Last summer, we tried something new. This summer, we did it again – and it felt even more special. For the second year in a row, our summer academy “SiteGrounder for 3 Days” brought the children of our employees into our world.
For three days, they weren’t just visitors. They became creators, explorers, and debaters of tomorrow. Thirteen teenagers, aged 14 to 19, joined us at our office. Together we explored technology, creativity, and the values that shape the future.
We loved watching their curiosity grow.
On the first day, the teenagers explored “The Evolution of Skills” by experimenting with the SG AI Web Apps Generator to build personal web applications from scratch, used their creativity in AI-powered art workshops to create logos and banners for their businesses, and engaged in thought-provoking discussions about AI ethics – covering everything from deepfakes to data privacy. As one participant perfectly captured it: “The whole AI idea was very good. I liked it mostly when we had the option to build and edit things with AI – websites, businesses, logos, and pictures.” This feedback truly reflects the hands-on, creative approach that made our event so successful.
“At SiteGround, we work with advanced technology every day, but seeing how fresh eyes approached it was inspiring. They reminded us that technology is not just about tools. It’s about imagination”, shared Daniel Kanchev, SiteGround Product Development Director.
The second day was about conversation and challenges. Participants focused on “Humans vs AI Agents” and got hands-on experience with SiteGround’s AI tools, learning how AI can support rather than replace human work. The group then dove into an intensive debate skills workshop with the BEST Foundation, developing their critical thinking and public speaking abilities – skills that will be more crucial than ever in the AI era. “The debate was my favorite part”, one teenager shared. Another added, “The discussions about AI made me think about things I never thought about before.”
Their honesty impressed us. They didn’t just accept ideas; they questioned them. They asked: What role should AI play in our lives? How can we make sure business also cares about people and the planet? We organize such events because, as Gloriya Ilieva, Senior HR Generalist and organizer of this initiative, mentioned, “the curiosity and imagination of young people truly have no limits – they asked provocative questions, generated bold ideas, and showed genuine passion for technology. It’s incredibly inspiring to see the next generation preparing for the future with such enthusiasm and critical thinking.”
On the final third day, the teenagers put their newly acquired debate skills to the test in practice sessions before joining our panel discussion “Will AI Replace Your Job?” Here, our SiteGround colleagues shared invaluable insights about the evolving job market and future career opportunities.
In those moments, we saw more than skills. We saw confidence growing. We saw friendships forming. And we saw a new generation stepping into the future with courage and care.
At SiteGround, we believe that learning never stops. When we empower young people with skills and values, we don’t just prepare them for jobs. We prepare them for life. That’s why SiteGrounder for 3 Days matters.
As one of our mentors left on the last day, she overheard a student say, “I didn’t expect this to be so fun.” That single line was the best feedback we could ever receive.
Founded in 2009 by Tom Mirabella in New Jersey, Wingman Planning began when local business owners kept asking Tom for help building websites. What started as informal requests soon blossomed into a full-service digital marketing agency that’s become an integral part of their local business community.
Today, with over 1150 websites built, Wingman Planning has established itself as a powerhouse in the digital marketing space. Their services span website design, SEO, paid advertising, social media management, and graphic design – everything from business cards to complete brand identity packages.
The Challenge: Finding a Hosting Solution That Could Keep Up
As Wingman Planning grew, its previous hosting infrastructure became a critical bottleneck. The team’s experience with their previous hosting provider was far from ideal.
With our previous provider, we felt like we weren’t getting the level of service that we owed to our customers. When you came to them with a technical issue, they were unable to help and simply directed you to speak with a developer. – Toni Shrewsberry, Director of Website Development
For Allan Portera, Director of Marketing at Wingmann Planning, who had been using various hosting solutions for years, the technical limitations were equally frustrating. The cPanel-based systems he was familiar with had become clumsy, and the agency needed a hosting solution that could:
Handle rapid scaling as they migrated multiple client websites
Provide reliable technical support for hosting-related issues
Offer an intuitive interface that wouldn’t slow down their development process
Deliver consistent performance without the lag common with other providers
The Solution: SiteGround’s Comprehensive Hosting Platform
Discovery Through Partnership
The transition to SiteGround came through a recommendation related to their preferred website theme, but Allan had actually discovered SiteGround several years prior and had been using the platform for six to eight years personally before bringing it to Wingman Planning.
When I started my own little personal marketing agency, someone had referred SiteGround to me and I know all the features really stood out to me, and that was what drew me in.
Streamlined Management with Site Tools
The switch proved to be transformative, starting with SiteGround’s Site Tools interface.
You guys kind of reinvented cPanel. That’s my big takeaway. Everything just works. It’s the unified dashboard. It’s the ease of use. It’s so easy. – Allan Portera, Director of Marketing
Toni, as a newcomer to the platform, particularly appreciated the user-friendly approach:
It makes it easy for people who aren’t developers or understand code. It’s almost like in layman’s terms and everything is very clear and concise and you understand what each thing needs to do.
