WP Engine Review - Is It Worth It?

There are plenty of WP Engine reviews from people who have large WordPress sites with massive following, but what about people who are just starting their blogs? Is WP Engine still worth the splurge?

WP Engine is hosting my first ever WordPress blog, happybootstrapper.com, and I thought to share my experiences.

I've been using Blogger for ages and I love it. It wasn't until SiteBuildIt that I understood why one shouldn't keep business blogs in Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress.org or any other freely hosted services. Free blogging services are great for hobby blogs and diaries, but when it's about your business, you'll want the full control over your site and possibilities for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

I first thought I'd just get $2.99 hosting from GoDaddy and press that "Install WordPress" button, but I had read some horror stories.

Horror stories of business blogging

Pat Flynn's sites were attacked in February and he lost $12,000 as a result.

In 30x500 community, sites have been down when people have had traffic spikes. If your blog is down during a traffic spike, it's a lost opportunity. So many people wanting to read what you have to say and none being able to see the page. And when people try to fix the problems, anything can happen. Just couple of days ago I heard how someone got all his images corrupted because he tried to improve his blog uptime and security.

On top of that, WordPress sites are hacked all the time. You'll wake up one morning and all your articles are gone.

That's how I found WP Engine too. I read a tweet by someone laughing at the hacker who was trying to break in to her business blog that was hosted by WP Engine. And after reading about their services, I was ready to give WP Engine a try.

What did WP Engine promise that got me interested?

Top security and uptime. They are experts in what they do and they have set up a multi-level protection system to make sure your data is safe and always available. They'll even promise to fix your blog, if someone really is able to do any damage to it! With them, your blog should stay up even when there's massive traffic.

Automatic backups. This was a biggie for me. After working so many years in IT industry I know how important backups are. There are services and plugins for doing this, like http://vaultpress.com/ and Backup Buddy. But they cost money too and making different services work together is always extra work that keeps me from doing my business.

Service. Whenever you have a problem, just make a ticket. At first I thought "Gee, running a blog is so easy that I probably won't be needing this much but it's nice to have". But… I was so wrong.

My first experience

Setting up the blog was super easy. I bought the domain from GoDaddy and just followed the instructions on linking the domain to my new WordPress blog and I was online. What a happy moment!

Then my problems started. I broke up my WordPress installation within the first hour. The whole thing just stopped working and my blog didn't load. I was just hacking along to customize my theme so I was pretty dumbfounded. At first I thought I'd just revert back to the default theme and load my custom theme again, but to my horror the WordPress remembered the changes I had done.

WP Engine backups saved me. On the very first day, just after couple of hours after getting my blog up, I used a backup to restore my blog back to normal. I hated WordPress from all my heart.

Next, I needed support

One of my readers contacted me to say that my comments form is broken. I soon found out that I wouldn't be able to find the fault on my own without reverting to the default theme. As I had spent so much time customizing my theme I didn't want to do that. So, I contacted the support.

Pretty soon, I got a happy mail from the support telling me that the support person had reverted my blog to the default theme and it was obvious that the theme was to blame. All my customizations were gone!

WP Engine offers manual backup points, but I hadn't taken one before contacting support. They also take automatic backups once every day. Unfortunately, I had just published a post and it wasn't in the previous backup. Now, I click the "manual restore point" always before contacting support.

After that grim first acquaintance, the support has never failed me since. And I've contacted them more than my share. It seems I'm getting into problems with WordPress all the time. It's embarrassing - I've been dealing with software all my life!

When I started with WP Engine, I thought the security and uptime would be the things I'd need the most. But now I know it's the support. I would have wasted countless of hours trying to solve my WordPress newbie problems myself. Now I've been able to concentrate on my business.

Then, I got some traffic spikes

The traffic that I get using 30x500 methods is not similar than I get to my other sites. I've never had this type of traffic profile before. Here's a snapshot from Google Analytics:

Just look at that! Crazy. And… I'm happy to say that WP Engine had no problems with this spike, hundreds of people rushing to the site at the same time.

