Tips Tuesday – Site SEO, UpdraftPlus Security, Delete Act and Ads, YouTube Shorts Shelf

Hello Happy Site Owners and Webmasters!

Tips this week include:

• Site and Page SEO workshop this week
• What’s got me making videos like crazy
• A great piece of advice that brings success on TikTok
• What was in the recent UpdraftPlus security release
• How many plugins a day have security issues
• What the Clarity Ad Blocker plugin does, and why I don’t suggest using it
• Reaction to plugin ads moving to the Block sidebar module
• Why you should never ignore notification messages at the top of your admin pages
• Bugs found in WP 5.9 and when to expect a fix
• A new way to change text color in Gutenberg since WP 5.9
• cPanel SEO launches and why I think it’s a dud
• What Google dropping app tracking means for ad targeting
• How the Delete Act will impact ad revenue
• Why I think the ad bubble is close to popping
• How brands will reach target audiences that means money for you
• What’s in the new TikTok Community Guidelines that has me excited
• YouTube highlights quick videos on desktop in a new Shorts Shelf

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Spill the Beans Livestream tonight

Do join us live tonight at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on the BlogAid LIVE YouTube channel. This is a sister to the regular BlogAid YouTube channel. So, be sure to subscribe to BlogAid LIVE so you get notifications on live events. We spill the beans on this week’s news, breaking stories for the day too, and special info just for those who watch. And the replay is available here on this Tips Tuesday post later too. But the live party is so much more fun.

Sorry for missing the LIVE with y’all tonight! There was a glitch in the broadcast. We’ll do it again next week!!!!!

Who I Help

All BlogAid posts and tutorials are intended to assist business-minded, hands-on bloggers and webmaster designers who are serious about making money and who want to stay up-to-date with site changes. And our BB Hub is a private member site and Facebook group for my site audit clients that has lots of extra perks and support.

BlogAid Happenings

We’re seeing a few early signs of spring around here with temps warming up a bit.

The robins are looking fat with eggs and they are super busy building their nests.

And my daffodil greens are up to about 4 inches.

The change of season has me energized and ready to try new things.

I hope you’re feeling the same way because waves of change are coming swiftly.

When you’re prepared to ride those waves it can feel super exciting and energizing.

When you’re not prepared, it can feel like you’re drowning in overwhelm.

I hope the news this week helps you get on top of the incoming waves and to a place of feeling inspired by the opportunities and possibilities you can take advantage of.

Site and Page SEO Workshop This Week

This week in the DIY SEO course we start our site and page SEO series.

Did you know there are SEO settings that control your entire site?

Yep!

And 80% of my new site audit clients don’t have those global settings configured properly.

That means they are actually doing more SEO harm than good with their SEO plugin.

Schema markup is a top-level down thing.

And without those global settings, you’re missing the first stair, and big, important chunks of the staircase that tell Google about you and your site too.

SEO plugins are about way more than the on-page analysis tool most folks use. In fact, most of the members in the DIY SEO course turned off that analysis tool years ago.

They all learned to do SEO the most effective way, and they see just how bogus most of those tool suggestions are.

Our top ranking posts rarely achieve a green dot score in that tool. Most are orange, and that’s actually a good thing.

Making Videos Like Crazy

Well, I thought I had my TikTok tip ducks in a row.

But, I realized that a lot of them just sounded like 30 second commercials for BlogAid.

So, I scrapped a few that I had already made and revamped my tips list.

Ideas started pouring out.

Plus, I had planned to duet a few videos from others that I found helpful. But when I sat down to do them, I discovered they had unchecked the box to allow a duet. So, poof went that plan.

This coming week, I’ll be making new videos in batches as much as I can so I can publish at least one a day, which is my goal for TikTok.

And, I’ve got some new course video tutorials to make too, and I’ll tell you about those in a moment.

TikTok Fun

Thank you to all of my peeps who found BlogAid on TikTok!!

I’m having the best time following y’all!!!

You make me hungry, want to decorate, and take walks in the pretty countryside.

I’m not a big Gary Vaynerchuk fan. But he said something that caught my attention about making these videos – and I see that some of y’all are doing it too.

Of making videos he said, “don’t create – document.”

One of my peeps showed a Point of View (POV) shot of a boiling pot of jam on the stove.

Yep!! That got me!!!!

I stopped, I looked, and I would have given anything to be able to have smelled it.

Another one of my peeps took me for a walk around her farm and shows me the early buds coming up.

And another peep tells me about her journey with lifestyle changes.

Plus, another one of my peeps is so crafty with decor and lifestyle hacks that I want to invite her to do a walkthrough on my house and just talk out loud with all the ideas she has for the spaces.

Last I looked I was up to about 15-17 followers and about a third of them I don’t know. So, it’s either folks finding me or bots. 

Thank you for helping me get off to a good start on the BlogAid TikTok channel.

That’s all the happenings from around here. Let’s jump into this week’s tips.

