Free Goods Of The Week – Sep. 02
September 3, 2024
Free Goods Of The Week – Sep. 09
September 10, 2024
Valuable Tips | Interesting Articles This Week
Practical approaches for more effective teamwork
Give credit, take responsibility Get aligned on timeframes Insist on a spec, write one, improve it Agree on a budget Keep a calendar Don’t hold a grudge Speak up clearly and generously Show your work Share your fears Make promises and keep them Do the reading Talk about people only when they’re in the room Eagerly find someone more skilled than you to do a given piece of work Don’t hoard informat
WordCamp US 2024: Oregon-a See You There?
WordCamp US 2024 rounds out this year’s trio of flagship WordCamps. Starting September 17, open source and WordPress professionals from around the world will touch down in Portland, Oregon, for four days of learning, connecting, and collaborating. There’s even more packed into the conference schedule this year, with the collaborative spirit of Contributor Day and the introduction of Showcase Day
14+ Best Email Automation Tools for Your Business (Expert Pick)
We’ve run online businesses and websites for years, so we know how long it can take to write emails to customers, leads, and subscribers. As a business owner, your time is valuable. You need to focus on growing your business, not just writing emails. Luckily, email automation tools can help you do that. That being said, there are so many tools out there that it’s hard to know which one to choose.
Automattic Wants to Migrate 500+ Million Tumblr Blogs to WordPress
If you like ambitious projects, I think this news tidbit will be right up your alley. In late August, Matt Mullenweg and Automattic announced plans to migrate all of the existing Tumblr websites to WordPress. Given that Tumblr hosts more than half a billion blogs (yes – that’s a “B”), I think this might just be one of the largest migration projects ever undertaken.
How to Plan Your Facebook Ads Budget (And Make The Biggest Impact)
If budgeting stresses you out, we have a lot in common, my friend. Whether it’s a monthly entertainment budget or a Facebook Ads budget, ensuring you allocate only what you can afford and get the most for your money is a lot of pressure. Spending recklessly can have long-term consequences on a business’ profitability. But thankfully, Facebook Advertising has a pretty good reputation for return wh
How HubSpot Media’s Head of Audience Development & Distribution Breaks the Marketing Mold
It’s been an interesting year in the marketing world. Advancements in AI and constant changes in Google’s algorithm have all but turned the industry on its head. And as the marketing industry continues to evolve rapidly, marketers like HubSpot’s Head of Audience Development and Distribution, Dréa Hudson, are not only keeping up with the changing tides but also thinking far enough outside the box
AI Operations: Using AI to Scale Your Work
Are you looking to streamline your business processes with AI? Want to learn how to create AI playbooks that can transform your operations to be more efficient? In this article, we explore how to use AI to scale your work. Why AI Operations Matter for Marketers AI (artificial intelligence) operations, or AI ops, refers to […]
WP Briefing: Episode 85: WordPress in Education
Discover why WordPress is becoming a cornerstone in student education. In this episode of WordPress Briefing, host Josepha Haden Chomphosy explores the vital role of WordPress in the school curriculum and how it equips students with essential skills for thriving in their future careers. Credits Host: Josepha Haden Chomphosy Editor: Dustin Hartzler Logo: Javier Arce Production: Brett McSherry Song
WordPress SEO Checker – How to Do Real Time Content Analysis
You don’t have to wait until your posts are published before you check them for SEO. Real time content analysis tools will show you areas where you can optimize your articles while you are writing them. Content analysis works hand in hand with SEO. The first is like inspecting a car to see if it runs smoothly, while the second is like giving it a tune-up. In our experience with optimizing WordPress
Solo mediocrity is rampant, of course. We know that toasting the bread before making the sandwich makes it more delicious, but in service of convenience and speed, we skip a step. It becomes a conspiracy when more than one of us is involved. The freelancer who offers cheap and ordinary work finds customers who willingly engage with them. The small company that gets worn down by the constant press
Here’s a useful habit that’s more than a hack… The next time things are going well, when a project is about to launch, when a meeting has been successful, when the sun is shining… take your phone and go for a walk. Hit record on an audio app and make a twenty-minute audiobook. Talk about what you know, what you see, what you hope for. Talk about the change you seek to make and how you’re going to
Without salt, human beings don’t survive long. But it’s possible to eat for a month without tasting an herb. The food will sustain you. Herbs are an expensive non-obvious addition, while also being a bargain if the goal is to create delight, interest or satisfaction. As we digitize our interactions, the first thing to go are the herbs. We strip away anything that’s not obviously functional.
WordPress Vulnerability & Patch Roundup August 2024
Vulnerability reports and responsible disclosures are essential for website security awareness and education. Automated attacks targeting known software vulnerabilities are one of the leading causes of website compromises. To help educate website owners about potential threats to their environments, we’ve compiled a list of important security updates and vulnerability patches for the WordPress ec
WordCamp US 2024 Schedule Released: Get Ready for the Event!
