Reviews
Leaders Merchant Services
Though it has a less-than-stellar track record amongst merchants, Leaders Merchant Services (LMS) has recently made a push to turn things around. Mostly, it’s been a successful one. A 98% approval rate, essential but reliable features, and top-tier customer service make LMS one of the best credit card processors around, even if some past frustrations remain unresolved.
Smartsheet
If you don't mind a crude UI, Smartsheet is a powerful software that’s good for managing both small and large projects. You can use it to organize a team, create stunning reports, and optimize your schedule. However, Smartsheet can take a while to learn. And unlike most other project management software, it doesn’t have a free plan.
InterServer
InterServer’s offering is very clear: unlimited resources at low rates. While it delivers on this promise, there aren’t many standout features beyond this. Also, it only has data centers within the US, so it’s not the ideal provider for an international site. If you’re willing to look past that, though, InterServer provides excellent performance and complete flexibility at...
Clover POS Systems
Clover offers some of the most advanced and versatile POS devices on the market. Its main con has been the less-than-stellar credit card processing provided by its parent company, Fiserv. With the introduction of Paysafe’s high-quality credit card processing, however, the Clover + Paysafe combination could be one of the best available for merchants today.
SITE123
SITE123 simplifies website creation with its user-friendly interface, helpful tips, and 24/7 live chat support. The mobile-responsive templates and e-commerce features make it ideal for beginners who want to create simple sites. However, if you’re planning on building something more complex, SITE123 might prove too limiting. Read on to discover all the pros and cons.
Webador
Webador’s strong suit is easy to use, making it an excellent choice for beginners. With an intuitive and user-friendly editor and highly affordable pricing, it’s a standout option for quickly getting a site online. However, users seeking advanced customization and more robust features may find it lacking and might need to explore other options.
Kinsta
If you have great expectations for your website, Kinsta’s cloud-based managed WordPress hosting delivers incredible performance worldwide. It also gives you useful hosting tools and a user-friendly dashboard. It’s an ideal choice for far-reaching and continuously evolving websites, but its high price won’t suit everyone.
ScalaHosting
ScalaHosting offers outstanding performance and feature variety, especially for its prices. You might find that its shared hosting plans don’t stand out much when compared to other providers, but its cloud and VPS hosting plans are its best-value offerings. If you’re looking for a provider that can grow along with your website(s), ScalaHosting is a very good choice.
FastComet
FastComet’s worldwide data centers make it a solid choice for reaching locations like East and South Asia. It also provides every basic feature you’d expect from a quality host (even if it doesn’t come with many extras). When you add excellent customer support and a user-friendly interface, FastComet is an excellent choice for beginners looking to reach a worldwide audience.
Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects definitely looks good, and it offers fantastic value for its price. It’s a particularly excellent software if you are familiar with the Zoho ecosystem or you manage a small-to-medium-sized team. But while there’s much to love about Zoho, it can get complicated to use if you manage large, complex projects. Read on to see what I mean.
PaySafe POS
Though it's received mixed reviews in the past, Paysafe’s tailored transaction fees, high-risk merchant accounts, and support for international payment methods certainly make it an ideal choice for some businesses. Its POS offering might be fairly standard, but it includes everything you need to accept your customers' preferred payment methods.
IONOS Website Builder
MyWebsite Now from IONOS is a dead-simple site builder with very low prices. If you want to get a website up and running very quickly, it could be just right. It also has a nifty e-commerce feature in case you’re starting an online store. Just be aware that the English version is not available in all countries. If you’re in the right region, it’s worth a glance!
TeamGantt
TeamGantt is extremely easy to use thanks to its great-looking user interface (UI). It's an attractive tool if you're an inexperienced manager or can't wait to get your project up and running. But unlike other project management software, TeamGantt doesn’t provide much beyond the basics. For small, simple projects, that’s more than enough. For larger projects, it’s a...
Rytr
Thanks to its classic word processing interface and variety of AI writing features, Rytr is an excellent tool for writers and content creators looking to streamline their workflow. Its selection of tones and use cases also makes it incredibly versatile. But if you’re looking to generate entire articles with just the click of a button, Rytr won’t be for you.
Web.com Website Builder
While it hasn’t always been the case, Web.com offers a powerful builder with an impressive range of high-quality tools and very good design flexibility. An often confusing user experience keeps it from reaching its full potential, but it’s still an outstanding builder if you care about the minutiae of design and are looking for a high degree of control.
Blog Posts
Hackers Steal Data From Rhode Island Citizens
Governor Daniel McKee said the personal information of hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island citizens may be at risk after a cyberattack breached the state’s online portal for social services. The hacking group “Brain Cipher” has since claimed responsibility for the attack and demanded a ransom for the information. State officials disclosed the breach on December 13, after...
