Headless WordPress by WP Engine and Elementor
by u/DigitalSplendid in WordPress
Hosting your first WordPress site on AWS for free for first 3 months on 5$/10$ per month plan
For hosting progannum.com, I was considering a managed WordPress plan that has a reputation of meeting mission critical needs and yet most cost effective. Out of numerous, I considered WP Engine and Nexcess given my association with them as agency and affiliate partner for my other entities. The third option which I finally opted was AWS. Given my past experience hosting WordPress sites on Amazon Lightsail using Plesk Web Admin edition, I found AWS the most cost effective one. While Plesk Web Admin comes free with a Lightsail instance, more managed features can be activated by pro Plesk subscription. On the downside, there will be limited support from both AWS and Plesk unlike WP Engine and Nexcess where you get 24×7 customer support and true managed WordPress environment with few clicks, easy install of WordPress site.
Reading ratings/reviews on Trustpilot is a great way to leverage experience from past and present customers about a brand. Unlike the likes of G2 and Capterra where paid reviews lead to a bias, Trustpilot appears far more trustworthy.
WPEngine has its one site WordPress managed hosting plan starting from 30$ when paid monthly (keeping aside initial discounts). With Nexcess, it is 19$ per month.
Initially I contemplated applying for AWS Activate Founders Credit.
But as could be seen later in the screenshots, not approved. The reason should be I had already availed AWS Activate Founders Credit for one of my other entities in 2020 being granted 1350$ AWS credit (1,000 USD in AWS credits, valid for two years, and $350 USD in AWS Developer Support credits valid for one year).
Registering for an AWS account
Applying for AWS Activate
Launching WordPress site on Lightsail @5$ per month plan with first 3 months free making use of Plesk Web Admin option (free version)
The free Lighsail instance that is provided for 3 months is apparently for one AWS account, one instance. As could be seen from the screenshots above, I was not allowed to activate 10$ plan and instead asked to get in touch with the AWS Support. As I raised a ticket, I received a phone call over which the AWS Support agent enquired about the no. of instances I am planning to use. He further said that for one user, they allow one free instance and that he will help activate 10$ plan. As I already in the meantime activated 5$ plan, I was told that for this AWS account, it will not be possible now to revert to the free 10$ plan trial of 3 months. If indeed I needed to activate 10$ AWS Lightsail plan (with initial 3 months free), then I might need to register a fresh AWS account. I decided to continue with the 5$ plan.
Interesting to note is that each AWS Lightsail instance launched on Plesk hosting stack (Plesk Web Admin edition) allows 3 WordPress websites. So with a 5$ per month AWS Lightsail plan, you can have 3 WordPress sites up and running. Obviously you will need to upgrade your AWS Lightsail instance from 5$ per month to higher in case memory and resources exhausted.
Once AWS Lighsail instance activated with Plesk Hosting Stack, next process is to move to Plesk dashboard and from there launch WordPress instance.
Here is the process explained in my earlier articles:
- Plesk Hosting Stack on Ubuntu: 3 websites under one instance with plans starting 5$ per month on Amazon Lightsail and a demo of migration with free Migrate Guru plugin
- Managing multiple WordPress websites under one AWS Lightsail hosting plan through Plesk
Also by upgrading your Plesk Web Admin edition, you can get more managed WordPress features and upto 30 domains (websites) instead of 3 domains.
Read our review about AWS Lightsail and Plesk here on TrustRadius: AWS Lightsail: Highly recommended for launching WordPress websites
Although AWS Activate credit was not approved, within few days of opening the AWS account received an email of offer of 300$ AWS credit. This should be more than sufficient to avail AWS Lightsail hosting for free for the WordPress site for more than 12 months of their 5$/10$ per month plan.
Massively increased benefits for agencies; Start referring today.
Source: WPEngine Agency Partner newsletter dated 25 August 2022
WP Engine is excited to announce significant changes to our Agency Partner Program. We are bringing you incredible new benefits that provide priority access to advanced technical support WordPress experts, industry-leading commissions, discounts for you and your clients, and access to high-value leads for your agency.
What’s New:
In order to invest in our agency partners even more, we are announcing the following changes to the WP Engine Agency Partner Program.
- Agencies will earn $150 on every new shared hosting plan signed up in 2022.
- Priority access to advanced technical support from WordPress experts.
- More personal introductions to brands in need of agency help.
- Save money with up to 4 months free WP Engine discounts for you and your clients.
- It’s now easier to reach our higher Advanced and Strategic tiers which include our best benefits!
Relevant link:
WordPress: Getting access to free perks and privileges with WP Engine Agency Partner Program
WordPress: Getting access to free perks and privileges with WP Engine Agency Partner Program
For online publishers, web developers, digital agencies, there are many promising affiliate programs/partner programs that help monetize while being focused on the core area.
