Comments Off on Is the Yoast SEO Premium WordPress Plugin worth it? Get it cheap!
If you’re like me, and not sure if you want to pay for the Yoast SEO Premium WordPress Plugin at $89, here is what I did by searching online. Is Yoast premium worth it? It is if you use Worldpress IT, and only pay $5.99! I was getting ready to pull the plug (hahaha pun intended!) and pay for it, then decided to search for a coupon code as I normally do, when presented with the option. I didn’t find a coupon code, but found an ad for 92% OFF. Was this legit? Is it a hack? Nope, under the plugin license agreement, the developer is allowed to offer the plugin for $5.99. I checked it out with Trustpilot to see if it was a scam, and it wasn’t! This company bought them all and they don’t offer the premium support, but if you’re like me, you’ve never used that once anyway! The Divi theme is only $4.99! Discovering this today put me over the moon.
Want the Yoast WordPress Plugin? Still not sure if Is Yoast premium worth it? Here’s what to do…
So there is a trick to it, you have to disable and delete the free version, but don’t worry, you won’t lose any information.
Looking for CHEAP website hosting? We recommend bluehost – Sign up here now!
Is Yoast premium worth it? It is if you use Worldpress IT, and only pay $5.99!
100% Original – All Premium Yoast Features Included.
We Purchase and Download From Original Developers, to provide the most authentic & relevant version. Note: We’re not directly affiliated or associated with Yoast SEO Premium developers and we appreciate the authors’ effort and original work. Names, expressions and trademarks are used to the minimum extent necessary to truthfully and accurately identify the item.
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The Yoast File Is Scanned Daily by Norton & McAfee to ensure safety, 100 % Free from Virus / Malware / Malicious Script etc. Run your own online Security check now (button under product image).
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File can be used on as many sites as you want, in accordance to WordPress’s GPL licensing policies.
Updates Included (6 Months) – From WorldPressIT
We make sure that your site is always up to date, you will be notified the moment a new version is released on WorldPressIT and the new download link automatically delivered to your email.
Why So Cheap?
WordPress enforces the GPL/GNU license on ALL plugins & themes that 3rd party developers create for WordPress. The GPL license means that every script written for WordPress and their derivatives, must be free (Including all plugins and Themes). We are able to offer prices which are incredibly low for official items due to the fact we purchase all items directly from the authors and redistribute them to the public. The Price is a one-time price for full access, It’s not a recurring payment. Original Author Support is not included if purchased from WorldPressIT.
Comments Off on Shopify vs WordPress E-Commerce Comparison
We found this helpful video that compares shopify vs wordpress, which highlights each content management systems strengths and weaknesses.
Feeling overwhelmed after watching this video? Remember, you can always pay our partners at The Barbary Co to design and build your e-commerce website. Contact us for a quote!
Need hosting? If you want the best and fastest WordPress hosting, we recommend WP Engine – Sign up here now!
I’ve personally created about a hundred wordpress sites fyi, and it should be no surprise that this site is also a wordpress site… but, that being said, Shopify is going to be a superior e-commerce solution for MOST larger online businesses because it’s faster and ranks better with their page speed.
If you’re still not sure if you should go with shopify vs wordpress, sometimes it helps to make a Pros and Cons list.
Shopify Pro’s:
Shopify includes hosting in their costs, which start
Shopify is scalable, it scales with your business
Can handle thousands of products where wordpress is only good for smaller inventory
Shopify’s platform is lighting fast
Setup is easy and Shopify has great online support to help you with all of your needs
Superior Credit card processing
Offer coupon codes, discounts
Great shipping and checkout UI
Shopify loads fast
WordPress Pro’s:
If you build the wordpress site yourself it’s FREE, you just need to pay for hosting
Thousands of free templates
You can start small and build up
Great for hosting a site and a blog
Free plugins for almost anything you can think of
Customizable to do almost anything – doesn’t have the limitations of a closed content management system like Shopify
WordPress Con’s:
If you’re not an expert at wordpress, it can take a while to learn
Woocommerce platform can be slow which can affect SEO
Not great for thousands of products like Shopify
If you’ve decided to go with WordPress, you’re going to need website hosting. What is website hosting and why do you need it? Web hosting is where your web pages, images, databases, and files live on the internet, or in the cloud. You need it so the browser knows where to find the files to load in your browser and on the page. You may not need hosting depending on whether you’ve chosen shopify vs wordpress.
