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Top 10 Cheapest Online Store Builders (Free + Paid)

Choosing the cheapest of anything isn’t recommended when running a business. That’s because it usually means you’re compromising on something essential for your business’s success.

Here’s the good news: when it comes to choosing affordable website builders, you don’t need to compromise. You can design an attractive website without breaking the bank or dealing with code.

Sounds too good to be true? It isn’t!

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about choosing the cheapest online store builder for your business, including which factors to consider and the top choices on the market.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

An Introduction to Website Builders

A website builder is a tool used to design and customize a website without code. It typically features a drag-and-drop-style user experience that lets you visually customize website layouts, templates, and elements.

Thus, you don’t need a web designer or developer to design your website or make changes. You can do it yourself in real time.

Website builders are generally offered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions where you don’t need to download or maintain any software. You can sign up for a plan and start using the builder right away.

How To Choose an Online Store Builder: Considerations

Here are the factors you should consider when choosing the online store builder for your business.

Technical Skills

Your technical proficiency is one of the first things you should consider when choosing the cheapest website builder. That’s because some website builders are built for beginners, while others are for those with technical skills that need advanced features.

For instance, someone familiar with HTML or CSS might want a builder that empowers them to create custom HTML layouts or tweak elements with CSS. In contrast, someone lacking coding skills might prefer a builder that offers a fully code-free design experience.

Scalability

Choosing the cheapest online store builder for your business shouldn’t limit your long-term growth. Even if you’re starting with a builder that offers a free plan or essential features, choosing the store builder that can scale with your business over the years is necessary.

Choose a website builder that offers tiered pricing plans with advanced features. For example, if your current plan limits how many products you can host, make sure you have the flexibility to upgrade to unlimited product support in the future.

Customer Support

Although ecommerce website builders are supposed to be DIY tools, you might need help at some point for troubleshooting minor issues. So, it’s important to have easy access to customer support at all times.

Choose a store builder that offers support across multiple channels such as chat, email, and phone. Moreover, make sure it provides 24/7 support.

Top Cheapest Online Store Builders

An inexpensive website builder can help you design and launch an online store on a tight budget. Here are our top 10 picks for the cheapest online store builders on the market.

1. StoreBuilder

StoreBuilder gives you code-free access to the most popular content management system (CMS) — WordPress — which is used by 43% of the internet. It empowers you to sell your products without worrying about WordPress hosting, maintenance, and security.

You get everything you need to sell online, including ecommerce, marketing, and reporting functionalities. StoreBuilder lets you design an attractive website using a drag-and-drop editor and integrate it with third-party tools like Mailchimp, ShipStation, and HubSpot CRM.

Key StoreBuilder features:

  • Fully customizable templates.
  • WordPress-based website.
  • No transaction fees.
  • Comprehensive reporting functionality.
  • 24/7/365 live support on phone, email, and chat.

Best online store builder for: Anyone who wants a code-free website builder and the design flexibility of an open source platform like WordPress.

Price: 30-day free trial. Paid plans start from $19/month.

2. Shopify

Shopify isn’t the cheapest online store builder on this list, but it is one of the world’s most popular ecommerce technologies. According to BuiltWith, over 14% of all ecommerce websites on the internet use Shopify.

Shopify lets you build a fully-customizable online store without code and offers features like discount codes, inventory locations, and gift cards. It also enables you to customize your store using over 7,500+ apps and 90+ themes available on its official app and theme stores.

Key Shopify features:

  • Versatile theme editor.
  • Unlimited bandwidth and products.
  • Multiple sales channels.
  • Customer segmentation and email marketing automation.
  • Fraud analysis.

Best online store builder for: Beginners and small businesses that want to sell globally and need built-in multichannel selling features.

Price: 14-day free trial. Paid plans start from $29/month plus 2.9% and $0.30 transaction fees per order.

3. Wix

Wix is one of the most beginner-friendly online store builders on the market. It offers a simple and intuitive user interface (UI) that makes designing a website effortless. It’s ideal for building an ecommerce store that accepts online bookings, reservations, and subscriptions.

However, it’s worth noting that Wix limits the storage space available with each plan, starting from 50GB for the entry-level Business Basic plan. If you need to host high-quality product images and videos, you might need to upgrade to a higher plan with more storage.

Key Wix features:

  • Social media integrations with Facebook and Instagram.
  • Unlimited products.
  • Online bookings.
  • Event ticket management.
  • 24/7 customer care.

Best online store builder for: Small business owners who want to sell memberships, subscriptions, and event tickets.

Price: Starts from $27/month with a 14-day money-back guarantee and a free domain name for the first year.

4. Squarespace

Squarespace is a website builder that offers award-winning design templates with basic ecommerce functionality. It also offers hundreds of extensions on its official marketplace you can use to integrate third-party apps and add extra features.

Squarespace lets you design a mobile-friendly website and provides essential search engine optimization (SEO) features to improve your online presence. But if you need anything more than basic features, you’ll need to upgrade to one of its higher-cost plans.

Key Squarespace features:

  • Support for donations through Stripe and PayPal.
  • Unlimited products.
  • Support for online gift cards.
  • Advanced analytics and promotional banners.
  • 1-year free professional email from Google.

Best online store builder for: Business websites with essential ecommerce functionality.

Price: Commerce-ready plans start from $33/month plus 3% transaction fees.

5. CMS Hub

The HubSpot CMS Hub is one of the few online store builders on this list that offer a free plan with custom domain name support. HubSpot hosts your website and provides a drag-and-editor with live website editing capabilities.

CMS Hub empowers you to focus on tasks that impact your business revenue, such as creating great content, while HubSpot handles security and maintenance for you. It supports multilingual content and offers a comprehensive reporting tool for deep insights.

Key HubSpot CMS features:

  • Premium hosting with Content Delivery Network (CDN).
  • Extensive marketplace.
  • Live chat.
  • Reporting dashboard.
  • Built-in SEO recommendations.

Best online store builder for: Bloggers and entrepreneurs that sell digital products or need comprehensive marketing tools.

Price: Free with limited features. Premium plans start at $25/month.

6. Big Cartel

Big Cartel is a cheap website builder that offers a free plan for selling up to five products with support for multichannel integrations, shipment tracking, and custom domains. You can offer discounts and promos on its free plan and customize your store design using its user-friendly builder.

And when you need more features, you can upgrade to one of its paid plans that offer increased product support, inventory tracking, theme code editing, and bulk editing. Big Cartel is best suited for you if you need a simple website builder for basic products.

Key Big Cartel features:

  • Free customizable themes.
  • Shipment tracking.
  • Inventory tracking.
  • Real-time stats.
  • Discounts and promos.

Best online store builder for: Artists who sell on marketplaces like Etsy and want to build their own website and build a brand identity.

Price: Free for up to five products. Paid plans start from $9.99 per month.

7. Weebly

Weebly is a simple website builder that lets you build an attractive online store with essential ecommerce functionality. You get online shopping cart support with SEO, lead capture, and site search functionalities.

Weebly offers an app center that lets you improve its default website using free and paid apps. But it restricts access to features like inventory management, coupon codes, and abandoned cart recovery emails for members subscribed to one of its higher-tier plans.