Helcim vs Square: Similar Processors, One Clear Winner (2024)
At a glance, both Helcim and Square might seem almost identical. After all, both processors offer proprietary, minimalist POS hardware built for convenience and a slew of e-commerce and analytics tools. That said, a small difference can mean the world when dealing with your business. You don’t want “good,” you want the best. That’s why I spent weeks of research and dove...
Module 6: The Cases Page
We’ll finish up our marketing agency site by creating a “Cases” page for visitors to examine previous success stories in depth. Showing your expertise can be the tipping point for customers when deciding whether to hire your business. We’ve already learned how to create a lot of different sections through the previous modules too, so this last page (and any other pages...
Module 6: The Gallery Page
The last page for our Local Business Site will be a simple gallery with our best arrangements and some of the global sections we’ve included in the rest of the site. There’s really no need for this page to be any more complicated than that. We’ve already created many different sections, so hopefully, you’ll be able to add any additional pages you want without much of a...
8 US Telecom Firms Affected by Chinese Hacking Campaign
A White House official announced on December 4th that “Salt Typhoon,” a Chinese hacking group, breached eight American telecom firms and organizations in dozens of other countries. Though the White House does not believe these hackers compromised “classified communications,” it reports that they stole the metadata of a “large number” of Americans. US Deputy National...
ScalaHosting VPS Review: a Web Dev’s Honest Opinion [2024]
In the marketing for ScalaHosting’s VPS plans, the company promises not to overload the servers, and it promises that the hardware you pay for will be exactly what you get. It also promises that if you get the managed VPS hosting, you won’t have any technical issues to worry about. It also promises to be affordable (and it is that, at least). But is this affordable VPS...
US Court of Appeals Upholds Law Requiring TikTok’s Sale or Ban
On December 6th, 2024, a US federal court unanimously voted to uphold a law requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest the app of Chinese ownership or face a ban in the US. The decision comes after ByteDance filed an appeal in May of this year. In its appeal, ByteDance and TikTok argued that the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled...
6 Best FREE Project Management Software in 2024
Whether you’re a small team manager, a time-pressed professional, or a student trying to get more organized, the right project management software can do wonders for your productivity. The problem, unfortunately, is that project management software can get expensive. Not everyone can afford it. Luckily, there are free project management tools out there. Problem solved,...
Best Wix Black Friday Cyber Monday Deals (50% OFF) for 2024
Build the Site You Always Wanted With Wix Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2024 may have been and gone, but believe it or not, you can still get a great deal with Wix. Whether you’re looking to create an online portfolio, open an e-commerce business, launch a blog, or anything in between, Wix allows you to get all its premium website-building features for an incredibly low...
Squarespace Black Friday Deals (HUGE DISCOUNTS) in 2024
Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2024 have been and gone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get a great deal with Squarespace right now. Squarespace has long been the go-to website builder for anyone looking to create a sleek, visually stunning site. It’s not free, however, and although its premium plans are affordable, you can get them much cheaper by using one of our...
Most Long LinkedIn Posts Are Likely AI-Generated, Study Finds
A recent study by AI-detection service Originality.ai found that 54% of LinkedIn posts with 100 words or more are likely to be AI-generated. The study, which analyzed 8,000 posts over 82 months, also found an increase of 107% in the average length per post. The study classifies posts as AI-generated if Originality.ai’s tool flagged them as entirely generated by AI and...
When to Upgrade to VPS Hosting: All You Need to Know [2024]
While shared hosting allows you to make an impact online without spending a lot of money, you’ll need to consider VPS hosting when your website’s traffic picks up. A virtual private server (VPS) can deliver more resources and better performance, and it will usually give you more control over your server’s configuration. It’s also a great option for hosting online apps, content...
Canadian News Outlets Sue OpenAI Over Copyright Infringement
A coalition of five of Canada’s biggest news media companies filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT’s owner, OpenAI. The suit, filed on November 28th, alleges that OpenAI illegally used copyrighted material to train its large language models (LLMs), breaching the companies’ terms of service to collect it. The coalition includes Torstar, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian...
Wix vs Squarespace: Comparing Two Giants [In 2024]
Wix and Squarespace are by far two of the largest players in the website-building industry. That’s not just because of fame either (though kudos to their respective marketing teams) – the two builders also offer an intuitive, customizable, and versatile website-building experience. After all, there’s a reason why the two usually make it to the top of our lists. However,...
Millions of Hot Topic Customers Affected by Massive Data Breach
Cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock and investigation site “Have I Been Pwned” (HIBP) recently reported on a data breach that exposed the personally identifiable information (PII) of at least 56,904,909 customers of Hot Topic and its subsidiaries. The leaked information reportedly includes credit card numbers, customer names, and home addresses. Back in October of this year, an...