Tag: business

How to Start an Online Store for Your Business (2023 Guide)
Starting an online store is a great way to reach a wider audience and sell your products or services to people worldwide. WordPress and WooCommerce are the most popular platforms for creating and managing online stores.

This article will walk you through the steps of starting an online store with WordPress and WooCommerce.

We will cover everything from choosing a niche and target audience to setting up and marketing your store.

1. Have a Comprehensive Plan for Your Online Business

Before you delve into the technicalities of building your site, starting with a solid business plan is crucial. This roadmap will guide your decisions as you establish your online store.

Let’s break down the critical components of your plan:

Identify your Niche

If you’re considering how to start an online store, you likely have a product in mind. If not, it’s time to figure that out before you proceed.

Ask yourself: What will you sell, and to whom will you sell it?

Choosing a niche that aligns with your passions can make your journey more enjoyable and sustainable. Your enthusiasm for your products will resonate with your customers, creating a unique and engaging shopping experience.

Image by Dragon Claws / shutterstock.com

Next, understand your target audience and their personas. Identify their needs, preferences, and buying habits. The more you know about your audience, the better you can tailor your products and marketing strategies to them.

Remember, choosing a profitable, searchable niche that aligns with your passion is imperative for success. This ensures a return on your investment and that there’s an active audience looking for your products or services.

Select Your Products

Once you’ve identified your niche, it’s time to decide on the specific product(s) you’ll sell. Clarity about your offerings, whether physical goods, digital products, or services, is key.

Start with a limited catalog to test demand. You can always expand your product range later.

Consider factors like demand, competition, and profitability when selecting your products. If you’re entering a popular market, consider how to differentiate your offerings.

If you’re selling physical products, plan your inventory management strategy. Will you need custom manufacturing, drop shipping, or wholesale purchasing?

Keyword Research

Keyword research helps you understand what potential customers are searching for online, guiding your content creation and SEO strategy. SEO Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner and SEMrush can assist with this research.

By conducting keyword research, you’ll uncover high-traffic search terms consumers use to find products like yours. Use these insights to optimize your site with SEO content based on the keywords your audience is searching for. You can even use AI SEO tools like Surfer SEO or Jasper to generate and optimize your content for keywords.

Doing so will help your online store rank higher in search engine results, attracting more visitors.

2. Register Your Domain

Before you can create a website, you need to buy a domain. Your domain name is your online store’s address on the web. It should be easy to remember and reflect your brand.

Image by Eny Setiyowati / shutterstock.com

You’ll need to buy your domain from a reputable domain registrar. You want reasonable prices and easy-to-manage domain options. You can’t go wrong with Namecheap or Godaddy. Some hosting providers, like Siteground, will also allow you to pick a domain directly from their platform.

Follow along in our dedicated, step-by-step guide for registering a new domain for a website.

3. Choose an eCommerce Platform

When it comes to eCommerce platforms, two options often dominate the conversation: WordPress with WooCommerce and Shopify. Website builder platforms like Shopify offer an all-in-one solution that can be a great option for many online stores. However, with WordPress powering over 40% of all online stores, it’s worth exploring why this platform, combined with WooCommerce, is a top choice for many.

WordPress + WooCommerce: A Winning Combination

WordPress, the best content management system (CMS) for building websites, offers one of the most flexible options for building an online store. While the platform is free, associated costs include hosting, domain registration, plugins, and themes. However, these costs are often considered a worthy investment, given WordPress’s freedom and ease of use.

Even for beginners, WordPress is a straightforward platform to learn. It’s intuitive, and a wealth of tutorials and documentation are available from various sources to help you navigate any learning curve. Plus, with its comprehensive dashboards and a handy mobile app, you can stay informed about your store’s performance anytime, anywhere.

Customizability with WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the go-to eCommerce solution for WordPress, and it is one of many great eCommerce plugins you can use to enhance your online store. One of the standout features of WooCommerce is its customizability. Whether you’re setting up a small boutique store or a sprawling online marketplace, there are plenty of WooCommerce themes designed to help you create a unique and engaging shopping experience for your customers. You can easily tweak the layout, colors, fonts, and other design elements to match your brand’s aesthetic. There are also some great WooCommerce plugins and add-ons to add more features and functionality to your online store. For those with more technical expertise, WordPress also allows custom code snippets and webhooks for further customization.

Scalability for Growth

As your online store grows, the WordPress and WooCommerce combination can handle increased traffic and content. It’s a scalable solution that grows with your business, ensuring your website can handle the demands of a growing customer base.

With WordPress and WooCommerce, you’re not just building an online store but a platform designed for growth and success.

Comparing eCommerce Platforms

Choosing the right eCommerce platform for your needs is crucial. To help you make an informed decision, we’ve compared WooCommerce with other top website builders and CMS solutions for eCommerce:
4. Choose the Right Hosting Provider

Choosing a reliable hosting provider is crucial for your online store’s performance and security. SiteGround is one of the most recommended options with optimized WordPress infrastructure.

We’ll reference SiteGround in many of the steps below, as it is one of the most trusted providers out there for WordPress. It includes free CDN, free SSL, and email account management.

If you want to research more, you can review the fastest WordPress hosting companies or read our take on the best hosting companies.

5. Create Your Website

Once you’ve chosen your platform and hosting provider, it’s time to create your website, which will be the start of your online store. This involves:
- Installing and setting up WordPress + WooCommerce
- Configuring your general settings
- Choosing and setting up a theme
Install WordPress

Here, we’ll show you how to install WordPress using SiteGround’s Site Tools dashboard. If you’d like to learn other ways to install WordPress, read our definitive guide on installing WordPress.

After signing up for a SiteGround account, you can easily install WordPress in just a few clicks. Start by clicking the “Set Up Site” button at your screen’s top center.

Next, choose whether to set up your site on a new, existing, or temporary domain. Select “Temporary Domain,” then click “Continue.” This will let you create a site before you purchase your domain.

SiteGround will assign a temporary domain to your WordPress installation. To proceed, click “Continue“.

Next, click “Start New Website.”

Choose “WooCommerce” to have WordPress automatically installed with all the eCommerce hardware.

The next step allows you to create your admin login credentials. This is how you’ll log in to your WordPress dashboard when working on your site. Be sure to save your login information for reference. Click “Continue” to proceed.

Finally, click the “Finish” button to install WordPress + WooCommerce.

You have two choices in accessing the WordPress dashboard. Through SiteGround, you can click “Log in Admin.”

Another way to log in to WordPress is through the CMS by navigating to www.yoursite.com/wp-admin in your browser. Be sure to replace www.yoursite.com with your unique domain or the temporary domain that SiteGround provided you.

Configure WordPress Settings

The WordPress settings section allows you to configure the major settings controlling your WordPress installation. They are found by clicking “Settings” in the admin sidebar.

These settings are too granular to cover in detail here, but if you have lingering questions, you can consult these helpful mini-guides for WordPress settings:
Choose Your WordPress Theme

Choosing the right theme for the start of your online store can significantly impact its appearance and functionality. Divi is particularly well-suited for eCommerce websites, thanks to its integration with WooCommerce. And it’s theme builder is the easiest way to edit high-impact pages such as product and checkout pages visually.

Here’s why Divi is the perfect theme for any online store:
- Divi has professional eCommerce templates created for you to plug and play
- Divi’s visual builder lets you customize your store’s design
- Divi stores look great on all devices with responsive design
- Track and improve performance with Divi’s marketing tools
- Excellent customer support team to help with any issues
- Divi and WooCommerce work perfectly together
- Regular updates add new features and optimizations, and it’s always getting faster
Setting up Divi

Installing Divi is a straightforward process. First, Divi needs to be downloaded from the Elegant Themes membership dashboard after purchasing a subscription. Log into your Elegant Themes account and navigate to the “Themes & Plugins“section to get the Divi theme file.

In the WordPress dashboard of your site, go to Appearance > Themes. Click on the “Upload Theme” button and select the Divi.zip file that was downloaded from your Elegant Themes Membership dashboard. Click “Install.”

After WordPress uploads the Divi theme, click “Activate” to use it on your website. This will replace your existing theme with Divi.

The final step is entering your Elegant Themes API Key. This allows your Divi theme to automatically update whenever Elegant Themes releases a new version, ensuring you always have the most up-to-date Divi theme. Go to your Elegant Themes Membership and the “Account” page. Click on “API Keys,” remember your “Username,” then scroll to the bottom of the page.

Generate a new “API Key,” give it a label/name, and click to copy the key code.

To add the API Key, go to Divi > Theme Options > Updates. Enter your Elegant Themes API Key and Username into the field and click “Save Changes.”

You can learn more about installing a WordPress theme if you choose a different theme to start your online store.

6. Build Your Online Store

With your website set up, it’s time to build your online store. This involves setting up WooCommerce, adding products, and setting up preferred payment gateways.

You’re now into the exciting part of how to build your online store!

Setup WooCommerce

After configuring WordPress settings and choosing a theme, you can walk through the initial setup wizard to configure key settings for your store in WooCommerce. Remember that we had our host install WooCommerce alongside WordPress, so there is no need to install the WooCommerce plugin. If your host didn’t provide that courtesy, you can view our guide to installing + configuring WooCommerce.

The setup wizard configures your store with basic configurations and additional WooCommerce-specific plugins based on your needs. To get started, under WooCommerce, click “Home.”

The WooCommerce Onboarding Wizard begins with basic store information (address and email address).

Then select the industries that your store best fits into.

Choose the functionality you want with your store regarding the type of products you wish to sell. Depending on your selection, additional WooCommerce plugins will be installed to give you the necessary functionality.

Note that WooCommerce offers plugins that have a monthly fee associated with them. You can use these solutions if you wantâ€”they are reliable! But you also have more options if you do a bit more digging. We’ve gathered the best membership, bookings, and other free WooCommerce plugins you can use.

Then tell WooCommerce a bit more about yourself and your store.

The WooCommerce ecosystem has plenty of free plugins as well. The last step will be to select which WooCommerce plugins you want to be installed (each handles a specific and essential task). If you wonder if they are worth it, see our Jetpack and MailPoet reviews.

WooCommerce Settings

The nitty gritty settings of any platform can be a lot of work when starting an online store. WooCommerce has settings pages to configure and customize your online store for every single detail:
- General Settings control currency, product types, checkout, and catalog
- Product Settings manage options like units, visibility, and inventory
- Shipping Settings configure delivery methods, costs, and other preferences
- Payment Settings set up payment gateways for customer checkout
- Account Settings configure registration, privacy, and data
- Email Settings customize transactional emails from your store
- Advanced Settings fine-tune advanced functions like hooks
These settings are discussed in detail with our guide on configuring WooCommerce settings.

Add Products to Your Online Store

Adding products to your WooCommerce store involves creating a new product in your WordPress dashboard and filling in the product details, including the title, description, price, and product image.

Site owners can add products in bulk to WooCommerce via CSV if they have that information in a spreadsheet. Otherwise, products can be easily added through the dashboard.

Go to WooCommerce > Products > “Add New” in your WordPress dashboard.

Enter the product name for your product that will be displayed to shoppers.

Add a product description and upload your product image.

Now you can choose what product type, price, manage inventory, set shipping options, and more from the individual product page.

You can publish the product draft once you are happy with your product. Add as many products as you have.

Learn more about WooCommerce inventory management to handle product stock, and visit our guide on setting up shipping in WooCommerce.

7. Design Your Online Store

Designing and starting your eCommerce online store is a lot of workâ€”but it’s work that makes all the difference. Most WordPress themes lock you into a set design, but we’ll show you how to build a web store using Divi that gives you complete design freedom.

A page builder like Divi allows you to design your website visually without coding. It will enable you to customize every part of your store using a drag-and-drop interface and a variety of modules. This includes your product pages, cart, and checkout pages.

You can learn all about Divi’s WooCommerce modules which are the building blocks of a successful store.

Add Products to a Page with Divi

Divi allows you to import pre-made layouts, saving you time designing your online store.

Open up and edit your Home Page with Divi. Choose “Browse Layouts” to see what layouts are out there that can save you time that you like.

Search through the hundreds of layout packs with every Elegant Themes membership. For ease, look for layout packs with a “Shop Page.” Then, import the layout into the page by clicking “Use this Layout.”

The template’s Woo Products module imported and displayed our product information on the page. This module is editable, allowing you to change the number of products displayed, the number of columns, ordering, and what elements are displayed (in addition to the design settings).

If we wanted to add a single product to a page from scratch, we could add a new row and place it in the “Woo Products” module from the list of WooCommerce Modules.

Design Cart Pages

Standard pages that your store uses are included with WooCommerce. They are:
1. Shop page (like the blog page but for products)
2. Cart page (which shows items that customers put into their shopping carts)
3. Checkout page (which displays what customers see as they checkout)
4. My Account page (which helps users manage their user accounts with your store)
Divi lets you edit each of these pages through the Theme Builder.

For more details on creating these pages, visit our cart page layout tutorial, checkout page layout tutorial, and building WooCommerce pages with Divi tutorial.

8. Add Plugins for More Features

One of the great things about using WordPress and WooCommerce is the ability to extend functionality with plugins. Thousands of free and premium plugins add helpful features to an online store. Here we point you in the direction of WooCommerce plugin categories that you should be aware of.

SEO Plugins

SEO is crucial for driving traffic to your online store. Plugins like Yoast SEO and Rank Math allow you to optimize pages and content for search engines. They add schema markup, XML sitemaps, and other SEO best practices.

We have an entire guide on WooCommerce SEO that’ll require using one of the great WooCommerce SEO plugins. You can check out these AI-based SEO tools if you are adventurous and into Generative AI.

Security Plugins

Security is vital for any online business. Plugins like Wordfence Security, iThemes Security, and Sucuri add protection and threat monitoring layers. If you are collecting user data, receiving a lot of traffic, and authorizing plenty of transactionsâ€”security is paramount for your store to run effectively.

Check out our recommendations on the best WordPress security plugins and why they are essential.

Product Filtering and Search Plugins

Plugins that enhance product filtering, search, and navigation result in better customer experiences.

The top options are SearchWP and the others referenced on our list of best search plugins.

Barn2 and Yith make some of our favorite WooCommerce plugins. There are also dozens of solid WooCommerce options in the Divi Marketplace if you want a solution that is guaranteed to work with Divi.

9. Launch Your New Online Store

Once your online store is built, it’s time to get the word out and attract customers. Some key marketing channels to leverage include:

Email Marketing: Email is one of the most effective ways to market to customers. Build your list by offering an incentive to subscribe. Send regular newsletter emails showcasing new products. Use email segmentation to target different groups. Choose one of the best email marketing services like Mailchimp or one of its alternatives.

Store SEO: Search engine optimization helps customers find your products through search. Carry out on-page optimization across your site. Choose an SEO plugin like Yoast or RankMath to optimize your content. Use advanced SEO techniques to improve rankings.

Social Media: Promote your store through social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Share products, run giveaways, and advertise through paid social campaigns. Many ways of doing social commerce can help increase exposure and sales.

Affiliate Marketing: Open an affiliate program where other creators can reference, review, and promote your products. This is quickly done with affiliate management plugins. Also, you can consider becoming an Amazon affiliate if your online store is focused on selling others’ products with Amazon. This earns you commissions on resulting sales.

PPC Ads: Paid search ads put your products in front of people as they search on Google and other search engines. Use AI tools to optimize your ads and copywriting to see even more outstanding results.

Site Speed and Optimization: Fast site speed is vital for conversions. Use caching plugins and follow a Divi optimization guide to speed up your store.

Be sure to track metrics with eCommerce analytics to optimize efforts and take an omnichannel approach.

Conclusion

Starting an online store is an ambitious goal that can be intimidating at first. But by following a step-by-step guide, anyone can create a thriving online store. All that’s left is driving traffic and running your business.

Don’t let technology or self-doubt hold you back. You have what it takes to turn your retail goals into a thriving online store that realizes your entrepreneurial vision.

If you need more help with, we create some of the best content about WordPress. You might even check out our favorite tools for productivity that may help you greatly. Let us know how your online store plans are shaping up!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Before we wrap up, let’s answer some of your most common questions regarding how to create an online store. Did we miss one? Leave a question below, and we will respond!

How do I make an online store?

To make an online store, you must choose an e-commerce platform like WordPress/WooCommerce, create a domain name and website, design your storefront, add products, set up payment and shipping options, and launch your website. You can also market your store through social media and search engines to attract customers.

Can I start an online store for free?

Yes, while it is possible to start an online store for free using platforms like Shopify and, WooCommerce, remember that these platforms may have limitations on features and functionality, or you may still need to pay for services like hosting and domain.

How much does it cost to start an online store?

The cost to start an online store can vary depending on the platform used, website design, domain name, hosting, payment processing, and marketing. Some platforms, likeÂ WooCommerce, are free but require hosting and additional expenses. A basic online store can cost around $500-$1,000 but can increase with additional features and customization.

Why should I use WordPress to build my online store?

Using WordPress to build your online store offers a range of benefits, including easy customization, a vast selection of plugins, and flexibility to scale as your business grows. With WordPress, you can completely control your store’s design and functionality and integrate with popular payment gateways and shipping options. Plus, its user-friendly interface makes managing your store a breeze.

Which is better, Shopify or WordPress?

WordPress offers greater flexibility and customization options than Shopify. With WordPress, users can access a wide range of plugins and themes, enabling them to customize their online store fully. Using WooCommerce with WordPress offers more affordable pricing plans, unlimited product listings, and no transaction fees. Additionally, WordPress is an established platform with a large community, providing a wealth of resources and support.

Can I create an online store without physical products?

Yes, it is possible to create an online store without physical products. This can be done by selling digital products such as software, ebooks, music, or courses. Alternatively, you can provide consulting, coaching, or freelancing services. Such online stores are known as digital or service-based stores.

How do I start an online store without inventory?

To start an online store without inventory, consider dropshipping or print-on-demand services. Drop shipping lets you partner with a supplier who ships products directly to your customers. With print-on-demand, you create designs printed on products only when ordered. Choose a platform like WooCommerce, set up your website, select products, and start marketing your store.

What are the important pages that my online store should have?

An online store should have essential pages such as a homepage, product pages, about us page, contact us page, FAQs page, shipping and returns policy page, and a blog page. These pages help provide an easy and engaging shopping experience for the customers and build trust and credibility for the brand.