Key Weebly features:

  • Custom domain with free SSL certificate.
  • Support for online payments through third-party providers.
  • Unlimited website storage.
  • $100 Google Ads credit.
  • Advanced website stats.

Best online store builder for: First-time sellers who want to start selling online without any hassles.

Price: Starts from $16/month.

8. Webflow

Webflow is a powerful website builder for sellers who want to harness the power of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a code-free environment. It empowers you to create seamless shopping experiences with complete control over every element of your online store.

You can edit layouts, create animations, and design attractive product pages without messing with code. You can create stunning store designs using its visual builder, and Webflow will turn your design into clean code in the background.

Key Webflow features:

  • Advanced SEO.
  • Customizable product and checkout pages.
  • Discounts and coupons.
  • Integrations with social media platforms.
  • Automatic, location-based tax calculation.

Best online store builder for: Tech-savvy sellers who want to tap into trigger-based interactions, mess with CSS animations, and tweak their website using custom code.

Price: Starts from $42/month plus up to 2% transaction fees, excluding payment gateway fees.

9. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a powerful site builder that offers advanced functionality and SEO tools that can help you drive traffic to your website without spending on ads. That’s important since DataReportal found that ad costs increased by 15% between the second and third quarters of 2021.

BigCommerce provides a code-free website design experience you can integrate with multiple online selling channels.

Due to its advanced features, BigCommerce has a steep learning curve and isn’t the best cheap website builder for new sellers.

Key BigCommerce features:

  • Support for selling across Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Instagram.
  • Unlimited product and file storage.
  • Support for Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay.
  • Multicurrency and multilingual support.
  • Built-in point of sale (POS) integrations.

Best online store builder for: B2B businesses who want a platform that can scale with their evolving business needs.

Price: 15-day free trial. Paid plans start from $29.95/month for up to $50,000 in annual sales.

10. Elementor

Elementor is one of the world’s most popular website builders. W3Techs found that 7.7% of all websites on the internet use Elementor. That’s because it’s a beginner-friendly, feature-rich, and free WordPress website builder.

Elementor offers a responsive, drag-and-drop builder with over 300 professionally designed website templates, 100+ widgets, and global style customizations. Elementor also bundles web hosting on the Google Cloud Platform with its website builder.

Key Elementor features:

  • Theme builder and global editor.
  • Custom CSS.
  • Landing page, pop-up, and contact form builder.
  • Dynamic content.
  • Custom HTML support.

Best online store builder for: First-time users and WordPress veterans who need a comprehensive website editing tool.

Price: Free WordPress plugin. The Pro plan Starts from $49 per year for premium plugin features. Hosting plus website builder plans start from $99 per year.

Final Thoughts: Top 10 Cheapest Online Store Builders

There you have it. We’ve shown you how to choose the cheapest online store builder for your business and shared our top 10 recommendations for different use cases.

Most, if not all of the options on our list, offer a free trial. So try a few before you choose the best website builder for your business.

If you’re looking for an all-in-one, cheap online store builder, sign up for a free 30-day trial of StoreBuilder. It offers comprehensive ecommerce features and the flexibility of an open source CMS like WordPress. Plus, it comes backed with fully managed hosting from Hostdedi.

Check out StoreBuilder to get started today.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Managing Multiple Sites [2022]

Jane Austen said it best. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a business owner in possession of many websites must be in want of a useful tool for managing multiple sites.

OK, maybe Jane said something about a man with a fortune needing a wife. But isn’t running a business like a marriage? It takes time to build, it can be expensive at the start, and the first year is challenging. But with good communication, hard work, and the right resources, you’re stronger for it.

So if you’re struggling with the stress of finding a multisite CMS to help you run your websites, you need a strategy and tools that will take you back to the honeymoon period of your business.

Managing Multiple Sites

You can use two strategies when managing multiple sites: the DevOps strategy and the tool strategy. Both are great options, but depending on your time and resources, one may be more realistic than the other.

DevOps Strategy

DevOps combines methods and practices to improve a company’s ability to deliver a product. The Dev comes from the software developer, and the Ops comes from operations, like tech support and IT. The goal of a DevOps strategy is to shorten the development cycle and standardize the process across websites and applications.

On paper, it’s pretty straightforward. But, putting a DevOps strategy into practice takes a lot of time and resources. And, if you run a small business or are a company of one, implementing a DevOps strategy for managing multiple websites can take time away from all other tasks in your business. A DevOps strategy works best if you have a dedicated team for developing, testing, deploying, and monitoring the websites.

Tool Strategy

There are tons of tools to help you manage all your websites. And the best part is they work with multiple WordPress sites.

Tools to consider include:

  • MainWP. This free, open source tool comes with an intuitive dashboard. You get one-click access to all your sites and notifications about updates, and once you’ve stored each site’s login credentials in MainWP, you’re good to go.
  • Manage WP. This popular tool enables you to carry out basic administrative tasks like updates, backups, and adding new content to your sites. And the best part is Manage WP offers 24/7 customer support.
  • InfiniteWP. If you’re an agency, developer, or freelancer, InfiniteWP was designed with you in mind. It offers a centralized admin panel and free backup and restore services.
  • WP Remote. WP Remote lets you monitor an unlimited number of websites for free. You can perform updates, manage users, and there’s a site performance checker.
  • CMS Commander. If your sites are all about content marketing, you’ll love CMS Commander’s dashboard, which gives you all your site’s important traffic metrics in one place. You can also group sites by client, and it even integrates with popular services like Amazon and YouTube to pull in fresh content for bulk posting.
  • Jetpack. You’ve probably heard of Jetpack before, but did you know that the plugin allows sites under the same management to communicate on the web version of WordPress? And if you upgrade to the paid plan, you can have automated backups and unlimited site storage too.

With so many tools available, it can be challenging to know which to use. Should you install a plugin? Should you try Drupal multiple sites? It’s essential to pick the tools that work for you and your websites.

Why You Need Website Management Tools

Websites are necessary for doing business. They show what you have to offer and help you build trust before you even meet your customer. But if managing websites takes time away from other areas of your business, then it’s time to use a website management tool to help you maximize your online presence without wasting your time.

If you’re managing multiple sites, a simple five-minute task for each site can add up quickly. And if you’re also creating content for those sites, your workweek is probably uncomfortably full.

In the past, business owners had to learn to code or hire a developer. No code solutions like WordPress make it easy for you to design a website and manage your content. Managed web hosting allows you to run your site without worrying about security or site speeds. And social media scheduling tools allow you to see all your social profiles in one place, so you know exactly what content is going out and when.

There is a lot that goes into successfully running a website for a business. Taking advantage of the available tools and resources can make it easier.

Hostdedi Can Help

Whether you’re looking for tools to keep your plugins updated or developer tools to keep your site running smoothly and looking great, Hostdedi can help. Our managed WordPress hosting includes automatic updates, malware monitoring, and an SSL certificate. You’ll be able to run your site however you’d like without worrying about security, updates, or site speed.

Plus, a managed WordPress hosting plan includes the iThemes Security plugin to keep your site constantly protected. And iThemes Sync allows you to manage multiple WordPress sites from one dashboard.

But the best part is the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you have access to 24/7 support. So no matter where you are or when it happens, Hostdedi is there to keep your site online, so you don’t miss out on business.

