News

The Sites podcast is back! And with a brand new name, plus a new format and schedule. Jerod Morris discusses what all the changes mean, and then dives right into our first topic of 2018 — how to define your ideal audience.

Click to subscribe to Sites on Apple Podcasts

Here is a quick rundown of what you’ll find in this episode:

• What you get when you sign up for a StudioPress Site
• Jerod explains why we changed the name of the podcast from Sites to Site Success, plus what you can expect from the show as we move forward in 2018
• Jerod provides you with questions #1 and #2 that will help you define your ideal audience: 1) who is your ideal audience member, and 2) what are they seeing/thinking/feeling/doing?
• Jerod delivers question #3, which requires a bit more explanation than the first two. He shares some examples from his own projects for how he goes about answering this one

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

• Authority Pro Theme by StudioPress
• Blog post by Brian Clark: The Simple 3-Step Process for Creating a Winning Content Marketing Strategy
• Downloadable empathy map
• Empathy Maps: A Complete Guide to Crawling Inside Your CustomerÔÇÖs Head

 

Click to subscribe to Sites on Apple Podcasts

Other links of note:

• Try StudioPress Sites
• Sites Weekly Newsletter
• Subscribe to Sites on Apple Podcasts
• Contact Jerod: jerod@copyblogger.com

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.

Do you run a wellness, food/recipe, fitness, or lifestyle website? Start the new year with a fresh, powerful, easy to use theme from Mike Hemberger and his team at BizBudding.

The Mai Lifestyle Pro WordPress theme enables you to build a beautiful, image-rich lifestyle blog or website, and fast.

BizBudding introduced Mai Lifestyle Pro several months ago. Since then, the Mai Lifestyle Pro theme has gone on to power many popular sites, receiving millions of page views a month. We’re excited to include Mai Lifestyle Pro as part of the StudioPress collection, and in the Pro Plus included third party themes especially.

Fast page load speed, advanced features, and clean, optimized code

This theme will give you a lot of features while keeping load times fast.

Some key features of Mai Lifestyle Pro theme:

9 built-in page layouts to create the perfect presentation of your content.

Easily choose left, center, or right aligned logo and header menus.

An optional banner area with light, dark, and gradient overlay styles, and text alignment options.

Custom archive settings to easily display your posts in multiple columns or standard blog feed layout, with custom image size and location options.

Most uniquely, the Mai Lifestyle Pro comes with a few advanced page templates:

1. Sections template allow you to create full-width sections of content without fussing with widgets. Plus, you can use the Sections template on any page on your site, not just on your homepage.
2. Landing Page template enables you to create slim, powerful calls-to-action for your customers with a multi-width template that removes navigation, footer widgets, and more, to create a focus on your actionable content.
3. Sitemap template that automatically adds your website’s public custom content (custom post types) alongside the standard posts and pages.

Mike and his team have created something truly unique and powerful and have a support site with how-tos and examples.

View the demo here – Definitely worth checking out!

Get the Mai Pro Lifestyle theme

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.

Welcome to another edition of Sites Weekly.

In this week’s edition, you will find links to articles about the following:

• Content. How to Optimize Your SEO Strategy for Voice Searches
• Design. How to Make Your Website Reader-Friendly
• Technology. 9 Antidotes to the Facebook Algorithm Squeeze
• Strategy. Seven Types of Product You Could Sell From Your Blog
• Bonus. Why Digital Sharecropping Is the Most Dangerous Threat to Your Content Marketing Strategy

But first …

Last week on Sites

There was no new episode of the Sites podcast last week, but fear not! We’ll be back soon with new episodes … and a new name!

In the meantime, get caught up on the most recent episode if you missed it. It’s Sean Jackson’s conversation with StudioPress founder Brian Gardner.

Listen: WordPress Design Trends for 2018

And now, on to this week’s links …

Content: How to Optimize Your SEO Strategy for Voice Searches

Over the last handful of months, I’ve included a lot of links to helpful articles about voice searches. And for good reason. As you’ll learn here, “One in five searches on a mobile device are voice.” And that number will continue to rise.

As with anything SEO-related, the overarching fundamentals for how you build trust with search engines and start to generate better rankings haven’t really changed. But once you get the basics down, there are some more specific strategies to pursue for success with particular search types, like voice search.