Are there any downsides?

WP Engine does not host your mailbox. So you'll need to set up the mail addresses and mail forwarding using some other service. I'm using free ZohoMail to forward mails to my Google mail.

The search engine indexing is off by default. It's just a single check box that you need to uncheck. But it's a kinda important checkpoint if you are doing business online. I only found out when I installed the SEO plugin and my site still doesn't show in Google like it should.

Well, do you recommend WP Engine?

Yes, I happily recommend WP Engine. I know there are cheaper options, but what kind of business you are running if you can't afford $30-$100 to the maintenance and security of your most important business assets!

In addition, it makes me happy to support small online companies instead of large giants. More power to us small guys!

WP Engine has a 60 days money-back-quarantee and they are currently running a campaign where you can get several free months if you pay the whole year's hosting at one go.

Isn't it time to stop reading review and get back to business? Visit WP Engine and get your blog posts out to the world!

Market Samurai Tries To Kill Free Google Keywords Tool

Several people have recommended Market Samurai to me. Of course I was excited to see if I could get all the data I need for keyword research from a single tool. So I checked it out. 

I was sorely disappointed - enough that I have to boycott it.


What Is Wrong With Market Samurai?

When I started up the Market Samurai it asked my Google Adwords account login name and password. I have a major problem with that. 

I don't just give out my credentials to anyone. This software is installed on my PC where it can access web any way it likes.  

Worse, letting someone use my credentials to access Google Adwords API emulating user input violates the usage agreement of Google Adwords. That is a real problem. 



I Don't Want To Mess Up With Google

Traffic from search engines if the lifeblood of passive income business. Messing up with Google is a bad idea. A very bad idea. 

I'd love to say that the internet frees little bootstrapping companies, small businesses and individuals to take power to their own hands... but most of us get the lifeblood from Google and Microsoft, through their search engines. I guess there are some people working through social media who are not dependent on organic traffic. But most are. I surely am.

But... you say... The Google Adwords Keyword Tool is free, how can I violate anything?


Google Adwords Keyword Tool JSON API Is Not Free

Yes the Keyword Tool is free for human use, but the interface that external applications should use is not free. 

In practice Market Samurai is not using the pay interface, so the creator of the program may assure you that everything is fine. But that is like saying, 

"No I'm not trespassing. Yes, I did notice the sign at the gate. But Sir, I did NOT come here through that gate - I came over the fence."

The deal is, programmatic usage should be paid for. I'll bet that is how Google sees it. 


What Google Could Do?

Nowadays it is a common practise that applications and interfaces are opened up for non-commercial use and commercial users must pay. I like that business model as it helps common people to have free tools. 

If I had written and published API as free for non-commercial use and then someone would make a tool like this, I would be pissed off. I would be REALLY pissed off. I probably might consider closing up the free version. Google is a big company so maybe it can find other ways to plug the leak, but the risk is there. 

If offering the free tool makes it possible to bypass the pay-part, and lots of people do that, eventually it is worth closing up the free tool. 

So there is a real risk that eventually Google will consider closing up the Adwords Tool. Or they might opt that you need to have a company to access it, like Microsoft has done with their tool already.

Or, Google could just detect the traffic pattern that Market Samurai creates and ban those accounts. 

It all depends on how big a problem they think this is. 


How SBI Deals With The Same Problem?

SiteBuildIt! uses data from Keywords Tool too. 

To get the data into SBI tool, I first have to export my keyword list from the SBI tool and then log in to the Google Keywords Tool manually. I use the options in Keywords Tool to import my keyword list. When I get the results I'll export them into a file. Then I go back to the SBI tool and import the data there.

It is a bit complicated, but it is legal. 

Of course the same approach would not work for Market Samurai.


What Market Samurai Should Do?

