I’m not a big fan of page builders – those tools that help you create just about any kind of layout you can dream up in WordPress – mostly due to the bad experiences of my few clients that once used them. I’ve seen firsthand the huge mess of cruft (unnecessary code) left behind all over the site when someone decided to remove the page builder plugin; extracting the content is a painful, time-consuming job. I’ve seen clients frustrated by too many decisions. I’ve seen how they can slow a site to a standstill with the large amount of additional… Continue Reading
Website Content
Weekly Links Roundup – Great Photos, Free Stock Photos, CCPA Compliance
The top website and online marketing links of the week. Are you a stickler for great imagery on your website to show off your products or services to the max? Or is it just one of those things that doesn’t get a lot of attention – you either have little imagery or use photos you took on your phone? Whichever camp you’re in, the quality of your site images says a lot about your business. Learn why having great images is so important to giving a professional impression to your customers and how high-quality photos improve your credibility. To follow… Continue Reading
Weekly Links Roundup – Top CRMs, Polling Plugins, Nonprofit Content Strategy, Local SEO
The top website and online marketing links of the week. Do you currently use CRM (customer relationship management) software for your small business that you like? Tell us about it in the comments below! But if you don’t, and you’re looking for one, here’s a review of 9 top CRM software tools for businesses. CRMs help you track notes, leads, contact info and much more for each of your customers. I use Freshworks for my helpdesk so am looking into Freshsales by the same company. Would you like to collect visitor feedback or run surveys on your site? Of course… Continue Reading
Weekly Links Roundup – Content First, Free Plugins, FAQ Plugins, Gallery Comparison
The top website and online marketing links of the week. One thing that often surprises my design clients is the immediately request for their content when their website project starts. Often, especially for a first website, they have no clue what content they’re going to have. This makes my job as a designer much, much harder. Having all the different types of content that will be on the site up front (at least the types, if not the actual content) is absolutely necessary, as the content drives the design. A site that is all about news articles on the home… Continue Reading
Weekly Links Roundup – WordPress Care Plans for Agencies, Landing Page Copy, Link Building Tips, Optimizing LinkedIn
The top website and online marketing links of the week. I’m happy to announce the launch of our new WordPress Care Plans for Agencies at WP Minder (Red Kite’s sister company). If you’re the owner of a WordPress agency struggling with keeping client sites in good working order, or looking to offload your WordPress maintenance, please check out that link – maybe we can help each other out! Writing great copy that engages readers can be hard. Here’s a list of top 10 tips for writing landing page copy that converts (makes users buy, sign up, or do whatever it… Continue Reading
Weekly Links Roundup – Business Blogging, Scannable Content, Testimonials Slider, Video Galleries
The top website and online marketing links of the week. Think blogging is a waste of time? (Hint: it’s not, if you do it with a focus on quality and consistency). Here’s a quick guide on starting a blog for business and why it really does matter if you’re trying to make your website the strong online base for your marketing efforts that it should be. And if you’re taking the time to write well and frequently, make sure your content is also very easy to read. Most people today scan instead of reading – so you need to focus… Continue Reading
Weekly Links Roundup – Product Photos, Current Content, Google My Business, Blogging Lessons
The top website and online marketing links of the week. Sometimes, convincing clients (especially new ecommerce site owners) that they need to invest in high-quality photography for their site falls on deaf ears. And that’s a shame, because great photos are critical for ecommerce sites; the quality of your images reflects the quality of your products. And displaying poor-quality images speaks volumes about your business; if you don’t care about the photos, do you actually care about the products themselves? Learn more about why it’s so important to have high-quality imagery. New research on customer satisfaction with websites shows that… Continue Reading
Weekly Links Roundup – Republish Old Posts, Content Curation, Website Footers, More Conversions
The top website and online marketing links of the week. Do you ever republish your old blog posts? If you don’t, you should consider it. It’s likely there are great old posts that just need a little updating before they’re ready to put in front of newer readers. Recycling old content is often much easier than trying to come up with new topics! Learn why and how to republish old blog posts – and the right way to do it to keep your “link juice.” Speaking of blogging – here’s a post that discusses one of my favorite strategies, content… Continue Reading