If you’re attending WordCamp US 2024 in person or online, I have great news! In late August, we got our first look at the full lineup and schedule for this year’s event, which will be held in Portland, Oregon from September 17-20.
100+ Content Marketing Trends for 2024 — What’s Hot and What’s Not
Do you find yourself reading and watching content about your next potential purchase before actually buying it? This is just one of the many ways content marketing has shaped our daily lives. From social media and podcasts to SEO and video marketing, content marketing is a quickly changing landscape. Even after years of being in the game, there’s always something new for us to learn, and at times
How to Set (Crushable) Marketing Goals, According to HubSpot Pros
Hey, marketers. Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by big, lofty marketing goals with little to no resources to execute them. ?? *raises both hands* ?? In an ideal world, we’d have endless budgets and perfect conditions to work with. Like stable SERPs and simple social media algorithms. Or consumers who laugh at all of our marketing jokes. While that’s not (always) the case,
When a non-expert brings a strong point of view to a complex discussion, the words might not mean what they seem to mean. What might be being said is, “I’m worried. I’m afraid. I don’t understand. I am looking for solace.” Answering emotional word salad with logical insight doesn’t do anything at all for these feelings. If the argument you’re hearing isn’t based on what we know to be true, and do
As the title of this article says, I have no formal development experience. Prior to taking this plunge into building my first plugin, the most coding I was capable of, was fumbling my way through some HTML and CSS. But! I was damn enthusiastic about building a WordPress plugin, so I decided to see if all the fear mongering about AI replacing junior developers had any merit.
7 Ways to Use AI for A/B Testing: An In-Depth Guide [+ Expert Tips]
Experimentation is central to making evidence-based decisions, and this is where A/B testing has always shined. But with the advent of AI, we now have tools for AI A/B testing, making experimentation smarter, faster, and infinitely more manageable. AI A/B testing gets you real-time reports and lets you test multiple hypotheses in a few clicks. To explore the magic that AI brings to A/B testing,
Gen Z, AI, and the Power of Creator Marketing
As AI reshapes marketing, the next generation of decision-makers is placing more trust in creators than in brands. Here’s how to use creator marketing strategies to keep your business relevant. Marketing strategies evolve with the technological shifts of each era, continuously redefining how businesses connect with consumers. In the early days of the internet, outbound marketing tactics like bill
How to Sell Event Tickets Using WordPress (4 Easy Methods)
Selling event tickets online is vital to promoting and managing events. Luckily, WordPress is a powerful platform that offers you the flexibility and customization features to sell tickets easily. Using different plugins, you can offer users a smooth ticket booking and purchasing process. That said, many business owners don’t know which plugin is best for different situations. Luckily, we’ve tested
4 Easy Ways to Make Better Instagram Reels
Are you struggling to make Reels? Does your video content strategy need to change? In this article, we’ll explore four easy ways to make better Instagram Reels. Why Instagram Reels Matter Instagram Reels have become an important tool for businesses and creators to reach new audiences. However, many people struggle to create engaging Reel content. […]
Pharmacists used to mix chemicals by hand to create prescriptions. Opticians used to grind lenses from scratch. Lawyers used to start with an empty page. Graphic designers needed to know how to draw. All of these jobs are still important. None of them are the same as they were thirty years ago. In your work, are you fighting the change or leading it? It’s hard to see us going back.
12 Best Practices to Secure Your WordPress Login Page
WordPress powers a significant portion of websites on the internet. With this popularity comes the need for strict security measures, especially for the login page. These entry points are prime targets for hackers and malicious actors. By implementing proper security practices outlined in this guide, you can maintain a secure WordPress login and protect your site from unauthorized access
How to Create a WordPress Subscription Website
Learn how to create a WordPress subscription website to monetize your content. This guide covers essential steps, from plugin selection to payment setup, using the Paid Member Subscriptions plugin.
Building and Maintaining a Secure WooCommerce Store
Learn essential steps to secure your WooCommerce store. From setup to staff training, protect your business and customer data effectively.
How Strong SEO Strategies Will Boost Your Lead conversion
Whether you work at an agency or you’re managing a marketing budget in-house, you’ve probably had the classic debate before: do you focus on organic lead cultivation through SEO or try to generate as many leads as possible with aggressive tactics right now? I won’t pretend to be impartial: When you have the choice, favoring SEO is almost always the better investment. This isn’t an unfounded hunch
How to Use AI for Technical SEO, Straight from HubSpot’s Tech SEO Team
HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing Report found that marketers save around 2.5 hours per day with AI. Further, 60% of marketers see AI tools as helpful assistants in their jobs. When it comes to technical SEO and AI, specifically, I set out to answer three burning questions: Are SEO folks using AI? If so, how? And is it actually worth it? To find answers, I contacted members of HubSpot’s technical
Beginner’s Guide to Social Commerce for WordPress Users
One of the questions we often receive from our readers is how to use social media for eCommerce effectively. Over the years, we’ve built over 2 million followers on various social media channels for WPBeginner. Across our partner brands, we also sell software that is used on over 25 million websites. A big lesson we have learned is that your social media followers’ expectations of you are different.
