The Best Blogging Platforms (In-Depth Review)

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Do you want to skip the read and get right to my top pick? The best blogging platform for most people is Wix.

Whether you want to become a blogger for a big-time news publication, share your independent thoughts online, make millions as a blogger, or something in between, it all starts with a blogging platform. 

And choosing the right one sets precedence for everything else you do. 

But with so many options to choose from, picking the best blogging platform can feel overwhelming. 

So to help you out, I created a list of considerations to think about as you go through the process and reviewed the top five blogging platforms on the market today. 

By the end of this article, you’ll be well on your way to starting your own blog. 

The Top 6 Options for Blogging Platforms:

1. Wix – Best drag-and-drop blogging platform
2. WordPress.org – Best open-source blogging platform
3. Squarespace – Best blogging platform for visual appeal
4. Medium – Best traditional blogging platform
5. Blogger – Best for personal blogs

How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform for You 

Choosing a blogging platform is an important decision. And the one you choose depends on what you hope to do with your new blog and how much control you want to have. 

So, let’s walk through what to consider as you make your final decision. 

Do You Want to Make Money?

This is probably the most crucial question to ask yourself. 

If you want to start a personal blog to share your thoughts and experiences, you’re completely fine going with a free blogging platform, like Medium or Blogger. 

However, if you want to make money blogging, you have to be careful. Most free platforms don’t let you monetize your blog.

So, you need to choose a premium blogging platform that gives you more control, like Wix, WordPress.org, or Squarespace. 

Do You Already Have a Website?

If you want to add a blog to a website you already have, I highly recommend looking into your website platform’s blogging capabilities. 

This is the easiest way to add a blog to a website that already exists. 

Alternatively, you can look into migrating your website to Wix, WordPress.org, or Squarespace. However, I recommend staying with the platform you’re already using if you can. 

Customization Capabilities

Paid blogging platforms give you more control and design flexibility, allowing you to build a complete website and brand around your blog.

You can customize the look and feel of nearly every aspect of your website instead of having to color inside the lines someone else drew.

If you’re serious about blogging as a business, you a deeper level of control. 

For complete flexibility and customization options, go with WordPress.org. And if you want something easier than WordPress, yet still flexible, Wix and Squarespace are great drag-and-drop options. 

Free blogging platforms don’t give you the ability to customize to that extent. You may be able to change the colors and pick between a few different layouts. 

But, you can’t do much aside from that. 

That said, if you’re interested in personal or hobby blogging, you don’t need anything fancy. Free blogging platforms offer everything you need to quickly write content and share it online in just a few clicks. 

The Different Types of Blogging Platforms

There are several different types of blogging platforms. 

And the right one for you depends on what you want to do with your blog. 

So, before we dive into my top recommendations, let’s walk through the different types and what they’re used for. 

Free Blogging Platforms

Free blogging platforms are perfect for anyone interested in personal or hobby blogging. It’s by far the easiest way to write and publish content online quickly. 

However, free blogging platforms usually don’t let you make money with your content. You can’t make money with ads, use affiliate marketing, or sell your own products. 

Furthermore, they’re very limited in design flexibility and customization capabilities. 

You may even be stuck with random ads placed on your blog. And migrating your content from a free platform to another isn’t an easy process.

In the end, they’re not suitable for business bloggers or anyone interested in making money blogging at any point in the future. 

Website Builders

Website builders are all-inclusive, drag-and-drop design tools that let you quickly build an entire website without touching any code. They’re easy to set up, simple to use, and include a full suite of blogging tools. 

However, they’re not free. Web hosting is included with your subscription, which is nice, and some even offer a free custom domain name for the first year. 

You also get a significant level of flexibility and customization compared to free blogging platforms. That said, some areas may be limited depending on the which option you select. 

This is a great place to start if you want to make money, but you’ve never built a website before. Just keep in mind that you sacrifice some flexibility in exchange for ease of use. 

Open-Source Blogging Platforms

Open-source blogging platforms are free to download and install. They’re completely customizable from the inside out, making them perfect for serious bloggers and business owners interested in building a full-fledged custom website. 

However, there’s a steeper learning curve.

But once you get the hang of it, you’ll realize how flexible and customizable this type of blogging platform really is. You can create ecommerce stores, business websites, portfolios, service-based websites, interactive blogs, and more. 

With that said, you have to buy web hosting before you can install an open-source software. 

The good news is that most web hosts make this type of software easy to install with one-click installation. 

#1 – Wix Review — The Best Drag-and-Drop Blogging Platform

If you’re looking for the easiest premium blogging platform, you should go with Wix. 

It’s an all-in-one website builder with more than 100 million users worldwide, making it one of the most popular options on the market. 

Wix is excellent for beginners interested in creating a full-fledged website with a blog included. And the intuitive drag-and-drop builder makes creating engaging blog content a breeze. 

Plus, it includes everything you need to make money with your new blog. 

With Wix, you get premium blogging features, including:

• 500 professional design templates
• Industry-leading SEO tools
• Rich-text editor
• Embed HTML codes
• Categories and hashtags
• Advanced search capabilities
• Writer and editor user roles
• Easy image editing
• Social media tools
• Visitor analytics

Wix is arguably the easiest and fastest way to get your professional website and blog running.

You can also take advantage of their ADI (advanced design intelligence) tool, which creates everything you need to get started in a matter of minutes. 