This post highlights several of them, including a great tip on how to rank for featured snippets.

Read at JeffBullas.com

Design: How to Make Your Website Reader-Friendly

You could have the greatest, most perfectly chosen words in the history of the web, but if your website isn’t readable — and doesn’t present those words in a way that visitors can easily absorb — then it won’t matter a lick.

This is why readability is so important. And in this article from Line 25, you will get some useful tips on how to improve your website’s readability.

My favorite:

“Draw attention to certain words or elements through adjusting styles before you try changing fonts. Italicize, underline, or bold words. If youÔÇÖre looking to draw attention to a whole section, you might want to use a colored background.

Overusing any of these elements will do the opposite of what you want, making the reading experience bland and also making it difficult for a viewer to read.”

Check out the rest:

Read at Line25.com

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Two of the most important decisions you will make about your WordPress website are your theme and your hosting. Wouldn’t it be great if they worked together to make your website more powerful?

Now they can.

Discover why over 213,675 website owners trust StudioPress.

---

Technology: 9 Antidotes to the Facebook Algorithm Squeeze

So … you may have heard that Facebook is making a significant change to its algorithm.

Basically, Facebook News Feeds will be prioritizing content from your friends (individual people) over content from pages and brands. This was bound to happen at some point, and I think it’s a good change for Facebook users.

While it certainly presents challenges for brands, it doesn’t mean you should jump ship. There are still smart ways to use Facebook to build relationships with your current audience members and attract new people into your realm. (Hopefully you’ve been paying attention over the years to our advice about digital sharecropping!)

This post provides some helpful guidance on how to navigate the new waters at Facebook.

Read at ConvinceAndConvert.com

Strategy: Seven Types of Product You Could Sell From Your Blog

If you’re new to the online content space, and you have a long-term goal of generating revenue from your website, then this article is a must-read for you. It’s written by one of the legends of blogging for business (Darren Rowse), and it includes a breakdown of seven products that you can sell from your website to generate revenue. Six of the products are digital, and one is physical.

Even if you’re a grizzled veteran of online marketing and digital entrepreneurship, I still recommend reading articles like these. Seeing the descriptions of these products on another site, and in another writer’s words, can often jog your imagination in ways it hasn’t been jogged before. Maybe you’ll have a light-bulb moment about a new product you can add to your mix.

And, again, it’s Darren Rowse. You can never go wrong reading Darren Rowse.

Read at ProBlogger.com

Bonus article: Why Digital Sharecropping Is the Most Dangerous Threat to Your Content Marketing Strategy

Upon further reflection, the link I included in the Technology section to a pertinent Copyblogger article just isn’t enough.

This occasion of Facebook’s unilateral move to change their algorithm on a dime is the perfect opportunity to make a bigger deal about reminding you why digital sharecropping is always, always, always a bad decision — especially if it forms the bulk of your content marketing strategy.

So here’s an oldie, but always a goodie, from Sonia Simone. There is never a wrong time to be reminded of this internet truth.

Read at Copyblogger.com

So …

Which of the ideas in these posts will you put to good use immediately?

I’ll be back with a new edition next week.

Keep building.

 

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.

Welcome to another edition of Sites Weekly.

In this week’s edition, you will find links to articles about the following:

• Content. Slow Blogging. Is It Another Fad?
• Design. 10 ways to avoid cross-browser compatibility issues
• Technology. ICYMI — Google Issued a Duplicate Content Warning
• Strategy. MailChimp to ConvertKit: Why Brian Gardner Made the Switch
• Bonus. How to Improve Your Confidence and Conquer the World (or at Least Your To-Do List)

Here we go …

Content: Slow Blogging. Is It Another Fad?

Gotta be honest — I hadn’t come across the term “slow blogging” before reading this blog post from BobWP. Essentially, it’s prioritizing quality over quantity and eschewing shorter, quick-churn blog posts for longer, more in-depth articles that require more time to produce.

Which is better? Is it better to be a slow blogger and publish fewer posts but, ideally, create more and longer-lasting impact with the ones you do published? Or is it better to be the opposite — call it a “fast” blogger I suppose — publishing new content rapidly, giving more URLs to the search engines for indexing, and always staying near the top of RSS feeds?

