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Are you having technical issues with your WordPress site? Then this podcast episode is for you.

WordPress is a great platform for publishing content online. But sometimes we all run into technical challenges that need our attention.

This episode focuses on helping you address the most common technical issues with WordPress, including 404 errors, SSL certificates, the “white screen of death,” and improving a slow loading site.

In this 23 minute episode, Matt Lawrence from StudioPress discusses how you can address the four most common technical issues with WordPress.

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.

Introducing Academy Pro … the theme for online course creators, membership site owners, and educational content marketers

Academy Pro is the latest premium theme from StudioPress, designed specifically for people in the business of online content and community.

Read on to discover all the features and benefits you get with this theme, and why it will help you grow your business.

The obstacle of hidden value

First, I’ll answer a burning question on many minds:

Why do sites featuring online courses, membership programs, and educational content need a dedicated approach?

The answer is, a lot of the value of those types of websites is hidden.

When you have a free or paid registration or opt-in requirement, a site visitor who is not logged in can’t see everything you offer without taking some form of action first.

These types of sites need to explain all of their hidden value, demonstrate authority, and tease their content — without being off-putting, losing trust, or giving all your exclusive ideas away.

Why Academy Pro theme is the solution for online course creators, membership site owners, and educational content marketers

Yes, it’s quick and easy to customize, as you are increasingly requesting from us … and of course it looks great.

You can rest assured it is well-crafted, search optimized, and secure. You would expect nothing less from StudioPress.

But just looking good, having clean, SEO-friendly code, and being easy to maintain is not sufficient in todayÔÇÖs competitive online world.

More importantly for your business, you’ll efficiently turn visitors into customers with this design that drives action.

The home page was intentionally crafted with persuasion best-practices in mind, gained from our collective decades of experience on the front lines of digital commerce.

It helps you showcase your authority and the benefits of learning from you.

More tools to help you grow your business

Display your course topics, lessons, and educational goals, in an attractive, intuitive way, with dedicated styles and fold-out FAQ sections.

Plus, you will be positioned to get more email opt-ins, so that you can easily build your prospect list with quality subscribers, faster.

We also heard your requests about video, so it’s a snap to show and tell with embedded video right on the home page.

You can upload your video directly, or use any Vimeo or YouTube link, so keeping your video content up to date will fit within your existing workflow — without any additional modification or maintenance help.

Academy Pro is available today.

Go ahead and check out the full demo site right now.

Get the Academy Pro 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. Tips for hosting a successful webinar
• Design. How to customize your admin columns in WordPress
• Technology. Now **some** creators will be able to use YouTube like Snapchat and Instagram
• Strategy. Why multitasking is not your problem (but switch-tasking probably is)
• Bonus. Why you should take the stairs

But first …

Last week on Sites

There is one key ingredient most people overlook when they create their membership sites — an ingredient that is crucial for long-term success.

And in this episode, Chris Lema shares what that ÔÇ£secret ingredientÔÇØ is!

Listen: [26] The Essential Guide to WordPress Membership Plugins from Chris Lema

Have you checked out Authority Pro yet?

Authority Pro is the new theme we released at the end of October. The big idea behind this specific design is to help you put the full extent of your expertise on display.

Learn more and check out the demo here: Authority Pro for WordPress: Demonstrate Your Expertise and Build Trust.

And now, on to this week’s links …

Content: Tips for hosting a successful webinar

From where to host, to when, to how long, and beyond, there are so many questions to answer when it comes to hosting a successful webinar.

This relatively short blog post offers up some useful overview tips that will help you plan a successful webinar — whether its your first or 50th.

7 Ways to Ensure Your Next Webinar is a Success (Crazy Egg)

Design: How to customize your admin columns in WordPress

Have you ever wanted to customize the information that is displayed when you look at the Post Overview page in your WordPress dashboard?

This blog post on Smashing Magazine, which was sponsored by a plugin that helps you do this, shows you how to do it yourself with code.

Customizing Admin Columns In WordPress (Smashing Magazine)

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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: Now **some** creators will be able to use YouTube like Snapchat and Instagram

YouTube is adding a “Reels” feature — essentially its version of Stories on Snapchat and Instagram —
to “introduce a new video format on YouTube that lets creators express themselves and engage fans without having to post a full video.”

Sounds pretty good.

But do you know what’s not good, at least for now? You have to have a certain number of subscribers to use Reels. Hopefully once the initial rollout occurs, YouTube will lower that number so more of us can get our hands on this feature.

