Do you want to create a custom WordPress theme from scratch?
In the past, you had to follow complicated WordPress tutorials and have decent coding knowledge to build a custom WordPress theme. But thanks to new WordPress theme builders, now you can easily make one without learning any programming skills.
In this article, we’ll show you how to easily create a custom WordPress theme without writing any code.
Here is the list of topics we’ll cover in this article.
Since many small business owners couldn’t afford the high costs of a custom WordPress theme, a lot of them just settle for default themes. Those who didn’t want to settle either used a WordPress page builder or a theme framework to build a custom theme.
While WordPress theme frameworks made building a WordPress theme easier, they are a solution for developers, not an average website owner.
On the other hand, WordPress page builder plugins made it super easy to create custom page layouts using a drag & drop interface, but they were limited to single page layouts only. You couldn’t build custom themes with them.
It is the best WordPress theme builder plugin that allows you to easily create a custom WordPress theme without writing any code.
SeedProd is a drag and drop WordPress page builder for businesses, bloggers, and website owners. It also now comes with a new custom theme designer that allows you to just point and click to edit any element.
You can also add commonly used design elements to your theme with drag and drop.
The best thing about SeedProd theme builder is that it is theme agnostic. That means that it doesn’t rely on your existing WordPress theme for style or functionality, giving you complete freedom and control over your website design.
That being said, let’s take a look at how to create your custom WordPress theme without writing any code.
Creating a Custom Theme with SeedProd Theme Builder
Setting up the SeedProd theme builder is quite straightforward, since it works with any WordPress website using any theme.
Note: You’ll need at least the Pro or Elite plan to unlock the theme builder.
Upon activation, go to the SeedProd » Settings page to enter your plugin license key. You can find this information under your account on the SeedProd website.
After entering your license key, you are now ready to create your custom WordPress theme using the SeedProd theme builder.
Making your own custom WordPress theme with SeedProd is quite simple.
First, you need to head over to the SeedProd » Theme Builder page. Here, you’ll see the list of templates for your current SeedProd custom theme. Since we haven’t started yet, we only have a Global CSS template. We’ll show you how to use this later in the tutorial.
To get started, you have two options.
Use one of the ready-made SeedProd themes as a starting point
Manually create theme templates from scratch
Let’s take a look at how these options work.
1. Starting With a Ready-Made Theme (Recommended)
We recommend starting with an existing theme. This allows SeedProd to automatically generate all the template files. These are complete professionally-designed themes, which gives you a head start in editing the templates to your own requirements.
Simply click on the Themes button and choose one of the available themes. There are different themes for different type of websites, so you can choose one that best matches your needs.
Don’t worry too much about design and layout at this point. All of these themes are fully editable, so you can change every aspect of it inside the theme builder.
Once you have chosen a theme, SeedProd will generate all the theme templates.
This is the draft version of your custom WordPress theme.
Later in this tutorial, we’ll show you how to edit these theme files to design your theme and then publish your theme to apply it on your website.
2. Manually Create Theme Templates From Scratch
Alternately, you can start your theme from scratch by clicking on the ‘Add New Theme Template’ button. You’ll have to give your template a name and then choose one of the template types to get started.
Currently, you have the option to choose from the following template types:
Header
Footer
Single Post
Single Page
Archive
Search Results
Global Part
Custom Page
You can also set conditions for using a template. For instance, you can apply it to the entire site or a specific section of your website.
Once you save the template, SeedProd will open it in the theme builder where you can start editing it.
Editing a Theme with SeedProd Theme Builder
Once you have generated your theme templates, you can edit them using the SeedProd Theme Builder.
Simply click on the Edit Design link below a template file to edit it.
This will launch the template file in SeedProd theme builder.
You’ll see a live preview of the template in the right column with an editing panel in the left column.
To change an item in your template file, you can simply point and click to edit it.
Depending on the item type, you’ll see different editing options in the left column. You’ll be able to change fonts, colors, background, spacing, and more.
To add new items, you can add SeedProd blocks from the left column. It comes with a bunch of block types that you can add to your template.
1. Template Tag Blocks
Template tag blocks are the dynamic blocks that allow you to generate theme elements on the fly from your WordPress database.
For instance, you can use the Posts block to list your recent posts or Post Content block to display the contents of the post or page currently displayed.
2. Standard Blocks
Next, you have your standard blocks to add common web design elements to your theme’s template.
