Tips Tuesday – WordPress Code Upgrade, AIO SEO, Video Timestamps 

Tips this week include:

• WordPress coding standards upgraded
• Check your plugins
• Just say no to AI plugins
• How to get into AI Overviews – according to Google
• Google tests ads in AIO
• Better AI search platforms
• Must-read post on the decline of Google dominance, AI, and your security
• Celebrating a YouTube milestone by one of my clients
• Timestamps with Markers in Camtasia work!!
• Do the scary thing – a journey WAY out of my comfort zone
• A new way to support the free and helpful info you get on BlogAid

We’re coming into Halloween content-making season and I want to share some scary things I did that will encourage you to move beyond your comfort zone and into ways to get more visibility and make more money.

Today’s post also contains a link to another must-read post, and you NEED to know what’s happening with online security and tracking. 

WordPress Tips

WordPress Coding Standards Upgraded

Boy, am I ever glad to see this!!!

Last week, I posted an article about The Hidden Dangers of Vibe Coding.

The biggest dangers are that AI uses old code, and the security checkers they use have old code too.

A few weeks ago, I reported on WordPress creating a new AI team. And guess what they found? Yep, a bunch of vibe-coded plugins using old code.

So now they have decided to update the WordPress Coding Standards.

The latest 3.2.0 release has:

• Improved detection of WP functions and parameters that are deprecated
• Better enforcement of heredoc/nowdoc
• Faster performance for the “sniffs”, which is what they call code scanning

Here’s what this means for us.

All themes and plugins in the WordPress repositories will be inspected at a higher level to ensure they meet the new standards.

Check Your Plugins

Keep in mind that the repo only has free themes and plugins.

For our paid plugins, we have to rely on their devs to ensure that their code is up to par, and some aren’t.

In fact, a year or so ago, I deepened what I check in site audits to include checks for uncommon plugins to ensure they are still being maintained. We found some that had not been updated in 8 years and some that had already been removed from the repo! I’m hoping more such plugins will get removed now with these new updated coding standards.

I also require clients to check their paid plugins to ensure they are on the latest version. Some had let their subscriptions lapse, and they had not been getting updates in over a year.

Paid plugins will still work without a subscription or even if they are removed from the repo, but they have no new features or bug or security fixes and they are a hack waiting to happen.

Go check your plugins!!!

Just Say No to AI Plugins

Y’all remember when I ran a paid version of Tips Tuesday to cover the extra time for testing AI in WordPress. 

Every single thing I tested I was a big NO for using on our sites.

And I gave up that paid newsletter because there was not a single new plugin that I was ever going to endorse for us to use.

That became a waste of my time to test and your time to read, so I discontinued the subscription. 

And I appreciate every one of you who supported all of that extra research time!!!!!!! We needed to know the truth about AI and WordPress. It’s amazing that it has taken WP nearly 3 years to figure out they need to do that research too, huh?

If you must use AI, do it in the AI’s interface, not on your site.

AI SEO Tips

How to Get Into AI Overviews – According to Google

This made me laugh.

Google says that standard SEO is all you need to get your content into AIO (AI Overviews).

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Yeah, I guess if you’re in the top 10 sites that they consider the most authoritative, you’ll show up.

And we all know what junk most of those sites are.

In fact, I reported it to you in April about a test that the folks at the Verge ran on a bogus printer review post that got ranked on Page 1. That was after the HCU (Helpful Content Updated) and prior to AIO.

Google Tests Ads in AIO

When Google AI search first became available, you had to go to a different URL to see them.

And then they put AI search results in a right sidebar on desktop.

And then Google introduced AI Overviews at the top of search, which replaced Featured Snippets, and there were only 3-4 results.

Lately AIO has taken over Page 1 of search and it’s basically a list of Featured Snippets.

All of these efforts cut into Google’s ad revenue because AI results took all the places where ads appeared. And Google has discovered what we’ve known for all these years since Featured Snippets first appeared. When folks get the answer they seek, they have no reason to scroll or click.

So now, Google is placing ads inside the AIO box.

If this flies, it will be like returning to regular Google Search, but with no blog titles linked. 

Keep in mind that 80% of Google’s revenue is based on ads, and they will push hard to get sponsors in AIO.

Better AI Search

Where you will show up in AI Search using regular SEO best practices is Preplexity.

That is the AI chatbot of choice for folks who want real research results.

ChatGPT is another popular AI where you might show up. But honestly, I don’t think their results are nearly as good as Perplexity.

In fact, I rarely use ChatGPT. 

I use:

• Regular Google for breaking news and products/services
• Perplexity for research
• Claude for creative writing – though I don’t have much need for that as no AI is going to have current info on the topics I cover
• YouTube for how-to – and I see these videos in AIO more now too, as I reported last week. YouTube’s AI is the bomb!!!

Google Tips

This is a MUST READ post.

Google Dominance Slipping, AI, and Your Security

Discover how the fast decline of Google’s search and browser dominance affects you and how to be smart and safe with their AI offerings. 

Video Tips

Celebrating a YouTube Milestone

I’m so proud of my client, Julie Ottesen for hitting the 5,000 subscriber milestone with her fantastic YouTube channel Sprouts and Stems!!!!!!!

She definitely knows her plants!!!

And her blog posts are so resource-rich that they naturally lent themselves to video content.