Simply answer a few questions, customize the design, add your website copy, update your images, and you’re ready to start blogging.  

Wix offers a free plan, which is excellent for building your site and getting everything ready to go. However, I highly recommend upgrading to a paid plan so you can remove Wix ads and connect a custom domain name. 

Paid plans start at $13/mo and increase depending on the features you need. Start for free.

#2 – WordPress.org Review — The Best Open-Source Blogging platform

WordPress.org is an open-source blogging platform with complete design flexibility. 

It also powers 38% of the entire internet, including the blog you’re reading right now, making it the most popular blogging platform on the market. 

And the best part? It’s free to download and install. 

However, you do need web hosting to be able to use it. This usually costs around $3 – $10 per month, so it’s the most affordable option on this list. 

With that said, it’s not as easy as Wix. There are a few more steps to get started, but the extra work is well worth it if you’re looking for complete design control and flexibility. 

With WordPress.org, you also get:

• 55,000+ plugins to extend the functionality of your site
• Thousands of free and premium themes
• The Gutenburg block editor
• Advanced user roles and permissions
• Powerful media management
• A massive community of experts
• Infinite design control

The best part is that you have 100% control over your website and blog. Plus, you aren’t tied down by rules and regulations. You can decide what to display, what you don’t reveal, and how you make money. 

There are countless ways to get started with WordPress.org. But I highly recommend starting with Bluehost. 

It’s the easiest way to get everything you need. 

They also include a free domain name for the first year. So, all you have to do is pick a hosting plan, snag your free domain, and use their one-click WordPress installation feature. 

#3 – Squarespace Review — The Best Blogging Platform for Visual Appeal

Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder, like Wix. However, it’s famous for aesthetically pleasing templates, making it perfect for visual-based businesses like photographers, designers, and artists. 

For as great as the your published work looks on Squarespace, it’s a relatively effortless platform to use. Plus, it includes web hosting services and a free domain for the first year (if you choose an annual premium plan). 

It’s perfect for bloggers who want an easy, aesthetic way to share images, videos, and portfolio pieces, along with long-form and short-form blog posts. 

And with Squarespace, you create blog posts the same way you create pages. 

Once you learn how the drag-and-drop editor works, you know how to use the entire platform. You also get access to powerful blogging features, including:

• Free blogging templates to help you get started
• Five unique post layouts for your home and archive pages
• Categories, tags, and featured posts
• Built-in post scheduler
• Contributor permissions
• In-depth analytics
• SEO and social media tools
• Email marketing (additional fees)
• Expert customer service
• Mobile app

Squarespace isn’t as customizable as Wix or WordPress.org, but it’s perfect for creative bloggers and businesses who need to create captivating content quickly. 

Paid plans start at $12 per month and increase depending on the features you need.  Try Squarespace for free.

#4 – Medium Review — The Best Traditional Blogging Platform

Medium is a platform that helps readers and writers find new ideas, knowledge, and perspectives. It’s unique because there are no ads present on the platform. 

To date, they have over 120 million readers, making Medium an excellent way to get your content in front of more people. It’s great for sharing personal stories, perspectives, and getting your ideas out into the world. 

However, it’s not a great platform for making money as a blogger.

Medium does have a partner program that rewards writers for the amount of time paying members spend reading their content. Making a decent amount of money this way is going to be tricky.

Another thing: you can’t include your own call-to-actions in partner posts. So, you have to choose between making money and growing your email list. 

It’s still a great product, just not for revenue. I highly recommend treating Medium as an extension of your Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress.org blog. 

To get started, you can create a profile or a publication. Publications look more aesthetically pleasing, and you get more organization and display features. With publications, you can also send newsletters to your followers. 

Note: if you use Medium as an extension of your blog, make sure you use their import feature to add existing blog posts. This way, you can add content from your blog to Medium without creating duplicate content for SEO purposes. 

#5 – Blogger Review – The Best for Personal Blogs

Blogger is one of the original blogging platforms. It’s been around since 1999.

It’s completely free to use with no paid plans, upsells, or anything like that. And it’s incredibly easy to use. This makes it perfect for personal or hobby bloggers looking to share their thoughts and ideas with the world. 

They have several free templates to choose from that govern how your blog looks. However, they’re not very customizable. 

You can change the colors and the layout of a few things, but that’s about it. 

The platform focuses solely on blogging, so that’s where the majority of their features lie. With Blogger, you get free access to essential features, including:

• A free SSL certificate and free domain mapping
• Google integrations
• Image storage with Google Photos
• Integrated ad campaigns
• Simple text editor

And while those features are great, the platform is seriously lacking in other departments, including customization, custom post types, and overall design. 

Essentially, it’s an old-school blogging platform. It works well for simple blogging, but you can’t create a full-fledged website, so I don’t recommend it if you want to build a brand and make money blogging. 

However, since Google’s acquisition in 2003, you can display Google Ads on your blog to make a little extra money on the side. 

But, it’s not a sustainable or long-term way to make a full-time income with your blog. 

Summary

The best blogging platform for you depends on where you want to take your blog. For personal and hobby bloggers, a free platform like Blogger or Medium is the perfect place to start. 

They’re easy to set up, incredibly simple, and the fastest way to start publishing online. Plus, you don’t have to pay anything to share your thoughts and ideas. 