If you’e looking for cheap, and have a small site, we recommend bluehost – Sign up here now!
If you want the best and fastest WordPress hosting, we recommend WP Engine – Sign up here now!
It’s going to cost more than bluehost, but you’ll see the pages load much faster.
There are other hosting options if you decide to build your own e-commerce website. Hopefully this article, Shopify vs WordPress an E-commerce comparison, has helped you decide what works best for your business.
We recommend choosing one that has good support for wordpress, and loads wordpress sites fast, like Bluehost.
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We’ve started a new reviews site! I’m excited to announce a few new things we have going on… We’ve got the Advertising department of TBC up and running again, after a few years hiatus! We are going to be advertising new products, product reviews, doing affiliate marketing, and all types of advertising. We’re also going to focus on helping designers find work, find freelance work, and helping our community as much as we can. Check out our news site:
The idea of this is to really use our vast knowledge of product design and take it one step further. If you’re a designer who wants to do product reviews, please reach out! And definitely sign up for our email list.
Don’t want to return to the office? You’re in good company! 93% of people at my work INCLUDING ME, don’t want to go back, and want to work from home. I have written a FREE downloadable PDF guide, full of legitimate resources and ways to start working for yourself and earning money today! Get paid by the end of the week, and kiss your crappy boss goodbye! I’ve even created a whole site full of FREE RESOURCES for the remote worker.
Haven’t we all wanted to do this at one point or another? I had FOUR HORRIBLE BOSSES in a row over a matter of 6 years. One, intimidated me and was just MEAN and publicly shamed people in standup DAILY. Another, stalked me and followed me on vacation, and wouldn’t let me change alone in the bathroom without following me in our shared hotel room on a work trip. Another stood over me demanding I copy files on to a flash drive faster, well, the computer only goes so fast! He then ripped it out of the USB port and said he’d do it himself. It was torture! What was my self esteem worth? Had I had these resources, who knows what beach I’d be working on today.
Looking to earn extra money writing? Or maybe you want a second income source? Is your boss forcing you back into the office? Maybe you aren’t ready to quit your job yet, and want to get started making money online with your creative work, writing, design, creating logos, websites, or just some data entry. I have compiled a list of 20 resources for you to make money ASAP doing your own thing.
So you’ve been on unemployment for a while, but it’s going to run out soon. Or perhaps, you’re being asked to get vaccinated to return to work or face losing your job. Or maybe your life long goal like mine, is to live on a white sandy beach or work poolside. What have you been waiting for? The time is here and it just so happens that the market is RIPE for the job seeker. Because of the pandemic, many companies are hiring again, but can’t find quality full time workers. We’ll start with how to land that remote job. This article I’ve written is full of FREE and some PAID resources, I give away this content for FREE, but if you find it beneficial, consider signing up for some of the resources listed, it helps me be able to offer more FREE STUFF. Some contain FREE TRIALS, which I recommend you use, like the data entry free trial to make some money right away. Hey, then you can afford a few bucks to sign up!
1. Get a LinkedIn Account if you don’t have one.
Did you know more and more companies are catering to the remote worker, because about 90% of people want to work from home? There are more full time and contract full time jobs than ever. If you already have a profile like most, feel free to skip this section.
If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, you’ll need one. Sign up it’s FREE.
Complete your profile, and fill out.
Next mark your profile as open to work.
Create a keyword search and add one city, then check Remote.
LinkedIn will start emailing your remote jobs every day.
Note! Not all of these jobs require resumes! A lot are freelance gigs. You still are going to want a LinkedIn profile. For the most part though, you’re going to need a resume at some point in your life, especially if you want to land one of those 6 digit full time jobs above on LinkedIn. Did you know well designed & professionally created resumes land more interviews? It’s true. You can pay a company like Blue Sky to do it, or you can take their FREE course.
4. Data Entry Jobs: Start with something easy – This is great for the entry level worker!
Need to earn money now? Freelancers and entry level workers, this one is for you! Data entry jobs are super easy, require no interview, and anyone can do it. That being said, this list of resources need people to do data entry and pay well for it! It’s OKAY if you don’t have a lot of skills, are in school and learning a new skill set, this is a great way to EARN MONEY NOW while you’re in college. You just need a computer or laptop and
That’s right! If you get paid to take photos, you’re officially a professional. All you have to do is SIGN UP, and the bragging rights are yours! Upload and instantly sell to millions of potential buyers, and make money! Creatives this one is ESPECIALLY recommended for you! Also I can tell you, if you want to be a designer, like me, knowing how to take professional photos is a huge skill to have. This one is my favorite because anyone can do it, and we all love to take pictures and the chances are you have a phone that will take professional looking photos.
