I went from marketing manager to CMO in four years. It was fast. It was exciting. And, honestly, it was a little painful. I lost sleep. I lost hair. I made a lot of mistakes and learned most of what I know now the hard way. What I quickly realized is this: Being a great marketer is not the same as being a great marketing leader. Especially in a high-growth environment.

Traditional SEO is fading. AI-generated answers and “zero-click” search results are rewriting how users find information, and your product could be getting lost in the shuffle. In this article, we unpack how AI is changing search, why old SEO strategies no longer work, and how your WordPress business can stay visible by leaning into information gain, expert-driven content, and fresh tactics that

It doesn’t care whether you’re excited or filled with trepidation. It arrives, regardless. What an opportunity. Or a threat. Up to us.

In today’s competitive business environment, the key to increasing a company’s profitability isn’t just about cutting costs or pushing longer hours—it’s about investing in people. Studies across various industries have confirmed a simple but powerful truth: happy employees are more productive employees. That’s where Teamupp comes in. Our innovative mobile application is designed to improve employ

In an hour, ChatGPT-o3 can make you dozens of high-level marketing graphics — the kinds of campaigns that would take some teams weeks to complete . And the graphics aren’t just a first draft starting point. They’re final assets ready to run. I tested this out on a recent flight and managed to create an entire 2025 marketing campaign in about an hour. Brainstorming. Prompt writing.

For any business, a high-performance website isn’t just a choice anymore. It’s a must. Let alone maintaining a stunning online presence, a website is crucial for attracting potential customers. The same goes if you have a security company. A fast-paced and responsive website can give your security business an extra edge, guiding them to explore […] Read More…

I’ve helped WordPress users navigate a lot of different privacy laws, but Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) still surprises many website owners. If your site collects personal information from people in Saudi Arabia (and it probably does), then PDPL compliance isn’t optional. Contact forms, newsletter signups, user accounts, blog comments —

Not smart is a passive act, remedied with learning, experience and thought. Stupid is active, the work of someone who should have or could have known better and decided to do something selfish, impulsive or dangerous anyway. The more experience, assets and privilege we have, the less excusable it is to do stupid things. And at the same time, the more useful it is to announce that we’re not smart

Everything flows from the strategic decisions we make early in the process: Choose your landlord. The rent is due every month. The place we set up (whether it’s a retail storefront, a social media platform or a warehouse) determines our cost structure, our deal flow and the space we have to work with. Choose your investors. They decide the scale of the resources we have to invest, the timeframe

“If it breaks, we’ll know how to fix it.” Old cars had an oil light, and that was about it. Often, we build things hoping they’ll work. But complex systems are more resilient when we build in the diagnostics for failure from the start. A multi-unit retail chain, a medical practice, a school–they need a dashboard and process for finding and fixing things before the entire enterprise fails.

WordPress.com offers Business and Commerce premium plans, which cater to different needs. In this WordPress.com review, we’ll help you decide if these plans will be the right fit for your WordPress site or WooCommerce store!

Today, WPBeginner officially turns 16 years old! If WPBeginner was a kid, it would be old enough to drive in Florida. Crazy how time flies. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that what started as a simple WordPress resource site has grown into such an incredible community of website owners, bloggers, developers, and entrepreneurs from all around the world. YOU continue to be the heart and soul of

Freedom, liberty and independence are human rights. But they depend on responsibility. Responsibility to others, to our future, to the community. Responsibility for our actions and our choices. The only way to earn our independence is to keep the promises we’ve made. Can we become the present that the future will thank us for?

As many of my readers get ready for a long weekend, here are two of my books now on discount at Amazon–for another few days. This is Strategy is 90% off on the Kindle. $3! And This is Marketing is discounted as well. If you’ve read or listened to either one, here’s a new AI tool I just built as a free bonus.

Is billboard advertising still relevant today? Yes, all because of costly signaling. This behavioral science principle states that expensive signals indicate higher quality or status. Although a broader concept about human behavior, costly signaling absolutely applies to advertising. What, after all, is the value of a social media ad? While highly effective, social ads are cheap, so everyone can

Are you struggling to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace? Wondering how to leverage your expertise to generate more leads and sales for your business? In this article, you’ll discover how to build and monetize a personal brand that creates exposure, generates qualified leads, and drives sales through authentic relationship building. Why Personal Brand […] The post appeared first on

Stick around ‘til the end for a pug in a rug… In today’s edition: Why the world’s biggest physics lab made the leap to WordPress. You can now customize your “Next” button. Use this power wisely. Accessibility docs are finally getting the overhaul they deserve, and you can help! Hot Off The Presses: What’s New? “JSON? I don’t know him too well, but he seems like a nice guy.”

