So Many Choices, So Little Time – Which Theme is the Best?
Whether it’s from clients, or attendees of my workshops, I often get asked, “What theme do you think is the best?” Wow, now that’s a loaded question!
Why do I get asked that so often? And is there really an answer? To be honest, no.
What is happening is there are a lot of WordPress “so-called experts” out there who have found one particular theme they like, or a series of them from a certain theme developer. Why the “experts” decide on pushing it could be several different reasons:
- They have learned a particular theme inside and out, and have decided it’s too much work to explore other themes.
- They have a vested interest in it, which may be financial.
- They bought the developer’s licence and fso it costs the nothing to offer the “free premium theme” as an incentive to hire them to create your blog or website.
- They feel the theme has worked miracles for them, and believe it will do the same for you.
- They are just simply biased and too stubborn to budge an inch.
Now I’m not saying this is bad, or that the themes they recommend won’t do the job. It’s just the limitations set upon the client. And although they may think that their “selected” theme is the greatest, it’s only their opinion, and doesn’t necessarily mean that they understand your needs.
So back to my question and my answer. I use and recommend a large variety of themes for my clients. The commission I get on an affilate ad, or the hype that may come from big name bloggers, don’t play into my decision. Why? Because finding a theme that will work for you is very important to me.
When searching for a theme, think of everything you want it to do, plus all those forseeable needs down the road. Talk to you developer and ask the hard questions. Ask around. See who else is using that theme and find out what they were able to do. If you find a theme that has been highly customized, be prepared to either dig in yourself or have someone do it for you. And if you don’t find a theme that will do it all for you, make sure what you settle on will still make you happy.
Remember, no one theme does it all. At least, not yet…
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Where Are the Visitors?: 5 Ways to use Google Analytics to Increase Your Blog Traffic
Ever wondered if it’s worth it to track your blog traffic? Google Analytics makes it easy. If you are already a user, here is my list of the five most useful things to do with it. And if you are not, here are some reasons why maybe you should.
Substitute the word “blog” for “website” here if you wish. Because most of this, except for, perhaps, the bounce rate advice, applies equally to both
If you haven’t registered yet, just go to Google Analytics and follow the steps to install it on your site. It usually takes 24 hours for the data to start rolling in.
5 Ways to Use Google Analytics to Increase Your Blog Traffic
- Get the big picture with the dashboard overview. A quick view of how you’ve done in the last month: number of visits and pageviews; bounce rate (% of visitors who leave right away without going on to other pages); average time on site; traffic sources and content overviews. Useful for: Pinpointing the main problem areas and accessing data for improvements.
- Study your visitors. I look at new vs. returning visitors because one of my goals is to increase the number of returning visitors from month to month. To grow my readership, I also want a healthy number of new visitors. And I watch visitor loyalty, which counts first-time visitors, all the way up to the percentage who have visited 200 or more times. Useful for: Analyzing your content to see what types of posts are bringing readers back.
- Keep an eye on your traffic sources. Track where your visitors are coming from: direct (typed your blog URL directly in); referring sites (visitors coming to you from other sites); and search engines (people googling terms/keywords to find your post). The keywords section shows the top 10 terms people googled to get to your blog posts. Useful for: Analyzing your blog promotion (how many people are coming to you from other sites). Top keywords give you ideas for writing more posts on the topics people are searching for.
- Look at the popularity of your content. I love this section. It not only shows which posts were most popular (content by title), but which pages were viewed the most and the average visitor time on page for each. Also shows you the top landing pages and the page visitors most frequently left your blog from. Useful for: Determining reader interest. Sometimes an old post will be on the most popular content list and you might want to revise, add fresh content and repost.
- Set goals and track results. Create a goal and track your results. For instance, maybe you want to increase the number of subscribers to your e-newsletter. Name your goal “e-letter signup” and identify a URL for tracking, for instance, the thank-you page when someone signs up.
Google Analytics is coming out with some more sophisticated tools that are especially useful for measuring results for your website. But these five strategies will get you on your way to tracking good, basic information on your blog (or website).
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Using WordPress in Your URL
Just an FYI, did you know that it is in violation of the WordPress trademark to use “WordPress” in your url? You can see here what they say in on their site, but in a nutshell…
It’s best to use yourdomainwp.com instead. For example if you have a site called WordPress Themes, your URL should be wpthemes. And if you already have a URL with WordPress in it, they say:
“If you already have a domain with “WordPress” in it, redirecting it to the “wp” equivalent is fine, just as long as the main one users see and you promote doesn’t contain “WordPress.”
But I still see this abused all the time. Have you? It’s important to remember what this great open source software is giving us, free of charge.
Also, you will find many sites, although they don’t have WordPress in the url, they have it in the site name. This is okay to do. But what you shouldn’t do is make it look like it’s affiliated with the official WordPress site. Also, do not take chunks of text from the WordPress site and drop it onto your site as if it’s your own copy. I see this done and it really irks me. This is copyrighted information.
What you need to do is note that copy has been taken from the WordPress site, by giving them credit. And most important, if you do have WordPress in the name of your site, please put a disclaimer at the bottom of the site that it is in no way affiliated with WordPress.com or WordPress.org.