6. Creatives, here’s another one for you – Writing Jobs
Get paid to write! Sounds like a dream, especially if you’re writing poolside or on the beach. You can do this from anywhere! Work whenever and wherever you like. Could you use some extra cash, or perhaps a new career without the commute? Would you like to work from the comfort of home? Freelance writing is in very high demand, it allows you to work as much or as little as you want, and we’ll connect you with the world’s largest buyers of written content. Here’s what’s waiting for you in the members area:
Easy to Follow Method Step-by-step plain English guide to teach you exactly how to earn money writing from home. Learn the secrets of scoring the best jobs, and easy tricks for improving your writing.
High-Paying Jobs Database Thousands of full-time, part-time, freelance, magazine, and short story jobs. Choose from tons of topics and formats, e.g. product reviews, articles, blog posts, and more.Hand-Picked Freelance Writing Jobs As a bonus to you, we select the best writing jobs from our vast database. This exclusive list with daily updates helps you quickly find the most lucrative offers. Bonus Opportunities We’ll also show you other simple and easy-to-follow ways to earn extra money online, all from the comfort of home. This one comes with a 60 day money back guarantee. That means if you haven’t made your $27 for a lifetime membership back in 60 days, you can get your money back.
This site has the ultimate writing job database with the HIGH DOLLAR writing jobs as its from the UK, averaging getting you paid at $40+ an hour. They need people from the US to write – No joke!
Get Paid To Write Articles And Stories: Thousands of topics to write about, you get paid for every article you write!
Proof Read Books And Movie Scripts: Help find spelling mistakes and give your suggestions and get paid by the hour to work from home!
Write Reviews Of Websites: Check out new websites and give your feedback on user-friendliness, how they could be improved etc. Easy money!
Get Paid To Write Blog Posts: We have thousands of blog partners who you can get paid to write blog posts for. Get paid to write on your favourite topic!
Are you a natural born helper? Are you like me and get satisfaction from helping people? Become an online assistant! It’s super fun and they teach you how.
Discover how to become an ‘Online Assistant’ and get paid to do freelance work, tasks & projects from home on behalf of companies.
Various tasks & projects available for you to choose from
Totally flexible – set your own working hours
Work from home or anywhere with an internet connection
Twenty years ago, only a very, very small percentage of people worked remotely. Of course, twenty years ago we all had dial-up internet and America Online was top dog. To say that a lot has changed since then is an understatement.
Now we have broadband internet, smartphones, and videoconferencing. We store files in the cloud, collaborate with each other in real-time, and discuss projects over Slack. The way we work has fundamentally changed.
The result is that it’s much easier to work from home, which large numbers of people now do. Check out these statistics:
43% of Americans work from home on occasion.
2% of Americans work from home full-time.
82% of professionals would like to work from home once a week.
52% of professionals desire to work from home a minimum of three days per week.
In 2020, millions of people around the world were forced to work from home for the first time during the COVID-19 crisis. What many people don’t realize, however, is that working remotely is very different than working in an office.
Many of the rhythms and routines that help you thrive in the office don’t work as well at home. You can’t just pop into someone’s office for a conversation. You can watch Netflix without fear that your boss will suddenly show up. Your kids can waltz into your office at any time.
If you’re going to thrive as a remote worker, it’s important to learn a new set of skills and strategies, such as:
Being productive in a totally different environment than you’re used to
Knowing what things to focus on and what to let go
In this guide, we’re going to give you proven tips, tactics, and strategies that will help you work effectively from home.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
Avoid Doing These Things
Before we talk about things you should do, let’s talk about a few things you should avoid when it comes to remote work.
Avoid: Trying to Prove You’re Always Working
When you work in an office, it’s easy for your boss to see that you’re working. They know when you’re in the office and when you’re not.
Because this isn’t the case with remote work, you may feel the need to prove to your boss that you’re working by immediately answering every message that comes your way.
The issue with this is that it prevents you from being able to focus for extended periods of time, limiting the amount of work that you actually get done. A better alternative is to let your work speak for itself. If you consistently produce great work, your boss will be totally satisfied.
Avoid: Always Being Available
Another big temptation with remote work is feeling like you always need to be available to your boss and coworkers. You feel obligated to respond to messages even if they come in during non-work hours. As a result, you don’t really have much downtime. Even when you’re not working, you still keep an eye on your phone.
