Welcome to another edition of Sites Weekly.
In this week’s edition, you will find links to articles about the following:
- Content. How to evolve beyond “actionable content”
- Design. Is accessibility the new SEO?
- Technology. Skynet, gluten-free cupcakes, and the paradox of automation
- Strategy. Don’t sell to startups
- Bonus. Consuming less and creating more
But first …
Last week on Sites
As our series on SEO continued, we talked about getting more links — which remains one of the most important and influential ranking factors that search engines look at. In general, what should you be doing to get more links? Here are three questions to ask yourself …
Listen: [60] 3Q for Optimizing Your Link Strategy for Better SEO
Have you checked out the new StudioPress theme yet?
A new StudioPress theme dropped two weeks ago, and as I mentioned last week … it’s a beauty.
The theme is called Essence Pro, and it’s a clutter-free theme for sites in the health, wellness, and lifestyle niches. Imagined and built by our own Rafal Tomal and Chris Hufnagel, it’s designed for simplicity, both at the exterior and on the back end, allowing you and your readers to focus on the essentials.
You should check it out for yourself: Essence Pro demo.
And now, on to this week’s links …
Content: How to evolve beyond “actionable content”
This is a smart post by Jimmy Daly that highlights the difference between tactical content that is written for people actually doing the work and strategic content that is written for decision makers.
Is one better than the other?
No, it’s all about context. But if you want to reach the decision makers, you probably aren’t going to do so with just tactical content.
Design: Is accessibility the new SEO?
I hadn’t really thought about it in these terms, but this article makes a compelling case.
Regardless of how you frame the importance of accessibility, the bottom line is that it’s important.
It’s important from a moral and humanistic perspective, and it’s important from the perspective of making your website open and available to as many people as possible.
Two of the most important decisions you will make about your WordPress website are your theme and your hosting. Wouldn’t it be great if they worked together to make your website more powerful?
Now they can.
Discover why over 213,675 website owners trust StudioPress.
Technology: Skynet, gluten-free cupcakes, and the paradox of automation
This post by Sonia Simone might give you a new perspective on marketing automation.
Is it possible that the term itself, and other terms we use to describe it, are sending the wrong messages and associating ethical marketing automation with the nefarious stuff that companies like Cambridge Analytica have been up to?
She makes a compelling argument.
Strategy: Don’t sell to startups
Who is your target customer? Are you targeting someone who is a bootstrapping beginner, and thus prone to seeking out free solutions or at risk of not making it past the runway?
Or are you targeting someone further down the road, with resources to invest and stability you can count on?
There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer, but this post will give you some reasons why targeting the latter may be your best bet — if it’s an option.
Bonus article: Consuming less and creating more
This post by Brian Gardner was inspired by 10 special words that he read in a book — and yes, it is important that he read them in a book and not on Twitter or Facebook, and that he didn’t hear them in a podcast.
The words are:
“Where your passion meets their need, that is your calling.”
Brian outlines six tips to help you consume less and be more productive.
So …
Which of the ideas in these posts will you put to good use immediately?
I’ll be back with a new edition next week.
Keep building.