Performance That Actually Delivers
The agency quickly adopted several key SiteGround features that streamlined their development process:
WordPress Staging Environments
SiteGround’s WordPress Staging functionality became an immediate game-changer for the team’s workflow.
I love how easy it is to go from a staging to a live environment. It’s a timesaver. It helps us launch sites extremely quickly without any downtime. – Toni Shrewsberry, Director of Website Development
SSL Certificate Management
Managing SSL certificates across hundreds of client websites was previously a significant administrative burden. SiteGround’s automated SSL certificate provisioning and renewal eliminated this pain point entirely.
The built-in SSL certificates save us so much from having expired certificates and having to renew every year. Oh my god, I can’t even tell you how much that’s changed. – Allan Portera, Director of Marketing
SiteGround Migrator Plugin
The SiteGround Migrator plugin became a particular favorite for the team handling multiple website transitions.
I love the migration tool, it just makes the transition so seamless. The automated migration tool handles the complex process of moving websites between hosting providers, including files, databases, and configurations. – Toni Shrewsberry, Director of Website Development
Temporary Domains
For testing and development, SiteGround’s temporary domain feature proved invaluable for Wingman Planning:
The temporary domains make it very easy to just deploy new websites. I never had that experience anywhere else. This feature allows developers to work on websites before the final domain is configured, streamlining the development process. – Allan Portera, Director of Marketing
File Management and Monitoring
Allan particularly appreciates the advanced file management capabilities:
I like being able to just go through the file manager and like reviewing things by the inode usage and being able to like clean up our websites, and if we find out there’s a caching plugin that’s making or a backup plugin that’s making all these backups, we need to delete those. It’s easy to identify problems.
This level of visibility into resource usage helps the agency maintain optimal performance across all client websites and identify potential issues before they impact site performance.
Support That Goes the Extra Mile
The biggest game-changer has been SiteGround’s customer support quality. Unlike their previous provider, SiteGround’s team takes ownership of problems.
With SiteGround, they dig in and say, ‘we’re going to get this solved. If they can’t fix it directly, they give you the tools to solve it yourself. – Toni Shrewsberry, Director of Website Development
Allan has become such a frequent user of the support that Toni jokes he’s “their best friend”. The support team has educated Allan on advanced topics that extended far beyond basic hosting issues.
They’ve educated me on things that I never thought I’d be able to do, like cron jobs. They taught me how to clean up the file manager, you know, all these things that we take notes.
The hands-on approach of SiteGround’s support team sets them apart from typical hosting providers.
They’re able to tap into our accounts and just sometimes even fix things for us or look at logs that we’re not able to see and just easily identify what the problem is. We’re constantly migrating websites and each website is very much unique. So, we’ve run into some old PHP problems and it’s been a breeze. – Allan Portera, Director of Marketing
Тhe customer support with the AI integration is pretty awesome because half the time I don’t even need to talk to someone. The AI just answers it, which is great. – Allan Portera, Director of Marketing
The Results: Scaling Success with Confidence
Financial Impact
The switch to SiteGround delivered immediate cost savings without sacrificing quality or features.
We’ve been able to save hundreds of dollars per year and we have much more resources with you guys. – Allan Portera, Director of Marketing
This cost efficiency allowed the agency to reinvest savings into growth initiatives while providing better service to clients.
Operational Efficiency
The agency’s migration capabilities have dramatically improved. They successfully migrated 15 sites in just two months with complete confidence in the process.
Seamless Scaling
As the agency continues to grow, SiteGround’s infrastructure scales effortlessly with its needs.
It’s easy to scale. We started out with one server and now we’re on our third and it’s been probably two years since we’ve been using it. So it’s extremely easy to scale. – Toni Shrewsberry, Director of Website Development
Time Savings on Technical Issues
When asked directly about time spent on technical issues, both Allan and Toni responded definitively: “Definitely,” confirming they’re spending significantly less time on technical problems compared to their previous hosting provider.
Website Performance Excellence
Client satisfaction with website performance has reached new heights.
Our clients love the speed. The speed’s a huge thing. It’s never ever ever slow. There’s never delay. If it is, it’s always our fault. – Allan Portera, Director of Marketing
This performance consistency has become a competitive advantage for Wingman Planning, allowing them to deliver superior results that clients notice and appreciate.
The Bottom Line: Complete Hosting Confidence
I’m not lying when I say SiteGround is the best web hosting company on Earth. For what we do, there’s nothing else that compares.- Allan Portera, Director of Marketing
By defaulting all clients to SiteGround, Wingman Planning is literally staking its business reputation on the platform’s reliability. It’s the ultimate vote of confidence from an agency that’s tried the alternatives and found them lacking.
Most of our clients don’t know hosting and that’s not their thing. They’re working in plumbing or building houses. They let us handle what we do best.- Toni Shrewsberry, Director of Website Development
AI technology has been developing for decades, but it was only within the past few years that we began to truly feel its impact – affecting our daily lives from handling basic chores to solving and automating whole business processes.