Where should I host my online store?

When choosing a hosting provider for your online store, look for one that offers fast and reliable performance, secure transactions, and scalable resources to accommodate growth. Consider popular options such as SiteGround, Hostinger, Cloudways, and Pressable. You can read our detailed comparison of various hosts here.

How do I create an online dropshipping business?

To create an online dropshipping business, you must choose a niche, research and select products to sell, find and partner with a dropshipping supplier, develop an online store, and market your business through social media and other channels. You can use platforms like WooCommerce to set up your store and automate the ordering and shipping process.

How do I sell digital products online?

To sell digital products online, you need a platform to showcase your products, such as a website or e-commerce store, which you can easily make using tools such as WordPress, Divi, and WooCommerce tools. Ensure that your product is valuable and in demand. Use marketing strategies such as social media advertising, email marketing, and content marketing to attract potential customers. Set up a secure payment gateway and deliver the digital product to the customer upon successful purchase.

Featured Image by TAW4 / shutterstock.com

The post How to Start an Online Store for Your Business (2023 Guide) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.
30.07.2023
How to Detect AI Writing in 2023
Since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has exploded. There are AI programs for creating art, voices, videos, writing, and much more. AI can be an excellent companion to boost productivity and spark creativity. However, as with any new tech, some people will take advantage of it in unethical ways. In this post, we’ll explore the world of AI and offer some tips on how to detect AI writing.

Let’s get started.

What is AI Writing?

image created with Midjourney | Photoshop AI

AI writing is the use of artificial intelligence to create original content through language models, such as ChatGPT. All you need to do is enter a text prompt describing the type of content you want, and AI will provide that content in seconds. While AI-assisted writing has been around for a few years, it has exploded over the last year. There are dozens of AI writing software programs available, each with its own niche. They can create blog outlines, eye-catching headlines, complete blog posts, and more. As the technology continues to evolve, being able to detect AI writing will become harder. However, in recent months, several AI content detectors have been released that can help spot artificially generated content.

How Do AI Writers Work?

Most AI writers are based on generative pre-trained transformer 3 (GPT3) by OpenAI, which uses a large language model (LLC) algorithm. LLMs work by using the dataset it was trained on to string together sentences by predicting which words are likely to be placed next to one another while keeping the context. In most cases, AI gets it right. However, there are times when hallucinations or falsehoods occur. Generally, this happens about 20% of the time.

When using generative AI to write content, there are a few things to keep in mind. In the case of ChatGPT, its dataset is based on about 570GB of information scraped from the internet through September 2021. This includes blogs, books, search results, and other relevant information. Therefore, if you ask questions about anything beyond 2021, it will usually generate incorrect output. That’s why it’s incredibly important to not only fact-check everything it generates but essentially never to copy what it gives you word for word.

Challenges of AI Writing

AI writing tools can help boost productivity and creativity and help those with little to no writing skills be better content creators. However, they do present challenges. With the improvements to AI text generators, it will become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between human and computer-written content. AI-written content can seem emotionless, lack creative input, and is limited to the dataset it is trained on. While OpenAI states that generated content is original, it does use word association and pulls its information from data across the internet. Because of that, there are concerns about plagiarism, false information, and copyright infringement.

Without checks and balances, some people will use AI irresponsibly, requiring businesses to take extra steps to ensure employees use AI responsibly and ethically. Thankfully, there are a few things to look out for when detecting AI writing.

How To Detect AI Writing

Even with good AI detection tools, there will never be 100% certainty that they will catch every bit of AI-generated content. Therefore, it’s important to identify it in other ways.

Tone and Style

One of the biggest issues with AI content is how inconsistent the tone and style can be. While AI models have made incredible progress over the last year, they still struggle with producing human-like content. Mostly, this can be attributed to the data that GPT3 models were trained on. As previously mentioned, when LLMs make content, they use association to determine the probability of word placement. Therefore, the output is often strung together, giving it a lack of transition words or varying tones, making it almost robotic. Let’s use ChatGPT as an example.

We provided the prompt: Write one paragraph about ocean animals.

ChatGPT produced this:

It’s tricky to determine AI-generated content using this method, but there’s one thing to remember. When people write, there are usually varying tones and styles throughout the text, whereas computers don’t. There are often shifts in thought patterns in humans, resulting in a change in tone. With computers, they output content contained within their dataset, resulting in a more uniform result.

Accuracy

Another red flag is a lack of accuracy. We touched on this earlier in this post, but it’s important to expand on it. As previously noted, ChatGPT was trained on a huge amount of data through 2021. Therefore, the results will undoubtedly be skewed if asked about current events or information after that date. So, when reading content on the internet, it’s imperative to fact-check everything. Recent updates to ChatGPT include verbiage indicating that the answer is relevant as of September 2021 when asking questions about current events. Keep in mind, however, that even though this update is helpful, it is still possible to get output that isn’t accurate.

Using ChatGPT, we entered the following prompt: provide one paragraph explaining what character AI is.

This was the output:

We were trying to trick it into giving us false information by asking about Character AI. ChatGPT did its best to inform us what it thought Character AI was, considering the platform wasn’t publically available until a year later.

Lack of Personal Touch

A great way to spot computer-created content is by noting a lack of personal opinion or emotion. Most human writers will incorporate slang or provide personal opinions throughout their writing. Alternatively, computers are more matter-of-fact, only presenting you with an answer. You usually won’t find any emotions or beliefs.

For example, we asked ChatGPT to provide one paragraph on Synthesia’s AI avatars.

This was its output:

While it did a good job of explaining what the company does with AI avatars, it seems very monotone, lacking emotion or depth.

Repetitive Language

Another way to spot AI-generated content is through repetitive language. If you notice a lot of keyword stuffing in an article, chances are it was created by artificial intelligence. Since people use prompts to generate AI output, they often include keywords in the prompt. This generally results in instances where that word is repeated over and over throughout the text.

For example, we asked ChatGPT to provide us with an explanation of AI. This was the result:

It produced around 250 words, with the word AI repeated 16 times. According to a popular SEO plugin, Yoast SEO, there should only be 8 instances of that keyword in that amount of text.

AI Content Detection Tools

Finally, you can use an AI content detection tool to help identify computer-generated content. They analyze text using context to understand the likelihood of words appearing together. The more predictable the pattern, the more likely it’s AI-generated. Unlike humans, AI typically does not write more creative sentences, is more predictable, and doesn’t offer opinions.

There are several AI content detection tools for both text and images, with some of the more popular ones being Originality AI and GPTZero. In the next section, we’ll give you a brief overview of how each works and how to use it.

Using Originality.ai to Detect AI Writing

Originality.ai is one of the leading tools marketers use to detect AI content. Primarily created for identifying content generated through ChatGPT, GPT-4, and Bard, it uses natural language processing to identify AI. While it’s not a free service, it’s reasonably priced at .01Â¢ for every 100 words checked. There is also a Chrome Extension you can try out that gives you 50 credits.

Sign Up for Originality.ai

The first step is to sign up. Go to their website and click the Sign Up button at the top right of your screen to begin.

Next, enter your name, email, create a password, and agree to the terms and conditions. Then click continue.

In the next step, you’ll fill in your credit card information and agree to purchase $20 worth of credits, buying you roughly 20,000 words of AI detection.

Conducting Your First Scan

Once logged in, the dashboard is intuitive. Content can be scanned by inputting a URL, uploading a file, or pasting text. To conduct your first scan, click the content scanner tab, then select start new scan.

We’ll input a few paragraphs of a news article pulled from Google into the scanner to test the functionality. To start a scan, paste the text into the editor (1). Next, click scan now (2). You can enter a title or let Originality.ai create one for you (3).

Once the scan is complete, Originality.ai will grade your content and determine if it’s human, partial, or completely AI. In this example, Originality’s scanner noted a 100% original score.

Let’s try another example with a paragraph completely generated with ChatGPT.

As you can see, the results are pretty accurate. However, it’s important to detect AI with a trained eye and use an AI detection tool to get the best results.

Using GPTZero to Detect AI Writing

Let’s use another popular AI content detector, GPTZero. This one allows you to detect up to 5000 characters for free. You can purchase additional characters by signing up for an account. Scanning text is easy using GPTZero. Paste the text (1) you want to scan or upload a file (2), accept the terms of service (3), then click the get results button (4).

Using the first paragraph of our Divi page, GPTZero lets us know that our text is likely to be written entirely by a human:

Finally, let’s use the text we generated using ChatGPT:

Although it couldn’t identify that the content was completely generated using AI, it did pick up that it was likely used.

Final Thoughts on Detecting AI Writing

AI writing has rapidly evolved since the release of ChatGPT, becoming an integral part of how content is created. Although there are benefits to using it, it’s important to be able to recognize AI content. With the technology advancing at a rapid rate, being able to detect AI writing will continue to be difficult. By recognizing inconsistencies like inconsistent tone and style, lack of emotion, and repetitive language, you can train your eyes to pinpoint where AI is used. Additionally, you can incorporate an AI detection tool like Originality.ai or GPTZero to help identify it.

Are you interested in learning more about AI? Check out some of our recent posts:
Featured Image via BestForBest /Â shutterstock.com

The post How to Detect AI Writing in 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.
29.07.2023

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website? (2023 Price Breakdown)

There is no easy answer to the question, “How much does it cost to build a website.” Building a website in and of itself is a complex process. There are thousands of tools that can bring your website to life at a variety of price points. Before building a website, you should assess what your website needs and the most cost-effective method to build it. In this post, we’ll give you a price breakdown of everything you’ll need to make the right decision for your website investment.

The Typical Cost of Building a Website (Pricing at a Glance)

The cost of building a website depends on many factors, which makes it difficult to determine a set price. Not all websites are built the same, and as such, each will have its own needs and reasons that will affect the price of building it. However, there are key factors that affect the cost of any website.

Key Factors That Affect Website Cost

Here are some of the essential costs you can expect to pay when building a website.

Key Factor	Typical Cost Range
Domain Name Registration	$10 – $25 per month
Hosting	$5 – $500 per month
Website Builder/Platform	$10 – $200 per month
Content Management System (CMS)	$0 – $500+ one-time
eCommerce Platform	$0 – $200+ per month
Website Theme/Design	$0 – $299 per year
Website Addons/Plugins	$0 – $299 per year
Security	$0 – $249 per year
SSL Certificate	$0 – $249 per year
Ongoing Maintenance	$99 – $450 per month
Custom Web Design/Development	$1000- $10,000+ one-time

Depending on the type of website you’re building, you may be investing more into some factors than others. For example, when building with WordPress, you may want to invest more in your hosting for better performance. If building with a website builder, you will pay more per month for advanced features like eCommerce.

Another important factor to consider is the type of website you need. Typically, a website will fall under these main categories:

Informational – simple sites or blogs that don’t require a lot of pages or advanced functionality.
Small Business – sites that need more advanced tools for SEO and marketing
E-commerce – online stores that require complex functionality for selling and managing products.

So you can expect to pay more to build an online store than you will for a personal site with only one page. However, how much more will largely depend on the method you choose.

Three Most Common Methods of Building a Website

There are many ways to build a website. The three most common methods, however, are as follows:

1. Using WordPress (DIY)

Typical Cost Range: $0 – $1,000 per year
Considering most websites are built on WordPress, using it has proven to be one of the best DIY approaches to building a website. With WordPress, it’s possible to have the most flexibility when building your website. As such, you will have more control over how much you want to spend. The software is free, so the real cost will be determined by how much you want to pay for hosting, themes, plugins, and other features.

WordPress comes with a large selection of plugins that allow you to extend its base install further. Plugins can range in price from free options to paid options. On average, the most popular plugins are between $49 – $99 annually.WordPress has some of the best website themes for making your website beautiful.Â You can find themes on marketplaces likeÂ Template MonsterÂ andÂ Creative Market. They can also range in price from $19 â€“ $99 annually.

2. Using a Website Builder Platform (DIY)

Typical Cost Range: $10 – $200 per month
Building a website with a website builder is an excellent way to offset some of the heavy lifting of your website while quickly taking control of the design, layout, and functionality. A website builder is an online platform that gives you everything you need to build a website. Some popular website builders include Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly. All website builders have some form of monthly fee which can be as low as $10 per month. They also have free and paid add-ons you’ll need to keep paying for if you want your website to keep functioning.

3. Hiring a Professional Web Designer or Agency

Typical Cost Range: $500 – $50,000+ one time
If you want a white-glove approach to your web design, consider hiring a professional web designer or web design agency. Building your website with a professional can cost you thousands of dollars. But with this comes peace of mind knowing that experts are on the job. You can also find cost-effective web designers on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.

	Using WordPress	Using a Website Builder	Hiring a Web Designer/Agency
Pros:	Allows more flexibility and control Software is free and open source with huge community support Addons like plugins and themes are available for free or low-cost Pay what you want for hosting and other features as needed	All-in-one solution that is easy to use and manage Low monthly recurring payments available No extra payments on web hosting All essential features are built-in (builder, hosting, SEO, security, etc.)	Get a professional website built by experts Less hassle. They do most of the work for you. Plenty of affordable designers and agencies available with such a competitive market
Cons:	Cheap hosting and poor plugins can cause security and performance issues Can be overwhelming to beginners Recurring fees for themes and plugins are often necessary	Locked into a monthly/yearly recurring payment Addon costs can escalate quickly Finding experts for your builder can be expensive	Less hands-on control Most expensive option Finding a reliable web designer/agency can be difficult Adding new features and changes can be more costly and time consuming than DIY methods
Price Range:	$0 â€“ $1,000 per year	$10 â€“ $200 per month	$500 â€“ $50,000+ one time
	Learn More	Learn More	Learn More

Now, let’s break down the costs in further detail for building a website with WordPress, a website builder, or a web design professional.

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website with WordPress?

Typical Cost Range: $0 – $1,000 per year

When building a website with WordPress, you can build a website inexpensively or spend lots of money building your site. It all depends on what you need your website to do. Building a website with WordPress can cost as little as zero dollars. The CMS supports many free templates and plugins, and several cheap web hosts are available to help keep your costs as low as possible. With WordPress, you can build any type of website imaginable. WordPress can do everything from a simple informational website to a fully powered online community.

Here are some cost factors to consider when figuring out how much it costs to build a website with WordPress.

Domain Name Cost

Typical Domain Price Range: $10 – $25+ per year

On the internet, your domain name is the address where your customers can find your website. No matter the type of website you’re building, you’ll need to register a domain name. When choosing a domain name, it’s best practice to reflect your business, be unique, and be easy to remember. Most web hosts offer you free domains at the start of your term, but domains are pretty inexpensive as a whole. Namecheap provides .com domains for as little as $6, but on average, expect to pay from $10 per year for your domain. Costs can increase significantly for more niche and SEO-friendly domain names.

Your hosting provider may also allow you to register a domain directly on their platform for a few bucks more per year, which can make it easier to manage. For example, Siteground offers an easy way to pick a domain and start building your site all in one place.

For more, check out the pricing on the best domain registrars.

Hosting Cost

Typical Hosting Price Range: $2 – $500+ per year

Web hosting or hosting is the service that holds your website’s files. Different types of hosting can provide an array of features and benefits, depending on the type of website you are looking to build.

Types of Web Hosting

There are five main types of web hosting available, and each has its strengths and weaknesses that should be considered from both a feature and cost perspective.

Types of Hosting	Best For:	Price Range:
Shared Hosting	Those that are price conscious and less focused on performance	$1.99 â€“ $25.99+ per month
Managed WordPress Hosting	Non-techies who want better performance on a platform optimized for WordPress	$15.99 â€“ $150+ per month
VPS Hosting	Those who want more consistent performance and security than shared hosting	$4 â€“ $150+ per month
Cloud Hosting	Those who want to run a lean, custom hosting environment	$10 â€“ $500+ per month
Dedicated Hosting	Larger websites that need a dedicated environment for the best in performance	$100+ per month

1. Shared Hosting

Typical Shared Hosting Price Range: $1.99 – $25.99+ per month

The cheapest option on our list is shared hosting, the most common form of web hosting. This type of hosting is great for the budget-conscious, but it can incur performance and security issues depending on the provider. Here’s our rundown of the best shared hosting providers that you can use for your next website project.

2. Managed WordPress Hosting

Typical Managed Hosting Price Range: $15.99 – $150+ per month

Not all hosting environments are built for WordPress. Managed WordPress hosting makes sure your website is hosted on a platform optimized for WordPress for better performance and easier management. They’ll take care of the technical side for you, but you’ll still have access to manage hosting settings if needed. It will cost a little more than traditional shared hosting but may be worth the investment in the long run. We recommend you check out the price of the best managed WordPress hosts for more.

3. VPS Hosting

Typical VPS Hosting Price Range: $4 – $150+ per month

VPS hosting is similar to shared hosting in that multiple website instances are hosted on the same server. This is done via powerful virtualization software. VPS hosting is a good balance between shared hosting and dedicated hosting. Dreamhost, Hostinger, and IONOS are among the best VPS hosts.

4. Cloud Hosting

Typical Cloud Hosting Pricing: $10 – $500+ per month

With a focus on resource management and scalability, cloud hosting is the best choice for websites that need speed and agility. This helps create a lean environment for your website to run on. Pressable is one of many popular cloud hosting providers to consider when costing out your next website build.

5. Dedicated/Semi-Dedicated Server Hosting

Typical Dedicated Hosting Price Range: $100+ per month

Dedicated server hosting means you and your website will encompass all the resources within a single physical server. This frees up more resources for your website, granting you better performance and tighter security. Because of this, its price is much higher than shared hosting. Here’s a list of the best dedicated server hosts to get you started on your search.

Here’s a look at our recommendations for the best WordPress hosting providers:

Ranking:	Hosting Provider:	Best Known For:	Starting Price:
1	Siteground	Shared & Managed Hosting	$14.99/month
2	Hostinger	Shared & Managed Hosting	$9.99/month
3	Cloudways	Managed Cloud Hosting	$11/month
4	Pressable	Managed VPS Hosting	$19/month
5	A2Hosting	Shared Hosting	$11.99/month

Once you’ve chosen the type of hosting that works for your budget and project, it’s time to look at themes and plugins for your WordPress website.

