Welcome to another edition of Sites Weekly.
In this week’s edition, you will find links to articles about the following:
- Content. You need both of these skill sets to keep your audience coming back for more
- Design. Why every marketer should care about design
- Technology. Google Chrome ad blocking is here — everything you need to know
- Strategy. How to do a (condensed) content audit in only a few hours
- Bonus. Create Love Or Die
But first …
Last week on Sites
Last week, we talked about domain names.
On Tuesday, I provided three questions (and a mindset shift) that will help you make the domain-choosing process one that propels you forward instead of holding you back.
Listen: [35] 3Q for Choosing the Best Domain Name
Then on Thursday, Sean welcomed Brian Gardner to the show for a wide-ranging discussion about domains that includes the memorable anecdote of the time Brian got to hang out with a contestant on The Bachelor … all because of a timely domain purchase.
Listen: [36] How to Pick the Right Domain Name for Your WordPress Website (with Brian Gardner)
THIS WEEK ONLY: Save $100 on the StudioPress All-Theme Pack
Big news!
There is a promo this week at StudioPress.
The bottom line is that you get $100 off the Pro Plus pack, which includes every theme StudioPress has designed and released, every third-party theme currently available on the StudioPress website, as well as all future SP and third-party themes that get released.
Pro Plus is a remarkable value at the full price. At $100 off, obviously it’s even better.
Get the full details and claim your discount here: https://my.studiopress.com/pro-plus-offer/
The offer started today and ends next Wednesday, February 28, 2018 so be sure you hop on it right away.
And now, on to this week’s links …
Content: You need both of these skill sets to keep your audience coming back for more
My favorite post from Copyblogger last week was written by Will DeWitt, marketing technologist at Rainmaker Digital.
In this post, he uses his wizardry in the kitchen — and the balance of skills it requires — as an analogy for what it takes to be a successful content creator and marketer.
A quick *ahem* taste:
“When I’m not performing my typical duties as Rainmaker Digital’s Marketing Technologist, I’m cooking up a storm in my kitchen.
Amidst the rhythmic chopping of fresh produce, the clashing of pots and pans, and the roar of boiling water, I realized that my two roles have a lot in common.
They both require a balance of technique and artistry — a balance that is also an important factor when creating content, because when you strike it, you produce experiences that your audience craves.”
Check out the full article to see how balancing artistry and technique will help you be a better content creator.
Design: Why every marketer should care about design
Content is design. And vice versa. I’ve learned that lesson during my journey as an online content creator.
Sure, maybe that takes it to the extreme, but the point is an important one: You can’t just consider yourself a content creator but think of “content” as only the words on the page. How they are displayed and how they will be experienced by an audience matters too.
The same goes for design. You can’t think of a design independent of the content that it will be displaying. The two are inextricably linked.
This blog post by Kyle Eliason expounds on that point in several ways.
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: Google Chrome ad blocking is here — everything you need to know
People have used ad blockers for years in an attempt to clean up their own personal experiences of the web. Now Google’s Chrome browser is going to start blocking annoying ads from websites that repeatedly offend guidelines recently set by the Coalition for Better Ads.
To learn more about what this means for you as a web browser and a site owner (especially if you’re running ads), as well as the potential conflicts of interest at play with Google having such a huge hand in this endeavor, here’s a FAQ written by Ginny Marvin.
Strategy: How to do a (condensed) content audit in only a few hours
Content audits are never fun to actually do, but the insights gleaned from them are extremely useful. Nevertheless, finding the time and energy to do them is a challenge.
This post by Arash Asli provides a step-by-step process for doing a condensed content audit in only a fraction of the time you might spend doing a full, all-out audit.
See if it will work for you.
Read at Content Marketing Institute
Bonus article: Create Love Or Die
Do you love what you do? If not, why are you doing it?
“What if, instead of using our jobs to pay for our lives, we use our work to express the highest part of our beings: joy, passion, hope, meaning and love.”
This post will take you less than a minute to read, but it will probably have you thinking about it all day.
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.