You can use them to add text, media, buttons, columns, dividers, and more.
3. Other Blocks
Other advanced blocks allow you to add contact forms, social profiles, sharing buttons, WordPress shortcodes, Google Maps, and more.
SeedProd also comes with full WooCommerce integration.
If you run an online store, then you can use WooCommerce blocks in your theme.
You can create completely custom WooCommerce templates with a custom cart page and check out experience.
Using Sections For Quick Theme Layouts
Apart from blocks, you can also add complete sections to your theme template.
Simply switch to the Sections tab under the Design panel.
Sections are group of blocks for different areas of website design. For instance, you will find ready to use sections for your header, footer, calls to action, features, and more.
Simply click on a section to add it to your theme template, and then edit it to your own requirements.
Saving and Publishing Your Template
Once you are satisfied with the design, you can simply click on the Save button and select Publish to save your template.
Repeat the process to edit other template files with your own content and design needs.
Changing the Site-Wide Design for Your Theme
While editing your theme templates, you would want to make sure that your design is consistent across your website.
For instance, you’d likely want to use the same typography style, font sizes, colors, and other visual styles on every page.
In traditional WordPress themes, you had to do it manually by editing complex CSS files. This process required using a browser’s Inspect tool, locating CSS classes, learning code, and more.
SeedProd makes this super easy as well.
Instead of writing CSS code, you can simply edit the Global CSS template.
The Global CSS template allows you to preview common website elements, and then you can just point and click on them to edit their properties.
Applying and Publishing Your Custom WordPress Theme
Once you are satisfied with your custom WordPress theme, the final step is to activate it on your WordPress website.
SeedProd allows you to apply your custom WordPress theme with a simple switch.
Simply go to the SeedProd » Theme Builder page and toggle the switch next to the ‘Enable SeedProd Theme’ option to ‘Yes’.
SeedProd will now replace the existing WordPress theme with the custom WordPress theme that you have made.
You can now visit your website to see your custom WordPress theme in action.
Creating Other Layouts for Your Custom WordPress Theme
Now that you have created your custom WordPress theme, you have the option to extend its functionality and create more designs and layouts based on your theme.
SeedProd makes that extremely easy.
You can still tweak your custom WordPress theme and create multiple templates for different sections of your website.
For instance, you may want to add a new header template to your theme that is only displayed on specific categories.
Similarly, you may want to create a template for specific pages or posts.
You can add that to your theme too.
How about creating custom landing pages?
SeedProd has got you covered there as well.
You can simply go to SeedProd » Landing Pages and click on Add New Landing Page button to create one.
By using SeedProd’s beginner-friendly drag and drop theme builder, you can easily create any type of custom layout you need.
We hope this article helped you learn how to create a custom WordPress theme without learning to code. You may also want to see our guide on how to speed up your WordPress website for better SEO and user experience.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Identity theft protection is a topic of huge importance for every small business owner. Every 7 seconds there’s a victim of identity theft, and the number of identity theft cases have increased over 2x.
There were 4.7 million identity theft and credit card fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2020.
As small business owners, it’s critical that we protect our digital and financial identity because failure to do so can lead to significant losses. Hackers and criminals can use your identity to steal your website domain name, hack your bank accounts, and even commit crime that you can be liable for.
In this guide, we have hand-picked some of the best identity theft protection services for small business owners that you should use for your WordPress site or online business.
Why and When You Need Identity Theft Protection Service?
In today’s state of cybersecurity, a comprehensive identity theft protection service is a must have for every small business owner.
While it’s easy to think that something like identity theft won’t happen to you, the unfortunate reality is that we are all at constant risk, especially entrepreneurs and business owners.
In 2020, WPBeginner founder Syed Balkhi, nearly lost $1.4 million dollars due to a digital fraud. After months of stress and countless hours spent, he recovered $1.3 million with the help of Department of Homeland Security.
But all of that could have been prevented if everyone involved was using a comprehensive online security solution.
Identity theft and financial fraud can be devastating for a small business. Hackers and criminals can use your identity to steal your website domain, steal money from your bank account, and even commit crime in your name that you could be held responsible for.
A proper financial fraud and identity theft protection service helps protect you through:
Dark Web Monitoring – they constantly monitor the dark web using artificial intelligence and alert you if your passwords, social security number, and bank accounts have been compromised.