WordPress Themes

Typical WordPress Theme Price Range: Free – $299 per year

To make your website beautiful, you’ll need a theme. WordPress lets you download thousands of themes directly from the WordPress Theme Repository. Typically, WordPress themes cost between $19 – $299 per year, depending on how intricate your chosen theme is. As you purchase your themes, you’ll also need to consider the price of customizing them before purchasing them. Some – like Divi – can be edited easily through a visual interface, while others may require you to learn how to code or hire a designer to assist you in making your changes. Here are some of the top WordPress themes that you may want to look into:

Rating	Themes	Price
1	Divi	$89/year
2	Genesis Pro	$360/year
3	OptimizePress	$179/year
4	Responsive Pro	$59/year
5	Avada	$138/year

And if you’d like to see more options, here’s our list of the best overall WordPress themes. You might find one that works for your website!

WordPress Plugins

Typical WordPress Price Range: Free – $200+ per year

WordPress Plugin Repo

You’ll need additional plugins or addons to take your WordPress website to the next level. While a simple website will do well with a basic setup, an eCommerce website will need more bells and whistles to keep customers and increase sales. Here are some categories of plugins you should consider adding to your website:

Plugin Type	Use	Price Range
Backup Plugins	Make a copy of your website for safe keeping	$0 – $100 per year
Security Plugins	Keeps your website secure from threats and attacks	$0 – $199 per year
Performance Plugins	Enhances your website by making it faster and optimized	$0 – $252 per year
SEO Plugins	Helps your content get found on search engines	$0 – $99 per year
Social Sharing Plugins	Assists with connecting to social media networks	$0 – $149 per year
Contact Form Plugins	Collect data from your website visitors	$0 – $99 per year
eCommerce Plugins	Allow your website visitors to buy on your website	$0 – $199 per year

Plugins for websites can vary vastly in price based on their function. For example, WooCommerce, a popular eCommerce plugin for WordPress, is free. However, additional addons and features for WooCommerce can range from $29 – $299 annually. Here’s a list of the top plugins you should consider using and investing in for your WordPress website:

Best WordPress Plugin	Plugin Type	Starting Price
UpdraftPlus	Backups	$59 per year
iThemes Security	Security	$99 per year
WP Rocket	Performance	$59 per year
Rank Math	SEO	$59 per year
Monarch	Social Sharing	$89 per year
WP Forms	Contact Form	$49.50 per year
WooCommerce	eCommerce	Free

To start your plugin search, this list of the best WordPress plugins will help you on your way.

SSL & Security Costs

Typical Website Security Price Range: $10 – $249+ per month

Security for a website can come in a variety of forms. Who you choose to be your web host is one area often overlooked regarding website security. SSL certificates, firewalls, server hardening, and monitoring services are all things that can be looked into when counting the costs of building a website. However, these things are necessary to protect your website. Free SSL certificates like LetsEncrpyt exist, but you may want to invest in one, which could cost you, on average, $250 annually. While options like Sucuri, a free WordPress plugin, are available, its service starts at $199.99 annually. Most reputable security services incur some form of recurring fees. Our list of the best security plugins could help you find the right service. Having peace of mind is something worth paying for, so including security as a factor in your website cost is money well spent.

Maintenance Costs

Typical Maintenance Price Range: Free – $450+ per year

Last but certainly not least is the maintenance of your website. When building any website, like a car, it needs a tune-up here and there. An excellent place to start is by checking out our list of the best WordPress backup plugins, as backups are a keep maintenance task. Other maintenance tasks include updating plugins, adding new content, and more. You’ll need to keep your plugins and themes up-to-date and secure by renewing your license yearly. Furthermore, some service providers have monitoring and maintenance services ranging from as little as $49 per month to several hundred dollars, depending on your website type.

How Much Does a Website Builder Cost?

Typical Cost Range: $0 – $200 per month

Wix Website Builder

When building a website with a website builder, you have a good mix of features and cost savings. Many tools and features you’ll need to build your website with a builder are already included. And they make it really easy to get a site up and running quickly. Some, like Wix, allow you to use artificial intelligence (AI) to build your site. These AI builders can design your website in minutes based on simple text prompts.

Website builders are primarily web-based and use some form of visual builder. This eliminates the need for coding and lowers your worries about security and maintenance, as your recurring payment covers these. On average, website builders have an entry-level option ranging from $7 to $99 monthly. However, they may also have enterprise-level pricing, which can easily jump to $2000+ per month.

The costs for website builders can escalate when it comes to adding features. While many tools already come with your website builder, for more complex tasks, you will need to invest in add-ons that are on the more expensive side. Shopify is a website builder geared towards eCommerce businesses. Its app store has free and paid apps, like the premium version of their Mailchimp apps, starting at $350 per month. With a website builder, you will incur some form of monthly or annual cost for the entirety of the time that you use said builder.

The Best Website Builders: Price Breakdown

Here’s a look at how the top website builders fare when compared based on price.

Website Builder	Free Plan/Trial	Cheapest Plan	eCommerce Plan	Most Expensive Plan
Wix	âœ”ï¸	$15 per month	$25 per month	$149+ per month
Weebly	âœ”ï¸	$7 per month	âœ”ï¸	$30 per month
Shopify	âœ”ï¸	$51	âœ”ï¸	$517+ per month
Squarespace	âœ”ï¸	$23 per month	$33 per month	$65 per month
Godaddy	âœ”ï¸	$11.99 per month	$26.99 per month	$26.99 per month

If you want to learn more about website builders, we did a deep dive into the best website builders you should check out before starting your next project.

How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Web Designer or Agency to Build Your Website Cost?

Typical Web Designer Cost Range: $50 – $100 per hour

Typical Web Agency Cost Range: $500 – $50,000+ one-time

Fiverr Pro Accounts/Agencies

Hiring a web designer or web design agency to build your website is an option that will give you the most peace of mind but will require the most investment. Depending on the type of agency or designer that you choose to procure for your website, you may be paying hundreds or thousands of dollars upfront.

Hiring a Web Designer

A web designer is an individual who you hire to build your website. This makes it easier for you as you’ll only be responsible for a fraction of what you’d need to consider when building a website yourself. Many factors come into play when hiring someone to build a website. Their experience level, the tools they use, and their locale all factor into the price. On average, a web design professional may charge $61 – $80 per hour. On a project basis, you can find professionals on job boards that charge as little as $100 to build a WordPress website, although it is more common to pay between $1500 – $5000 for a quality website.

Hiring a Web Design Agency

Web design agencies typically have several people who will be working on your website as well as additional tasks for your website. A web designer may ask you to provide your content and photos for your website. However, a web design agency may have a copywriter or photographer on their team who’ll carry out these tasks for you. However, these things will bring with them additional costs.

A smaller agency can charge you $500 to build a simple informational website or landing page. But a larger agency may charge you $50,000+ to build a custom eCommerce website, including product photography and copywriting services.

You can find agencies and designers in other countries that can build your website for you at a fraction of the cost. Typically, these agencies charge $500 for a website. But there may be cultural and language barriers that may cost more in time than money. And, remember, you always get what you pay for. When working with a web design professional, you sometimes don’t have to worry about hosting, security, design, or content. However, this may become a recurring cost you may be responsible for. Your web design team will carry out all these tasks for you but at a cost. Working with a web designer instead of an agency may bring you more significant cost savings, but both have pros and cons.

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website?

The topic of figuring out how much it costs to build a website is vast. Overall, here are the most important items to consider, depending on the type of website you are looking to build:

	WordPress Price Range		Website Builder Price Range		Web Design Agency Price Range
	One-time	Recurring	One-time	Recurring	One-time	Recurring
Simple Informational Website	$0 – $500	$0 – $249	$0	$0 – $250	$500 – $1,000+	$50 – $500
Small Business Website	$0 – $1,500	$0 – $450	$0	$25 – $250	$500 – $1,000+	$249 – $775
eCommerce Website	$0 – $3,500	$0 – $450+	$0	$0 – $2,500	$1,000 – $50,000+	$450 – $1,000+

When building a website with WordPress, it is possible to keep costs as low as possible. Website builders incur recurring costs that will never go away. However, with that, you don’t have to worry about tasks like security or maintenance, but you may be limited in your website features. Lastly, building a website with a professional grants you the most peace of mind. But this confidence will come at a premium price and may include additional fees after your initial investment. We hope this guide gives you some direction on building your website in a reasonable cost range.

Featured Image via paper cut design / shutterstock.com

The post How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website? (2023 Price Breakdown) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

23.07.2023

How to Host a Website in 2023 (Simple Beginnerâ€™s Guide)
Whether you’re a business owner, blogger, or freelancer, understanding the ins and outs of hosting a website is essential for establishing an online presence. There are many things to consider, from selecting the right hosting provider to choosing the right hosting type. This post will give you the tools to learn how to host a website, navigate the process, and set you up for success. So, let’s dive in!

What is Hosting?

Web hosting is a service that allows your website’s content to be displayed online. Web hosts typically handle all of the resources, security, and features your website requires to keep it running. When you purchase a hosting plan, you are leasing a web server section where your website’s files and data will live. Depending on the type of website you plan to host, you’re hosting requirements will vary. For example, if you plan to host WordPress, the host you choose should be optimized for it and possess the latest version of PHP and MySQL.

Website Builder vs CMS

As previously mentioned, the hosting you need depends on the type of site you wish to host. Website builders, such as Squarespace, Wix, and Shopify, typically have their own hosting, whereas content management systems (CMS) like WordPress.org are self-hosted. There are other differences, so before deciding on a host, it’s important to determine which platform suits your needs best.

Asking the Right Questions

When you’re in the market to host a website, you need to ask yourself a few questions. First, what type of website will you host? If you’re building a static HTML site, the hosting requirements are slightly different than if you plan to use WordPress. Secondly, plan for the traffic you hope to have rather than what you anticipate when starting out. A website with minimal traffic will likely only need a shared rather than a VPS hosting provider.

Additionally, determine whether you want to build your site in a local environment first. Local hosting is a great option for those just starting out that want to take the time to learn WordPress.

Lastly, you need to decide what hosting type is right for you. Read on to learn about the different kinds of hosting and who they are best suited for.

Different Hosting Types

Image courtesy of marketinggraphics | Shutterstock

It’s important to decide which hosting type you need. If you plan to use WordPress, you’ll need to understand the different hosting solutions available to you and which ticks the most boxes. There are several to choose from, each with pros and cons.

Shared Hosting

Image courtesy of Andrea Danti | Shutterstock

Shared hosting involves sharing server space and resources, such as RAM, bandwidth, and storage. It’s an affordable hosting solution but is best utilized by small websites or blogs that expect minimal traffic. Because of the resource limitations and potential performance impact, shared hosting isn’t the best choice for those looking to grow their business. That said, if you only want to host a small information website, you can get by just fine with shared hosting.

Managed Hosting

Image courtesy of BestForBest | Shutterstock

Unlike other hosting types, managed hosting offers a hands-off experience in server maintenance. Managed hosts typically handle all security updates and patches, offer backups and staging sites, and an optimized server for your website. For WordPress users, managed hosting is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you can leave all of the techy stuff to the professionals. On the other hand, you may not be allowed to use any plugin you want. That said, the benefits of good managed hosting far outweigh the cons. Additionally, managed hosting is more affordable than VPS or dedicated hosting plans, ranging from a few dollars a month to $30.

VPS Hosting

Image courtesy of Pramith Patali | Shutterstock

Virtual private server (VPS) hosting functions much like shared hosting, except you won’t have to share your resources with other customers. You’ll have more control over your sites, be able to scale up easier, and have definite performance enhancements. This is because each VPS environment functions separately, providing better use of resources, better security, and more customization. Because of this, VPS is suitable for growing websites with higher resource demands. The downside to VPS hosting is that it’s more expensive than shared or managed hosting plans, with average prices ranging from $30-$100 per month.

Cloud Hosting

Image courtesy of Eny Setiyowati | Shutterstock

One of the best hosting solutions is cloud hosting. It’s different than others, as all of a website’s files are served from a series of web servers hosted in the cloud. Because of this, websites built on cloud servers are faster, more scalable, and more reliable. With cloud hosting, you have the freedom to configure your own server and, in some cases, such as Pressable, a managed solution. Cloud hosting is relatively affordable, with prices ranging from $10-100 per month, depending on the provider.

How to Host a Website: Dedicated Hosting

Image courtesy of Sammby | Shutterstock

Lastly, there is dedicated hosting. With this type of hosting, you’ll get your own server. One of the benefits of dedicated hosting is the freedom to configure your server in any way you choose. Dedicated hosting is an excellent choice for tech-savvy people who know their way around a server and have high-traffic requirements. The downside to dedicated hosting is the price, where you should expect to pay at least $100 per month. That said, if you have lofty goals for your website and anticipate a lot of visitors, it’s the best choice.

Register a Domain

Before purchasing a hosting plan, you’ll want to buy a domain name. There are a couple of ways to do this, including through a good domain registrar or through a hosting provider. There are several things to consider when purchasing a domain, such as choosing the right domain for your business, choosing the perfect domain registrar, and determining which top-level domain (TLD) extension to pick. For most, it’s best to opt for a .com domain simply because it is the most recognizable. That said, there are cases where you might want .net rather than .com.

Purchase Your Hosting Plan

Now that you understand the different hosting types, it’s time to purchase your hosting plan. For the best value, features, and scalability, we highly recommend SiteGround. They offer cloud-based managed hosting at reasonable prices. If you’re starting out, their StartUp plan is a great choice. With pricing for less than $15 per month, you’ll get a lot of bells and whistles, including free emails, migration, SSL, and CDN, along with several security features such as daily backups, malware scanning, and more.

SiteGround is simple to navigate, too, thanks to its intuitive Site Tools dashboard. There you can manage your websites, domains, and emails, make performance tweaks, access your website’s files, and get statistics on your website’s performance.

Let’s walk through the steps to set up your new hosting account through SiteGround.

Choose Your Plan

As previously mentioned, SiteGround offers several hosting plans depending on your needs. For this tutorial, we’ll start with the StartUp plan. If you need more storage or resources in the future, you can easily change your plan at the click of a button. For now, this should suit newcomers quite well. Start by clicking the Start Now button on SiteGround’s home page.

Scroll down the page to reveal the hosting plan choices. Click on the Get plan button for the StartUp plan.

Next, you’ll decide whether to purchase a new domain through SiteGround or use one already purchased.

Create a SiteGround Account

The next step in the process is to create your SiteGround account. This information will be used for billing and registering your domain with ICANN should you purchase a domain through SG.

Once you complete the registration fields, click the Pay Now button to set up your account.

Ready to Host!

Once you complete your purchase, you’ll be taken to your new SiteGround account, where you can set up your website. On the main home page in SiteGround, you’ll have access to a wealth of information to help you get started, along with quick links to your hosting plan, domains, and some helpful blog articles. Click the Set Up Site button to start.

Next, choose whether to build your new website on a new, existing, or temporary domain. In this tutorial, we’ll start with a temporary domain. Click the Select button to continue.

SiteGround will assign a temporary domain to your account. Click the Continue button to proceed to the next step.

Next, select Start New Website. Alternatively, if you have a website you’d like to migrate to SiteGround, you can choose Migrate Website, and SiteGround will move your existing website to your new hosting plan for free.

The next step is to choose the application you’d like to install. In this post, we’ll select WordPress.

From there, you’ll need to create your WordPress login credentials. Input your email address (1), create a password (2), then click continue (3).

Finally, if you wish to add extras like Site Scanner, you can do so on the final screen. Otherwise, click Finish.

That’s it! SiteGround will install WordPress for you, set up your database, and give you an easy way to build the website of your dreams.

Final Thoughts on How to Host a Website

These decisions are essential for establishing an online presence, from choosing the right hosting partner, like SiteGround,Â to considering the different hosting types. You can be confident that your new website will succeed by asking the right questions, understanding your business’s requirements, and taking advantage of features such as one-click installations. Remember to prioritize features such as uptime, performance, and security to ensure your customers have a seamless, enjoyable browsing experience. Initially, hosting a website may appear daunting, but once you acquire the right tools and know-how, you’ll have the necessary skills to create and maintain your website successfully.

Are you looking for a new theme to accompany your new website? Check out our picks for the best themes for WordPress:
Featured Image via alexdndz /Â Shutterstock.com

The post How to Host a Website in 2023 (Simple Beginner’s Guide) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.
19.07.2023
How to Improve First Input Delay (FID) on Your WordPress Site
We recently started off a new series on Google’s Core Web Vitals metrics with a post on Largest Contentful Paint. Here, we want to continue with the next candidate in line: First Input Delay or FID for short and how to improve it in WordPress.

In the following, we will take a deep dive into what FID is and how to optimize your WordPress website for it. You’ll learn to understand and measure First Input Delay, what value you should aim for, and how to improve it if necessary.

Note that this post assumes that you are already familiar with Google Core Web Vitals and their impact on user experience and search engine optimization. If you are unsure about any of this, check the first article in this series or our standalone post on Core Web Vitals.

What Is First Input Delay? A Definition

So, as already mentioned, FID is one of three metrics for measuring website user experience that Google considers as core values to judge how user friendly a website is. It’s also part of their search algorithm, so if you score badly on this, your search ranking will suffer.

However, what exactly is First Input Delay?

In short, FID quantifies the delay between the time a user interacts with a web page (such as clicking a button) and the time when the browser is able to respond to that interaction. This reflects the responsiveness of a web page.

While Largest Contentful Paint calculates how long it takes for a web page to become useful to a visitor, FID measures how well it stays useful by performing whatever action the visitor wants – even during load. Naturally, if your site is more responsive, it makes for a better user experience.

You probably know this from your own Internet usage. Ever been on a site that took way too long to react to your input? You didn’t like that, did you? Well, neither do your website visitors.

How Is FID Calculated?

FID is measured in milliseconds (ms). To calculate it, the browser tracks the moment a user interaction occurs on a page and the time it takes for the browser’s main thread to process that interaction. The FID score represents the delay between the two events. As a consequence, a low FID score indicates that the page is highly interactive and responds quickly to user input.

At this point, you probably have to questions: What is the “main thread”? And what counts as an interaction?

Here’s the answer.

The main thread is basically the browser’s work pipeline. All processes that are necessary to render and run a website run through it. If it is constantly busy, it takes longer before it can react to new input.

As for what counts as an interaction, that can be a click on a link, a tap on a button, using a drop-down menu, text field, checkboxes, or radio buttons, as well as pressing a key on your keyboard (e.g. Esc to close a popup).

