Automated website features are a hot topic, and that includes chatbots. One of your clients’ biggest concerns will be how to balance their customer support requirements against the need to develop their businesses and product lines. When it comes to solving this dilemma, automation is an ideal solution. While there are plenty of other uses, chatbots are perfect for automating customer support channels. In fact, we’d say this is a primary desire for many clients. That means you’ll need to get up to speed with how to create and maintain chatbots on the websites you build. In this post, we’ll […]

Since its inception, WordPress has grown from a blogging platform into a CMS that powers some of the biggest websites in the world. This free White Paper looks at how you can use WordPress to power your large-scale, professional site. Download Free White Paper Here Learn about the ease of use, customizability, and security of using WordPress to power your professional website.

An oft-stated goal of modern web design is to empower the client, by giving them the skills and tools they need to run their website. However, it’s logical to assume that this isn’t a good thing all of the time. After all, too much self-sufficiency might damage your earning potential. In reality, the answer to whether you should encourage self-sufficiency is more complex than a simple “Yes” or “No”. It can be the case that giving a client free rein actually keeps them on the books while trying to handle every need they have could result in driving them away. The […]

Learning to create a Gutenberg block is a good future investment. No matter where you fall on the Gutenberg debate, the block editor is here to stay. Even if you have reverted back to the classic editor, chances are good that at some point in the next few years you will also start creating web pages in the form of blocks. More and more themes, like Twenty Nineteen, will take advantage of what the new WordPress editor has to offer. Plus, soon you will also use blocks in other parts of WordPress like the navigation menu or widgets. Therefore, you […]

There’s been enough talk lately about how to create content within WordPress that it warrants further attention. While there are technically still the same number of available options – i.e., the native editor or a third-party page builder plugin – choosing between them is causing confusion thanks to the new Block Editor. In fact, the decision between the two is often simple. While the Block Editor and your favorite page builder may look similar on the surface, there are plenty of inherent differences. This means if you take the time to compare them directly and bring your client’s needs into play, choosing […]

The WordPress community is many things, but one’s for certain – there’s never a lack of productivity. The past 12 months are the perfect example. During that time we’ve seen the release of WordPress 5.0, the introduction of the Block Editor, and much more. However, the machine never stops running. Matt Mullenweg’s most recent State of the Word address introduced nine priorities for the platform throughout 2019. Understanding what these are offers a glimpse into the future development of WordPress. In this post, we’ll look a closely at Matt Mullenweg’s “9 Projects for 2019”, and discuss how they might affect you […]

WordPress powers over 30% of all websites on the Internet. But affiliate sites? It’s gotta be closer to 100%. Part of the reason is that it’s open source, allowing almost anyone, anywhere to make sure its code is firing on all cylinders. However, there are another 54,000 reasons WordPress is the best blogging platform. That’s the number of plugins there are in the directory, all offering an endless number of customizations for free (or extremely cheap compared to hiring your own developer). Not only do these plugins help you get more out of your affiliate site, but they also help […]

When it comes to blogging and content marketing, most people focus their efforts on the production side. While content creation matters, getting it in front of other people is just as important (if not more). Derek Halpern actually does an 80/20 split, with the majority of time spent on content promotion. The Internet is a crowded place and it’s not easy to stand out. Yet, the greatest blog post ever written is not going to do you any good if you can’t get anyone to read it. Even with high-quality content, “build it and they will come” only works to […]

This past Valentine’s Day, millions of friendly and romantic email messages were exchanged around the world. Unfortunately, some of them were exploited by cybercrime groups aiming to infect personal computing devices and networks with GandCrab ransomware. Information security researchers at Mimecast Threat Labs noticed a considerable uptick of activity in the world of Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), a cybercrime business model that has been on the rise for nearly a year. More interesting, perhaps, are emerging details surrounding this threat. eMafioso? The rise of RaaS is one of various turning points in the cybercrime world, which is starting to show parallels with […]

When you first started a blog you may not have realized how hard it would be to get traffic. Google’s search results page is a busy location with ads, carousels, knowledge panels, and featured snippets all working to push results down the page. Unlike the rest, featured snippets are available to any site with great content and structure, and you can use them to get above the fold and claim the top spot in search results. We’re going to dive into featured snippets and why you need them. We’ll share some tactics you can use to find featured snippet opportunities. […]