Check out our fully managed WordPress hosting today to see how we can help you.

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Ecommerce PCI Compliance: A Guide for Your Store [+Checklist]

Ecommerce is the golden egg many brands are thankful for today. But the number one problem affecting its effectiveness is online payment fraud.

A recent study shows an estimated global loss of $20 billion in ecommerce, which went to fraud in the past year. The figures are on a shocking upward trajectory even now.

Payment Card Industry compliance, otherwise known as PCI compliance, ensures businesses that take credit card payments secure user data to prevent breaches that succumb innocent buyers to this fraud.

PCI compliance protects your business from fraud masterminds by:

  • Preventing malware and ransomware from being planted in your network.
  • Creating strong passwords that bar unwanted entry into the systems.
  • Preventing remote network access used to steal information to make fraudulent transactions.
  • Preventing scams by identity thieves who physically steal payment data at checkout to make fake cards.
  • Prompting you to update outdated software that may be susceptible to unauthorized access

Considering that 30% of fraud in the U.S. ecommerce space revolves around synthetic fraud, data authentication and protection must be foolproof.

Implementing a PCI compliance strategy in your business makes way for secure shopping. You can handle user data securely without the risk of loss or theft by hackers.

Let’s look at what PCI entails in detail, who needs PCI compliance, and the requirements to be PCI compliant according to set standards. We’ll also look into how you can set up your business as an ecommerce PCI-compliant store.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Ecommerce PCI Compliance

PCI compliance is an ecommerce term referring to mandatory requirements for ecommerce merchants taking online credit card payments. The conditions, also known as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS), are set by financial organizations to protect credit card data from malicious online shopping activities.

The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI-SSC) is at the forefront of PCI compliance regulations.

It consists of the five largest credit card brands: American Express, Discover, Visa, JCB, and Mastercard. These make up a majority if not all payment gateways available for credit and debit cards today.

These data protection standards are a must-have for businesses taking online payments via credit cards. The regulations put in place include data protection, installing network firewalls, and password access protection.

Who Needs PCI Compliance?

PCI DSS is a standard protocol that protects credit card data when making transactions on a network. The PCI council has a standard by which all merchants wishing to accept payments via credit card must abide.

The standards are in place to protect your system against malicious acts should your customer data leak. By abiding by these regulations, your business becomes PCI compliant.

Simply put, if your business accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or any other credit card as a form of payment, you must have PCI compliance.

Note that the business size matters not as long as you take online credit card payments. That is why Walmart, Amazon, and small online businesses must comply with PCI Security Standards Council guidelines for card payments.

Why is PCI Compliance Important?

PCI compliance protects your customer’s card information when making online transactions. It’s central to your data protection policy in your business.

Moreover, here are five benefits your ecommerce store will enjoy by being PCI compliant:

  • Increased customer trust — You can securely protect your business’s reputation with buyers by processing the data in a secure way.
  • Data protection and data breach prevention — Your customer’s credit card information is secured from accidental loss or theft.
  • PCI compliance helps you set a foundation for any other security policy in your business — By limiting access to the network and assigning firewalls to your payment system, your network’s security framework is solid.
  • Your business avoids the penalties associated with PCI non-compliance — Lack of PCI compliance can result in recurring penalties of up to $500,000.
  • Your business enjoys global security standards — Since PCI compliance is a worldwide standard, it means that top-tier security measures are recommended to everyone regardless of size, operational niche, or location.

What Happens if My Ecommerce Business Isn’t PCI Compliant?

PCI non-compliance works at a disadvantage to your enterprise. You’re liable for any loss your business and the credit cardholders suffer if you fail to secure your store as an ecommerce PCI-compliant entity.

You risk paying thousands of dollars in non-compliance fines and losing trust with your clients. Because who wants to shop with an ecommerce platform with a history of fraud? No one.

Even worse, PCI-SSC may deem your store unfit to support credit card payments and revoke your access permanently.

The 4 PCI Compliance Levels

PCI compliance is broken into levels, determining which PCI compliance guidelines to follow. These levels are categorized by the number of ecommerce transactions a business does annually.

The four levels of PCI compliance are:

Level 1 PCI Compliance

Level 1 PCI compliance certification consists of businesses processing over six million credit card transactions in a year.

These businesses have strict rules when it comes to PCI compliance, more than the other three levels. It requires more than just filling out a Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).

A business boasting this level has to meet several PCI DSS requirements before passing as compliant with PCI DSS standards. One of these standards is an annual report by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) for vulnerabilities in the security system. The QSA does a physical onsite audit of your business payment system to check if it’s PCI compliant.

An Internal Security Assessor (ISA) can also liaise with an external auditor to conduct a thorough network audit. An ISA can be a team member trained on PCI compliance guidelines.

You’ll also need a quarterly scan of the network by an approved security vendor. The scan shows vulnerabilities in your servers, computers, cloud, and any other data storage facility you have for the business.

The third standard a level 1 business must have is a penetration test, which is an annual cybersecurity test into the network infrastructure.

Lastly, you require a duly filled Attestation of Compliance (AOC) form. An AOC affirms that you’ve understood what is needed and your business has complied with PCI DSS standards.

Level 2 PCI Compliance

A business that processes a million to six million credit card transactions annually is categorized under level 2 PCI compliance certification.

Compliance requirements in this level are less compared to level 1 but strict all the same. You must submit a filled-out SAQ together with an onsite QSA audit report. You’ll also need an annual compliance report, especially if your business had a data breach previously. Your bank may also ask for a QSA report if necessary.

Another standard to meet will be a quarterly network scan done in the last six months by an approved vendor. Staple that together with an annual penetration test, an internal scan report, and the AOC form.

The only thing you don’t need to submit for a level 2 business compared to level 1 is an onsite PCI audit by a QSA.

Level 3 PCI Compliance

A business with between 20,000 and a million credit card transactions annually falls under this category of PCI compliance certification.

For a level 3 PCI compliance certification, your business must submit a duly-filled SAQ, a quarterly scan done in the last six months, and a filled-out AOC. A penetration test isn’t a requirement at this level.

JCB has only two PCI compliance levels: Level 1 and 2. All businesses with less than a million transactions qualify as level 2 businesses.

Level 4 PCI Compliance

Level 4 PCI compliance certification is for businesses that process less than 20,000 credit card transactions in a year.

First, a business must have never been affected by a credit card data breach before to undergo this certification. Otherwise, your bank may need further measures and documentation to cushion the risk. You also may need tests and audits to ascertain whether vulnerabilities still exist.

Level 4 businesses have it easy with PCI compliance certification, unlike the other PCI levels. You only need a filled SAQ, a quarterly vulnerability scan, and a filled-out AOC form.

Most small businesses will be capped at level 4, as they process less than 20,000 card transactions online. While the requirements for PCI compliance for levels 1, 2, and 3 are higher due to increased transactions, they’re not far off from level 4.

Overall, you must account for your level’s PCI requirements set by PCI-DSS. The PCI council offers a business self-assessment that you can use to determine which category your business falls into and what regulations to follow.

More information on what your bank needs is on the individual website of the credit card companies. If the mumble jumble is a little tasking, which it might be, consider the help of a qualified PCI compliance assessor. They will help you understand what your business needs to be accredited as PCI compliant.

