially follow a similar path as the smartphone.

“As virtual reality becomes more mainstream, expect to see more utilitarian applications,” Mealy suggests. “Think Excel, photo editing, et cetera.”  

So, will that happen in the immediate future? Probably not, Mealy believes — but it’s an eventual reality.

“VR will get there. We just have to remind ourselves that we are still in the first generation of VR headsets, and technology needs time to grow and mature,” he says. “At the same time, we should recognized that VR has made incredible leaps and bounds since the launch of its first generation of hardware, and we’ve only scratched the surface.”

Sometimes, taking a quick break from work to watch YouTube videos is the only way to stay sane during a stressful day. There’s just something about 20-minute long Vine compilations and brutally honest Chevy ad spoofs that can instantly lift your spirits, especially when you’re running on fumes towards the end of the work day

If you’re in the midst of an end-of-day lull and need a boost of mental energy, you’re in luck. We scoured YouTube for the 100 best channels in ten of their most popular categories, and hopefully, there are enough videos in this blog post to satisfy your daily fix of YouTube for quite a while.

What do snail shells, hurricanes, the Parthenon, and Mona Lisa have in common?

They all follow the Golden Ratio.

Here’s the thing — whether you’re a designer or not, research has found your brain is likely hard-wired to prefer nature and artwork that follows the Golden Ratio. In fact, art that follows the Golden Ratio is often considered the most beautiful. So even if you don’t know what it is, you’ve undoubtedly seen it in some of your favorite designs and architecture.

In mathematics (a subject I was never that good at), the Golden Ratio exists when a line is divided into two parts, and the longer part (a) divided by the smaller part (b) is equal to the sum of both parts (a) + (b), divided by (a). It should equal approximately 1.618.

Got that? Me, neither. But for our purposes, we’re going to concentrate on the Golden Design as it exists in art — like in Ancient Roman architecture, or Leonardo Da Vinci’s paintings.

Image courtesy of Museum of Science.

If the Golden Ratio is truly a prerequisite for breathtaking art, it stands to reason you, as someone tackling a design project, should know all about it. Here, we’ll break down examples of the Golden Ratio in nature, design, and even the human face, so you can consider how to incorporate the Golden Ratio into your own marketing projects.

Golden Ratio in Nature

The Golden Ratio has made an appearance in many notable and obvious items in nature, including trees, pine cones, and the seeds on a strawberry.

However, it’s also seen in largely abstract places, like the point in a black hole where the heat changes from positive to negative. Its consistent presence could signify the Golden Ratio as a fundamental constant of nature — which might explain why our brains seem hard-wired to respond better to visuals that follow the Golden Ratio.

Here, we’ll take a look at just a few examples of the Golden Ratio in nature:

1. Flower petals

Image courtesy of

fractal enlightenment

2. Hurricanes

Image courtesy of

Icy Tails

3. Spiral Galaxies

Image courtesy of Icy Tails

4. Nautilus Shells

Image courtesy of
Scinexx.de

5. Flower Seeds

Image courtesy of
Sciencestruck

6. Pine Cones

Image courtesy of
Sciencestruck

The Golden Ratio’s Significance for the Human Face

Now that we’ve explored how nature follows the Golden Ratio, let’s take a look at the Golden Ratio as it exists on the human face.

Allegedly, the head forms a golden rectangle with the eyes as the midpoint, and the mouth and nose as golden sections of the distance between the eyes and the chin. The Golden Ratio can even be found in our teeth, and profile when we turn our head to the side.

Image courtesy of
Goldennumber.net

Research has found faces that align closest with the Golden Ratio are considered most beautiful.

Dr. Stephen R. Marquardt, who received his doctorate from UCLA and conducts studies on human attractiveness, believes the Golden Ratio is the mathematical formula that describes facial beauty.

 

You need it for networking, job recruitment, downloading resources, transferring files, setting reminders, meeting with colleagues, and so much more.

Even with the rise of office chat platforms, you still depend on email for a surprising number of things. But unfortunately, not every email service is completely free. And even the free ones might not be the easiest to use or have all the features you need.

It can be a challenge to find an email service provider at no cost that balances the right features with usability. To help make your search easier, we put together a list of the different types of email accounts you can set up, followed by the seven best email service providers you can host your account on right now for free.

Types of Email Accounts

There are two main types of email service providers to choose from: email clients and webmail. When you use your provider to access your email from a different device or location online, you can use one of three major email protocols to do so: POP3, IMAP, and Exchange.

Let’s briefly go over these different types of providers and protocols.

Email Clients

Email clients are software applications that you install onto the computer itself to manage the email you send and receive. To access this email, the client interacts with a remote email server.

Email clients you’ve likely heard of include Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Apple Mail.

If you want to access this type of email from the web, rather than the client’s computer application, the email client uses one of the email protocols described below. For example, although you might have Outlook installed on your computer, you can also log in to your email account via outlook.com using a specific email protocol.

Webmail

Webmail is a form of email you access exclusively from the internet, and therefore exists primarily on the cloud rather than your computer. Instead of an installed application fetching your email, you manage your inbox right from your internet browser.

Webmail providers you’ve likely heard of include Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and AOL (all of which have made our list of best free email accounts, below).

If you want to access your webmail from a mail app on your mobile device, rather than your desktop web browser, your webmail provider can use one of the email protocols described below.

Now, before we get into the best free email accounts, let’s talk about those email protocols.