However, if you want to make money and turn your blog into a business, free platforms won’t cut it. The easiest premium blogging platforms are Wix and Squarespace, making them perfect for beginners. 

However, if you want the ultimate level of control, go with WordPress.org hosted by Bluehost. 

The post The Best Blogging Platforms (In-Depth Review) appeared first on Neil Patel.

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The Best Web Hosting Services (In-Depth Review)

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

Do you want to skip the read and get right to my top picks? The best web hosting service for most people is Dreamhost or Hostinger.

Looking for a hosting solution for your website?

You’re in luck because with today’s options, it has never been easier to keep your website online.

They take care of all the technical stuff and you get to enjoy casually updating your website for conversions.

And the best part is that most of them are very affordable which helps startups get a hold of their business quickly.

That’s why I put together a list of the best hosting services of 2021 for you.

So without further ado…

The Top 8 Options For Hosting Your Website in 2021:

1. Dreamhost Best option if you want quick and responsive website changes
2. Hostinger – Low-Cost shared hosting options for startups
3. Bluehost – Best for WordPress hosting
4. Nexcess – Best ecommerce hosting
5. HostGator – Most affordable option for startups
6. WP Engine – Best for managed WordPress hosting
7. InMotion – Best option for scaling BIG
8. Siteground – Best for WooCommerce hosting

How to Choose The Best Hosting Service For Your Website:

When it comes to the best web hosting services you have to look at various important factors.

If you jump in too quick you might get into something that’s not suitable for your business.

But don’t let any of that doubt creep into your mind. 

Instead, sit back and relax while we present to you all the factors that you need to be aware of before making a decision.

You can weigh the different web hosting services and decide which is the best solution for your specific business.

Hosting factor #1 – Uptime reliability: 

If your hosting is down, no one would be able to access your website.

And obviously you want your website running 24/7.

Luckily, in 2021 this is not a huge problem since most web hosting providers offer a ‘99.99% network uptime guarantee’.

That means that your website would go down very rarely.

And even when it does, you can contact your hosting service and you will get compensation.

Most of the time that would be in the form of hosting credits.

If you want to prepare for the worst, you can check out our Website Downtime Survival Guide.

One of the best practices to making sure everything runs smoothly even when you’re taking a break is to sign up for a tracking tool like uptime robot. 

If your hosting service crosses the line, this tool will notify you that you need to find a new webserver to host.

Hosting factor #2 – Speed is key:

Website loading speed is extremely crucial when it comes to SEO optimization in 2021.

That’s simply because if your pages load slowly, people will bounce out of your website and your ranking will fall down the drain.

You need a trustworthy host provider that can guarantee optimal website loading speed.

The thing is that you can’t know the exact loading speed before you try the hosting service yourself.

But you can always optimize your website loading speed using free tools and effective loading speed practices.

And the best news is that even if your budget is tight, you can still get a good loading speed.

But don’t expect anything spectacular for say $4/month.

Generally, the higher the price, the faster your pages will load.

Anyways, we will include our personal experience regarding loading speed for each of the options down below.

Hosting factor #3 – Customer service:

Good Customer Service will come in handy when something goes wrong.

Especially if you’re new to websites, you’re bound to make mistakes that may lead to your website being down for a while.

And the more time it’s out, the more it will cost you.

So a good support team will help you get the issues solved in no time.

Even if you made a major mistake that’s impossible to come back from…

Most support teams will have a full backup of your website so you can get back to a working version.

You always want your support team to have a live chat or a telephone you can call.

Email just doesn’t make the cut if you want to resolve the issue fast, which you should want, given that your website is down.

We made sure to include only website hosting services with strong communication skills.

The Different Types of Web Hosting Services:

In 2021 there are a lot of different types of web hosting services.

The most commonly used being:

Shared Hosting

This means your website will be stored on the same server as a bunch of other websites.

It is a cheap option for startup websites.

With the right one, you can have customizable options and average loading speed.

Don’t look at Shared Hosting as a long-term solution because Shared Hosting can not withstand high levels of traffic.

It’s definitely a good solution for people that just want to get their website up and running fast.

VPS Hosting

The Virtual Private Server (VPS) is definitely a better option than Shared Hosting.

Each website is hosted in its own virtual space which speeds up your loading speed and also allows you to get more traffic on your website.

This option is best if you’re planning to scale your website fast.

Yet again, it’s not a long-term option if you want to be one of the top websites in your industry.

Simply because it still has limitations when it comes to website traffic.

Dedicated Hosting

This is considered the most reliable and overall the best option out there.

You get a dedicated server just for your website with full control over everything.

But prepare yourself for a pricey alternative.

That option is mainly for the best of the best.

If you have plans to scale your traffic to enormously high levels, this is the only option for you.

But if you’re just starting out, we recommend one of the other 2 options.

Anyways, the web hosting services below give you the option to choose between different types of hosting services.

So just choose the one that fits your business and your budget best.

#1 – Dreamhost — Best Option if You Want quick and Responsive Website Changes

Dreamhost has been a big player for the longest time now. 

Founded in 1996 it is one of the oldest hosting services available online.

Some people might think it must be outdated by now.

But that can’t be further from the truth.

Exactly because of their ability to adapt quickly to new trends they’re still considered one of the best in the business.

They don’t look at your website as just another website.

They know that your website is your own vision for the future.

