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.
PaymentCloud
PaymentCloud has earned a reputation for high approval rates, helpful customer support, and features for both e-commerce and physical transactions. Your contract comes with free equipment, and reprogramming of existing hardware is also an option. Although it can be difficult to figure out exactly how much you'll pay before contacting sales, rest assured its plans are...
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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...
Blog Posts
Google To Buy Wiz in Its Biggest Acquisition Ever
Google has reached an agreement to acquire cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion, in what will be the biggest acquisition in the company’s history. The deal, announced in a March 18 press release, is still subject to regulatory approval. It follows a failed attempt last year when negotiations fell through. Wiz, a relatively young Israeli startup, manages security tools to...
DNA Testing Company 23andMe Files for Bankruptcy
On March 23, genetic testing company 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US and will begin selling its assets. CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki also announced she would be resigning to become an independent bidder for the company. Under US law, Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a company to remain operational while using profits to repay its debts...
Google Changes Threaten Independent Turkish Media
Independent news outlets in Turkey face potential closure after a sudden change in Google’s algorithm led to a 98% decrease in reader traffic through the “explore” and “news” functions. The decrease was detailed in an open letter signed by several outlets. Turkey’s parliament declared willingness to take legal action. The letter, signed by publications such as BirGün,...
Hostinger Unveils Horizons: A No-Code AI Web App Builder
Hostinger has officially launched Hostinger Horizons, a no-code AI tool to help users create web apps by describing their goals in a chat interface. After a trial run for select customers in February, Horizons is now available to all users, the company announced in a blog post. Hostinger has built its success on web hosting and website building services, with AI-powered...
How to Build a Website in 2025: Complete Step-by-Step Guide
Getting your website online can seem like a daunting task – but if you follow the right steps, it can be easier than you might think. I have extensive experience testing and reviewing website builders, as well as a bit of web design experience under my belt, and I can tell you that you don’t have to be a web design expert or even have a big budget to build a good-looking,...
ScalaHosting VPS Review: Our Honest Expert Opinion [2025]
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...
Amazon to End Alexa’s “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” Feature
Amazon will remove the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” feature from Echo devices starting March 28, according to an email sent to customers. The feature allowed users to have their Alexa voice recordings processed locally, rather than through Amazon’s cloud. The update comes as Amazon rolls out a generative AI version of Alexa, Alexa+. According to the company, Alexa+ relies...
California Court Blocks Online Child Safety Law
On March 13, US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman issued a preliminary injunction on CAADCA, California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit by NetChoice, which argued that the law likely violated its members’ free speech rights. The CAADCA was signed into law in September 2022. It requires online businesses “likely” to be accessed by...
Minnesota Moves to Block AI “Deepfake” Pornography Apps
A Minnesota (US) bill seeks to ban apps and websites that use AI technology to create sexually explicit media of people without their consent. Though bills against “deepfake” and revenge pornography already exist across the US, this is the first of its kind to target the providers directly. Originally introduced in February 2025, the bipartisan bill is currently under...
New York State Sues Allstate Over 2020, 2021 Data Breaches
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against National General Insurance and its parent company, Allstate. The suit alleges they failed to prevent two data breaches that affected over 165,000 state residents and nearly 200,000 individuals worldwide, according to a March 10 press release. The breaches took place in 2020 and 2021 when hackers exploited...
Google’s Gemini AI Can Now Access Your Search History
Google’s AI-powered chatbot, Gemini, recently introduced “Gemini with personalization” which will allow Gemini to access the user’s search history to tailor specific responses to them. Google has also announced future plans to further customize Gemini with connections to apps like Google Photos and YouTube. The personalization feature was first uncovered by the technology...
UK Watchdog Probes TikTok, Reddit, Imgur Over Child Privacy
The UK’s data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has launched investigations into social media platforms TikTok, Reddit, and Imgur. The probes focus on how each platform collects and handles the personal information of users aged 13 to 17. The investigations aim to determine whether the companies comply with UK data protection laws,...
Meta Apologizes for Violent Videos Shown to Instagram Users
Meta has apologized and fixed a glitch that caused Instagram’s short-form video system, Reels, to show graphic and violent content to users. The disturbing videos appeared in the recommended section for nearly all users for a week in late February. The company finally issued an apology and moved to fix the mistake on February 26. “We have fixed an error that caused some...
Firefox Revises Terms of Service After Online Backlash
Mozilla quickly revised the wording of Firefox’s terms of service (ToS) after a recent update sparked backlash from users. The original wording led many to believe the browser – commonly lauded for its strong privacy focus – would collect and use any user data that passed through it at the company’s discretion. In a blog post published on February 28, Ajit Varma, Firefox’s...
How to Build an Online Portfolio That Gets You Noticed in 2025
I have a confession to make: For someone who writes about websites for a living, I’ve always had an excuse for not having an online portfolio. I would say that I didn’t have enough material, or that I didn’t have time. Besides, it doesn't matter whether your work is on Instagram or a fancy site; you will get noticed if the work is good, right? (Spoiler alert: absolutely...
Guides
Module 6: The Gallery Page – Local Business
Create a gallery to showcase your best products and add a map to guide visitors to your business.
Module 6: The Cases Page – Agency
Build a case studies page to exemplify your work history with few visual assets.
Module 6: The Portfolio Page – Portfolio Site
Create a stunning portfolio to showcase your visual work and attract new clients.
Module 5: The Services Page – Local Business
Put all your services on a single page and create attractive previews to coax visitors further down your funnel.
Module 5: The Services Page – Agency
Put all your services on a single page and create attractive previews to coax visitors further down your funnel.
Module 5: The Services Page – Portfolio Site
Put all your services on a single page and create attractive previews to coax visitors further down your funnel.
Module 4: The Contact Page – Local Business
Make it effortless for visitors to get in touch. Build an effective contact page that’ll house your all-important contact form.
Module 4: The Contact Page – Agency
Make it effortless for visitors to get in touch. Build an effective contact page that’ll house your all-important contact form.
Module 4: The Contact Page – Portfolio Site
Make it effortless for visitors to get in touch. Build an effective contact page that’ll house your all-important contact form.
Module 3: The About Page – Local Business
Create an about page that connects you with potential clients through shared values and experiences.
Module 3: The About Page – Agency
Create an about page that connects you with potential clients through shared values and experiences.
Module 3: The About Page – Portfolio Site
Create an about page that connects you with potential clients through shared values and experiences.
Module 2: Your Homepage – Local Business
Design and build a beautiful, effective homepage that says: “This is my brand!” rather than “This is a Wix template.”
Module 2: Your Homepage – Agency
Design and build a beautiful, effective homepage that says: “This is my brand!” rather than “This is a Wix template.”
Module 2: Your Homepage – Portfolio Site
Design and build a beautiful, effective homepage that says: “This is my brand!” rather than “This is a Wix template.”