Email Protocols

Email protocols are the systems that actually retrieve your email for you. They can be used to fetch email client accounts on the internet, and fetch webmail accounts on a mobile app. Here are the three main types of email protocol your account can use.

POP3

POP stands for “post office protocol,” and is best suited for people who have just one email account and email client. POP3 is the latest version of this email protocol, and allows you to access email while offline. It therefore requires less internet bandwidth.

IMAP

IMAP stands for “internet mail access protocol,” and is one of the older email protocol available today. IMAP4 is considered the latest version, and unlike the POP protocol, you do not download your email to your offline email client. Instead, all your email stays online while you’re accessing and managing it.

IMAP is particularly useful for people who have more than one email account and access them from multiple devices or locations.

Exchange

Exchange is a Microsoft email protocol, and is pretty similar to the IMAP protocol explained above. This protocol allows you to not only access your email over the internet from multiple devices, but also tasks, calendars, and contact information tethered to that email address. For this reason, it’s particularly helpful to organizations whose employees share many types of information and collaborate remotely.

Now, take a look at seven of the best free email service providers you can get your hands on today — both webmail and email clients included. For each email service provider, we highlighted a unique feature to help you find the best fit.

1. Gmail

Unique Feature: Native File Collaboration

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should use it: anyone who already uses and loves the rest of Google’s products.

It might seem like an obvious top pick, but Gmail is just too versatile to not award the first slot. Gmail has the second-highest email provider market share (behind Apple iPhone’s native email app), according to Litmus Labs. And ironically, one of the reasons Gmail has become so popular is because of all the communication options in your inbox that don’t involve email.

Gmail is an everyday email inbox you can sign up for by registering for a Google account. But it’s built into Google Suite, a group of free apps that allow you to chat, video-conference, and share files with the people in your contact list.

Google Hangouts, available from your inbox’s left sidebar (or the right — you can customize how you inbox is displayed), lets you text and video chat with other Gmail users for the things that might not warrant an email message. Like most other email accounts today, Gmail also has an intuitive calendar where you can set meetings and reminders.

Unlike other email accounts, you can use your Gmail address to log into and manage your YouTube account, as well as collaborate on shared documents and spreadsheets right from a cloud-based Google Drive.

Offering a generous 15 GB of free email storage, Gmail does everything it can to make your inbox less chaotic, including advanced filters that automatically push emails into separate folders as they arrive. And none of these functions costs a dime.

2. AOL

Unique Feature: Unlimited Storage

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should use it: people who use email for most of their communication.

America Online (I feel nostalgic just typing those words) has quietly kept up with today’s standards for a good user experience. The classic AOL is now once again one of the best free email accounts available to you.

Purchased by Verizon in 2015, AOL delivers you email from its classic news-driven homepage, and comes with the contemporary spam filters and virus protection you’d expect from your email provider. You can also send text and instant messages from specific windows in your email inbox.

AOL does have something over Gmail, though: unlimited storage. Additionally, you can import email contacts from a CSV, TXT, or LDIF file so you’re not creating your “buddy list” (get it?) from scratch.

3. Outlook

Unique Feature: Multiple App Integrations

Sign up here.

Type of email: Email client

Who should use it: people who use many different platforms to connect with others.

If you ever cringed at the sight of a “Hotmail.com” email address, you can thank Outlook for this outdated domain name. But there’s good news: Microsoft has reinvented its longstanding email service, and your free Outlook.com email address has many progressive features waiting for you.

While it touts a calendar and message filter that is similar to Gmail, Outlook also integrates with a number of other popular communication apps. You can connect Skype, Facebook, PowerPoint, PayPal, and even task-management software such as Trello — making it very easy to reach and work with non-Outlook users without leaving your inbox.

Outlook offers 15 GB of free storage for each user, along with a super-clean interface.

4. Zoho

Unique Feature: 25 Business Addresses

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should use it: startups and small businesses.

This is the first of the lesser-known free email accounts to make our list, but it holds a lot of potential for businesses.

The first thing you’ll notice about Zoho is its user-friendliness. From integrating with Google Drive, Box, and other cloud-based file managers, to its built-in task manager, this email service offers a simple way to accomplish all of your daily tasks.

The real difference-maker, though, is the ability to customize the domain name for up to 25 connected email addresses. Want to replace “@zoho.com” with the name of your business’s website? You can do so under Zoho Lite, which gives you 5 GB for free — all under username@yourdomainname.com.

5. Mail.com

Unique Feature: 200 Custom Domain Names

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should use it: small businesses, freelancers, and the self-employed.

It doesn’t get more self-explanatory than “Mail.com,” does it? This email provider knows its audience — or should I say, audiences.

Right off the bat, you’ll probably notice Mail.com doesn’t have stellar storage space compared to the options above: only 2 GB. But what this webmail service lacks in gigabytes it makes up for with … drumroll … 200 free custom domain names. You can replace “@mail.com” at the end of your username with just about anything that describes you. Here are some options Mail.com has precreated for you to choose from:

• Bartender.net
• Musician.org
• Columnist.com
• Engineer.com
• Accountant.com
• Toothfairy.com (who knew she was online?)

Mail.com doesn’t rest on its 200 laurels, though, as the email provider also comes with a calendar for creating and tracking your events each week.

6. Yahoo! Mail

Unique Feature: Media and attachment history

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should use it: creatives and those who send and receive attachments frequently via email.

Yahoo! Mail, another well-known platform, sits just behind AOL in storage space with a whopping 1 TB (that’s a terabyte) for free, along with a few key social media integrations.

