WordPress articles
-
Responsive websites defined
How many times have you heard someone talk about a responsive website? Or maybe they’ve used the term mobile theme instead? What about adaptive website design? Do you know what these terms mean + why they matter to your business? Below is a quick video breaking down each of those concepts + some live website examples to check out on your own devices too. I also show my pain-free way to know if a site is responsive or not within 10 seconds of landing on the homepage. Do you have more…
-
2 years in, a lifetime to go
I remember the moment vividly. I sat at the front desk of my day job sending instant messages to my boyfriend, double-checking that he indeed meant what he said about it being ok. Then I took a deep breath + called my boss into the closest conference room. My tears started almost immediately as I choked out the words that I was quitting to start my business full-time. It was no secret to anyone at the company, I had been reducing my hours down to part-time for a while as…
-
Improve your security + impressions at the same time
Default post content The first place to start is the Posts section of your WordPress dashboard. When viewing All Posts, scroll to the very last page. If you see the post entitled “Hello World!”, it’s time to remove or rename it. That is the post that WordPress puts on all sites to demonstrate how the blog feature works. The next area to check is the Categories section under Posts to see if you have more than just “Uncategorized” as an option. If not, or if you wouldn’t use any of…
-
Understanding the roles to make your website project go smoothly
If you have been thinking about putting a website up or want to enlist some help in making your existing site the things dreams are made of, it’s hard to know who to turn to. Not just in terms of finding someone that is professional, communicative + the right match, but also understanding what roles + responsibilities they have in the project. While every single project + professional are different, I wanted to walk you through some of the more standard scenarios to make the process less overwhelming. Web designer…
-
Why is website security so crucial?
Money, honey No matter what you do, one of the reasons for being a business owner is to make money. It’s likely not the only reason, or even the most important, but we can all agree that we want our businesses to be financially beneficial to us. And there are 2 valuable financial reasons that you should pay attention to website security. Protecting your investment Take a few seconds to estimate how many hours you’ve invested into building, styling, writing, improving + upgrading your website. Then take that number +…
-
4 ways to increase your business security
I know a lot of folks would put security in the same bucket as going to the dentist. It’s not something you enjoy. And you also know why it’s necessary + you could likely floss more than you currently do. In an effort to floss more be more secure, here are 4 things that you can do in under 2 minutes to increase your business security. Create unique user accounts for your team Does every member of your team log into your site with the same username + password? It…
-
Techy terms: html links
Links are essential to any website. Whether you are using them to link to external sites, other pages within your own site, images, pdfs or media files, your site probably has dozens if not hundreds of links or more. WordPress makes it easy to add links by using the chain icon in the visual editor, but how much do you know about HTML links + how they work? I’m going to break down the essential pieces of an HTML link + what your options are. There are things to know…
-
11 website features you can ask your web designer or developer for
A good number of estimate requests I get include great details about what the business owner is looking for, but a feature request seems to be given after I’ve estimated the time + cost it would take to create their project. I know that clients are coming to me because I have the skills + knowledge they don’t, so it is my job to educate on what site features are exactly. So today I wanted to share 11 commonly requested features that you might want to ask for, as long…
-
The top 4 things you need to back up, before it's too late
For my friends in the United States, it’s time to back your clocks up this weekend as daylight savings time comes to an end for 2013. I think of this event as a good reminder to focus on the things we should backup in our business, especially since we gain that precious extra hour in a day that we all seem to ask for. Your website I talk about hackers + security a lot on this site, because it is important to know what you are up against in running…
-
9 WordPress website expenses for your online business
It can be hard to know in advance all of the WordPress website expenses you need to plan for. In order to take some of the guesswork out of budgeting for your online business, here are common expenses. I’ve also included what you can expect to pay for each of them. The expenses you need Domain name A domain name is what someone types into their browser to get to your website. For example, my domain name is tinyblueorange.com. It’s also called a URL. This expense is annual, meaning you…
-
Free tools that will keep your blogging on track
By now you know tons of options WordPress gives you to create new content + the best way to style that new content to make it easier to read. If you aren’t already using an editorial calendar, now’s the time to implemnt one to continue that momentum of making your blog better. What does an editorial calendar do The term editorial calendar could be used interchangeably with the phrase blog post plan. It is something that many use to map out upcoming posts on their blog, along with newsletters, social…
-
43 options, settings + details for your next post
I’m certainly a creature of habit. a lot of times I log into my site + work on a post the same way that I added the one before it – even though they might have completely different types of content. Or I simply “zone out” + only use the settings that I’m used to changing. Odds are, I’m not the only one. When you work on your latest blog post, are you taking advantage of the features WordPress has? I put together an easy-to-follow cheatsheet for understanding some great…