Rank on Google โ If youโve ever written a blog post before, you know how much time it can take.
From topic selection and gathering research to writing the post and pressing โPublish,โ the process often demands hours. Thatโs why, if your post doesnโt earn the traffic you expected, it can be a major letdown.
Fortunately, thereโs a way to combat low traffic: search engine optimization. As marketers, weโre always aiming to write content thatโll rank highly on Google, and SEO is the bridge thatโll help you get there. That begs the question: How do you incorporate that into your content?
Donโt worry โ weโve got you covered. In this post, weโre going to dive into 12 ways to master SEO writing.
What is SEO writing?
SEO writing is the process of writing content to rank on the first page of search engines like Google. This involves researching keywords, writing high-quality content that matches user intent, and optimizing your headers for easy page crawling.
A 2020 Search Engine Journal study found that the clickthrough rate for websites in position one on the search engine results page (SERP)is 25%. This number drops drastically to 15% for websites in position two and then down to 2.5% for websites in position 10. When you get to page two of Google, that number gets even lower.
This means that if your website is not on the first page, thereโs a small chance consumers will find your website organically. Fewer visits to your site mean fewer opportunities to generate leads, and ultimately, revenue.
Your next best option is investing in advertising to get those users to your site. But that costs money, and if youโre on a tight budget, why not invest time in SEO writing? Itโs free and will likely bring you traffic for much longer than a campaign would.
12 Tips on How To Incorporate SEO in Your Writing
1. Use headings to your benefit.
Headers help Googleโs web crawlers understand your blog post and the sections within it.
Think of the crawlers as readers who are skimming your blog. They want an overview of what your article will cover, thatโs your H1. Then your H2s, H3s, H4s break down the subtopics within the piece.
So, your subheaders should reflect the content in the body and include high-intent keywords. When you use the right keywords, meaning the ones your target audience is using, you have a much higher chance of ranking on the SERP.
2. Optimize your content for featured snippets.
Featured snippets on Google are the most direct answers to search queries. For instance, if I were to search, โHow do you write a blog post?โ Google might use a featured snippet to show the best answer.
To earn a featured snippet on Google, youโll need to answer the question thoroughly and succinctly.
For instance, if the search term is โHow to screenshot on mac,โ you can put โHow to Take a Screenshot on a MacBook Computerโ as your H1 or H2, followed by the steps in a numbered or bulleted list.
Once youโve done that, be sure to include part of the question in your answer. Using the example above, you would start the paragraph with the following: โTo take a screenshot on your MacBook, here are the stepsโฆโ
Additionally, start each sentence with an actionable verb, like โclickโ and โselect.โ
If the keyword for which you want to capture the featured snippet requires a definition, write an answer thatโs no more than 58 words.
3. Write for humans, not search engines.
With all these SEO guidelines, it can be easy to forget that when a user searches on Google, they are looking for an answer. The best way for you to improve your chances of ranking is by writing high-quality blog posts.
What does that look like? Thorough answers, scannable sections, organized subheaders, and visual aids.
Keep your buyer personas, their motivations, challenges, and interests in mind. Itโs also important to choose topics that will resonate with your potential customers and address their pain points. While some SEO tools can help on the technical side of your site, you can also opt to use content writing SEO tools to help you to write correct, concise, and human-friendly content that will rank well and engage readers. Different tools also measure content engagement, allowing you to see how long people are spending on a page, whether or not theyโre visiting multiple pages, or how far people are scrolling down your site.
4. Include keywords in your meta description.
Are you adding meta descriptions to your post? If your answer is โno,โ then youโre probably not giving your post the most exposure possible. Letโs get into why theyโre important.
By now, weโve talked about a couple of the ways a blog post can communicate with Google: subheaders, keywords, and snippets. However, thatโs not an exhaustive list.
Meta descriptions are another area Google crawls to determine search rankings. Meta descriptions are the one- to three-sentence descriptions, youโll find underneath the title of a result.
Use meta descriptions to sum up what your post is about, and remember to:
Keep it short.
Use one to two keywords.
Make it compelling. After all, there are going to be other posts similar to yours so youโll want your description to stand out above the rest.
Most content management systems (CMS) have meta description boxes built-in, so you likely wonโt have to look far to use the function.
5. Add alt text to images.
With any image you add to your post โ featured or body images โ youโll want to add alt text.
Alt text describes whatโs happening in the photo and it helps Google (as well as those who are visually impaired) understand why the photo is in your post.
For instance, letโs say your article is about virtual events and you include the following image:
The alt text should read something like, โBusiness man attending a virtual event sits at a desk while holding a pen.โ
This sentence is descriptive and includes the main keyword โvirtual event.โ So, even if the reality is that this is a stock image, you can create a narrative that aligns with your blog post.
6. Start with keyword research.
Itโs estimated that Google processes over 70,000 search queries a second. Staggering, right?
If you want to cut through SERP clutter and outrank your competitors, you need to target the specific keywords and phrases your potential customers are searching for. Otherwise, how else will they find your content and website?
For an inside look into how Ahrefs can aid you in your SEO keyword research and beyond, check out our case study and exclusive interview here.
Google Trends can also give you a feel for what keywords are popular at any given time. If you see searches are steadily declining over time for a specific keyword, you know thatโs probably not the right keyword to target for your marketing. The opposite is true for rising trends.
If youโre ever running low on keyword ideas, get inspiration from your competition. Use competitive intelligence tools to see what keywords their domains currently rank for. If these keywords are relevant to your business, consider using them too.
However, keep in mind that the most obvious keywords donโt always align with your strategy. Additionally, your focus keywords will evolve over time as trends shift, terminology changes or your product/service line grows.
Be sure to conduct keyword research periodically to ensure youโre still focusing on the right keywords for your target audience and not missing out on vital ranking opportunities.
7. Resist the urge to keyword stuff.
The goal is to make your page fully optimized, not overbearing. Find natural fits for keyword additions, but donโt force them to the point where your content is illegible.
For example, if your keywords are โaccount-based marketing,โ โstartups,โ and โsales,โ avoid a meta description like this: โSales for account-based marketing startups.โ
Instead, try focusing on one or two keywords to make the description more natural: โAre you looking for killer strategies to boost your account-based marketing game? Discover our research-backed techniques in this post.โ
With this approach, youโre still using keywords, but youโre not oversaturating the post. Remember, your goal is to solve for your audience. If your users have a poor reading experience, that will signal to Google that your post may not be meeting their needs.
8. Link to high-authority websites.
As you build out your blog post, donโt be afraid to link externally.
Linking to reputable websites not only offers blog readers additional reading material to expand their knowledge, but it also shows search engines that youโve done your research.
Nothing strengthens a blog post like research-backed statistics from influential websites. Compelling stats help you build a more convincing and concrete argument that will help you gain trust from your readers.
9. Aim for scannable, longer posts.
In an age of short attention spans, you would think shorter blog posts are the way to go. But in fact, search engines like Google actually prefer longer, in-depth blog posts.
Think about it: the more content on the page, the more clues search engines have to figure out what your blog is about. At HubSpot, weโve found that the ideal length is between 2,100 and 2,400 words.
The downside to longer blogs is that they may overwhelm your readers. One way to combat that is by breaking down your content into bite-size, scannable chunks.
Turn a long-winded sentence into two and keep your paragraphs to three sentences or less.
Donโt forget about bullet points โ theyโre great attention grabbers and easily digestible, especially on mobile devices.
10. Link to other posts on your site.
Linking to other pages or blog posts on your website helps search engines create an accurate sitemap. It also helps your audience discover more of your content and get to know you as a trustworthy, credible source of information.
On the user side, Internal links to other valuable content keep readers on your site longer, reducing bounce rate and increasing your potential for a conversion. Isnโt that what itโs all about?