A friend sorts his records in an interesting way: not by name or genre, but by which musicians are friends with each other. That means some shelves are very crowded, and I’m imagining a few notorious artists have plenty of room all to themselves. It’s possible that we sort the folks in our lives this way as well. The people who can be counted on, who are part of a larger circle, who are dynamic o

Source When you’re a blogger, a marketer, a freelancer, or you’re a creative building your own business, there’s nothing more frustrating than chaos behind the scenes. When you know that you want to focus on the work you love to do, knowing that all the other areas of the business need your time and attention can be draining. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

During our investigation of an SEO spam infection (spam content designed to manipulate search engine results), we discovered a nicely crafted plugin that named itself after the infected domain, helping it evade detection. While this tactic was simple, it easily blended in with other legitimate plugins, making it harder to spot during the troubleshooting process. The plugin was designed to appear

A few days ago, Jane was browsing for new sunglasses. Before she knew it, every site she visited was showing her relevant ads. It wasn’t magic. Just algorithms working with behavioral data. But data collection is no longer something we can do in the background. With rising privacy concerns, businesses must now lean on zero-party data. And what better channel to invest in privacy-first

AI voice technology has been moving fast for a while now. But recently, it feels like we‘ve shifted into a completely different gear. We’re not just talking about smoother narration or cleaner text-to-speech anymore. These tools are starting to sound like actual people, with emotions, personalities, and conversational quirks that can genuinely fool you. I wanted to see how far things had come, so

I still remember the first time one of my articles appeared in the top 3 search results, but Google’s AI Overview credited someone else. The frustrating part? The information came directly from my post. ? That moment really opened my eyes. That’s why I’ve spent the last several months studying how AI search tools like Google’s AI Overview, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude pull information.

Typesetters did not like the laser printer. Wedding photographers still hate the iphone. And some musicians are outraged that AI is now making mediocre pop music. One group of esteemed authors is demanding that book publishers refuse to use AI in designing book covers, recording audiobooks or a range of other tasks. As always, this isn’t going to work very well.

Are you overwhelmed by the endless tasks that drain your productivity? Wondering how to break free from the time-consuming, busy work that keeps you from focusing on what truly matters? In this article, you’ll discover how to leverage ChatGPT as your ultimate productivity partner and regain precious hours in your workday through strategic AI assistance. […]

Earlier this year, I was handed an AI-generated content project with a deceptively simple goal: adapt email messages for international audiences. This wasn’t my first time navigating global nuance. With an MBA in International Business and experience working on a global consulting project in Portugal, I’d already seen how messages land differently depending on culture, tone, and language.

A sea slug sees far more colors than you do, and you probably see more than a profoundly color-blind person. Who’s right? We each carry our own version of reality, our own story about what happened, what’s around us and how things work. Our chosen reality serves two useful purposes: First, it binds us to the others in our circle. If you seek to communicate, speaking Esperanto in Nashville isn’t

Stick around ‘til the end for a guy whose sense of humor speaks louder than words. In today’s edition: FAIR play? The WordPress decentralized mirrorverse is here. PayU plugin left the door wide open… oops. SponsorMeWP: Because you can’t pay your electricity bill in WordPress street cred. Hot Off The Presses: What’s New? In the last DEV issue, we warned about AI-generated code flooding the repo

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

10 Proven Strategies to Grow Your YouTube Channel In today’s digital world, YouTube is more than just a video-sharing platform it’s a launchpad for creators, brands, and entertainers to build global audiences. But with 500 hours of video uploaded every minute, creativity alone isn’t enough. You need a smart, focused strategy to stand out. If you’re tired of slow growth, unpredictable views, and

If you’re a startup founder or marketer trying to build momentum with little to no budget, good news: Being scrappy is the best place to start. Some of the most effective marketing I’ve ever done — from the early days of my career to my time at Drift — came from moments when there was no budget at all. When you don’t have big dollars to hide behind, you’re forced to get creative, move fast, and

Sometimes you don’t need to tweak every setting of a plugin to get the most out of it. This Iron Security review gives you a plugin using toggle switches that together will protect your entire site and users – all in one interface and within seconds.

Welcome to the June 2025 edition of WPBeginner Spotlight! This month brings exciting updates across the WordPress ecosystem, including new plugin features, AI tools, and community highlights. Highlights include Charitable’s donor management system, expanded AI in Uncanny Automator, and takeaways from WordCamp Europe 2025 There’s plenty to discover, so let’s dive into this month’s most noteworthy

Spend enough time inventing possible futures in your head and you won’t have any time to build the future we will all share. Time to get to work.