As much as possible, try to avoid responding to messages when you’re not working. Sure, there are exceptions to this. But the more you respond during off hours, the more you train others to always expect that behavior from you.
Let everyone know when you’ll be working and only get back to people during those hours. If necessary, create an autoreply that tells people when you’ll get back to them.
Avoid: Being Hard on Yourself
If you’re new to remote work, it’s especially important to cut yourself some slack. Working from home is very different than working in an office, and it’s going to take you some time to get your bearings. There will be days when you aren’t as productive as you want to be, and that’s okay.
Over time, you’ll get better at working from home. You’ll start to find rhythms and routines that really work for you. You’ll figure out how to be productive. In the meantime, don’t be hard on yourself. Treat yourself with compassion.
Stick to a Schedule
One of the great advantages of remote work is that you have more flexibility to set your schedule. You don’t have to rush to get ready in the morning or deal with a long commute at the end of the day. You can sleep in a bit later if you want and have more time at home at the end of the day.
However, the absence of a defined schedule can also be a downfall. It can be tough to get motivated to get started. It’s easy to forget to take breaks. Work time and downtime start to bleed together.
Dr. Thuy-vy Nguyen researches solitude and the effects it has on people. She says:
Usually our time and the structure of our day are influenced by other people. You’re going to experience your day as lacking the normal structures that you usually have. People might have a hard time dealing with it. So one of the things that we found in our trying to understand solitude, is that time spent alone is better if it’s structured.
To keep yourself on track, try to maintain a schedule as much as possible.
Determine in advance:
When you’ll start work
Break times
Quitting time
Maintaining a predetermined schedule will add much needed structure to your day. It helps you organize your morning so that you start on time and provides a tangible finish line at the end of the day. It also prevents overwork, ensuring that you take needed breaks throughout the day.
Communicate your schedule to all the relevant parties, like your boss, family, friends, or anyone else who should know. Establish clear boundaries regarding when you will and won’t be working. This keeps work and rest from bleeding into each other.
Consider creating pre-work routines that will get you in a productive mindset. Think about the things you do prior to starting work at the office. Maybe you listen to an audiobook during your commute. Maybe you make coffee or exercise. Think about ways you can duplicate these routines at home.
When you work in an office, the daily routine of getting ready and commuting helps your brain get ready for the day. When you’re working remotely, you can create “start the day” triggers that get your head ready for work in a similar way, like exercising, reading the news, or making coffee.
As tempting as it may be to spend all day working in your pajamas, take the time to actually get dressed. When you get dressed, it’s a signal to your brain and body that you’re transitioning out of relaxing and into work. This makes it easier to get started.
It’s essential to take breaks while working from home. When you work in an office, your day tends to be broken up with meetings, conversations with coworkers, and other items. At home, many of these things don’t exist. If you’re not careful, you can end up working for hours without giving your mind a rest — a sure recipe for burnout.
Schedule activities that will refresh you mentally, like going for a walk, drinking coffee on your porch, or calling a friend. These things aren’t time wasters. They actually make you more productive.
It’s also important to establish clearly defined boundaries about when you will and won’t be working. If your quitting time is 5:00 PM, do your best to completely quit. Don’t use your smartphone to keep monitoring your email or Slack messages. If you don’t have a clearly defined quitting time, work will quickly take over.
Your goal is to be fully present whatever you’re doing. During work hours, you want to be able to focus on doing your job as much as possible. When work is over, you want to be able to give your time and attention to your family and friends.
You may want to experiment with your schedule a bit to find what works best for you. Some people are more productive when they start early in the morning. Others do better starting later in the day and working into the evening. There’s no right way to schedule your day. You just need to be available to your boss and coworkers for a chunk of time.
Obviously, you don’t have to stick to your schedule 100%. If something important comes up, roll with it. If you need to work longer or end early, that’s okay. That’s the beauty of working from home. But a schedule is a powerful weapon in your productivity arsenal. Use it wisely.
Create a Working Space
Similar to a defined schedule, a designated working space can help keep your work life and home life apart. When you enter your working space, you know that it’s time to get down to business. When you leave, you know that it’s time to relax.
As much as possible, try to make your workspace feel separate from the rest of your living quarters.
This doesn’t mean you must have an entirely separate room to work in. If you live in a small home or apartment, that might not be possible. It simply means that you primarily use that space for working and not leisure.