When linking to any pages on your website, or even outside sources, use natural language for your anchor text. Avoid using spammy or generic calls to action, such as โtop-rated cheap laptopsโ or โclick here.โ
Instead, use descriptive keywords that give readers a sense of what they will find when they click on the hyperlink, like โDownload your SEO guide.โ
Never force-feed links to your top webpages, featured products, or discounted items. Include links that enhance the points made in your posts and naturally tie in with the subject matter.
11. Compress images for fast page load speed.
Google rewards pages with fast loading speeds, as it improves the user experience.
One of the leading culprits of page lag is large, heavy images. If you have several images in your post and each one is over 100KB, that can drastically impact your page speed.
Luckily, there are free apps, like Squoosh.app, that compress images without sacrificing quality.
If you suspect that your low ranking is due to slow page speeds, head over to Googleโs PageSpeed site for a free analysis and recommendations.
Why? Think of search results like a competition where the winners get the most votes. Each webpage that links back to you is considered a vote for your website, which makes your content more trustworthy in the eyes of Google. In turn, this will make you rise further up in ranking.
So, itโs good to write posts that other websites or publications will want to hyperlink within their own posts. To make your websiteโs blog post more linkable, include high-value assets in your posts, such as original data and thought leadership.
Conducting interviews with experts is another effective way of leading traffic back to your website.
How to Title Blog Posts for SEO
Even with a great, SEO-friendly post body, a bad headline could hurt you in the SERP.
To title your post with SEO in mind, write something compelling that also incorporates your main keyword. Here are a few tips:
Incorporate numbers. E.g.: โ5 Ways to Rock a Matte Lipstick.โ
Include your offer in the title. E.g.: โHow to Write a Cover Letter [+ Free Template]โ
Add a teaser. E.g.: โWe Tried the New [Insert App Name] App: Hereโs What Happenedโ
You know how to write content audiences will love. Now, itโs time to include elements that Google will love too. It can sound tricky at first, with these SEO tips, youโll be on the first page of Google in no time.
Make Money Online โ Starting a side hustle online and unlocking multiple income streams sounds like a dream come true. Imagine having more time to spend with friends and family and traveling anywhere you wantโall while making more money.
The best part? You donโt need to be an expert to get started. Even as a beginner, there are dozens of ways you can start making extra money online.
Hereโs how to make money online for beginners (even if you donโt have any skills or experience). As long as you have an internet connection, youโre good to go.
How to make money online
1. Get involved in market research
Earn cash for taking free paid surveys while influencing the next generation of products, services and much more.
The global commerce platform
Companies are constantly looking for consumers to test websites and digital products, and to provide feedback on their latest features. The good news is, you donโt have to be a pro at using a product or service to take part in market researchโin fact, brands are often looking for people who donโt know much about their product to get their initial thoughts. A video game company, for example, might pay a gaming novice to test out how intuitive the game is for people of all levels.
You donโt have to test games, though. There are plenty of sites that record people using a website or navigating a new product and pay them for their efforts. For example, UserTesting pays $10 for a 20-minute screen recording and survey sites like Swagbucks and Branded Surveys pay respondents for their time.
Startup time: A few minutes to create an account on each site.
Effort: Minimal effort depending on how many surveys or research activities you want to be involved in.
First payout: Immediately.
What to know:ย
Most survey and market research sites require participants to be 18 years of age or older.
Survey sites often have a limited number of paid surveys each month, so be sure to sign up to multiple sites to increase your chances of getting paid.
2. Become an online tutor
Teach what you know. Everyone has something theyโre knowledgeable about, whether itโs trigonometry, classic literature books, or Spanish conjunctions. The best part is, you only need to be one step ahead of the person youโre teaching to help them.
Because of this, there are tons of websites that let people from all over the world sell their knowledge to students. And because the majority of lessons are done via video chat (or even text chat), you can work remotely from anywhere.
This industry has exploded during the pandemic, providing people with an easy way to make money online, regardless of how much they know about a topic. Sites like TutorMe and Wyzant have an easy setup process and let you advertise your services to potential students in several different countries, whether youโre teaching math, science, English, or another language. If thereโs something youโre particularly knowledgeable about, you can create short tutorials or sell your lessons to business owners.
Startup time: A few minutes to create an account on your chosen tutor sites.
Effort: Minimal effort to get started, but it will require a certain amount of commitment to maintain a consistent income.
First payout: One week to one month.
What to know:ย
Most tutor sites require tutors to be 18 years of age or older.
Specializing in a specific topic will help you become an expert and earn more.
Tutor sites often take a cut of your payment or charge a fee to withdraw your earnings.
3. Sell your clothes and other belongings
Who doesnโt have a never-worn-before shirt tucked away at the back of their closet? Selling your unwanted clothes and other items is a popular way to earn extra cash each month and clear out your home at the same time.
Mobile apps like Poshmark, Etsy, and Craigslist let you upload your clothes, accessories, and other items to a personal storefront and sell them to shoppers all over the world. Itโs not just limited to clothing thoughโconsider selling ornaments, knick-knacks, and furniture on eBay or local selling sites.
Startup time: An hour or so to snap photos of your items and upload them to your chosen selling site.
Effort: A bit of effort upfront, but then the only effort required is to either maintain your โstorefrontโ and ship items, if necessary.
First payout: Depends on how long it takes to sell your first item.
What to know:ย
Most selling sites require you to take charge of shipping, which can add up after a while.
Upload your products to multiple sites to increase their chances of selling.
Most third-party selling apps take a cut of your profit or charge a fee for each listing.
4. Become an affiliate for your favorite products
Brand affiliates receive a unique link from a brand and get rewarded with a commission whenever someone in their network buys a product through clicking that link. Multiple brands offer an affiliate marketing program where you can sign up, get your link, and share it with your friends and family. The best part is you can get paid for recommending products you would recommend anyway.
Amazonโs affiliate program lets you add a unique code to a URL to claim back a portion of the payment if someone you know or referred buys a product (it can be any product in Amazonโs catalog), but there are also individual affiliate programs for different brands and storefronts that make it possible for you to become an affiliate for your favorite brands.
Startup time: A few minutes to generate your affiliate codes.
Effort: Minimal effort upfront, but it can take consistent effort to make a decent chunk of money from affiliate programs.
First payout: One week to one month, depending on the payment terms of your chosen affiliate programs.
What to know:ย
The average cut for affiliates is 5% to 30%, so youโll get more money for selling higher-ticket items.
Most affiliate programs require participants to be 18 years of age or over.
It helps to have a strategy in place to make consistent income, either via a blog, an online presence on social media, or a community.
Most affiliate programs require you to add a disclaimer to your unique link saying that youโll get a cut of the payment.
5. Start a dropshipping business
Dropshipping allows you to sell products online without having to fulfill or ship orders yourself. Customers make a purchase via your store, which alerts a third-party manufacturer or supplier who then sends the product directly to the customer.
This ecommerce model can be a good way to build a small business. Thereโs the opportunity to make a lot of money and earn passive income, but there can be a small learning curve to getting started if you donโt know much about setting up your own website or an online store.
However, ecommerce platforms like Shopify make it really simple for even the most novice dropshippers to set up a beautiful store and start getting sales. Choose a pre-made template, drag-and-drop your store and product information, and connect up your chosen dropship suppliers to start selling straight away.
Startup time: A few hours to get your store up and running.
Effort: Dropshipping is the easiest ecommerce business model to get into without knowing much about the industry.
Successful dropshipping is about choosing the right products; research suppliers and trending categories to get it right.
Most dropship suppliers require a monthly subscription to sell their products or take a cut of each order.
6. Transcribe recordings
Transcription services are still in high demand thanks to the growing popularity of video and audio content. Transcribing simply means listening to a podcast, video, or audio recording from a YouTube channel and turning it into a text document.