“We Make Sure Your Purpose, Is Our Purpose”

And that’s not just words. Over 1.5 million websites host with Dreamhost.

You can expect great loading speed and friendly, helpful customer support on your side.

With incredibly adaptable services you can literally change your business in a matter of hours.

They know that things change as time passes.

Maybe you want to try out something new.

Maybe you’re certain that your current business model is outdated.

With their fascinating adaptable features, they will be your best friend when making major changes in your website.

#2 – Hostinger — Low-Cost Shared Hosting Options for Startups

Hostinger is unique with it’s Shared Hosting Services.

Their prices literally start from $0.99/month. WOW.

Of course, you’ll be very limited with this option but it shows how much they are ready to do in order to satisfy their customers.

We personally recommend one of the higher tier options:

The good thing with Hostinger is that for as low as $3.99/month you can get unlimited access to everything.

With 24/7/365 support, you can expect professional assistance at any point.

That’s less than four bucks a month for great loading speed and daily website backups.

That means even if you mess up badly, you always have access to previous versions of your website.

It is the best option if you’re searching specifically for a Shared Hosting Service that’s affordable and reliable.

#3 – Bluehost — Best for WordPress Hosting

If you’re looking to set up your website in less than a week, you’re probably considering WordPress.

After all, according to NetCraft, 35% of the Internet is powered by WordPress.

And it’s not a surprise. WordPress has been a leader in the industry for years now.

So if you’re looking for the best hosting option for your WordPress website, you can definitely trust Bluehost.

Their pricing options are competitive. Basic is $3.95/month and Choice Plus is just $5.95/month to get started.

This is really affordable considering all the unlimited features they bring to the table.

Regarding website loading speed, as long as you don’t fill your WordPress site with plugins, you should be good.

And even if you make a crucial mistake or overload your website with different plugins, you’re in good hands.

Their Customer Support is extremely responsive. They have both an active telephone line and a live chat you can rely on at all times.

#4 – Nexcess — Best Ecommerce Hosting

If you want a hands-off hosting solution for your online store, Nexcess is an incredibly smart choice. Use coupon code NEIL40 for 40% off 4 months.

They offer a wide range of hosting options with specialty solutions for Magento, WordPress, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Drupal, and more.

Plus, you get one-click auto-scaling to handle unexpected traffic spikes, 24/7 monitoring and customer support, and premium SSL certificates to keep your site and visitors safe.

So, you get everything you need to start, manage, and scale your online store.

On top of the amazing features, Nexcess has been around for 20 years with more than 500,000+ websites under their belt.

As such, they know a thing or two about how to help make your life easier.

With that said, it’s not the cheapest option on this list. But you do get more features, better support, and improved performance with the higher price tag.

So, if you need advanced security or expect to grow quickly, Nexcess is an excellent e-commerce hosting solution.

WordPress hosting plans start at $15 per month for one store, 15 GB of space, and two TB of bandwidth.

However, pricing varies based on the platform you choose. Use coupon code NEIL40 for 40% off 4 months. Sign up now.

#5 – HostGator — Most Affordable Option for Startups

HostGator is one of the most preferred options when it comes to blogging.

They are perfect if you’re looking for the most affordable way to begin posting online.

Pricing options start from the jaw-dropping $2.75/month.

Once again, you can’t expect the best features for such a low price.

But it’s a great alternative for startups that want to get their website up and running.

And just like Bluehost, they have a responsive telephone line with a live chat you can access at any moment.

You can also find a giant database with common questions beginners have, together with professional opinions and solutions to those problems.

Everything is explained and demonstrated step-by-step and if you’re still not sure that you can do it on your own.

Just shoot them a message and start chatting with their professional customer support.

#6 – WP Engine — Best for Managed WordPress Hosting

We’re getting to the more advanced options now.

With WP Engine you get a blazing fast and ultra-reliable WordPress site without any work on your part.

The company invented the idea of managed WordPress hosting—where the provider takes over all the backend technical work—and WP Engine is still the leader in the field.

WP Engine hosts WordPress exclusively. Their servers are optimized for just this type of site. And when you reach out to customer service, you will be talking to an expert who handles WordPress issues 24/7.

Of course, the top-notch uptime, speed, and customer service is not as cheap as some of the others on the list.

But if you don’t have to hire a WordPress developer to maintain your site’s security and performance (or spend time figuring that out yourself), going with WP Engine can actually be cost-effective.

You just have to contact them and work out the best plan for your specific situation.

Of course, their experts are going to help you choose the correct option without pushing you to stuff you wouldn’t need.

Every plan comes with best-in-class tools to develop your WordPress site. No other host offers such a variety and depth of features, such as one-click staging areas where you can build and test your site before it goes live.

Test that new social media WordPress plugin in the staging area to make sure it doesn’t cause problems for other plugins or themes. This is way better than discovering an issue after it breaks the site and kills traffic.

It’s a great hosting service if you’re looking to take your WordPress site to the next level without the IT headaches and responsibilities. Your teams can focus on creating great sites and let WP Engine ensure everything is running correctly.

Don’t expect cheap services, but expect great quality and support on the way to your successful business.

#7 – InMotion — Best Option for Scaling BIG

Are you positive that your website is going to dominate the online space?

If you’re 100% sure, then you should definitely take a closer look at InMotion.

Their VPS and Dedicated hosting services are far from cheap.