Choosing a Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ):

All the talk about filling out a Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) may have you wondering what it is. True to the word, an SAQ is a set of questions to answer when applying for PCI compliance certification.

PCI Data Security Standards have nine SAQs. You choose an SAQ according to how you process your credit card information. Below is a screenshot of the different types of Self Assessment Questionnaires.

Who Is Responsible for Maintaining Ecommerce PCI Compliance?

PCI DSS compliance falls in the hands of the merchant, the web designer, and the web hosting provider. Each has a symbiotic role in ensuring that your store has the highest protection against payment data breaches.

It’s also crucial to note that you, as the merchant, have the ultimate responsibility to ensure that your store meets the PCI DSS compliance requirements.

Go the extra mile by checking if your hosting provider complies with PCI DSS standards. You can have the most robust PCI compliance, but your server will be vulnerable if the hosting service you use in your business is not compliant. In a later section, we will see how you can point out a suitable PCI-compliant hosting for your business.

Another overlooked aspect of PCI compliance is the third-party software providers involved in your payment systems. Not all follow the laid PCI DSS guidelines. The harm to your business is unimaginable and more painful because you played your part, but your service provider failed you.

Prevent this by always checking for PCI compliance with every software provider you want to work with. Anything that goes to your network should be PCI compliant to prevent shock down the line.

Remember, keeping your customer’s credit card information safe through PCI compliance spares you from penalties by the PCI-SSC. It’s essential to keep all players on the ready.

Implementing PCI Compliance in Your Ecommerce Business

Now that you know what PCI DSS is and how your business can benefit from PCI compliance, how do you set it up in your store?

That is the big question. Let’s make it not so big by going through the steps necessary to upgrade your payment systems to be PCI compliant.

First in the line is installing a PCI firewall in your network.

A PCI firewall is a shield that prevents data breaches from malicious third parties seeking to steal your customer credit card information. Installing an effective cloak for the data is paramount and in line with PCI DSS compliance.

Maintain your security firewalls by ensuring you’re up to date with all developments, like fixing bugs and downloading the latest firewall version. Such knowledge will help you patch up vulnerabilities in your payment system as soon as they arise.

Below are measures that can save you the hustle of dealing with data breaches and, consequently, PCI DSS non-compliance:

  • Change your passwords to strong passwords only known to your in-house system administrators. You should update them with security patches frequently to prevent accidental leaks.
  • Restrict traffic to your payment systems; only allow what is necessary.
  • Avoid checking any boxes that say ANY in your firewall rules. Some programs may contain disguised malicious data packets that may breach your payment systems.
  • Deny access you didn’t authorize to prevent secondary access into the systems.
  • Allow only established and verifiable connections into the network.
  • Turn on intrusion detection and blocking to sieve unwanted system visitations.
  • Turn on all notification settings. You can get first-hand alerts on what’s happening in your systems.
  • Use Network Address Translation (NAT) to mask your IP addresses from the internet. Never use public networks to access your system.
  • Lastly, update all firewalls in your payments system frequently to patch up any vulnerabilities that might be present.

A Checklist for Ecommerce PCI Compliance

While PCI compliance is a joint undertaking with your hosting provider, you must take responsibility for implementation. After all, you’re the bigger risk bearer in your business.

PCI compliance varies between the levels, with level 1 standards different from level 4. However, there are pointers you can count on to ensure your business is PCI compliant.

Here is a round-up checklist of what you need to do to attain and maintain ecommerce PCI compliance in your business.

  • Host your website on a secure server.
  • Update your website with SSL encryption.
  • Have strong passwords, and change them regularly.
  • Disable unnecessary accounts on the payment system before deploying on the network.
  • Use trusted and effective antivirus software to protect the system against malware.
  • Encrypt all sensitive information captured, stored, or transmitted from your network.
  • Use firewalls to prevent unauthorized external access control to the network.
  • Create a secure network inventory of stored cardholder data.
  • Get secure payment gateways.
  • Use trusted third-party programs and approved scanning vendors (ASV).
  • Have a security assessment policy and train your staff on data protection.
  • Limit remote and physical access to network resources.
  • Carry out regular risk assessments, testing all your security parameters.

Using the above ecommerce PCI compliance checklist will ensure that your overall network is not affected by alien operators who can stain your card processing data. Compliance with PCI DSS is the only way to keep safe, especially when preventing credit card fraud.

Ecommerce PCI Compliance Hosting

As you may already know by now, your web hosting provider is integral to your PCI compliance strategy.

What should you consider when choosing a suitable PCI-compliant web hosting service?

Here are quick tips to help you out:

  • #Tip 1: Ensure that your hosting provider is PCI compliant. If unsure, ask the hosting provider for PCI compliance before hosting your network on their servers.
  • #Tip 2: Consider a web hosting company that offers payment gateways in their hosting plans. It saves you on costs, especially if you’re on a budget. Plus, you’re sure they’re PCI compliant, which spares you the trouble of subscribing to another third-party service.
  • #Tip 3: Choose a large, established hosting company. An established hosting provider has long been in the game, and they understand how PCI compliance works. Hostdedi, for example, has been operating for 25 years. The rule is that the bigger the hosting company, the better its PCI compliance history.
  • #Tip 4: Choose a website builder with ecommerce options to make integration within your website smooth. You can easily integrate ecommerce functions with popular platforms like WooCommerce into your store.

Final Thoughts — Ecommerce PCI Compliance: A Guide for Your Store [+ Checklist]

75% of Americans use credit cards for daily purchases like grocery stores or paying bills in restaurants. This figure increases when counting in online transactions.

As a merchant, it’s your responsibility to protect your customers’ credit card information by being PCI compliant. Complying with the PCI-DSS standards assures you of network security. It also saves you the potential loss from a data breach into your cardholder data environment.

Get reliable and all round PCI compliant hosting for your ecommerce business today with Hostdedi.

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A Guide to Magento Inventory Management (+Tools to Use)

Spreadsheets and manual data entry might help you manage inventory in Magento when you’re starting out. But you’ll eventually realize that they aren’t enough to keep up with the demands of omnichannel retail.

A 2022 report by Shopify reveals that 53% of brands are investing in tools that enable multichannel retail. So if you’re looking to grow your online business, investing in an inventory management tool for Magento is the way to go.

Don’t know where to start?

Read our guide to understand how Magento inventory management works and which tools can help you improve Magento’s inventory management features.

Here’s what we cover:

Magento Inventory Management: A High-Level Overview

The inventory management module for Magento installs by default in Magento versions 2.3.x and above. It introduces Multi-Source Inventory (MSI) support that empowers you to manage products and stock across multiple sales channels.

The Magento inventory management module replaces core APIs in the CatalogInventory module in Magento Open Source and the ScalableInventory module in Adobe Commerce. In addition, it introduces new APIs that you can use to add and extend functionality.

Here are a few tasks you can perform using Magento’s inventory management functionality:

1. Manage stock from single and multiple sources.

2. Map stock across sources to different sales channels.

3. Perform bulk actions such as assigning stock and sources.

4. Configure low-stock notifications when saleable quantities cross critical stock threshold values.

5. Automate inventory management with the Source Selection Algorithm.

The Source Selection Algorithm (SSA) is the foundation of inventory management in Magento 2. It operates in the background and tracks products and sources to keep quantities updated, prevent checkout conflicts, and recommend the best shipping options for each order.