As well as joining gig sites like Upwork and Fiverr that advertise transcribing opportunities, you can often find part-time online jobs as a transcriber for companies in various industries. They sometimes let you work remotely, which means you can earn money from home.
Transcribers can get paid quite well (sometimes upward of $25 per hour), but it helps if youโre a fast typer with a firm grasp on grammar and punctuation in the language youโre transcribing.
Startup time: A few hours to add your profile to gig sites or find relevant jobs.
Effort: If youโre a fast typer, transcribing can be a relatively easy way to make money online. Unless you land a part-time job or a retainer client, youโll need to look for new work regularly.
First payout: Depends on the payment structure agreed with your clients or employer.
What to know:ย
Transcribers can get paid hourly or per minute of recording.
You donโt need any qualifications to become a transcriber, but having an online certificate can help you stand out.
7. Rent out your stuff
Sometimes people donโt want to buy a product, they simply want access to one for a set period of timeโweโre talking things like lawnmowers, kitchenware, cars, and even rooms in your house. Sites like FriendWithA make it possible to rent products like this and pay the owner for the opportunity.
If youโve got a lot of stuff thatโs not always in use or that people might be interested in renting out, why not put it up for hire? This way you can earn a bit of money on items that would otherwise be gathering dust in your shed, cupboard, or garage.
You can even rent your car when youโre not using it or the spare room in your house on a site like Airbnb to make extra money on the weekends.
Startup time: A few hours to upload your products to relevant sites and to browse listings.
Effort: Varies depending on the products youโre renting out; hiring out your car or a room in your house involves more effort than lending someone your kitchen scales.
First payout: Usually immediately.
What to know:ย
Sites that rent out products usually require both renters and rentees to be 18 years of age or over.
Get insurance or choose a site that offers insurance on your products in case they get damaged or lost by someone renting them.
You donโt need to be an expert to make money onlineย
As you can see from the ideas above, you donโt need any prior experience, in-depth knowledge, or specific skill set to start making money online as a beginner. In fact, there are plenty of ways you can earn some extra income, start a side gig, or create a new career. Try out some of the ideas aboveย and start making money online today.
Starting an online business is a big decision; honestly, itโs only for some.ย Is starting an online business worth it now in 2023?
It could be if youโre looking for things such as:
Financial freedom
Income unattached from working time
And no upper limit on potential earnings
But before taking the plunge into your nextย business idea, there are very BIG things that not too many talks about.
You could call it โthe dark secrets of entrepreneursโ ๐ซข
Okay, that was a bit over the top, but you need toย expect to work hard consistently for a long time to achieve meaningful results.
How long? It can take anywhere from months to years with little return on investment (in the short term).
So is starting a small business, startup, or even anย e-commerce businessย reallyย worth it?
Read on to find out my personal reasons as to why I think it is, as I gave up my 10+ years of an engineering career to pursue and become a full-timeย content creator!
1. Freedom (If Successful)
Financial freedom is living on your terms without worrying about money. Itโs a state of financial independence that allows you to control your finances and make decisions based on whatโs best for you, not just what pays the bills.
Financial freedom provides many benefits, such as increased flexibility in lifestyle choices and peace of mind of not having a boss to answer to.
You get to invest in yourself or others, travel freely without worrying about expenses, and pursue passions with greater ease.
Additionally, it can provide an opportunity for personal growth as one learns how to manage their finances better and become more financially savvy.
And you will learnโฆ A LOT!
To have a successful online business, hard work, and dedication are a must, along with a clear understanding of how the business model works in depth.
This will enable one to maximize earning potential while minimizing risks associated with a new business.
2. Income Detached From Time
Generating income without spending a lot of time working is one of the most significant advantages of running an online business if set up in that way.
You can make money while sleeping or doing other activities withย passive incomeย streams. This means you donโt have to be tied to your computer all day long and still make a decent living.
So whatโs the inverse dark secret to this?
The flip side is that youโll most likely spend more time in front of the computer anyways!
Itโs a funny thing that happens when you work for yourself, you just keep going, and there are no time constraints or work hours.
There are many ways to generate income through an online business such as
The list is endless ways you can create an income with your own online business.
You essentially create multiple passive income streams by diversifying into different areas so that if one stream slows down, you will still have others generating revenue for you.
They say that the average millionaire has seven different income streams, and I can see why.
To maximize your time working from home on your business plan, itโs vital to set clear goals and prioritize tasks based on importance and urgency, and I think this is something that many beginners struggle with this.
Breaking up large projects into smaller tasks makes them easier to manage and complete on time. Regular daily breaks help keep focus levels high, leading to better productivity.
By having an income that is not dependent on the time you spend working, you can reap the rewards of passive income and have more freedom to pursue goals that you personally desire.
3.ย No Upper Ceiling On Revenue
When running an online business, there is no upper limit on what you can make.
Everything you do directly impacts how much you earn, and the entire world can be your potential customers.
And thatโs the beauty of having an online business, you can reach more people than ever and increase your chances of making money, even as a blogger.
Technology advancements, especially Artificial Intelligence, make it easier than ever to scale up quickly and efficiently without significant upfront investments or overhead costs.
To maximize your earning potential, focus on creating quality content and products that appeal to your target audience.
In essence, solve a problem that the market already has, either through apps, physical products, or even your own products.
Additionally, invest in marketing campaigns such as social media ads or organic traffic acquisition through search engine optimization (SEO) so that more people find out about what your ecommerce website is offering.
As your customer base grows, look for ways toย automate workflowย processes such as order fulfillment or customer service inquiries so that you donโt have too much manual labor involved in managing the day-to-day operations of your business.
Additionally, explore opportunities for partnerships with other companies who can help promote yours in exchange for a commission fee or other benefits like increased visibility within their networks/audiences.
The potential for success with an online business is truly limitless. Still, it requires almost universally extreme hard work, consistency, and dedication which not too many are equipped to handle.
Letโs look at staying motivated and committed when working from home and strategies for balancing life and work.
How To Succeed With An Online Biz
When being involved in entrepreneurship, having an unbreakable mindset and being prepared to fail several times are qualities that become more critical than ever.
To succeed in the world of online business requires long hours of hard wor, without fail, daily.
I created an image that perfectly displays whatโs going on when starting a new side hustle ๐.
Most people give up before the big explosion happens, and this is not just for blogging; itโs more like a universal law.
You must remain consistent with your business strategy, or you WILL fail.
It can also be challenging to stay motivated whenย working from homeย due to the lack of structure or accountability typically found in an office setting.
One way I found around this is by creating specific goals you want to achieve each day,ย a daily checklistย so that you have something tangible to measure your progress.
Additionally, setting deadlines for yourself helps develop a sense of urgency which can help keep you focused on completing tasks efficiently while still maintaining quality standards.
But remember to take breaks throughout the day and reward yourself after reaching milestones; both activities will help keep morale high when motivation may be low.
Hitting the gym is a fantastic way to stay productive while getting a mental break from the work-from-home environment.
Itโs very easy to slip up on other aspects of life, such as family time or leisure activities like hobbies outside of work when striving towards success with our businesses.
But as long as youโre mentally aware of this will help you to avoid WFH burnout.
How Much Do Online Business Owners Make?
The amount of money online business owners make varies greatly depending on the type of business, how much time and effort they put into it, and their level of success.
Generally speaking, successful people can earn anywhere from a few thousand dollars to tens or even hundreds of thousands per month.
One of them is Adam Enfroy, who is making a killing through organic marketing with blogging. You can learn more in Adamsโs freeย Blog Growth Engineย masterclass.
FAQs
Wrap Up
With content marketing, software, AI, and the ability to work from home, countless opportunities are available for those looking to make money online.
