Hello Happy Site Owners and Webmasters!
Tips this week include:
- Content Audit workshop series begins this week in the DIY SEO course
- New tutorial on how to easily create redirects in WordPress using the Redirection plugin
- New tutorial on how to delete images from a page or post
- Why the price is going up soon on the DIY SEO course and how you can get in before that happens
- My upcoming interview with Denise Wakeman on the power of in-person videos
- A word of encouragement to help you move obstacles to your success and joy
- Why you don’t want to even try Jetpack Backup
- A quick check to ensure your backup has everything you need to restore your site
- Tips for starting a new blog to pivot your business
- My upcoming interview with Kate Ahl for rebranding your blog
- Why more of my clients are moving away from page and theme builders and fully into Gutenberg
- Are you guilty of the one thing that kills content marketing?
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Join me Live to Discuss Tips Tuesday
I hope you’ll join for tonight’s livestream at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on the BlogAid Facebook Page. It’s a great way to get the deeper story on what’s reported in Tips Tuesday. And, I almost always have breaking news for the day too. So come join us live for the party.
Replay
Who I Help
All tips, advice, and suggestions in this, and all BlogAid posts and tutorials, are intended to empower DIY site owners who are not on hosting that is restrictive in what you can and can’t do with your site and hosting setup.
BlogAid Happenings
New Tutorials
It’s been a week of making breakout tutorials for the DIY SEO course around here.
In past years, I ran a lot of these tutorials live during the workshops. And while that was fine, it made for a long workshop and made it harder for folks to find that part of the info again for reference.
So, this year, I broke out a lot of those click-here-do-that instructions into their own tutorials and released a few to the public, which I’ll tell you about in a moment.
Content Audit Workshop series starts this week
I’m so excited!
In the DIY SEO course this week we start our Content Audit Workshop series.
It’s 3 workshops that cover:
- Content Audit – with tools and tips to gather your data
- Content Revamp Strategies – to help you sort the data and make a plan for what you want to do so that you can knock out the easy stuff first and chunk out the rest into manageable tasks
- Content Revamp How-To – with tools, tips, and tricks for how to do all this the right way, the first time, and avoid SEO mistakes
Revamping content on older, bigger sites can seem overwhelming. That’s why you have to take it in chunks.
I take these workshop tasks along with everyone else in the course as I work on the next phase of my content revamp that I want to do for the year.
That’s just one of the reasons folks stay in this course year after year too – that, and SEO changes all the time. So this is a great way to ensure your content and SEO always stay up to date.
Redirection: How to Easily Create Redirects in WordPress
One of the new breakout tutorials I released to the public was how to use the Redirection plugin to easily make redirects for:
- deleted posts
- Shortlinks
- affiliate link cloaking
I also included how to make Groups for link types and how to track clicks or turn off the logs that chew up the database.
This is addition to tutorials I had already posted on BlogAid for:
How to Delete Images from a WordPress Post or Page
The other breakout tutorial that I released to the public was how to go about deleting images from a post or page.
It includes 2 methods for finding the images that are used on the post or page too.
It’s crazy important to delete images prior to deleting posts as part of your content revamp.
And in the DIY SEO course, I show you all of the tricks with ensuring that you don’t get burned by trusting the Unattached listing in the Media Library. There are plugins that trigger on that and you’ll be sorry if you use that method.
DIY SEO Course Price Going Up Soon
Due to all of the new workshops I’ve added to the DIY SEO course this year, and the fact that it comes with support via our private Facebook group, plus booster sessions at least twice a year, I’ll be right-pricing this course very soon, which means it’s going up.
If you are in any other BlogAid course, or are a Site Audit Plus client, you have a standing discount. But that will be going up soon too.
So, now is the time to get in!!!
Live Interviews start next week
Last week I was so happy to celebrate with y’all in getting my livestream interview setup figured out.
Well, this week I’ve been busy putting together show notes and questions for the 3 guests I already have lined up.