YouTube is launching its own take on Stories with a new video format called ÔÇÿReelsÔÇÖ (TechCrunch)

Strategy: Why multitasking is not your problem (but switch-tasking probably is)

We all want to get more done, which is easier said than accomplished in the Age of Distraction.

Loryn Thompson explains why multitasking isn’t the problem it’s often made out to be, and why its cousin switch-tasking probably is. She also offers up a very simple strategy for how to manage your technology so it doesn’t manage you.

WhatÔÇÖs Actually Stunting Your Productivity (ItÔÇÖs Not Multitasking) (Copyblogger)

Bonus article: Why you should take the stairs

This short diddy from Bernadette Jiwa will take you less than 60 seconds to read. But if you internalize the message, its benefits could last a lifetime.

The False Promise Of Shortcuts (Bernadette Jiwa)

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.

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 — seeing the tactics that work and those that don’t.

And the affiliates that are successful focus on helping people at different stages of their personal journey 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.

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. Why you need a cohesive approach to succeed in digital marketing
• Design. Do you still believe any of these five myths about mobile interfaces?
• Technology. Tutorial by Chris Brogan shows you how to set up your website quickly (mistakes and all)
• Strategy. Are you making any of these 10 common WordPress mistakes?
• Bonus. Is the growth of podcasting the new “Golden Age of radio?”

But first …

Last week on Sites

If you use WordPress, then you’re probably familiar with the extremely popular WordPress SEO by Yoast. More than 7.5 million WordPress sites trust this plugin to help manage their on-site SEO.

But for all that Joost and his team have accomplished, there is much more coming from them — and this interview provides an insider’s view of what is to come.

Listen: [25] An Interview with @Yoast on the Future of WordPress SEO

And now, on to this week’s links …

Content: Why you need a cohesive approach to succeed in digital marketing

“If you want to achieve online success, aligning your SEO and content marketing strategies is crucial.”

That is a quote from Loren Baker in the blog post below, which recaps a webinar he moderated on how companies can get their SEO and content teams to work together.

One of the key takeaways is that “you donÔÇÖt have to create more content, you just have to create better content. Better content is focused and relevant to your end users.” Learn the other takeaways, and watch the webinar, here:

How to Combine SEO & Content for Bigger Wins (Search Engine Journal)

Design: Do you still believe any of these five myths about mobile interfaces?

Several of the myths dispelled in this post were ones I more or less assumed to be true.

For example, many mobile websites or apps would be smart to actually embrace complexity rather than avoid it.

“The point is more that mobile users don’t want a dumbed-down version of a website. People simply need complexity presented in a way that’s uncomplicated. It all boils down to giving a good user experience.”

This is a long but useful read. Check it out, and make sure you aren’t assuming something about your mobile visitors that you shouldn’t be.

Mobile Interface Myths You Should Throw Out The Window (Smashing Magazine)

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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: Tutorial by Chris Brogan shows you how to set up your website quickly (mistakes and all)

Well, well … this was a fun blog post to come across in feedly. And obviously it’s a perfect fit for the Technology section of a curated email newsletter brought to you by StudioPress Sites.

Watch Chris Brogan as he walks you through how to set up a site with StudioPress sites. It’s an easy-to-consume and understand video, and will show you the steps you need to take to get started.

Set Up a Website Quickly with StudioPress Sites (ChrisBrogan.com)

Strategy: Are you making any of these 10 common WordPress mistakes?

Some of these mistakes are quite basic, and you likely already avoid them or at least know that you should. And in fact, I think I’ve covered everything on this list in one episode or another of the Sites podcast.

Still, I’m linking to this article just to make sure — because all of the mistakes mentioned are important to avoid.

And you should pay special attention to #10. You’ll find the antidote to that one right here.

10 Common WordPress Mistakes You Really Need to Fix! (Designbeep)

Bonus article: Is the growth of podcasting the new “Golden Age of radio?”

Podcasting continues to grow, both in terms of the number of new shows being released and, importantly, the number of companies taking podcasts seriously as a marketing channel worth investing in.

This blog post from MarTech Today discusses why the outlook for podcasting’s future remains so positive.

Listen up: The state of podcasting in marketing (MarTech Today)

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.

Chris Lema shares his insights and ideas on the best way to leverage membership plugins on WordPress.

Creating successful membership sites takes work – from picking the right WordPress plugins to how you reduce the number of people leaving after buying.