What Causes FID?

First Input Delay is often highest between First Contentful Paint (when the first page element appears in the browser window) and Time to Interactive (when the page first becomes usable and responsive to user input).

Basically, input delay stems from when the browser is busy with something else while the user tries to do something. In that case, it can’t respond timely to the input, resulting in waiting time for the site visitor.

On the technical side, common culprits for this are:
- Large JavaScript files that the browser needs to parse and execute
- Render-blocking resources that it has to wait for
- Heavy calculations, DOM manipulation, or resource-intensive processes
- Slow network connections or high latency that can lead to delays in fetching website files and other resources
- Activities that block the main thread, such as heavy animations, long-running CSS transitions, or large image processing
One last thing that is important to note about First Input Delay is that it will be replaced by another metric called Interaction to Next Paint (INP) in March 2024. However, for now FID is what we are working with, so it still matters that you get familiar with it.

How to Measure First Input Delay

You can test your website’s FID with pretty much the same tools as the other Core Web Vitals:
- PageSpeed Insights — Simply enter your page URL and receive a report including your FID value.
- Chrome User Experience Report — Google collects and compiles real user experience data from many websites through its browser. You can access this data through different tools, including those mentioned here.
- Search Console — The Web Vitals report in Google Search Console lets you know about pages with bad FID readings.
- web-vitals JavaScript library — If you are more technically inclined, you can build this JavaScript library into your website and get the information about Core Web Vitals from there.
Most of these tools simply show the FID value in their results so you know what you are dealing with.

What’s important to note is that you need real user interaction for this metric. It is not something you can simulate in a lab-type environment. Therefore, your best sources for this is real user data like from the CrUX report.

If you want to test your site in a lab environment beforehand, your best proxy metric is Total Blocking Time. You can also find that in PageSpeed Insights, for example.

In addition, focus on the really worst cases of FID on your site, it will tell you the most about what is wrong.

What Is a Good First Input Delay?

That only leaves the question, what number should you shoot for? A good FID score is typically below 100 milliseconds. Scores between 100 and 300 milliseconds are considered to need improvement. Everything over 300 milliseconds indicate a poor user experience.

So, with these benchmarks in mind, let’s learn how to make the First Input Delay on your site better.

How to Improve First Input Delay on Your WordPress Website

Improving FID mostly involves optimizing the web page’s performance and reducing any blocking tasks that may delay the browser’s response to user input. The most common culprit for the latter is heavy or incorrect use of JavaScript. For that reason, much of the measures below will focus on that. However, there are also other things you can do.

General Performance Improvement Measures

A lot of the techniques that we already covered for how to improve Largest Contentful Paint also apply when you want to make your FID better, including:
- Optimize your website environment — The faster your website generally, the quicker resources can be delivered, reducing time to interactivity. Therefore, invest in quality hosting, themes, and plugins. In addition, reduce the number of plugins on your site and keep it updated. In addition, implement caching and compression.
- Implement a CDN — Content delivery networks allow you to shorten the distance between the server and the user, also resulting in faster file delivery.
- Eliminate render-blocking resources — Any parts of a website that stall the loading process negatively impact all parts of the user experience and Core Web Vitals. Eliminating them from your site helps correct that problem. More details on render-blocking JavaScript below.
For more tips, check out our article on how to speed up WordPress, how to reduce server requests, and about speed testing your website.

Reduce, Defer, Async, and Minify Your JavaScript

As mentioned, JavaScript is usually the main factor for bad FID results. Here is how you can optimize the markup on your site so that it doesn’t become a problem.

Reduce the Overall Markup

Of course, the best thing you can do is to reduce the overall JavaScript on the page. Check the Coverage tab in your browser developer tools to find the unused JavaScript on a web page.

See if it is necessary for your site as a whole or if you can remove the unused JavaScript altogether.

In WordPress, excessive JavaScript is often the result of too many plugins or themes that come with a lot of bells and whistles causing First Input Delay. So, if you want to get rid of it, check if there is a way you can eliminate some of them or switch to a leaner version.

Async and Defer Scripts

After that, the next step is to optimize JavaScript delivery to the browser. The main problem here is that, unless otherwise specified, when the browser encounters a JavaScript script in your website markup, it stops rendering HTML until the script has been downloaded and executed. This also referred to as the “render-blocking resources” mentioned above.

However, there are ways around it and they are based on two keywords:
- async – Adding this to your script call allows the browser to download it in the background without pausing the processing of the page. It will only execute once downloaded, independently of the rest of the page.
- defer – Very similar to async. It tells the browser not to wait for the script and instead keep building the page. However, in this case, it will load the script last, when the rest of the page has been fully built.
Here’s what using async and defer looks like in practice:
```
<script async src="https://mywebsite.com/wp-content/themes/mytheme/analytics.js"></script>
<script defer src="https://mywebsite.com/wp-content/themes/mytheme/analytics.js"></script>
```
As you can imagine, both of these methods can result in significant time saved during page load. Their main difference: defer keeps the relative order of scripts the way they appear in the document, while async uses the order in which the scripts are done downloading.

You can use both to make unused and non-critical JavaScript load later. This includes third-party scripts such as analytics.

Minify JavaScript for Faster Download

Finally, for the JavaScript that does get loaded, be sure to minify it. Minification means removing all markup and code formatting that’s only there to make files legible for humans.

It further reduces the file size and makes them faster for the browser to download. There are plenty of tools out there to do this, including the plugin recommendations below.

Break Up Long Tasks

Besides reducing the overall JavaScript on your site and improving delivery, you can optimize First Input Delay on your WordPress site by breaking what remains down into smaller chunks. This is especially suitable if you have a lot of “long tasks” on your page.

What are long tasks, you ask?

Anything that blocks the main thread for more than 50ms. You can see these in Chrome developer tools marked with red flags.

If you cut them down into smaller parts, you can load them asynchonously, resulting in less uninterrupted work in the main thread.

How do you do that?

By using code-splitting. It allows you to load chunks of JavaScript conditionally so that only critically important code is loaded from the beginning. The rest only comes into play when necessary. You can also break up tasks into smaller separate functions. Both are ways to keep your pages responsive.

For more very technical tips on how to handle long tasks check this resource.

Useful WordPress Plugins to Improve FID

We understand that optimizing JavaScript files is not everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you are not a developer. For that reason, we have compiled a few WordPress plugins and tools that can help you in making your First Input Delay values better.
- Asset Cleanup – This plugin allows you to disable unused CSS and JavaScript, preload fonts, minify your files, defer JavaScript, and more.
- Flying Scripts — Lets you delay the execution of non-critical JavaScript until the time there is no user activity.
- Plugin Organizer — Change the order in which plugins load on your site and selectively switch them off on chosen pages or content types.
- Autoptimize — Can combine and minify CSS and JS files automatically as well as add async and defer to scripts. It’s also super easy to use.
- WP Rocket — A paid caching plugin that can do a lot of what we talked about above. Generally, most caching plugins offer similar functionality.
Final Thoughts: First Input Delay in WordPress

FID is one of the metrics that make up the triumvirate of Core Web Vitals and it measures the interactivity of web pages. Since nobody likes sluggish web experiences, this is an important part of user experience. By focusing on improving First Input Delay, website owners and developers can provide a more responsive user experience, and ultimately improve user satisfaction and engagement.

Above, we have covered how to measure, test for, and improve FID on your WordPress website. While optimizing JavaScript might feel a bit out of reach for less-technical users, there is still a lot you can do to improve the overall performance of your site including FID. Hopefully, you feel capable of doing so by now.

Do you have any other tips to improve First Input Delay on WordPress websites? Share your thoughts and recommendations below!

The post How to Improve First Input Delay (FID) on Your WordPress Site appeared first on Torque.
18.07.2023

10 Best AI Audio Tools in 2023 (For Podcasts, Music & More)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the audio industry. What used to require complex software and a high skillset is now accessible to the masses. AI audio tools are opening up new possibilities for anyone to create podcasts, videos, music, and more, in ways we’ve never seen before. Whether you are a podcaster, musician, or content creator, these AI tools can take your productivity and creativity to a whole new level. In this post, we’ll explore the best AI audio tools with various useful applications. We’ll compare features, pricing, and how they can best be used to fit your needs.

What is an AI Audio Tool?

In its basic form, an AI audio tool uses artificial intelligence, advanced algorithms, or state-of-the-art neural networks to manipulate audio. With AI audio tools, users can tap into the power of AI to edit, create, and enhance audio in different ways with ease. There are many different types of AI audio tools with various applications, including:

Audio enhancers to can help refine audio tracks automatically
Voice generators to create humanlike speech for podcasts or videos
AI music creators to help anyone make their own music with the help of AI
Text-to-speech tools for content creation
AI Video generators with built-in AI audio tools for faster video production.
and more

With that in mind, let’s explore some of the top AI audio tools out there.

10 Best AI Audio Tools in 2023

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Our list of the best AI audio tools hopes to provide a platform for everyone. Whether you plan to use these tools for personal or professional use, our list has the top AI audio tools to make your process a smoother experience.

1. LANDR

LANDR is an AI-powered audio tool that allows you to create, collaborate, master, distribute, and promote your music. From one intuitive interface, you can do more regarding audio engineering. LANDR is lauded as the first and best AI audio tool used by megastars like Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, and Seal.

Its claim to fame is its powerful, unrivaled AI mastering, which can automatically create personalized masters based on your music with amazing precision. LANDR’S AI is toasted as being the best in the industry, providing excellent quality, clarity, and security when it comes to using AI to master audio, regardless of the size of your studio. LANDR has a fantastic drag-and-drop interface that allows you to master tracks with ease. Additionally, the suite comes with bespoke mastering plugins that help you produce the best tracks without investing additional resources on incompatible extras.

Key Features of LANDR:

Boasts of a large selection of curated samples
30+ exclusive VST (virtual studio technology) plugins
Unlimited online masters and revisions with full album mastering
Audio distribution to platforms like Spotify, Tidal, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and More
Collaborate directly on tracks from within the studio or remotely using state-of-the-art text and video messaging

LANDR's exhaustive sample library

LANDR’s sample library provides a great starting point for your mastering journey. You have access to a wide array of tracks that you can use within your work. Additionally, you can save and use individual stems (or music mixes)Â from said samples to further power your AI audio mastering journey.

Best For:

For serious sound engineers, producers, and those looking for a total solution for mastering, complete with the ease of AI in the editing process, consider adding LANDR to your suite of tools. It has a robust feature set utilized by industry greats that can be harnessed from the comfort of your studio.

Pricing: Paid plans start at $19.99 per year

Get LANDR

2. Descript

Descript is more than just a simple AI-based audio editing studio. While it stands out as a podcast editing solution, as a platform, it can do so much more for the creator. Descript perfectly merges video editing in an environment powered by artificial intelligence. With AI, your transcripts are automatically transformed, so you can easily edit them like a Google Document. Add your visuals, and you can enjoy the freedom of merging text, audio, and video in a format similar to putting together a PowerPoint presentation. Descript gives you access to thousands of premium stock media like photos and videos, so creating content for YouTube, TikTok, and other social media channels can be done from the same platform you use to edit your next podcast. Indeed, for a user-friendly editing experience, choose Descript as your AI audio tool today.

Key Features of Descript:

A powerful, AI multitrack production engine
Transforms low-quality recordings to studio sound with machine learning
Filler word removal
Clone your voice using overdubbing
A massive gallery of presentation and video templates

Descript's interface design is it's key feature

Descript’s key feature is its easy-to-navigate editing interface. You can input your text for text-to-audio, perform video editing tasks, splice audio tracks, and more from one sleek panel.

Best For:

Podcasters, video essayists, journalists, and those working with mediums that utilize audio and video within their content will love working with Descript. The simple interface and its powerful features allow you to edit video and audio simply yet powerfully.

Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $15 per month

Get Descript

3. Mubert

Mubert melds human-created audio and AI to create stunning music for your content. Never again will you need to spend time looking for creative commons music or paying for expensive royalty-free music. You can create your theme song, music, and more with Mubert. With AI, Mubert can take your English prompts and generate any track you can think of. Mubert comes with over 100 AI-generated tracks that you can use for free immediately after creating your account. As a creator, you can monetize your digital assets through Mubert Studio. If you’re looking for a way to add AI-generated music to your product, Mubert has an API that you can use to bring truly royalty-free music to your next project. If you’ve ever thought of making your music, Mubert is one of the best AI audio tools you can use to make your music today.

Key Features of Mubert:

20+ genres, 10+ moods, and 5+ activities to use as a reference for music generation
Four AI generation modes: track, jingle, loop, and mix
Explore and search for AI-generated and user-submitted tracks
Set the track length up to 25 minutes, beats per minute as well as the key of your track

Mubert's simple and effective interface

The Mubert interface is simple yet effective. At its most basic level, you enter your prompt, set a duration, and generate your track. However, you can choose your song’s genre, mode, and activity or set its BPM or key. With a few short sentences, you could have the theme for your next YouTube video or a jingle for a Facebook ad campaign.

Best For:

Creatives that create video content, podcasts, and apps will have tons of fun creating their music with Mubert. Creating unique and royalty-free music has become more accessible with the power of AI used through a platform like Mubert.

Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $14 per month

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4. LALAL.AI

LALAL.AI is an AI audio tool that specializes in stem splitting, allowing users to extract the individual parts of any audio or video. Vocals, instruments, and accompaniments can be separated and edited using its AI-powered technology. LALAL.AI also has a voice cleaner that lets you strip away the vocals on a track and leave behind just the instruments and background music. Powered by its Phoneix algorithm, LALAL.AI is twice as fast as its competitors because of its evolutionary signal processing method. Furthermore, it boasts cleaner results with fewer mistakes and muddier sounds (artifacts) than its predecessors.

Key Features of LALAL.AI:

Clip instruments, vocals, and background music from video and audio files
Vocal cleaner with effective noise reduction and complete background music removal
API available to bring noise reduction and stem splitting into your next product or project
Works with: drums, bass, piano, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and synthesizer tracks without loss of quality
Works on Linux (Ubuntu), Mac OS, and Windows

LALAL.AI and it's stem splitting capabilities

LALALA.AI’s ability to identify and separate multiple instruments and vocals is their platform’s vital and powerful feature. From their minimal interface, you can easily and quickly see which parts of your uploaded track you’d like to isolate,

Best For:

Overall, LALAL.AI is a tool anyone who works with audio engineering, remixing, and music should consider adopting. Sound engineers, beat makers, producers, and those who create instrumentals will love having LALAL.AI in their toolkits. With their highly trained AI and easy-to-maneuver interface, routine tasks like stem splitting have been made easier with the help of artificial intelligence.

Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at a one-time fee of $15

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5. Murf

Murf is a text-to-speech (TTS) AI tool that’s great for voiceovers. Using Murf’s TTS tool is often used to create humanlike voices for podcasts, videos, and multimedia presentations. Adding and editing your script is a simple process within the Murf Studio. Murf boasts over 120 AI voices you can use in many languages. Plus, you can upload your own voiceovers and use AI to change them to match the tone needed to make your next presentation stand out. There are also more than 8,000 licensed audio tracks that you get access to when you use Murf Studio to work on your next project. Murf also supports video import from YouTube and Vimeo, providing a seamless process for video editors. Common audio and video editing functionalities are possible when you use Murf, an AI audio tool that does more than just text-to-speech.

Key Features of Murf:

20+ languages for text-to-speech
Edit your voiceovers through a simple, clean, and easy-to-understand interface
Easily emphasize specific words, change and edit pitch, and add pauses to your voiceovers
Pitch-perfect, life-like, and editable voice cloning
Comes with a collection of royalty-free background music

Murf's Google Slides integration

You’re in luck if you use Google Slides to craft your presentations! Adding professional yet simple voiceovers to your next presentation is possible with Murf. When you write and edit your slide content, Murf will enable you to select your favorite AI voice from the Murf library and add a voiceover to your next Google Slide document.

Best For:

If you’re looking for a platform that seamlessly combines video editing and text-to-speech, look no further than Murf. This handy audio tool packs a punch and can be easily maneuvered through its minimal online interface.

Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $29 per month

Get Murf

6. Listnr

Listnr is an AI audio tool with text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and voice cloning capabilities. Make realistic audio from text inputted into Listnr. Add pauses, check pronunciation, change your speech speed, and more when you use Listnr as your text-to-speech generator. Alternatively, you can upload your finished audio file to Listnr and have a transcript created. For example, this is a great way to generate show notes for your podcast. For voice cloning, in less than 5 minutes, Listnr can duplicate your voice. You can then use your voice to have greater control over your voiceovers, add pauses, change your pitch, and much more.

Key Features of Listnr:

600+ voices, 75+ different languages
Export audio files in WAV and MP3
Provides podcast hosting and distribution
Embeddable audio player widget

Listnr's native podcast creator

Quickly start your very own podcast through the Listnr dashboard. Add your title, select your category, and edit your show cover with Canva. Then you can either use Listnr’s Speech Synthesis Engine to record your episode from your browser directly. Or, you can upload your podcast episode directly to Listnr to use its podcast hosting services. Furthermore, it’s simple to distribute your latest podcast to your platform of choice via RSS, URL, or with an iframe embed.

Best For:

Listnr is a platform you want to get acquainted with for a dedicated AI audio tool. Whereas other platforms seek to work with multiple mediums, Listnr sticks to working with AI audio and provides you with the tools to work with this medium.

Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $19 per month

Get Listnr

7. Speechify

Speechify is a reading assistant that is powered by artificial intelligence. As a speech reader, it makes listening through long documents, articles, emails, and more a straightforward task. With a vast library of voices and accents, you can easily read textbooks, emails, and documents. Speechify’s interface is uncomplicated, making turning text-to-speech a simple one. In addition to playing back your documents, Speechify has a library of royalty-free music tracks that you can use to accompany your next listening session. Export and share your audio with just the click of a button with Speechify. If you want to be more proactive and productive with your time, leave all the heavy reading to Speechify.

Key Features of Speechify:

200+ high-quality AI voices, 20+ languages, and accents
Detailed control over pitch, tone, pauses, and speed
AI voice dubbing for video with over 100 languages supported
Works as a Chrome extension and an app for Apple and Android devices

Speechify's upload settings

Speechify allows you to upload full documents or import a YouTube video to begin its reader service. Once you’ve imported your content, you can manipulate the speech speed, add advanced pauses, change the pitch, and more. And all of this is possible from a light and crisp interface.