Affiliate programs are a kind of passive association in which you add affiliate links/banners on your website while promoting the same through activities such as blog posts, sharing on social media, and email marketing. Partner programs are closer association in which you actively use and refer clients the product by the partner while getting special benefits from partner such as referral commission, leads from partner’s online directory, badges authenticating you as an approved partner. Often you are the first to avail free partner’s newly launched product/feature. While affiliate commission is usually one time event, commission from a partner program is recurring.
In this blog post, I take a look at WP Engine Agency Partner Program as per our experience at Splendid Digital Solutions /Techcosec Limited. It is to be noted that one cannot be both registered as affiliate and partner of WP Engine. The affiliate program of WP Engine is managed by ShareASale.
Interested in providing web development services to your clients centered around WordPress? Consider getting approved as WP Engine Agency Partner.
Once approved, you get access to WP Engine’s partner portal.
A. Partner Portal
Agency directory listing for generating leads.
For a free WP Engine agency directory listing, you need at least one tracked referral within the last 12 months (this condition imposed beginning June 30, 2022).
B. Developer Account
The perks include access to one free live site.
Genesis Pro and eCommerce Solutions need upgradation.
Be the first to access newly launched features such as headless WordPress with Atlas and Flywheel Growth Suite.
WP Engine Agency Partner Program
Here’s Why You Should Attend DE{CODE}
Source: WP Engine Team
What does it mean to be a WordPress developer in 2022? What’s the best way to scale WooCommerce? How can you get started with Headless? Or, if you’re more advanced, when should you build a headless WordPress site? And, as a developer, how can you leverage managed WordPress hosting so you’re free to do even more of what you love?
These are just some of the questions we’re answering at DE{CODE} 2022.
Even better, the packed agenda will feature multiple sessions where, as a WordPress developer, you’ll be able to uplevel your skills in eCommerce, headless WordPress and of course, WordPress generally. For example, one session will instruct you on how to build your very first headless WordPress site. Get started with your free Atlas Sandbox account for headless WordPress now!
This FREE global experience made exclusively for developers happens just once a year!
We hope to see you online,
The WP Engine Team
Demo of client reports feature with Flywheel’s Growth Suite while putting LivePlan and Semrush in context
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, we will receive a small commission at no cost to you. We were also compensated to create this post, though all opinions are our own.
For this post, we take a look at three popular software that primarily belong to different niches but some of their functions overlap.
Primarily a business plan tool. Main reasons why LIvePlan used:
- Create a business plan that can be submitted to potential investors, business partners, and get funding.
- Prepare a sales forecast.
- Test a new business idea.
LivePlan is relevant for both offline and online businesses.
When your business has an online element, Semrush and Flywheel will enter into your consideration. Even in case you do not have an in-house website/app, Semrush will be handy for social media optimization.
With Semrush, you get SEO tools including keyword research, competitive research, rank tracking, link building, on page & tech SEO. You can integrate Semrush for on page optimization of your websites (say hosted on Flywheel). Zero in which keywords your content should target for getting your website on the first page of Google. And then keep a track of rankings with Semrush website tracking tool.
At some point, every business of today finds their identity in owning a website, irrespective of say leads coming from Amazon marketplace/Facebook. Once you choose WordPress as your platform of choice to build the website, Flywheel has managed WordPress hosting.
Financial forecasting
With LivePlan, you ask where do you get your revenue? Add major products, services, or other sources of revenue. Organize them into sensible higher-level groups. With a fitness center, for example, you might have group memberships, individuals, personal training, and counter sales. Direct costs, Personnel, Expenses, Assets, Taxes, Dividends, Cash Flow Assumptions, Financing are part of your Financial Tables. LivePlan helps prepare projected Profit & Loss, projected Balance Sheet, and projected Cash Flow for the next 3 to 5 years. For a web hosting service provider/web agency, Growth Suite can replace the need to have LivePlan for financial forecasting.
In other words, while LivePlan can be used for financial forecasting of any business, Growth Suite by Flywheel can well take care of financial forecasting of your business if you operate in the web hosting niche.
LivePlan, Semrush, and Flywheel for clients
For freelancers/consultants/developers/agencies/web hosting service providers, there are products that help deliver the core offerings by LivePlan, Semrush, Flywheel from a context of you as a service provider to your clients. For accountants, consultants, there is LivePlan for Strategic Advisors. A parallel can be drawn with Growth Suite by Flywheel and Semrush for Agencies.
All the 3 – LivePlan for Strategic Advisors, Semrush for agencies, Growth Suite by Flywheel – have client management and client reporting features. Lead generation tool in the form of a directory listing.
Demo of client reports feature with Flywheel’s Growth Suite
Flywheel’s all-in-one solution to grow your agency combines managed WordPress web hosting and client management in one dashboard. In case you use Semrush for keyword research, you can include your findings with the client reports generated through Growth Suite.
Flywheel’s all-in-one solution to grow your agency combines managed WordPress web hosting and client management in one dashboard under your own brand (white label). Know more and sign up here.