Any area will do:
A separate room
A table in the corner of a room
A closet
A window nook
Choose an area of your home as a working space and try to use that space consistently for work. The more you work in one area, the more your brain will associate that area with your job. As the association in your brain strengthens, entering your workspace will act as a trigger, signaling to your brain that it’s time to work.
Make your workspace as free from distractions as possible. This probably means being separated from your family or roommates. As fun as it is to interact with them all day, they’ll distract you and keep you from getting your work done.
If you can’t physically separate yourself, using noise-cancelling headphones can also reduce distractions. Listening to relatively peaceful music or background noise can help you block out what’s going on around you and focus on your work.Some listening options to consider:
It really helps if you can make your space comfortable. Remember, you’re going to be spending a fair amount of time there. If you’re working in a dark and dingy spot, the thought of starting work will make you cringe.
Get a comfy chair and maybe put a few decorations around you. If you can, work in a well-lit area, preferably illuminated by natural light. Get creative with your space!
When the day is over, “close” your working space. Shut down any work-related items on your computer (browser tabs, email) and avoid opening them until the next day. Tidy up your space so that it’s ready for tomorrow. Doing these things will help you mentally “leave” work so that it doesn’t bleed into your down time.
As with your schedule, feel free to experiment with your work area. Try a few different locations to see what feels best. You don’t have to work at a desk or table. You can sit in your favorite chair or on your back porch if the weather is right. The choice is yours.
Use a Task List
One of the challenges of working from home is ensuring that you’re doing the most important tasks related to your job. After all, you can’t just pop over to your boss’s office for a quick conversation and you probably have fewer meetings with your team.
Consistently maintaining a task list helps you focus the lion’s share of your attention on the things that matter most. You also gain a sense of progress as you check items off your list.
At the start of each day, take a few minutes to review the items on your list. Rank your three most important tasks and then focus on getting those things done that day. Don’t move on to your second most important task until you’ve completed your first. At the end of the day, you’ll feel confident that you did what was most important.
In his book The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, Gary Keller writes:
Getting extraordinary results is all about creating a domino effect in your life. Toppling dominoes is pretty straightforward. You line them up and tip over the first one…Highly successful people know this. So every day they line up their priorities anew, find the lead domino, and whack away at it until it falls.
Regularly working from a task list helps you create a domino effect in your own life. When you make progress on your most important task, it has a ripple effect. Success creates more success.
There are a number of effective ways to keep a task list. Obviously, there’s the old-fashioned pen and paper method. There are a number of planners that are specifically designed to help you identify and accomplish your most important tasks, including:
It may take you a while to find the task management solution that works best for you. Play around with different methods and apps until you determine what works best with the way you work.
If you simultaneously want to stay on top of your schedule and your task list, you may want to try using the Pomodoro technique.
It works like this:
Identify your most important task.
Set a timer for 25 minutes.
Work on the task for 25 minutes (one Pomodoro session).
Take a 5-minute break.
After four Pomodoro sessions, take a 15-20-minute break.
By working in focused, undistracted bursts, you’re able to make significant progress on your most important tasks. And because there are scheduled breaks, you’re also able to give your brain a rest and restore your mental energy.
Even though you’re working from home, it’s still essential to stay in touch with your boss and coworkers, especially if you’re collaborating on projects. There needs to be regular communication regarding what everyone is working on, challenges people are facing, directives from your supervisor, and much more.
It’s better to over-communicate than under-communicate. With remote work, there’s an increased risk of miscommunication and misunderstanding. To keep this from happening, work hard to keep all the channels of communication open. Regularly let your boss and coworkers know what you’re working on.
Your company may already have tools in place to keep everyone connected. If they don’t, you may want to consider using the following.
If you’re still having a hard time finding a job after you’ve tried ALL OF THE LINKS and resources at the beginning of my article I want you to contact me, and I will personally help find you online work.
Comments Off on New Channel Coming Soon: Reviews by Designers!
I’ve decided to start a new You Tube Channel, called ‘Reviews by Designers’. I’m so excited about this, as I’ve been wanting to get into product reviews for a long time. Having been a product designer for 20+ years now, and created everything from digital products, to tangible print products, product packaging, books, software, classes, you name it, I’ve probably designed one, or one of my designers has. That is why this channel is going to be unique, by offering an insider’s perspective.