But with Premium prices come Premium services. We are talking fast loading speed and devoted customer support.

Obviously there’s also affordable WordPress Hosting and Shared Hosting options.

But if you’ve tried these before and now you’re looking for the next step.

InMotion is going to overdeliver on every promise.

Check out their plans and choose the one that fits your needs best.

#8 – Siteground — Best for WooCommerce Hosting

Do you want to sell your products online?

Then you’re probably in need of a good, reliable WooCommerce Hosting Service.

If that’s that case, then you should take a look at Siteground.

They have separated their pricing options depending on your scalability.

Most Hosting Services cut you here and there when it comes to cheaper options.

This is not the case here!

Siteground really wants to overdeliver, even if you choose their cheapest options.

Their Customer Service has a whopping 90% resolution at first contact.

That means that 90% of the time you’ll chat or speak with an expert in their team and resolve your issue in no time.

So if you’re looking for the best WooCommerce solution, Siteground is the hosting service for you.

Your Hosting Service Is Your Best Friend

Make sure you make a well-thought-out decision.

You’re most likely going to have a long-term relationship with the hosting service you choose.

So carefully look into every option that caught your eye today and choose the one that fits your needs best.

So, whether you choose one of my top recommendations or scout out your own, use the tips and best practices we talked about to make an educated decision… like the future of your business depends on it. 

Because it does!

Have you worked with any website hosting companies in the past? How did it go and did you get the results you hoped for?

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Best WordPress Calendar Plugin

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

A calendar plugin for your WordPress site is a great way to ensure everyone is on the same page. If your business revolves around events, monthly announcements, or appointments, then you’ll want to manage it all with an easy calendar layout. 

You’ll be well on your way to being more organized, productive, and transparent with your customers once you find a calendar plugin that works well with your current workflow.

There are tons of calendar plugins out there, making it hard to know where to begin when picking the best one. Well, you’re in luck. Below I discuss some of the very best WordPress calendars you can start using today as well as how much it’ll cost you to use each one. Let’s dive in. 

#1 – Timetable Responsive Schedule — The Best For Displaying Daily And Weekly Time Schedules

With Timetable, you can display an array of event calendars, schedules, and availability information all in one easy to use plugin. The name pretty much gives away what they’re best at, which is ensuring that your customers know your schedule down to the hour. 

With it, you can generate PDFs you or your customers can print for convenience. The events widget lets your customers know when, where, how, and what time your next event will be held.

Thankfully, Timetable doesn’t confine you to creating time blocked schedules and events. It also offers booking functionality. So you can book and fill your events accordingly.

Once you’ve downloaded the plugin, you can add a new event to your calendar, name it, adjust its settings, event hours, and event frequency, set dates, and publish. Once you’ve published it, copy the autogenerated shortcode and paste it anywhere you want to display it on your site. 

The best features of Timetable include:

• Free lifetime updates so that your plugin will always be up to date and compatible with the latest WordPress updates
• Fully responsive
• Custom CSS option to modify it to match your brand look
• Shortcode generator for display on any site page or blog post
• Event filtering to easily search for specific event listings
• Lots of customizable color options for events, days, event text, and more

Timetable Responsive Schedule is $29 for a regular license, which comes with future updates and six months of support. Get started with Timetable here. 

#2 – The Events Calendar — The Best For Multiple Calendar Views

The Events Calendar will fit like a glove if you want access to multiple calendar views with plenty of powerful events and scheduling features that keep your community and customers engaged. 

Once you download The Events Calendar plugin and add all your event information, you can view your calendar in several different views, including monthly, daily, weekly, and more. 

Here’s a quick rundown of how you can view it:

• Month View: Classic calendar view where you can see all events at a glance for the entire month
• List View: Have your audience or prospective customers view your events in a chronological list that can be filtered by month
• Day View: Have events happening on the same day? You can configure your calendar to display day views so you can easily see which events are happening at what time on the same day without any confusion.
• Week View: See upcoming events for a week at a glance.
• Photo View: Create a grid of chronological events displayed primarily as images. 
• Map View: If your events are location-dependent, a map view can be a helpful visual aid.

A wide array of calendar views is only one standout feature of The Events Calendar plugin. Some of the top features of Events Calendar are:

• Easily manage in-person and virtual events
• Export and import other calendar events with a built-in CSV importer
• Mindful of time zones, so all your customers are on the same page no matter where in the world they are 
• Plenty of event category and tagging functionality
• Build community with an event calendar designed to bring groups and organizations together
• Multiple calendar views for accessibility and ease of use
• The ability to highlight specific events to draw more attention to them
• Easy set-and-forget recurring events once you define event parameters
• Shortcode feature to embed and display any calendar, schedule, or event on any page or blog post
• Compatible with Google Maps and Google Calendar

The base calendar plugin is entirely free forever and comes with the month, list, and day views, has categories and tags, and is fully responsive. The Pro version with additional features, support, calendar views, recurring events, and advanced fields is $99 for one site, $149 for three websites, and starts at $299 for 10 or more sites.

Start using The Events Calendar today for a more engaged audience. 

#3 – Simple Calendar — The Best For Use With Google Calendar

The perfect marriage between WordPress and Google Calendar is the Simple Calendar plugin. It’s no wonder it has been downloaded over one million times. 