Credit Monitoring – they monitor and alert you in near-real time about new inquiries on your credit file such as new credit cards or bank loans, so you can take action on any suspicious activity.
Bank Account Monitoring – their algorithms monitor your finances for suspicious spending activity, so you can avoid becoming a victim of bank / credit card fraud.
Identity Theft Insurance – most good companies will offer up to $1 million dollar in identity theft insurance to protect small business owners.
Device & WiFi Security – some identity theft protection services also offer secure browsing apps such as private VPN with encryption and antivirus software to help protect your digital footprint.
Secure Password Management – since passwords are the key to everything, some identity theft software also offer password management service, so you can use a secure password for everything without having to memorize anything.
Fraud Resolution Service – most good identity theft protection services offer white-glove fraud resolution service. These are trained professionals who can help you recover your identity and assets in the unfortunate event if you’re a victim of online fraud.
Whether you are running an online store or a small business website, it’s important that you get an identity theft protection service to help protect you, your family, and your business.
That being said, let’s take a look at the top identity theft protection services for small business owners & entrepreneur families.
Aura is the best identity theft protection service in terms of features and ease of use. They offer an all-in-one digital and financial security platform with quick setup and reasonable pricing. It comes with a simple web-based admin panel which makes it easy for small business owners to easily manage their identity protection, financial protection, and device protection from one single app.
Aura’s identity theft protection for small businesses includes all the powerful features like dark web monitoring (powered by artificial intelligence), identity verification monitoring, personal information and social security number (SSN) monitoring, criminal and court records monitoring.
In our experience, their online account monitoring feature is really robust. It constantly scans the dark web sites and data broker lists to flag any account or password that’s been compromised. As soon as we set up our account, Aura found a few dozen of our online account passwords that were compromised (ouch!!). With all the recent security breaches happening at big name companies like Facebook, Target, Marriott, LinkedIn, and others, this feature alone is a must have.
But as a small business owner, the biggest value for us is their financial fraud protection features which include three-bureau credit monitoring service, monthly credit score monitoring, ability to easily lock your credit profile, financial transaction monitoring, bank account monitoring, 401k & investment account monitoring, near real-time identity fraud alerts, and more.
They monitor your social security number and personal information for bank fraud including unauthorized wire transfers, new bank account openings and more. Their financial account monitoring also immediately flags any suspicious transactions or fraudulent activity in near-realtime.
For peace of mind, you also get a $1 million dollar identity theft insurance policy to cover eligible losses and any fees due to identity theft. Their white-glove fraud resolution team is U.S. based, and they work 24/7 to help you recover your identity and assets if you’re a victim of fraud.
Pricing for Aura’s identity theft protection service starts from $7 per month for the Basic plan. Their Ultimate plan costs $16 per month, but it offers maximum protection through their comprehensive digital security features. These are special pricing for WPBeginner readers and let you save up to 60% off.
Note: We use Aura on WPBeginner as our identity theft protection service. In our experience, Aura is the best identity theft protection and monitoring service in the market from both features and pricing point of view.
As a small business, our favorite feature aside from their comprehensive identity monitoring service is their smart Device and WiFi network protection software that works on both Windows and Mac computers as well as iPhone and Android smartphones. Their free VPN, virtual private network, secures your internet connection with military-grade encryption wherever you are. This is great for when you’re traveling or connecting from a public place like Starbucks, so you can shop, bank, and work online safely and privately.
Aside from VPN, their app also have a built-in Antivirus and other A.I. based security features that automatically block malware, ransomware, trojans, and other viruses, so we can stay safe. Their safe browsing feature helps block millions of malicious sites each day, so we can be protected from phishing and scam sites.
Aura is the official digital security provider for NBA basketball team Minnesota Timberwolves, and it’s used by many other well-known companies.
Expert Review: We believe Aura is the best overall identity theft protection service for small businesses with affordable individual and family plans.
Identity Guard is another popular identity theft protection service for individuals, families, as well as companies of all sizes. They offer one of the most feature-rich small business identity theft service on the market.
Their
identity protection platform includes all the standard functionality you would need in their Value plan including data breach notifications, dark web monitoring (powered by IBM Watson AI), risk management report, high risk transaction monitoring, safe browsing tools, and $1 million identity theft insurance.