Actually, that’s a trick question. Bob explains why.

Read at BobWP

Design: 10 ways to avoid cross-browser compatibility issues

When you’re designing your website, there are few occurrences more frustrating than seeing your site look great in one browser … and then wildly different in another browser. Sometimes the differences are so small and subtle they don’t really make an impact. Other times, the differences can completely change the look or tone you’re going for, or worse yet, even change the interface experience your visitors have.

So … it’s going to design with an eye toward cross-browser compatibility. This blog post includes 10 short, simple tips that will help you do so. (And you don’t need to be a designer to understand how to implement them.)

Read at Creative Bloq

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Two of the most important decisions you will make about your WordPress website are your theme and your hosting. Wouldn’t it be great if they worked together to make your website more powerful?

Now they can.

Discover why over 213,675 website owners trust StudioPress.

---

Technology: ICYMI — Google Issued a Duplicate Content Warning

Pop quiz: Are these two similar-but-slightly-different URLs the same in Google’s eyes?

• http://studiopress.com
• https://studiopress.com

How about these two?

• http://studiopress.com
• http://studiopress.com/

And what about these?

• https://my.studiopress.com/plans/
• https://my.studiopress.com/plans

If you don’t know the answer for any of those sets of URLs, you should make sure you check out this blog post (which was published back in mid-December) at Search Engine Journal. It includes an important clarification from John Mueller, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, which will help you avoid any costly duplicate content issues.

Read at Search Engine Journal

Also worth checking out, from MarTech Today: A new AI-powered Chrome extension judges content on its ÔÇÿtrustworthinessÔÇÖ

Strategy: MailChimp to ConvertKit: Why Brian Gardner Made the Switch

Over at his personal blog, StudioPress founder Brian Gardner recently explained why he switched from MailChimp (after using it for seven years) to ConvertKit for his email marketing.

I’m currently investigating email marketing providers for a project I’m looking to start, so I read his post with great interest. As someone who has used MailChimp before, this is the most compelling reason why ConvertKit is attractive:

“ConvertKit is a subscriber-based service, while MailChimp is a list-based service. So you might be wondering, ‘What exactly does this mean?’

Well in short, it means that with ConvertKit, you are only paying for a subscriber once, no matter how many forms (or offers) they may have signed up for. With MailChimp, if they have signed up multiple times for whatever reason, you are paying for each one of them.”

Give Brian’s post a read. It will be especially helpful if you ever find yourself comparing the two services.

Read at BrianGardner.com

(And in the interest of full disclosure: Yes, Brian’s post includes affiliate links. But no, he didn’t ask me to include it in this newsletter. I actually didn’t even realize it had affiliate links until after I added it to this week’s draft. I just happened to come across his post in Feedly right at the time I was pondering the MailChimp/ConvertKit question myself.)

Bonus article: How to Improve Your Confidence and Conquer the World (or at Least Your To-Do List)

We all know that we need confidence to be successful. This is especially true with any kind of endeavor that includes creating online content. What audience member or potential customer is going to pay attention to content that isn’t presented confidently?

But here’s the question …

Where does confidence come from?

Sonia Simone has a few ideas, and some important advice that will help you develop your confidence, protect it, and kick some major ass. (And seriously, is there anyone better at making you believe in your ability to go out and kick ass like Sonia? No.)

Read at Copyblogger

And for more on building the kind of confidence that will allow you to overcome the kinds of fears that can prevent you from publishing content that you absolutely should publish, read this from Stefanie Flaxman.

So …

Which of the ideas in these posts will you put to good use immediately?

I’ll be back with a new edition next week.

Keep building.

 

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.

Welcome to another edition of Sites Weekly — the first of 2018!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and New Year’s celebration … and now it’s time to get back to work. Look for a nugget or two in one of these articles to kick-start your 2018.

In this week’s edition, you will find links to articles about the following:

• Content. Aeration instead of perfection
• Design. The 5 biggest typography trends of 2017
• Technology. WeÔÇÖre already seeing the fallout from AppleÔÇÖs war on cookies
• Strategy. 6 content marketing ideas to steal from CMI’s awards finalists of 2017
• Bonus. How lifelong learning and a growth mindset can propel your career (Plus: How to spot fake reviews on Amazon)

But first …

Last week on Sites

With the coming introduction of Gutenberg in 2018, WordPress designers and developers will be presented with new functionality that has a direct impact on their efforts. Are you ready for them?

