Let me just say it: WordPress is awesome. Millions of people have flocked to the platform and use it in their daily business. However, there’s a dark side to the growing popularity of WordPress: Because it powers more and more websites, the number of hackers and other shady individuals who target WordPress is also steadily growing. As a consequence, security is an increasing concern for all WordPress users. Yet, at the same time, it is a much neglected topic, because, quite frankly, many find it boring. You know what else is boring? Health insurance. But just like WordPress security measures, you are glad […]
First impressions of WordPress 4.2
Yesterday WordPress version 4.2 launched. Named “Powell,” paying homage to jazz pianist, Bud Powell, version 4.2 focuses on communication, sharing, and simplicity. Although WordPress 4.2 didn’t introduce anything ground-breaking, it was another solid update from the team of contributors behind core. Having now had a little more than 24 hours to test out the new features, today I want to share my thoughts on the main 4.2 changes. New characters and emojis WordPress is used internationally, and recent updates have focused on making WordPress more accessible to users of different nationalities. This trend continues with 4.2, which sees the utf-8 database upgraded to […]
The importance of SSL and why you need it
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a term used in many web development discussions and carries a high level of importance for any website owner (especially those running eCommerce businesses). As with the large pool of technical terms we live with today, SSL is something we all know we need, yet don’t often fully understand why we need it. Today, I’ll be demystifying the importance of an SSL certificate and why you need one. SSL, and the more modern Transport Layer Security (TLS), are protocols used in an attempt to maintain security and privacy while transferring data over the Internet. Using […]
‘Mobilegeddon’ unleashed: Google’s new mobile-friendly algorithm
Mobilegeddon is finally here. That’s right; today, April 21, Google unleashed the biggest algorithm shake-up in several years. The algorithm change specifically targets mobile searches. With an ever-growing number of mobile users, Google has been trying to enhance its mobile-friendliness for months now—something I first touched on in November 2014. Unlike the other major algorithm changes—notably Penguin and Panda—Google has been relatively open about the changes. They announced in February that the mobile-friendly update would be coming, and even provided a set of guidelines and testing tools to ensure your website wouldn’t be impacted too badly. This makes a lot of sense: previous […]
Ultimate Guide to WordPress eCommerce: Introduction to eCommerce
WordPress took off as a business tool shortly after plugins were first introduced in version 1.2, back in 2004. The inclusion of plugins was important for a couple of reasons. Most notably because it allowed third-party developers (whether that be an individual or a company) to develop add ons to WordPress, for both personal and business sites. From a business perspective, this was a huge development, as, prior to 2004, WordPress was still seen as a personal blogging tool with no real business application. Sure, you could build a marketing or brochure site, but you really couldn’t do much more than that. […]
Strategic blogging: the best time to publish and share content
Creating and maintaining a blog isn’t easy. Getting your site to look right, load quickly, and be mobile friendly takes time. And, after all that, you still need to craft your content, and make sure it reaches as many people as possible. For this, you need to be strategic about when you schedule it to post on your social media channels—the operative word being schedule. Here we’ll take a look at some of the necessary tools for streamlining your editorial workflow and scheduling your content for maximum engagement. Having a successful blog requires a carefully planned editorial process: you need to schedule when […]
Debunking four common myths about entrepreneurs
The life of an entrepreneur. Sounds good doesn’t it? Unfortunately, the stuff we read about the multi-millionaire, uber-successful entrepreneurs is a bit of an illusion—it bears no resemblance to the experiences of your average entrepreneur. I recently wrote about how WordPress and entrepreneurship are naturally aligned, but, perhaps because of some common misconceptions, many people are still afraid to jump aboard the entrepreneur train. Today I want to debunk four common myths about entrepreneurs. 1. Entrepreneurs are lucky A few years ago, I remember sitting around with a group of friends smack talking our day jobs—specifically, about how we’d all […]
How to avoid clients from hell and make freelancing fun again
Every freelancer has had to deal with a client from hell. One that, as The Oatmeal describes, makes you “begin to fantasize about other careers, like someone who digs ditches for a living or gives baths to the elderly.” While most clients are great to work with, clients from hell can throw our lives into complete disarray, causing anxiety, problems sleeping, and frustration. So much so that freelancers needed to find a way to vent about it on ClientsFromHell.net. It can be hard to admit that you are dealing with a client from hell, and even harder to fire them. […]
SEO in-depth: Understanding and optimizing the WordPress robots.txt
When it comes to SEO, most people have a decent understanding of the basics. They know about keywords, and how they should show up in different places throughout their content. They have heard of on-page SEO, and have maybe even given WordPress SEO plugins a whirl. If you dive down into the nitty gritty of search engine optimization, however, there are a few rather obscure pieces of the puzzle that not everyone knows about—one of them being robots.txt files. What are robots.txt files and what are they used for? A robots.txt file is a text file that resides on your server. It contains […]
What you can learn from Game of Thrones fans about running a business
So you’ve got an online business. Maybe it’s been up and running for a while or maybe it’s brand spankin’ new. Regardless, running your company is hard work. But did you know it’s possible to lighten your load by utilizing a (hopefully) abundant resource right at your fingertips? I’m talking about your brand advocates. Your biggest fans. The people who want to see you succeed. There’s perhaps no bigger franchise attracting pop culture attention right now than Game of Thrones. And with season 5 of the phenomena having just started on April 12, I thought it might be fun to […]

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