Plugin Tips

UpdraftPlus Security Release

A missing check status was found to be missing in UpdraftPlus last week that would have allowed any logged in user to download a copy of the backup.

Of course, that should only be available to admin level users.

A patch was released for it and I sent out advance word to all of my BB Hubbers to update.

I have auto updates turned on in the plugin settings, which auto updates minor releases. And note that this is a different setting than turning on updates through WordPress itself.

But, we discovered that only the free version of UDP did that minor update. We had to manually update the paid version.

And, they released another minor update within the same day. So even if you jumped on it right away, be sure to check that no new updates are available.

15 Plugins a Day Have Security Issues

And before you lose any faith in UpdraftPlus, know that the issue was found and a patch released before any exploits happened in the wild.

Also know that and average of 15 plugins a day have a security issue.

Even WP has security issues now and then and you don’t quit using it, right?

So, don’t lose faith or get worried. It’s all software that gets tweaked and changed and updated all the time.

It’s not nearly as big a deal as some folks who are trying to sell you security plugins and services make it out to be with the number of users affected. 3 million or even 10 million WP users of that thing is still a drop in the bucket compared to the 1.3 billion folks who use WordPress.

Clarity Ad Blocker for WordPress Plugin Notifications

Do you get tired of seeing plugins put ads for their paid version in notifications at the top of your admin pages?

Lots of WP users have complained that it’s out of hand, and I agree.

The Clarity plugin can block those ads – but I don’t suggest installing it.

I hope you’ll take a moment to count just how many plugins you get to use for free.

And then multiply that by 2,080. That’s how many hours a year is given to you by the developers of those plugins to create, maintain, and support them during their minimum 40 hour work week.

And then ask yourself if you would work that many hours for free a year.

Can you blame them for wanting to pitch their paid version to you?

I mean, you do the same thing, right?

You have a freebie in your optin to entice folks to give you their email so you can constantly email them with your pitch – even if that’s just to come visit your site again.

Even if you don’t buy the paid version of the plugin, consider making a one-time donation if they have a donate button, or at least saying thank you.

Plugin Ads Move to Block Sidebar

Well, here’s something that the Clarity plugin can’t block.

Some plugin devs have taken to putting an ad for their paid version in their block sidebar module.

That has been met by mixed reactions because with some of them, there is no way to dismiss it like you can do with notifications at the top of your admin pages.

We’ll see if this trend continues.

Do Not Ignore Those Notifications

I see this all the time in new client site audits.

They have 6-8 notifications at the top of their admin page.

Folks, you can’t afford to ignore those things, as many contain important info and even steps that you need to take to keep your site running right.

So be sure to read the notification and then take the next step, whether that is simply dismissing them or doing what they say do, like a database update, or clearing cache, or whatever it is.

Plus, if you are using a theme or plugin that will not keep a notification dismissed even after you take the action, then complain to that developer to get them to fix it.

WordPress Tips

WP 5.9 Text Size Bug

Recently in Tips Tuesday I featured a post from our visibility buddy, Denise Wakeman, about things to check on your About page.

I checked mine, and sure enough, some of the content was out of date.

But I also came across some insanely big text on the page too.

A couple other BB Hubbers have reported seeing the same.

There is a confirmed bug in WP 5.9 that makes some text huge if you had changed the size to large. 

A patch is on the way with WP 5.9.1, so your best bet may be to leave it for now, if you can stand to.

Thank you so much to webmaster designer Marcy Diaz of Amethyst Website Design for letting us know about the upcoming patch.

Gutenberg Tips

Change Text Color in Gutenberg

I thought I had found another bug in WP 5.9 because I could no longer change the color of selected text.

That option was suddenly missing from the block toolbar.

Well, it’s not missing entirely. They just moved it.

You’ll now find that option in the Highlighter drop-down of the toolbar.

I’ll be updating my Gutenberg Ninja course for it, and another thing or two I found, soon.

SEO Tips

cPanel SEO Launches

For the life of me I can’t understand why vendors can’t just stay in their lane and be good at one thing.

About 1.5 years ago, cPanel decided to launch a WordPress Toolkit that borked us so bad that many hosts have entirely removed it.

And now they have launched an SEO product.

It includes:

• Rank tracker
• Advisor for optimization
• Text optimizer 

Really?

Even the highly sophisticated page analysis tools in the top SEO plugins give info that teaches you stuff, but won’t help you rank if you try to implement all of it.

Most of the DIY SEO course members have those tools turned off. And our top ranking posts do not get green scores on them.

So, I would not put any faith into this new tool from cPanel, not to mention that they are way far out of their lane to even offer such a thing, IMO.

Monetization Tips

Google Will Drop Tracking on Androids

Last year, Apple dropped tracking IDs on iPhones and iPads, which allowed advertisers to track you as you jumped from app to app.

That change wrecked Facebook ads – to the tune of a $10 billion dollar loss in ad revenue.

Well, now Google will be making a similar move on Android devices.