But there is one key ingredient most people overlook when they create their membership site — an ingredient that is crucial for long-term success.

And in this episode, Chris Lema shares what that “secret ingredient” is!

In this 24-minute episode, Sean Jackson interviews Chris Lema to discuss his views on membership plugins for WordPress and the one thing that can make a membership site a success.

Click to subscribe to Sites on Apple Podcasts

Important links from this episode:

• The definitive guide for Membership Plugin Reviews for WordPress
• 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:

• Bonus. The truth about net neutrality is not that complicated
• Content. What do you do when you don’t know what to write?
• Design. A useful tool for cleaning HTML code
• Technology. Are your email lists and subscribers protected?
• Strategy. Guidance on how to pick the best domain name (from folks who really know)

But first, we are going to kick off this week’s newsletter with a reminder about our huge Black Friday sale currently going on …

This year’s Black Friday discount is active!

And it’s massive:

• For new customers: 25% off all themes at StudioPress
• For existing customers: 50% off all themes at StudioPress

Click here to shop for themes and save.

Last week on Sites

In this 28-minute episode, Sean Jackson interviewed Brian Gardner — the creator of StudioPress — to discuss his views on design and where StudioPress development is heading.

Listen: [24] Brian Gardner on the Future of StudioPress

And now, on to this week’s links, with a switch in order. We’re starting with the bonus link this week, because it deals with an issue of great importance to everyone, especially those of us who create content and make a living from the web.

Bonus article: The truth about net neutrality is not that complicated

Seth Godin bottoms-lines the net neutrality issue for us in a recent blog post:

“If net neutrality in the US is taken away, everyone will pay more, service will cease to be universal, the poor will lose something they need more than ever, and some lobbyists will be very happy.”

Seth’s post about the topic includes additional insight, a link you should read with a more expansive history of the net neutrality issue, and a call to action for how you can make your voice heard.

We’re all in this together. Let’s do what we can to keep the web open and fair. I just clicked the link in the blog post and left messages for both of my senators. I hope you’ll do the same.

The simple truth about net neutrality (Seth’s Blog)

Content: What do you do when you don’t know what to write?

I always get excited when Sonia’s editorial roundtable emails pop up in my inbox. And this one was especially fun to contribute to.

Everyone who creates content, especially written content, deals with intermittent feelings of a creative crunch. What should I write next?

What separates professionals from amateurs is the ability to power through such instances and find the next useful idea to write about, even if it may not be the transcendent, world-altering idea that we sometimes fool ourselves into thinking needs to be at the heart of every blog post.

How to Find a Juicy Writing Idea When Your Creative Well Has Run Dry (Copyblogger)

Design: A useful tool for cleaning HTML code

I’m nothing close to a developer, but I still often find myself needing to copy/paste HTML code from one source into a new place. I’m guessing you probably do too, at least from time to time.

One common place where this happens for me is copying/pasting text from online newspaper articles. It will often include extraneous code that I don’t need — and can cause weird formatting issues if I don’t remove it.

Well, here is a simple tool that will help you remove all the nonsense and get just the HTML code you want. Add this to your web design bookmarks list.

Clean Messy HTML Codes with HTML Washer (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: Are your email lists and subscribers protected?

I have to admit, this isn’t something I’ve thought a lot about. So I’m glad I stumbled upon this article, which includes fives best practices to ensure email security.

Here is one that stuck out to me: “Develop an emergency plan in case your subscribers become victim to a cybercriminal spoofing your brand. DonÔÇÖt wait until it happens; get ahead of the situation to ensure brand reputation and sensitive data are protected.”

Email security: What marketers need to know (MarTech Today)

Strategy: Guidance on how to pick the best domain name (from folks who really know)

Choosing a domain can be fraught with disappointment (when the domain you really want is taken), indecision (when you don’t know whether to err on the side of keyword specificity or catchy/clever branding), and even frustration (when you’re ready to start posting content, but you can’t get past the part of choosing your dadgum domain!).

So let the grizzled veterans at ProBlogger guide you with their podcast episode on how to choose a domain for your blog. (Note: If you prefer reading, it includes links and a transcript.)

4 Things to Consider When Choosing a Domain Name for Your Blog (ProBlogger)

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.

Joost de Valk — the creator of WordPress SEO by Yoast — joins us for an in-depth discussion on the future of WordPress SEO.

