A development environment is unlike any other tool you’ll use when creating WordPress products. This is because different solutions perform various primary jobs. So unlike with your favorite text editor, you’ll probably have to be familiar with several development environments during your career. For example, developing locally has different consequences for your workflow than using an online sandbox. What’s more, your client’s choice of host can also play a role in which type of environment is most appropriate (or even available). In this post, we’ll take a look at five of the best options for creating a WordPress development environment, […]
How to Avoid Hidden WordPress SEO Mistakes That Can Sabotage Your Rankings
The first recorded usage of the term SEO was in 1997 on the site MMG WebStep Services, where it was listed as part of several service packages they offered. Interestingly enough, other services included in the packages were link development, writing and distributing press releases, and online advertising—and many digital marketing firms still offer similar services today. The truth is, the core of SEO has not changed much in the past 28 years. According to Nigel Stevens, the CEO and founder of Growth Lead, the core of SEO is: “Figure out what people are doing, create authority on it, create […]
4 Times It’s Okay to Tell Your Client “No”
Whether you work for an agency or as a freelance developer, telling a client “no” can be awkward or even risky. However, the old adage that “the customer is always right” isn’t true in every case. In fact, sometimes saying “no” is a necessity. Fortunately, if you turn clients down respectfully and explain your reasoning, these potentially difficult interactions can end up strengthening rather than harming your relationships. In this post, we’ll discuss four times when it’s best for you to tell a client “no”. Then we’ll give you some pointers to help you handle those conversations effectively. Let’s get […]
How to Test New WordPress Releases to Avoid Problems
There’s something exciting about new WordPress releases. The updates help to keep your site’s security in check, they come with cool new features and some of them promise to not only improve the back end of your site but your visitors’ experiences as well. Just click on the “update” button and wait for the magic to happen. That’s how it’s supposed to go, right? Well, that’s not always the case. If you’ve had the horror of watching your site taken out by an update, you might still be traumatized from the whole ordeal. And if you haven’t, then count yourself […]
Building a Business on WordPress: Weglot Case Study
Late nights, early calls and non-stop developments. Just a few of the highlights for Rémy and Augustin, co-founders of SaaS tech startup Weglot. Back in 2015, they had one simple idea: help businesses translate their website without the need of developers. With many WordPress translation plugins already on the market – the goal of Weglot was different. To create a WordPress translation plugin that would be incredibly simple to set up, powerful, encompassed SEO best practices, and one that was fully compatible with all themes and plugins. Not an easy feat. But one that Rémy and Augustin were determined to […]
5 Common Web Design Portfolio Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)
History logs and ‘rollbacks’ are useful developments in the history of computing. While there’s something to be said for their contributions to decision paralysis, you’re also afforded a sandbox for making constant improvements to your site and portfolio. For example, you can iterate over and eradicate a number of common web design portfolio mistakes, such as poor social proof elements and outdated samples. Given the near-limitless scope for doing this, carrying out little tweaks here and there is an easy way to improve your odds of success. In this post, we’ll look at why you’d want to consider how your […]
6 Key Features to Include on Every Client Site You Create
As a developer, you probably create dozens of sites every year – maybe even more. Starting from scratch with each one can make the development process long and tedious. Plus, you run the risk of forgetting to include important functionality. By creating a standardized list of client site features, on the other hand, you can speed up your development pace and avoid leaving out key elements. You might even prevent mistakes that could ruin a site and waste all your hard work. In this post, we’ll discuss why it’s helpful to have a set of features you include every time […]
3 Benefits of Cloud-Based Web Hosting
When it comes to hosting, you have plenty of options to pick from. There are hundreds of web hosts you can use, and they often provide various types of plans. Some of the options are fairly self-explanatory, such as ‘shared’ plans or ‘dedicated’ servers, but that isn’t necessarily the case with cloud hosting. Cloud computing has been around for a while, but it was only during the back half of the last decade that it started to pick up steam within hosting. It’s a perfect match, however, because cloud computing enables you to increase or decrease the resources you have […]
Search Intent: How to Effectively Use it for Your Business
Search intent is the key to creating content your audience absolutely loves. You may think you’ve already got this covered by targeting certain key phrases, but keyword research alone doesn’t reveal one important aspect – the “why”. Why is your audience interested in that particular keyword or phrase? What are they hoping to achieve? The answer to that is search intent. Once you’ve figured out the intention behind search queries, you can better serve the people interested in your content. And that might just be your way to not only higher rankings, but increased traffic and leads. To help you […]
6 Tips From Experts on Optimizing Websites for Google’s Lighthouse 3.0 Speed Tests
So much SEO advice focuses on aspects of optimization around content strategy, outreach, and competitor tracking. But even the best backlinks can’t replace a fast and easy-to-use website. Even though site speed has been considered a ranking factor for nearly a decade, the technical side of SEO tends to get ignored. While WordPress does have some features that make SEO easier, it also has several aspects of it that need adjustment for each site. And depending on your setup, you could be sabotaging your own site load speeds. Indeed, the content management system you use is only the beginning of […]
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