A biz can provide financial freedom, income unattached from working time, and no upper limit on potential earnings. However, it requires a ton of effort without any guarantee of success.
Starting an online business is worth it if you are ready to take on the challenge and reap the rewards.
Hustlerโs University was updated and rebranded at the end of 2022. The new version is known asย The Real Worldย (reviewed here). The HU review below is preserved for posterity.
ย
Welcome to our definitiveย Hustlers University review.
My team and I have spent several hours researching the training โ andย Andrew Tateย himself โ and going through the material to see if it lives up to the hype.
Since then, Iโve earned my living online in various ways.ย Over the last 3 years (through 2022) Iโve earnedย $536,000ย from my laptop.
Iโm on a mission to accurately rate and review all theย best online business courses. My team and I are spending many hours investigating these courses and getting feedback from real students.
All that to say: we know a thing or two about such courses and making money online.
Earn cash for taking free paid surveys while influencing the next generation of products, services and much more.
The global commerce platform
The Best Online Business Course?
Weโre on a mission to find the best courses to help you make money online, based on our own extensive research plus feedback from real students.
The Hustlerโs University training covers many ways to make money online, such as copywriting,ย Amazon FBA, and option trading.
While HU has its merits, it isnโt one of the best courses weโve reviewedโฆ
Andrew Tate, the founder of HU, sells the course as a platform for complete beginners to make money onlineโฆ
Screenshot taken from a course info page
The training certainly has something for everyone, even complete beginners.
However, the claim that you will make money on day one is a stretch, especially if youโre new to business and entrepreneurship.
Personally, Iโd say thatย Hustlerโs University is mainly for fans of Andrew Tate who are happy to pay $50/month for a broad introduction to many ways of making money online.
If this hype video resonates with you, youโll probably like Hustlerโs Universityโฆ
Despite those allegations, Andrew Tate has built quite a big following online, and my research uncovered far more praise than criticism for him and his online courses.
However, much of that praise rings a little hollow.
For example, the positiveย reviews for Andrew Tate on Trustpilotย sound like they come from either affiliates or people who have just recently discovered him. The latter are usually hopeful that heโll help them make money online.
A prime example of such praiseโฆ
As a member of HU2 I can confirm itโs 100% legit. I was sceptical at first but it is the real deal. Iโve been a member for a week and have already started pushing out emails to get clients. Soon Iโll be learning how to creat ads and buisness pages. Its as real as it gets man, my emails are improving daily. You need to have a strong focus on it though and soak up all info provided. Thereโs also a chat that u can post your work to to get points of view on it, feedback.
Are Andrew Tateโs students getting results?
Despite the controversy, itโs easy enough to find students of Hustler University reporting results across all campuses.
For exampleโฆ
ย
ย
ย
There are also testimonials on the course info page, but theyโre not very convincing. Most of them just praise the course overall, with only a few believable success stories.
Nevertheless, many studentsโ reported earnings are much bigger than the price of HU, soย my impression is that the training proves effective for most people who put in the work consistently.
How much does Hustlerโs University cost?
The price of Hustlerโs University is listed atย $49.99 per month.
So if you stay in the course for a full 24 months, and the price doesnโt change during that time, youโll spend a total of $1176 just on the training.
(Of course, you can cancel your membership at any time.)
There are some additional expenses for some of the campuses, but they are listed on numerous places throughout the coursesโ Discord threads.
Iโve searched high and low for a discount or coupon code but have yet to find mention of one anywhere, and thereโs no place to enter a discount code on the Hustlerโs University checkout.
Sorry guys: itโs full-price or nothing.
Refund Policy
There are no refunds for Hustlers University.
You can only cancel your subscription, but make sure to do it before your membership is renewed for another month.
If you paid $50 to join on May 1st, and then cancelled it on May 2nd, you would be removed from the discord on May 31st. Or you could pay to join on May 1st, and cancel it on May 31st and you would be removed May 31st.
How is Hustlerโs University structured?
The course is hosted entirely on Discord, a popular social chat platform.
Hustlerโs University is made up of several โcampusesโ, each one getting its own Discord group.
Hereโs what the general group looks like once you sign upโฆ
ย
As soon as you start following the first steps, you will be prompted to select one quadrant from the following:
Time Rich โ Cash Poor More than 28 available hours per week, less than $5000 free to invest.
Time Poor โ Cash Poor Less than 28 available hours per week, less than $5000 free to invest.
Time Poor โ Cash Rich Less than 28 available hours per week, more than $5000 free to invest.
Time Rich โ Cash Rich More than 28 available hours per week, more than $5000 free to invest.
Wherever youโre starting from, the course promises to help you reach the final quadrantย
The biggest problem with the HU training is Discord itself.
Discord may be a great platform overall, but IMO itโs not a good choice for a course like this. The campuses look scattered, and it seems like different people are in charge of each one so they often have different setups.
For instance, the Copywriting Campus lays out the majority of lessons without much hassle, and requires you to take a quiz to move on to the advanced level. But the course for Stocks requires you to complete a small quiz every time you go through a lesson. Because there are so many of these quizzes, this may feel tedious for many students rather quickly.
The quality of the training seems to vary by campus as wellโฆ
Copywriting Campus
The Copywriting Campus is probably the best because it has everything laid out in video lessons. Many of them come with additional materials, like relevant online tools and PDF files. I found the info to be solid and easy to digest.
Freelance Campus
The Freelance Campus is another good one. The instructor speaks clearly, and thereโs an abundance of lessons, both text and video, but mostly video.
Itโs also decently structured โ it wonโt show you all the threads immediately, but rather as soon as you complete all the lessons (or press the button required to proceed). This makes the campus much easier to understand.
Amazon FBA Campus
The Amazon FBA Campus is also quite good. It shows you all the lessons immediately. Again, there are lots of videos, followed by a bunch of text.
Stocks Campus
The Stocks Campus primarily teaches you how to trade options. It starts off well, but as mentioned, it has way too many quizzes IMO.
I would also have liked to see more video lessons here. The majority of the course is text lessons.
Crypto Campus
The Crypto Campus is similar to the one for Stocks, but it has more visuals, and doesnโt require you to complete a quiz every now and again.
Ecommerce Campus
The E-Com campus is the most scattered of all, IMO. I found it by far the hardest to navigate, and itโs also mostly text lessons. There are some videos, many of them in slideshow format. There is decent value there though, with many of the lessons packed with practical advice.
Affiliate Program
Last, but not least, Hustlerโs University also has some basic affiliate marketing training.
The lessons here are all text, and theyโre mainly just teaching you how to promote HU itself.
That might sound a bitย MLM-y, but the affiliate marketing campus of HU seems to be the least popular; they donโt push you to join it or promote HU to other people. It even took me a while to find this corner of Hustlerโs University!
The Community
If thereโs one thing HU truly excels at, itโs the community.ย
Every day, 1000โs of course students share their wins, ask questions, and help each other out. Whether you like Andrew Tate or not, you have to give it to him for bringing together so many like-minded individuals.
One final issue to be aware of: Hustlerโs University requires lots of scrolling!
This especially goes for the bigger / more popular campuses, where you often have to scroll back up through tons of content to find what youโre looking for.
Green Lightsย
Some positive points for Hustlerโs Universityโฆ
Frequent student success stories.
Active private community.
The training is practical and step-by-step.
Several courses in one, covers a lot of ground.
Low price to get started.
Red Flagsย
A few things to be wary of regarding Hustlerโs Universityโฆ
So much content it can be overwhelming, and not always easy to find your way around.
No refunds.
Many big skeletons in Andrew Tateโs closet.
No mention on sales page of expenses beyond the price of the training.
Claims ecommerce is an easy way to make money online.
