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[…]billion. This means that page views almost doubled in just three years. Top Themes and Plugins on WordPress WordPress offers thousands of free themes and plugins. Themes control the overall look and feel of your website. Plugins offer new functions to your website, such as enabling you to make custom buttons or telling you if you have broken links. The most popular free plugins are Regenerate Thumbnail, Akismet, Woo Commerce, Yoast SEO and Hello Dolly. The top free themes include Responsive, Customizr, Zerif Lite, Vantage and Hueman. As for the best-sellers, the most popular premium plugins are Visual Composer, Slider […]
[…]secure WordPress website possible does require a lot of expertise, there are methods of keeping WordPress secure that anyone can employ. Do I Really Need to Worry About Keeping WordPress Secure? Occasionally, we get asked this question by a client and our answer is always: are you comfortable with someone taking over your website or potentially making off with all the data it contains? WordPress websites are a prime target for hackers looking for financial information or any other kind of information they can exploit for personal gain. This is simply because WordPress is such a popular platform. Any time […]
[…]websites. Need More Help With WordPress? Also, check out our comprehensive list of all things WordPress: The Definitive Guide to Definitive WordPress […]
[…]from the full GA dashboard every time you log in to your dashboard. Step 12 of Launching a WordPress Site: Install and Activate Jetpack by WordPress.com A few years back, people who preferred to install WordPress on their own custom domain were forced to missed out on some of the functionality from the WordPress.com side of things. This included a powerful plugin set called Jetpack. Jetpack enables you to do lots of things, from automatically sharing all your new blog posts on social media to allowing users to subscribe to your blog. It’s a great plugin for just about anyone and it’s now […]
[…]to install all available updates in order to prevent hack attempts. You should also eliminate any WordPress plugins and themes you’re not using in order to optimize your WordPress database. Step 2: Monitor your site’s page speed and fix loading issues in order to enhance the experience website visitors have when they arrive at your site. There’s nothing worse than arriving at an organization’s website to find broken images, outdated links, and slow-loading pages. You should also delete all spam comments and clear out redundant media files to improve the site’s speed. Step 3: Set up automatic backups so that if your website should […]
[…]the simplest possible, natural-language keyword string you can: instead of “how to optimize WordPress for SEO,” use “WordPress SEO” or “Optimize WordPress for SEO.” Avoid single-word keywords: “SEO” is going to be ridiculously competitive when compared to “WordPress SEO” or “SEO for WordPress.” Avoid using the same keyword twice. Next, publish a new blog post to your website at least once per week with a new keyword in the title, meta-description, and content of your post. Way #3: Create Root Pages and Link Your Posts Back to Them Instead of publishing multiple blog posts with the same keyword, which can […]
[…]a website using HTTPS. It simply is harder to do so. How Do I Get an HTTPS Website Address for My WordPress Website? Tune in next week for a follow-up post about how to secure your WordPress website with tips culled directly from our recent experience securing several client websites and our own website. Are You a Non-Proft or Small Business That Needs Help With Converting Your Website to […]
[…]main things you need to know to keep your WordPress site running smoothly. Step 15 of Launching a WordPress Site: Regular Maintenance Updates WordPress has 3 kinds of updates that need regular attention: WordPress core updates: These are updates to the main WordPress operating system. It’s essential to install these updates as soon as they come out, as they affect the overall functionality of your site, its security, and other features. Updates to plugins: Every plugin you install will also receive period updates from whoever made it. It’s very important to install these updates when they become available, but waiting a few […]
[…]the hosting provider offer a “one-click installation” that allows you to install WordPress with the click of a button? WordPress-friendliness: Does the hosting provider provide tailored solutions for WordPress websites? Level of customer service: Does the hosting provider allow you to email a human being with a problem you’re having for free? Based on this criteria, and our 8+ years experience with WordPress, we recommend the following providers for hosting WordPress websites: Dreamhost (what we use) Bluehost HostGator Step 2 of Launching a WordPress Site: Choosing Between Shared, VPS, and Managed Hosting There are typically three types of hosting you can purchase from […]
[…]see the green padlock on your site, we recommend working with someone who knows more about WordPress. Making the switch from HTTP to HTTPS is not always a simple process, and you can definitely break your website if you don’t know what you’re doing. Depending on the problem, a competent WordPress developer can fix the problem for you in an hour or two, saving you the time and hassle of trying to fix a problem you may not fully understand yourself. Are You a Non-Proft or Small Business That Needs Help With Converting Your Website to […]
