The 3 pillars of visibility: Hosting, WordPress, Content... effective!

Today I want to talk to you about the 3 pillars of visibility and quality that will enable you to achieve all your goals (and, guess what, it's not willpower!). So for once we will leave food and wine aside, also because I remind you that I am still a Web Designer and, every now and then, I also like to talk about the world of the web! I factors influencing a website's ranking in search engines (SEO) are more than 3, but without satisfying these it is pointless to talk about anything else. You have a blog, a website or a e-commerce? Do you have a web agencya trusted professional or are you a geek? In any of these cases, pay close attention to hosting, WordPress e content.

1. Choose the best WordPress hosting

I bought my first hosting in 2011 on Aruba and at the time I knew nothing about hosting, websites, blogs, e-commerce. To be honest, I didn't even know what WordPress was. I was with my dad at the Saie trade fair in Bologna and I had the brilliant idea of having my first website! When I left, I relied on a graphic designer and a web developer because I had many good ideas but I was new to this world. It was 8 September 2011, and I remember it as the day I laid the first brick of my new working life (but I didn't know it yet at the time).

Unfortunately, when you don't know a sector in depth, it is easy to get the wrong end of the stick, so I got it wrong three times before finding what for me became the best wordpress hosting absolutely!

I have always been a customer of Italian providers for three reasons:

1. I thought communication would be easier with an Italian provider... I won't even comment on this point because I might say words that don't comply with a lady! 🥶
2. They had explained to me that choosing a server in your own state gives you better performance than a server on the other side of the world! Obviously this discourse is valid if you choose a quality provider... if you hope to go fast with a hosting within a server where there are 1,000 or 10,000 hosting sites, you are a poor deluded man... 🥲
3. It seems fair to me to give jobs to Italian companies in the hope of creating jobs in Italy with skilled labour! Let us try to save our people and our economy before we dissipate money abroad! But let's start with the basics, what is hosting and why is it so crucial for visibility? Hosting is the space where your website is hosted and its performance is crucial for your site's search engine ranking (SEO).. Very slow hosting not only penalises us in the eyes of Google but also makes our visitors lose patience: I don't know about you, but when a site loads very slowly, I move on!

In short, after my first website suffered downs, slowdowns, databases that seemed to go backwards in time, and a whole series of inefficiencies, topped off by almost non-existent technical assistance, my (former) IT friend Mauro, who at the time was selling Italian shoes abroad with an e-commerce business, told me about another provider that he thought was exceptional and convinced me to transfer my old website to him. After an initial moment of panic stemming from the fact that I had no idea how to do a transfer, I called the new hosting provider NativeItaly and I was immediately reassured by the technician who explained that the service of transferring my site to their servers was included in the price and I did not have to worry about anything! What joy!!! For me, who at the time didn't know a damn thing about websites, blogs, hosting, wordpress and so on, it was a real godsend! ?

And this is how this relationship has lasted for six years now, and this is where I also lovingly keep all my customers (who don't even know what one of the above-mentioned disruptions is). What I liked about NativeItaly?

1. Technical assistance is real technical assistance! - When I called NativeItaly I wasn't being answered by the usual receptionist who knew less than I did and had learnt half a parrot by heart about who could or couldn't get through to me to solve the problem. Behind the receiver of Native Italy I was talking, the first time, to a REAL TECHNICIAN who knew exactly what to do and did it really quickly. 
2. Technical assistance is real technical assistance! - When I called NativeItaly I was not answered by someone who was hibernating while waiting for a more satisfying job, perhaps as a switchboard operator at the Italian Post Office, but by a highly qualified technician full of passion and competence for his work!
3. Technical assistance is real technical assistance! - When I called NativeItaly I found not an insurmountable wall of sterile, endless tickets run by automatons calibrated to follow protocols, but knowledgeable people happy to advise me outside theWordPress hosting I had purchased!

And so, between one piece of advice and another, it turned out that I could build, on the new hosting, my first WordPress site.

2. Choosing the best WordPress hosting means... WordPress!

My first website I built in html page by page with the help of Adobe Dreamweavera programme for doing web development that, at first, I really loved! However, I realised quite quickly this system had limitations and I realised that, before it was too late (although it is never really too late) it was essential that I switch to a CMS, i.e. a content management system. The first one I learnt to use was Joomlaand it was a shock to abandon it to start using WordPress... in short, it was the third time I felt like I was 'starting over'. Actually, the ability not to get stuck on things that don't work and to try new things is, I think, my best quality... and it was only when I explored every last feature of WordPress and realised its potential that the turning point came.

