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8 Essential Web Development Tools for Front-End Development

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8 Essential Web Developement Tools
8 Essential Web Development Tools

#1 TextExpander (Monthly Fee)

I’ve been on an eternal search for a program that would allow me to store text snippets that could print from a right click of my mouse. I was lucky to find TextExpander as a better solution. This software does the same thing but with keystrokes. This software is valuable for the automatic creation of the text that you type regularly. I use it every day all day.

A Typical Example of Use.

When setting up a new site, you need to attach a domain to it. I prefer to see a “Coming Soon” HTML document when the domain resolves to the new hosting account. I have prepared a clean index.html document with a title that reads “Coming Soon” This page includes a JavaScript date creator that shows the current date.
When I visit the domain, and I see this page, it confirms that the new domain has resolved successfully.

TextExpander allows me to create this index.html file in seconds. All I have to do is type in “xcomingsoon,” and the code for the page is inserted.

TextExpander is also useful for HTML syntax and CSS. Adding snippets to the program which will increase your work speed in a big way.

Examples:

  • xmargin2 = margin: 0px 0px;
  • xmargin4 = margin 0px 0px 0px 0px;
  • xdivwide = <div style=”width: 100% background-color: #efefef;”>CONTENT</div>

And it goes on and on and on.

Get TextExpander

#2 Brackets (Free)

This free software is the best text editor available. I use this program daily for editing CSS. You can always judge the popularity of software by the number of extensions that are available. Brackets list of extensions is in the hundreds and maybe the thousands so they must be doing something right. This software is lightweight, free and easy to use.

Get Brackets (FREE)

#4 Listify (online tool 100% Free)

Listify is an online tool that converts text lists into HTML lists automatically. Placing <li> and </li> after each line can be very tedious, and this website does it for you. Just drop your list in the field select what type of list you want (ordered or unordered) and BOOM the list is generated for you. It’s a great time saver especially when the list is massive.

#5 TinyPNG (online tool 100% Free)

As I’m sure, your aware PNG24 create graphics with transparent backgrounds that work seamlessly on any background color. The problem is that Photoshop creates PNG24s that slow loading due to their size.

I always wondered how designers were able to make such small PNGs? When I stumbled on TinyPNG realized how they did it. The free online software allows you to upload your PNG24 (similar to a transparent GIF) and compress them at almost %50. This software is a lifesaver for me.

TinyPing (Free)

#6 Ultimate CSS Gradient Generator (online tool 100% Free)

Scratch building the correct color gradients in CSS would be insane. It’s one of those things that is best handled by a third party. My goto gradient maker is via a website. The site is called the Ultimate CSS Gradient Generator. It’s an easy to use website that will create compatible gradients for your divs. Doing this manually would be insane.

Ultimate CSS Gradient Generator (FREE)

#7 Uptime Robot (Online tool 100% Free)

There’s nothing worse than getting a call from your client telling you that the site is down. Using Uptime Robot means that you get notified first. This online software you a heads up on the on the issue so you can fix it fast or give you the option to call the owner of the site to tell them what’s going on. The online site monitoring company is 100% free.

GEt UpTime Robot (FREE)

#8 DesktopServer

This software creates a virtual server on your computer so you can install WordPress on your computer. It’s a Mamp replacement. What’s super great about it is that you can quickly install a WordPress site from a Duplicator instance on your C: drive.

Why DesktopServer is Epic

Let’s say you have been approached to set up a WordPress website. Typically you would install a blank instance of WordPress then tweak it and install plugins before even starting the design. The solution is to set up an entirely prepped WordPress site with all the plugin and then create a Duplicator archive. This software is what you use to create a new website on your local computer. It creates a local server environment. DesktopServer saves an enormous amount of time.

Another nice aspect of DesktopServer is that you can quickly install from backup (Duplicator Archive) to check on site elements you need to troubleshoot offline. In other words, if you have a few Duplicator backup stored on your computer you can use these to troubleshoot problems on your computer instead of fixing them on the live site. It’s fantastic and saves you from the headaches of crashing the live site while troubleshooting issues.

Get DesktopServer

More Super Useful Online Tools

Boosting Traffic With Fiverr is Black Hat

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[arve url=”https://youtu.be/UVtE93yW5DA” promote_link=”no” upload_date=”12/3/17″ autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”900″ /]

Dan Brock’s online course written in 2015 teaches that boosting traffic with Fiverr is the most effective way to drive traffic. This post explains how I tested it and confirmed that it still works to this day but beware things have changed and the method may hurt you.

Dan Brock's Staple Food
Dan Brock’s Staple Food

I stumbled Dan Brock after researching “Affiliate Marketing” on Youtube. He goes by the name of the “Deadbeat Super Affiliate” His brand is entertaining because he claims that making money online is so easy that you have time to eat Captain Crunch and sit in a lazy boy all day. His flagship product is an online course educating you on how to use the blog method (squeeze page) for catching and selling visitors.

The course only costs $17 bucks, which is extremely reasonable considering other courses cost around $300 to $500 and up.

After signing up for the course, the first thing you realize is how he does it. He provides a high-value product at a low price. After you buy the online class and trust has been established he upsells you more product. This technique is important to realize because it’s easy to sell to customers who have already bought from you. It’s one of the reasons why email list building is so important.

The first chapter work philosophy woke me up. Dan Brock makes it a point to AVOID TELLING YOUR FAMILY WHAT YOUR DOING. The thinking is that family will tell you that you’re crazy and that making money online is a waste of time. This negativity won’t help you. This thinking resonated with me and I agree with his point.