Best For:

If you need to consume long documents, need help with studying, or want to read my books, Speechify can help you reach all of your goals. Its ability to upload documents easily, plus its highly customizable voice playback, make it an excellent AI audio tool.

Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $11.58

Get Speechify

8. Otter

Otter has a suite of AI audio tools that work with your favorite chat programs. Firstly, it’s a live transcription service that is excellent for meetings. With AI, Otter can listen in on your meeting and create notes with key points and takeaways that can be ready by the meeting’s end. When it comes to being more productive, Otter has got your back. Otter can record audio while taking notes. Using AI, the software can highlight any vital information that it may find important. This is a great way to capture lectures, meeting notes, and more. Real-time captions are also a feature of Otter. Make your meetings inclusive and accessible by providing a way for people who may interact with online meetings differently. When it comes to a solid AI audio transcription tool, Otter is one of the best.

Key Features of Otter:

Record and transcribe meetings on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet
Automatically captures slides and presentations, then generates meeting notes
Share notes with meeting attendees right after or during meetings
Sync transcriptions to the cloud
Provides captioning within your next online meeting

Otter's dashboard

Otter’s dashboard makes editing your transcriptions a smooth process. With features like takeaways, you can add notes to certain transcript parts. Use the highlights feature to point out poignant points from your meeting. You can include your meeting link for automatic translations that can take place even if you aren’t on your browser.

Best For:

If you need an AI audio tool to help you with all your transcription needs, look no further than Otter. Packed with exciting and necessary features, every meeting note-taker will be thrilled to have Otter in their back pocket as they enter their next meeting.

Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $16.99 per month

Get Otter

9. Krisp

Krisp is touted as the world’s best noise-canceling app. Another tool focused on online meetings, Krisp, helps to keep your background noise to a minimum with the power of its neural networks and artificial intelligence. Background noise and echo can be removed while you are live on a call. This will ensure your voice is crisp and clear during the meeting and that you’re clearly understood by your team members, even if you may be in the busiest Starbucks in your city. Furthermore, Krisp allows meeting transcription to take place on its platform. Automatically take meeting notes and show your best self using Krisp’s bot-free and non-intrusive meeting assistant in your next meeting.

Key Features of Krisp:

It provides both inbound (through your speakers) and outbound (through your microphone) noise cancellation
Removes background noise from live and pre-recorded meetings
Unlimited meeting transcriptions
Real-time meeting assistant and automated meeting notes
Automatic summarization of transcriptions and meeting notes

Krisp's transcription summaries

In addition to optimizing your voice calls, Krisp has stellar transcription features that allow you to turn your meetings and calls into polished notes. Automatically summarize, add critical points, and download the transcription of your calls through the Krisp interface.

Best For:

Virtual assistants, digital nomads, and anyone who carries many online and virtual meetings will be thrilled to use a product like Krisp in their day-to-day work. Additionally, those who work in call centers will be thrilled to know that a product like Krisp exists.

Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $12 per month

Get Krisp

10. Podcastle

Podcastle is an all-in-one AI-powered podcasting platform. Record, edit, and export your podcasts from one web-based interface. Podcastle gives you multiple AI audio tools under one roof. First, you can publish and stream your podcasts on multiple platforms. Secondly, you can use a sample of your real voice to create a custom AI-generated voice that you can use to create content with Podcastle’s Revoice feature. Upload or import audio files from Dropbox, Google Drive, or your computer to create your next podcast episode. Then, use Podcastle to upload it to your favorite platforms. Podcastle’s audio tools are easy-to-use and understand based on its unique and clean online dashboard. Lastly, use Podcastle to create show notes from your new podcast recording. The modern podcaster can rely on a platform like Podcastle to assist them with their podcast production needs.

Key Features of Podcastle:

Unlimited lossless, high-quality audio recording
Multitrack recording,Â Auto-leveling, dynamic fading, audio effects, and more
10+ hours of transcription, 8+ hours video recording
AI-powered noise cancellation
Publish podcasts to Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more

Podcastle's resource library

Podcastle has a library of music and special effects when editing your next podcast episodeâ€”filter by genre, instrument, and more. Adding additional accouterments to your podcast makes for a thrilling experience for your listeners.

Best For:

As the name implies, podcasters will most benefit from this platform. With everything that a podcaster could need under one roof and for one reasonable price, if you plan on starting a podcast soon, consider using Podcastle as your platform and editor.

Pricing: Free, Paid plans start at $14.99 per month

Get Podcastle

Comparing the Best AI Audio Tools

Our list of the best AI audio tools has something for everyone. Whether you’re a producer, looking for the latest AI-powered technology, or a business owner searching for a tool to help you through your meetings, our list has some of the top AI audio tools you can use to make your life easier.

Best AI Audio Tools Price Comparison

Here’s how we’d rank our top AI audio tools and see how they compare regarding price. Also, we’ve highlighted the tools on our list that have a free trial or free version on our list, so you can give them a spin before buying:

Rank	AI Audio Tools	Starting Price	Free Option
ðŸ¥‡	LANDR	$19.99/mth	âŒ	Visit
ðŸ¥ˆ	Descript	$15/mth	âœ”ï¸	Visit
ðŸ¥‰	Mubert	$14/mth	âœ”ï¸	Visit
4	LALAL.AI	$15 one-time fee	âœ”ï¸	Visit
5	Murf	$29/mth	âœ”ï¸	Visit
6	Listnr	$19/mth	âœ”ï¸	Visit
7	Speechify	$11.58/mth	âœ”ï¸	Visit
8	Otter	$16.99/mth	âœ”ï¸	Visit
9	Krisp	$12/mth	âœ”ï¸	Visit
10	Podcastle	$14.99/mth	âœ”ï¸	Visit

What are the Best AI Audio Tools?

AI is becoming commonplace in tools and software. So it’s no surprise that AI tools can be found to help you with your various tasks when working with audio. If you’re a producer or audio engineer looking for an AI-powered mastering tool, LANDR is an excellent platform for your process. For an all-in-one AI-powered platform to handle all your podcast and video editing needs, Descript is the platform that will give you all the necessary features within its easy-to-use studio. Lastly, if you want to explore the world of audio creation and make music that uses both human and AI components, Mubert provides several products to help you do just that. Overall, we know that an AI audio tool is available for any personal or professional need that you may have, and we know that our list will assist you in finding the one that’s perfect for you.

For music lovers, you might also like these top AI music generators that are changing the music industry. And, if you need help picking out a platform for your music or podcast, this list of the best podcasting platforms is right up your alley!

And if you’re looking for more AI tools, check our ultimate list of the best AI tools.

Featured Image via smashingstocks / shutterstock.com

The post 10 Best AI Audio Tools in 2023 (For Podcasts, Music & More) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

18.07.2023

31 Ways You Can Use AI Today (2023 Guide)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is sweeping across industries and making the jobs and lives of millions of people easier. All you need is an idea and access to the right tool to apply AI to the tasks you do every day. We’ve gathered 31 unique ways how to use AI today and the exact tools to get each job done.

Is AI for Actual People or Only Advanced Users?

To say that AI is useful is an understatement. Five years ago, the tech giants were the only businesses working with AI. At this point, you probably use AI every day, even if you don’t realize it.

Generative AI has been the AI trend of the year and has reached mass adoption.

Leading the pack was ChatGPT, which garnered an unprecedented 1 million users in its first five days of availability. It took Netflix 3.5 years and Instagram 2.5 months to reach the same user count.Â People are swarming to generative AI because of its usefulness in everyday tasks.

ChatGPT is hardly the only tool out there. Google launched Bard shortly after ChatGPT became a massive success.

Aside from the big names, tons of niche AI tools made it to market to make the tasks you and I perform every day easier. Many popular apps and tools, like Snapchat AI, Grammarly, and Spotify AI DJ, have adopted the technology.

Let’s explore how you can use AI for the tasks you care about.

31 Ways You Can Use AI Today

Are you chomping at the bit to try AI and see what productivity gains you can start enjoying?

We’ve gathered 31 everyday tasks you can automate or infuse AI with to achieve better results. We grouped tasks that can be done with AI into:
- Text-based AI tasks
- Image/video-based AI tasks
- Audio-based AI tasks
Each of these types of AI tools has utility in business, personal productivity, and even entertainment. Starting with text-based tasks, here is how you can use AI right now.

Text and Content Uses for AI in Business and Productivity

Writing and Natural Language tasks are some of the easiest to start with as you learn how to use AI.

The ultra-popular ChatGPT is the shining example of an LLM that can do it all (with creative things you can do with it).

Here we’ve gone through some of the best tasks you can use AI for. These aren’t trivial suggestions, eitherâ€”no, “write a note for a birthday card” here.

1. Write Sales Copy and Content for a Website Landing Page

Writing compelling sales copy for a website landing page is crucial for attracting and converting visitors. But it can be challenging, especially if you’re not a professional copywriter.

With the power of AI, you can generate persuasive sales copy that captures your visitors’ attention and motivates them to take action.

Write anything from a product description to an entire landing page

AI can analyze your product or service, understand its unique selling points, and craft a compelling message that resonates with your target audience. This can save you a lot of time and effort and help you create a landing page that effectively drives conversions.

âœ¨ Jasper, Copy.ai, and Writesonic, among many other AI Writers, can write LP content for you with ease

2. Summarize Long-Form Articles

Reading long-form articles can be time-consuming, especially when staying up-to-date with your industry’s latest news and trends. But with AI, you can quickly get the gist of any article without having to read it in its entirety.

Bing AI summarized a news article about a WordPress Release Beta

AI can generate a concise summary highlighting all main points and key details. Instead of spending hours reading articles, you can use AI to generate summaries and save yourself a lot of time.

âœ¨ Try using ChatGPT, Bing AI, or Bard to summarize this article

3. Write Professional Emails with AI

Writing professional emails can be daunting, especially when trying to make a good impression or convey a complex idea.

AI can help you structure your emails, choose the right words, and ensure correct grammar and spelling so you never embarrass yourself. It can even suggest content based on the context of your email threads, making it easier for you to express your thoughts and ideas.

Hoppy Copy used to create a newsletter for Divi eCommerce modules in under 2 minutes

While there are different options, AI writers are some of the most widely used AI tools. If you write a lot of cold emails for your sales process, there are even AI sales tools to help you with that.

âœ¨ Grammarly, Constant Contact, or Hoppy Copy all can create email content with AI

4. Create Excel Formulas Quickly

Excel is a powerful tool for organizing and analyzing data, but creating formulas can be complex and time-consuming. AI can simplify this process and develop formulas more quickly.

By explaining what data you have and what you need to do, AI can help you create the right formula for your needs. This can save you time and effort, especially if you’re not an Excel expert.

Using AI for formula creation ensures accuracy and efficiency, leading to more dependable outcomes from your spreadsheet tasks.

âœ¨ Use CodePal or ChatGPT to help you understand your data and create formulas

5. Spruce Up a Resume

Creating a professional and compelling resume can be challenging, especially when trying to stand out in a competitive job market. AI can enhance your resume and increase your chances of getting noticed by employers. It can even help with layouts and formatting, which can be challenging in MS Word.

AI can analyze and enhance your resume, highlighting relevant skills and experiences, and crafting a compelling career objective. Utilizing AI for your resume optimization can bolster your presentation and boost your chances of securing your dream job.

âœ¨ By using Resume.io and ChatGPT, you might just achieve resume perfection

6. Write Narrative Dialogue for a Story

Writing dialogue for a story is challenging, especially when trying to make your characters sound authentic and engaging. AI is now helping writers by enhancing storytelling and creating an effective dialogue throughout a piece.

AI can generate dialogue based on the context of your story, the characteristics of your characters, and the tone you want to set. This can save you much time and effort, especially when experiencing writer’s block.

Bringing in AI for dialogue writing ensures character consistency and believability, making your story more engaging and enjoyable for your readers.

âœ¨ Sudowrite, ChatGPT, and Jasper can all help you craft original stories

7. Have a Back and Forth Conversation on Anything

AI chatbots have come a long way in recent years, and they can now hold a conversation about virtually any topic.

Whether you want to discuss the latest news, learn about a specific topic, or chat about your day, an AI assistant might just be the unexpected conversational partner you’ve been waiting for.

Give it a specific persona to act as (personal coach or childhood friend), and the conversational AI will blow your mind with the quality of conversation it has with you.

âœ¨ Character AI, ChatGPT, or Bard are great conversational AI tools

8. Understand Complex Topics Much Faster

Navigating complex information, whether it’s for work, personal interest, or helping kids with homework, can be daunting.

AI, powered by advanced language models, can help simplify this process. It can break down any complex information into smaller, digestible segments, identifying key concepts, ideas, and themes. This structured approach allows you to focus on one segment at a time, making the information more manageable and easier to understand.

This will make your study more efficient and effective, as you can focus on one sub-topic at a time and gradually build your understanding of the overall topic. Instead of learning “how to improve SEO for a website,” AI can break down the concept into manageable chunks so you can learn all the individual skills and concepts that make up a whole SEO strategy.

âœ¨ Try ChatGPT or any ChatGPT Alternative to break down topics so you can understand each aspect with greater confidence

9. Practice for a Job Interview

Preparing for a job interview can be nerve-wracking. This is especially so when you don’t know what questions to be prepared to answer.

With conversational AI tools, you can practice for your interview and dramatically increase your confidence.

By providing information about the job opportunity, its requirements, and your past experience, an AI tool can generate potential interview questions and help you formulate your responses. It doesn’t matter what you are applying to, like aÂ first job out of college or a brand-new career in softwareâ€”AI can help you be prepared.

You will better anticipate questions and prepare your answers in advance, making you feel more confident and perform better in your interviews.

âœ¨ With ChatGPT and Bard, you can prep for any interview with absolute confidence

10. Grow Website Trafic with SEO Insights

Growing website traffic is a crucial goal for many businesses, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an essential strategy for achieving this.

AI SEO tools will analyze your website and provide insights on improving your SEO.

By looking at other top-ranking pages in SERPs, it can identify keywords you should be targeting, suggest content you should be creating, and even identify technical issues that could hurt your search engine rankings.

Using AI to optimize your SEO, you can attract more organic traffic to your website, increase your visibility on search engines, and ultimately grow your business.

âœ¨ Surfer SEO, Rank Math, GrowthBar, as well as many other AI SEO Tools, are poised to help you grow your website traffic

11. Improve Writing Style

Whether you’re writing a blog post, a fiscal report, or a novel, your writing style can significantly impact how your audience perceives your work.

AI analyzes your writing and provides feedback on how to improve your style. It can suggest ways to make your writing more straightforward, concise, and engaging. It can also help you avoid common grammar and spelling mistakes and ensure your writing is appropriate for your intended audience.

âœ¨ Grammarly, Rytr, and Writesonic all have tools to help you correct your writing so it is ready for your readership

12. Rephrase and Rewrite Your Work for Clarity

Sometimes, you know what you want to say but are unsure how to say it. Maybe you’re trying to avoid repetition in your writing or struggling to convey a complex idea and need help with better ways of saying something.

AI has a way with language and can help you express yourself even when you are hitting a wall.

It can suggest different words, phrases, or sentence structures to help you express your ideas more effectively. It can also be used to avoid duplicate content issues when writing cluster content that shares many of the same pieces of information from different posts.

âœ¨ Quillbot, Copy.ai, and other AI Paraphrasers can rewrite anything for you in a jiff

13. Write or Improve Code

Coding is often complex and time-consuming process, especially when working on a large project or learning a new programming language.

But with AI, you can write and improve your code more efficiently. AI can suggest code snippets, identify errors, and generate code based on your specifications. This can save you a lot of time and effort and help you create more efficient and reliable code.

Whether a professional developer or a coding beginner, AI can be a valuable tool for improving your coding skills and productivity.

âœ¨ Use Github Copilot, CodePal, and other AI Coding Assistants or AI Website Builders to make coding easier

14. Create Social Posts and Schedule at the Best Time

Managing multiple social profiles can be challenging, especially when engaging with your audiences at the best times.

With the right AI tool, you can create and schedule your social posts more effectively than ever.

AI analyzes your audience’s behavior and suggests the best times to post. It also helps you create engaging content by offering post ideas, generating captions, and creating visuals.

Managing your social media with AI saves time, boosts engagement, and expands your online presence.

âœ¨ Ocoya, Adzooma, and more AI Marketing Tools can help you manage your social channels and more

15. Detect Plagiarized or AI Written Text

Plagiarism and AI-generated content are becoming increasingly common. Whether you’re a teacher checking student assignments, an editor reviewing submissions, or a website owner protecting your content, AI can help you detect plagiarized or AI-written text.

AI analyzes and compares a selected text with a vast content database to identify matches. It can also detect the patterns and nuances characteristic of AI-written text.

Using AI to detect plagiarism or AI-written content can bring more trust and accountability to your and others’ work.

âœ¨ Try out Originality.ai, along with other top AI Content Detectors

16. Create an AI Second Brain

Imagine having a personal assistant that remembers everything you’ve asked to read, every idea you’ve noted down, and lets you use that knowledge for future projects. That’s what it’s like to use AI as your second brain.

With AskYourPDF, we uploaded a Grammar PDF and asked it a question

By uploading documents, articles, notes, and other text-based information into an AI system, you can create a digital knowledge base that you can query at any time.

Need to recall a specific piece of information from a document you read months ago? Want to synthesize information from multiple sources to write a new article or report? Just ask your AI.

Using AI as your second brain offers immense benefits, including enhanced organization, productivity, and creativity. It saves time by swiftly locating needed information and sparks new ideas by linking various pieces of information in your knowledge base.

âœ¨ Use a tool like AskYourPDF, Anything LLM, or customer service AI chatbots to build a Second Brain using AI

Graphic Design, Art, and Video Editing with AI

Some of the most complicated digital tasks involve images and videos. Yet, they are so important for business that it’s a shame more people haven’t been able to get involved. AI makes it easier than ever for people to create and edit visual elements for all their personal or business projects.

17. Create Custom Art

Creating custom art takes a lot of skill and is nearly impossible if you’re not a professional artist. But with AI, you can create unique and beautiful art with just a little imagination!

