Tips Tuesday – Substack Workshop, New EZ Metrix Reports, AIO Kills GSC Accuracy

Tips this week include:

• How I order my to lists to get so much done
• Status of WordPress and Web3
• WordPress 6.8 password protection change
• Why you can now forget Google Search Console for ranking accuracy
• AIO clicks showing in GA4
• Update on new report for AI clicks
• New reports for Substack and Shopify traffic
• Where to get reports that make traffic metrics fun and easy for you
• How to subscribe to a Substack writer without confusion
• Substack Workshop in the DIY SEO course this week
• Substack Mastermind is a go
• Why to put your offers on repeat
• Why to make a mini course free and then paid
• Spotify allows more AI audio narration

Another false Spring has sprung here this week.

That little bit of warmth energizes me like crazy and I want to run do all the things!!!

Does it hit you like that too?

BlogAid Happenings

Knocking Out My To-Do List First

While the warm weather has me wanting to start something new and fun, my to-do list has gotten WAY longer than usual and it has been stressing me out a bit with feeling overwhelmed.

So, I’m using all of this spring-like energy to knock it down to a reasonable size.

I have never been able to create a content editorial calendar. Tech changes too fast and things pop up all the time. I’m more of an opportunistic creator – for courses and content, and everything, really.

But, the only way I can stay out of overwhelm with what’s already on my plate, plus new ideas, is to stick to my to-do list.

It’s ordered this way:

• Today – the things that have to get done during normal office hours – including all scheduled client work and any fires that pop up. This list is super short to ensure I complete these hot tasks.
• Tomorrow – the things that have to get done for clients or projects I’m working on that need a 24 hr wait period, or I’m awaiting a reply soon and need to keep it top of mind.
• Need To Do – ongoing projects or hot topics that pop up where I need to create a tutorial or such for us within the week. These tasks filter into my Today list once I complete everything already on it. 
• Want To Do – projects I think are worthy of my attention, like a Substack mastermind. Tasks here also include tips I pick up that would be good for my courses/guides too. 
• Curated Lists – If I don’t get to the Want To Do tasks within a month or so, they go onto separate to-do lists that are curated by topic, like the ones I keep running for my courses/guides, or new projects that I may want to take on later in the year. But, those separate lists are not something in my face that I see every day. I try to purge them once a quarter.

How do you get everything done and keep yourself out of overwhelm?

Do you tend to start new things before completing the projects you already have going? 

Creative energy is a bit of a drug. I do my best to treat it like dessert after I get my chores done, but it doesn’t always work out that way ;-)

WordPress Tips

WordPress and Web3

Web3 – now that’s a term I haven’t heard in about a year. Same with NFTs.

But that’s exactly what this post on WP Arena covers, titled How Web3 is Transforming the Future of WordPress Development.

It’s worth reading the whole thing, just to hear their argument for it.

But when it got to the part about how logging in through a crypto wallet would make WP more secure, I bailed. And selling things as NFTs, I don’t think so.

I think the biggest thing that will keep this integration from becoming a widespread reality is something they actually mentioned – performance.

Blockchain transactions are incredibly slow sometimes. Plus, they use a LOT of resources compared to a database.

To me, Web3 has become a pipe dream, even for the industries that could really benefit from it, like logistics.

WordPress 6.8 Password Protection Change

Even though I don’t see Web3 as the way to go for WP logins, I do think the current system could use some upgrading. And we will be seeing that in the next major release of 6.8.

For years, WP has used a hashing algorithm to store passwords securely in the database.

With 6.8, they will change to a thing called bcrypt. They will also apply this to your security keys.

Bcrypt is a LOT harder to hack, according to this post on SpecOps.

And you won’t have to do anything to switch to it.

After you update to 6.8, the next time you login, your password will switch to bcrypt encryption.

So what about our plugin logins and keys?

No worries. Those will remain with the current hashing for now.

You can read more about it on this post from Make WordPress Core titled WordPress 6.8 will use bcrypt for password hashing.

SEO Tips

Forget GSC Ranking Accuracy

Google has taken AIO results to a whole new level – that doesn’t help anyone.

Instead of showing a few summaries in the AI Overview with 4-5 links from the top posts, Google is now showing AIO results that are long enough to fill the entire page.

And they contain about 40 links.

That’s overwhelming for the person searching.

And all the links will show in Google Search Console as Position 1, meaning Page 1.

So, you can forget using GSC for ranking accuracy now.

See more in this article from Search Engine Roundtable titled Will Searchers Click On Links Within Google AI Overviews With Dozens Of Links?

GA4 Tips

AIO Clicks Showing in GA4

I’ve been monitoring my EZ Metrix reports for clicks to my site from AI Overviews shown everywhere, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and about 10 other AI search chatbots.

