Here’s my breakdown of the best Black Friday deals for 2019 for digital marketers, web designers, bloggers, and other online entrepreneurs.
It’s always best to stock up on new gadgets and services during the Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving period when prices are slashed and you can often lock a deal in for a year until… you guessed it, the next Black Friday where you can potentially reap the rewards again if you switch providers.
Either way, this is a great way to save money while getting new tools. If you have been thinking about improving your hosting for faster loading times, tempted to purchase a new WordPress plugin or invest in your content marketing by buying some SEO Tools, now is the time!
I remember purchasing Genesis from Studiopress maybe 10 years ago during Black Friday and getting a mind-blowing deal on the full package that includes all of their themes, now it’s an annual event for me and my business that allows me to test out new software and services I have been wanting to try ahead of the new year.
WordPress Black Friday Deals
There are lots of premium components for WordPress like Themes and Plugins that allow you to achieve more with your website, here are some of my favorite that are running Black Friday promotions this year.
Elementor – Elementor is one of the best WordPress page builders, get 10% off for Personal, 20% off Plus, 30% off Expert between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Ultimate Addons for Elementor extends the default Elementor modules and templates by offering a collection of enhanced and original options. This is reduced to $48 from $69 until the end of Cyber Monday.
BeaverBuilder -BeaverBuilder is offering 25% off all of their products and package levels as they do each year for the Black Friday period.
Powerpack for BeaverBuilder – A collection of additional and enhanced modules and templates to add more functionality and features to BB. 30% off with the promo code SAVEBIG.
Ultimate Addons for BeaverBuilder – Another module and template back for Beaver Builder that offers some different options to Powerpack. This is reduced to $48 from $69 until the end of Cyber Monday.
StudioPress / Genesis – For me the Genesis theme framework from Studiopress is the best WordPress theme out there, that’s why WPEngine one of the largest companies in the WordPress space decided to purchase them in 2018. $100 off the StudioPress Pro-Plus All Theme Package. Coupon Code: No code required Thursday, November 28, 2019 – Monday, December 2, 2019. So if you are thinking of switching themes, now is the time. This option is ideal for designers and developers too.
Genesis Extender – The ultimate Genesis companion plugin for developers and tweakers who want a convenient tool to manage custom CSS, PHP and JavaScript all in one place inside the WordPress dashboard. Save 30% on this and all other plugins from CobaltApps.
WP Astra Theme – Astra is one of the best WP themes to appear over the past few years and is compatible with all of the WordPress Page Builders I recommend like Elementor and Beaver Builder.
- Astra Pro – $59 down from $41
- Mini Agency Bundle – $169 down from $118
- Agency Bundle – $249 down from $174
GeneratePress – Another popular WordPress theme offering 25% off the pro version using Coupon/Discount Code BLKFRI19.
LinkWhisper – One of my favorite plugins of 2019, LinkWhisper helps you optimize your on-page SEO by helping you build more internal links while saving heaps of time. Link Whisper will be $30 off from Nov. 29th to Dec. 2nd, there will be a limited-time option for a 50 site license. Currently, a 10 site license is the largest plan available.
WPForms – The most user-friendly and flexible form builder plugin for WordPress has 60% off for the Black Friday holidays.
WP Rocket – Website speed is critical and WP Rocket is the best and fastest performing cache plugin available for WordPress. 35% discount until the end of Cyber Monday.
Social Warfare – Social Warfare is the best social media sharing plugin for WordPress and usually has % off deals for Black Friday (TBA).
Schema Pro – A plugin for WordPress that helps you take more control over your page schema and microdata to help you win those rich snippets and featured spots on Google. Get it now for $55 instead of $79 or $174 down from $249 for the agency bundle that features several other plugins on this list from the same developers.
WooCommerce – 40% off all themes and extensions at WooCommerce.com
LearnDash – The best Learning Management plugin for WordPress. If you watch to teach an online video course try this instead of Teachable and Kajabi and keep everything in one WordPress website. Offering a 50% discount on all plans with the below promo codes.
- Coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY50 (for Nov. 29th, 7 AM-4 PM EST Only)
- Coupon code: CYBERMONDAY50 (for Dec. 2nd, 7 AM-4 PM EST Only)
AAWP – Amazon Associates plugin for WordPress to make managing and tracking your affiliate links easier.
ShortPixel – An image compression API and WordPress plugin to speed up your website.
WPBuffs – If you want help with your WordPress website then WPBuffs is a great choice. They offer WordPress maintenance packages and support with your website for a monthly fee. Currently offering 10% off WordPress services.
Advanced Custom Fields Pro (ACF) – This is the best plugin for adding custom fields to WordPress post-types and taxonomies. This is one of the plugins I couldn’t live without as a WordPress web designer.
Hosting Black Friday Deals
The best investment you can make in your online business is in getting the best hosting possible for your money. Google loves fast websites and rewards them with traffic so there’s no better time to upgrade your hosting solution than when there are special offers.
Siteground – Siteground is offering up to a whopping 75% off all of their plans depending on how long you sign up for.
- Start date: 2 AM CST, November 29, 2019 – Black Friday, which then lasts through the weekend.
- End date: 2 AM CST, December 3, 2019 – Cyber Monday has the same deal and lasts until the end of the day.
Bluehost – Shared Hosting starting at $2.65/mo* for 36 months until the end of Cyber Monday
WPEngine – 5 months FREE on any annual shared plan at WP Engine until December 2nd, 2019.
WPXHosting – Another great WordPress specific host, offering the first 3 months for free or 99% off the first month on all packages. Runs from the 25th of November to the 4th of December.
SEO Black Friday Deals
The best time to sign up for a new SEO service is Black Friday! Why? Because you can lock in MASSIVE savings for the following year and get an even better return on investment when you start seeing more success online with your rankings.
Here are the best SEO deals for Black Friday 2023.
SEMRush – One of the best SEO tool suite available SEMRush has 3 live deals during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday Thanksgiving period and 40% off the Content Marketing Platform & Marketplace
These include:
- SEMrush PRO subscription (with over 40 different tools), Plus 500 additional keywords you can track for free in the Position Tracking feature (value of $60) all for $99.95 per month.
- For $199.95 per month, you will get access to monthly GURU subscription, the Content Marketing Platform and free Articles from SEMrush Content Marketplace (value $140).
- 30% discount on the SEMrush Competitive Research bundle (annual plan) This costs $2,519.58 instead of the normal $3,599.40 and includes 40+ tools for Competitive Research, Exclusive CI add-on (Market Explorer, Traffic Analytics) and of course a full SEMrush PRO subscription.
These deals are live from the 25th of November to the 15th of December, so a longer Thanksgiving deal than most are offering.
BrightLocal – Special offer for Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a free 14-day trial. BrightLocal is one of the best local SEO tools for monitoring your trust flow and citation flow scores and building local citations in batch.
LongTail Pro – A fantastic SEO tool for longtail keyword discovery, one of the best methods for getting your website ranking and generating more traffic.
- This year, they are offering 50% off on annual plans and 30% off monthly plans.
- The offer will be live for a full week on our homepage from November 25 – December 2.
KWFinder – KWFinder is another SEO Tool suite that includes tools for keyword research, competitor analysis and much more. Their Black Friday deal is 25% off for life! So lock it in while it’s available.
VPN Services
Using a VPN has become an essential security requirement for my business, especially when traveling and using different WiFi hotspots. It also helps me browse content and test websites from any country and allows me to bypass ISP restrictions in various countries. Check our full VPN Review Guide to learn more.
NordVPN – Nord VPN is my favorite VPN tool and the option I use. They are offering a discount of 77%.
CyberGhost VPN – CyberGhost is another popular VPN option but not one I use myself. A discount of 74%.
ExpressVPN – Sign up for 12 months and get three extra months free.
Vypr VPN – 80% Off VyprVPN This Black Friday & Cyber Monday!
Other Tools
These are useful tools for online businesses, bloggers, webmasters and any remote workers and freelancers that provide different solutions that I can’t easily group together into categories.