That is important because managing orders while selling on multiple channels can be challenging. Knowing product availability status and choosing the best shipping options on the go is nearly impossible without automation.

For example, when a customer orders a product with weight, such as a configurable product, SSA performs the following tasks:

1. Checks the order sales channel.

2. Verifies stock availability.

3. Recommends cost-effective shipping options.

You can choose a shipping option based on SSA’s recommendation and fulfill the order in partial shipments, from one source, or by shipping from multiple sources.

It’s worth pointing out that SSA behaves differently for products that do not incur shipping, such as downloadable or virtual products. When a customer orders a virtual or downloadable product, SSA directly uses the best result based on its calculations.

The SSA uses priority algorithms to track inventory and manage shipments. It also supports custom algorithms you can implement to suit your business needs.

Now that you understand how inventory management works in Magento, let’s explore some tools you can use to improve its functionality.

Top 5 Magento Inventory Management Tools

Finding a Magento inventory management solution that plays well with Magento’s MSI module can be challenging.

Here are five tools that integrate with Magento and improve its inventory management features.

1. Magento Inventory Management by Magestore

Magento Inventory Management by Magestore is a Point of Sale (POS) software with useful inventory management functionality. It streamlines multichannel retail for Magento merchants with stock taking, barcode management, and access control features.

Key Features:

  • Real-time multichannel and location inventory sync.
  • Inventory management with barcode scanning.
  • Purchase Order support.

Pricing: Available on request.

Best Magento Inventory Management Tool for: Merchants that need inventory management with integration support.

2. Advanced Inventory by Wyomind

Advanced Inventory by Wyomind is an extension that enhances Magento’s default inventory management capabilities. It lets you configure manual and automatic dispatches, drop-ship management, and front-end display of different points of sale.

Key Features:

  • Multichannel stock management options.
  • POS and warehouse access control.
  • Automated order assignment.

Pricing: $249 for Magento OS and $345 for Adobe Commerce.

Best Magento Inventory Management Tool for: Merchants that need drop shipping management functionality.

3. Multi Warehouse Inventory by Amasty

Multi Warehouse Inventory by Amasty is a Magento inventory management extension that simplifies managing inventory for a Magento store. It lets you assign inventory to warehouses, track stock levels across physical locations, and configure custom source selection algorithms.

Key Features:

  • One-click shipment creation.
  • Custom shipping methods and rates.
  • Automatic source selection.

Pricing: Starts from $349 for the first year for Magento OS.

Best Magento Inventory Management Tool for: Merchants who want to customize Magento’s Source Selection Algorithm.

4. Multi Warehouse Inventory by Aitoc

Multi Warehouse Inventory by Aitoc adds exclusive features to Magento 2 inventory management, such as multiple warehouse creation and assigning products to suppliers. It’s a simple yet useful Magento 2 extension that streamlines ordering from third-party suppliers.

Key Features:

  • Unlimited warehouse management.
  • Stock division by store view and customer groups.
  • Automated warehouse selection and email notifications.

Pricing: $299 for Magento OS with lifetime free updates.

Best Magento Inventory Management Tool for: Merchants who need to automate inventory restocking.

5. Brightpearl by Sage

Brightpearl by Sage is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that offers advanced inventory management features for Magento. It supports data-driven inventory planning and offers time-saving automation essential to speed up the reordering process.

Key Features:

  • Real-time inventory reconciliation.
  • Multichannel inventory management.
  • Inventory analytics and excellent forecasting features.

Pricing: Available on request.

Best Magento Inventory Management Tool for: Merchants that need advanced inventory management features and comprehensive reporting functionality.

Final Thoughts: A Guide to Magento Inventory Management

Effective inventory management practices can help you reduce operating costs, predict future sales, and keep your ecommerce business profitable. More importantly, it ensures you don’t tie up your business capital in dead stock.

Data collected by Salsify reveals that 91% of U.S. shoppers worry about product availability and delays. A reliable Magento inventory management tool helps you overcome those issues and offer a stress-free customer experience by ensuring your products are always in stock.

But inventory is only one of the factors that impact the buying experience. You also need to ensure your Magento store is secure and loads fast.

Sign up for Managed Magento Hosting with Hostdedi and access performance-optimized hosting built for scale. Why choose Hostdedi?

Browse our plans to get started today.

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Social Media Giveaway: Terms and Conditions

How to Play: Reply to the initial social media post on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram with your best wrong answer to what you think the web hosting acronym means.

Promotion Rules: Entrants must provide all the requested information from the giveaway social media posts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to be eligible to win. Incomplete, unreadable, or unintelligible entries will be disqualified. All entries must be received by August 28, 2022. Winners will be notified by August 31, 2022, via direct message on the social platform used for entry. Unlimited online entries per entrant per platform (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram) during the entry period (August 26, 2022 – August 28, 2022).

Prizes and odds: 3 winners will receive (1) $250 Amazon E-Gift Card. Only one $250 Amazon E-Gift Card per person. Winners outside of the United States will receive the same prize.

Eligibility: The promotion is open to customers or non-customers, except for Liquid Web Family of Brands employees. Participation in the giveaway constitutes the entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these terms and conditions.

Prize selection: All entries meeting the requirements of these Promotion Rules will be entered into the selection process for evaluating the best entry. The winners will be selected by Hostdedi at its sole discretion. No cash or other substitution of prizes is permitted, except at the sole option of Hostdedi for a prize of equal or greater value. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to their parents or legal guardians, who must sign all required affidavits and releases. Hostdedi will not replace any lost or stolen prizes. Hostdedi does not guarantee any results.

Additional Conditions: Allow 2-4 weeks for delivery of prizes.

The Liquid Web LLC headquarters is 2703 Ena Dr, Lansing, MI 48917

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Webflow vs. WordPress: Which is Right for You?

When your grandparents opened a business, they had to make sure their number was in the yellow pages and take out an ad in the newspaper. Back in their day, they walked to school uphill, both ways, in the snow. They never had to think about the benefits of Webflow vs. WordPress.

Well, gone are the days of the yellow pages. Instead, finding the right website builder for your site is the next step in sharing your business with the world.

Overview of WebFlow and WordPress

WebFlow and WordPress are popular website-building platforms. But which is right for your business? At first glance, they both have a lot to offer.

WordPress

WordPress is the most popular way to create a website. It’s the platform behind more than 43% of websites. WordPress is a content management system or CMS. A CMS makes it easy for people who don’t know how to code to manage websites. You don’t have to be a programmer or web developer to use WordPress. And the best part is WordPress is free.

Many people think of blogs when they think of WordPress because it was a common tool for bloggers a decade or so ago. But now WordPress is the most popular way to build a website with themes and plugins that can do it all. Whether you want to create an ecommerce store, a freelance portfolio, a membership site, or a homepage for your business, WordPress can do it.

Webflow

Webflow is a platform with a drag-and-drop website builder. It’s a no-code tool, but you still get access to all your site’s underlying code if you need it. You can add features to your site by embedding code. But basic Webflow functionality is generally all you need.