In addition to custom background themes and being able to search key information from your inbox, Yahoo! Mail also makes it easy to find every photo, video, and document you’ve ever attached or received via email in their own tabs on your inbox’s sidebar. This makes the platform especially appealing to those who share documents on a regular basis or simply want an album made of every photo they’ve ever had shared.

7. ProtonMail

Unique Feature: Encrypted email

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should use it: people who send and receive sensitive information.

ProtonMail offers just 500 MB of free space, but for the worthy trade of encrypted email, allowing you to send messages that nobody else can see, and disappear after a month.

What’s the catch? Is the service hard to use? As with most webmail platforms, ProtonMail is easy to use on any device without any software needed to encrypt your emails. Its inbox interface is as easy to understand at a glance as the other email services on this list, and offers quick color-coded labels to help you further organize which emails deserve the most care and protection.

And with that, you have some of the best options for free email accounts in 2019. But who knows? Your next email address could be entirely different while giving you just what you need to succeed.

 

There’s been some speculation that Amazon might be creeping into Google’s (search) territory.

In some ways, that’s at least partially true. Amazon has showed some promise of potentially overtaking Google’s paid ads business, and its market share of product searches (54%) outnumbers that of Google’s (46%). 

But not all search is created equal. We dug a little deeper into the numbers, looking at a recent report and running our own surveys to see how people search for different types of information.

The Info-Seeking Market Share

While it may be true that Amazon is gaining on Google’s share of product-specific searches, when it comes to general information searches, Google still reins supreme. 

According to a recent report from SparkToro, Google’s domination in the area of general search traffic is quite significant, with 90% of web searches taking place on its site. That includes not only the primary Google search bar, but also, queries taking place on its Images and Maps products.

Source: SparkToro

To see how that information might uphold among a census-style audience, we asked 860 people across the U.S., UK, and Canada: Which resource do you most commonly use when searching for information online?

Data collected with Lucid

Our results lined up with SparkToro’s, with 82.7% of respondents indicating that Google is their primary resource for finding information online.

When including respondents who chose “Google Maps” or “Google Images,” that number increases to 84.7%.

The Product-Seeking Market Share

Here’s where things start to get interested. As we previously mentioned, studies show that over half of all product searches take place on Amazon. And, according to our own previous data, people are more likely to buy something based on an ad they saw on Amazon, versus an ad they saw on Google.

However, when we asked 827 people across the U.S., UK, and Canada — Which resource do you most commonly use when searching for products online? — the results looked a bit different.

Data collected with Lucid

Here, only 10% of respondents said they use Amazon as the primary resource for searching for products.

A few things could explain that — namely, it’s possible that survey participants use Google as the primary source of information to seek information like the “best” products in a certain category.

As Andrea Leigh of Ideoclick, a company that works with manufacturers to optimize online sales, explained at Code Commerce in September — Amazon is most effective when it comes to specific, niche product searches. Think: queries like, “Probiotics for children.” That could one source, for instance, of the aforementioned 54% figure.

So, Does Amazon Stand a Chance?

When it comes to general searches, it could be quite some time before Amazon can see eye-to-eye with Google’s traffic. As Rand Fishkin, author of the SparkToro study put it, “Google [has] a near-monopoly” of web searches. 

But that doesn’t mean Amazon should be completely discounted, for a number of reasons — a major consideration being voice search. In 2017, for instance, eMarketer found that 70.6% of smart speaker users owned an Amazon Echo, versus the 23.8% who used a Google Home.

However, we don’t know if those uses pertained to information-seeking or product-buying — and other studies have shown that even if it’s not used by as many people, Google’s Assistant (the voice assistant that powers the Google Home smart speaker) answers questions correctly 17% more of the time than Amazon’s Alexa. 

Another key question to ask when looking at this data: Does Amazon actually view Google as a threat? And, is its primary goal or concern to reign supreme in the world of web searches?

“If you view search as a pie, sure, Amazon doesn’t have a huge piece of it,” says Keith Anderson, SVP of Strategy & Insight at Profitero, an eCommerce performance analytics platform. “Amazon isn’t particularly threatened by Google as a search engine [and] has a different business model that has different incentives.”

So, for Amazon, product search could remain the name of the (winning) game — especially when it comes to understanding the intent behind those searches.

“What Amazon is building really quickly is an ad network and targeting capability at the intersection of ads, and the ability to buy really seamlessly,” Anderson explains. “Because they have so much information about buyer intent and buyer behavior, they can build a level of targeting that’s very hard for Google to match.”

In other words, he says — for now — there’s no need for Amazon “to try to out-Google Google.”

If you’re making a WordPress website, you’ll first have to choose a hosting provider. Just one problem: there are hundreds of hosting providers to choose from. And the provider you choose really matters. That’s because it impacts your website’s health, speed, reliability, security, and more.

We have compiled a list of what we believe are 19 of the best WordPress hosting providers available today, complete with a few key takeaways from each for you to review.

Important note: Each of these hosting providers offers several plans that include a variety of different features respectively and, therefore, range drastically in price. Due to this, we recommend you click the link to the website of any provider you are interested in and review their pricing details and plans prior to making any decisions about what will work for you and your website.

Let’s get started.