Look, it’s just fact, designers create the coolest products. They are often the most aesthetically appealing, but yet also functional. If you do your customer research, create a bad ass product strategy, and top notch execution, you win, right? That’s right. So why not TRUST designers to know what products are the best of the best, in customer satisfaction and superior design? We have higher design standards, we’re used to critiquing each other’s work, or rather now called, giving feedback. We give so much feedback in fact, it’s second nature, and not always wanted. We’re used to receiving feedback, and we know that it is the key to opportunity for growth. This is how we grow and better our skills.
That being said, I decided to round up a group of my favorite product designers, and start a product review site, our area of expertise, called www.reviewsbydesigners.com. So check it out and let me know what you think!
Comments Off on Why you should NEVER use “Under Construction” pages
Rule number one: It’s bad practice to use an “Under Construction” page!
Do you see Amazon.com, Google.com, Apple.com, Marvel.com or any other established company doing it? No! It’s basically sending a message to your competition saying “we don’t have it together or the budget to have a working website”. Never fear – here are some great tips so you can avoid this bad practice.
An early (think Netscape days and gifs here!) practice throughout the history of the internet and web design has been to use ‘under construction’ pages.
It’s 2017 folks, we’ve evolved, and the bottom line is that “Under Construction” is bad for business.
Customers
In many cases your website is the first contact your potential customers have with you.
You have promised but not delivered. They followed a link expecting information, only to be disappointed.
It looks like you can’t be bothered.
An obviously incomplete website could indicate a business that is disorganized – even a business about to go under.
Under construction pages tend to stay that way a long time, if not forever, and most people will not check back soon, if at all.
Even the phrase Under Construction is negative – apart from being a little pompous and unhelpful in its language.
There are better ways to say it.
Website under construction…
Under construction pages – or ‘re-design’ or ‘we’ll be back in two weeks’ or any variation – should never be used on your website. Typically, they’re used when a website is still being built, has been taken down for a re-design or on sections that haven’t quite been finished. We’re not alone in thinking this is bad practice – there are countless designers out there that share our feelings, not to mention the people searching the web and coming across these useless, frustrating and completely valueless pages.
Your website is important
In many cases, your website is the first point of contact for people. If you came across an unfinished website, what would that say to you? Would you want to come back and do business with that organisation? Probably not. And a first impression of an unfinished website that causes frustration and annoyance isn’t what you want your company to be associated with!
And frustration is what will happen if you use construction pages. By providing a link to a webpage, you have promised to deliver something, usually information. A construction page delivers nothing but disappointment and frustration. A happy, returning and valuable customer is not one that is disappointed or frustrated. Don’t forget that you haven’t delivered on your promise either.
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Under construction = bad for SEO
Under construction pages have no content on them. That means your website isn’t giving Google any content, and Google ranks websites based on their content. It most definitely does not rank or index under construction pages as complete web pages. This is bad for your website!
For a website that has never been live, this isn’t such a problem because it never had a Google rank in the first place. However, websites that have good SEO and Google search rank but get taken down for re-design, replacing content-rich pages with under construction ones, can suffer enormously and slip down Google’s rank. They can even get removed from Google’s index!
This is because Google’s search algorithm notices when content has changed, moved or disappeared and over time it changes the website’s rank. For websites that are constantly tweaking their content to reflect hot Keywords, this is great because they’ll steadily get moved up the ranks. For websites that are putting up pages with ‘under construction’ on them it’s not so great, as they are most likely going to be ignored by Google and moved down the ranks. This is a process that is difficult to reverse because getting Google to change its mind is very hard…
Ways to avoid using under construction pages
There are some very simple ways to avoid this bad practice:
If your website isn’t ready, don’t make it live!
The same goes for webpages, if it’s not ready then don’t put it on your website
Make good use of staging servers – they let you see how your website will look for real
If you feel the need to put something in place of content then give contact details or provide a small amount of brief information – something is better than nothing
You could signpost people to other sections of your website
Focus on what you already have and not what is missing
If you’re getting a re-design, then just wait until the re-design is finished before replacing the old one.
At the end of the day, a website is constantly under construction. You should always be adding to, tweaking and changing your website’s content. People don’t need to be told that you’re doing this…!
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Rebranding… whether you’re going into it excited or looking at it as an unfortunate, but necessary, step you need to be ready for a difficult process. But difficult doesn’t mean impossible…
Why Consider Rebranding?