Teachable – Get 12 months of Teachable for just $299 (regularly $468) and create your own profitable online course. Offer will be live from Black Friday until the end of Cyber Monday.
Drip – Email marketing made simple. Drip feed content via email with this tool and benefit from the Black Friday special offer.
Namecheap – Get a special deal on domain purchases with Namecheap this Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Up to 97% off domains and 70% off hosting though I only recommend them as a domain provider, not a hosting provider.
Camtasia – Camtasia is the best screen recording software and whiteboard tool if you want to create educational video content for a video course. It has lots of advanced features allowing you to connect Powerpoint, highlight your cursor and blur out parts of the screen. TechSmith usually offers up to 40% off all of their products during the Black Friday sales and that includes Camtasia and Snagit.
Treehouse – TeamTreehouse is an education platform where you can learn just about any digital skills you want from WordPress design and development to building apps and much more. Awaiting details on the offer.
Grammarly – Grammarly is a must-have for me and while the free version is good the pro version is well worth the money if you are blogging, managing websites or generally writing a lot. I have learned so much and saved myself from many embarrassing situations.
JungleScout – JungleScout is the premier tool for researching products and dropshipping opportunities for Amazon. If you are into the Amazon FBA program then this is an essential tool for finding what to invest in.
ConvertKit – A popular autoresponder and email newsletter tool for building an email list and sending out your content. They usually offer 25% off (TBA).
AppSumo – AppSumo is a website with deals on a collection of different apps and SaaS products.
History of Black Friday
Black Friday is the name given to the Friday that follows Thanksgiving Day in the USA which is on the final (4th) Thursday of November. Once Thanksgiving is over the holiday shopping season begins which has been a tradition in America since 1952 although the term didn’t become popular until much later.
Black Friday is not an officially recognized holiday in the USA however California and some other states do observe “The Day After Thanksgiving” as a holiday for certain state employees.
A large number of retail stores have promoted sales on Black Friday for a number of years but it didn’t gain global attention until the age of eCommerce when websites got in on the action and began jumping over one another to offer the best possible deals, sometimes so good they barely make a profit but hope to retain you as a customer for a longer period or that you might buy some other items at the same time.
It has been documented that Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year and has been since 2005 and it’s a day where around 50 billion USD is expected to be spent in retail stores and online in this period.
One explanation for the etymology of Black Friday is that this is the point in the year where retail stores turn a profit and go from “in the red” to “in the black” as spending ramps up for the Christmas holidays.
With competition from the internet, brick and mortar stores have taken even more extreme measures to bring customers in the doors by offering mouth-wateringly good deals and opening as early as 12:00am (Yes in the morning).
While the term Black Friday is now recognized in many countries outside of America (Thanks to the interwebs) the term has another meaning in some places like the United Kingdom (where I’m from) that refers to the Friday before Christmas when the emergency services make contingency plans to cater for the increased workload over this period when lots of people are celebrating, people are off work and the weather might also be poor.
Black Friday can also refer to a couple of historical events for other reasons. Black Friday in 1929 is often considred the start of the Great Depression even though it actually began on Thursday the 24th of October.
Black Friday 1987 is another name for the stock market crash that took place.
These days there often even better deals in some categories at other times of the years, notable Amazon Prime day in July.
You can learn more about the history of Black Friday on Wikipedia.
History of Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday is a neologism coined in 2005 by the NRF (National Retail Federation) that refers to the Monday after Black Friday to refer to a trend they noticed in 2003 and 2004 that a large number of shoppers were too busy or tired to shop on Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend and began to look for bargains on the internet on Monday from home or work.
This was the internet’s “Black Friday” but it didn’t mean the internet had caught on and only promoted this day it’s just that websites will often run a Black Friday promotion for a couple of weeks or the entire month between Thanksgiving and Christmas day / Boxing Day.
Sometimes there will be a little break for the week over Christmas ahead of any January sales though not all websites go for the January sales as this is more of a strategy to get rid of excess stock from the Christmas period.
There you have it, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and discounts for 2023!
What are you going to be investing in for the year ahead?