Shown: Stable Diffusion Image Tools

AI can generate art based on your specifications, such as style, colors, and subject matterâ€”all from a natural language prompt. This saves you a lot of time while still generating some fantastic pieces.

It allows you to create custom art for your home, business, or digital projects. Whether you’re creating a hero image, album cover, or a blog post’s featured image, AI can help you bring your vision to life.

âœ¨ Give Midjourney a try and learn from our Midjourney + Divi tutorial for creating unique website templates

18. Make Product Photos Look Professional

High-quality product photos attract customers and drive sales, especially in e-commerce. Taking and editing professional photos can be a complex task requiring a lot of experience.

With AI product image tools, you can easily enhance your product images and make them professional and appealing.

AI can automatically adjust your photos’ lighting, color, and composition to make your products look their best. It can also remove backgrounds, add effects, and show off what the item may look like in different colors.

Are you ready to attract more customers, increase sales, and make your products stand out?

âœ¨ Try Magic Studio to take your product photos to new heights

19. Create Logos and Brand Assets

Creating a unique and memorable logo is crucial for establishing your brand identity. But hiring a professional designer can be expensive, and designing a logo yourself can be challenging if you’re not a skilled artist.

With AI, you can create a professional-looking logo in minutes. AI can generate logo designs based on your color, style, and symbolism preferences. It can also make other brand assets, such as business cards, letterheads, and social media graphics, ensuring a consistent brand identity across all your materials.

âœ¨ Try out Looka, Logo.ai, Design AI, and other AI Logo Makers to get a brand refresh

20. Design Custom Illustrations

Custom illustrations add a unique and professional touch to websites, print media, and apps. But creating custom illustrations requires having a lot of experience with tools like Adobe Illustrator.

With AI, you can easily create custom illustrations using a natural language description of what you want. In your prompt, you can define the artistic styling, colors, and object ideas you wish to create.

This eliminates the skill barrier for an in-demand digital skill while bringing you custom graphics for your websites and print projects.

âœ¨ Illustroke is the perfect tool for simply creating illustrations and vectors

21. Create and Edit Videos

Creating engaging videos can be a complex task that takes a lot of skill and computational resources. But you can create videos more efficiently and effectively with various AI video tools.

AI can help you edit videos, add effects, and generate content. It can also analyze your video content and provide suggestions for improvement.

Different AI video creation tools do different things. Some use text scripts to create a video with an AI avatar that speaks the words you had written down. Others let you take out filler words (like “umm”) and let you edit your actual video by editing a transcripted version.

âœ¨ To do both those video creation/editing tasks, try out Synthesia, FlexClip, and Descript

22. Generate Professional Headshots

Creating professional headshots can be challenging, especially if you don’t have access to a professional photographer or studio.

AI is, once again, able to help by creating professional-looking headshots from the comfort of your home. AI can scan older photos of yourself and use them to generate new, high-quality headshots. The AI uses your likeness to create images instead of just touching old ones up. This allows it to create images you wish you had without hiring an expensive photographer.

âœ¨ Try Aragon or Try it on to transform your selfies and other photos into professional headshots

23. Edit Photos Like an Expert

Editing photos has traditionally been best done by a professional photographer or graphic designer. But with AI, you can edit your photos like an expert. Even with Adobe productsâ€”here’s an Adobe Firefly tutorial!

Photoshop’s Generative Fill and Remove BG Taskbar

AI image editing can automatically adjust your photos’ lighting, color, and composition to enhance their quality and appeal. It can also add effects, remove unwanted elements, and even transform your photos into different styles.

Using AI to edit your photos, you can create stunning visuals for your website, social media posts, or personal projects without learning complex editing software or techniques.

âœ¨ Try using HitPaw, Fotor, and Remove.bg to edit photos effortlessly with AI

24. Enhance and Upscale Images

Old or low-resolution images are a thing of the past with AI image upscalers and AI photo enhancers. With image-based AI, you can enhance your images and upscale them to a higher resolutionâ€”all without losing quality.

AI analyzes your images, identifies areas of low quality, and enhances them to improve their clarity and detail.

Using AI to enhance and upscale your images, you can breathe new life into your old photos and ensure that your images look their best, regardless of their original quality or size.

âœ¨ Try out Icon8 Smart Upscaler or Zyro AI Image Upscaler today

25. Build a Website with AI

Starting a personal blog or portfolio can be a tall order, especially if you’re unfamiliar with web design or coding. But with AI and AI website builders, you can create a complete website in minutes without getting into the weeds.

Some popular website builders (like Wix) use AI to generate an entire website design. All you have to do is describe the type of site you want and click a button. They also have built-in AI tools to help you tweak the design, layout, color scheme, and content to suit your needs. You can generate new text and images to match your brand in a few clicks. It can also help you add features like a contact form, social media links, and a gallery for your work or photos.

With Framer AI, you can easily jumpstart a blog, portfolio, or online store with a simple text prompt. Don’t like the result? You can generate new designs with ease. So if you are looking for an easy way to start a blog or showcase your portfolio online, AI can help you save time and effort.

âœ¨ Use Wix ADI, Framer AI or Hostinger AI to see what AI can do in web design

Audio Productivity and Production

AI can be applied to audio workflows and processes. From creating human voices and music to editing soundtracks and more, AI is making it easier for people to get involved with audio production.

26. Create an Audiobook

Producing an audiobook is long and hard, particularly without professional voice acting experience or sound engineering skills.

However, AI simplifies this task, transforming written text into engaging, natural-sounding speech effortlessly.

AI is a valuable tool for authors seeking to broaden their audience or educators aiming to offer accessible learning resources. Leveraging AI for audiobook creation breathes life into your text, providing a new and captivating way to connect with your audience.

âœ¨ Give Listnr or Murf a try for creating audio experiences with AI

27. Transcribe Video Meetings in Realtime

Ensuring you have meeting notes available for your whole team, even if they weren’t at a particular meeting, is important for staying in sync. But manually writing notes down as you try to participate still is a challenge.

AI-Generated Meeting Summary Auto-Sent to Email

AI can listen to your meetings, accurately transcribe the speech, and even identify different speakers. This can be particularly useful for keeping records of your meetings, creating meeting minutes, or providing accessible content for team members who are deaf or hard of hearing.

âœ¨ Try out Otter.ai for better meetings and team organization (and see our full Otter review)

28. Turn Any Webpage Text into Listenable Audio

Lengthy web pages can be time-consuming and tiring, especially if you’re researching or reading for hours.

You can turn any webpage into an audio experience with various voice generators and AI text-to-speech recognition. AI can read out the content of a webpage, allowing you to listen to it while doing other tasks.

This can be particularly useful if you’re multitasking, have visual impairments, or prefer listening over reading.

âœ¨ Try turning any webpage into an audio format with Speechify

29. Professionally Edit Recorded Music

Editing music for an album is notoriously tricky because of the technical skills and personal tastes involved. Figuring out how to master multiple tracks (vocals, instruments, etc.) and make them sound amazing together is no short order.

With AI editing software, you can edit your recorded music like a pro. AI can analyze your tracks, identify issues, and apply enhancements to improve sound quality. It can also help you master your tracks, ensuring they sound balanced and professional.

With AI editing for recorded music, you can create professional-quality music regardless of your technical skills or equipment setup.

âœ¨ Give Lala.ai, Landr Studio, or Izotope a try for advanced music AI editing

30. Edit and Publish Podcasts

Editing and publishing podcasts can be complex and time-consuming, especially when dealing with long recordings or multiple episodes.

But AI can edit and publish your podcasts with greater efficiency. AI can help you cut and arrange your recordings, remove unwanted background noise, enhance sound quality, and even remove filler words and on-mic coughing.

Never has podcasting been more accessible to the masses. AI continues to break down barriers so everyone can express themselves.

âœ¨ Podcastle is the premier AI podcast editing and hosting service that does it all

31. Generate Original Songs & Music

AI can generate original songs and music with absolute ease. It can create music based on genre, mood, and instrumentation preferences. It can even generate lyrics and melodies, creating a complete song from scratch.

This can be particularly useful for content creators who need background music, aspiring musicians who need inspiration, or anyone who enjoys creating and listening to music.

You can unleash your creativity and enjoy the music creation process with AI music generators.

âœ¨ Log into Mubert and see just how easy creating music can be

What Are You Going to Try?

AI is no longer a distant concept but a practical tool that reshapes our daily tasks and enhances productivity.

From text-based tasks to audio and visual applications, the 30 ways we’ve explored demonstrate the versatility and accessibility of AI today.

Embracing these AI tools saves time and opens up new possibilities for creativity and efficiency. So, don’t hesitate to explore and integrate these AI tools into your routine and experience the transformative power of AI in your everyday life.

What tasks are you going to start exploring with AI tools?

FAQ For Using AI in Everyday Life

How can I use an AI?

AI is integrated into our daily lives in many ways. There are AI-driven assistants like Google Assistant and Siri to help with tasks. AI can research and write for you. AI chatbots assist with customer service conversations. The uses for AI are increasing each day and are becoming more accessible to the average person.

Is there a free AI I can use?

Several free AI tools are available, including ChatGPT for powerful conversational AI, Writesonic for writing assistance, Github Copilot for coding help, and Google’s Bard for research. Most of these tools also offer premium plans for more features.

Featured Image by Allies Interactive / shutterstock.com

The post 31 Ways You Can Use AI Today (2023 Guide) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.
16.07.2023

16 Best AI Assistants to Make You More Productive in 2023

AI assistants, our increasingly trusted digital counterparts, are at the forefront of a wave of productivity. They are reshaping how we interact with technology and the world around us. From managing our schedules to controlling our smart homes, these AI-powered marvels are making our lives easier, more organized, and more efficient.

But with a giant selection of AI assistants available today, how do you choose the one that best suits your needs? This article will delve into the fascinating world of AI assistants, comparing their unique features, capabilities, and how they can make your life more convenient.

16 Best AI Assistants in 2023

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While this article is about the best AI assistants available, we’ve decided to break our list into everyday tasks. Not all assistants are equally good at the same things. We wanted to show you some of the most popular categories for artificial intelligence agents and give you multiple options for each.

Here’s a list of the best assistants built with AI:

We’ll start our list with AI writing assistants and Jasper AI leading the pack.

Best AI Writing Assistants & Chatbots

AI writing assistants have been some of the most widely adopted AI technology. They started as generative content creators, but many have turned into full-scale assistants (for their purpose) with the addition of comprehensive toolsets and chatbots with conversational abilities. Here’s a look at our top picks for AI writing assistants and chatbots.

1. Jasper

Jasper is an AI writing assistant that helps users create high-quality content as efficiently as possible. It’s designed to generate unique, long-form content that engages readers and drives traffic. Jasper is used by content creators, marketers, and businesses looking to automate and enhance their content creation process. It stands out from other platforms because of its brand voice and memory features that take content from generic to very specific and helpful. See our detailed Jasper AI review.

Key Features:

Saves Brand Voice guidelines and important company information so it is always on brand
Offers a wide range of writing templates for one-off tasks to long-form content
Unlimited word generation with every plan
Includes Jasper Chat, an AI chatbot that is a powerful alternative to ChatGPT.
Chrome Browser extension to bring generative ai into every text box on the internet

Teach Jasper company and product memory

One of Jasper’s newest features is saving critical information about your business. You can upload file formats that teach Jasper about your business, products/services, and how you communicate things. This makes generative AI more up to the task when creating your marketing collateral. And it dramatically reduces editing time since it knows what you know about your business. Finally, an AI assistant that learns and applies essential information about your business.

Best For:

Jasper is best for content creators, marketers, and businesses who need to produce high-quality, SEO-optimized content regularly. It’s particularly beneficial for those looking to streamline their content creation process and increase efficiency. It integrates with several tools, like SurferSEO, to create even better content.

Pricing: Plans start at $49/mo

Get Jasper

2. Copy.ai

Copy.ai is a comprehensive AI writing assistant for any writing task. It’s designed to help users generate high-quality copy for various purposes, from blog posts to social media content and sales emails. Copy.ai is used by writers, marketers, and businesses looking to enhance their content creation and marketing efforts. See our detailed Copy.AI how-to guide.

Key Features:

AI Chatbot with real-time internet data access for more accurate responses
Inline doc editor for easy content creation and editing
Prebuilt prompts to guide content generation
Supports multiple languages

AI Chat Assistant by Copy.ai

Copy.ai includes AI Chat, a great assistant for document writing and creation. The chatbot has real-time access to public internet data, making it an ideal alternative to ChatGPT. Use AI Chat to dive into a topic and ask for suggestions conversationally to get accurate and up-to-date responses. And use critical insights and generated copy for your long-form document without switching workflows.

Best For:

Copy.ai is an excellent assistant for anyone who regularly creates written content. Bloggers can use it to generate engaging posts, email marketers can craft compelling messages, and social media managers can create captivating content for various platforms. The platform’s chat feature adds a conversational element to the editing process, making it even more intuitive and user-friendly. It’s one of the most trusted ai writing platforms out there.

Pricing: Free option available with paid pricing starting at $49/mo

Get Copy.ai

3. WriteSonic

WriteSonic is another all-purpose AI content creation platform that does a lot. It handily covers most AI-writing bases with over a hundred writing recipes/templates for various applications. This means it can generate a whole blog in seconds, paraphrase selected text, write product descriptions, and help with your Google Ads copy (plus a whole lot more). Its writing features are great for SEO, sales, and personal useâ€”everybody stands to benefit from Writesonic’s feature set.

Key Features:

AI-generated art creation using Photosonic
ChatSonic – a GPT-4 powered AI chatbot assistant
Botsonic – a customer support bot that’s easy to deploy
Easy-to-use content creation UI

Writesonic Document Editor

Writesonic sports one of the better long-form document editors of many AI writers. Every use case/writing template is easily accessible for creating content, no matter how articles are structured. You will also have access to Chatsonic, a robust chatbot assistant, within the document editor so you can use command prompts and have full control over how you want to use AI while writing.

Best For:

WriteSonic is ideal for power users of AI tools and technology. It handles generative writing very well but also corners the AI art and chat market. Plus, it’s backed by Y Combinator and poised to keep innovating.

Pricing: Free plan with paid plans starting at $19/mo

4. Hoppy Copy

Hoppy Copy is an AI-powered platform designed to change how marketers and salespeople create email campaigns. It’s not just an AI copywriter; it’s a comprehensive tool that assists in every step of email creation, from drafting to editing and monitoring competitor strategies. With Hoppy Copy, you can save countless hours and generate compelling content for hundreds of email marketing campaigns, drips, newsletters, and moreâ€”in seconds.

Key Features:

Generate unique campaign ideas, witty headlines, eye-catching subject lines, bold calls to action, and more
Track your competitors’ email strategies in real-time and learn from their tactics
Automatically identify and replace spam keywords that could land your emails in the junk mail folder

Hoppy Copy AI Spam Assistant Checker

Hoppy Copy solves so many email-specific tasks. Where other platforms can generate a subject line or use a copywriting principle to create body text, they don’t go far enough for email marketers. Hoppy Copy’s spam checker analyzes your email copy with AI to find those common trigger words and phrases that can send your email straight to spam. Better yet, it tells you precisely what triggers your copy is hitting. This lets you know what to change and how. How’s that for an AI email assistant?

Best For:

Hoppy Copy is an ideal assistant for marketers and salespeople who regularly engage in email campaigns. Whether you’re a small business owner, a busy creator, or part of a large marketing agency, Hoppy Copy can help you create high-converting emails and newsletters, sequences/drips, and more. It’s particularly beneficial for those who want to stay ahead of the competition by monitoring their strategies and ensuring their emails always land in the inbox, not the spam folder.

Pricing: Pricing starts at $29/mo

Get Hoppy Copy

Overview of AI Assistants for Writing

Rank	AI Writing Assistants	Starting Price	Free Option
ðŸ¥‡	Jasper	$49/mo	âŒ	Visit
ðŸ¥ˆ	Copy.ai	$49/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
ðŸ¥‰	Writesonic	$19/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
4	Hoppy Copy	$29/mo	âŒ	Visit

Best AI Personal Assistants

Now we are getting into some of the big-name, original AI assistants from some of tech’s finest. You’ve likely used one even if you don’t remember using one of these AI assistants.

5. Google Assistant

Google Assistant - Homepage July 2023
Google Assistant is a virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence and developed by Google. It’s designed to engage in two-way conversations, helping users set reminders, answer questions, and control smart home devices. Google Assistant is available on most Android, Google Home, and Wear OS devices.

Key Features:

Initiates tasks with voice and text commands
Helps with tasks like setting reminders, updating contacts, and answering questions
Controls smart home devices
Easily accessible by saying, “Hey Google”

Best For:

Google Assistant is best for Android users who want an easier way to interact with their phones and Google apps. Those who wish to take voice notes, add calendar events, and set on-time reminders in a sinch will benefit from this simple AI phone assistant.

Pricing: Free and preloaded on many Android devices

Get Google Assistant

6. Amazon Alexa

Amazon Alexa - Homepage July 2023
Amazon Alexa is a virtual assistant AI developed by Amazon that works with many of its products and services. It’s designed to help users purchase items from Amazon, play music, and control smart home devices (Echo). It’s preloaded on many Amazon products and IoT devices.

Key Features:

Voice service that connects brands with their customers
Controls smart home devices, play music, and connects with millions of Alexa “skills”
Easily accessible by saying, “Alexa …”

Best For:

Amazon Alexa is best for individuals who want reliable voice assistants for simple tasks around the office and at home.

Pricing: Free apps and preloaded on many Amazon products

Get Amazon Alexa

7. Siri

Siri by Apple - Homepage July 2023
Siri is a virtual assistant part of Apple Inc.’s iOS, watchOS, and tvOS operating systems. It uses voice recognition to respond to queries, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to Internet services. Loved and used by millions of iPhone users and is one of the most long-standing AI assistants on the market (released in 2011).

Key Features:

Responds to queries and make recommendations
Performs actions like adding calendar events and pulling up driving directions
Connects to many Apple services as well as 3rd party services
Easily accessible by saying, “Hey Siri”

Best For:

Siri is best for individuals and businesses using Apple devices and needs a reliable and intelligent assistant to help manage daily tasks and control smart home devices.