You can easily display your events, schedules, bookings, and availability with their straightforward calendar. As you might have guessed, there’s a reason why “simple” is in the name. Because it truly strives to be exactly that.

Simple Calendar lets you show monthly, weekly, or list views with the most important updates you can manage through Google Calendar. It also offers a widget view if you want to display your calendar in your site’s footer or sidebar. 

If someone comes across your event and wants to add it to their own Google Calendar, Simple Calendar lets them do that with an “Add to GCal” link option. Because of Simple Calendar’s convenience and compatibility with Google Calendar, I recommend it as the best calendar plugin if you’re already using Google Calendar to manage your events. If you’re unsure about the plugin, you can always try their instant demo. 

Some features of Simple Calendars include:

• Fully mobile responsive
• Color-code events to your taste
• Manage events on Google Calendar and have them automatically displayed on your WordPress site
• Integrates with Events Calendar Newsletter for sending event reminders

The pricing is straightforward and breaks down like this:

• Personal — $49 for up to 1 site
• Business — $79 for up to 5 sites
• Agency — $149 for up to 25 sites

All plans come with one year of support and updates. Download and start using Simple Calendar today. 

#4 – Events Schedule — The Best For Versatile Calendar Styles

Events Schedule is a solid WordPress calendar plugin in terms of versatility. They offer 12 customizable schedule styles, each with different features.

With list views, monthly views, and weekly views, you can ensure your audience has plenty of access and time to plan for future events. The advanced event filters also let your audience easily find the events they’re looking for without confusion or hassle. 

Because of Events Schedule’s versatility and wide array of calendar types, it’s easily usable in just about any industry. You can use it to schedule fitness classes and events, publish theatre schedules, Museum timetables, arena events, or bar events, just to name a few. 

Top features of Events Schedule:

• Compatible with WooCommerce
• Includes a booking system
• Able to integrate with Google Maps
• Easily schedule repetitive events
• Countdown timer feature included
• Intuitive visual schedule builder
• SEO friendly code and display options optimized for speed
• Shortcode generator option for simple plug and play
• Custom call-to-action buttons feature

If you want to try Events Schedule before clicking the buy button, I recommend you take your time to look through their live demo, where you’ll get to see the look of each schedule, what industry it’s best for, and how to put it together and publish it on your WordPress site. 

If you pair this plugin’s price point with the number of calendar options it offers, it makes for an impressive package worth diving into if you want to go beyond the basics of what a calendar plugin can do. A regular license costs $39 and includes six months of support and future updates.

#5 – EventON — The Best For Colorful And Dynamic Event Calendars

EventON is a powerful calendar plugin that stands out with dynamic and colorful calendar displays you can customize to your liking. As soon as you set eyes on any calendar created with the EventON plugin, it’s sure to be absolutely eye-catching.

With EventON, you can create colorful calendar bubbles that, when clicked, open up to display a calendar card with every event detail they need to know. 

Event bubbles aren’t the only view available to you once you download their plugin. You can create tile calendar views with bigger calendar “tiles” that display each of your events with readily available details. Don’t worry, once you set up your calendar tiles, they’re designed to be fully responsive, so they’ll look good on any screen.

You can also display calendar events in a list view with thumbnails and add any number of event colors for each tile. Like other robust plugins, EventON isn’t a one-trick pony. There are plenty of useful features it offers to users, especially if you host lots of live events. Read on below to learn more about some of their very best features. 

Some of the best features of EventOn are: 

• Generates shortcodes you can quickly grab and plug in with Gutenberg
• Great for hosting virtual live events
• Developer friendly for advanced feature altering capabilities
• Expandable calendar details for each event 
• Add unlimited images to each event to better inform your audience
• Has “add to Google Calendar” options for increased engagement
• Easily filter and sort events with a few clicks
• Add custom repeat events so you can set it and forget it
• Easily change custom time formats to display according to your preferences

EventON costs $25 for a regular license, which includes future updates and six months of support. You can also get support extended to 12 months for an additional $7.50. Get started using EventOn’s colorful calendar features here. 

What I Looked At To Find The Best WordPress Calendar Plugins

There are tons of calendar plugins available. But not all of them offer the same features, as some cater to different user needs better than others. Here are a few things I considered when researching the best WordPress calendar plugins and factors you should consider when deciding which is best for your business. 

Visual Layout

To cover the basics, a solid WordPress calendar plugin is mobile responsive. It’ll always adjust to any screen it’s viewed on, no matter the size. They’re also easy on the eyes and accessible. 

The last thing you want to do is use a calendar plugin that looks outdated, has limited functionality, or doesn’t play well with your website’s other plugins. The more you can create a visually appealing calendar easy for anyone to use, the more you’ll get out of it when using it as a business management tool.

Booking and Appointment Options

Some calendars are designed to be very simple so that you can display important dates and events. Others are created with bookings and appointments in mind.

This means you won’t only be able to display availability but that your customers can book appointments right on your calendar at any time. If you run a service-based business, this can be a great option to look into when choosing the right calendar plugin. 

Simplicity

You want to find a plugin that falls in the sweet spot between simplicity and advanced features depending on your business needs. You don’t want to spend the money to buy a robust plugin with lots of heavier features if you won’t even use a third of them.

On the other hand, you don’t want to use a plugin that limits your capabilities when it comes to booking appointments, displaying dates, automating and marking holidays off, or even providing a useful legend.