The Power of In-Person Videos: Interview with Denise Wakeman
Thur, June 4 at 3pm ET / 12pm PT
And to kick off the new BlogAid Live series, I’m delighted to be chatting with Denise Wakeman of DeniseWakeman.com.
She is a perfect first guest because Denise is always up for an adventure and she is constantly trying new things online.
That includes video.
She started back in the day when the only way to do it was from your phone and she has made use of every type of video opportunity as it has come along.
Denise will also share with us lots of ways you can repurpose your videos into other forms of content too.
So, do join us live on the BlogAid Facebook page so you can ask questions.
I’ve created a Facebook Event so you can get reminders.
But the stream won’t be on the event page. It will just be on the BlogAid Facebook page directly.
I know, it’s just one of the quirks of how Facebook does things with events.
Word of Encouragement
This week, I’d like to share a word of encouragement to help you remove the obstacles in your way of getting done what you want to try. That includes getting rid of limited thinking.
I love the taste of charcoal grilled food. That’s mainly because I smoke with mesquite chips, which is a flavor I got hooked on while living in Texas.
But over time, I stopped grilling much because of the time it took to fire up the coals, and having to take a shower afterward, as I didn’t want to go to bed smoky smelling. And then because I grilled so little, I tried to prepare as much as I could to grill as much as possible, even if I froze part of it to eat later.
The fact is, I love the taste, but I started hating the hassle of grilling, so I just stopped doing it.
Well, this new house I’m in has a galley kitchen, which I love the convenience of. But it gets hot as hell when I cook in the summer, and I just avoid turning on the oven.
I love roasting veggies in the summer, and especially making fish and a special eggplant dish, all of which require the oven.
Plus, I no longer have a concrete patio on the same floor as the kitchen. And I’m scared to do charcoal grilling on the wooden deck.
So I got a propane grill this past week.
OMG!!!!
I love it!!!!
I have instant fire and I can still smoke with wood chips, and I don’t heat up the house. Plus I don’t smell it up with fish.
And I don’t smell like charcoal accelerator or smoke after I’m done either.
I can’t believe that I let myself go this long with my limited thinking and let it hold me back from enjoying the things I want to do.
What’s your charcoal grill obstacle?
What are you missing out on that you would enjoy if you could get over it?
Are you willing to try something new?
I know I’m happy I just took the plunge and did it.
And I hope you will too.
That’s all the news from around here. Let’s jump into this week’s tips.
Backup Tips
Don’t do Jetpack Backup
This past week I helped another client move over to NameHero hosting from SiteGround. And I noticed that she had super high CPU usage every day, to the point that the account said it was being limited.
She has a super big site and we had her on the VaultPress backup service, which is made by Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.
We shut off the backups, which take files all day, every day. And sure enough, the CPU usage dropped to normal.
We contacted VaultPress and they said they had a new service called Jetpack Backup and since we already had the SSH connection made, which is the fastest transfer connection, that they could easily switch us to the new service that has lower CPU usage.
So, we gave it a try.
It turned into a troubleshooting nightmare, with multiple ticket touches to Jetpack and the host.
The SSH connection would never make no matter how many hoops me and the host jumped through.
Now, last year, UpdraftPlus made some improvements about how they chunk out large backups. They’ve always been better than any other backup plugin for not exhausting hosting resources. But I’ve since heard that they’ve made even more improvements with it recently.
And, I just helped another client migrate off SiteGround to NameHero who had a 10GB site. And UpdraftPlus is working fine on it.
Yes, there is a surge of resource use when it runs.
But, it’s only once a week, and doesn’t trip any overage wires for the hosting resources.
Plus, it’s running during off-peak traffic times.
That’s way better than running all day, every day.
So, I tried it.
And viola! It will handle a big site.
So, we’re dropping both VaultPress and Jetpack Backup.
And I wanted to warn you off of trying Jetpack Backup too.