The first thing that came into my mind was:

 "Why don't they just pay for the usage? Why take this risk?"

It just don't make any sense. They take a huge risk - and their customers take a huge risk. Worse, I'll bet most of the customers won't even realize that something is wrong.

Then I realized that the Market Samurai software is sold for a fixed price. It would not be a wise idea to let people pay once and then cause you costs forever. Also, it takes time to reprogram the software to use the gate instead of jumping over the fence.

I think that Market Samurai would need a major face-lift. It should be redone as web service.

It could utilize the "pay per use" subscription model. They could have, for example, a basic subscription with certain amount of searches per month. Then there could be a more pricey pro subscription option with higher amount of searches per month.

Overall, I do like the idea of Market Samurai and I'd love to have a tool like it. 

But the fact is - until the Market Samurai plays fair, I will not be using it.

No, I don't like to write negative posts. This has been laying in the drafts like a month already. But then I realized that not all people know that Adwords API is a pay interface. So if I can help people by providing this information, maybe it is worth it.

Sharpen Your Focus With Freckle

I want to build a SaaS(Software as a Service) application as a part of my passive income project. While I am learning the technologies, I am also checking out what others have done on that area. Whenever I stumble upon tools that are useful in my passive income project, I'll let you know so you can benefit from them too. The first lovable application I want to introduce you is Freckle. They offer free accounts that lets one person work on one project. Freckle is a perfect tool for a project like mine.

Why I Fell In Love With Freckle

Before:
It is a a nice day and I start working on my passive income project. At some point I notice a popup of a new mail arriving. I go to check my email... and then I find myself on Twitter. I follow an interesting link that I find in a tweet. And before I know it, I've used several hours just surfing on the web. I have wasted massive amount of my prime time without noticing it.

Now:
Whenever I open my PC with an intention to work on my passive income project, I'll open the Freckle timer first. There is a button in my browser toolbar for that. I start the timer immediately and get to work.

When a new mail arrives I am not so tempted to just "quickly check it out", because I would need to pause my timer. If the mail popup looks important, I may pause the timer. But pausing my timer makes me conscious that I am switching into doing something that does not take my project forward. I stay focused - I'll just read the mail and come back working. I'm eager to get my timer back on running!

If I end up getting distracted by the web, I don't log those hours. Yes, I used at least part of them for my project, but I want to keep my pulse clean.

Where Is Your Pulse - Is Your Project Alive?

Well, Freckle shows me the pulse of my passive income project. Here is the view where I can input my hours without timer. The green dots below the turquoise bar shows my pulse. If I want to keep my project going, I'd better keep the pulse throbbing.

In addition to seeing my weekly pulse, I can click the "PULSE" on the right and it nicely shows me the pulse of my project for the whole month. If I had a Freelance account that costs $12 per month, I could put all my projects here and the pulse would have colorful pie charts. If I would need to make invoices, I'd probably buy Freelance account right away.

You Can Only Manage What You Can Measure

We are set for success here, right? You know I am. And when I'll look back a year after, I want to know what I did so that I can repeat it. Maybe I want to know how many hours I used for something so I can calculate what ended up being my hourly pay. That way I'll know what type of projects get me most money per hour (not to say that it is the most important thing). And what do you know, Freckle gives me excellent reports on the hours that I log in. Here is the report on my eBook work between 1st and 6th of July.

As you can see, I can now easily see how much time I have used on different activities while working on my eBook. Again, if I had the Freelancer account the hours breakdown would show me nice pie chart.

OK, I'm ready with this blog post. Let's log my hours.

Click, click and click, I'm done.

Don't wait any longer.
Register your free Freckle account and gain more focus in your project too!

DISCLAIMER

The links in this page are affiliate links. If you end up buying Freckle, I'll get some pennies too! But I am not recommending Freckle because of that. I am recommending it because it is so lovable. Life just cannot get any better than this.