The 19 Best WordPress Hosting Providers in 2018

1. WP Engine

Source: WP Engine

WP Engine is unique because it is a managed WordPress hosting provider so it is tailored to certain business’ specific needs and has a variety of advanced services available for those businesses. That means WP Engine is a pre-configured and pre-optimized hosting provider that can save you time and work when installing and creating your website. WP Engine also offers server upgrades, advanced protection to keep your website secure, and troubleshooting.

Key takeaways:

• Managed WP hosting provider
• Constant updates and server upgrades
• Reliable expert support

 

2. Kinsta

Source: Kinsta

Kinsta is a WordPress hosting provider suitable for anyone due to its free migrations, daily backups, and strong security. Kinsta has a unique dashboard that serves as a control center so you can easily review all of your sites, look at a wide range of analytics, and manage your users with all levels of access.

Key takeaways:

• Free migrations
• Daily backups
• Dashboard to manage your sites, analytics, and users

 

3. Flywheel

Source: Flywheel

Flywheel is a hosting provider created specifically for WordPress so it allows you to easily build, manage, and launch your WordPress website. What does that mean for you? It is highly effective on the system and allows for fast loading times. There are also nightly backups, so you can rest easy knowing your site will always be protected and you’ll never lose any of your content.

Key takeaways:

• WP hosting provider and workflow solution
• Quick loading times
• Nightly backups

 

4. Plesk

Source: Plesk

Plesk is unique because it is a WP hosting provider and web operations platform so it offers technical, security, and automation tools that allow you to run all of your websites from a single platform. Plesk is also unique because it is certified to run on major virtualization, cloud, and container platforms, so you get maximum compatibility out of the provider.

Key takeaways:

• WP hosting and web ops combination
• Ability to run multiple websites from one hosting platform
• Certified to run on virtualization, cloud, and container platforms

 

5. DreamHost

Source: DreamHost

DreamHost provides you with an organized control panel that you can customize to easily manage all of your website hosting features in a way that makes the most sense to you. Not all providers give you access to assistance day and night, but DreamHost does — with 24/7 support available, you can get the expert help you need no matter what time you’re working. The provider also offers backups and server caching so both your site’s performance and storage are maximized.

Key takeaways:

• Organized control panel
• 24/7 expert support
• Daily backups and server caching

 

6. BlueHost 

Source: BlueHost

BlueHost works for everyone, from entrepreneurs to growing businesses to large companies and online stores because of its free domain registration, SSL certificate, reliable support from experts, and automatic WordPress installation.

BlueHost also offers reliable 99% uptime because their servers are in their own data centers — this sets the provider apart from many competitors who may rent out their data centers. If you’re unsure about whether or not BlueHost is a good option for you, don’t sweat it — they have a 30-day money back guarantee.

Key takeaways:

• Works for businesses of all sizes
• Free domain registration
• 30-day money back guarantee

 

7. InMotion Hosting 

Source: InMotion Hosting

With InMotion Hosting, you can complete your WordPress installation with just one click. The provider is known for having fast load times and free SSD storage, or solid-state drive storage, which is a feature unique to some providers. InMotion also offers free website migration which saves you time, as well as malware and hack protection so you won’t ever need to worry about your site’s security.

Key takeaways:

• One-click installation
• Free website migrations
• Advanced security

 

8. HostGator

Source: HostGator

HostGator is unique because it is a cloud-based WordPress hosting provider which means it has fast load times. According to the vendor, their sites load about 2.5x the pace of sites using other providers. It also has other features including free migrations, advanced security, and a clean control panel so you can easily access all of your accounts and other hosting details.

Key takeaways:

• Cloud-hosting provider
• Fast load times
• Free migrations

 

9. SiteGround

Source: SiteGround

SiteGround is a managed WordPress hosting solution in which you can maintain several different websites at the same time. With SiteGround, you will receive free migrations, auto updates, and three levels of caching — setting it apart from many other providers — to ensure your website is as fast as possible. You also have access to 24/7 expert support to help you through any challenge you may experience.

Key takeaways:

• Managed hosting
• Auto updates
• Three levels of caching

 

10. A2 Hosting

Source: A2 Hosting

A2 is a unique provider because it allows you to choose between shared and managed hosting for your website. Shared hosting is suitable for a wide range of business types and, therefore, typically comes at a lower price — that’s because it meets the needs of a wider variety of businesses than managed website hosting does.

Managed hosting, as discussed earlier, is more tailored to certain business’ specific needs and includes advanced services. The good news is whether you choose shared or managed hosting, you will still have fast loading speeds, auto-setup, free SSL, and global servers included with A2.

Key takeaways:

• Shared hosting available for general usage
• Managed hosting available with more advanced services
• Fast loading speeds and auto-setup come standard

 

11. iPage

Source: iPage

iPage is a provider that takes care of your technical SEO for you so your site has a larger chance of ranking on Google. Other advanced features such as engagement and security plugins are included to help you optimize your site. As for security, iPage and SiteLock teamed up to offer you a custom firewall so you’ll never have to worry about your website’s level of protection.

Key takeaways:

• Search engine-friendly
• Engagement and security plugins
• Custom firewall

 

12. GreenGeeks 

Source: GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks is a green energy web hosting provider (yes, there is an environmentally-friendly provider). With GreenGeeks you will receive automatic updates, one-click WordPress installation, security, and 24/7 expert support. Your account will also automatically be backed up every 24 hours so you’ll never need to worry about losing any of your content.