When AI technology exploded 2-3 years ago, the tech world witnessed an unprecedented surge in automated crawling activity. AI companies were racing to collect as much web content as possible to train their large language models (LLMs), often without website owners’ knowledge or consent. This led to the rapid evolution of AI models, forging more usage and breaking changes in search behavior by diminishing the importance of traditional search engines and SEO practices to that of new generative engine optimization (GEO).
Understanding AI technology’s complex effects on client websites, we proactively balance mitigating potential risks while helping our customers embrace new opportunities. Let’s explore the downsides and upsides of AI bots crawling your site before diving to our actions to help you navigate this rapidly changing environment.
The Pros and Cons Of AI Bot Crawling
In our experience, technology is rarely all good and all bad – and AI is no exception. While AI algorithms and bot behavior have matured significantly, several key issues require careful consideration.
Lack of Privacy and Intellectual Property Regulation
AI bots are systematically crawling and using original content – blog posts, product descriptions, creative writing, proprietary information – without explicit permission. This content is then used to train LLMs with no attribution to the original creators. Imagine discovering that your carefully crafted articles, unique business insights, or creative work had been incorporated into an AI system that could then generate similar content, potentially competing with your original work while providing you with no recognition or compensation.
While major AI providers have become less aggressive in their crawling behavior and are trying to develop more respectful crawling practices, the problem is still very much open to debate and regulation, and it will surely take a few more years of work until we manage to resolve it.
Lack Of Transparency And Control
Unlike established search engines that provided clear guidelines, robots.txt compliance, and webmaster tools, early AI crawlers operated with little transparency. Website owners had no way to understand what content was being collected, how it would be used, or how to opt out of this data collection. This lack of control over your own digital assets is fundamentally problematic, adding to the more complex ethical dilemma along with the point above.
Admittedly, things are moving in the right direction, with AI companies implementing proper user agent identification, which helps in distinguishing between training crawlers and user-session crawlers.
Spike In Server Resource Consumption
AI bots operate with an intensity that is unlike traditional search engine crawlers. Where Google’s bot might visit your site periodically and respectfully, AI training bots would often make hundreds or even thousands of requests in rapid succession. This aggressive crawling pattern can impact server performance, leading to slower loading times for real visitors, and increased resource usage and costs. For businesses relying on their websites for sales, customer service, or lead generation, any performance impact translates directly into lost revenue.
Generative Search Is The New Must
As the LLMs are getting better and smarter, the search behavior of the users is changing. We are less frequently using standard search engines to collect information, and more frequently asking AI to gather and analyze the information for us. Consequently, online businesses and websites now look for ways to be listed in AI overviews and chat responses. And in order to be there, the website must be crawled for a start.
SiteGround’s Policy On AI Bot Crawling
In the early years of AI bots development, we witnessed first-hand how almost all of their traffic was for training purposes. It was often so aggressive that we had to kill the requests in order to not let them overload our servers. To protect our customers’ websites from unauthorized content harvesting while maintaining optimal server performance for legitimate visitors, we had to block the majority of aggressive AI crawlers.
Fast-forward a few years, we now observe a different situation. The profile of the AI crawlers has changed and we see much less training, and a lot more chat-initiated visits, which indicate that AI is checking your site for the purpose of a conversation with a legitimate user, potentially interested in your service. That is why we’ve changed our approach to AI crawler management. Instead of blocking the majority of AI crawlers, we’re now making a distinction between different types of AI traffic.
✅ Allowed: AI Chat Session Crawlers
AI crawlers that are used when real users interact with AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or else are allowed by default. This means when someone asks these AI assistants to visit or analyze your website, they’ll be able to access it successfully.
❌ Blocked: AI Training Bots
We block AI crawlers that are specifically designed to scrape content for AI model training purposes, protecting your intellectual property and original content from unauthorized use. Blocking these crawlers means your content will be protected from AI models being trained on it, but people should be able to use platforms such as ChatGPT, etc – and AI will be able to crawl your site when providing an answer. The full technical details on which specific AI crawlers are allowed by default and which you can enable on request is available in our Knowledge Base.
What This Means for You
Here are the immediate benefits of this policy:
Your website is accessible when users ask AI platforms to visit or analyze it
You have increased discoverability through AI-powered searches and recommendations
Your visitors have a better experience when using AI tools to research your content
At the same time, we continue to ensure the following protection:
Your content remains protected from unauthorized training data collection
Your website’s performance is protected through continued blocking of aggressive crawlers
Ongoing monitoring and rate limiting of all bot traffic
Looking Ahead
The digital landscape will keep evolving, and so will we. At SiteGround, we believe in empowering you to embrace technological progress while maintaining the security and performance standards your business depends on. As the relationship between AI technology and web content continues to evolve, what remains constant is SiteGround’s commitment to helping you navigate this landscape with both protection and flexibility.
Your success in this AI-driven future starts with having a website and hosting partner who understands both the opportunities and the risks—and knows how to help you capitalize on one while avoiding the other.
At SiteGround, we believe the greatest impact on the future comes from investing in the people who will create it. That’s why we support the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT) and its EXPLORER program – an initiative that gives bachelor students with a passion for informatics, AI, and deep technologies the chance to step into the world of AI research and development.