Conclusion

A WordPress calendar plugin can prove useful in keeping your business productive, staying organized, and keeping your customers happy and informed. 

Here’s a recap of the plugins I reviewed in this guide to help you make the best choice:

• Timetable Responsive Schedule — The best for displaying daily and weekly time schedules
• The Events Calendar — The best for multiple calendar views
• Simple Calendar — The best for use with Google Calendar
• Events Schedule — The best for versatile calendar styles
• EventOn — The best for colorful and dynamic event calendars

Use this guide to choose the best WordPress calendar plugin according to your needs. Then come back and leave a comment below with any feedback on your favorite calendar features. 

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Best WordPress Backup Plugins

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What would happen to your WordPress site if all your data was wiped out? If you don’t have a clear answer to this pretty important question, then you’ve landed in the right place.

Without a doubt, a WordPress backup plugin is one of the smartest things you can do to ensure your site’s life. If you get hacked, accidentally lose your password, or the world comes crashing down, you’ll save yourself the massive headache of losing everything on your site with a backup plugin. 

The best part is that backup plugins are pretty easy to use once you add them to your WordPress dashboard. The problem lies in choosing the right one for your business from a list of so many plugins. In this buying guide, we’ll dive deep into everything you need to know. Ready? Let’s make sure your site’s backed up. 

#1 – BlogVault — The Best All-In-One Backup Solution

BlogVault makes for a reliable all-in-one backup plugin that ensures your site’s backup is stored securely in the cloud. It’s used by over 4,000,000 websites and trusted by businesses like Astra, Cloudways, and GoWP. 

BlogVault’s plugin offers key storage features like changelogs that can help you identify problematic modifications to your website. They go as far as providing 90-day archives to ensure you recover from any site mistakes, which are bound to happen at some point in your site’s lifetime.

If your site experiences downtime, with BlogVault, you can make it so that your site’s backup still shows up to users. What exactly does BlogVault backup? Everything from the basics like blog posts, your media library, and media files to blog comments, plugin files, WordPress settings, categories and tags, theme settings, WordPress core files, and even user details.

Because of how complete and robust BlogVault is as a plugin, it’s one of my favorite backup plugin recommendations to make. 

Some of BlogVault’s best features are:

• Provides centralized dashboard where you can manage multiple sites
• Provides custom WooCommerce table backups
• Performance checks that inform you about site speed and ways to improve your site
• Get uptime and downtime status checks
• Handy customer support that gets in contact with you in less than 24 hours
• Incremental backup option available so the plugin doesn’t slow down your site

If you’re not in love with everything BlogVault offers yet, take a look at their affordable pricing tiers:

• Personal — $7.40 per month for daily backups
• Plus — $12.40 per month for daily backups
• Advanced — $20.75 per month for real-time backups

You can definitely take them for a test drive with their free trial. Otherwise, get started using BlogVault here. 

#2 – JetPack — The Best For Making Site Changes Safely

Jetpack is a strong contender for a reliable backup plugin that works great for making site changes safely.

Picture this: You’re making exciting new changes to your site, whether that’s CSS customization, adding new plugins, or altering your core site files. Then suddenly, something breaks. With Jetpack, you can quickly restore your site to how it was before you made that crucial mistake with just a few clicks. This makes it an easy and reliable plugin to work with if you’re constantly updating your website. 

The Jetpack plugin even comes complete with a mobile app so that you can virtually restore your website right from your phone no matter where you are. Plus, Jetpack offers plenty of security features, too. This can only be a plus for a backup plugin and makes it worth keeping in your corner.  

Some top features of Jetpack include:

• Provides malware scanning and protects your site from spam
• Downtime monitoring lets you know if your site is down immediately
• Malicious hacking and attack protection
• Mobile app you can take and use with you everywhere
• Automatically cleans up spam comments off your site

If you choose to go with JetPack, the question becomes what kind of pricing package you’ll feel comfortable going with, as there are many options.

The three main packages are:

• Backup Daily — $7.95 per month billed yearly 
• Security Daily — $19.95 per month billed yearly
• Complete — $79.95 per month billed yearly

The Backup Daily tier offers automated backups, one-click restores, and unlimited site storage. On the other end, Complete provides the full Jetpack suite, including real-time security, enhanced search, CRM features, and even design tools. 

Jetpack also offers a limited free forever plan that includes basic site protection, downtime monitoring, and changelogs. 

Additional product bundles you can purchase separately on a per month basis include a Security Real-Time plan, a Real-Time Backup plan, a Scan package, an Anti-spam bundle, a Site Search plan, and the CRM Entrepreneur add-on.

Jetpack offers peace of mind by providing one-click restore options and monitoring your website’s security at pretty affordable rates. Still, I recommend you visit their comparison page to ensure you’re deciding on the right backup bundle. 

Start using Jetpack’s powerful backup features here. 

#3 – UpdraftPlus — The Best Free Backup Plugin

If you’re looking for a free backup plugin, look no further than UpdraftPlus. It makes restoring all your site files hassle-free and straightforward. It has over 3,000,000 active installations and is a reliable backup option if you are running your site on a shoestring budget.

UpdraftPlus has a paid version you can upgrade to with a lot more features and capabilities. But for now, we’ll focus on what the free version can do for your site.