To help you plan for 2018, Sean Jackson and Brian Gardner discuss a number of changes that StudioPress will be introducing for themes. They also touch base on a few of the key performance enhancements you should be thinking about, including Google AMP and website performance.

Listen: [30] WordPress Design Trends for 2018

And now, on to this week’s links …

Content: Aeration instead of perfection

I want to direct your attention to a specific section in this article on Content Marketing Institute.

The article includes three “aha moments” that Michele Linn had during 2017 that she hopes will help you evolve your content marketing in 2018. And while all three are useful, I found the second one to be particularly helpful.

A quick taste:

“Every presentation is an opportunity to test ideas. Instead of thinking about everything we present — or publish — as the end, see each finished piece as an aerator — an opportunity to air out an idea and allow the story to evolve.”

Obviously this doesn’t grant you a license to publish or present crap … but such a mindset does free you from the pressure that we all feel, especially in this age of content abundance, to publish perfect content. And a mindset shift like that can be freeing in a number of important ways.

Read at Content Marketing Institute

Design: The 5 biggest typography trends of 2017

It’s obviously important that designers have a solid understanding of the rules of typography. And even if you’re not a designer, it can be helpful to understand not just the rules but also the trends in typography, especially if you’re looking to rework any elements of your website.

To create this roundup, the folks at Creative Bloq spoke to some of the top names in typography and design, and asked them for their thoughts on the biggest typography trends of 2017, as well as their predictions for what would be hot in 2018. Find out what they said.

Read at Creative Bloq

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Two of the most important decisions you will make about your WordPress website are your theme and your hosting. Wouldn’t it be great if they worked together to make your website more powerful?

Now they can.

Discover why over 213,675 website owners trust StudioPress.

---

Technology: WeÔÇÖre already seeing the fallout from AppleÔÇÖs war on cookies

AppleÔÇÖs Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature is perhaps the first concrete evidence that the cookieÔÇÖs time is truly limited. And Joe Sabol is sounding the alarm bells on MarTech Today.

As he explains, choosing to ignore this news and failing to adjust for the potential implications of AppleÔÇÖs move, and other potential wide-ranging cookie-blocking efforts to come, would “represent a dangerous level of stubbornness that could ultimately tank companies and upend online advertising more broadly.”

Read at MarTech Today

Strategy: 6 content marketing ideas to steal from CMI’s awards finalists of 2017

Here’s another useful article from our friends at Content Marketing Institute. It highlights specific content marketing strategies used by six of their annual awards finalists that you can steal and incorporate into your own content marketing mix.

My favorite? Using pop-ups to offer something other than sign-ups (in this case, specific reading suggestions).

“When youÔÇÖre not pushing sign-ups, surprising things can happen. This second idea comes with a great payoff: Use the oft-derided pop-up to offer content suggestions rather than to gather email addresses.”

The sixth strategy, about picking the best format for the story (rather than trying to fit a story into the format you prefer), is also insightful. There is something to learn, and perhaps even apply, from all six.

Read at Content Marketing Institute

Bonus article: How lifelong learning and a growth mindset can propel your career

What new skills, knowledge, and wisdom will you add to your arsenal this year?

As Peter Schroeder explains in this post on Medium’s Startup Grind collection, believing that your learning days are over is a dangerous way to manage a career — because technologies and business models emerge and force change rapidly. It’s up to each of us to stay ahead of this curve.

Read at Startup Grind

Oh, and here’s one more bonus article that will help make you a more savvy online shopper: How to Identify Fake Reviews on Amazon.

So …

Which of the ideas in these posts will you put to good use immediately?

I’ll be back with a new edition next week.

Keep building.

 

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.

Welcome to another edition of Sites Weekly.

In this week’s edition, you will find links to articles about the following:

• Content. How can YOU produce more creative work?
• Design. Learn some easy ways to create cinemagraphs
• Technology. Get ready for the continued advancement of AI
• Strategy. Are you making the most of Google’s related searches?
• Bonus. What sites does the Copyblogger team read regularly?

But first …

Last week on Sites

Nathan Rice, the creator of the Genesis Framework, shares his insights on maximizing the power of Genesis for WordPress.