The program combines academic training at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Sofia University with research work at INSAIT. Students not only attend their courses at FMI, majoring in “Informatics,” while also working on some of INSAIT’s projects, but they also gain real practical experience early in their careers through summer internships in leading technology companies. Among the participants in EXPLORER, two matched our requirements for a summer internship at SiteGround – Nia Dimitrova and Nikolay Georgiev. With their background in mathematical linguistics and a focus on natural language processing (NLP) and large language models (LLMs), they joined our AI development team this summer as interns.
Talking to them makes one thing clear: the future of AI isn’t a distant vision. It’s unfolding now through their curiosity, ambition, and the projects they are already building.
Discovering a Passion for AI
When asked what sparked her interest in AI, Nia doesn’t hesitate:
I have always been interested in maths and informatics. What I love about AI is that you will never know enough about it—every day there is new research, a new study. It keeps you awake and gives you the opportunity to learn throughout your life.”
For Niki, it was the accessibility of computer science that drew him in at first, and AI made that journey even more exciting:
“Then, when AI came, it started doing things that were once impossible and made everything even more accessible. Sure you can’t train a large language model alone, but with just a few hundred lines of code you can really do some Hollywood-level magic now.”
Inside INSAIT: Learning Beyond the Classroom
For Nia, INSAIT is more than a place of study: “It gives you the chance to do research during your studies and to meet very talented people. It’s a rare opportunity to grow surrounded by such inspiring minds.”
Niki agrees, pointing out how collaboration fuels progress: “This is an opportunity to observe and be part of research as it’s being shaped. AI is growing so fast that no single person can grasp it all. Being in teams of like-minded researchers and professionals is essential for everyone’s growth.”
The Future of AI Through Young Eyes
When looking ahead, both interns share a refreshingly hopeful perspective. Nia sees AI as a force for good: “I think AI’s future is bright, and it will be used to help people.”
Niki imagines a world where AI becomes as fundamental as electricity or the internet:
“In a few decades, people will look back at the 2020s and think, ‘Wow, AI used to be so inefficient back then.’ By then it will be more reliable, more practical, and an integral part of everyday and professional life—reshaping the way we live and work, just like the printing press or the internet once did.”
Why SiteGround Invests in Young Talent
At SiteGround, creating technology that empowers people also means empowering those who will shape tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Supporting INSAIT’s mission and welcoming young talents like Nia and Niki into our teams is part of our broader commitment to education, innovation, and the future of AI.
Because building the future isn’t just about writing code, it’s about nurturing the minds and ideas that will define what comes next.
Pix Web is a web design agency that helps businesses grow with websites built to convert. Instead of chasing trends or flashy animations, founder Oscar Rabasse keeps it smart and strategic—focusing on websites that move people through the funnel, spotlight what matters, and drive real action.
To deliver that kind of performance without the tech headaches, Pix Web counts on SiteGround to keep things fast, secure, and refreshingly simple—for both the agency and its clients.
Working with clients around the world, Oscar and his small team design websites that are easy to use, easy to manage, and built to scale. But building a business that runs smoothly across time zones and cultures wasn’t always straightforward.
The Challenge: Complex Interfaces, High Prices & Support That Didn’t Show Up
Oscar had tested a wide range of hosting providers over the years—both in France and abroad—but none lived up to expectations.
I really tried to have a French-first mindset, but every time I was disappointed. It was complicated. The support always sucked.
From local providers to more premium options, the issues were always the same: high costs, confusing platforms, slow or unhelpful support, and features that made basic tasks harder than they needed to be.
Even when clients came in with their own hosting setups, it rarely made things easier.
Every time I work with client-hosted solutions, it’s a bad experience. It makes delivery harder, more expensive, and less efficient.
Oscar needed something that made it easier—not harder—to launch websites, manage clients, and grow his business.
The Solution: Scalable, Simple, and Supported by SiteGround
The moment Oscar switched to SiteGround, everything clicked. Hosting became fast, control became centralized, and support was finally reliable.
He quickly realized he could centralize all his client sites under one ecosystem—without sacrificing performance or control. That meant faster launches, better client experiences, and a hosting setup that actually worked for the way Pix Web operates.
I can host multiple websites for a very reasonable price. It’s perfect for offering clients a bundle that includes hosting, maintenance, and peace of mind.
For Oscar, SiteGround wasn’t just a way to fix technical headaches—it became the foundation for a scalable, client-friendly business model.
Strategic Architecture, Seamless Execution
Pix Web’s approach stands out for its focus on usability and clear communication, rather than chasing design trends.
We start with in-depth conversations to understand the client’s business, then plan the entire site with wireframes and user flow. Only once that foundation is solid do we think about design—colors, fonts, and visuals come last.
That kind of structure demands fast feedback loops and stable development environments. SiteGround allows Oscar to spin up temporary domains for live previews, share prototypes, and get client approval before launch—all without switching platforms or losing time.
We always build client sites on a temporary domain first so they can review everything. With SiteGround, moving the site to the final domain is super easy. If it’s not hosted on SiteGround, it’s often a problem.