[…]sellers of these solutions often tout their product as easier to maintain than something like WordPress. There is a reason that WordPress powers nearly a third of the web, however: it’s a very usable technology. In reality, most digital marketing solutions require a learning curve. If the tool is simple to use, it might be due to the fact that there are few features available. Some tools may lag behind current web standards, meaning that they will perform poorly on modern venues like mobile devices. Questions to ask before you buy: How much can I customize my website? What if I […]
[…]on This Topic Do I Need an SSL Certificate on My WordPress Website? 3 Tips for Converting Your WordPress Website to SSL for Free Keeping WordPress Secure: 4 Things Everyone Should Do Are You a Non-Proft or Small Business That Needs Help Converting Your Website to […]
If you’re new to thinking about content channels, you may feel overwhelmed at the sheer volume of ways to deliver content as an organization. Should you run Google Ads? Post on social media? Develop static website content? Run a blog? Some combination? Though no one-size-fits-all approach exists to content strategy, the necessity of attracting new customers means all businesses should be thinking about the different channels they’re using to deliver content. For our clients, we introduce this concept by having them think about the following broad channels: Web – Your website, meaning content connected to yourbusinessdomain.com Search – The way […]
Are you working for a small business that is looking to build an effective email newsletter? It’s important to understand what elements to include in an email newsletter, and how it can impact your small business. We’ve researched the most effective and impactful elements of email newsletters and compiled some of our favorites below. Email Newsletter Element #1: Writing in an Informal Tone The first element of an effective email newsletter has to do with the way that you write your content for it. The Balance Small Business suggests that writing more casually to your customers can have a great […]
[…]effectively balances usability, effective design, and SEO. Check out our guide to launching a WordPress website: Complete Guide to Launching a WordPress Website Tip #3 for Setting up a Small Business Website: Design Finally, you’ll need someone to help you brand your website if you’re not a web designer. Research has shown that you have about 10-20 seconds to keep someone on your website. If you don’t have an engaging, visually-appealing website that is easy to use, consumers will go elsewhere. In particular, you need a designer to help you with: Logo: You need a modern-looking, memorable logo that is optimized for […]
[…]websites. You’ve heard of CMSs even if you didn’t know the technical term for them: WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla! are all content management systems. The main advantage of building a website in a CMS rather than from scratch is that CMSs dramatically decrease the time and expertise required for maintaining websites. If you build a website from scratch or pay someone to do so, you will have no way of updating it unless you are fully versed in coding languages such as HTML and CSS. Worse, unless you are updating the code within your website, it will begin to fall behind […]
[…]System or CMS is simply a tool for managing all the content within a website. Popular CMSs like WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal give organizations more control of their website, including the ability to customize it, or even alter its code. What’s a CMS Got to Do With SEO? Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a measure of how well-placed your website’s links are within search engine page results. Search engines don’t automatically rank your links and they don’t rank everyone’s links the same. In fact, search engines like Google use around 400 different factors to decide how authoritative a link is and […]
Are you leveraging your technical content to attract and retain customers? If you’re not sure about your answer to this question, Guiseppe Getto, the President and Founder of Content Garden, offered a webinar for the Content Wrangler on June 16th, 2020 entitled: How to Use Technical Content to Attract and Retain Customers. Today’s customers are increasingly savvy. They do a ton of research before purchasing a product or service. You may think that your content is too dense for your customers. Information like product specifications, technical requirements, and process workflows may seem like information that should never leave your organization, but […]
[…]for their website needs. Our answer is always: it depends. First of all, as folks who develop WordPress websites for small businesses and non-profits, we admit to being biased: we love WordPress. We are not fans of sites like Wix that are largely drag-and-drop website builders. We have a lot of reasons for feeling this way, but here are a few: Wix sites create the expectation that anyone can create an effective website You can’t migrate your data out of a Wix site like you can with a WordPress site Wix uses proprietary software for their websites, so we have […]
[…]difficult to judge what its future will hold when compared to more established solutions like WordPress and Joomla!. Guide: There are many guides to these CMS’s all over the Internet, but here’s a list of all the best WordPress guides we’ve found. There’s No shame in Outsourcing to Good UX Tools The key to keeping your website up-to-date, functional, and looking great is asking for help. Whether that’s from a consultant or a tool, you just want to make sure you’re not buying a lemon. There are a lot of very costly UX tools out there that we try to […]
[…]are cheaper, easier to maintain, and harder to lock you out of, which is why we only build WordPress websites for our clients. Unless you have a very good reason to buy a from-scratch website, go with a CMS. Whether you are completely unfamiliar with how modern website-building technologies work, or ‘know enough to be dangerous’ but are still concerned by the contract you may have signed with a firm, there are things you can do to avoid getting locked out of your own website. Talk About Maintenance Before You Sign the Contract The fine print of web design contracts often […]