I think it’s made to only work with sites hosted on Pressable, which is a hosting provider that is also owned by Automattic.
Check your backup setup
Be sure to see my Backup Checklist to ensure your backup is getting everything you need to restore your site.
And you’ll find a link in it to my UpdraftPlus comparison between the free and paid versions.
Ready for better hosting?
I want to say thank you to Josh for his hero level support at NameHero with doing everything possible to try to get that Jetpack Backup working.
He is Tier 3 support and their top server admin and has been immeasurably helpful when we hit snags with 3rd party services, as well as all of this DNS and SSL hoohaa I’ve been talking about for the past few weeks that was caused by cPanel changes.
If you’re ready to move up to better and faster hosting, contact me.
Moving is not as easy as it used to be, as all hosting environments are radically different from one another now.
READ: What is Managed Hosting? to get an idea of just how different they are, and to ensure you get the type of hosting provider that suits your needs.
READ: How to Migrate Your Site to New Hosting to get an idea of what’s involved now.
Pivot Your Business Tips
Start a new blog
This past week I helped 2 of my clients who blog about the travel industry create new blogs on totally different topics, like cocktails and food.
They got a small hosting package at NameHero, as that was cheaper than upgrading their current package to a reseller account.
It’s bad for security and performance to have multiple sites in the same cPanel these days.
I did a turn-key installation that was HTTPS and fully secured, including putting that brand new IP address on Cloudflare immediately to kick the most bad bots to the curb.
They just threw on their Astra theme, did a few tweaks with Gutenberg, created some search engine optimized content, got Pinterest connected, and they are off to the races.
This is where having taken my DIY SEO course and Gutenberg Ninja course really paid off – plus their years of experience with keyword research for both Google and Pinterest.
If you’re thinking about pivoting into another niche, contact me to get your new site setup right quick so you’ll hit the ground running with it.
Rebranding your blog
I’ve also had a couple of folks contact me who want to rebrand their blog.
They started it a couple of years ago and have either found that only one aspect of the topics they write about is getting traction, or that they just made a bunch of mistakes with their domain and focus at the start and they want to rebrand.
I know how to do the technical part of it, as far as changing domain names, and in a way that you take the least SEO hit.
And let me tell you, some of the ways I’ve seen other site techs say do it just proves to me they know nothing about SEO or performance. I think they are just writing up something for newbie site owners to do.
Trust me, you want to hire a more informed site tech to help you with this and do it so you don’t have a redirect chain from hell.
While I know the site tech part, I don’t know much about rebranding as far as Pinterest or other social media accounts.
So, I’m calling in help.
Kate Ahl of Simple Pin Media will be joining me on the new BlogAid Live interview series and we’ll be talking about both aspects of this process, as her folks ask about the site tech side of it all the time.
We haven’t set a date yet, and I’ll let you know as soon as I do.
So, if you’re thinking about a rebrand, hold up just a bit, as you’ll want to hear this interview first.
Move away from theme builders
This past week another multi-site owner client contacted me to help her setup a new blog for her daughter. She sees mom making money and she wants to get her own thing going, which tickles me pink.
And the other sweet news from this client is that she is weening all of her sites off Thrive Themes.
She’s all in with Gutenberg now and has zero use for the things that Thrive did.
And her sites are much faster without all of that bloat now too.
In fact, I didn’t even consider putting Thrive into my upcoming test list of fastest themes because so many folks are dropping it, and all page builders, once they experience the power of Gutenberg.
READ: 8 Pages You Can Create with Gutenberg in 15 Minutes to see what I mean.
Starting a new blog or revamping an old one is a great time to make the switch to Gute.
Content Marketing Tips
Are You Guilty of the One Thing That Kills Content Marketing?
While we’re in the vibe of trying new things, I wanted to share this post with you from the Content Marketing Institute blog.
It was originally written by Joe Pulizzi back in 2016, but they resurrected it because it is as true now as it was then.