Built-In Tools That Power Growth
SiteGround’s features go far beyond just hosting. For Pix Web, built-in tools like the daily backups, free SSL, and the Speed Optimizer aren’t just nice to have—they’re key to how Oscar delivers reliable, high-performing sites to his clients. Whether it’s improving load times, keeping sites secure, or managing everything more easily, these tools help him work faster, stay flexible, and grow his agency without getting bogged down in technical issues.
Oscar uses the Speed Optimizer to keep sites running fast and responsive. He just turns on the settings that fit, and most of the time, everything works without any extra hassle—making sure visitors have a good experience and sites rank well.
Performance-wise, you can definitely see the difference when using SiteGround’s Speed Optimizer. Especially compared to mainstream hosts that aren’t optimized for WordPress, the speed improvement is huge.
When one of Oscar’s client sites—a high school in France—suddenly went down, he suspected a DDoS attack. Worried it could be something serious, he looked to SiteGround’s CDN for backup. While the free CDN is part of the standard setup, the “under attack” mode is included in the premium CDN plan. Oscar never had to fully activate this mode, but just having the option gave him peace of mind. For him, choosing the premium plan is crucial because he manages business-critical websites. It gives him peace of mind, knowing he’s prepared to tackle any spikes or threats that might occur in the future.
SiteGround’s Site Tools provide an easy-to-use dashboard for managing websites without needing third-party apps or complicated interfaces. Oscar appreciates this simplicity because it lets him handle daily tasks quickly, from setting up SSL certificates to managing files and databases.
One thing I really like about SiteGround’s Site Tools is the site files feature. It lets me manage website files easily without having to use complicated tools like PHPMyAdmin. It just makes things usable.
Even when clients accidentally delete files or break their website layouts, Oscar knows he can rely on SiteGround’s daily backups. This feature allows him to quickly restore sites to a previous working state, minimizing downtime and stress for both him and his clients – and it’s absolutely free with every plan
Sometimes we hand the website over and the client wants to try things themselves. If they make a mistake and don’t know how to fix it, the daily backups are super useful.
With the technical side handled, Oscar was free to focus on growing his agency and delivering value to clients at scale.
A Scalable System That Works
SiteGround gives Pix Web more than reliable hosting—it provides the framework they need to grow their business efficiently and confidently.
Whether a client wants to be hands-off or manage their own account, Oscar uses SiteGround’s collaborator access to step in when needed without friction.
Once they add me as a collaborator, I can manage everything from my account. Honestly, I forget I’m not on my own server. It’s that smooth.
This straightforward access means he can handle multiple clients’ websites without juggling different logins or accounts, making it easier to onboard new clients and grow without added hassle.
Support That Actually Has Your Back
For Oscar, SiteGround’s support has been one of the biggest differences of all.
I rarely wait more than 30 seconds to talk to someone—and usually three messages later, the issue is solved.
This reliability and responsiveness have completely changed his expectations—not just for hosting, but for service in general.
Just right now, I was trying to talk with my bank and it wasn’t instantaneous. I was disappointed because I’m used to SiteGround’s standards.
It’s the kind of support that makes you feel like you’ve got a team behind you—even if you’re running a small agency halfway across the world.
🚀 Checklist for a Trouble-Free Hosting Setup: ✅ Choose a hosting provider that’s fast, reliable, and easy to use ✅ Look for built-in tools like daily backups, SSL, and performance optimizers ✅ Make sure support is responsive and helpful when you need it ✅ Centralize client sites under one scalable platform ✅ Bundle hosting with maintenance for easier client management
The Bottom Line?
Oscar Rabasse didn’t set out to build a hosting business. He wanted to build great websites that help businesses grow. But with SiteGround, he’s been able to do both—offering a reliable, easy-to-manage hosting solution for his clients while scaling Pix Web into a sustainable, location-independent agency.
For agencies like Pix Web, SiteGround is the perfect fit for agencies like Pix Web. They can host up to 40 websites on a single server, bundle in maintenance, and create a steady stream of recurring revenue—something that really helps smooth out the slower months. They’ve looked into other hosts over the years, but none have come close to offering the same mix of flexibility, speed, and dependable support.
When it comes to hosting, I focus on performance, reliability, and support. Trust me, SiteGround is the best option if you don’t want to spend time figuring things out.
We are thrilled to share some wonderful news: for the fourth time, SiteGround’s Customer Success team has been honored with a Bronze Stevie® Award in the Customer Service Department of the Year category in The 22st Annual International Business Awards®.
With more than 3,800 nominations from 78 countries this year, being recognized again places us among the best of the best worldwide, and we could not be prouder. This recognition is more than just a trophy on the shelf. It is a celebration of the heart and soul our team puts into every single customer interaction.
As one of the jury members wrote in their evaluation:
“SiteGround has successfully transformed its Customer Care model into a proactive, AI-enhanced Customer Success strategy. By combining human expertise with smart technologies, the team delivers personalized, multilingual support and anticipates customer needs.”