Key takeaways:

• Green energy web hosting
• One-click WP installation
• Automatic backups every 24 hours

 

13. Site5 Hosting

Source: Site5 Hosting

Site5 Hosting offers one-click WP installation, a control panel where you can manage your website and hosting features, a 45-day money back guarantee, and a 99% uptime guarantee (“uptime” refers to the amount of time, in a given period of time, a server takes to stay up and running … when it comes to your provider, you want that percentage to be as close to 100% as possible).

Site5 provides unique support as experts are available via email and chat so you can work through any issues by the mode of contact that is preferable to you.

Key takeaways:

• Contact support through email and chat
• 45-day money back guarantee
• 99% uptime guarantee

 

14. Arvixe 

Source: Arvixe

With Arvixe you’ll receive free domain registration, access to 24-hour expert support, free website transfer, and automatic setup. Arvixe also offers a 45-day money back guarantee. Arvixe takes their security measures to the next level by implementing over five different types of protection in addition to their daily backups and firewall.

Key takeaways:

• Free domain registration
• 45-day money back guarantee
• Advanced security measures

 

15. GoDaddy 

Source:GoDaddy

GoDaddy is unique because the provider offers a free domain and email for your WordPress website. They also handle your installation, daily backups, and software updates. GoDaddy’s compatibility with all of WordPress’ add-ons (such as their themes and plugins) makes customizing your site quick and easy.

Key takeaways:

• Free domain and email
• Daily backups
• Compatible with WordPress add ons

 

16. TMDHosting 

Source: TMD Hosting

TMDHosting comes with a pre-built WP environment, so there is no work required upon installation. TMD’s three layers of cache and SSD software mean your site will load quickly. You’ll also never have to worry about security — the provider uses a unique firewall created by BitNinja which is updated daily by system administrators to ensure maximum protection.

Key takeaways:

• Pre-built WP environment
• Fast loading times
• BitNinja firewall

 

17. 1&1 Hosting

Source: 1&1 Hosting

1&1 Hosting is a managed provider that helps you easily and completely customize your website with the help of WordPress-compatible plugins, add-ons, and themes. 1&1 introduced their very own WP Assistant which guides you through your WordPress installation and initial setup, and provides you with user guidance so all your questions are answered efficiently.

Key takeaways:

• Managed hosting provider
• Completely customizable
• 1&1 WP Assistant

 

18. Liquid Web 

Source: Liquid Web

With Liquid Web’s managed WordPress website hosting, you can oversee multiple sites at once. The provider’s automatic updates differ from that of other providers because they happen in a separate environment which prevents any conflict between them and your site (which could significantly slow down your site). Liquid Web automatically compresses all of your images, which is a feature unique to the provider, to keep your site efficient.

Key takeaways:

• Managed WordPress website hosting
• Automatic updates for your plugins
• Compresses all of your images

 

19. Pagely 

Source: Pagely

Pagely is a managed WordPress provider equipped with a modern hosting stack and SSL acceleration, both of which make your site faster. Pagely is backed by expert support that is available to you 24/7 so you’ll never feel lost or confused.

Pagely is also unique because it backs your website with AWS, or Amazon Web Services, which provides your site with scalability and redundancy, so there is automatic back up and replacement in the case of any website system failure.

Key takeaways:

• Modern hosting stack and SSL acceleration
• 24/7 customer support
• Backed by AWS

Back To You

Whether you’re looking for speedy loading times, 24/7 support, managed or shared hosting, or daily backups, there is a WordPress hosting provider that will fit your needs. The good news is several of the options mentioned above have free trial periods and money back guarantees that will allow you to determine which option is the best fit for you and your business. Get started by picking your hosting provider so you can begin creating your dream website today.

The thought of creating your own website may seem overwhelming.

You might even think this task would be impossible for anyone but a developer or a person with a background in web design.

Well, I have good news for you — there’s a software out there that’s so easy to use, virtually anyone can successfully create a unique and professional-looking website for their business, blog, portfolio, and more. It’s called WordPress.

But how?

This ultimate guide will cover a basic step-by-step process of creating your own WordPress website as well as a list of tips and tricks to remember while working with WordPress.

But first, let’s answer the question most people have when they begin thinking about their new WordPress website: What is the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?

WordPress.org vs.WordPress.com

The difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com has to do with who is actually hosting your website.

You host your own website or blog on WordPress.org, through a third-party hosting provider. You also have to download your WordPress software, buy a domain name on a third-party site, and manage your server. It’s a much more hands-on experience than with WordPress.com. Also, your URL with a WordPress.org site will look like this: www.mywebsite.com.

WordPress.com offers to host your website for you. You also don’t need to download any software or manage a server. If you choose WordPress.com, your website’s URL will look like this: https://ift.tt/1Pt8449. However, you have the option to also upgrade your WordPress.com account and buy a custom domain from a third-party provider (meaning your URL will look like this: www.mywebsite.com).

How to Choose Between WordPress.org or WordPress.com

You may be wondering whether WordPress.org or WordPress.com would be a better fit for you. Let’s review a few more of the pros and cons that come with both options so you can make an informed decision.

WordPress.org is ideal if you want full power over customizing and controlling your website. However, there is a lot more responsibility that comes with managing a WordPress.org website site. You have to purchase and set up your own domain name, upload and install all of your custom plugins and themes, edit your website’s code, and manage your website’s security. WordPress.org is free to use, but you have to pay for everything else that goes into having a website (including but not limited to everything I’ve just listed).