Inclusion as a Customer Acquisition Strategy (+ Examples)
Welcome to Creator Columns , where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better. I’m the founder of an inclusive marketing strategy consultancy . As I’ve worked with clients of various sizes across industries over the years, I’ve observed that many marketers and business leaders still don’t fully understand the business benefit of inclusive marketing.
(just by leaving it) Moving into your kid’s college dorm isn’t going to make the experience better for anyone. A smart founder leaves her company in a moment when it actually does better without her. The expectation that secession is failure causes a lot of damage. If you really care about the mission, it might be better to change the system in a way that allows it to thrive.
YouTube growth strategies continue to be a hot topic among marketers. In fact, most marketers plan to increase their YouTube budgets this year and say the platform has the highest growth potential in 2024. Anytime you’re talking about YouTube growth (and I talk about growth a lot as the founder of Thompson Media Group ), Jimmy Donaldson’s Mr. Beast channel is high on the list. It’s easy to unders
Welcome to Creator Columns , where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better. It’s the age of AI, and our job as marketers is to keep up. My team at Foundation Marketing recently conducted an AI Marketing study surveying hundreds of marketers, and more than 84% of all leaders, managers, SEO experts, and specialists confirmed that they used AI in the
The Losing Test That Led to 4% More Leads (We Took the L so You Don’t Have To)
Today, I’ve got a special treat for you, something most companies won’t share: a peek at one of our losses. A “best practice” that failed so hard we had to pause part of the test early. And, if I can wax clickbait-y for a moment, it’s a tactic you may be using in your calls-to-action as we speak. So come for the trainwreck, but stick around for the lesson, because what we learned led to 4% more l
WordPress News Aug 2024: AI Features, New Default Theme & More
In August, we witnessed exciting developments in the WordPress world. From powerful new AI tools to the preview of the Twenty Twenty-Five theme, there’s a lot to explore. In this issue, we will cover the latest features from popular WordPress plugins, plus a sneak peek at the new default WordPress theme. We also look at industry changes, including Instagram’s API update and more. Now, let’s take
Custom GPTs for Marketers: Creating a Virtual Team
Wish you had a team of experts available whenever you needed them? Wondering how to build AI assistants to help you speed your work? In this article, we explore how to use custom GPTs in marketing and in business. What Are Custom GPTs? Staying ahead of the curve is crucial in today’s fast-paced marketing world. […]
It’s so tempting to write for everyone. But everyone isn’t going to read your work, someone is. Can you tell me who? Precisely? What did they believe before they encountered your work? What do they want, what do they fear? What has moved them to action in the past? Name the people you’re writing for. Ignore everyone else.
Should You Develop a Microsite for SEO? Learn Why and How
If you’re searching for Nike shoes, you might go to Nike.com and browse. But what if you want to know more about Nike as a company? Say you wanted to research their sustainability commitments and practices before you buy your new kicks. In that case, you can visit nike.com/sustainability and find a whole mini-website dedicated to everything Nike and eco-friendly. Nike’s sustainability hub is a gr
You open your computer on a Monday morning, and you have a few Slack messages about a campaign you’re launching on Tuesday. After you‘ve answered those, you check your inbox and see you’ve been tagged in some slides for that same campaign. Once you’re done responding, you hop on a Zoom call to chat with stakeholders about last-minute tasks that need to be completed for launch. A few of the stakeh
Contact Form 7 vs. WPForms: The Best Option for WordPress
Many of our readers ask us if we recommend WPForms, Contact Form 7, or another WordPress form builder plugin. We’ve used both of these contact form plugins over the years, so we know that it can be tricky to pick the right option for your website. While we prefer WPForms because it has an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and thousands of templates to choose from, you may still be wondering whether
The steep part of the mountain
The end of the trail is usually difficult, but without the long and winding approach, there isn’t much of a mountain. The greatest hits reel and the stunning photographs leave out most of the hard work. There’s a lot to be said for showing up, one foot in front of the other. In fact, those are the only people who make it to the steep part in the first place.
It often surprises people to learn just how unfunny making comedy can be. I worked with this week’s master of marketing some years ago out of The Onion’s HQ, so we’ve both been behind the scenes. A business is still a business, and marketing is still marketing. Which isn’t to say it can’t be a helluva lot of fun. I talked to Hassan S. Ali , the creative director of brand at Hootsuite , where he d
Better Compression with Brotli
Pssst… have you noticed your site loading a bit faster than usual? It’s not your imagination! We’re happy to let you know that we’ve rolled out Brotli to all of your WPMU DEV hosted sites, giving you on average 11.62% better compression than before (and faster sites as a result!) It’s a change that’ll make a big difference particularly if your website includes lots of data, such as images, videos
Interesting Articles This Week