If you’d like to add a blog, ecommerce store, or a member directory, Webflow has a CMS to enable it. You can play around with Webflow as much as you’d like for free before your site goes live. So, you can check out all the features you’d like to add and what they’d look like.

Once you finish your site, you have a couple of options. If your website is a static homepage, you can export your finished site and host it anywhere you’d like. Or, you can purchase a plan and let Webflow host your site for you. If you want to use Webflow’s CMS features, you have to purchase a plan.

Webflow vs. WordPress

The Webflow vs. WordPress debate may seem like a stalemate. They both let you build websites. But when you inspect each platform’s features, it’s easy to see the superior choice.

Ease of Use

Both Webflow and WordPress make it easy to build a website without coding. Webflow requires you to create an account. Then you can start building your site. Once you have an account, Webflow will ask you a few survey questions, then tailor your site-building experience based on your answers. Then, you can start building using the drag-and-drop editor. And if you want to create a blog or ecommerce store, you’ll also have to enable Webflow’s CMS.

To start with WordPress, you must purchase a hosting plan and install WordPress. That may sound like a lot, but it’s actually quite easy. Because WordPress powers so many sites, most web hosting providers have a one-click installation option. That means you simply click a button, and your site has WordPress. Once you install WordPress, you can manage your site from the dashboard and install a theme and plugins to give your site the functionality you want.

Cost

Webflow allows you to build a site for free without ever having to hand over your credit card number. But if you want that site to go live, you’ll have to pay for a plan unless you export a static site to your own hosting plan. Site plans for content-driven websites range from $15 to $45 a month. But if you’d like to set up an ecommerce website, those plans range from $42 to $235 a month.

WordPress is a cost-effective option because it’s free. Sure, you have to purchase your domain and a web hosting plan, but installing WordPress is free. The cost of web hosting varies based on factors like how much traffic your site receives and management services you purchase too. If you want to really customize your site, you’ll probably find yourself paying for WordPress themes and plugins too.

Templates

Both Webflow and WordPress offer pre-made design options in the form of templates (Webflow) or themes (WordPress). So any site can have a functional design for the type of website you’re trying to create. But, Webflow doesn’t have nearly the amount of templates as WordPress has themes. And due to the popularity of WordPress, you can easily find a theme designer to create something truly unique for your website.

Ecommerce

Both Webflow and WordPress allow you to create an ecommerce store. To do so with Webflow, you must enable the Webflow CMS on your site and purchase one of the ecommerce site plans. But WordPress allows you to create an ecommerce store using a plugin. WooCommerce is a popular option and even offers a free plan.

SEO

Search engine optimization is how you get people to your site from online searches. Without SEO, your site traffic tanks. Webflow comes with features that help you optimize your site. Title tags, meta descriptions, and the URL are all editable. You can change how your content looks if people share it on social media, and you can auto-generate a sitemap. But many features are behind the site plan paywall.

WordPress, on the other hand, is SEO friendly, which is one of the reasons it’s such a popular choice. WordPress allows you to edit URLs, change your permalink settings, organize your site’s content with categories and tags, and add alt text to your images. Plus, WordPress offers tons of SEO plugins to help you see how you can optimize your content. Many of these plugins will also generate a sitemap.

Integrations

Customizing a website to work the way you need it to is important. Webflow offers integrations with third-party services, but not many. Some integrations work when installed. Others require you to watch a tutorial or two so the integration will work with your site. And because Webflow wants you to purchase one of their site plans, many integrations won’t work if you move your site to a new web host.

WordPress uses plugins. The installation is generally quick and easy from the WordPress dashboard. There are tens of thousands of plugins, and many of them are free. You can add any sort of functionality you’d like to your WordPress site. And because WordPress is so popular, all the major services, like email marketing platforms, social media, payment gateways, and live chat software work with WordPress.

Support

No matter how tech-savvy you are, you will probably run into a website issue and need some help. Webflow has a library of helpful resources like articles and tutorials in the form of Webflow University. They also offer email-based support to customers Monday through Friday. And there’s a support forum where Webflow users post questions and other users and Webflow staff answer.

With WordPress, there’s tons of free support available. It’s popular and free, so many users have experience with the issues you may encounter. Generally, it’s as easy as searching Google to find the answer to your question. Loads of sites are devoted to giving free WordPress resources and advice. Even if your problem is a bit more advanced, some developers work with WordPress, and you can hire them to help you fix the issue.

Why WordPress is the Best Choice For You

WordPress is free, easy to use, fully customizable, and extremely popular. And because you don’t have to keep it on one hosting site, you can take it wherever you want, giving you full ownership of your site.

If you’re ready to start your WordPress site, check out our fully managed WordPress hosting service. You can run your site how you’d like t, and rest easy knowing Hostdedi’s team is behind you, ensuring your site’s secure.

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9 Key Steps to Reduce RTO (Return to Origin) in Ecommerce | Hostdedi

Running an online store is like playing a game of chess. But instead of a chessboard, you’re moving pieces worldwide to fulfill customer orders. If those orders start coming back, it can mean checkmate for your bottom line. Knowing how to reduce RTO in ecommerce can help your business stay profitable.

What is an RTO Order?

Before reducing RTOs, you must know what an RTO in ecommerce is. RTO stands for return to origin. It’s when a customer returns an order to the warehouse, or it wasn’t delivered.

An RTO order can happen for many reasons. Maybe the customer didn’t like what they received. Or maybe there was no one there to accept the order, or the customer had it shipped to the wrong address. Whatever the reason, RTO orders can be costly for ecommerce companies.

Why RTO is a Nightmare for Ecommerce Businesses

RTO orders can be nightmares for your company. When a customer returns a product, ecommerce businesses often foot the bill for the return shipping. Businesses also have to track items stuck in transit. And, while the items are in transit, they can’t be restocked and sold to other customers.

Plus, there are many costs associated with restocking those orders. It takes staff to handle the returned orders and process them. Plus, employees must check the returned items to ensure they aren’t damaged before restocking them.

Usually, customers pay for products upfront, and then you issue them a refund. But, if there is an RTO for a cash-on-delivery order, you’re on the hook for the order cost, plus shipping and return shipping. Reducing RTO in ecommerce can help your business avoid these costs.

Why Should Brands Reduce RTO?

Reducing RTO can save your ecommerce business a lot of money in the long run. A significant amount of RTO orders are due to fraud. Some customers may accept the product they received, use it, and return it for a full refund. Other customers may order a new item and swap it with a broken version they already owned. Then, they’ll return the broken item, effectively getting a new item for free. Even though companies can’t change the behavior of bad actors, reducing RTO orders can prevent the financial losses linked with them.

RTO-Related Costs

Knowing how to reduce RTO in ecommerce means staying profitable.

These RTO-related costs can hurt your business’s bottom line:

  • Shipping Charges. It costs money to return products. If your company offers free shipping, you factor shipping costs into the overall cost of the product. But, if a customer returns the product, you’ll pay for that shipping.
  • Repackaging Costs. Shipped items are in special boxes with packing slips and postage. When customers return those packages, they must be unpackaged and put back in inventory. Then workers must repackage them to ship them to a new buyer.
  • Damaged Products. When people return products, they sometimes go through various warehouses and are shipped with many other products. Some products get damaged during this process.
  • Handling and Overhead Costs. If a product sits on a shelf, it’s not earning money for your company. And if it finally ships, only to be returned again, it costs your business money.
  • Expiration. Some products don’t last forever. Others only have value during certain seasons. If you ship a product, it gets lost, and is found after its expiration, you’re stuck with something you can’t sell.

