About Umapathy Sekar and OnlineDecoded

Hi, I’m Umapathy Sekar. I write at OnlineDecoded, a blog that helps beginners start a blog, get it found on Google and turn it into a source of income through affiliate marketing.

How OnlineDecoded Started

In 2013, I was a fresh engineering graduate reading Harsh Agarwal’s ShoutMeLoud.

I learned the basics of blogging by following his work, then did what most beginners do: bought a domain, installed WordPress and learned mostly by making mistakes.

Traffic did not come quickly. What changed things was learning SEO properly: picking topics people actually search for, writing better answers than the pages already ranking, and linking my posts together so Google could understand them.

OnlineDecoded went live in 2014 as a place to write down what worked. The name says what I wanted to do: decode how making money online really works, without the hype.

What you will find here

• Starting a blog. Choosing a niche, domain and hosting, and setting up WordPress. Start with my guide on how to start a blog and make money.
• SEO for beginners. Keyword research, on-page SEO, internal linking and getting indexed. The full walkthrough is my complete SEO guide.
• Affiliate marketing. Picking programs, writing reviews that convert and staying on the right side of disclosure rules. Read the beginner’s guide to affiliate marketing.
• Tool reviews. Honest reviews of blogging tools, like my Systeme.io review and the best WordPress plugins list.

Why you can trust what you read here

Blogging advice is full of people selling the dream.

I would rather tell you what took me years to learn: it works, but it is slow, and most tools are not as essential as their sales pages claim.

How I review tools

I only recommend a tool after I have used it on a real site, or tested it long enough to know its limits. Every review lists the downsides, not only the features.

When I have not personally used a product, I say so and explain where my information comes from.

How I keep content current

Prices, plans, and features change constantly. I revisit important guides regularly and show the “last updated” date on every post.

If you spot something out of date, email me, and I will fix it.

Affiliate disclosure

OnlineDecoded is reader-supported. Some links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. Commissions never decide what I recommend.

Several tools I review earn me nothing, and some high-paying programs never appear here because I would not use them myself.

My background outside blogging

By day I work in IT service management. I have spent about nine years handling major incidents, leading bridge calls during outages, and writing root cause analyses.

That job taught me two things that shape this blog: explain technical problems in plain language, and never trust a fix until you have tested it.

I hold Microsoft certifications in Azure, Microsoft 365 and security fundamentals, along with CompTIA A+.

They are not blogging credentials, but they mean the hosting, security and technical advice on this site comes from someone who deals with servers and systems every working day.

My other websites

• WPSBlog covers WordPress themes, plugins, security and web hosting in detail.
• UmapathySekar.net is my personal blog, where I share my own blogging journey, experiments and tool tests.

Get in touch

I read every message. If you have a question about your blog, a correction, or a partnership request, email me at admin(at)onlinedecoded.com or use the contact form.

You can also find me on Facebook and X (Twitter). OnlineDecoded has its own Facebook page and X account.

Thanks for being here. If one guide on this site saves you a month of trial and error, it has done its job.

Umapathy Sekar
Founder, OnlineDecoded