I’m delighted to see those clicks to my site.

And this is why 2 years ago I advised folks not to block the big AI scraper bots. AI search is going to be the top way we show up in search results now, regardless of AI platform.

New Report for AI Clicks Update

For the past week I’ve been working on a new report page for EZ Metrix to only show clicks from AIOs.

I’ve got to do some fine tuning to get it to filter properly, though. And if I can’t get it to only show the AIO clicks, then I’ll ditch that extra report page and we’ll just use the grouped sources that we have now in the GA4 Source Trends report page, as they are showing up there, along with clicks from Google, Bing, and other traditional search engines.

Clicks to Substack and Shopify

Plus, I want to use my time this week wisely and get to adding Conversion metrics to existing reports for when folks click from your WordPress site over to your Shopify store.

Plus, I want to set up a totally new report page for traffic to my Substack Publications too. Both of those should be super quick additions.

Get Your New Reports

If you’re in the EZ Metrix course and want these new Conversion tracking metrics, or new report pages for Substack or Shopify, just contact me through eCreators Hub.

If you don’t already have EZ Metrix, what are you waiting on? It makes seeing your traffic data fun, fast, and easy.

Substack Tips

How to Subscribe Without Confusion

The first time I subscribed to a Publication on Substack I was totally confused with the interface.

You don’t have to be.

What you see when you go to Substack has everything to do with the link you are following to get there, and whether you have a Substack account or not.

End the confusion!!!

See my new post Substack: How to Subscribe and Follow on eCreators Hub for how to Follow folks and Subscribe to their Publication – as those are 2 different things.

Substack Workshop this Week

On Thursday in the DIY SEO course we’ll have a live look at Substack and answer your questions about it.

Substack Mastermind

And I’ve had a few folks reply with interest in a Substack mastermind too, so it looks like that will be a go. I’ll let you know when.

Marketing Tips

Put Your Offers on Repeat

Since last fall y’all have seen me barrel ahead with one new course or guide after another.

And maybe you weren’t ready to jump on that bandwagon then, but maybe you will be by summer.

This is just one example of why you should put the promotion of your offers on repeat.

It keeps you top of mind for why folks should make that move and then you’ll be who they come to when they are ready to make that move.

Why to Make a Mini Course Free and Then Paid

Another example of this is running a how-to post series.

I’m following along with a couple of those now, but my schedule just won’t allow me to participate and/or I don’t have the foundation for the thing laid yet and I’m not ready for that step.

I feel like it is a drip course that I did not sign up for and it’s passing me by.

And that’s stressing me out.

I’d be happy to know upfront that there will be a mini course available at the end that I could participate in later, even if it is paid.

That way I’ve already seen the goods and I know what I’m getting. I’d pay to have it laid out in step-by-step fashion.

Even if you initially gave it away for free, folks will pay to gain access to it later rather than having to save emails or sort back through old posts.

And the free posts literally act as your marketing.

I’m looking into ways to do this as a paid Substack thing, but I want to limit the access for it to a short timeframe, much like I do with all of my other courses, many of which are 6 months with an insanely low renewal.

I think mini courses like this are meant to have a lot of churn, unlike the DIY SEO course, where the base info changes all of the time and folks need a year of access at a time to do the work and keep informed of changes.

Plus, doing it on Substack is a WHALE of a lot less setup, even though I already have member sites. Setting up a new membership and email list and landing page is a lot more work than setting up a paid Publication.

But, I would only do that for a limited-time course, not a permanent course, as there is no real backup/restore solution on Substack yet – but I’m working on how to devise one.

Audio Book Tips

Spotify Allows More AI Audio Narration

Have you written a book, or are you considering it?

It can be a tough market, especially if you don’t have an audio version of it available.

But, hiring narration talent can be too pricey, especially for new, independent authors.

AI comes to the rescue.

There are several really good AI voice platforms. Eleven Labs is tops amongst them.

And now, Spotify has partnered with Eleven Labs to accept audio books narrated by their AI.

To be clear, Spotify has allowed AI narrated audio books for a while, but they have to go through a rather strict review process.

But, that process is more relaxed when using Eleven Labs. 

However, Eleven Labs is pretty pricey.

The Verge article says:

“users will need at least the $99 monthly Pro subscription to generate 500 minutes of narration — roughly the length of the average audiobook.”

I think you would need at least 2 months worth or maybe 3 to get your full book narration.

Still, that’s likely cheaper than hiring a human to do it, and likely faster turnaround too.

While I see a lot of AI platform prices coming down, I don’t expect this one to. They just keep improving it and adding more features.

It’s kind of like computers. The price hasn’t changed much in the last 5 years. They just get more powerful at each price point.