Their Total and Ultra plans include credit protection features as well such as bank account monitoring, credit & debit card monitoring, 401k & investment monitoring, address change monitoring, social media monitoring reports, monthly credit score report, 3-bureau credit monitoring, and 3-bureau annual credit reports.
Identity Guard pricing starts at $3.60 per month for Individual plans and goes up to $12 per month for the Ultra plan. As an entrepreneur, you can also purchase their family plan which starts at $6 per month.
As a small business owner (employer), you can also purchase identity theft protection services for your team members and make it part of your overall employee benefits package.
In our research, we found that Identity Guard is a very affordable identity protection service that also include premium credit monitoring protection on their higher plans.
However, they currently do not offer Device and Networking protection services like Aura does such as free VPN, antivirus, or a secure password manager.
Expert Review:Identity Guard is the best identity protection service for individual and families on a budget.
Norton is one of the most well-known internet security companies in the world. In 2017, they acquired the popular American identity theft protection company, LifeLock, to offer a comprehensive all-in-one digital security solution for individuals, families, and small business owners.
Norton 360 with Lifelock features include all the standard identity protection features like dark web monitoring, credit monitoring (across 3 bureaus), SSN & credit alerts, ID verification monitoring, data breach notifications, fictitious identity monitoring, ability to lock your identity, suspicious bank & credit card activity alerts, 401k & investment account monitoring, and more.
Depending on the plan you choose, you will get anywhere from $25,000 to $1 million dollar in identity theft protection insurance that will help you cover any expenses you incur or money stolen as a result of identity theft. They will also provide lawyers and experts if needed to help you resolve any identity theft case.
Along with the identity theft and credit monitoring, you’ll get the Norton AntiVirus and online threat protection software that includes smart firewall, cloud backup, parental controls, privacy monitor, and a secure VPN service.
Norton360 with LifeLock select plan starts at $9.99 per month whereas the Ultimate Plus plan costs $29.99 per month.
You could also purchase Lifelock as a standalone identity theft protection service, but it will cost $8.99 per month and will not include any of the advanced device security features that Norton offers.
In our research, we found that while Norton’s identity theft protection and credit monitoring features are excellent, their Antivirus security software slows down your computer. Recently, they were also involved in a controversy where the AntiVirus software was mining cryptocurrencies on user’s computer.
Expert Review: If you’re already a Norton customer, then Lifelock is the best identity theft protection service for you because it can be added with Norton360 at a small premium. It’s slightly more expensive than Aura’s complete identity theft protection and digital security suite.
IdentityForce is an identity protection service by TransUnion, one of the 3 major credit bureaus in the United States. They are among the top rated ID theft protection service on TrustPilot.
Since TransUnion is a major credit bureau, they have advanced credit monitoring and identity theft service solution for consumers, small business owners, as well as large enterprise and government agencies.
Their standard UltraSecure plan starts at $14.99 per month and include all the advanced identity protection features you need such as smart SSN tracker, bank and credit card activity alerts, dark web monitoring, pay day loan monitoring, social media identity monitoring, medical ID fraud protection, identity threat alerts, and more.
They also have online PC protection tools to proactively help you fight phishing and keylogging attacks. Their mobile app gives you access to a secure VPN, so you always have a secure internet connection anywhere you go. Other digital protection tools include two-factor authentication, online identity vault, and a secure password manager.
You can also upgrade to their UltraSecure + Credit plan which starts at $19.99 per month and includes credit monitoring service from 3-bureau, credit score tracker, and quarterly 3 bureau credit reports and credit scores.
All plans include a $1 million dollar identity theft insurance for stolen fund replacement, and white-glove customer service that can help you resolve any identity fraud case.
Expert Review:IdentityForce is one of the leading identity theft protection service in the market for consumers as well as small business owners.
Experian is one of the 3 major credit bureaus in the US, and they offer a premium identity theft protection service called IdentityWorks.
Since they’re a credit bureau, they can easily offer 24/7 credit monitoring service that helps you identify credit fraud sooner. Their identity theft monitoring platform has built-in dark web surveillance that does daily scans of over 600,000 web pages to detect if any of your information is stolen.
You will get near real-time identity theft alerts through their system if they notice any suspicious activity around your social security number, financial accounts, payday loans, false identity validations, social network monitoring, and more.
Experian is one of the 3-bureaus that issue a FICO credit score, so you will get daily FICO scores from Experian and quarterly credit score updates from the other credit bureaus. This makes it easy for you to track your actual credit score without any extra cost.