Other things you should know
Despite the overhyped marketing for this course, its interior is not riddled with any unrealistic claims. Once inside, youโll see that itโs not a get-rich-quick scheme, and they emphasize putting in the work to get results. Youโll still come across some people in there who make it all sound super easy, but they are few and far between.
Among the most common critiques for this course (especially on Reddit) is that there are free courses that offer more knowledge, albeit they donโt cover so many different topics.
Another potential issue with the course: thereโs so much in there that it can be overwhelming, and itโs easy to get distracted and jump from one โshiny objectโ to the next. If youโre brand new to online business, my advice would be to stick to the Freelance and Copywriting Campuses to start. Learn the skills taught there and youโre more likely to earn a good income in the coming weeks and months. Once youโve mastered them, you can leverage those same skills to hit the ground running in the other Campuses.
ย
Should you join Hustlerโs University?
If youโre a big fan of Andrew Tate and eager to learn from him and his buddies,ย then Iโd say Hustlerโs University is a worthwhile investment for you. Youโll likely find some good tips, processes and mentors within the training and private community.
If youโre on the fence,ย trying it for a month only costs $50, which is pretty great value compared to all the other courses weโve reviewed over the years.
However, if Andrew Tate rubs you the wrong way, itโs probably best to avoid Hustlerโs University.
If you still want to learn any of the subjects the course teaches, Iโd recommend starting with some low-priced courses โ eg.ย from Udemyย โ to test the waters.
HUSTLERS UNIVERSITY โ KEY POINTS
ย About
Several courses in one from Andrew Tate, teaching various ways to make money online.
If youโre planning to start an online business, the first thing youโll need is a tailored ecommerce platform.
The best ecommerce platforms make it easy to sell products and accept payments through your website while streamlining various aspects of a typical ecommerce workflow.
In this article, weโll take a look at ten of the most popular ecommerce solutions available in 2022.
First, check out this quick comparison of the key criteria. These include hosting, source code editing, and integrations with third-party applications:
Quick ecommerce platform comparison
Letโs take a quick look at how each of these ecommerce platforms compare.
Earn cash for taking free paid surveys while influencing the next generation of products, services and much more.
The global commerce platform โ Build your business with Shopify to sell online, offline, and everywhere in between.
Now letโs walk through some of the pros and cons of Shopify, one of the most commonly used ecommerce platforms in 2022.
1.ย Shopify โ best ecommerce platform for ecommerce beginners
If youโre interested in ecommerce, youโre probably already familiar with theย Shopifyย ecommerce platform.
With millions of businesses in 175 countries around the world, Shopify is one of the largest ecommerce solutions in the world. What should you expect if you build your ecommerce store through Shopify?
Setup
Shopify comes with everything you need to launch your store in just a few minutes. You wonโt have to worry about technical concerns like domains, hosting capacity, payment, CMS, database configuration, or SSL certificates.
This makes both Shopify and Shopify Plus ideal for small businesses.
On the other hand, tech-savvy merchants may prefer a platform that allows them to edit the source code directly. There are also some important limitations when it comes to accessing raw data.
These factors make Shopify a better choice for non-developers who want to get through set up quickly so they can focus on selling products. However, for larger businesses or those with technical resources, Shopify Plus offers more customization options.
Website design
Website design makes a significant impact on your overall business success and is a key criterium for an ecommerce platform.
Shopify comes with a deep selection of sleek ecommerce themes that are mobile optimized and look great on desktop too.
As with all of the best ecommerce solutions, these themes are ready to be used out of the box, but they can easily be customized to match your brandโs colors and styles. Advanced users may also use Shopifyโs open-source Liquid language to personalize every aspect of their preferred theme.
Shopify offers nine free and 88 premium website design templates which run from $180 to $350.
The free themes look great too, so donโt hesitate to start with them if youโre reluctant to spend that much on an ecommerce template.
Marketing and SEO
Along with setup, hosting, and templates, Shopify also offers powerful tools for SEO and digital marketing.
While Shopify provides basicย marketing toolsย for ecommerce beginners, you can find more robust options in the Shopifyย marketplace. The marketplace contains bothย free and paidย apps for myriad uses, from optimizing store merchandise to sending abandoned cart recovery emails.
Though not all Shopify and Shopify Plus apps are free, most premium tools let users start with a free trial to test before committing.
Pricing
Ecommerce vendors can subscribe to one of three plans on this ecommerce platformโBasic Shopify ($29 per month), Shopify ($79), and Advanced Shopify ($299). You can get started with a 14-day free trial, and you wonโt have to provide payment information until youโre ready to commit to a premium subscription.
Shopify also offers a Starter plan ($5 per month) for vendors who simply want to sell products through social and messaging apps.
High-volume sellers can contact their sales team directly for a custom Shopify Plus solution starting from $2,000 per month. This plan is designed for large-scale businesses with enterprise clients like Staples, Heinz, and Magnolia.
Shopify Plus comes with advanced tools like global servers and a content delivery network, cloud-based infrastructure, and unlimited bandwidth with each subscription.
It also integrates with various third-party platforms like Microsoft, QuickBooks, and SAP. Shopify regularly puts out APIs and developer tools to keep subscribers updated with the latest updates.
Keep in mind that you may also be responsible for transaction fees depending on your payment gateway. You may also spend money on additional applications to supplement the base Shopify platform for your small business.
While Shopify isnโt the cheapest option, it comes with a full ecommerce package. Itโs an ideal choice for non-technical users who value simplicity and ease of use.
Customer support
Shopify offers 24/7 support via phone and live chat to answer your questions and help troubleshoot any technical issues.
Theย Shopify Help Centerย provides detailed answers to a variety of common questions and pain points.
Get your email marketing set up quickly with Omnisendโs direct, one-click integration with Shopify.ย Find out more.
2. BigCommerce โ best for big online businesses
BigCommerceย is a sophisticated ecommerce website builder and sales platform thatโs ideal for everything from growing businesses to established enterprises.
You should consider pivoting to BigCommerce if you feel like youโve outgrown your current solution. It is a popular destination for ecommerce websites, and one of the best ecommerce solutions out there.
Setup
Unfortunately, Shopify has the advantage over BigCommerce when it comes to ease of use. BigCommerce also tends to use more advanced terminology compared to the other ecommerce platforms weโve looked at.
However, those cons shouldnโt stop you fromย choosing BigCommerceย if you have some technical experience.
While BigCommerce is complex and built for professionals, its robust set of features will make your life easier in the long run.
Web design
BigCommerce comes with more than 100ย dedicated themesย for ecommerce merchants. While users can access 12 basic themes for free, there are also more than 100 premium themes available for $145 to $235.
Customizing BigCommerce themes is now easier than ever following the launch of their Store Design tool. helping solidify its position as a top ecommerce solution.
This gives you control over everything from backgrounds and font colors to logos, featured products, andย checkout.
Marketing and SEO
BigCommerce provides powerful tools to help vendors maximize their revenue. Like Shopify, BigCommerce can be complemented with third-party extensions that add a wide range of additional functions.
The platformโs SEO features include customizable SEO-friendly URLs and editing for robots.text and metadata. BigCommerce also offers Elasticsearch searching plus connections to other top search tools.
Pricing
There are three pricing plans on the BigCommerce ecommerce platform: Standard ($29.95 per month), Plus ($79.95), and Pro ($249.95). Custom Enterprise solutions are available for businesses that sell more than $400,000 per year or need advanced features like price lists, API support, and unlimited API calls.
Like Shopify, BigCommerce charges a fee of 2.2 to 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per transaction.10 Best Ecommerce Platforms
Customer support
Every BigCommerce subscription comes with 24/7 customer service through phone, live chat, and support tickets. Thereโs also a dedicatedย Help Centerย along with support forums for more involved questions.
Thereโs no difference in customer support between the Standard, Plus, and Pro tiers, but Enterprise subscribers can expect more responsive service.