Pricing: Free and preloaded on many Apple devices

Get Siri

Overview of Best AI Personal Assistants

Rank	AI Personal Assistants	Starting Price	Free Option
ðŸ¥‡	Google Assistant	Free	âœ”ï¸	Visit
ðŸ¥ˆ	Amazon Alexa	Free	âœ”ï¸	Visit
ðŸ¥‰	Siri	Free	âœ”ï¸	Visit

Best AI Financial Assistants

It’s easy to make bad or uneducated financial decisions. Even understanding your personal finances can be a chore that leaves you unmotivated to take decisive action. Financial decision-making and insight generation have been vast areas of opportunity for AI assistants. Consumers have been readily tapping into the potential of AI to help make them more informed about their finances than ever before. Here’s a look at our favorite AI assistants for financial topics.

8. Tykr

Tykr is an AI financial assistant that helps users make informed investment decisions. It’s designed to provide clear, actionable insights into the stock market, assisting users in identifying the best investment opportunities. It doesn’t automate stock market tasks but significantly improves research tasks so you can be as confident as possible in your buys and sells.

Key Features:

Provides clear, actionable insights into the stock market (On sale, Watch, and Overpriced labels/scores)
Helps users identify the best investment opportunities
Analyzes stocks, ETFs, and Crypto with open-source models
Helpful courses to learn the basics of investing

Tykr AI Stock Analysis Assistant

Best For:

Tykr is best for individual investors and businesses who must make informed investment decisions. Its courses help new investors get up to speed while the rest of the platform brings instant insights into the markets.

Pricing: AI stock insights start at $29.99/mo

Get Tykr

9. Wally

Wally - Homepage July 2023
Wally is an AI financial assistant that helps users manage their personal finances. It gets personal to be as helpful as possible. It’s designed to provide insights into spending habits, assisting users in budgeting effectively and saving money. Connect bank accounts and then chat with Wally to find out what your bank statements would say about your financial outlook.

Key Features:

Provides insights into spending habits
It helps users budget effectively and save money
Easily connect your bank accounts and track every data point

Wally App Preview Financial Assistant

Best For:

Wally is best for individuals who need to manage their finances better. Its AI assistant features are particularly beneficial for those looking to gain insights that have been hard to come by before using the app.

Pricing: Wally is free to use for most features but does feature in-app purchases for more features

Get Wally

10. Cleo

Cleo - Homepage July 2023
Cleo is another great (but sassy) AI financial assistant that helps users manage their personal finances. It’s designed to provide insights into spending habits, assisting users in budgeting effectively and saving money. It also has other traditional fin-tech features, such as a credit-building starter credit card and simple cash advances. But if you need a little rough talk to get you in the savings mood, Cleo is up to the task.

Key Features:

Provides insights into spending habits
Chat with Cleo to find out what it thinks about your spending habits
Other banking features as needed

Best For:

Cleo is best for individuals who need to manage their finances effectively. It’s particularly beneficial for those looking to gain insights into their spending habits, budget effectively, and save money.

Pricing: Free version of the app, but Cleo Plus costs $5.99/mo

Get Cleo

Overview of the Best AI Finacial Assistants

Rank	AI Financial Assistants	Starting Price	Free Option
ðŸ¥‡	Tykr	$29.99/mo	âŒ	Visit
ðŸ¥ˆ	Wally	In-app purchases	âœ”ï¸	Visit
ðŸ¥‰	Cleo	$5.99/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit

Best AI Coding Assistants

If you aren’t part of the 92% of developers using generative AI coding assistants, we can change that for you. Here are our top three picks.

11. GitHub Copilot

Github CoPilot - Homepage July 2023
GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant that helps developers write better code faster. It’s designed to suggest whole lines or blocks of code as you type, helping you complete your work more efficiently. Built using OpenAI’s Codex model, Copilot is trained on code from almost every programming language. It helps reduce repetitive outputs and gives you a little life back when thinking through complex tasks.

Key Features:

Suggests whole lines or blocks of code as you type
It helps developers avoid simple errors from missing characters
Supports a wide range of programming languages

GitHub Copilot AI Assistant for Coding Autocomplete

Best For:

Copilot is best for developers who need to write high-quality code quickly and efficiently. It’s particularly beneficial for enhancing their coding process and increasing productivity.

Pricing: Free plan available for individuals with Team pricing starting at $4/mo per user

Get GitHub Copilot

12. Amazon Code Whisperer

Amazon CodeWhisperer - Homepage July 2023
Amazon Code Whisperer is an AI-powered service that helps developers automate code reviews and improve application performance. It’s designed to provide intelligent recommendations, assisting developers in identifying and fixing code issues. It’s another impressive option that has increased developer adoption.

Key Features:

Code scans across programming languages through multiple IDEs
Provides intelligent recommendations to identify and fix code issues
Reference tracking across code bases

Amazon Code Whisperer AI Generated Code

Best For:

Code Whisperer is best for developers who need to automate code reviews and improve application performance. It’s particularly beneficial for identifying and fixing code issues efficiently. The price point is probably worthwhile for those that work heavily with AWS and other Amazon services.

Pricing: Free for individual developers with Professional pricing starting at $19/mo per user

Get Amazon Code Whisperer

13. Tabnine

Tabnine - Homepage July 2023
Tabnine is an AI-powered coding assistant that helps developers write code faster and with fewer errors. It’s designed to provide relevant code completions, assisting developers to increase their productivity. It also has natural language to code generation that lets users type out (in plain English) what code they want. From there, they can continue writing themselves with the assistance of other AI tools.

Key Features:

Provides relevant code completions with multiple options
It helps developers write code with fewer errors
English to code generation
Learns your coding patterns and can be trained on your code bases

Tabnine AI Code Assistant Autocomplete

Best For:

Tabnine is best for developers who need to write high-quality code quickly and with fewer errors. It’s ideal for those looking to increase their productivity and enhance their coding process. It’s also an excellent option for those who want an AI code assistant trained with only open-source code.

Pricing: Free to use basic features with paid plans starting at $15/mo per user

Get Tabnine

Overview of The Best AI Coding Assistants

Rank	AI Coding Assistants	Starting Price	Free Option
ðŸ¥‡	GitHub Copilot	$4/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
ðŸ¥ˆ	Amazon Code Whisperer	$19/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
ðŸ¥‰	Tabnine	$15/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit

Best AI SEO Assistants

Content marketers and Search Engine Optimizers are some of the heaviest users of AI tools. Whether they’re performing programmatic SEO or increasing their publishing clip, AI assistants for SEO tasks are of immense help. Here’s a look at some of our favorites, starting with Surfer.

14. SurferSEO

SurferSEO is an AI SEO assistant that helps users optimize their content for search engines. It’s designed to provide data-driven insights, assisting users in improving their website’s search engine ranking. It analyzes keyword SERPs (search engine results pages) to see what contributes to ranking top articles. Surfer pulls those insights into the content editor to compare your article against those data points so you know how to optimize your piece to be competitive. It can also generate outlines and full articles with AI based on these same insights with some plans. It’s a one-stop shop for improved SEO.

Key Features:

Provides data-driven insights on SERPs and top articles for every keyword
Helps users optimize their content for search engines
Grow Flow analyzes GSC (Google Search Console) data to give you actionable tasks every week
Integrations with Jasper, Writesonic, WordPress, and Google Docs

Writesonic + SurferSEO integration

Surfer is trusted to provide critical SEO insights for many other AI services. Pictured above is Writesonic with SurferSEO integrated. It’s also trusted by Jasper to offer these critical NPL insights for content analysis. Since SurferSEO is helpful by itself or with other services, it has become a must-have assistant for content creation.

Best For:

SurferSEO is best for marketers and businesses who need to optimize their content for search engines. Surfer’s NPL and AI provide pivotal insights for improving website search engine ranking and increasing traffic. It’s packed with tools that might replace many other writing and SEO AI assistants in your tool belt.

Pricing: Plans start at $29/mo for Lite users

Get SurferSEO

15. Alli AI

Alli AI is an AI SEO assistant that helps users optimize their websites for search engines. It’s designed to provide actionable insights, assisting users to improve their website’s search engine ranking and increase traffic. Its Javascript code insertion can dynamically change your website without making every change in your CMS or content. This can make SEO optimization as quick as you’ve seen but may also lock you into using the platform.

Key Features:

Provides actionable insights with easy implementation
Ideal for agencies to make broad SEO updates across multiple websites
Bulk-on-page optimization rules that can apply across an entire website

Alli AI live editor

The live editor works similarly to Google Optimize or Microsoft Clarity (without the A/B test features). It makes dynamically changing content based on SEO suggestions dead simple, whether you use a static HTML website or a complicated CMS.

Best For:

Alli AI is best for marketing agencies that handle SEO for multiple clients and need to optimize their websites as efficiently as possible. Its real-time deployment of recommendations makes it faster than almost any method, all without any coding. Alli is incredibly intuitive and impressive with what it can do.

Pricing: Agency pricing only, starting at $249/mo

Get Alli AI

16. Frase

Frase is an AI writer + SEO assistant that helps users create unique, SEO-optimized content. It’s designed to provide data-driven insights, assisting users in improving their content’s search engine ranking. It works like SurferSEO in many ways but focuses on an incredibly efficient content creation workflow. It starts with SERP research for a desired keyword. From there, Frase helps craft an outline that’ll be the basis for a great article. Based on that, Frase can start writing contentâ€”taking insights from the SERP and applying them directly to the outline. From there, it scores the content against multiple criteria to judge whether it is ready for publishing.

Key Features:

Provides data-driven insights using NPL
AI content generation for blog articles
Ease of use is among the best with its total-workflow approach

Frase.io SEO AI Assistant SERP Explorer

Best For:

Frase is best for content creators, marketers, and businesses who need to create SEO-optimized content. It’s particularly beneficial for those looking to improve their content’s search engine ranking and increase traffic.

Pricing: Pricing starts at $14.99/mo

Get Frase

Overview of the Best AI SEO Assistants

Rank	AI SEO Assistants	Starting Price	Free Option
13	SurferSEO	$29/mo	âŒ	Visit
14	Alli AI	$249/mo	âŒ	Visit
15	Frase	$14.99/mo	âŒ	Visit

Best AI Assistants: Price Comparison

Here’s a quick price comparison of the 16 best assistants using AI to help you find the right solution for your needs.

Rank	Best AI Assistants	Starting Price	Free Option
ðŸ¥‡	Jasper	$49/mo	âŒ	Visit
ðŸ¥ˆ	Copy.ai	$49/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
ðŸ¥‰	Writesonic	$19/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
4	Hoppy Copy	$29/mo	âŒ	Visit
5	Google Assistant	Free	âœ”ï¸	Visit
6	Amazon Alexa	Free	âœ”ï¸	Visit
7	Siri	Free	âœ”ï¸	Visit
8	Tykr	$29.99/mo	âŒ	Visit
9	Wally	In-app purchases	âœ”ï¸	Visit
10	Cleo	$5.99/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
11	GitHub Copilot	$4/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
12	Amazon Code Whisperer	$19/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
13	Tabnine	$15/mo	âœ”ï¸	Visit
14	SurferSEO	$29/mo	âŒ	Visit
15	Alli AI	$249/mo	âŒ	Visit
16	Frase	$14.99/mo	âŒ	Visit

What is the Best AI Assistant?

The best AI assistant entirely depends on what tasks you need assistance with. The best overall AI writing assistant and chatbot is Jasper AI. It can assist you in creating high-quality content at speeds you didn’t know were possible. It’s perfect for businesses that need marketing, sales, and website content. Chat.ai and Writesonic are also great choices for those looking for another AI writer and chatbot combo with a suite of powerful AI writing tools.

SurferSEO is our top AI assistant for SEO. Use it to squeeze out the best SEO insights for all your SEO content needs.

Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri are readily available based on your devices at home and in your pocket. Learning how to use those will immediately increase your productivity.

Financial AI assistants like Tykr will help you make better investing decisions, whereas Wally might be a game-changer for personal budgeting.

Last but not least, developers of any stripe can leverage a tool like Github Copilot to see how AI can speed up code writing.

AI Assistants FAQs

What are AI assistants?

AI assistants are advanced technologies that leverage artificial intelligence to reduce the time required to complete specific tasks significantly. They can assist in various areas, including content creation, SEO optimization, financial decision-making, and coding. These tools learn from data and user interactions to provide personalized and efficient assistance.

What is the best AI assistant?

The ideal AI assistant varies based on your specific needs. Jasper AI could be an excellent fit if your primary focus is content creation for marketing, sales, or website content. It accelerates the content creation process significantly. For SEO-focused content, pairing it with SurferSEO can yield optimal SEO results. For everyday tasks, Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri are widely accessible and can enhance productivity. AI assistants like Tykr can be invaluable for financial decision-making, while Wally can revolutionize personal budgeting. Developers can also benefit from tools like Github Copilot to expedite code writing.

How do I use AI as an assistant?

To use an AI assistant, you first need access to one. Many AI assistants, including ChatGPT and others on the list, offer free versions to try out. Some require a paid subscription for full access. These tools can significantly reduce the time spent on tasks, enhancing productivity and efficiency.

Who is better Alexa or Siri or Google?

The choice between Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant largely depends on your device preference and ecosystem. Alexa differs slightly from the other two and is integrated with Amazon’s ecosystem. Google Assistant and Siri depend more on whether you use Android or Apple devices, respectively.

Not had your fill yet? Well, plenty more AI tools are out there for you to check out. See our complete list of the best AI tools for all sorts of productivity. We also have a full list of the best AI marketing tools and AI chatbots that didn’t make this list.

Featured Image by Dmytro Novitskyi / shutterstock.com

The post 16 Best AI Assistants to Make You More Productive in 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

15.07.2023

How to Start a Succesful Blog in 2023 (Detailed Tutorial)
Blogging has been around since the late 1990s and has become one of the most popular mediums for people to express their thoughts, share information, and generate income. If you’re thinking of starting a blog of your own, it’s important to understand the steps needed to be successful. In this post, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide on how to start a blog. So, let’s dive in and explore the possibilities.

What is a Blog?

A blog is an online platform where you can regularly publish and share content. It acts as a digital journal or online diary, allowing people to express ideas, experiences, tutorials, or opinions on various subjects. They can cover multiple topics, provide a space for writers to connect with others, and create a community around published content. With the ability to incorporate text, images, videos, and interactive elements, blogs offer a dynamic and accessible resource for sharing information and fostering an online community.

One of the most popular platforms for a blog is WordPress. There are two iterations of WordPress: .org and .com. Either one will suit your needs, but it’s important to understand their differences. WordPress.org is a self-hosted solution, which means you install and host the software on a WordPress hosting provider. On the other hand, WordPress.com offers a blogging platform with its own hosting, which can be a solid choice for beginners. For this tutorial, we will focus on the .org version of WordPress and walk you through the steps to launch your online blog.

How To Start a Blog: Step by Step

To succeed at blogging, it’s important to set goals, determine who you intend to cater to, and pay attention to more technical considerations. These include picking the right host, choosing a worthy platform, and incorporating all the moving parts needed to support your efforts.

Step 1: Setting a Goal for Your Blog

The first and most important step in the process is planning. Sit down and list what you’d like to accomplish with your blog. Are you interested in monetizing your blog? If so, research how you want to turn your blog into a money-making machine. Consider whether you want to run ads directly on your blog or use other methods, such as Google Adsense. You can also incorporate a good advertising plugin that will allow you to create and host banner ads on your blog quite easily.

Consider creating an informational blog if monetization isn’t in the cards right now. These types of blogs are a great source of information and tend to perform well in search results; that is, if your SEO copywriting is up to par.

Lastly, decide whether to incorporate social media into your blog. Having a social media presence on your website is a wonderful way to drive more traffic to your website. There are a lot of excellent social media plugins available that will allow you to embed social feeds, schedule posts to Facebook, or incorporate events.

Step 2: Picking a Niche

The next thing to evaluate is whether you want a lifestyle blog that encompasses various topics or drill it down to be more of a niche blog. In general, niche blogs are great for people looking for specific information on a topic versus a more generalized lifestyle blog. There are several benefits to creating a niche blog, including appealing to individuals with particular interests, being excellent for building email lists, and, most importantly, being easier to manage.

Step 3: Picking Your Domain

The next crucial step in the process involves securing a domain name, which plays a pivotal role in shaping your online presence. When choosing a domain for your business, it’s important to ensure that it is both memorable and easy to spell, while accurately reflecting your business’s niche. While various top-level domain (TLD) extensions are available besides .com, opting for this widely utilized TLD is often best due to its trustworthiness. However, alternatives like .net or .org can also be considered, particularly if your preferred domain with the .com extension is unavailable.

In certain cases, it is possible to acquire a domain that has already been taken, although this can be challenging, especially if the desired domain already has an associated website. To explore available domains, we recommend using a reputable domain name registrar such as Namecheap.

Step 4: Choosing Your Hosting

Once you’ve planned out your blog and chosen a niche and a domain, you’ll need to find a good hosting provider. Generally speaking, you’ll want to avoid free hosting platforms and opt for a good managed hosting provider like SiteGround, because they offer the most bang for your buck. Not only do they provide competitive pricing, but they’re one of the fastest hosting companies you can get.

A fast host is crucial to your blog’s success for several reasons. First, no one likes a slow website. Potential readers who land on your site and wait for the page to load aren’t going to stick around. Secondly, a fast website is good for search engine optimization (SEO). Because Google and other search engines prioritize speed, going for a quality host is in your best interest.

Step 5: Create Your Blog

Now that you have all of the necessary moving parts in place, it’s time to start the exciting process of creating your blog. In this section, we’ll advise you on the best blogging platform to use, recommend a good theme and plugins, and walk you through the process of setting up your categories, tags, and templates.

Pick a Platform

While there are many blogging platforms to choose from, they are still far from matching the versatility of WordPress.org. With full site editing capabilities and a platform that was built for blogging, WordPress is the way to go. It’s free to use, has a huge following, and provides endless customization options. Plus, it’s relatively easy to learn, making it a great solution for beginners.

When it comes to installing WordPress, you can usually leave the dirty work to your web host. The best WordPress hosting providers will install WordPress for you when you set up your account, making your life a lot easier. However, that also depends on the hosting you choose. Most VPS hosting or dedicated hosting companies won’t offer this feature, requiring you to install it on your own through cPanel.