So I started being a good Web Designer (yes, I hate fake modesty) and at the end of 2014 I created the first version of Perlage Suite which, at the time, was called Corkscrew. Obviously Corkscrew could not be a brand and I changed the name and a bit of the whole site design as well as the functionality... and on 16 March 2015 Perlage Suite went online! Wordpress not only provided me with an effective and fast content management tool, but its (almost) infinite extension possibilities thanks to plugins developed by third parties meant that I could create a really beautiful, effective, relatively fast and Google-positioned site. And above all, I have a system behind me that evolves with me and my needs and allows me to grow quickly in whatever direction I see fit at any given time.

Now there are some people still anchored to the old way of developing websites who will argue that WordPress is a tool for everyone... and that everyone can create a website using WordPress. Sure, everyone can kick a ball around... but not everyone is Ronaldo! Creating an EFFECTIVE website using WordPress requires much, much study. It requires a willingness to experiment, sometimes to make mistakes, and above all to never stop at what we know in order to always explore a little piece of land beyond the reassuring gate of our garden. Or, as some NLP, personal growth or psychology expert would say, it requires stepping out of our comfort zone.

3. After buying the best wordpress hosting... invest in quality content (or don't bother!)

OK, now your new WordPress site pops up on the best Italian WordPress hosting, but what is missing to be taken seriously by Google? A frequently updated website with original and well-crafted content is the key to success at this point. What you absolutely need is a corporate blog where, embodying the part of the industry expert, you help your audience solve urgent needs in a (initially) free way. Everyone tells you to do storytelling and that's fair enough, but it's not enough. And do you know why? Because a lot of people don't really care that much about your story, especially if they are 'cold' and don't know you. So first make yourself known by getting to know your readers, giving them good advice and helping them solve some of their needs... as I do with aspiring sommeliers, for example! Create useful, beautiful, readable content that Google and, above all, your audience will like, because that is the best investment you can make. Buying an ad campaign today may perhaps throw you on the front page for the duration of your investment, but either you will be willing to invest money every day to be first in an ad (and I am not going to dwell on the quality of conversions of traditional advertisements) or you will have a limited result over time. If, on the other hand, you consistently create wonderful content for your website, this will always produce results! And then you want to put the authority you have with quality content and the authority you (don't) have with paid advertising?

All my notes on wine and food in one book.

In summary, the 3 pillars of visibility are:

1. choosing the best Italian WordPress hosting which makes our site run at lightning speed and guarantees us a high quality of service while protecting our work from attacks by the bad guys 24 hours a day. In my opinion, this service is priceless... and spending less than €50 per year for all this is almost a gift! Perlage Suite relies on NativeItaly's SSD Gold Hosting which you can also buy HERE.
2. choose WordPress as the platform to create your website to have a Google-optimised code and lots of extensions with which to make our site really beautiful and perform. And possibly have a web specialist follow us because, even with a palette of colours in your hand, you're not necessarily going to paint the Mona Lisa! 😄
3. choose to invest in quality content to have a website that is always up-to-date with something that will not end at the end of the advertising campaign, but will produce results forever. Useful quality content gives you authority and builds loyalty among your readers. These are bound to grow in proportion to the quantity of your quality content. If you need advice on how to write your own quality content or would like a quote for a copywriting service email me HERE.

Whether you are a worker, craftsman, trader or entrepreneur, if you are an expert in something and have something to say or teach, do it. Start your web project today with the best WordPress hosting for your WordPress site and invest in excellent content.

And the secret quality you must have?

That is why in the end I want to tell you what really makes the difference, namely the quality that distinguishes those who achieve their goals EFFECTIVELY.

Underlying everything is the ability to be able to question oneself and this is closely linked to self-esteem. If we do not believe in ourselves enough we will be afraid of the judgement of others and consequently we will be afraid of failure. Taking risks, and failing from time to time, is what allows us to try unexplored paths to emerge. Self-esteem is also the quality we need to admit that we do not know everything and to recognise that there are those who are much better than us at doing a certain thing, without using the excuse of 'not having time' to do it. Having a strong self-confidence makes us feel secure even when we admit that Thing is better than us and we can, indeed we must, learn from him. Or we simply have to rely on him and/or his service in order to have the Ferrari to do our best work. Self-esteem gentlemen, always. To be seasoned with abundant dreams and served strictly while awake.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this article and found it useful!

Cheers 🍷

Chiara