This quote captures something very close to our philosophy at SiteGround. Yes, we are proud to be innovators, and in recent years we have been carefully integrating AI in our support processes, while strengthening our human touch at the same time – making our service faster, smarter, and more proactive. But what truly sets us apart, and what our customers feel every day, is our genuine care and attention that we put in every interaction. This fourth Stevie® recognition is a testament not just to the technical expertise of our Customer Success team, but to their empathy, resilience, and the way they bring SiteGround’s values to life.
Reneta Tsankova, our Chief Operations Officer, put it beautifully: “Awards are wonderful, but what matters most is the trust and gratitude we earn from our customers every single day. I am endlessly proud of our customer success team for combining innovation and humanity in a way that truly makes a difference. This Stevie is a recognition of their heart, their skill, and their unwavering commitment to excellence.”
Details about The International Business Awards and the lists of Stevie Award 2025 winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.
Justin Blackmore’s journey reads like an adventure novel of constant reinvention. From the British Army, where he gained engineering expertise, to business consultancy and commanding luxury sailing yachts in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, his path has been marked with challenging career opportunities and bold transitions.
But at one moment, Justin noticed friends and colleagues developing chronic health conditions – a wake-up call that sparked his latest venture: Alixr, a health and longevity business. This marked the beginning of Justin’s exciting new journey in managing his business’s online presence single-handedly. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but thankfully, he had the support of SiteGround to guide him along the way.
The Challenge
Justin’s journey with Аlixir began in 2024, but his initial hosting setup created an unexpected obstacle. His website was managed through a business partnership that eventually dissolved, leaving him without direct control over his online presence.
I was using a company to create and host my website, and it was actually part of a partnership that didn’t go in the right direction. When we went our separate ways, I needed to find a solution that was simple, cost-effective, and made sure that I was in control of every element.
For Justin, taking control of his website meant venturing into unfamiliar territory. As someone whose background was never in web management or marketing, he knew he faced a steep learning curve.
My background was never in marketing. So, I’m learning every day. From websites, social media, and ads, it’s all a massive learning curve for me.
Finding the Right Hosting Solution
Given his limited technical web experience, Justin needed more than just a hosting provider. He was looking for a solution that would not only give him control but also provide the support and guidance necessary for someone new to website management.
I’m an engineer originally, so generally I hit things with a hammer so they work.
SiteGround just seemed like that solution I was looking for, and certainly, the whole process was very easy. I no longer have to go through other people to get very small tasks done. I can come straight to you, and I can do most of it myself.
One of Justin’s first concerns was migrating his existing website without disruption. Using the SiteGround Migrator Plugin, the process exceeded his expectations.
I didn’t have any issues at all. The migration worked really well – it was seamless and everything moved across nicely. I tested the website a lot before I finished and got rid of my old provider, and everything worked perfectly.
Key Benefits: Speed, Security, and Reliable Support
Enhanced Performance and Organic Traffic
Just by switching to SiteGround, Alixr’s website speed improved by 54% compared to when he was with his previous hosting provider. Together with his SEO consultant, Justin witnessed this speed shift directly translated into significant improvements in his website’s search engine performance.
I’ve definitely seen a much better improvement in the performance and SEO results. I’m getting a lot more organic traffic, so that’s fantastic.
Backup and Recovery Made Simple
When WordPress updates caused content loading issues, Justin discovered SiteGround’s backup features were both powerful and intuitive.
I had an issue where some of my content was not loading after a WordPress update. It was really simple to go into my Site Tools, revert back to the previous backup, and everything worked fine. I did find that fantastic – it was very intuitive to find out where it was as well.
Responsive Customer Support
As someone learning the technical aspects of website management, Justin appreciated SiteGround’s support approach.
The support is always very good. If I asked a question, people would explain it in simplified language for me and point me in the direction of what I needed to look at.
Scaling with Confidence
As a solo entrepreneur managing all aspects of his business, Justin values the independence SiteGround provides. The ability to maintain control while delegating technical tasks gives him confidence in his growth plans.
I’m confident that SiteGround provides me the tools that I can start leveraging and using them to maximum effect to grow the website. I’m glad that I’m able to have an impact in that or delegate that down to a staff member at some point.
When asked what he would tell other business owners, Justin’s recommendation focuses on the core benefit that transformed his experience:
Owning a website is when you know you’re in control of your business’s online presence. It’s that confidence of knowing you own it completely – no one else can switch it off or take it away from you
Struggling with low open and engagement rates? It’s not your writing, it’s relevance. When emails don’t match what your audience cares about, they get ignored. Even experienced marketers face this challenge.
But when your emails are relevant, you can:
Boost open rates by 29% and click-throughs by 41% (Experian)
Convert up to 6× better (Experian)
Your subscribers aren’t all the same. So why send them the same email?
Meet Custom Fields: Your Key To Better Performing Emails
We added the option to create Custom Fields in your email marketing to help you send better, more targeted emails.
Think of Custom Fields as a way to learn more about your subscribers than just their name and email. Custom fields allow you to record and use extra information about your subscribers beyond the default fields like name and email. This enables you to create more targeted and relevant email campaigns, leading to higher engagement and conversions.