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Get Rid of That &%#$ Admin User!
If you have been using WordPress for very long, you know that within current versions there are several updates, eg. 2.8, 2.8.1, 2.8.2, 2.8.3, etc. Reason for this is mostly security issues, so it’s critical to do those updates. But another simple security measure is to get rid of that “Admin” username that comes as a default when you install WordPress. And it’s so easy!
Simply go to the Users Menu and choose “Add New”.
This window will open.
Now create your new user name. There are three things to remember here. 1) Make sure you give your new user name an “administrator” role. 2) You cannot use the email you have listed in your “admin” user, so use another one that you have. (you can always change this later). And 3) create a strong password by using a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, etc.
Once you have saved it, log out of your dashboard and sign up using your new username and password. If you are able to login, go back to your list of users, and you can now safely delete the “admin”. But make sure of this. You will see the question, “What should be done with posts and links owned by this user?” At this point make sure you select your new user name. Otherwise, everything you have done previously will disappear.
When deleted, you can now change your email back to the one you were originally were using.
Be safe!
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Should You Redesign Your Website?: 5 Signs That It May Be the Right Time
You thought your site was working fine. You were in love with the original colors. Man, that bright yellow text on a black background was eye-popping. Back in the 90’s, that is. Okay, that’s an exaggeration.
But have you been wondering lately if your website is pulling its weight? Bringing you leads (and sales), getting visitors interested in your other cool stuff, like your blog or e-newsletter?
Maybe you know that something is not quite right. But you can’t put your finger on it. Your business might have changed. Or you might be trying to attract a different kind of client. The copy may be stale and unappealing. Or you don’t feel like the real you is showing up online.
5 Signs It May Be the Right Time for a Website Redesign
- You have changed the focus of your business. Could be that you have added or deleted products or services. Or maybe you are laser-focused on a new kind of client. If your site doesn’t represent what you do anymore, it’s time for a change.
- Your site traffic numbers have gone down. Are people landing on your home page but not going any deeper? If Google Analytics or another traffic measurement service is showing a decrease in viewer engagement, you may need a site fix
- Your content is stale. Your tracking data may show that you are not getting repeat visitors. If you provide fresh content (changing testimonials in and out, announcing workshops and other events, providing new rich content, etc.), your visitors will keep returning. And it’s easier to do that with a WordPress design.
- You don’t have a unique online identity. Your “About Us” page is normally one of the top two most viewed pages on your site. That’s because your online visitors are craving to know who you really are. Because people do like to do business with people, not robots. How many visitors are going to your “About Us” page and how long are they staying?
- Your website is out of synch with your other marketing materials. Your website should be consistent in look and feel to your blog, your e-newsletter, your business card, and your other offline marketing and sales materials. It should get an immediate reaction from your reader, “Oh, yeah, I know these guys.” Having a personal brand and staying consistent builds customer trust
A website redesign is all about giving some thought to what your visitor sees the instant they land, what you want them to do next and how you are going to get them to do it.
And it’s not as expensive as you think. If you need a fairly simple site without e-commerce and other complex components, WordPress is an easy solution. You’ll be able to create new content anytime, add widgets and plug-ins for more fun, and-best of all-not have to be at the mercy of your webmaster when you need changes.
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Everything Plus the Kitchen Sink
Through my WordPress workshops, I’ve come to realize something. I’m doing things right. I don’t ever assume that those simple little techniques or hidden gems are obvious to everyone. Or that the seasoned WordPress user will become bored with the picky details I cover.
So where am I going with this?
It’s the aha moments…
There are a couple of features when creating a post or page in WordPress, that I have found not everyone knows.
Sure, you may be setting there, after reading it, saying, “no way.” But remember, not everyone is comfortable with technology. And for many, pushing an unknown buttom on your computer screen, well, that’s just damn scary. Who knows what will happen?
So, maybe you have just opened a WordPress.com account. Or you went as far as installing it on your own server. You are ready to do your first post. You click on “new post,” and the “compose a post” page opens.
Wow. Cool. Look at all those tools.
You start typing to your heart’s content. Things are going smoothly So far, so good.
But wait, didn’t someone tell you that you could highlight a word by giving it a different color? And wasn’t there some kind of tool to indent the paragraph you just did? Am I going nuts?
Ah, but you aren’t. It’s only because you didn’t click on the “kitchen sink.”
And, presto, yes, there is a whole other line of tools.
Now, you have suddenly realized that you were victim of the “kitchen sink.”
Don’t feel bad. Sometimes WordPress, when first opened, has only the one line as a default. I have heard from attendees of my workshops, that they have gone months without knowing this. No one ever told them. And heck, they were reluctant to start pushing buttons randomly. But remember, when doing a post or page, any stylization can be undone!
So, that brings me to another point. That box in the upper right corner where you preview posts, save drafts, publish—all that good stuff.
Again, at my workshops, I simple make people be aware of the fact that they can “schedule” to publish a post or page. Again, I see a few eyes open wider. A few more aha moments.