Enterprise plans offer express routing, priority support, API support, and available customer success management.
You should ask yourself these two important questions if youโre thinking of setting up a WooCommerce store:
When do you want to launch your store?
Are you comfortable with the technical side of setup?
Some vendors would rather use a platform like Shopify that offers a quick, straightforward setup. On the other hand, you should go forย WooCommerceย if you have more experience setting up websites.
Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce is an open-source solution. That means youโll be on your own throughout the setup process. However, this doesnโt mean that it isnโt one of the best ecommerce solutions.
Furthermore, WooCommerce is also a WordPress extension. Youโll need to download theย WooCommerce pluginย and install it on an existing WordPress site.
WooCommerce offers an incredible degree of flexibility if you know how to take advantage.
The downside of that flexibility is that novices may have more trouble optimizing their siteโs performance and design than they would with a more straightforward ecommerce solution like Shopify or Wix.
Setting up your WooCommerce store will require finding the best website hosting, configuring your database, getting a domain and SSL certificate, and building the actual site.
This process could take you a few hours or a few days depending on your knowledge and the service providers you choose to work with.
Web design
Unlike the other platforms weโve highlighted so far, WooCommerce doesnโt offer a collection of defaultย design themesย to help you get started.
Instead, your existing WordPress theme will automatically be applied to your new WooCommerce store.
With that being said, vendors can also stick with the sleek, professionalย Storefrontย designโthe only official template specifically designed for WooCommerce online stores.
WooCommerce is well-known for its deep library of custom WooCommerce plugins. You can find numerous design themes, templates, and extensions in the community forums and in marketplaces likeย ThemeForestย andย CyberChimps.
While many add-ons are free, others can cost anywhere from a few dollars up to hundreds or even thousands.
Remember, before paying for a theme, make sure that the developer is active and ready to help you if something goes wrong.
Marketing and SEO
You will have to manage SEO on your own if you choose to build a WooCommerce store.
This wonโt be too complicated if you have basic coding skills, but you should consider another platform if youโre not prepared to perform basic tasks like building sitemaps and editing URLs.
WooCommerce is based on WordPress, so itโs a great choice for vendors who want to leverage blogging and content marketing. You can also improve your marketing capabilities with its Extensions store:
Check out our guide to the bestย WooCommerce softwareย to find out how to get even more out of this ecommerce software platform.
Pricing
While WooCommerce is built on the free WordPress platform, that doesnโt mean you wonโt spend any money.
WooCommerce vendors are often responsible for costs related to web hosting, domain names, SSL certificates, site templates, and more.
This could run anywhere from $100 per year up to several hundreds of dollars (or more) depending on your use case
Customer support
The WooCommerceย self-service guideย is designed to help users solve common problems without contacting customer support. Thereโs also anย FAQ pageย that covers more general questions about the site.
WordPress itself comes with 24-hour live chat support on weekdays for Premium users and 24/7 for Business and ecommerce subscribers.
While WooCommerce doesnโt offer the same level of service, you can create a support ticket on the WooCommerce website.
Yup, you guessed itโOmnisend also has a Omnisendโs direct, one-click integration with WooCommerce.ย Find out more.
4.ย Wix โ best for individual sellers or small stores
Wixย is a hosted ecommerce website builder with separate plans for websites, ecommerce stores, and enterprise-level solutions.
Along with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, Wix also offers infrastructure, SSL certificates, and a free domain for one year with all paid subscriptions.
Setup
Wixโs ecommerce platform makes creating beautiful websites as easy as any website builder on the market. What you see is what shows up on your site, so you donโt need any coding skills or technical experience.
Simply drag and drop menus, text boxes, images, videos, and other elements to your preferred locationโno CSS or HTML required.
Keep in mind that Wix is a website builder with some ecommerce features rather than a dedicated ecommerce solution. Youโll miss out on some of the features that come withย more powerful platforms.
Fortunately, theย Wix App Marketย gives site owners access to a wide range of additionalย Wix apps.
Web Design
Gorgeous website design is one of the main advantages of Wix over other ecommerce platforms. All 85 of Wixโs ecommerce templates are available for free on theย Wix website.
While you can still build a Wix website from scratch, you would be missing out on one of the best collections ofย email templates. Unfortunately, your site will display Wix ads unless you upgrade to a paid subscription
Marketing and SEO
Wix offers a powerful suite ofย SEO toolsย along with features for marketing and business organization. It can help facilitate everything from order tracking to shipping and payment gateways.
On the other hand, Wix lacks an automatedย inventory management solution, making it more difficult to keep track of your products.
Wix Ascendย is a dedicated marketing solution that can be added to an existing Wix site.
Ascend covers social media marketing plus video development, signup forms, live chat interactions, and other crucial features.
Wix Ascend plansย run from $9 to $45 per month on top of the cost of an active Wix subscription.
Wix also provides a variety of design features including a logo creation studio, blog building tool, email marketing functions, and some marketing automation.
While some vendors may prefer to add a separate digital marketing solution, Wix offers more than enough for ecommerce vendors to get started.
Thereโs also the Wix App Market to find the third-party tools you need:
Pricing
Wix offers three plans for ecommerce sites: Business Basic ($27 per month), Business Unlimited ($32), and Business VIP ($57).
Business Basic users get essential ecommerce features like payment processing, customer accounts, and an automated cart sequence. Unlimited subscribers gain access to advanced tools such as automated sales tax (100 monthly transactions), KudoBuzz product reviews (1,000 monthly reviews), and Modalyst dropshipping (250 monthly products).
The VIP tier raises the first two limits to 500 and 3,000 respectively while removing the cap on dropshipping products. It also adds a Smile.io loyalty program along with customized reports and priority customer care.
Customer Support
Theย Wix Help Centerย provides answers to a wide range of questions about the platform.
All paid subscriptions come with 24/7 customer service through phone and live chat, so you should be able to get a quick answer regardless of when you contact support.
As mentioned above, however, VIP users get priority support which allows them to skip the line of other premium users.
5.ย Adobe Commerce (Magento) โ best for businesses with technical and programming resources
Magentoย was an independent ecommerce platform, and one of the best ecommerce solutions, until it was purchased by Adobe in 2018. Now known as Adobe Commerce, the service is designed to provide comprehensive functionality for ecommerce vendors.
Adobe Commerce combines the functionality ofย Magentoย with the reliability of Adobeโs other products. Letโs take a look at how this ecommerce platform works in practice.
Setup
In contrast to some of the other platforms weโve covered, Adobe Commerce is primarily designed for larger organizations. Setup can be a headache for smaller vendors or teams that donโt have any experienced developers.
The Adobe Commerce Pro subscription includes Adobe Commerce along with Business Intelligence Pro, managed cloud services, a technical account manager, and a variety of additional features.
Pricing is based on your gross merchandise value as well as your average order value.
If youโre new to the platform, you can start with a tour of the product or a self-guided site assessment.
Keep in mind that the setup process requires some technical knowledge as you configure hosting, security certificates, your domain name, and other elements.
The Adobe Commerce solution also provides additional tools such as an intuitiveย Page Builder, advanced marketing features, and customer loyalty programs.
As mentioned above, Adobe Commerce subscribers can communicate with an account manager to keep their workflow running smoothly.
The Adobe Commerceย marketplaceย offers extensions for everything from customer service to payment processing and order management. While the base platform is robust on its own, you can add a wide range of extra functions through both free and paid extensions.
The skyโs the limit with Magento.
Adobe Commerce might be your best option if you have a mid-to-large-sized business andย someone with reliable coding skillsย to handle the technical side of the platform.
Web Design
The Adobe Commerce marketplace offers a small collection of eleven customizable themes.
You can also find hundreds of themes in stand-alone marketplaces like ThemeForest and TemplateMonster. Some themes are free while others cost as much as $99.