There are many of reasons you might consider rebranding, but here are some of the most common situations:
Repositioning Your Brand in an Existing Market – Businesses evolve. Maybe you started out thinking you’d like to take your brand in one direction, but after spending time in the market, you think a different area has better potential. To pivot to these new opportunities, you might need to rebrand your business to better fit the market. A common example of this is rebranding is to promote a more “upmarket” image.
Moving into a New Market – If you’re moving into a completely new market, you may need to rebrand your business to strategically meet these new customers.
It could be cultural differences or you may just want to differentiate your brand between two different markets. No matter what it is, this is a common scenario for initiating a rebrand.
Legal or Image Problems – Have you ever heard of Andersen Consulting? They’re perhaps best known for their role in the Enron scandal. But nowadays, you won’t find Anderson Consulting conducting business. Why’s that? Because they completed rebranded their operations to “Accenture” in order to avoid the stink of Enron.
Hopefully, this example doesn’t fit your situation. But the unfortunate fact is that sometimes you’ll hit legal or image snags that require rebranding to successfully navigate. Whether you accidentally chose a copyrighted business name or ran into unsolvable image problems, you’ll need to rebrand.
How to Prepare for Rebranding
Rebranding is not something you want to jump into without the proper preparation. Before making any changes, here’s what you should consider and prepare:
Figure Out Why You’re Rebranding and If It’s Absolutely Necessary
Whether you’re rebranding for one of the reasons I listed above or another situation, now is the time to truly consider whether:
You’re rebranding for the right reasons
Rebranding is truly the best solution to your problem
Make sure you know exactly why you’re doing a rebrand and how rebranding will solve the problem you’re facing.
Only then should you move into developing the plan for your new brand. Figure Out Your New Brand
If you’re certain a rebrand is necessary, you’re ready to develop your new brand. I won’t go into all the details because developing a brand identity requires a whole post of its own.
But here are the basic questions you need to be able to answer:
What values do I want my new brand to communicate?
Which audiences do I want my new brand to reach?
What makes my new brand unique?
How does my new brand communicate with my target audience?
Because digging much deeper moves outside the scope of this post, here’s some further reading if you need help developing your new brand:
How to Build Your Personal Branding
The Marketer’s Guide to Developing a Strong Corporate and Brand Identity
Once you have your new brand identity figured out, you’re ready to start shifting into rebranding mode. But before you start changing things, there’s one more preparation step you need to complete:
Create an Inventory of All Your Brand Assets
Before you start changing things around, you need to actually keep track of everything that needs to be changed. To that end, it helps to create an inventory of all your current brand assets which need to be updated. This inventory will help you immensely in the next section of this post.
These can include internal digital assets like logos, eBooks, and featured blog images. But they also include external digital assets like social media accounts, as well as any physical assets at your disposal.
Once you have everything inventoried, you’re ready to start executing your rebranding strategy. Here’s how to do it…
How to Execute Your Rebranding – Updating Assets
No one said rebranding was easy. Successfully executing your rebrand requires updating a whole slew of assets. I’ll cover the various digital, SEO, and physical assets that you will need to update to execute your rebrand with minimal fuss. Let’s go through them in order… Update All of Your Digital Assets
Your digital assets are things like your website, domain name, social media accounts, and email marketing efforts. Here’s what you need to update: Domain Name – This is the big one. If your rebrand involves changing your domain name, you’ll need to register your new domain name and transfer all content over. Website Design – Rebranding usually involves a completely new look to differentiate yourself from your old brand. You’ll need to both secure this new design as well as set it up on your site. Social Media Accounts – You’ll need to either secure new usernames for your brand and/or change existing accounts or pages to your new brand. Social Media Graphics – You’ll need all new cover graphics and profile pictures for all of your social accounts. Email Marketing – You’ll need to update all the branding in your email marketing software, as well as any newsletter assets that you regularly use. This is especially important to comply with spam regulations. Promotional Materials – Any existing marketing materials you wish to continue using will need to be updated to your new branding. Here are some examples of materials you’ll need to update:
PDFs
eBooks
Content upgrades
Email Addresses – You need to set up email addresses for your new brand and redirect old mail to the proper new address. For example, you need to set up “yourname@oldbrand.com” to forward emails to “yourname@newbrand.com”.