In this 28 minute episode, Nathan Rice from StudioPress shares his unique insights into the evolution of Genesis and where the framework is going.

Listen: [29] What Every #GenesisWP Developer Must Know about the Genesis Framework

And now, on to this week’s links …

Content: How can YOU produce more creative work?

Do you ever feel like you are spending more creative energy managing your productivity system than you do producing work? Then Sonia Simone has some big ideas for you. (Doesn’t she always?)

Here’s one of those big ideas:

That ÔÇ£secretÔÇØ was looking at the reality and individuality of who I am. My goals, my strengths, my weaknesses, and my habits arenÔÇÖt anyone elseÔÇÖs. So someone elseÔÇÖs system isnÔÇÖt going to work for me.

Read what Sonia thinks you should do to find your own path to creative productivity.

How to Find Your Own Path to Creative Productivity (Copyblogger)

Design: Learn some easy ways to create cinemagraphs

I love cinemagraphs. The cinemagraph I found and used for this Rafal Tomal blog post on Copyblogger is still one of my favorite featured images ever. But actually making them has always seemed a little difficult to me.

Enter these apps, which help you create cinemagraphs that you can use in social media, blog posts, or just for fun to share with friends.

8 iPhone & Android Apps To Create Cinemagraph (Hongkiat)

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Two of the most important decisions you will make about your WordPress website are your theme and your hosting. Wouldn’t it be great if they worked together to make your website more powerful?

Now they can.

Discover why over 213,675 website owners trust StudioPress.

---

Technology: Get ready for the continued advancement of AI

In 2017, the predictive ability of artificial intelligence (AI) powered many new tools and platforms. So what does 2018 have in store for AI? Robin Kruzer asked some marketers to find out for MarTech Today.

Not all of the advice and insight here will be necessarily applicable for us as soon as the new year, but it’s certainly worthwhile to stay informed on what bigger brands are doing now, and what the trends are, because it will eventually trickle down.

What is the future of artificial intelligence? (MarTech Today)

Strategy: Are you making the most of Google’s related searches?

Understanding a userÔÇÖs intent sounds impossible at first. How are we supposed to know what people are intending to do?

This is where GoogleÔÇÖs related searches come in, which are the eight search results at the bottom of a results page. Using related searches, you can gain sharper customer insights so that you can create relevant and valuable content that they and Google love, thus boosting your SEO.

This article from Smart Insights explains how to do it.

How using related searches on Google helps you boost your SEO (Smart Insights)

Bonus article: What sites does the Copyblogger team read regularly?

Sonia thought it would be fun to wrap up the year with a collection of some favorite blogs and podcasts that teach writing, showcase writing, or help writers. So she solicited recommendations from the Copyblogger editorial staff.

While our team loves the ÔÇ£big gunsÔÇØ like SethÔÇÖs Blog and MarketingProfs, Sonia tried to focus on some sites you may have not necessarily found yet. Some of them are quite popular; others are still hidden gems.

(Note: I missed the email and didn’t get my responses submitted in time; but then again, you get a weekly rundown of my favorites here in Sites Weekly!)

Some of the Copyblogger TeamÔÇÖs Favorite Writing and Content Sites

So …

Which of the ideas in these posts will you put to good use immediately?

I’ll be back with a new edition next week.

Keep building.

 

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.

With major changes coming to WordPress core in 2018, web designers will have a new set of challenges. Are you ready for them?

With the coming introduction of Gutenberg in 2018, WordPress designers and developers will be presented with new functionality that has direct impact on their effort.

To help you plan for 2018, we discuss a number of changes that StudioPress will be introducing for themes. We also touch base on a few of the key performance enhancements you should be thinking about, including Google AMP, and website performance.

So if WordPress design is important to you, then you will want to listen to this year-end episode.

In this 23 minute episode, Brian Gardner, founder of StudioPress, shares his thoughts on WordPress design trends for the coming year.

Click to subscribe to Sites on Apple Podcasts<

Important links from this episode:

• Try StudioPress Sites
• Sites Weekly Newsletter
• Subscribe to Sites on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Sean on Twitter

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.

Welcome to another edition of Sites Weekly.