Her show-and-tell style makes learning about plants and taking care of them so easy.

Way to go, Julie!!!!

Timestamps with Markers in Camtasia Work!!

I want to thank John for contacting me about an easy way to generate timestamps for my YouTube videos by using the Markers feature in Camtasia.

I reported in last week’s Tips Tuesday that I saw videos in AI Overviews search on Google that were at the exact spot in the video which answered my search query. I’m excited about that!

I used to do those timestamps manually, but I stopped when YouTube started generating Chapters automatically. And I was happy to give up that time consuming chore. 

But, I don’t trust YouTube’s Auto Chapters feature to correctly identify all of the important tip sections in my Heartwood Art videos that could answer a query in AI Overviews search on Google.

So, going forward, I’m going to ensure that I have my own timestamps/chapters for every part that I think is important for answering those queries. I just need a faster, easier way to do that and Markers is that way.

The only caveat is that this way does overwrite the default description I have for all videos in YouTube. But, Camtasia offers a way to input my description in their interface. So, I can input all of the info that is unique to this video and then copy/paste the default info below that. The timestamps will appear in the description, but below the info I entered, which is perfect!!!!

Camtasia also offers a choice if the video is uploaded as Private, Unlisted, or Public. And there are most definitely good reasons to make the right choice with those and to schedule videos now. I share all of that in the DIY SEO Everywhere course. 

I will be going back to older videos that are already on YouTube to ensure they have good Chapter segments in them as soon as I can too.

Monetization Tips

Do the Scary Thing

It’s time to publish Halloween related content, so, it’s appropriate that I’ve had to do scary things that take me WAY out of my comfort zone this past week. 

I want to share that journey with you and hope you find encouragement to do things that scare you too!!!

As you know, I’m trying to make Heartwood Art a bigger part of my diversified revenue stream.

And a great way to do that is to make seasonal/holiday posts that come around year after year and make me money every time.

I only had one such post on Heartwood Art, for a wooden jack o’lantern box, and it is starting to take off again.

This past week I’ve been making more Halloween projects using scrap wood, which every woodworker has a pile of.

I was hoping to invite a bunch of kids to do the painting, but that didn’t work out, so I had to do it myself.

I am SO graphically challenged. And coloring books frustrated me as a kid because I could never create beyond the basics with color.

It’s scary to me to put something out there that I drew and painted.

So, I had to find help.

I used Midjourney to create cartoony type images.

Then I used Procreate on my iPad to trace them to make line drawings.

I used Photoshop to properly size those drawings to fit on 4x4s and 2x4s.

Then I had to find a way to trace them onto the wood because there is no way I could free-hand draw them.

And then I had to do the scariest part of all – paint them.

They look like a 5th grader did them, and I’m okay with that, as this should be a family-friendly project. 

But, in doing them myself, I found 2 tricks that I would not have known otherwise, and I was able to share those tips too!!!

And then I had to make a cover image for the PDF of these line drawings that I plan to sell, and that was scary for my graphically challenged self. I posted the first draft on the Facebook group for my site audit Hub clients, and they were kind enough to point out what needed to be improved. So I did that and they were so right!!!!

I had already learned how to make a PDF in Google Docs, and had shared that info in a couple of courses on eCreators Hub, both of which are currently unavailable due to various reasons, mainly the cost of keeping them updated.

After that I had to update my old Stripe account only to discover that I didn’t need it.

Then I learned how to use Gumroad to sell the PDF, as I don’t want a monthly fee to list a seasonal product. (Thankfully there are some up-to-date videos on YouTube for that, and it’s super easy.

And then I made the how-to video using the new Marker info for the timestamps, which will also be helpful for clipping Shorts from that longer video – another new Camtasia feature I just discovered.

By facing my fears of what I don’t feel that I’m good at, and learning how to do things I don’t know yet, I now have:

• Artwork that doesn’t look like everyone else’s
• A digital product to sell
• A video that makes money from the ads
• Affiliate links to multiple new products
• A new content silo page that I can promote

And ALL of this can be applied to the other holiday/seasonal posts/videos that I’ll be creating for the next month or so!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See the first new seasonal post here Easy DIY Halloween Blocks from 4×4 Scrap Wood.

I’ve got one more Halloween project to document and then I’ll be jumping into Amy LeBlanc’s fantastic Pinterest course that all of my clients rave about.

I hope that sharing this journey helps you face your fears, or whatever it is that you think you’re not good at, and encourages you to add just 1 new thing to expand how you get eyeballs and how you make money.

That’s how I got here. I built on what I already knew/had and added something new to it as I went, or learned something new about how to use a thing I already had.

Sponsor Tips Tuesday

Y’all know that I spend 10-15 hours a week reading, researching, and testing to be able to service my clients and to bring you Tips Tuesday every week.

Just look at all the links in this post, and especially in the Google Tips post that lead to previous articles where I have kept you informed, and followed up with the online changes that impact your ability to have a fast, secure site that gets found, read, and acted upon, and to keep you safe online.

I have no desire to offer a paid subscription to Tips Tuesday again.

But, several of you have expressed a desire to support the helpful info you receive.

Donate here and thank you for helping me to continue devoting the time needed to keep on top of the changes, and keep us ahead of the curves by reporting them to you!!!!!!