Marketing and SEO
Adobe Commerce provides plenty of toolsย for site optimization and digital marketing campaigns. Make sure to check the Adobe Commerce marketplace if youโre looking for extra features.
The Adobe Commerce and Github support forums are another great resource for users who are having trouble with the platform.
You can use Omnisendโs plugin source code to build reliable, flexible integrations with Adobe Commerce and other ecommerce services.
Pricing
Adobe still offers an open-sourceย Magento serviceย with a basic set of ecommerce features.
Open-source users miss out on cloud commerce, B2B functionality, segmentation, loyalty programs, customer success managers, and other helpful features.
While the open-source version is free, youโll still end up paying for things like hosting, domain names, and extensions.
The Adobe Commerce platform is available for a custom price depending on your selling volumeโcontact Adobe directly to get a quote for your business.
Customer Support
The Magentoย Help Centerย includes a FAQ section plus explanations of various features and functions. The aforementioned support forums are a good place to ask more detailed questions.
If youโre an Adobe Commerce subscriber, you can work directly with your customer success manager to resolve any technical issues.
Open-source users will have to work through these problems on their own with guidance from the Help Center and the customer support forums.
6. Squarespace โ best for offering templates and themes
Squarespace is a well-known platform that allows you to create not only ecommerce stores but also any other type of website youโd like. Because of this, they have a wide range of templates and themes that will fit your business.
Setup
Squarespace includes a free custom domain (for one year) and SSL for all of its plans, and it comes with storage, hosting and more.
Itโs relatively easy to use and set up, with a drag-and-drop builder that helps you create your website in a fast way.
The ecommerce platform also has great uptime reliability compared to other website builders. That means that you can be sure your store will be online to your visitors at all times.
Web design
This is Squarespaceโs strongest point: its wide variety of themes and templates to help you design your store in no time. In fact, a lot of their themes are focused not only on selling, but also on looking good while doing so.
Squarespace has 16 ecommerce themes, and more than 80 standard themes, giving you a strong pool to choose from.
Marketing and SEO
Squarespace isnโt built exclusively for ecommerce, since theyโre focused on general websites. For that reason, its marketing and SEO offerings are not as extensive as other platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce.
That being said, you can still edit meta descriptions, page titles, custom URLs, XML sitemaps, and much more.
If you are looking to extend Squarespaceโs capabilities, you can utilize their Extensions marketplace.
Pricing
Squarespace has a variety of plans that we can generally break up into two groups: those for online stores, and those for regular websites.
For regular websites, you can pay $15/month and have the basic features most blogs or other websites would need.
However, since youโre looking for the best ecommerce platform, youโre more interested in selling online. The Business plan starts at $24/month, but it isnโt very suited for most ecommerce needs. It has some features like the ability to sell unlimited products, but there is no ecommerce analytics, discounts or even abandoned cart recovery.
To get more features, youโd need to pay $28/month for Basic Commerce (but still no abandoned cart recovery), or get the full Advanced Commerce package for $42/month.
Customer support
Squarespace has a good amount of resources that will help merchants set up their stores and make sure the entire line is covered, including inventory, shipping, marketing and more.
Free with every plan is their 24/7 support, and they also have an active peer-to-peer forum. Thereโs an option to call them on their 24/7 phone line, but it can take a while to get them on the line.
7. Weebly โ best (and easiest to use) for small businesses
Weebly is one of the easiest website builders to use, allowing you to get your website set up and running in no time. Weebly isnโt exclusively for ecommerce, so some of its plans will not work for selling products on your online stores.
Setup
Because itโs one of the easiest-to-use ecommerce platforms, getting started with Weebly is pretty easy.
For online stores, merchants get a free domain and Google Ads credits with every plan.
Weebly users have access to the web-hosting service through various drag-and-drop features. However, the tradeoff is that thereโs less control and functionality for the resulting websites than what youโd get with Shopify or WooCommerce.
Web design
Weebly has a good variety of unique layouts for their page designs. These designs come in very basic styles, to quite elegant ones, depending on your needs and budget.
You can also edit these templates to customize them to your storeโs needs, although you should have some technical skills in order to do so. On top of that, this customization will only apply to desktop versions, as you canโt edit the mobile versions of the templates.
This is no big problem if youโre just starting out and want to use the Weebly designs out of the box. However, for non-beginners, this could be a bigger issue.
Marketing and SEO
In terms of SEO, Weebly allows you the basic capabilities to customize ALT texts, meta data, titles, tags, the URLs, and so on.
For marketing, you can use Weeblyโs App Center, which comes with a few interesting apps you can use to carry out your marketing strategy. Unfortunately, itโs incomparable to Shopifyโs App store, and only suited for beginners.
Pricing
Weebly, like other general website builders here, offer two categories of pricing plans: one for general websites, like blogs, and one category for online stores.
Since weโre looking for the best ecommerce platforms, weโll only focus on the pricing plans for ecommerce stores: Pro, Business and Business Plus.
With Pro, which starts from $10/month, you are limited to three ecommerce features, while Business Plus gives you all 15 ecommerce features at a cost of $30/month.
Customer support
While Weebly is pretty easy to use, sometimes youโll need to reach their customer support. Here, Weebly doesnโt fair badly, but they also donโt provide stellar customer support.
In general, Weebly customers often complain that customer service reps are slow to respond, or they may not know enough about the software to provide and useful information.
This seems to have been exacerbated after Square bought Weebly, worsening their customer support.
8. PrestaShop โ best ecommerce platform for customization
PrestaShopย is a comprehensive ecommerce platform that offers professional themes, order management, social media marketing, support for multiple languages and currencies, and other critical features.
Setup
PrestaShop doesnโt offer hosting, domain names, or other basic tools, so youโll need to install it on an existing server.
With that being said, you can also get a pre-installed PrestaShop store through IONOS for as little as 50 cents per month when you commit to a full year.
With that in mind, more comprehensive solutions like Wix may be more approachable for those who donโt want to deal with things like hosting or domain names.
However, youโll get used to PrestaShopโs functionality over time after you get past the initial setup.
Web design
PrestaShop comes with a deep collection of customizable themes for virtually any industry you can think of.
Most of these themes cost between roughly $100 and $200, so you should be confident in a particular template before committing to it for your new site.
After setting up a theme, you can quickly customize nearly every aspect of the design including checkout and product pages.
Vendors can also accept a wide range of payment methods, maximizing their potential audience and making payment as convenient as possible for each unique buyer.
Marketing and SEO
The PrestaShop Facebook tool makes it easy to integrate Facebook and Instagram marketing into your PrestaShop store.
The separate Metrics add-on comes with features for Google Analytics, access to real-time data, and easy analysis for KPIs.
If the base platform doesnโt meet your marketing needs, you can add a plugin for SEO, paid advertising, or other marketing features with its marketplace.
There are also add-ons for loyalty and referral programs. Donโt forget to check out the marketplace if youโre looking to expand PrestaShopโs functionality.
Pricing
PrestaShop itself is entirely free to use, and you can download the platform directly from their website simply by providing your email address.
If you need help with hosting, you can get a combined IONOS+PrestaShop subscription through their partnership.
Standard pricing is $6 per month for Essential, $10 per month for Business, and $16 per month for Expert, but youโll get a significant discount through the platformโs introductory offers.
The PrestaShop Starter Pack ($231.99) is another good option for vendors that need help with the setup process.
It comes with a customizable store theme, a thorough guide to setup, and 12 ecommerce modules to get your new site off the ground.
Starter Pack modules cover key functions like checkout, product editing, VAT accounting, and customer service through live chat. Each Starter Pack also offers three months of technical support plus free updates for each of the 12 included modules.