In this week’s edition, you will find links to articles about the following:

• Content. Should you do more documenting, and less creating?
• Design. The right way to think about animations on your website
• Technology. Get a head start on your SEO improvements for 2018
• Strategy. Working from home isn’t as easy as it may seem

But first …

Last week on Sites

Are you having technical issues with your WordPress site? Then this podcast episode is for you. In this 23-minute episode, Matt Lawrence from StudioPress discusses how you can address the four most common technical issues with WordPress.

Listen: [28] How to Fix the Most Common Technical Issues with WordPress

And now, on to this week’s links …

Content: Should you do more documenting, and less creating?

According to Gary Vee, it might be a wise choice — especially if you’re trying to build your personal or business brand on social media.

This is a long blog post from Gary, but it’s well worth the read. He shares some insight on how he’s been so successful building his audiences on social media and, more importantly, practical lessons you can actually apply to your own work.

An important thought to consider:

“You have to understand that Instagram and Snapchat, and Twitter and Facebook are the new CBS, NBC, and Showtime. Except now you can reach hundreds of millions or billions of people every day.

I look at Medium, and WordPress, and Podcasts and Twitter like I look at the books on your shelf. ItÔÇÖs the modern platform for telling a great story.”

How to Tell a Story on Social Media (GaryVaynerchuk.com)

Design: The right way to think about animations on your website

If you’re thinking about incorporating animations into your web design, then make sure you read this article. It provides a good overview of the mindset you need to have when plotting the animations you’ll use, and where you should draw the line.

Here’s a key quote:

“Websites where the user is trying to learn about something require fewer animations. For example, if you wanted to learn about a business that sells bikes, you donÔÇÖt want a lot of animations distracting you on the homepage. To put it another way, every homepage is like a shop window and if youÔÇÖve filled yours with strobe lighting, people wonÔÇÖt be able to see what youÔÇÖre selling.”

DonÔÇÖt Blind Your Users: Always Put Animations in Context (Design Beep)

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Two of the most important decisions you will make about your WordPress website are your theme and your hosting. Wouldn’t it be great if they worked together to make your website more powerful?

Now they can.

Discover why over 213,675 website owners trust StudioPress.

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Technology: Get a head start on your SEO improvements for 2018

The headline is clear: these aren’t good-to-know SEO concepts that you should pay attention to; these are must-know SEO concepts that all of us should be keeping in mind as we look toward the new year.

I picked up a few useful tips just from the first section, which includes a rundown of practical ways to improve mobile SEO. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go compress some images, reconsider a few pop-ups I have running, and take what’s called the “mobile-friendly test.”

5 Must-Know SEO Concepts to Help You Prepare for 2018 (Search Engine Journal)

Strategy: Working from home isn’t as easy as it may seem

Many of us who derive our income from online endeavors do so by working from home. And while the benefits of working from home are numerous, and most of them fairly obvious, the challenges of working from home often go unnoticed and under-appreciated.

Which is why I was so excited to see this blog post pop up on the Copyblogger blog. And even more than the topic, the author of the post had me excited. Kim Clark!

Kim doesn’t often peer out from behind the Copyblogger curtain, but it’s such a treat when she does. She’s fantastic. Having worked with Kim for several years, I know how much experience, knowledge, and wisdom she has to share. And after reading this blog post … let me just say that she clearly needs to write more.

So if you work from home, and could use a positive jolt of energy, read this post.

3 Simple Ways to Overcome Surprising Challenges of Working from Home (Copyblogger)

So …

Which of the ideas in these posts will you put to good use immediately?

I’ll be back with a new edition next week.

Keep building.

 

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.

Nathan Rice, the creator of the Genesis Framework, shares his insights on maximizing the power of Genesis for WordPress.

In 2009, Nathan Rice, along with Brian Gardner, released the Genesis Framework for WordPress — fundamentally altering the way themes are designed and implemented on WordPress.

The Genesis Framework continues to evolve and in this episode, we discuss the history of Genesis, what issues to avoid when designing a new WordPress theme and where Genesis is going in 2018.

In this 28 minute episode, Nathan Rice from StudioPress shares his unique insights into the evolution of Genesis and where the framework is going.