How Can I Reduce RTO?

Reducing RTO can help your business and save you money. Here are some steps all business owners can take to reduce RTO.

Implement a Return Policy

A return policy helps you manage how you deal with returns and exchanges. Create a policy that sets expectations for customers, so they know what they can return or exchange and by when. Being clear in your policy will prevent any awkwardness or hurt feelings from customers. Customers will respect a policy if they know the rules before purchasing.

Focus on Quality

The higher quality your products are, the less likely customers are to return them. No one wants a faulty item, and customers won’t trust your company if they don’t believe you care about quality. So focusing on the quality of the products will do a lot to prevent returns.

Also, focusing on shipping material quality can help reduce RTOs too. Better packaging that protects your products means fewer items will be damaged when shipping, and you won’t have to replace broken things.

Introduce Sizing Chart for Clothing

Buying clothing online is the norm now, but customers can be frustrated by the lack of norms in clothing sizes. A Size 2 at one store could be a Size 8 at another. And many brands use their own sizing systems that aren’t immediately clear to customers.

Giving customers access to a sizing chart makes it easier for them to know how big the clothing you sell is. It allows them to take their own measurements before purchasing. This process will cut down on returns because of incorrect sizing or because the customer purchased multiple items to ensure they got one that fit.

Elevate Value of Consumer Reviews

If RTOs are a common problem for your company, determine why. Reach out via automated email to your customers who return items and find out why they chose to do so. The information will help you determine what you can do as a business to prevent returns.

Incentivizing reviews from happy customers can help too. If a customer enjoys a product, encourage them to post a Google review with images, so others can consider their review before purchasing. Many customers will leave a review for something as small as a discount on future purchases.

Introduce Videos of Products

Allowing your customers to see your products in action before they buy will help them know what to expect. Video helps customers know exactly how the product moves or looks when used. And in turn, it cuts down on customers choosing to return a product because they didn’t get what they expected.

Post-Purchase Email

Stay in touch with customers after they click buy. Let them know where the product is and how soon it will ship. The consistent updates will help customers stay excited about the product. And the more aware of the timeline and shipping schedule a customer is, the more it will reduce objections they have to the product. This process will help you keep RTOs low and build customer trust.

Facilitate Exchanges Instead of Refunds

Even if a customer is unsatisfied or needs a different product, make the exchange process easy for them. They invested in your business by making a purchase. You can keep them happy by offering to get them what they need instead of just returning the product. Doing this will help you reduce your RTOs and still allow you to make a sale.

Quicker Shipping

Buyers expect quick shipping. Even if you aren’t a retail giant that can offer two-day shipping on everything, there are always faster options. Faster shipping means customers don’t have time to shop around while they wait for the product to reach them. You can offer faster shipping for an increased cost that the buyer selects when checking out. Or you can increase your prices to enable faster shipping across all products.

Post-Shipping Experience

Personalized packaging and a branded unboxing experience can greatly affect your RTO rates. It can keep customers from leaving bad feedback about the product’s state. Be sure to package all products nicely and send confirmation messages to customers informing them of delivery. This process shows you care about the customer’s order as much as the customer does.

Run Your Ecommerce Biz Your Way

A lot of work goes into reducing your RTO rates and building customer trust. One thing you shouldn’t have to worry about is your website. With WooCommerce hosting, Hostdedi takes care of the website monitoring, leaving you to run your business.

Check out our fully managed WooCommerce hosting plans to get the peace of mind you deserve.

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24 Best WordPress Portfolio Themes for Freelancers

Being a freelancer can feel like being the prize on stage during the Showcase Showdown on an episode of “The Price is Right.” But you don’t want to encourage low bids since there’s no penalty for going over. There’s a lot to consider when you’re wading through WordPress portfolio themes and trying to find the best way to display your skills. But with the right mindset and resources, you can build a portfolio that keeps potential clients lining up to work with you.

What to Keep in Mind When Building Your Portfolio

Your portfolio should exhibit your best work and give potential clients a sense of your skills. But that doesn’t mean you want to include every project you’ve ever done. Here are some things to keep in mind while working on your portfolio.

What to Include

When you’re building your portfolio, include only the work you’re most proud of and that relates to the type of work you want to do in the future. Even if you took some less-than-ideal clients in the past to help you pay the bills, you don’t have to display those projects. Displaying the type of work you want to do again will help you attract the kind of clients you’d like to work with and avoid projects that don’t excite you.

Being picky about the projects you feature in your portfolio can also help you with search engine optimization. Think about the keywords people will use to search for someone who does your work. Use those words and phrases to explain past projects, and your clients will be able to find you better than they would if the work you showcase is all over the place.

Enticing Descriptions and Excerpts

You already know that keywords and phrases are important when it comes to your portfolio. But it’s also essential to clarify what you can do to your ideal clients. Use simple language that everyone can understand. Even though you may use jargon when talking shop with someone in your industry, your clients may not be as familiar with insider terms. So it’s best to use words and phrases you know they’ll understand.

Make sure you take the time to share how your work benefited your past clients. Explain why you completed the project the way you did, and make it clear why it was the most effective choice for the client. Don’t be afraid to include a testimonial or two if you have them.

Make It Visual

Depending on what kind of work you do as a freelancer, making your portfolio visual may be a piece of cake. As a graphic designer or photographer, you can easily include an image from the project. But if you’re a writer, consider including some stock images to enhance the overall look of your portfolio. But beware of screenshots! They don’t always look good, especially on mobile. And don’t be afraid to include the client’s logo too, especially if it’s a well-known brand.

Organize It

Organization will help potential clients search through the work you’ve done, and it shows off your attention to detail. WordPress portfolio themes allow users to divide projects by tags and project type. This feature allows potential clients to see what you’ve done without having to wade through work that might not be relevant to their project.

24 Best WordPress Portfolio Themes for Freelancers

Now that you know what to put in your freelance portfolio, it’s time to pick from the best paid and free WordPress portfolio themes. Not all themes are equal, and some are better at displaying certain types of work than others.

