We’re big fans of transparency. Here are some of the questions (with answers) we get regularly, that we hope will put your mind at ease.
1. Why do we offer a fee website subscription? #
Being serial entrepreneurs ourselves, we know that small businesses, students, individuals, and non-profits bet everything on their websites. They deserve to achieve better outcomes from their online efforts. We’re helping in a real way by putting user success first.
- Forever free is exactly that. Upgrading is optional and gives access to an advanced toolset as wll as adding a custom domain.
- Reducing or eliminating the ‘things’ that distract users from their goals, like the ongoing task and cost of website technical maintenance.
- Improving the business and web marketing knowledge of key stakeholders through bootcamps, webinars, and email communications.
- Improving website content quality by leveraging artificial intelligence and leading content optimization tools.
- Empowering our users to design their website with the click of a button, without the need to know code or hire developers.
- Optimizing our platform to modern technical SEO standards so users can focus on their work instead of running their site.
2. Have you really solved the technical aspects of websites? #
We hope so! The team behind wpSites has designed and developed hundreds of websites over the past decade (and more). We have created websites on WordPress, HubSpot, Shopify, and Squarespace platforms (not on Wix, except to migrate clients out of that platform).
Our internal team members are among the most skilled website experts to be found. They address the ongoing technical needs of wpSites, keeping our platform stable and operating efficiently for users. In addition, our team participates in the Partner Program, which was established to provide Virtual Webmaster services to our users. That way users can connect directly with the experts, in addition to working with our pre-qualified partners.
“That’s the way WordPress should be done.”
A back-end developer we interviewed recently shared this
3. Is this website service good or is it bad? #
You tell us! wpSites began with the questions, “Why do so many small businesses have such terrible websites?” and “What can we do about it?”
Two thoughts came up most often:
- A lot of small businesses are designing and developing their own websites without the technical or strategic know-how. It certainly saves money, but costs so much more in terms of time lost and quality of website.
- In many cases, their web partners limit what they do based on available budget. It’s nobody’s fault. It is what it is.
Which led us to the only possible answer: build it for them, and maintain the technology. That way, users can focus on their content.
Our team created a WordPress website platform that considers best practices best practices for HTML code, page design, lead conversion, visual design, and user experience. wpSites is the result of our considerable years of experience creating powerful websites.
In the spring of 2020, our founder published a book that walks users through a lead-qualification strategy which is titled, The Art of Flowww. We hope you’ll pick up a paperback copy. It’s the wisest $6.99 you’ll ever spend. The wpSites platform is engineered to deliver the Art of Flowww strategy. The result is an unequaled, cost-effective, search-optimized website that delivers communications better, regardless of business type or personal aesthetics. This allows clients to focus on creating great content. It skips right past the high costs and lost time related to design and development phases. These settings bring visual styling with clicks, slides, and toggles. Users can design the look of their website, often without any need to code at all.
In January 2021, we launched SiteShop, (sunsetted in 2024, you can go directly to Ecwid now) an incredibly easy-to-use and robust online store. At wpSites, we believe in supporting and enabling small businesses to move their retail operations online, easily.
4. Should I buy wpSites? #
Users don’t have to buy anything. wpSites offers a Forever Free subscription. Unlike other website platforms, there is no “trial” that expires. We were founded on the principle that small businesses shouldn’t have bad websites. This is one way we make that a reality. Forever Free accounts are on a subdomain of wpsites.site (I.e. account.wpsites.site)
Purchasing the Upgrade subscription is optional. Users who decide to upgrade access advanced tools. Plus, they gain the ability to apply a custom domain to their website.
Website technical maintenance is included, free in all plans. In a traditional website model, considerable cost and effort exist to keep a website operating securely and reliably. Typically, web partners charge a fee to manage websites, ranging between a few hundred to several thousand dollars per year. At wpSites, we consider website technical maintenance to be a core responsibility of providing a stable platform for all users. It’s an investment we are happy to make towards your success.
5. Is this website option the smartest one? #
Choosing to create your website on wpSites is a good idea when you’d like help, without hassles and without high-pressure tactics. And, when do not require extensive custom coding. The vast majority of companies do not need advanced custom coding. The exception is if you are building an App of some sort ‘into’ your website. We recommend you build it in a secure, independent environment, then link to or embed it on your site, instead.
We get it. There’s a lot of competition to be your platform of choice. Wix and Squarespace for example, inflate pay-per-click rates with their aggressive advertising efforts. WordPress, Weebly, Duda, Squarespace, GoDaddy Websites, Google Websites, HubSpot, and others are always popping up with offers of awesomeness. None of them offer the combination of technologies and services we’ve assembled for wpSites, specifically for small businesses. Signing up is free. Why not take a Site for a spin?