Click to subscribe to Sites on Apple Podcasts

Important links from this episode:

• WordPress Plugins developed by StudioPress
• Try StudioPress Sites
• Sites Weekly Newsletter
• Subscribe to Sites on Apple Podcasts
• Connect with Sean on Twitter

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.

Welcome to another edition of Sites Weekly.

This week, we have a special treat: all Copyblogger articles!

I’ve built up a stash of articles from the Copyblogger blog that I haven’t been able to fit in to an issue of Sites Weekly yet. So I decided to put them all in one.

In this week’s edition, you will find links to articles about the following:

• Content. Essential editing advice from a master
• Design. Expert tips for creating an effective visual brand
• Technology. Have you neglected any of these essential security steps?
• Strategy. Is your content marketing strategy on point?
• Bonus. The internet doesnÔÇÖt care about your hopes and dreams

But first …

Last week on Sites

Affiliate marketing is a great way to enhance the income from your site — if you know how to do it right. At StudioPress, we have a lot of experience with affiliates — and have learned the tactics that work and those that donÔÇÖt.

And the affiliates who are successful focus on helping people at different stages of their personal journeys to find solutions to their problems. In this 26-minute episode, Chris Garrett from StudioPress joins the show to share his insights and tactics for successful affiliate marketing.

Listen: [27] How to Be a Successful Affiliate Marketer in the WordPress Ecosystem

And now, on to this week’s links …

Content: Editing tips from a master

In all of my years writing online, one of the greatest resources I’ve ever had is Stefanie Flaxman as an editor.

She excels at her job because she cares deeply about doing good work and because she can simultaneously empathize with both the writer and the reader.

So when Stefanie writes something about editing, I listen. Carefully. She knows what she’s talking about, and she knows which of the lessons from her vast cache of them will be most impactful for the modern content marketer.

If you want to create a more professional online production and deliver the best product to your visitors, pay attention to these 10 tips from Stefanie.

10 Modern Editing Tips for Meticulous Bloggers

Design: Expert tips for creating an effective visual brand

This one is by Rafal Tomal, our VP of Design. Here’s a taste:

“On the internet, your competition is just a few clicks away, so itÔÇÖs really important to have a strong visual presence. You want to capture attention immediately and invite people to engage with your content.

Visual branding alone wonÔÇÖt sell your product or service, but itÔÇÖll help you connect with the right audience on many different levels.”

I should tell you that this post includes many Star Wars examples. Always a winner, especially in this company.

How to Create a Visual Brand and Fight the Dark Forces

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Two of the most important decisions you will make about your WordPress website are your theme and your hosting. Wouldn’t it be great if they worked together to make your website more powerful?

Now they can.

Discover why over 213,675 website owners trust StudioPress.

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Technology: Have you neglected any of these essential security steps?

You know how important website security is.

And with WordPress, the power of the platform is also the reason that security holes can arise and be exploited. While being able to mix different themes and plugins with the content management system provides flexible power, it also increases the potential for malicious access.

So … how can you protect your website from trouble? Here are five important steps you should make sure you take.

5 Steps to Website Security You Can Trust

Strategy: Is your content marketing strategy on point?

This article from Brian Clark kicked off his 2017 year-opening series on creating a winning content marketing strategy. It’s a must-read.

The blog post linked below provides the overview, and then subsequent posts (which Brian links to at the end) dive into each component he outlines.

Read it for the first time to get yourself primed for a successful 2018, or review it as a reminder so that you can reverse course if anything in your content marketing strategy has gotten out of whack.

The Simple 3-Step Process for Creating a Winning Content Marketing Strategy

Bonus article: The internet doesnÔÇÖt care about your hopes and dreams

Wise words from Sonia Simone:

“There is no great spirit of abundance that wants to make you rich. There is only your effort, your strategy, and your willingness to serve your audience.

If you have a solid business model, an engaged audience, a product or service that theyÔÇÖre willing to pay for, and good marketing skills — and if you stick with it long enough ÔÇö you will probably have a healthy business.”

In this blog post, Sonia explains some basic, big picture ideas to keep in mind that will give you a chance to succeed online.

The Internet Is Not Your ATM

So …

Which of the ideas in these posts will you put to good use immediately?

I’ll be back with a new edition next week.

Keep building.

 

This blog was originally posted on Studiopress.com This post is in no way associated with Kembel.ca. For more posts by this author, please click here.