You can add Custom Fields in your signup forms using the SiteGround Lead Generation plugin. Or, manually update someone’s profile whenever you learn something new about them.
They work seamlessly with your existing forms and campaigns, so you can start personalizing right away.
A good first step? Pick just one thing you’d like to know like your subscriber’s location or content interest and add it to your forms and see how easy and useful it is. You can always add more fields later.
What Can You Do With Custom Fields?
You can start personalizing your emails in a few clicks.
Imagine you run a cooking blog and you’re sending out a newsletter. Instead of sending the same recipes to everyone, you can ask subscribers about their culinary preferences when they sign up. Just add a custom field to your form with the question: “What recipes do you want to receive?” Then offer options like Vegan, Quick meals, Gourmet cooking, etc.
Now when you write your newsletter, you can adapt your content to the different interests of the groups that follow you. Creating a vegan recipe? Send it only to subscribers who chose “Vegan.” Have a quick 15-minute meal idea? Send it just to the “Quick meals” group. Your latest fine dining dish? Share it with the subscribers who crave restaurant-level meals at home.
Or say you own a local training studio and you wish to keep subscribers informed about your schedule updates. Add a custom field to your signup form asking “What’s your workout preference?” with options like Yoga, Strength Training, or Cardio. Instead of one generic announcement about your new class schedule, you can send more engaging updates to each group: yoga fans hear about the new morning yoga sessions, weightlifters get news on strength-training workouts, and everyone gets something that feels relevant to their goals.
That’s what Custom Fields do: they give your emails context, so every message is written for the person reading it.
Start Using Custom Fields Today
Log into your Email Marketing Dashboard → Contacts → Custom Fields, create your first custom field (takes about 2 minutes), and start collecting the information that will make your emails more relevant. Need help getting started? See our full Custom Fields guide here.
Custom Fields let you treat your email subscribers with personalized content. When you know what your audience cares about, your emails become more relevant. More relevant emails get opened, clicked, and convert better. Try it with your next campaign and see how your email performance improves!
Have you ever opened a website or app and felt like everything just flows – every click leading naturally to the next, like a smooth sail on a Summer day? That seamless experience doesn’t just happen. The truth is there’s a team of people, all pulling the ropes with lots of thinking and testing behind the scenes, so that you feel that breeze of ease in every click.
In this edition of Expert Spotlights, we’re excited to introduce one of the people in charge of designing these experiences throughout – a talented Product Designer on our SaaS product team, Daniela Borisova. She is constantly helping real people around the world on their journey to launch their dream site and succeed online with ease.
Tell us a bit about what you are currently working on?
Currently, I’m working on SiteGround’s Website Builder, which aims to empower small business owners to launch their websites and grow their businesses. I love that we serve as the bridge between individuals who have the courage to launch their dream business and their customers, who will be the power that keeps it going. I’ve always believed that being a product designer is a very powerful and responsible position, as your solutions can have a direct impact on people’s dreams. It is so exciting!
What sparked your love for Product Design?
To be honest, I never imagined I’d become a Product Designer. I studied at the National Academy of Arts, aiming for a career in the arts field, but during my final year, I realized it no longer fulfilled my need for self-expression. That’s when I started exploring graphic design, but it was a weekly web design class in my last semester that changed everything. The incredible teacher introduced me to a world beyond visual design, showing me that web design involves much deeper and complex considerations.
One story she told stuck with me. It was about how she was designing for an Arabic brand, where the team had to deeply understand a culture so different from their own. This story about how product designers need to immerse themselves in others’ lives and cultures left me inspired and curious. Later on, after a friend’s encouragement, I completed a series of design courses, worked pro bono, and eventually, after many ups and downs, got my first UX design role five years ago.
How is working the job different from studying about it?
The reality of working as a product designer is quite different from the academic one. This is something I always talk about when mentoring aspiring product designers.
When we study product design, the cases are usually idealised, where companies have no boundaries in terms of time, budget, and legacy. It’s not impossible to design “by the books”, but the truth is, when you join a company, it already has an existing product, and it comes with its own challenges. Often, schedules are tight, and design depth is accumulated. We as designers need to learn how to navigate this dynamic and look at it as an opportunity to make decisions quickly and perform faster, smaller iterations.
Another misconception is that the research, design, and development process is streamlined and linear. In reality, it’s not always like that, and that’s OK. When I started as a Junior Designer, I also had this belief, and it took me some time to embrace the dynamic environment and create a process that works for me.
You mentioned mentoring, can you share a bit about that?
I’ve always felt the urge to share my knowledge with those who might benefit from it, yet an inner voice often whispered, “What if it’s not good enough?”.
Last year, I decided to challenge myself and accepted an invitation from one of the major Universities in my home country to deliver a lecture on contemporary art, choosing a topic of my interest. Speaking in front of students and educators, including PhDs and professors, was a transformative experience. The room was full, and I was pleasantly surprised by the audience’s keen interest. This led to an invitation to make it an annual event. Even right now I’m working on the next one I’m about to lead.