You need a platform that’s engineered to help you succeed online. That’s what wpSites brings to the table. It’s the same approach, and strategy we use at our parent company Kayak Marketing, which delivers premium website and marketing services to enterprise-level clients.
6. Can I trust wpSites or not? #
Before launching up wpSites into the world, we built our Beta platform site by site until we had 120 websites (for approximately 100 companies) running super smoothly and reliably. The key to that reliability has been continuously monitoring and refinement of the platform based on a combination of functionality and performance metrics.
wpSites was envisioned by Randy Milanovic as an easy-to-use website tool for small to medium-sized businesses. We currently support non-profits, local businesses, and even multi-national firms on the platform. Plus, a growing number of partners create websites for their clients on wpSites.
Our parent company, Kayak Marketing, is known internationally for creating premium websites for larger and multi-national corporations. Kayak’s clients come from manufacturing, education, technology, professional services, law, energy, tourism, and more. Their work is respected, earning numerous 5-star Google and HubSpot Reviews. Kayak Marketing was incorporated in 2011. In 2013, Kayak was a double-finalist for Small Business of the Year and Breakout Business. And, in 2015, Kayak’s founder, Randy, was nominated for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Get to know Randy a bit more…Alberta’s Governor-General recognized Randy for his volunteerism in 2015 for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards program for youth. In addition to volunteering a lot, he is an author of marketing, business, and search engine optimization books. All of his books have reached number one in their respective categories on Amazon (in multiple languages). In March 2020 “The Art of Flowww: convert the other 95% of website visitors” reached number seven (7) on Amazon’s best-seller list. The Art of Flowww is a companion book to the wpSites platform. All Amazon reviews are complimentary and typically carry five stars.
7. What if I want to tinker with the tech? #
A lot of people love to add or change plugins, themes, and custom code. We love them for that. The thing is, we also value website stability, security, and compatibility. Our team exhaustively researches and installs only the best and most compatible tech into wpSites to handle the most common website tasks users encounter. Our experts have optimized and pre-configured everything for our platform, keeping all users – and Google – in mind.
Should a user request a unique plugin be added, we may offer an alternative solution, obtain it and thoroughly test it before adding it to our tech stack, or reject the request. In the end, a decision is made based on what’s fair for all users and safe for the platform, too.
8. How do I get an account? #
- A new User signs up
- An SMS text is sent for verification.
- Our system creates a new Site and User account.
- Users are sent a series of onboarding emails, the first of which provides login instructions.
At this point, Users may opt to deploy their website themselves, or request website help through our virtual webmasters program.
Web partners are encouraged to join our Partner Program. Expert web partners may offer services, be awarded projects, and receive commissions for referrals. Check out the full Partner Program.
Users wishing to have an online store may activate Ecwid or Woo.
9. Why is wpSites on WordPress? #
WordPress was chosen as our content management system (CMS) because it’s the world’s most adopted CMS. It has millions of websites and thousands of contributing developers globally. It’s also the platform tens of thousands of web partners use to create websites for their clients. Its plugin and theme architecture allows us to assemble the most effective combination of tools for the benefit of our users.
Our virtual webmasters program was created to help web partners grow their businesses while extending our global capacity to provide support to wpSites users. Which, of course, is just as great for our business as it is for our users. Best of all, a massive number of marketers and business people are familiar with WordPress. wpSites won’t be completely new to most users, so it just might be the easiest website you’ve ever built.
10. What’s the problem that wpSites hopes to solve? #
Too many small businesses have terrible websites. Terrible websites kill off business opportunities faster than you can create them. Poor quality websites, themes, and platform choices are at the core of the problem. With wpSites, users can focus on the content, instead of the tech.
11. What’s the answer/solution? #
We’ve created a WordPress-based environment for small businesses to have an agency-grade website, starting at free. And, created a program for virtual webmasters to support our small business users.
112 What’s in it for me/you? #
Users get an agency-grade website. wpSites gets lots of users.
Web partners are welcome, too. Imagine the potential for increased value and better outcomes associated with focussing on content development, crafting marketing campaigns, and helping clients generate revenue, instead of tweaking code. Web partners are invited to join the wpSites Partner Program – free – and choose to be referred, earn commissions, and/or offer services to wpSites users.
13. In order to do get a website, what do I need to do first? #
- Want to get started? Sign up. It’s free and no credit card is required.
- Want to add a Custom Domain? Upgrade, and we’ll get you set up for that.
- Want help creating a website? Hire our virtual webmasters to help. Or, bring your own web partner.