If you have ever had to lock your credit report, then you know it’s a huge hassle. Experian makes it easy to lock and unlock your Experian credit file within few clicks. This is a huge time saver.
IdentityWorks Premium pricing starts at $19.99 per month, and it includes the $1 million dollar identity theft protection insurance which is underwritten by AIG.
You can also get a family plan for $29.99 per month that includes two adults and up to 10 children identity protection.
The downside of Experian is that it does not offer any device or network security features.
Expert Review: Experian’s IdentityWorks platform offer a reliable credit monitoring service with standard identity theft protection features. However they are lacking the modern digital security features that you get with Aura or Norton360.
IdentityIQ is another popular credit and identity theft monitoring service for small business owners that also include anti-virus software and VPN for online privacy.
Their identity theft protection plans include all the standard features you would expect such as dar web & internet monitoring, 3-bureau credit report monitoring, lost wallet assistance, synthetic ID theft protection, up to $1 million dollar identity theft insurance to cover stolen fund reimbursement and offer coverage for lawyers and experts expenses.
The SecureMax plan also offers additional features like enhanced credit report monitoring, alerts on crimes committed in your name, credit score tracker, credit score simulator, and family protection with ID fraud restoration.
One of the big reasons for identity theft is lack of device & network security, so IdentityIQ includes Bitdefender premium VPN for up to 10 devices as well as Bitdefender total security anti-virus and anti-spyware to help protect your computers. They also offer a password manager for Windows OS, but doesn’t have it for Mac.
Expert Review:IdentityIQ the best identity theft protection service if you’re looking for Bitdefender total security software to be included. Their pricing is a bit on the higher end with SecureMax plan starting at $32.99 per month.
ID Watchdog is a well-known identity theft protection and resolution service for individuals as well as business owners. In 2017, ID Watchdog was acquired by Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus, and it’s now part of the Equifax family.
They provide dark web monitoring, high-risk transaction monitoring, data breach notifications, public record monitoring, full managed identity resolution, and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance.
Their pricing starts at $14.95 per month for the ID Watchdog Select plan and $21.95 per month for the ID Watchdog Premium plan.
To get a comprehensive identity theft protection service, you will need to get the premium plan because features like credit report locking, financial accounts monitoring, social media accounts monitoring, 3-bureau credit report monitoring, daily credit score tracking, private VPN & password manager apps are only available on the higher plan.
ID Watchdog is one of the leading providers in identity theft protection for employees. As a business owner, you can offer identity protection service as part of your employee benefit package.
Expert Review: ID Watchdog offers a competitive identity theft protection service for individuals and families, but their pricing is on the higher end. They also do not provide credit scores from all 3-bureaus, so you are limited to only Equifax credit score monitoring.
Which is the Best Identity Theft Protection Service for You?
After carefully research all the top identity theft protection services for small business owners, we believe that Aura is the best identity theft protection and credit monitoring service provider in the market.
They offer the most affordable pricing with the most advanced identity theft features, and they have top-notch customer support.
The best part is that aside from comprehensive identity theft and financial fraud protection, they also include robust device & WiFi security apps to better protect you against cyberthreats.
At WPBeginner, we believe that security is not just about risk elimination, but it’s also about risk reduction. Using the Aura smart digital security app, you get military-grade encryption for your online data, so you can have maximum online security.
For all the reasons above, we chose Aura for our own financial protection and rate it as the #1 best identity theft protection service in the market.
In our research, IdentityGuard came as very close second because they offer solid identity protection plans for individuals and families on a budget.
You really can’t go wrong with any of the best identity theft protection companies in our list because they all have really good reputation.
We also looked into many other identity theft protection and credit monitoring services that are not listed in this article like IDShield, IDnotify, PrivacyGuard, Allstate Identity Protection, Credit Sesame, and others. We decided it wasn’t best to list them all in this article because we don’t want to cause choice paralysis.
Instead our goal is always to make it easy for you to choose the best provider for your needs.
Do I really need an identity theft protection service?
Normally when we hear stories of fraud, usually the first thought that comes to mind is that that this won’t happen to me. The reality of the matter is that in this age of the internet, we are all at risk of identity theft. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, or even a college student, you can benefit from an identity theft protection service.
Identity thieves target everyone including children, elderly, and even deceased family members.