You tell your web designer that you have contracted with that you want that “wow factor” for your branding and hope that’s all you need to communicate in order for them to know what to create for your organization. When a web designer hears you use the term “wow factor,” it is akin to hearing you say you want that “je ne SAIS QUOI”—which is French for “I do not know what.” What is a wow factor for one client can be entirely unimpressive to another client. Web design firms can’t read their clients’ minds. But they can communicate with […]
[…]slowly: Your server is not fast enough You’re not using the latest version of your CMS (e.g., WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, etc.) You’ve not optimized images in your website You’ve not optimized your website for mobile There are easy fixes for all of these issues. The cost of not addressing these issues could be great, especially if your website is instrumental in helping you attract and retain customers. Web Design Mistake #2: Inaccessible Content When potential customers visit your website, they want to be able to engage with the content that you’ve made available to them. Even if your webpage loads […]
[…]websites “Websites” would be a negative keyword for us, because we only specialize in WordPress websites, so people clicking on our ad from the keyword website might get frustrated if they want a website built in some other technology, such as Joomla! or Drupal. “Custom wordpress websites” is a much better keyword for us because it more accurately describes what we do. Because you don’t have full control over what keywords your ad is matched with in Smart Campaigns, you might find yourself paying more for worse results than you would with Google Ads. The Winner in the AdWords (Google […]
Writing a blog is a great way to advertise your business or non-profit. Industry-specific blog posts increase your chances of your website being found by consumers through search engines and social media. If well-written, blog posts can also enhance your credibility among customers, donors, and even competitors. To create quality blog posts that can generate a following for your business, try these blogging tips and tricks we use with our clients and on our own blog. Blogging Tip #1: Target Your Audience Your primary audience for your blog should be potential customers or donors. Remember that your goal in writing […]
[…]but otherwise, here are some problems and solutions you may find useful: If you’re running WordPress, navigate to your plugins page and deactivate all your plugins. If that speeds up the site, then you know where the problem lies. Reactivate them one-by-one until your website slows again, and then you’ll find the plugin with the issue. If deactivating your plugins didn’t speed up your site, they’re not the problem. This is also a good time to delete any plugins you don’t need. Choose a good theme. Again, if you’re using WordPress, you’ll want to choose a quality theme. Don’t just […]
[…]Keyword Planner Ubersuggest’s Free Keyword Suggestion Tool Yoast SEO Plugin for WordPress Tip #3: Hire an (Affordable) SEO Agency If you are starting completely from scratch with no knowledge of SEO, it is probably worth your time and money to hire a reputable SEO consultant to help you build your first campaign. SEO consultants can typically do several things for you: Find the best keywords for you to use in your website Help you track analytics over time to make sure your website is performing well Do an audit of an existing website to find areas for improvement What you should […]
[…]a website is the relative size of the site you want. With Content Management Systems (CMSs) like WordPress, Joomla!, and Magento, it’s very easy to build a relatively large website. The question, however, is: do you need a very large site? Many of our clients begin by asking us to build a website that represents every piece of information about their organization that anyone might want to know about. This idea of a “brochure website” that users will read through extensively is the wrong way to go, however. Modern website users don’t want to read lengthy text, complicated explanations, or […]
While maintaining a website has become easier, thanks to the awesome CMS WordPress, ensuring that said website functions smoothly at all times is equally important and this is where choosing a reliable website hosting provider becomes crucial. A website host plays an important role when it comes to website security, speed and download time. It also makes your task of incorporating new technological features seamless. Thus, as one of the major investments in the online face of your business, you need to ensure that the website hosting company that you have chosen is able to provide you with all the […]
Usability can be thought of as how easy it is for the users of your website to navigate and utilize the functions of your site. In order to improve your website’s usability, it’s important to conduct some quick usability tests to identify any issues customer or donors may be experiencing when they visit your site. Below are our 3 favorite quick usability tests for you to try out. Test #1: Conducting a Moderated Usability Test Although there are many ways to usability test a website, one of the most tried and true methods is conducting a moderated usability test. To […]