Pick a Theme

Now that we’ve opted for WordPress.org as a place to build our masterpiece, we’re going to need a good WordPress theme for bloggers. Although we may seem a bit biased, Divi is the absolute best solution. With the ability to create pages using a no-code Visual Builder incorporating more than 200 design elements, Divi is capable of showcasing your blog beautifully.

Plus, you’ll gain the benefit of full site editing, which allows you to create custom templates for your posts, categories, tags, and more, through Divi’s Theme Builder.

Install Key Plugins

One of the best aspects of WordPress is the ability to install plugins. They add features and functionalities to your site, allowing you to build any website you wish. For example, if you’d like your blog to have gated content, you can install a membership plugin, set up a paywall, and you’re off to the races. There are plugins for literally anything you can fathom. You can get a little help getting seen in the search engines by installing a good SEO plugin, such as Rank Math.

Furthermore, you can track how your posts are performing by incorporating a plugin such as MonsterInsights, which provides crucial information on what’s working on your site and what’s not. This is especially important when you’re just starting out. No matter what you want your site to do for you, there’s a plugin for it. To help you determine what you need, take a look at our article, 31 Best WordPress Plugins in 2023 (Everything You Need).

Set Up Categories

Before you can start writing posts, you’ll need to create categories. Using categories is an essential part of SEO and, if done correctly, can help bring traffic to your website. For example, let’s say you’re building a blog about pets. You’ll want to create categories for the types of pets you want to write about and subcategories that would pertain to those pets.

To add categories, navigate to the WordPress dashboard, then hover over posts. Next, click categories.

The next step is to give your new category a name, add a description, then click Add New Category.

Once you have created a main category, you can create new top-level categories or subcategories by assigning a parent category.

Alternatively, categories can be created on the fly at the post level. To accomplish this, click on Posts > Add New.

To add a new category at the post level, click the Categories dropdown on the WordPress editor’s right-hand side. Then, click Add New Category.

Once you have added all the categories you need, you can showcase your category list on a blog roll page in a sidebar or any other page. As a Divi user, you can even find creative ways to display them in your header or footer by using the Theme Builder.

Create Your Pages

Next, we’ll use Divi to create our first page. To keep things simple, we’ll use one of Divi’s awesome layout packs. First, we’ll create the home page from the Marketing Layout Pack for Divi. Navigate to Pages > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.

Add Home as the title, then click the Use Divi Builder button.

Next, select Browse Layouts.

Choose the marketing layout back by clicking on it.

Next, click on the Homepage layout.

Finally, click the Use This Layout button to insert the design into your page.

If you’d like to import the presets of the layout pack, be sure to check Import Presets, then click the Import button.

Once the page reloads, you can edit the text and images in the layout’s modules by hovering over the module you’d like to edit, then clicking the gear icon to bring up the module’s contents.

Make your edits by replacing the placeholder content in text modules.

Once you’ve completed the editing process, save your draft or publish the page by clicking the corresponding button in the lower right-hand screen of the Visual Builder.

Create Your Templates

As previously mentioned, Divi’s Theme Builder allows you to create custom templates for every section of your website. Design custom headers and footers, blog post layouts, category and tag page templates, and more.

The default website template (1) is the section you’d use to create a global header, body, and footer. This allows you to create any layout to feature your blog’s navigation. To create new templates, you’ll click the Add New Template button (2). If you want to use a premade theme builder set, click the + icon (3). To save your templates, click the save button (4). The remaining icons allow you to delete (5), view your design history (6), and import or export your layouts (7).

As you begin creating templates for your website, you’ll notice that multiple templates can get messy. So, take steps to organize them so they are easier to find.

Ok, on to creating your first template. Start by navigating to Divi > Theme Builder.

As noted, you’ll click the Add New Template button to create a template. Select Build New Template from the popup.

Next, tick All Posts, then click the Create template button. These selections will allow you to create a template for posts which will be applied to every post you write.

Next, click Add Custom Body in the All Posts template. Click Build Custom Body when the popup appears.

From there, you can use the Visual Builder to design a blog post template to match your site’s design.

Step 6: Create a Content Strategy

Now that your pages and blog post template are created, you can concentrate on forming a content marketing strategy. It involves creating content that is specifically related to your niche. Strategizing your content can help you get your business noticed, build a good reputation, and boost your SEO. You’ll be best served by analyzing your competition, learning about your potential audience, and conducting keyword research.

Step 7: Write Your First Post

When the time comes to write your first post, the most important thing is to focus on writing quality content. Be sure to keep your target audience in mind so that you’re delivering content that aligns with their interests. Start by organizing your thoughts, creating a blog post outline, and structuring your post to maximize your reader’s attention. Remember, writing your first post sets the tone for your blog, so take your time and make it a captivating and valuable piece that leaves a positive impression on your readers.

When writing in WordPress and Divi, there are a couple of ways to create your post, either in the Visual Builder, classic editor, or the Gutenberg editor. Since we created a template for our blog posts, the easiest route is using Gutenberg. It functions much like the word processors of the past, allowing you to directly type text, or use blocks to add other content.

If you find yourself suffering from writer’s block or need a little help crafting a good headline or outline for your post, consider incorporating a good AI writing software to help jumpstart your creativity.

Once you’ve added all of your content, you can easily make your post live by clicking the Publish button.

Step 8: Optimize Content for SEO

You can write the best content in the world, but you’re missing the mark if you aren’t optimizing for SEO. To optimize your content, start by using a good keyword strategically throughout your post, avoiding keyword stuffing. It’s also important to add alt tags to your images, ensure that you’re using headlines properly, and keep your paragraphs concise, yet engaging.

Additionally, pay close attention to on-page SEO elements such as titles, permalinks, and meta descriptions, as they contribute to search engine visibility. Finally, ensure that you’re focusing on mobile SEO, considering more than half of all internet users utilize a smartphone to navigate the internet.

To help you keep a handle on things, consider incorporating a good SEO tool, such as SEMRush, in addition to your chosen SEO plugin.

Step 9: Post Content Consistently

Next, you’ll want to plan how often you release new posts. Set a regular posting schedule that works for you and your target audience, whether weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. A good editorial calendar plugin helps you plan how often to release new content and helps to keep track of your goals. By establishing a good routine, you create expectations for your readers to keep them coming back for more.

Step 10: Monetize Your Blog

Once you have established a solid foundation and built your audience, you can take steps to generate income with your new blog. One popular method is through native advertising, where you can display ads or sponsored posts anywhere on your blog to earn revenue based on clicks or impressions.

Another option is affiliate linking, where you promote products or services to earn a commission for every sale. Remember that choosing affiliate partnerships that align with your niche is important to provide value to your audience.

You’ll also want to incorporate a good affiliate marketing plugin to help disguise ugly links, gain access to reporting, or offer discounts on purchased products.

Final Thoughts on How to Start a Blog

Starting a successful blog requires careful planning, dedication, and consistent effort. By following our step-by-step process, you can establish a strong foundation for your blog and increase your chances of success. It begins with setting a clear goal and identifying a niche that truly resonates with your audience. As you progress, partnering with a reputable host like SiteGround provides a reliable platform for your blog to thrive. Remember the importance of optimizing your blog for search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure maximum visibility. Let’s not forget about the exciting prospect of income-generating opportunities that can put some cash in your pocket.

Are you looking for more tutorials? Check out a few Divi-related how-to’s to kick your new blog into high gear:
Featured Image via Fonstra /Â Shutterstock.com

The post How to Start a Succesful Blog in 2023 (Detailed Tutorial) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.
14.07.2023
What Is Generative AI and How Can You Use It in 2023
The realm of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is expanding at an unprecedented rate. What was once considered the stuff of science fiction is now becoming an integral part of our everyday lives. From voice assistants and recommendation algorithms to cyber-security and advanced healthcare diagnostics, generative AI is reshaping the world as we know it.

One way to grasp this rapid progression is by the sheer volume of research being produced in the field.

â€œWe are seeing 500,000 new AI research papers per year.â€
Joelle Pineau, VP of AI Research at Meta

This all-in mindset for the technology shows the intense interest and investment in AI across academia, private industry, and government. But what about you? How can you use Gen AI for your business, hobbies, and personal life? We’ve collected all our best articles on different categories of generative AI products that will make it easy for you to see how AI can directly impact your day-to-day.

But first, what is Generative AI?

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating unique content based on training data and neural networks. This can range from creating text content to images, music, and even video.

To understand generative AI, it’s helpful first to understand what AI is. Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a broad term that refers to machines or software mimicking human intelligence. It’s about creating systems that can understand, learn, and apply knowledge, handle new situations, and carry out tasks that would typically require human intelligence. AI isn’t on par with human intelligence, but it is phenomenal at what it can do.

Generative AI takes AI a step further. It doesn’t just mimic human intelligence; it creates like a human might. This happens using machine learning models. These are like rules that get better over time through practice and training. The more data and training these models see the better they get at making high-quality, relevant content.

Development of Generative AI

Generative AI developed slowly, building on previous AI advancements. It began with machine learning. This kind of AI lets systems learn and improve from experience without specific programming.

As machine learning techniques evolved, we saw the development of neural networks, which are computing systems loosely inspired by the human brain. These networks can learn from vast amounts of data, making them incredibly powerful tools for tasks like image recognition, natural language processing, and content generation.

Image by Pro_Vector / shutterstock.com

Generative AI made significant strides with the advent of Generative Adversarial Networks, or GANs. A GAN is made up of two competing parts: a generator and a discriminator. These two parts work together to create very realistic “synthetic data.”

The generator’s job is to create new outputs. The discriminator’s job is to compare the output to trained data and attempt to fail it. When the discriminator doesn’t approve, the generator is tasked with trying again. Both parts keep this up until there is an approved output. This process helps the generator learn and refine itself. Over time, it improves at making data that looks much like the training data.

With all of this working under the hood, AI has been able to creep into several types of use cases for the average person. You don’t need to be an expert in programming GANs to leverage the technology fully.

Applications of Generative AI

Generative AI has flooded many digital tools, providing practical solutions for everyday tasks.

“In 12 months, call it next year this time (Mid-2024), I really think every company, every marketing team, every sales team, this generative and predictive AI is going to be a core part of every tool that they use. I just cannot see technology in the next year not incorporating this capability.”
Joyce KimÂ Chief Marketing Officer, Board Member at Twilio

If Joyce is correct, you’ll be using these tools in your professional life before you know it (if you haven’t already).

Let’s explore some of the key domains where generative AI is making a significant impact.

Language Processing and Writing

Generative AI is revolutionizing the field of language processing and writing. AI tools like ChatGPT (based on the GPT-3 model) and Copy.ai are becoming indispensable for creating content, streamlining tasks, drafting emails, writing articles, and answering questions. These tools dramatically enhance productivity and boost creativity.

Throughout our research on the state of AI writing and natural language processing (NLP), we’ve found some of the best tools that leverage these text-based AI models. These include:
As you can clearly see, Natural Language Processing (NPL) and language-based AI models are seeing some of the swiftest adoptions by businesses. Their use cases span many different types of tasks and tools. But language is far from the only thing that generative AI is capable of.

Visual Art and Enhancement

Generative AI is reshaping the landscape of visual creativity and enhancement. With foundation models like Stable Diffusion, products can generate unique images and art using text prompts. AI is now creating stunning artwork, creating realistic videos, and helping with photo editing. Tools like Midjourney and Photoshop are paving the way with this type of AI. We’ve written extensively about the best AI tools for creating visuals. These include:
Audio Generation and Speech Processing

Generative AI is transforming the auditory landscape as well. It can generate music in a specific style. Or you can use it as a text-to-speech tool to convert written text into spoken words. That opens up content to be more accessible for visually impaired users. On the other hand, speech-to-text tools can transcribe audio files, making them searchable and easier to analyze. Some of the best audio-centric AI tools include:
How to Use Generative AI Responsibly

Generative AI, with its ability to produce human-like content, offers a multitude of opportunities. However, the power of this technology also introduces a range of ethical considerations and potential for misuse. It’s crucial to navigate these challenges responsibly to harness the full potential of generative AI while minimizing harm. Whether you are using consumer-level AI tools, developing off the back of a broader AI model, or creating your own, we each have our roles in responsibly using AI.

Aside from theÂ sky-is-falling forecasts about what AI could cause, tangible yet elusive risks are involved in using it.

Inherent Risks and Criticisms of Using Generative AI

As with any powerful technology, generative AI comes with its own set of challenges and potential pitfalls. One of the primary concerns is that generative AI models do not inherently fact-check the information they generate. They may produce content based on inaccurate or misleading data, leading to the propagation of false information. Worse still is that when they make an error, it isn’t obvious or always easy to figure out that they did.

This is particularly concerning in areas like journalism or academia, where the accuracy of information is paramount. Even in casual writing, AI “hallucinates” or invents facts (especially when it has a hard time finishing its output).

Another potential risk lies in the realm of content authenticity. As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, AI detection tools are being developed to detect and flag such content. Publishers or individuals using AI-wholesale may experience great reputational damage, especially if the AI-generated content is not clearly labeled as such.

What Experts Are Saying About Gen AI Risks

There is no doubt that LLM training data includes copyrighted material, content that was added against website TOSs, and harmful and potentially defamatory information.

Image by designium / shutterstock.com

It’s still to be seen what legal ramifications exist for using AI. Whether you are developing a model or using one as a service in your own business.

â€œSerious legal issues exist around of using training data involving materials with copyright, TOS violation, reputational harm issues.”
Regina Sam Penti, Partner at Ropes and Gray

Bias (of each and every kind) is a part of generative AI training data. Collecting, cleaning, and keeping up with data are the biggest jobs for generative AI systems in the future.

â€œBias will continuous problem because the data it was trained on human generated dataâ€¦guardrails will need to be continue to be refinedâ€
Eric Boyd, CVP of AI Platform at Microsoft

Even as a consumer, it’s important to know the risks that exist, even in the products we use. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use these toolsâ€”it just means you should be careful about the information you feed these tools and what you ultimately expect from them.

Where Do We Go From Here?

As we stand on the brink of a new era in digital innovation, generative AI’s potential is only beginning to be realized. It’s not just about the technology itself. It’s also about how people and businesses can use it to change their everyday jobs and creative work.

Imagine using AI chatbots to handle customer service inquiries, providing immediate responses and support. Or using AI to transcribe audio, making content more accessible to a wider audience. Generative AI can even assist in writing, from drafting email responses and resumes to creating compelling marketing copy. And on and on.

For a deeper dive into the topic, check out our comprehensive post on the best available AI tools today. It provides a detailed overview of the top AI tools across various categories, helping you choose the right tool for your needs.

Generative AI is not just a technological advancement; it’s a tool for creativity, efficiency, and innovation. As we explore its potential, one thing is clear: generative AI is not just shaping our future; it’s here and now.

Generative AI FAQs
What kinds of output can a generative AI model produce?

Generative AI models can produce various outputs based on their training data. These include:

Text such as news articles, product descriptions, or creative writing

Images from realistic portraits and landscapes to abstract art

Audio outputs like music, speech, or sound effects

Video including product videos, 3D animation, and realistic human avatars

Code outputs for software applications, websites, or custom apps
What are the limitations of AI models?

AI models, while powerful, have certain limitations:

Bias: AI models can reflect biases in training data, leading to potentially unfair or inaccurate predictions.

Complexity: The intricate nature of AI models can make them hard to understand, debug, or improve.

Data requirements: AI models need large amounts of data for training, which can be costly to collect and prepare.

Creativity: AI models lack human-like creativity and can only generate content based on their training data.

Emotion: AI models don’t possess or comprehend emotions.

Despite these limitations, AI models are instrumental in solving many problems, and ongoing advancements may help overcome these challenges.
What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an AI chat experience developed by OpenAI, leveraging the company’s Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) series of large language models (LLMs). It’s built on OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models and fine-tuned for conversational applications using supervised and reinforcement learning techniques.

Launched on November 30, 2022, ChatGPT quickly gained recognition for its articulate responses across various knowledge domains. However, it has been noted for occasionally providing inaccurate information with confidence.

Key features of ChatGPT include:

Natural Conversations: ChatGPT can engage in natural human-like conversations, employing various conversational techniques such as questioning, clarifying, and making statements.

Comprehensive Answers: It can provide detailed and informative answers to a wide range of questions, even those that are open-ended or complex.

Creative Text Generation: ChatGPT can generate diverse formats of text content, including poems, code, scripts, emails, and letters.
Could generative AI replace jobs?

Generative AI, while potentially automating certain roles, is also expected to create new job opportunities. For instance, it could automate customer service, marketing, content creation, and data entry tasks, potentially impacting roles such as customer service representatives, graphic designers, writers, and data entry clerks.

However, the rise of generative AI also necessitates skilled professionals to develop and maintain these systems, creating new roles. Furthermore, as generative AI is used in innovative ways, it’s likely to open up new job opportunities.

While generative AI may transform specific jobs, it also presents new career paths, underscoring the importance of adaptability and continuous learning in the evolving job market.

This is all still speculative and could go any number of directions.
What is Auto-GPT?

Auto-GPT, an open-source, autonomous AI tool, leverages OpenAI’s GPT-4 and GPT-3.5 text-generating models to execute tasks. Developed by Toran Bruce Richards and released on March 30, 2023, Auto-GPT is speculated to have the following features:

Autonomy: Auto-GPT is designed to carry out tasks independently, minimizing the need for human intervention.

Versatility: It’s believed to handle many tasks, from debugging code and writing emails to craft presentations, blog posts, and marketing materials.

User-Friendly: Auto-GPT is expected to be easy to use, making it accessible to individuals regardless of their technical expertise.

Given these potential capabilities, Auto-GPT could significantly transform our work processes, though its full impact remains to be seen.
What is Google’s Search Generative Experience?

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is an innovative feature currently under testing. It employs generative AI to generate summaries of search results, providing a comprehensive overview of the topic alongside the traditional list of links. This helps users quickly locate the information they’re seeking.

SGE operates by generating a summary of search results when a user initiates a search. The summary, influenced by factors like the user’s location and search history, is displayed alongside the traditional list of links. Users can delve deeper by clicking on the summary or the original source links.

Benefits of SGE include a more comprehensive topic overview, improved user experience by facilitating information discovery, and reduced reliance on traditional search results. As such, SGE represents a potential enhancement to the user search experience.
Featured image by Doloves / shutterstock.com

The post What Is Generative AI and How Can You Use It in 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.
13.07.2023