He was speaking at a conference of small business owners who were disappointed with their content marketing campaigns.
Here’s a synopsis of what he heard them say:
“Their blog posts weren’t getting much traffic or converting. Their email newsletters weren’t getting opened. Their customers were ignoring them on social media. Finding themselves on the first page on a search engine listing was equally hard.”
He point blank asked them:
“Is the content you are creating and distributing for your customers any different than anything else out there?”
He went on to tell them that simply creating more content is not the answer.
I hope you’ll go read the whole post, as it will definitely jar you out of your content creation rut.
And I hope it encourages you to get off your hamster wheel with it too, and focus on doing things that are unique, and maybe even new, instead.
Wrap Up
That’s a wrap for this week’s Tips Tuesday.
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Bye-bye JetPack!
Preface: One of my sites has JetPack installed, even though I use NONE of its content authoring niceties. In fact, I have every “module” intentionally disabled. The only reason I kept it on that site was for VaultPress, which requires JetPack to manage it’s registration / connectivity.
A performance problem arose with a completely different plugin, which I’l leave unnamed. I constructed some precise performance measurement tests for that situation on a local development environment (Laragon). I manged to collect definitive info about the problem child plugin whose performance was getting worse with each new version.
Having developed the test scaffolding, I then used it to see how other plugins affected the site. I discovered that JetPack consumes 17% of total page load time, for every page. Apparently, all it’s doing is checking to see if it has anything to do on the page, which it doesn’t since I have all of its function turned off. 17% of load time, for no functional value, is too much. Bye-bye JetPack … and VaultPress.
Of course, if you like JetPack features, that’s a different story. Just be aware that those features cost something in execution time.
Thanks so much for the testing info, Bob!!
There are several plugins that load all of their functions, even if they are not being used on that page.
Some contact forms are like that too.
There used to be a VaultPress plugin that was dedicated to that connection and I really hated to see them begin to require JetPack for it. Somehow the concept of having things for Automattic’s ownings and the whole rest of the self-hosted world seems to escape them, or they end up building products that compete with themselves. It’s a very odd duality.
re: “Some contact forms are like that too.”
Yep, Ninja Forms takes a slice of every page / post too, 20.9% I need to do some testing to find a lighter weight alternative.
Keep havin’ fun!
I switched to Formadible from Contact Form 7 for that reason.
I have a tutorial on getting started, but the reCaptcha part is out of date. Bots have broken v2 and we hate the logo v3 puts on the bottom right of each page. So I’ll be looking into a way to resolve that and update the tutorial.
https://blogaid.net/formidable-forms-getting-started-tutorial/
THANKS!!! (for all of your tips, btw)
I’ll give it a look.
Because of your great experience with NameHero, you helped me decide to go with them. BTW I’m a total newbie so it’s a big leap compared to SquareSpace and the like. When NameHero says Cloudflare integration but you said you got this client IP address on Cloudflare, it sounds like two different things. Is it?
Many hosts partner with Cloudflare, but that’s mainly to save you the trouble of pointing the DNS of your domain to Cloudflare yourself. I have yet to meet a host who knows how to fully and completely configure Cloudflare.
I take clients through the setup live so they can see all of the security and speed they are getting with Cloudflare and know what’s going on with their site.
MaAnna,
As always, thanks for your great tips post. *Always* the most informative and interesting information anywhere. I noticed that you mentioned NameHero, and that got me interested enough to check out their website and watch some of their videos.
It all looks great…but I’m wondering if you have much experience with them, and how you would rate their services.
I would be interested in any comments from you regarding NameHero. Thank you.
I’ve been at NameHero for over 2 years. And it’s where I move all of my clients who are looking for better hosting. ‘nough said
I guess that says it all! Thank you, MaAnna.
P.S. Do you have an affiliate link if I decide to go with NameHero?
On the Resources page, at the top – and thank you for using it!!! Contact me to help with the move.
I’ll do that, MaAnna…thanks again.