Since our personal data is everywhere, there’s a very high likelihood that some of it is already stolen. It comes as a shock to everyone when they see all their information that’s available on the dark web.
The only way to stay protected is to stay ahead of fraudsters with proper monitoring and near real-time alerts of suspicious activity.
What are some common signs of identity theft?
The most common signs of identity theft and financial fraud include unauthorized activity on your credit card or credit report, having your bank checks bounce, receiving unfamiliar bills to your mailing address, receiving unsolicited calls from debt collectors about bills you don’t recognize, having your regular medical claims be rejected because you reached benefit limits, being unable to file taxes, and last but not least getting notified from a large company that your information was exposed in a data breach.
When you see any of these signs, it’s critical that you act fast and take action by scanning through all your accounts and credit reports to identify any suspicious activity.
If you notice multiple abnormalities, then you need to sign up with an identity theft protection company like Aura and use their expert recovery services to restore any potential losses.
What to do if you are a victim of identity theft?
If you’re a victim of identity theft, then the first thing you need to do is immediately freeze your credit file. All the best identity theft protection companies offer a credit freeze feature inside their app, but you can also individually call all the 3-credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax) to freeze your credit report for free.
After that, if you’re using one of the above identity theft protection services, then you can contact their expert support team to help you with identity restoration and fraud resolution.
How can I stop identity theft before it happens?
Identity thieves and cyber criminals go to great lengths to get their hands on people’s personal information such as social security number, bank account numbers, driver’s license details, and other sensitive information.
This information can be used to steal your money, open fake bank accounts in your name, and use it to commit larger criminal acts.
The best way to stop identity theft before it happens is to take proper safeguards like using safe browsing tools at all times and on all devices.
Here are some other tips to help prevent identity theft:
Freeze your credit report and only unlock it when you need to
Review your credit card and bank statements regularly (at least once a week) to check for any suspicious transaction.
Use different passwords for everything. We recommend using a password manager like LastPass, 1Password, or even the built-in tool inside Aura.
Always use two-factor authentication on all accounts especially your bank account and email accounts.
Regularly check your mail and shred any document that contains your personal information.
Always factory reset your phones or computers before selling them. We recommend completing the reset sequence at least 3 times.
Last but not least, don’t share your personal information with companies you don’t trust, and most importantly please set up proper credit and identity monitoring, so you can be more proactive.
Why is device and WiFi security important for identity theft protection?
In an ever connected world, we all use public WiFi at least once a month. Whether that’s in a restaurant or coffee shop like Starbucks or during travels in an airport, flight, or at a hotel, it’s safe to assume that all public WiFi networks are insecure.
The best way to protect your personal information is to mask your identity and properly encrypt all data that’s transferred when you’re filling out a website form, logging into your bank account, or using any website online.
That’s where VPN, virtual private networks, come in. Don’t worry it sounds technical, but you can turn it on with a single click inside identity protection services like Aura and others.
It works on all devices, and we highly recommend using it for yourself as well as for your families. Most plans allow you to use the app on multiple devices.
How does identity theft insurance work?
Although the full terms and conditions vary for each identity theft insurance policy, generally most identity protection services offer anywhere from $25,000 up to $1 million dollar insurance coverage to recover eligible losses and fees due to identity theft.
In our research, we found that several companies in the list above had their identity theft insurance underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group Inc (AIG).
It’s important that you read the full terms, conditions, and exclusions of the coverage because coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions.
Which types of monitoring should be included in a comprehensive identity monitoring service?
The biggest advantage of identity monitoring services is the near instant alerts that you get for any kind of suspicious activity.
Most identity theft protection companies will offer the following monitoring services:
Dark web monitoring – scans the thousands of websites in the dark corners of the internet to detect illegal trading and selling of your personal information.
Advanced fraud monitoring – proactive alerts when lenders such as banks, auto leaders, mortgage companies, and government agencies request a copy of your credit report. These virtually real-time alerts help you stop fraudulent attempts to open a new account in your name.
Change of address monitoring – monitors and alerts you if anyone attempts to change your mailing address or redirect your mail through USPS without your authorization. Often criminals change the physical mailing address to gain access to your credit card statements and other financial documents.
Court records monitoring – daily search of millions of criminal and court records to determine if your identity has been used by any unauthorized individual to commit crime.
Pay day loan monitoring – immediately alerts you if any payday or quick cash loans were obtained using your social security number.