WordPress.com is preferable if you’re looking for an option that has most of the hard work done for you. You’ll never need to manage your server, pay for your hosting, or buy a domain. There are also a number of customization options that come with a WordPress.com plan to help you make your website look the way you want it to.

WordPress.com has a free and paid version. If you stick with the free version, you can’t upload any custom themes or plugins, and you will have a WordPress subdomain. However, there is always the option to pay for premium upgrades and other plans that provide you with even more features and control, as well as the option to buy a custom domain through a third-party site.

WordPress for Beginners: How to Use WordPress

There are a number of ways for you to create your dream website with WordPress. Users generally find the software easy to use, but getting started can be understandably intimidating if you’re completely new to the process.

That’s why we have built this “WordPress for beginners” guide. Below, we will cover how to start creating your website.

How To Create A WordPress Website

WordPress is one of the most popular CMS options available today according to TechRadar. Its ease of use and versatility enable the majority of users and business owners to create a website that works for their needs with the software. Here’s how you can do the same.

1. Pick a WordPress plan

To begin creating your website, pick a WordPress plan. As stated earlier, with WordPress.org, you only have one (free) plan option — but it requires you to buy your domain, hosting provider, plugins, themes, and everything else related to your WordPress site.

When it comes to WordPress.com, you’ll have to choose between the four plans they offer.

Source: WordPress

The main differences between the four plans include the monthly fee, your ability to create a custom domain, and their number of features.

2. Set up your domain name and hosting provider

Setting up your domain name and choosing your hosting provider typically happen around the same time in the website creation process.

Before we talk about how to complete those tasks, let’s cover the difference between your domain name and hosting provider.

Think about your domain name as your home address — it’s how your visitors are able to locate your website on the internet. Your hosting provider is where your website is actually stored. Without a hosting provider, your site wouldn’t have space on a server to “live”.

To put it in simpler terms: Imagine your domain name is your home address and your hosting provider is your house. Your data files, which make up your website, are the furniture in your house.

Your domain name will look something like this: www.example.com. An example of a popular hosting provider is WP Engine, which you can learn more about here.

Source: WP Engine

How to pick domain and hosting providers

Again, WordPress.org requires you to create your own domain and find a third-party hosting provider for your website. WordPress.com allows you to decide whether or not you want a custom domain depending on the plan you choose, but you will still have to find a third-party hosting provider.

There are hundreds of third-party hosting services, such as GoDaddy or Bluehost, that provide you with the ability to create custom domain names. (Again, this is why so many people pick their domain and hosting provider at the same time in the website creation process.) Your hosting provider is important — not just because it’s how you host your site — but because it impacts your website’s speed, security, reliability, and more.

There are hundreds of hosting providers to choose from, but the good news for you is we put together a list of 19 of the best WordPress hosting providers to help you decide what will work best for your own website. All 19 of these providers meet WordPress’ three hosting requirements (listed below). If you still have an interest in looking at other hosting providers for your site, make sure they meet the following criteria:

• PHP version 7.2 or greater
• MySQL version 5.6 or greater OR MariaDB version 10.0 or greater
• HTTPS support

Side note: If you are new to WordPress.com but have already purchased and created a domain name elsewhere, no problem — you’ll have the option to transfer or map it to your WordPress website.

For the sake of this guide, let’s assume you do not have a domain or hosting provider at this point. Here’s how to start creating your website on a third-party hosting site like Bluehost.

First, head to Bluehost’s website and click “Get Started”.

Source: Bluehost

From here, you’ll be taken to Bluehost’s pricing page to choose from three different plans.

Source: Bluehost 

Once you choose your plan and click “Select”, you’ll be taken to another page to sign up with a domain name.

Source: Bluehost

Once you select your domain name, you’ll be brought to a page to complete your account and billing information for your purchase.

Source: Bluehost

 After confirming your account and purchasing your domain, you will gain access to your hosting dashboard where you’ll be able to install WordPress.

3. Install WordPress

If you are using a hosting provider outside of WordPress, you’ll need to install the CMS to connect your new domain to your website.

This time, let’s use GoDaddy as an example. (Don’t worry, no matter the hosting provider you choose, this process looks exceptionally similar.)

To start, log into your GoDaddy account, click “Web Hosting”, and then “Manage”. You will be brought to a screen with your account details.

Source: GoDaddy

Scroll down and under “Options & Settings”, you will see an area titled “Popular Apps”. Click on the WordPress app to begin the installation.

Source: GoDaddy

 After installing WordPress, there will be a few questions to answer related to the domain you want to use, the directory where you want to install WordPress, and your admin information.

After about 24 hours, your website will be installed to your hosting account, and GoDaddy will send you an email confirmation.

Now that you have your domain set up and WordPress installed, we need to set up your “Primary Domain” within WordPress so your visitors are actually sent to your website when they search your URL.

In WordPress, go to “My Site” and click “Domains”. Select the custom domain you want to make primary.

Source: WordPress

Then, click “Make Primary”.

Source: WordPress

Confirm you meant to make this change by clicking “Update Primary Domain”.

Source: WordPress

 Verify the update was successful by looking for a green box with a checkmark that says “Primary Domain”.

Source: WordPress

Onto step four — making your website look nice.

4. Choose Your Theme

You can customize your website using WordPress’ themes and templates, which contain a multitude of layouts, formatting styles, colors, fonts, and other visual options.

 WordPress automatically provides you with a default theme that looks rather plain. Sure, you can keep it … but your website visitors may not be so impressed. A custom WordPress theme, whether it’s paid or free, will make your website appealing to your buyer personas as well as ensure it looks professional.