If you are using WordPress, then you are probably familiar with the extremely popular WordPress SEO by Yoast. More than 7.5 million WordPress sites trust this plugin to help manage their on-site SEO.

But for all that Joost and his team have accomplished, there is much more coming from them — and this interview provides an insiders view of what is to come.

In this 21 minute episode, Sean Jackson interviews Joost de Valk — the creator of WordPress SEO — to discuss his views on the state of WordPress SEO and its future.

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. Authority or vulnerability … or both?
• Design. Learn the three key design factors for an effective business website
• Technology. Should you consider Facebook Messenger for your website?
• Strategy. Are you creating a loyal group of “insiders?”
• Bonus. Are you in touch with the pain your product or service helps release?

But first …

Last week on Sites

Last week, Sean Jackson (creator of the patented SEO tool Scribe) joined me to discuss SEO. We reflected on the previous week’s episode about the importance of site speed, discussed the emerging importance of preparing your content for voice search, and then delivered some important news about the future of this podcast.

Listen: [23] WhatÔÇÖs New in SEO? (And WhatÔÇÖs the Future of This Podcast?)

Want a sneak peek?

In case you missed it, here’s a sneak peek at this year’s Black Friday promotion, which is coming up next week.

Genesis tips from Brian Gardner

Once in a while you might have the need to put major emphasis on some content on your website. Perhaps itÔÇÖs an alert message, a caution message, or even a warning message. Lucky for you, itÔÇÖs super easy, and Brian shows you how to do it in this post.

Read: How to Add Custom Entry Message Boxes to Your Site

And now, on to this week’s links …

Content: Authority or vulnerability … or both?

You don’t need me to tell you about the importance of authority. We’ve been talking about authority within the Rainmaker Digital/Copyblogger realm for many years now. And nothing’s changed there.

But there is something else that is also just as important: vulnerability. And you don’t need to sacrifice one for the other.

As Sonia Simone explains:

“Smart writers knew better than to fall for false dichotomies. For skillful writers, the combination of those two — authority and vulnerability — has become the most effective voice on the web.”

Read this article to discover how you can combine the two for better content.

The Most Powerful Writing Voice for 21st-Century Content (Copyblogger)

Design: Learn the three key design factors for an effective business website

One of the tricky elements of designing a website is making it interesting and attention-grabbing without making it overly complex or bloated with performance-sapping code and scripts.

“… A website is only as good as its design. And many small business owners go for designs with a lot of extras and embellishments that might seem like a good idea at the time, but ultimately can be simply distracting or, even worse, counterproductive.”

This article from Design Beep explains three key factors for an effective business website.

The Most Important Factors to Consider When Designing a Business Website (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.

---

Technology: Should you consider Facebook Messenger for your website?

Chatting with visitors who are on your website is growing in prominence, and one of the tools website owners will now be using to do this is … of course … Facebook.

Here is the most important element that version 2.2 of Facebook’s Messenger Platform includes:

“MessengerÔÇÖs customer chat plugin allows businesses to carry on conversations with customers between their website and Facebook Messenger.”

Right now you can only join the waiting list, but this is worth keeping an eye on.

Facebook Introduces Messenger Chat Plugin for Business Websites (Search Engine Journal)

Strategy: Are you creating a loyal group of “insiders?”

Is it time to stop worrying so much about bringing new people into the top of your funnel, and instead focus on cultivating better relationships, loyalty, and enthusiasm with the people who already know you? It might be.

As David Meerman Scott explains, “YouÔÇÖre either a part of the group of insiders who know the place or youÔÇÖre not. And it works.”

This is a short read in which David shares the story of a restaurant in Cairo that does this very well.

Snubbing Marketing To Build Fans And Grow Business (Web Ink Now)

Bonus article: Are you in touch with the pain your product or service helps release?

As Margaret Magnarelli explains, three fundamentally human qualities are:

• We like to be heard.
• We want to be understood.
• We seek a release from our pain.

And there’s a lesson here for anyone marketing a product or service. Read this article to learn it.

Why Understanding Pain Is the Key to Customer-Centric Marketing (The Content Strategist)

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.

StudioPress has come a long way, and you won’t believe what is coming next.

StudioPress has become the dominant theme and design framework in WordPress, powering almost 10% of all WordPress sites on the web.

But for all its accomplishments, the team behind StudioPress are not standing still.

In this 28 minute episode, Sean Jackson interviews Brian Gardner – the creator of StudioPress – to discuss his views on design and where StudioPress development is heading.

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.