Sex offender monitoring – in-depth search of sex offender registries to determine if a sex offender fraudulently used your personal data as their registration information.
Social media identity monitoring – daily monitoring of your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram accounts for inappropriate activity and posts that could be categorized as fraud or violence.
When any suspicious activity is detected in any of these identity theft monitors, you’ll get an alert so you can act fast.
Which is the best free identity theft protection plan?
Although many people want to use a free identity theft protection service, unfortunately there isn’t a reliable one that exists.
The best free identity theft protection plan is to permanently keep your credit report on lock. This requires you to each of the 3-major credit bureaus, so they can freeze your credit file.
Whenever you need to open a new credit card or get a bank loan for a big purchase, you can temporarily unfreeze your credit for 24 to 48 hours.
This will help you protect against credit fraud, but it doesn’t offer comprehensive identity protection alerts.
Which is the best identity theft protection service for families?
In our expert opinion, Aura is the best identity protection service for families (especially entrepreneur families). Their family plan offers full protection at $29 per month and cover up to 10 people.
You get antivirus and VPN wifi security for 10 devices per adult, so you can install the security software on your kids devices as well.
How much does identity theft protection cost?
The cost of identity theft protection coverages range from $3.60 per month to upwards of $32.99 per month depending on the features you need.
Below is a quick price comparison of the best identity theft protection services for their comprehensive plan that we recommend for maximum security coverage.
The * denotes to comprehensive plans that do not include VPN and device security firewalls. These companies does not have those advanced security capabilities.
Several companies show special introductory pricing for their first year term. In other words, renewal will happen at a regular price (which is usually higher). This is why it’s better to buy the annual plan or multi-year plan where applicable so you can lock-in the best price.
Do you want to redirect your website to a new location?
A full site redirect allows you to easily move your website to a new domain without losing search engine rankings. It helps prevent broken links and provides a smooth user experience.
In this article, we’ll show you how to do a full site redirect in WordPress.
Why Do a Full Site Redirect in WordPress?
A full site redirect allows you to move your entire website to a new location without losing traffic or search engine rankings. When a user enters the old URL of your website in their browser, they will be automatically redirected to the new domain.
It also helps you keep all the backlinks you’ve built over the years and direct them to your new website domain. Your users can easily find all your existing content on the new domain.
A full site redirect also prevents broken links or 404 errors from occurring, which can be bad for your WordPress SEO and user experience.
From a technical point of view, a complete site redirect is a 301 redirect. This type of redirect tells search engines that the page has permanently moved to the new location.
This is the most beneficial type of redirect for your keyword rankings and traffic, and it helps pass the SEO authority of your old domain to the new domain.
That said, let’s see how you can set up a full site redirect in WordPress.
Editor’s Note: Before you set up a WordPress full site redirect to a new domain, it’s important that you transfer all your content first. You can use our tutorial on how to export a WordPress site, or follow our step by step guide on how to move WordPress to a new domain (without losing SEO).
AIOSEO helps you optimize your website for search engines without the need to hire an expert. Plus, it offers a powerful redirection manager that allows you to properly redirect users to a new domain without losing SEO rankings while also tracking 404 errors.
For this tutorial, we’ll be using the AIOSEO Pro version because it includes the Redirection Manager. There is also an AIOSEO free version that has all the basic features you need to start optimizing your WordPress website to get more search engine traffic.
First, you’ll need to install and activate the AIOSEO plugin. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, you can head over All in One SEO » General Settings from your WordPress dashboard and enter the license key. You can find the key in your AIOSEO account area.
To set up AIOSEO on your website and optimize your site for search, you can launch the setup wizard and follow the onscreen instructions. For more details, please see our guide on how to setup AIOSEO in WordPress.
Next, you can head over to All in One SEO » Redirects from the WordPress admin panel and then click the ‘Activate Redirects’ button.
Once the addon is active, you can go to the ‘Full Site Redirect’ tab under Redirects.
After that, click the ‘Relocate Site’ toggle to display more options.
You’ll now see a field where you can enter the new location for your website.
Simply enter the new URL in the ‘Relocate to domain’ field and click the ‘Save Changes’ button. The plugin will automatically redirect everything except the WordPress login page and admin.
To check if your redirection is working, simply enter the old URL in the browser, and it should automatically redirect you to the new domain.