UpdraftPlus is a cloud-based plugin that ensures you have access to your site’s files and data in case of cyberattacks, server crashes, conflicting plugins, or anything else that would bring your site down. Once you upload the UdraftPlus plugin, you can set it up, forget it, and let it run in the background while you work on more important tasks for your business. 

Best features of UpdraftPlus:

• Backup to an exhaustive list of cloud options
• Lets you set up automated backup schedules for convenience
• Uses less server resources than other free backup plugins
• Has the ability to restore your site 

Updraft Plus is free, and you can read reviews and download it here.

#4 – Backup Buddy — The Best For Efficiently Restoring Your Site

Like Backup Buddy rhetorically asks on their site, “What good is a backup if you don’t also have a way to restore your site properly?”

And they couldn’t be more right. Backup Buddy ensures you always have the latest backup of your site by providing you with a zip file you can use to upload and restore a broken site. 

Once uploaded, Backup Buddy seamlessly walks you through the steps to get your media files, text, plugins, and more back up and running. Additionally, you can choose to restore individual files instead of restoring the whole site if that’s what you want to do. You can even schedule automated backups at intervals you customize. 

Some top features of Backup Buddy include:

• Backs up your entire WordPress installation
• Customizable backup content that you can pick and choose to restore
• Offers hourly, twice daily, daily, biweekly, weekly or monthly backups
• Automatically sends your backup files to accessible remote storage locations like Dropbox or Google Drive

Backup Buddy has three pricing options, all with one-time fees:

• Blogger — $80 for one site
• Freelancer — $127 for up to 10 sites
• Gold — $199 for backing up unlimited sites

You can quickly sign up and get started with BackUp Buddy here. 

#5 – WPvivid Backup Pro — The Best For Migrations

WPvivid Backup Pro is a great backup plugin you can safely set up and start using to migrate your site. They’ve been used on more than 90,000 websites to do more than just back up and safely migrate data files.  

WPvivid Backup Pro offers incremental backups to ensure it isn’t slowing down your site as it works in the background to backup all your data once it’s been configured to your needs. As far as its backup migration capabilities, WPvivid Backup Pro supports manual migration methods, as well as auto migration and migration via remote storage (as a premium feature). 

Some of WPvivid’s best features include:

• Create either manual or scheduled backups
• Advanced migration features in case you want to migrate your site quickly
• The ability to create a staging site
• It backs up all your core WordPress files
• 24/7 ticket support
• Set a size limit for files that you’re not interested in backing up

Here’s a quick look at their pricing packages: 

• Basic — $49 per year for up to three websites
• Freelancer — $99 per year for up to 100 websites
• Ultimate — $149 per year for unlimited websites

All three plans are annual subscriptions, unlike other backup plugins, many of which are a one-time licensing fee. WPvivid also offers a 14-day free trial, visiting so you can test it out before you purchase a plan. 

What I Looked At To Find The Best WordPress Backup Plugins

The most basic use of a backup plugin is to keep updated backups of your site continuously. There are plenty of plugins on the market that will do just that.

Here are some of the criteria I looked at to find the best plugin options for your WordPress site. These will be helpful factors for you to think about as you choose which plugin to invest in. 

Restoring Options and Complete Backups

If you’re frantically trying to get your site back up and running and want to restore it to how it was before it crashed, you’ll be thankful for a restoring option you can upload in minutes.

This way, you’re enabled to troubleshoot fast, save your rankings in search engines, and have a contingency plan for when things go south. It’s a great feature to look for in any backup plugin you decide to use. Especially if their pricing features hook you into yearly subscriptions.  

Along with quick restoring options, it’s a good idea to ensure your backup plugin does complete backups, meaning it backs up everything on your site from images to texts, themes, media files, and your whole database. If your entire site goes down, a partial backup will be less useful. Full backups are worth any extra cost. 

Preventative Overload Configuration

It’s always a plus to know that a plugin was built to work with your site and not against it. This means it was designed with every aspect of your site in mind. This includes not overloading your site so that it slows down or has trouble loading.

Some of the best backup plugins allow for interval backups, configured so that your site doesn’t suffer from slow loading times. As you probably know, load time is a crucial SEO factor that Google takes seriously as it decides where to place you in SERPs. The fewer resources your backup plugin takes up, the better your chances of ranking on search engines. 

Cloud Storage

This brings me to cloud storage as a desirable feature in a backup plugin. It can be both a cost-effective and scalable option to give you peace of mind. 

With cloud storage, you can store all your site information safely with your backup provider, where you’ll always have access to your data within minutes. This also helps you minimize storage overhead and have easy access.

Bringing It All Together

Using a reliable WordPress backup plugin is one of the best ways to keep your site safe while you sleep soundly at night. In the scenario that you lose everything on your site, meaning your files, images, blog posts, guides, PDFs, and more, you’ll want to be able to bring all of it back with a few clicks. That’s where backup plugins come in.

To summarize the plugins I reviewed in this guide, take a quick look at the list below:

• BlogVault — The best all-in-one backup solution
• JetPack — The best for making site changes safely
• UpdraftPlus — The best free backup plugin
• Backup Buddy — The best for efficiently restoring your site
• WPvivid Backup — The best for migrations

Take a moment to check out each one so that you’re comfortable with your final plugin choice. If you’re unsure, make sure to revisit this guide whenever you need it. 

Now it’s your turn. Which plugin do you use to backup your sites? Comment below!

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