 Similar to the wide range of hosting providers available, there are also hundreds of themes and templates to choose from. That’s why we’ve put together a guide to 19 of our favorite themes and templates and categorized them by purpose. Whether you’re looking for a theme versatile enough for multiple different business types, or one suitable for your ecommerce site, portfolio, blog, or niche business, there’s a theme that will work for your specific needs.

To find a theme that works best for you, head to your WordPress admin dashboard. Click “Appearance” and then “Themes”.

Source: The It Stuff

You will then be brought to another screen to browse all available themes or search for a specific one you have in mind.

Source: Press Customizr

Once you discover the perfect theme, simply “Install” it to begin customizing it and adding your own content, posts, and pages. Each theme has different steps required of you during the customization process, so be sure to follow them closely. Each theme’s website (which are often accessible through the WordPress theme and template library) has helpful information as you work through the customization process.

5. Add Posts and Pages to Your Website

When you add content to your WordPress website, it’s displayed in the form of posts and pages.

Posts (or “dynamic pages”) are typically used for blogs and portfolios because they automatically place your newest website content at the top. Pages are static which is why they often appeal to business owners — the added content always remains in the same place.

Start by deciding whether you want a post or page to serve as the homepage (or any page) of your website. To add a post to your website, go to the admin page, click “Posts” and then “Add New”. From this screen, add a title for your post, insert photos, change the format, and more.

Source: First Site Guide

Click “Save” to save your changes as a draft or “Publish” so the post immediately goes live.

If you’re looking to add a page to your website, you’ll work through a very similar process. In your admin area, click “Pages” and then “Add New”.

Source:First Site Guide

First, add a title to your page. Next, insert photos, embed videos, add written content and links, and more.

Source: The Hard Refresh 

Follow the same steps to create multiple pages for your website if you choose.

Source: The Hard Refresh

Click “Save” to save your changes as a draft or “Publish” so the page immediately goes live.

6. Customize Your Website

There are a number of ways to further customize your website. Let’s review a few of the more common customization options.

First, create static or dynamic pages under the “Settings” tab in your WordPress admin page.

Consider using a static page if you’re a business owner who prefers having content remain in one place on your website. For example, it wouldn’t make sense for your “About Us” page to contain content that moves around — you’d want that content to remain in one location for consistency. Consider using a dynamic page if you’re a blogger who prefers having your newest content appear at the top of your pages. This way your visitors can easily find your latest posts.

Source: WooCommerce

Titles can also be customized — to do this, head to your admin page. Under the “General” section in “Settings”, add a website title and tagline.

Source: Softaculous

One particularly handy customization feature is a navigation bar. This enables your visitors to easily move around your website and find whatever they need.

You can add a navigation bar by going to your admin page, clicking “Appearance” and then “Menus”.

Source: WordPress

From here, you can determine how you want your bar to look, how many pages you want to include, what you want to title those pages, what order you want them to be listed in, and more.

Source: WordPress

Click here for more information on your WordPress site settings and customization options.

7. Install Your Plugins

Plugins are how you choose options and themes. They also enhance user experience with the help of features that your WordPress website doesn’t automatically include. With over 56,000 available plugins, there are options for most every type of website and user. Some of the most popular plugins available include WordPress Contact Form, Yoast SEO, TablePress, The SEO Framework, HubSpot Conversion Tools, and Pixel Caffeine.

To begin installation, head to the “Plugins” button in your admin area.

Source: SiteGround 

Click “Add New”.

Source: SiteGround 

Browse or search for your desired plugin and then click “Install Now”.

Source: SiteGround 

You should now have access to your new plugin.

WordPress Website Tips and Tricks

There are a number of WordPress tips and tricks to make your website as impactful and user-friendly as possible — we’ve listed 20 of them below to help you do just that.

1. Focus on the basics and create a great user experience with a WordPress theme that complements your business and website content.

2. Use dashes and not underscores when naming your files in WordPress. Google looks as underscores as joiners, meaning your file will look like one big word. That won’t help you with your SEO. Use dashes to make it obvious there are separate words. (For example, use https://ift.tt/2CWyE97, not https://ift.tt/2P8AhYz).

3. Use WordPress’ online support for any questions or concerns you may have while creating or using your website. There are a number of forums and ways to reach out to WordPress experts listed on their website.

4. Use Image Alt Text to your advantage. Image Alt Text can be used to improve your SEO and Google rankings when used appropriately.

5. Keep your sidebar as organized as possible. Stick to the essentials and think about what your website visitors and buyer personas really need quick and easy access to.

6. Back up your website regularly so if you ever lose access or have technological difficulties, you have everything you need to completely restore your content. There are a number of plugins, such as Backup Buddy, made specifically for backing up your WordPress content.

7. Learn and understand SEO basics to ensure your website is completely optimized so you can boost your conversions.

8. Create a custom homepage. As mentioned earlier, WordPress will provide you with a default homepage. Take the time to create your own with a theme that works for your business — remember, this is your visitor’s first impression of your business, blog, or portfolio.

9. Keep an eye on your website’s performance and know what is and isn’t working for your visitors. There are a number of useful WordPress plugins to help with this.

10. Include an “About Us” page on your websiteto show your visitors you’re a trustworthy person and/or business. “About Us” pages are known to be the second most-visited pages on websites (after homepages) — so introducing yourself is important

11. Make sure your site is secure to ensure there are no hackers gaining entry. Again, there are plenty of plugins to help you with this.

