On the Internet, web design tips are a dime a dozen. Many people have opinions on what the perfect website looks like. That’s because, to a certain extent, design is subjective. What one person likes, another might find hideous. At the same time, design is one of the most important factors for the success of a website. In fact, almost half of all users say that the website design is their main factor for judging a company’s credibility. As a consequence, it also influences conversions, bounce rate, and more. Sigh, if only there was a way to find some objective […]
Google RankBrain SEO – How to Use Google’s AI to Your Advantage
The exact way Google ranks websites has long been an enigma. Only two years ago did we get confirmation about the two most important ranking signals (hint: content and backlinks). However, you might not know that the third most important is relatively new: Google RankBrain. RankBrain is a machine learning algorithm that the search giant uses to improve its search results. It’s one of many web initiatives of artificial intelligence that will change our lives. Since RankBrain is such an important factor for deciding where your site will end up in the SERPs, you better not ignore it. Yet, chances […]
What Does the WordPress Community Think of the Gutenberg Editor? – A Review Roundup
The Gutenberg editor is one of the biggest changes coming to WordPress. But how does the community feel about it? In this Gutenberg editor review roundup we will aim to find out. Since Matt Mullenweg revealed Gutenberg at WCEU 2017, a lot has been written about it. Here on Torque alone we have a number of articles on the topic: What’s Next for WordPress: Why the Future is Great with Gutenberg Getting Ahead of Gutenberg How The REST API And Gutenberg Work Together What the Future of WordPress Development Looks Like With Gutenberg How to Test Your Plugins With the […]
The Google Mobile First Index and What It Means for Your WordPress Site
The Google mobile first index is upon us and it will further change the way we optimize our sites. Since mobile devices have surpassed desktop computers as the dominant Internet devices in 2016, the search giant has increasingly put emphasis on mobile friendliness. These days, if you don’t know how to make your WordPress website mobile friendly, you are likely already missing out on traffic. This development will increase further with Google’s latest update, the mobile-first index. As you can glean from the name, it will prioritize mobile pages in the search index even more. If you are not prepared […]
How to Improve Organic CTR (Click-through Rate) in WordPress
Search engines remain one of the most important traffic sources for websites. Learning to improve organic CTR (click-through rate) is crucial for taking advantage of them. When it comes to SEO, many website owners simply focus on ranking. They think that as long as they make it to the first page of Google, traffic will sort itself out. However, achieving a high rank in the SERPs doesn’t help you if nobody ends up clicking on your content. In that case, your search rank is nothing more but a vanity metric. Plus, CTR and search rankings are intimately connected. If you […]
CSS for Beginners: The CSS Box Model and How to Use it Correctly
When you run your own WordPress website, it’s only natural to want to gain more control over its design and functionality. One of the best ways to make sweeping changes to a site’s looks is CSS. With proficiency in CSS, you can change anything from the page layout over colors to fonts and background images. One of the most basic concepts to learn for this is the CSS box model. It’s a fundamental principle of web design. Understanding it enables you to almost endlessly customize your site’s layout to your desire. In this post for beginners, we will explain to […]
Using the WordPress Desktop App with Self-hosted WordPress – A Review
There are many tools to help you take care of your WordPress website. We have talked about some of them in the past in this post. Aside from them, there are also the official WordPress mobile apps. Although it has been around for a while, a lesser-known example is the WordPress desktop app named Calypso. It was originally made for WordPress.com customers to let them take care of their sites from their desktop computers. However, in combination with the Jetpack plugin, it also works for self-hosted WordPress sites. In this article, I will show you how to use it. I […]
Are WordPress Developers Really Cheaper to Hire?
One of the arguments for using WordPress is that affordable help for the platform is easy to find. It’s something I have seen claimed around the web a lot of times and I have made this argument myself, repeatedly. It seems simple enough: WordPress has less of an entry barrier for developers, meaning it’s easier to get into. It also has the largest ecosystem among all content management systems. That should mean a high supply of developers, which should result in low prices. However, it recently occurred to me that I have no concrete evidence to support that claim. Like […]
What is the Optimal Content Length? – Here’s What the Science Says
What is the optimal content length? How long should your blog posts be? What is the ideal word count for SEO? These are questions many would-be bloggers and marketers ask themselves. Obviously many things go into successful content marketing. From choosing the right keywords, to learning to write well, to image optimization. All these are factors in the success of your content. However, content length remains a critical topic, not least because it determines a lot about your overall strategy. Should you write a lot of shorter articles or concentrate on pushing out one massive article per month? Or is […]
9 Actionable Copywriting Tips for Instantly More Powerful Content
Studies have shown that 55 percent of all visitors read a blog post only for 15 seconds or less. That means, by the end of this paragraph you have likely already decided whether to keep on reading or not. It is my job to make sure you do. So, do I still have your attention? Cool, thanks for sticking around. One of the best tools to keep visitors on your site is to produce intriguing content. That’s why it is important for anyone who runs or markets websites to study copywriting. Copywriting is the art and science of making words […]
119 Comments
Join the conversation