Individual extensions like a Product Pack, Conversion Pack, and Loyalty Pack are available for separate charges. In other words, you can spend as much or as little as you want with PrestaShop depending on the needs of your business.
Customer support
While open-source PrestaShop users canโt access any personalized customer service, the platform provides a decent set of free support resources.
You can look for answers in the Help Center or post your questions in the customer support forums.
Dedicated support subscriptions are also available, but theyโre too expensive to be a practical option for most vendors. For example, youโll have to spend $559.20 just to get up to 12 hours of support over a one-year period.
9. OpenCart โ best free ecommerce solution
OpenCartย is a free and open-source ecommerce platform that enables subscribers to host their own online store or receive automatic setup through A2 Hosting.
It comes with everything you need to manage an ecommerce shop including affiliate marketing, site backups, discounts and coupons, and multi-channel selling.
Setup
The setup process for OpenCart will depend on whether you work with A2 Hosting or upload their files to an existing server.
Fortunately, the platform offers an automatic installer that makes it easy to get your OpenCart store up and running as quickly as possible.
During setup, youโll have the opportunity to select a theme for your new site. You can also configure a variety of other settings and customize the store with logos, online payment methods, shipping options, and more.
Like other hosted ecommerce services, OpenCart provides numerous extensions to supplement the functionality of the platformโs basic features.
Web design
OpenCart users can start with a deep selection of templates including both free and paid options.
You can find themes for industries from furniture and office supplies to groceries and liquor stores. Most premium themes cost around $30, but the free themes include great options for businesses of all sizes.
After getting started, take a look at the OpenCart marketplace for deeper customization tools. The platformโs third-party extensions introduce a wide range of additional options that can help you tailor your site to your unique brand image.
Marketing and SEO
With OpenCart, vendors can easily set up SEO URLs to improve their positioning and show up higher on the search engine results page.
OpenCart also streamlines the process of entering meta titles, descriptions, and keywords. Of course, you can always add to this native functionality through the OpenCart marketplace.
Pricing
As we mentioned, OpenCart is an open-source platform that anyone can download and start using at no charge.
Of course, youโll still need to make arrangements for hosting, an SSL certificate, and a domain name along with any other services you need to put your site on the internet.
A2 Hosting plans for OpenCart start at $2.99 per month for the Startup subscription if you go for a three-year commitment.
While A2 is a Gold OpenCart partner, you can set up your store through any hosting provider and then upload OpenCart files to your new site.
Customer support
The OpenCartย documentationย page covers setup as well as various elements of the platform including sales, marketing, reporting, and the admin interface.
OpenCart also runs a relatively active community support that receives regular questions and answers on a wide range of topics.
For general questions, you can contact OpenCartโs customer service directly by creating a support ticket. Their team is available on weekdays from 8 AM until 5 PM, but itโs worth noting that those times are in GMT +8.
In other words, 12 hours later than New York or 15 hours later than Los Angeles.
OpenCart users can get more responsive support depending on their needs. The platform offers one-time fixes starting from $99, although pricing is based on the specific issue in question.
This plan also covers any recurrences of the same issue that comes up within 30 days of your payment.
A quarterly subscription plan is available for $99 per site per month (paid quarterly). You can also pay for premium support from an approved OpenCart partner.
Keep in mind that support for Marketplace extensions will be provided by the third-party vendor.
10. Volusion โ best for ecommerce stores that want to expand
Volusionย is an ecommerce platform and website builder focused on online stores. Like Wix, itโs designed to help vendors set up their shops more quickly while avoiding any of the coding or other technical challenges typically associated with web development.
Setup
Simplicity is the name of the game for Volusion. Their no-coding setup process is intended to be approachable for all vendors regardless of their technical experience (or lack thereof).
To make things even easier, you can get started for up to 14 days without committing to a paid subscriptionโyou wonโt even have to enter a credit card number or any other payment information.
After signing up for a Volusion account, youโll have a chance to select one of their 11 free or 34 premium themes.
If youโd prefer to collaborate with professional designers, you can work with Volusionโs in-house design agency to craft something thatโs more closely aligned with your vision for the site.
Web design
Volusion offers a Premium Theme Plus package for $1500 that includes a premium theme, professional installation, Google Analytics installation/migration, and straightforward customization within the parameters of the theme you selected.
The Premium Theme Pro package comes with even more features such as a project manager, dedicated designer and developer, technical SEO services, and full font and color design.
Regardless of which option you select, youโll be able to customize your website with your logos, company information, products, and more.
Volusion uses a familiar drag-and-drop system along with in-page editing through a Rich Content Editor.
Marketing and SEO
Volusion is a robust SEO solution with support for custom metadata, custom URLs, sitemap indexing, and editable Robots.txt files.
Users can also integrate their stores with Google Analytics to access Googleโs powerful suite of reportingย tools.
Additionally, Volusion enables vendors to create Facebook and Twitter posts while listing products on a variety of social media platforms including Amazon, eBay, and Facebook.
Along with web design, Volusionโs internal agency also offers a thorough marketing solution.
Consider contacting Studio to discuss an upcoming project if youโre interested in working with them to optimize your approach to digital marketing.
Studioโs marketing assistance covers SEO and PPC campaigns in addition to social media campaigns, Google Shopping optimization, and comprehensive audits of your existing practices.
Unfortunately, thereโs no standardized pricing for these servicesโyouโll need to reach out directly to get a quote for your site.
You can also use third-party apps from Volusionโs marketplace:
Pricing
Volusion offers three basic subscription tiers: Personal ($29 per month), Professional ($79 per month), and Business ($299 per month). Each of these plans comes with a ten percent discount when you pay annually rather than monthly.
Since Volusion doesnโt charge any transaction fees, you wonโt have to spend anything beyond the monthly fee. Companies with more than $500,000 in annual GMV should contact Volusion directly to get a quote for their use case.
The Personal plan covers up to $50,000 in annual GMV. Personal vendors are limited to 100 products, online support, and a single staff account.
They also miss out on numerous features like loyalty programs, abandoned cart reports, priority support, API access, and integrations with eBay and Amazon.
Professional increases each of the limits that come with the Personal planโ$100,000 in annual GMV instead of $50,000, five staff accounts instead of one, and 5,000 products instead of 100.
Subscribers can also access phone support, customer reviews and ratings, abandoned cart reports, customer relationship management, email newsletters, and other helpful tools.
Business comes with up to $500,000 in annual GMV, 15 staff accounts, unlimited products, and access to VIP support. It also introduces Amazon/eBay integrations, API access, customer loyalty, a convenient report builder, and more.
Finally, Prime subscribers get everything that comes with the lower tiers plus enterprise features like custom GMV limits, unlimited restores, and access to a private Slack channel with the Volusion team.
Customer support
Volusionโs customer service options are heavily dependent on your subscription tier.
Personal users get support through live chat, while Professional users can talk to a support agent over the phone. Volusion also offers priority support at the Business tier and VIP support for Prime members.
An informative Help Center offers both videos and text articles covering common questions and technical issues. You can work with one of their Certified Agency Partners if you need more help with the Volusion platform.
Additional comparisons
Check out our other in-depth comparisons to see which ecommerce platform is best for your business:
While each of these 10 best ecommerce solutions is among the industry leaders, the right ecommerce platform for you depends on several factors including your team, your sales volume, and your goals for the site.
Wix and Shopify, for example, are all about making the web design process more approachable for new vendors and smaller businesses. You can use these platforms to quickly set up an online store and start focusing on sales and marketing.
Platforms like WooCommerce and BigCommerce are more complex, but they can also be much more complicated to use. Of course, you can always customize your ecommerce solution to your business needs by working with an agency or adding third-party extensions to your site.
No matter which ecommerce platform you end up using, keep in mind that Omnisendย offers deep integrationย with most of these services. You can also set up custom integrations through the Omnisend API.
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