12. Create custom permalinks. Permalinks are the permanent URLs that you plan to keep static for the foreseeable future. They’re important because they improve user experience and enhance your SEO.

13. Create a custom navigation bar (as we reviewed earlier) to make your site easy to use for your visitors.

14. Include excerpts and a click-through on your blog posts so people don’t land on your blog page and see your entire piece at once. By only including excerpts on your blog page, you make room to list all of your blogs in one location. Visitors can then read the excerpts and click-through to read the posts they are most interested in.

15. Structure your website in a way that makes sense for your business, visitors, and buyer personas. For example, use posts if you’re a blogger and use pages if you’re a business owner.

16. Remove “Comment” and “Share” buttons from specific pages of your website. You don’t need (or want) a “Comment” or “Share” button on your “About Us” page, or any of your service pages for that matter.

17. Consider what your website looks like on mobile. It’s no secret people are searching the internet while on their phones, tablets, and other mobile devices these days. Consider using a plugin to help you achieve a responsive, mobile WordPress design.

18. Use visuals and video content when possible to break up the text on your website pages.

19. Update your WordPress site and your plugins regularly. WordPress will tell you when updates are released. This will keep your website looking fresh and working efficiently.

20. Use social proof to show your new website visitors how many other people have already subscribed to your site and content. There are plugins to help you do this in a matter of minutes.

Conclusion

Having a great website matters. It’s how you connect with your visitors and leads, create a positive first impression with new users, and boost conversions. The good news is creating your own website doesn’t have to be a daunting process … at least not with WordPress.

The easy-to-use CMS offers completely customizable plans suitable for all needs. With no prior knowledge necessary, you can start building your own site for your business, blog, portfolio, or online store immediately.

If you’re an SEO, you probably know that backlinks are Google’s number one ranking factor. According to the search engine’s website, backlinks are a heavy indicator of a quality site. But to boost your website’s domain authority and rankings, acquiring an influx of backlinks isn’t enough. Pleasing Google’s algorithm will never be that straightforward.

Google generally prefers your website’s link profile, which is a list of all your site’s backlinks, to consist of links from a high variety of sites and high-authority sites — they consider this a marker of an authoritative and trustworthy website.

That said, poor or undesirable links from low-authority sites can penalize your website and plummet your rankings just as much as high-quality links can boost them.

Fortunately, Google’s Disavow Links Tool lets you tell the search engine to ignore specific backlinks when it crawls your website. This allows you to nix spammy, irrelevant, and low-quality domains from your site and strengthen your link profile.

Before you start scrapping links from your website, though, you should know disavowing links that don’t pass the eye test could actually hurt your domain authority and rankings. Sites that seem spammy, irrelevant, or low-quality might not always be a threat to your site — they might even boost your domain authority and rankings.

With this in mind, you must be absolutely sure the links you plan to disavow are harmful. But this begs the question: how do you objectively separate the good links from the bad? Read on to find out how.

1. Audit your link profile to identify your site’s most harmful links.

The first step to pinpointing your site’s most harmful links is examining all of your backlinks. This is impossible to do manually, no matter how big your site is, but, fortunately, you can analyze all your backlinks with SEMrush’s Backlink Audit Tool.

To use their Backlink Audit Tool, you first need to sign up for a free SEMrush account. After you do that, click on “Projects”, which is in SEMrush’s left sidebar.

Then, choose your domain and press “Set up” under “Backlink Audit”.

Next, select “www & non-www version” and click “Start Backlink Audit”. SEMrush will audit your website’s backlinks and give you a diagnosis in less than 10 minutes.

Once SEMrush completes your audit, they’ll show you a dashboard that displays the number of non-toxic, potentially toxic, and toxic domains that link to your site.

To add more backlinks or your website’s most recent backlinks to your audit, you can connect your Google Search Console account to the tool.

Finally, in the “Domains by Toxic Score” section, click on the red percentage or the toxic domains. You’ll land on a page that lists all your website’s referring domains that SEMrush deems harmful.

To find out why a domain is considered toxic, click on the domain’s toxic score and SEMrush will list its domain score, trust score, and toxic indicators.

You can also filter these toxic domains by their link network, spam in communities, harmful environment, manipulative links, irrelevant source domains, and other complementary options. All you have to do is press “Advanced Filters” and choose your toxic markers.

In SEMrush, you can actually upload these links into Google’s Disavow Links Tool, but if you feel more comfortable uploading them by yourself, export them into an Excel file and follow the next step.

2. Upload harmful links as a text file into Google’s Disavow Links Tool to disavow them.

After you’ve exported the toxic links into an Excel file, copy and paste them into TextEdit, if you use a Mac, or Notepad, if you use a PC. This will allow you to upload them as a text file into Google’s Disavow Links Tool.

Next, visit the Disavow Links Tool’s website, select your website, choose the text file, and then click submit. Google will process your request and disavow the links within a few days.

To boost your search rankings, you must prune your backlinks.

If you’re dedicated to crafting compelling content, your website can earn a ton of high-quality backlinks. But the attention your content attracts can also appeal to some low-authority sites who could attach undesirable backlinks to your website. And Google will penalize you for them.

Fortunately, if you proactively prune your backlinks with SEMrush’ Backlink Audit Tool and Google’s Disavow Links Tool, you can maintain your link profile’s health, boost your website’s domain authority, and watch your rankings soar to the top of SERPs.