[…]do a domain registration transfer You want to change from one CMS (i.e. Drupal) to another (i.e. WordPress) The first thing you need to do when considering doing any of the above things is to figure out a website migration process that will solve the specific problem you’re trying to solve. Below are some common things that can go wrong and some tips for avoiding them. Thing #1: Hosting or Domain Problems When you change your website hosting or domain registration, it can disrupt your website services in several ways. There are a variety of hosting options for websites, for […]
[…]software program that allows you to update your website yourself. Popular CMS’s include WordPress, Joomla!, and Magento, among others. It’s important to have a CMS, because otherwise you will have to rely on whoever designed your website for every change, no matter how small. Need to update your hours? Or add a link? Or change your about page? These are all things that are easy to do with a CMS and very hard to do without one. CMS-based websites are also, on-average, cheaper than from-scratch websites as they require less development time. There’s simply no reason for a smaller organization […]
[…]about are: Content Management System (CMS) or custom build: Will they be using a technology like WordPress, Joomla!, or Magento to build your site or will they be developing it from scratch? Updating your site: Will you be able to update the site yourself or will you have to pay them to do it for you? Maintenance: Are there any maintenance tasks that go along with the specific type of website they’re building for you? If so: what are they and will they be doing them or will you be? Training: Will they train you on how to update your […]
[…]ads, and social media profiles. These include: Search engines Content management systems like WordPress, Joomla!, and Magento Online ad platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn Interested in learning more about the differences between traditional marketing and digital marketing? Check out our previous article on this topic: Traditional Marketing vs Digital Marketing: 3 Things to Consider Below we go through the main skill sets you need to master to be effective at the digital marketing fundamentals that matter the most. SEO The first thing you need to consider when doing digital marketing […]
[…]or international brands. You’re simply not going to pay the same amount for a 5-page WordPress website for your small business or non-profit as a retail store representing and entire state or region will pay for their 500+ page e-commerce site. If your web designer is charging considerably more than what their competitors charge for the same services, you should consider shopping around. You also don’t want to go to the other end of the spectrum, however, and hire a web designer than charges hardly anything. Occasionally, we will have folks contact us who say they have someone who will […]
[…]it’s easy (and a good idea) to design your own website. Platforms that we recommend, such as WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal, offer out-of-the-box website builds that anyone with basic internet proficiency can create. Other platforms are even easier to use, but sacrifice things like SEO. Just because it is possible to throw a website up on the web, however, doesn’t mean that it will be effective. Unless you are a professional web designer, building your own website means that you’ll be presenting an amateur-looking site to consumers. It also means that your website will underperform when compared to the websites […]
In a previous post, we mentioned that being the top search result on Google is today valued at about $1,000,000. To back up this claim, we mentioned that all the research we’ve conducted, plus all the research of the smart people we follow, points to the fact that there’s no magic bullet for SEO anymore. Gone are the days when you could just keyword stuff to trick Google into thinking you have the best content. Google has gotten better and better at delivering optimized content to its users, which means it’s harder and harder to achieve real results in Google […]
If you’re interested in content marketing for small business, you may be curious how it’s different than content marketing for larger organizations. Content marketing is all the rage these days, and for good reason. As Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, puts it: Consumers have shut off the traditional world of marketing. They own a DVR to skip television advertising, often ignore magazine advertising, and now have become so adept at online “surfing” that they can take in online information without a care for banners or buttons (making them irrelevant). Smart marketers understand that traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective […]
Welcome to Part 3 of our series, “The Complete Guide to Content Marketing for Small Business.” To help small business owners learn how to employ content marketing, one of the best methods for attracting new customers online, we’ve decided to create a complete guide for small business owners. In Part 1 of the series, we discussed how to find your “content niche” as a small business or how to find a focus for your content marketing efforts that distinguishes your business as unique and valuable to target customers. In Part 2, we discussed how to create a sustainable plan for developing, publishing, […]
Digital technologies change all the time. The websites that were fashionable and user-friendly last year look hopelessly out-of-date this year. If you’re a small business owner, you may struggle, as many of us do, to maintain an aesthetically-pleasing website that continues to be relevant. Here’s a little secret to make you feel better: everyone does. All kinds of organizations struggle with the pace at which technologies change. Hospitals. Schools. Corporations. Local businesses. Large, multinational businesses. Even experts in technology. Especially them. If you’be been paying attention to any conversation involving digital technology, you’ve probably heard about this term “UX,” short […]