Branding and design
How to choose a business name and domain, get a logo and a simple brand kit made, and pick the design tools that keep everything you publish looking like one company.
2 articles
Build your brand and website
How to shape a brand, build a website, choose hosting, and use no-code tools to get your business live without hiring a developer.
Topics
Website builders
Which website builder fits your business, what each really costs per year, and when to bring in a developer instead.
2 articles
Web hosting and cloud
What kind of hosting you need as you grow, from shared hosting and managed WordPress to cloud servers, and what each one costs.
2 articles
No-code and automation
How to build internal tools, forms, apps and automations on no-code platforms, and how to tell when you have outgrown them.
3 articles
Latest articles
Guide · Branding and design
How to choose a business name and domain: trademarks, state names and handles
A name that's free in your state can still infringe a trademark, and a federal trademark application costs $350 per class of goods or services. Check the USPTO database, your state's name rules and the domain before you print anything. Here's how to clear a name, and what each registration does and doesn't protect.
· 7 min read
Guide · Collaboration and productivity
The startup tech stack: the dozen tools a new business runs on
Start with a domain you control, email on that domain, a simple website, a business bank account, accounting software, a way to take payments, a CRM, shared docs, a password manager and light automation. Most have free plans that last a two-person company months. A five-person stack runs about $180 a month at list prices.
· 7 min read
Guide · Web hosting and cloud
Managed hosting or a VPS: when each makes sense for a small business
A basic DigitalOcean Droplet costs $6 a month, a managed cloud server on Cloudways starts at $11, and managed WordPress hosting from Kinsta at $35. The cheap option comes with a job description: operating system updates, runtime upgrades, backups, firewalls, certificates and monitoring. Here's how to tell whether that job is worth it for you.
· 7 min read
Guide · Website builders
What a startup website needs: pages, legal pages, analytics and speed
Launch with a home page, a page per offer, pricing, about, contact, a privacy policy and terms. California's CalOPPA requires a privacy policy on any commercial site that collects personal information from its residents. Cookie-free analytics avoid an EU consent banner. Aim for LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds and CLS under 0.1.
· 7 min read
Comparison · Web hosting and cloud
Cloudways vs DigitalOcean vs Kinsta: price and speed for one small business site
A 2GB DigitalOcean server costs $12 a month and you look after it. Cloudways runs a 2GB DigitalOcean server for you from $24 a month. Kinsta's managed WordPress starts at $35 a month, or $30 billed yearly, with a 20GB monthly bandwidth limit. Here's which fits one small business site.
· 7 min read
Comparison · No-code and automation
Make vs Zapier vs Pabbly Connect: cost per thousand tasks and a worked automation
Ten thousand units a month cost $9 on Make's Core plan, $16 on Pabbly Connect's Standard plan and $129 on Zapier's Professional plan, all billed yearly. But Make counts every step including the trigger, while Zapier and Pabbly only count actions. Here's what one real automation costs on each.
· 7 min read