No, you don’t have to get up at 4 am to publish that post. Yes, you can write two or three posts, schedule them and enjoy your vacation.
So what’s the freakin’ point here? The WordPress dashboard is littered with great features. Some are more obvious then others.
Explore! Don’t be afraid to push a button. See what it has to offer you. Save as a draft, preview a page. And then when you are ready, hit “publish.”
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WordPress 2.9 Teaser
Okay, just a quick post to let you know a couple of features to expect in 2.9. I just uploaded the beta version and hope to come back soon with more to share.
THE TRASH CAN – When you delete a post, page, category, comment, or any bit of content, it is moved to the Trash where you can decide whether to pull it back at a later date.
IMAGE EDITOR – ALTHOUGH SIMPLE… Image editing will allow bloggers to crop, scale and rotate images from right within WordPress.
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Buying a Domain? Beware!
I was just reading a colleague’s post on using your own domain at WordPress.com. For example, www.yourdomain.com, rather than www. yourdomain.wordpress.com. Good advice, but it got me thinking of domains. Especially the horror stories I hear.
You may be like hundreds, if not thousands of other people out there, and have bought a domain, or several domains to hold onto, in case you ever need them. Or maybe you bought that one domain that is “the one” and you have used it forever! Nevertheless, here’s a true story…
We’ll call her Jane. Jane wanted a website built, looked around at different designers, asked about prices, etc, and finally decided on her choice. All is well so far.
The web designer talked with her and asked her if she had a domain.
No, not yet.
Well, what’s the name of your company?
She told him.
Well, let me see if that is available. Time goes by…
Yes, it is! Let me go ahead and register it for you. In fact I’ll just throw that into the package
She jumped up and down. Yes, my domain is available! What are the chances of that??!! Please, do register it for me.
So the process moves forward. But shortly after this initial discussion, the web designer suddenly became sick, and said he wouldn’t be able to do the site for her.
Okay, I will get another designer. And about my domain name?
Yes, I would be happy to sell it to you for $200.
What?!
The story ends with her not having her own domain not only because of budget limitation, but because of a dishonest, and not upfront, web designer.
Lesson learned. Now, I know some people out there will say, Hey, this happens. It’s the cost of doing business. She should have known. NOT!
It’s web people like that, who give the rest of us a bad name. They know what they are doing. And I think it’s a bunch of crap. Especially when I have registered domains for clients, and yes, in their own name.
SO BEWARE! My suggestion.
If you know and trust your designer, and they ask you to if you want them to register it for you, say yes, and ask that it be registered in your name. ONLY if you know and trust them.
But to be on the safe side, if you are thinking of having a website done for you, go and check yourself if the domain is available. And if it is, YOU register it. All you have to do is go to a hosting service, such as Bluehost.com, type in what you want, and they will let you know if it’s available.
One last note. I knew someone that knew their “dream” domain was not yet purchased. They talked to someone about possible web design, but decided not to use them. Unfortunately, they shared what domain they were wanting to purchase, and by the time they did go in to register it, it was taken. No proof here of who did it, but you can only wonder…bad web designer or strange coincidence?
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Grade Your Website
Recently a colleague suggested I check out the site Website Grader. It’s a free seo tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. It provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It also provides some basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective.
Interesting results. Out of 100, our site was graded a 92. Whoopee!
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Warning Signs of the Wanna Be WordPress Expert
Everywhere you look, WordPress “experts” are popping up. Try googling it if you dare. There are even sites that will tell you how to become a WordPress expert in hours. Amazing, huh?
Well, I just don’t buy it. Like so many professions, people toss around the word “expert” effortlessly.
So, let’s look at the definition of “expert”.
expert: a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of, or skill in, a particular area
Hmm, sounds like some gray areas there. The question is, what do you expect of the expert you contact?
The saying goes, calling yourself an expert means nothing, someone else calling you an expert, well, that’s justification. Right?
I would like to propose 10 red flags to look for when searching out your WordPress “expert”.
- You find out your WordPress expert was only a month ago picking up their first copy of WordPress for Dummies.
- They use “WordPress Expert” prominently— and everywhere— on their own site. Sounds like someone is trying to pick up some serious google juice, wouldn’t you say?
- They list themselves as an expert in 2, 3 or 4 different areas, eg. WordPress expert, Social Media expert, SEO expert, on and on… wow, that really is an expert.
- They leave open comments on every static page of their own website. Like, yes, I would really like to comment on your services.
- Only 2 weeks ago they were a landscaper.
- They use cliches like “killer”, “rockstar” and “suck”. Really watch out for the the Rockstar WordPress designer who creates “killer” websites that don’t “suck”.
- They tell you WordPress is simple and you can have a “killer” (okay, there’s that word again) website yourself in only a couple of hours. Not!
- Their prices are too good to be true. Often they use the old “bait and switch” approach here. And in the end, you still need help.
- Their tagline is “We Make a Wordpress Expert and Blogger”. Say what? (Seriously, I found this one the web).
- And last, but not least, they do not follow protocol, and ignore using uppercase W & P when spelling WordPress.
In closing, all I can say is, “BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.”
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