The top website and online marketing links of the week. Thinking about starting a podcast? Or already doing one, but need to upgrade your gear? Here’s a review of the top 10 podcast microphones and some reasons to justify getting one! Do you keep your WordPress website up to date? A recent study showed that only 36% of WordPress users have the latest version of the core software installed. That’s a big security problem. Did you know that the WordPress folks publish the details about the reasons for each update they publish in their changelog? That makes it easy for… Continue Reading
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Should You Use a Page Builder in Your WordPress Site?
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
Weekly Links Roundup – WordPress and SEO, Google or Facebook Ads, Blogging, Getting Testimonials
The top website and online marketing links of the week. It’s true that WordPress is my favorite CMS (content management system). That doesn’t mean it’s the right CMS for every business. However, WordPress may be one of the best CMS platforms for SEO. Learn what makes WordPress so SEO-friendly and why it may be a good fit for your business if search engine optimization is important to you. If you’re considering advertising your business on social media, you have some big questions to answer. One of them may be where to advertise. Are Google Ads or Facebook Ads better for… 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 – WordPress History, Domain Names, Tracking Clicks, Product Photos
The top website and online marketing links of the week. I know it’s been a long time (about 6 weeks!) since the last post. Today’s post I hope brings an end to that unplanned break. It’s been a crazy summer that included a death in the family, a broken elbow and hand, a sad lack of paddle boarding, and a badly-needed vacation. But now that things have settled down, I plan to get back to weekly blogging (or thereabouts). Just for fun – here is the history of WordPress in 4 minutes. If you’re a long-time WordPress user, you’ll get… Continue Reading
Why are My WordPress Email Notifications Not Sending?
WordPress by default uses a server’s PHP Mail service to send notifications or ‘transactional emails.’ These are automatic emails triggered by something a user does on the site, such as submitting an order or a form. The site might sent out an email confirmation in response to both of these actions. But sometimes the PHP Mail service is not set up on a hosting server at all. This is common on shared servers where the host wants to avoid mail abuse. Other times, it’s set up incorrectly, resulting in your notifications either not being delivered or only getting delivered sporadically…. Continue Reading
Weekly Links Roundup – Lazy Loading, Tracking Downloads, Page Speed, Email Marketing for Bloggers
The top website and online marketing links of the week. Here’s an easy performance win – implement lazy loading on your site. Lazy loading means not loading images that are off-screen; they eventually load when the user scrolls down to them. Learn more about lazy loading and here’s the plugin I like for this task in WordPress sites. If you offer white papers or other kinds of downloads on your site, did you know that you can use Google Analytics, which you’re most likely already using, to track downloads? Though GA doesn’t natively track this kind of interaction, you can… Continue Reading
Weekly Links Roundup – Site Speed, Product Pages, Contact Pages, WordPress Security Myths
The top website and online marketing links of the week. You know your website is slow. It’s always been like that. But do you really understand what that slow site could be costing you in terms of customers and conversions? A recent report shows that 70% of buyers are influence by a site’s page loading time. The average site loads in about 15 seconds – but a number of studies show that the majority of online shoppers will leave a site if they have to wait more than 3 seconds. If you need help making your site faster, check out… Continue Reading