Overcoming my fear made me realize that people are eager to listen to my insights. I was also a guest lecturer at the university where I received my design education, conducting a seminar attended by almost 400 people!
The biggest lesson I’ve learned from this series of events is to never underestimate your knowledge and to act regardless of your insecurities.
Speaking of lessons, which are the three qualities a successful Product Designer should have?
To me, the three most important qualities are:
Be open to feedback and collaboration
Be attentive and dive deep into the problems you are solving
Be adaptive to changing environments.
I think that it’s fairly easy to learn a design tool or even coding with all the information we have nowadays, not to mention AI. But it’s not that easy to understand a complex problem with all its constraints or to accept that a design idea that you absolutely love might not always be the most appropriate for the business need. We need to be able to listen, leave our ego aside, and be open to anything. I deeply believe in being a good colleague and a person that others will love working with will take you a long way.
You mentioned AI, can you share whether you think AI has any place in Product Design?
AI is a powerful assistant that can boost productivity and creativity when brainstorming ideas, the initial research phase, and many other activities. But it can’t replace a real human in solving complex problems and taking many aspects and constraints into account. We should not forget that we are building products for people (until we start doing it for AI agents as well).
Is there a go-to approach you rely on in your daily work?
I definitely believe in the “tried and trusted” processes. I always start my work by doing research on how other people solved similar problems to mine, because the existing solutions out there are what our users are using and are familiar with, have spent time with, and tend to search for similar solutions. It’s not me who claims that – it’s Jacob Nielsen (Jacob’s law).
In the design field, there is a very fine line between creating something that feels natural and innovation. Users don’t want to spend time navigating a steep learning curve for new products, so giving them already working patterns is helpful in making them feel confident.
How do you manage to stay creative and maintain your work/life balance?
The most important aspect of staying creative is bouncing ideas off my teammates. Everybody has different knowledge that can help you develop an idea and find the right solution.
As for work/life balance, it is very important for me to physically and mentally differentiate my personal space from my work space. Actually, my best office hack is to always “unwind” after work with a good workout. My advice is just move, regardless of the activity – you’ll feel great afterwards.
And during the weekends, I try to disconnect by learning new things and researching contemporary artists, practicing different sports, and going on long walks. I often joke that if you forget what you’ve been working on before the weekend, then you really had a good rest.
Finally, what’s the next big thing in your field of work that you’re excited about?
I am excited about diving deeper into our portfolio of products, contributing my expertise, and making a positive impact. There are amazing things to come at SiteGround, and we are working passionately to make them happen, so stay tuned.
Your website is where your business starts. But turning it into a tool for growth means helping visitors take action and giving them a reason to stay connected.
The latest Website Builder release brings updates that help you do both. With new styling controls and a seamless integration with SiteGround Email Marketing, it’s easier to guide attention and build lasting relationships right from your site.
So, here’s what’s new.
New Text Styling Options To Make Key Messages Stand Out
Not every part of your website content carries the same weight. Some words highlight a feature, others call attention to a price or a key message. Now, you have the tools to make those key parts pop.
Click on any word or sentence and from the floating toolbar, change fonts for a single word, shift capitalization, or add color to key phrases, all while keeping your focus on the section you’re editing. This precise control helps you emphasize what matters most without disrupting your editing flow.
Because when the right words stand out, people understand faster and are more likely to take action.
New Button Controls to Drive More Clicks
Beyond styling your words, you need buttons that drive action. They’re one of your website’s most important elements since they turn visitors into customers and readers into subscribers.
Until now, your buttons followed your global site styles, sharing the same colors as your text. Now, you can style buttons independently, giving them their own colors and alignment right where you edit.
Just click on a button, open the contextual toolbar, and adjust its color and position without leaving your canvas.
This makes your most important actions stand out on the page helping visitors know exactly where to click and driving more results for your business.
Unified Color Picker To Keep Design Consistent
Now that you can style buttons, text, and sections individually, we’ve made the color picker work the same everywhere. Your global palette and recently used colors are always on hand, making it easy to highlight what matters to your business.
You get more creative freedom to draw attention where it counts without losing the consistency that makes your website feel professional.
SiteGround Email Marketing Integration That Helps You Turn Visitors Into Subscribers
Your website might still be a work in progress, but sooner or later, someone’s going to land on it. A curious visitor or a future customer. When that happens, will you be ready to keep the conversation going?
With our new SiteGround Email Marketing integration, you don’t need to figure it all out today. Just add a signup form to your site, and we’ll take care of the rest. We’ll collect subscribers, save them to your list, and help you send your first email with ready-made templates and built-in AI writing assistant.
It’s the easiest, most cost-effective way to start email marketing and grow your business directly from your website. The SiteGround Email Marketing is available as a paid plan and fully integrated into your SiteGround account, making setup seamless.
Simple Changes That Make A Big Difference
All of these updates follow the same idea: making your Website Builder more powerful without making it more complicated. Whether you’re customizing your first page or refining a bigger website, you’ll find it easier to build, edit, and connect with your audience.
Stay tuned for even more helpful improvements coming your way!