Track and Fix Broken Links in WordPress
When you move to a new domain, it’s always possible that some of the links on your site could break and result in 404 errors. However, with AIOSEO, you can easily track broken links in WordPress and fix them using the redirection manager.
Simply head over to All in One SEO » Redirects from the WordPress admin area and then click the ‘Settings’ tab. Next, enable 404 Logs and Redirect Logs by clicking the toggle.
Once you enable this feature, AIOSEO will start recording 404 errors on your website. Do note that at first, there will be nothing in the logs. It only starts recording 404 errors after you’ve enabled the option.
Once anyone has triggered a 404 error on your WordPress site, you can view the logs by going to the ‘404 Logs’ tab under Redirects.
To fix any broken link, simply click the ‘Add Redirect’ option. Then enter the new location under the ‘Target URL’ field and choose your Redirection Type.
After adding these details, simply click the ‘Add Redirect’ button.
Do you want to add tooltips in your WordPress posts and pages?
Tooltips are additional pieces of information that show when your mouse hovers over certain words. It’s a helpful way to clarify your content.
In this article, we’ll show you how to add WordPress tooltips in your posts and pages.
Why Display Tooltips in Your WordPress Posts and Pages?
Tooltips display useful information in small boxes that pop up when you hover over an area on your WordPress site. They’re a great way to add clarity to your content.
You can use tooltips to add definitions of difficult words, highlight important facts, and reveal the sources of your information. Like footnotes, they can improve user experience and help build trust with your visitors.
However, tooltips should never be used for essential information. Your post should contain everything your readers need even if they don’t read the tooltip, just in case they don’t see them. You should also make sure you do not overuse tooltips, or they can become a distraction to your website visitors.
That being said, let’s look at how you can add tooltips to your WordPress posts and pages.
How to Add Tooltips in Your WordPress Posts and Pages
Once the plugin is activated, there are several ways to add tooltips to your posts and pages. The first is to automatically add tooltips to certain keywords.
Adding Tooltips to Keywords Automatically
All you have to do is navigate to Tooltips » Add New to create a new tooltip. You need to start by adding a title.
This title is a keyword, and the tooltip will be automatically be displayed everywhere the keyword appears in your posts and pages. This can save you a lot of time, since you don’t need to add the tooltip in multiple locations throughout your website.
If you would like other words to also display the tooltip, then you can enter them in the synonyms section on the right of the screen. If you enter multiple synonyms, then they should be separated by the pipe symbol |.
Now, in the content section, add your tooltip. A tooltip might be only a few words long, or it could be several paragraphs of rich content with images and other media. However, keep in mind that you are writing content for a tooltip, not a full post, so keep it as brief as possible so it’s easily readable on any screen.
Once you’ve finished, you should click the ‘Publish’ button on the right of the screen. Now tooltips will be automatically displayed on your posts and pages wherever the tooltip’s title and synonyms are found.
Adding Tooltips Using Shortcode
Another way to add tooltips is to add a shortcode to the content of your posts and pages. This method is suitable for shorter tooltips, or when you want to display the tooltip just once instead of on every matching keyword on your website.
To add your tooltip shortcode, first you need to create or edit the post or page where you wish to add the tooltip. Then you should add this shortcode where you wish the tooltip to be displayed:
Simply replace YOURKEYWORD with the word or phrase you want to add the tooltip to, and replace YOURTOOLTIPCONTENT with the text you want to add to the tooltip. Be sure to leave the quotes in the shortcode so that it works properly.
You can preview the page to see the tooltip in action.
This is how it appears on our demo site.
Building a Glossary From Your Tooltips
Each tooltip is a description of a keyword, similar to what you would find in a dictionary or glossary. As you go on adding tooltips, it is as if you are building a basic glossary.
This is why the WordPress Tooltips plugin allows you to display a glossary of tooltips on your website. Simply add the [glossary] shortcode to the post or page where you want the glossary to appear.
After you have published the post or page, you can visit your website to see the glossary.
This is how it appears on our demo site. It includes the tooltips we added to the plugin’s tooltips list, but not the tooltips we created using shortcode.
If you want to customize the glossary, then you can do so from the Tooltips » Glossary Settings menu in your WordPress dashboard. Here you will find a number of options you can tweak on how the glossary will be displayed and what will be included.
For example, you can choose whether or not to display images in the glossary, and you can list the ID of any tooltips you don’t want to include.