Don’t Waste Your SEO Efforts – Rebranding SEO Considerations
You probably put a lot of time and effort into search engine optimization for your old brand. It would be a huge mistake to let all that energy go to waste. That’s why you need to pay careful attention to SEO when you execute your rebrand. Here are the things you’ll want to consider: Set Up 301 Redirects – Setting up proper 301 redirects to send readers (and search engine robots) from your old domain to your new domain is massively important to maintaining your SEO traffic. Check out this post for a general guide on migrating WordPress content to a new domain. Inbound Links – All those inbound links you built? Yeah, they’re now pointing to your old brand. And while existing links should redirect readers to your new brand if you set up 301 redirects, it can be confusing to readers when they’re sent to a website other than the one they clicked on.
So this one will take some work – you need to commit to outreach to all your major backlinks. Ask them to kindly update their links to your new brand to avoid any confusion for their readers.
You won’t be able to fix 100% of your backlinks, but you want to change as many as humanly possible.
Directory Listings – Similar to inbound links, you also need to reach out to all the directories listing your business/site and ask them to update your listing to reflect your rebranding. Again, don’t expect 100% success, but try to knock out as many as possible. Google Search Console – This one is pretty easy to do, but you’ll need to create a new Google Search Console property to reflect your new brand. Google Analytics – Similar to creating a new Search Console property, you’ll also need to update your Google Analytics account to your new brand to ensure you can accurately track your website’s performance. Update References / Internal Links – Sorry, this one is a bit of a pain. But it is important, especially if you have a large archive of blog posts. You need to update all of your internal links to point to your new domain. You’ll also need to update any references to your brand in old blog posts to avoid confusing your readers.
Assuming you’re using WordPress, you can use the Velvet Blues Update URLs plugin to easily update all of your internal links. Updating unlinked references will require either running a database query, using Google search operators, or manually combing through old posts. Update Your Physical / Legal Assets
Okay, this may not apply to all businesses. If you run your business 100% digitally, there may be little to update. But if you’re involved in any type of offline marketing/networking, you likely will need to update some of your physical assets as part of your rebranding. There are also some legal considerations you might face.
Here are some items to consider:
Business Cards
– You’ll need to update business cards for both yourself and all of your staff members (if any).
Other Stationery – If you use other branded stationery beyond business cards, you need to update all of those items as well.
Business Registration – If you need to change your official business name as part of the rebranding process, you may need to update your business registration with the government. This depends entirely on how your business is currently structured.
Tax Information – Again, depending on how your business is structured, you may or may not need to update your tax information with the government. Consider it and consult an expert to determine whether or not you need to complete this step for your exact situation.
Update W-9s – If you’ve issued W-9s to other companies as part of receiving payment, you’ll need to update those documents to reflect your new business name (if you’ve officially changed the legal standing of your brand).
Promote Your Rebranding to Push Awareness of Your New Brand
Once you’ve updated all of your brand assets to reflect your new brand, it’s time for the next step:
Pushing acceptance for your new brand.
People may have known your old brand, but that knowledge goes out the window when you rebrand…unless you properly promote your new brand.
To do this effectively, you may need to shell out some money. But there are also some free methods you can employ. Let’s go through them…
Distribute a Press Release
Step one is to write and distribute a press release announcing your rebranding. Try to get it distributed as widely as a possible. Not only will you have a chance of directly reaching your readers, but you’ll also have a chance to reach them in the SERPs when they search for either your new or old brand.
Leverage Your Social Media Following
Once your rebrand goes live, push this information hard on social media. Most social media networks allow making a post “sticky.” Take advantage of this to make a sticky post notifying followers of your rebranding.
Send an Announcement to Your Email List
Take advantage of your email list to broadcast an announcement to all of your subscribers. Inform them of the change and any other relevant information. You can even send out some emails leading up to your rebranding so readers aren’t surprised by the change.
Write a Blog Post Announcing the Change
This is a simple, but necessary, method. Write a post announcing the change and introducing your new brand. You’ll be able to reach your blog followers directly. But this blog post will also have a secondary effect of ranking another rebranding announcement in the SERPs. Confused readers will be able to find this post through Google.
Add a Notification to Your Front Page
Adding a notification to your front page is a great way to catch redirected users who may be confused why they’re on a different website than they’re used to. Two simple ways of notifying users are lightbox popups or notification bars, both of which are easy to implement in WordPress.
Here’s an example of Elegant Themes using a notification bar to announce a new product release:
rebranding-notification-bar
You can do something similar to announce your rebranding.
Run Remarketing Ads for Your Old Website’s Audience
This one isn’t free, but if you’re willing to spend some money, you can run remarketing ads to people who previously visited your website. You can run these ads on both Facebook and Google to inform people of the change and get them acquainted with your new brand.
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