It will definitely make an impact on further eroding ad revenue on many platforms. But I doubt it will have the same impact as Apple’s move due to the iPhones being so much more popular than Android phones. But still.

And this will impact all ad agencies too.

However, Facebook is in talks with Google, and this thing won’t fully roll out for another two years.

Delete Act Will Impact Ad Revenue

Do you run ads on your site?

Then you’ll definitely want to keep your eyes on a new bill that’s been introduced in Congress.

It’s basically a “do not call registry” for data brokers who sell their profile info on you to ad agencies.

They will be required to delete all info they have on you.

That means it will be harder to target ads to folks who may be interested in that product.

And that means that ad revenue may be lower. 

The Ad Revenue Bubble is Popping

Folks, I’ve been telling my BB Hubbers since early 2020 that they need to find another way to make money and have ads as a side income, not their main income.

In our first Hubber Huddle of Jan 2021 I ramped up that message.

And in our Jan 2022 Hubber Huddle I made it as plain as possible.

The ad revenue bubble is about to pop.

Those who listened to me have been working for 2 years already and have started establishing other ways to monetize what they know.

Other folks who listened to me on this point, and on videos taking over for getting eyeballs, decided to sunset their sites, as they were ready to retire anyway.

In fact, I had more folks open a request to sunset their sites in the last year than in the entire time I’ve run BlogAid.

They know that the up-and-comers who are doing things the new way are going to draw all those traffic eyeballs to them.

I’m talking to those who will listen because those who don’t are going to be out of business, or so low on income that they can no longer afford to run it.

I LOVE When My Clients “Graduate” Up

On the other hand, I’ve also lost more long-time clients this past year than ever before because they “graduated” up to a paid monthly maintenance program.

I LOVE losing clients like that!!!

I helped give their sites every edge to compete at the top of saturated niches and now their online business is so big that it’s not worth their time to do the site maintenance stuff. They outsource it.

But you know what? Every one of them still reads Tips Tuesday every week.

The maintenance folks love that!! They never have to explain why something needs to be done on the site.

And they love working with educated site owners who can make informed decisions.

I’ve got several clients who started with me a couple of years ago. And they implement everything I say do.

I LOVE watching them grow year over year and become influencers in their space too.

They’re in the money, and still growing!!!

How Brands Will Reach Target Audiences

Now, with all this dropping of tracking, make no mistake, we are seeing privacy take precedence over ad tracking. And that’s going to permanently change the landscape of how brands get their messages out to a warm audience.

For bloggers with a following, brands are going to be seeking you out like crazy.

That could be from a following on your site or from any social media accounts you have, especially the video ones, as those are the hottest ticket in town.

And folks who have been acting on what I’ve been saying are nearly exhausted from trying to meet the demands of all the brands who are contacting them.

So, I expect to see a few more of my clients “graduate” in the next year or two.

If you’re new to BlogAid – this is how far ahead I keep my clients, and how much that foresight helps them grow.

Video Tips

TikTok New Community Guidelines

If you get big on TikTok, you’re going to attract bots – tons of them.

In fact, they are so bad with their spam comments and impersonator accounts that it’s ruining the platform.

And then those bots go find those same creators over on Instagram and other social platforms too.

It’s horribly bad in the crypto creator world, probably more so than other niches because they want to trick those followers out of money directly.

Spam and impersonator bot issues are one thing. 

But getting your account banned due to false reporting is another. It’s just that your account gets tied up with all the bad bot accounts that support is trying to delete.

Well, TikTok is doing something about all this.

They just issued new community guidelines that address those impersonator accounts. And part of it has to do with copying all of the videos of the original creator’s account.

TikTok is also going after folks who show videos of copyrighted material, such as from TV and such too.

And, they won’t be pushing dangerous stunts done by amateurs now either. Plus they won’t send make-up or other style related material to young girls. And they are trying to cut down the overtly sexually suggestive content and down-right bullying as well.

I’m glad for it.

But there are some other things they changed that some folks are not happy with, and I’m sure those will be discussed, and the guidelines amended where needed.

The point is, they are doing what they have to do to remain creator-friendly. And that’s a good thing for us.

Just be super sure you read the guidelines for yourself, as there is a LOT of misinformation and confusion out there about them, especially around what constitutes posting original material.

YouTube Highlights Short

One of the things that TikTok has all over YouTube is the ability to grow an audience fast.

To help with that on YouTube, they are putting Shorts videos front and center in a new Shorts Shelf on the desktop version of YouTube.

So, for channels that have both Shorts and long-form content, YouTube will highlight the Shorts in their own section.

They’ve also created a new video editor for mobile too.

So far, YouTube says that there have been 5 trillion views on Shorts.

That’s a drop in the bucket compared to what’s being watched on TikTok, though.

And maybe this new Shorts Shelf will help more creators get seen. 

They really don’t want to make a separate app just for Shorts, either, as they would prefer creators suggest their long-form content on YouTube – and that way the creator and YouTube make more ad revenue money.

Wrap Up

That’s a wrap for this week’s Tips Tuesday.

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