  1. Astra. The Astra theme has more than 180 ready-made templates, and the photography portfolio option is great for showcasing visual work. Plus, you can use this theme with plugins like WooCommerce to sell products and services.
  2. Divi. Divi has hundreds of layouts, pre-designed page templates for your portfolio, and a page builder, so you can customize landing and sales pages. Plus, Divi is designed with good search engine optimization in mind.
  3. Authority Pro. The Authority Pro portfolio theme uses the Genesis Framework and comes with tons of page templates, and the homepage uses widgets so you can set it up quickly and easily.
  4. Pile. The Pile WordPress theme gives you a homepage with a customizable full-screen slider. The image galleries are great for showcasing your work.
  5. Peak. Peak has multiple layouts for your pages and blog posts, plus great menu options for the top of your site and sidebar widgets. The homepage displays your work in a responsive tile layout.
  6. Avril. This free theme loads quickly and allows you to customize colors, header, featured images, layouts, and templates. Avril is translation-ready if you work with clients worldwide and can help you create a multilingual site.
  7. Fargo. Fargo may be the best theme to showcase your artwork if you’re a visual artist. It also works with WooCommerce to help you sell your work and book clients.
  8. Corner. This minimalist WordPress portfolio theme comes with multiple layouts and the option to add custom widgets. It also works with WooCommerce.
  9. Elegant. The Elegant theme is a great option if you like drag-and-drop page builders. It comes with several built-in templates and custom widgets.
  10. Eclection. This theme comes with a filterable portfolio to make it easy for your potential clients to search your projects. It has the ability to match your website to your brand.
  11. GridMe. If you like to blog, the GridMe theme is a great way to display your work. GridMe comes with many options for posts and pages, header styles, and featured post widgets.
  12. Massive Dynamic. This theme allows you to edit any premade layouts or build your own, plus you can make changes in real-time without having to refresh as you go.
  13. Werkstatt. If you like a minimalist look, Werkstatt is a great option for using premade portfolio styles to show what you can do. Plus, this portfolio is fully filterable.
  14. Grafik. You can create unique layouts for each portfolio project using the Grafik theme. Plus, it supports interactive infographics, and it’s search engine optimized.
  15. Kalium. This WordPress portfolio theme gives you space to feature past client logos in your portfolio, and you can even sync your Dribble account to import your projects easily.
  16. Uncode. This theme gives you multiple portfolio layout options, plus the capability to create premade content sections that you can reuse on any page of your site.
  17. Grand Portfolio. This theme comes with premade layouts and a filterable portfolio with a grid layout. There’s also an infinite scroll feature for those with a really big body of work.
  18. Adios. Adios comes with nine homepage layouts and your choice of three portfolio layouts. This theme loads fast, and it’s search engine optimized.
  19. Proton. Proton gives a sleek look with tons of features if you need a translation-ready theme. You can customize your portfolio and the layout for individual projects.
  20. Slush Pro. The SlushPro homepage features images of your projects in an old-school blog-style layout. You can display your portfolio using multiple columns and header and page layout options.
  21. Coastline. The Coastline theme gives you a fixed sidebar on the left to constantly display your information with a homepage made up completely of thumbnails of your work. It’s also search engine optimized.
  22. Draft. This free theme looks as good as many of the paid options, plus it gives you two navigation menus – one for your site and one in the footer for social media.
  23. Air. The Air theme is search engine optimized and loads quickly. If you want a theme that gives you tons of white space to make your work stand out, this theme is a great option.
  24. Kadence. The Kadence theme isn’t just easy to use, it loads fast and unlocks unlimited customization options for every area of your site. If you want total design control, Kadence is for you.

Ready to Build Your Portfolio?

It took you years to get to the level you are as a freelance professional. There’s no reason you have to become a webmaster too. We can help you ensure your WordPress-based portfolio site is always up and running. Contact Hostdedi and let us host your portfolio website.

This blog was originally published in January 2014. It has since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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Is WordPress Easy to Use? Simple Overview [2022]

You need a website for your business, but things have changed since you last customized a MySpace profile. You’ve looked into some website options and still have questions. Is WordPress easy to use? Do you need to learn to code and design?

The good news is that WordPress can help even the newest beginner build a website. It’s a popular option for a reason, and understanding all its features will make even MySpace Tom a believer.

What is WordPress?

If you ask, people will probably tell you they use WordPress for their business website. About 43% of the websites on the internet use WordPress. So, what exactly is it?

WordPress is a tool that can be easy to use for the average site owner while still offering complex functionality for web developers. WordPress is a content management system or CMS. Simply put, a CMS allows users to modify the look of a website without using HTML, CSS, or Javascript. It’s a way for people who don’t understand code to design and maintain a website easily.

WordPress allows you to customize your site’s design, add multimedia elements, organize your site content with tags and categories, and manage the users who have access to your site’s backend.

But beware! Not all WordPress is created equal. WordPress.com and WordPress.org are not the same things.

WordPress.com is a blog hosting service. It’s great for new bloggers but not fabulous for a business because it doesn’t offer any ecommerce features or payment gateways.

WordPress.org, however, is often referred to as “the real WordPress.” It’s open source software that’s free to use. All you need is a domain name and web hosting. You own the site and all the data, and there’s no limit to how you can customize or monetize your site.

Is WordPress Easy to Use?

WordPress is a great way to build a website without learning coding languages. But is WordPress easy to use? Even if you’ve never used WordPress to create a website, it’s still much easier than building a site from scratch.

Key WordPress Features

WordPress is the powerhouse behind so many websites for a reason. The features WordPress offers make it robust and easy to use.

WordPress features include:

  • Flexibility. You can use WordPress to create any type of site from a blog, ecommerce site, online magazine, or a membership community. You can even use it to build an app.
  • User Friendly. Formatting your posts and pages is straightforward. You can easily create and schedule website content, and WordPress is available in more than 70 languages.
  • Quick Installation. Many website hosting companies offer one-click WordPress installation, meaning you can install a CMS on your site quickly and easily.
  • User Management. With WordPress, you can designate how much access people have to your site. You determine who is an administrator, editor, author, contributor, or subscriber in the WordPress settings. Each of these members has varying levels of access and control.
  • Easy Theme System. No matter what kind of website you’re trying to build or how you want it to look, there’s a theme for that. Installing themes is quick and easy, and you can customize any theme to fit your brand.
  • Social Media Integration. Plugins allow you to display social media widgets on your site, which help your customers connect with you on those platforms.

Making Your Website from Scratch

WordPress makes it easy to build a website. But how difficult is it to build one from scratch? That depends on what you know and how much time and money you have.

You’ll need to know how to code to build a website from scratch. If HTML, CSS, or Javascript are languages you speak, building a website won’t be the most challenging thing, but it will be time-consuming. So even if you want to have that level of control of the site, building a website from scratch would take precious time away from other aspects of running your business.

Plus, depending on what you need your website to do, you may find yourself hiring a developer. WordPress plugins make it easy to create an ecommerce store or membership site. But if you need that level of functionality without using WordPress, you’ll probably need a developer to help you build it.

And then, when the site is up and running, you’re on the hook for all the maintenance. WordPress, plugins, and themes are updated frequently to fix any issues or improve security. If you aren’t using them, you will be doing a lot of upkeep on your own.

Why WordPress is So Popular

It’s easy to see why WordPress is so popular. It’s free and easy for beginners or pros to use. The customizations are endless, and no matter what kind of site you’re building, you can use WordPress as your CMS, which means you don’t have to learn a new system when you want to create something new.

Plus, even if you choose to create something beyond the realm of the WordPress plugins available, WordPress is still powerful enough that developers can use it to create whatever site you have in mind.

Ready to Build Your WordPress Site?

WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems available today. It’s also easy to set up and use, making it ideal for beginners who want to create their own websites without learning to code. With our fully managed WordPress hosting, you can get the ease of use of a WordPress site with the peace of mind of knowing that Hostdedi is monitoring your site against security breaches and outages.

Get started building your WordPress site with Hostdedi today.

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