The Critical Part of the Course is
Boosting Traffic with Fivver. BEWARE!

This traffic creation system is his way of driving traffic to the site per his 2015 course. Google Adwords are too complicated and expensive so in his opinion, boosting Traffic with Fiverr is the best way to get the rank for beginners. It’s cheap at $6 to $24 per post but beware things have changed and this method is officially “Black Hat”.

The Course Was Written in 2015 – It Freaked Me Out

The first thing I noticed was that the course was written in 2015. I was concerned that boosting traffic with Fivver would send a negative signal to Google. Could it be that Dan Brock’s tutorial still works in 2017?

My Method to Test the Waters

My solution was to use scottfichter.com as a Guinea pig. If boosting traffic with Fiverr at this site gets me punished it won’t matter.

Boosting Traffic With Fivver Works With Iennod

Cannons & Machine Guns – My First Shot On Goal

I had decided to attend the Lancaster Gatling Gun Shoot, so when I visited the event, I took video and wrote up a super cool blog post about it. I then signed up with Fivver and found iennod which is

Robert Piercy
Thank You Robert Piercy

the very same guy that Robert Piercy used who is an avid Dan Brock follower. I noticed that Rob’s videos also reviews boosting traffic with Fiverr. His videos show proof of his success with Dan’s Fivver traffic boost system.

Thank You, Robert Piercy!

Robert Piercy’s helped me because he demonstrated proof of his success with Dan Brock’s system. Here’s Rob’s working affiliate website created from Dan’s tutorial.  I created the needed spin tax file and submitted to iennod for a single Fivver gig per Rob’s video below. I waited three or four days and checked my site stats.

[arve url=”https://youtu.be/qy2g8mDF-LM?t=8m13s” align=”center” parameters=”start=8m13s” promote_link=”no” title=”Robert Piercy Explains How Boosted Traffic With Fivver” /]

BOOSTING TRAFFIC WITH FIVERR WORKED
BUT AFTER TALKING TO DAN ONLINE HE CONVEYED THAT THIS TECHNIQUE IS BLACK HAT AND GOOGLE MIGHT PUNISH YOU

Rob the Super Affiliate Student also conveys this in his later posts. STAY AWAY FROM THIS METHOD.

 

After waiting a few days, I received iennod’s site submission report. I immediately logged into scottfichter.com, and to my surprise, the traffic to my site increased dramatically. A few more days passed and my keywords “Scott Fichter” and “The Lancaster Gatling Gun Shoot” also lowered in the Google rank. The system worked as promised and Dan’s tutorial is still effective after close to three years.

The Bottom Line – It Worked But The Method is Officially “Black Hat” In the Eyes of Google – YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Boosting Traffic with Fivver Works
This is proof showing that boosting traffic with Fiverr actually works but it’s considered black hat so don’t get greedy and do it.  You’ll get punished.

Boosting traffic with Fiverr is not a great way to get started with affiliate marketing. The only hurdle is that you MUST blog and blog hard. Interesting and useful blog copy makes money. Get Dan’s course, and he will explain techniques to Funify your text, so folks are more motivated to read your information. There are other techniques he mentions in his course so sign up and find out how to do it.

At $17 Bucks There is Little to No Risk.

So what are you waiting for? $17 Bucks is all it costs. That’s nothing. Dan Brock’s course is THE best introductory affiliate marketing course out there. Don’t over think it like me. Learn from my testing.

Now (not later) is the Best Time to Start

Time is not your friend! Everyone is getting involved with affiliate marketing and the product niches are getting owned by aggressive bloggers every day. Stop thinking and start acting.

I wish you all the luck with your venture.

Affiliate Marketing Resources and Techniques

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Affiliate Marketing Freedom

If You Act on One-Tenth of this Affiliate Marketing Info You’ll Inch Yourself Closer to Freedom From the 9 to 5 Life

[arve url=”https://youtu.be/1E3FKS49Xe4″ align=”center” promote_link=”no” title=”Affiliate Marketing Will Help You Escape From Hell” description=”Listen to the Joe Rogan Experience Pod cast. Joe summarizes the situation beautifully.” upload_date=”12/4/17″ maxwidth=”1000″ /]

WARNING: This is a Joe Rogan Podcast with ADULT LANGUAGE

 

This Video Demonstrates Proof that Old Media is on the Way Out! Now is the Time To Develop Your Own Brand on Youtube…..RIGHT NOW!

[arve url=”https://youtu.be/x1QY4j7wprE” align=”center” promote_link=”no” title=”TV and Hollywood is On It’s Way Out!” upload_date=”12/4/17″ maxwidth=”1000″ /]

This page is a living breathing entity.  It’s actively updated and modified weekly.  I hope this information gets you pointed in the right direction. Your hurdle will be to retain the concepts and then have the guts to act on it. If your spirit is strong if you’re willing to sacrifice you’re gonna win big.

YouTube Personalities For Insight Into Affiliate Marketing

If you’re starting out with affiliate marketing, seek input from the silent army of influencers who don’t have the massive audiences.

They are more accessible and are more apt to respond to your questions or comments online.

The uber-popular personalities are so overwhelmed by inquiries that they probably won’t have time to respond to your comments.

  1. Dan Brock (The Deadbeat Affiliate) His course is the best way to learn Affiliate Marketing.
  2. Tim Francis – He reviews Affiliate Marketing courses and provides good info at his Youtube account
  3. Terry Lamb – This guy is a no nonsense affiliate marketer whos a helper.  He also makes a boat load of cash online.
  4. Cole Dockery – He has a good heart and he’s legit. A bit rough around the edges.  Does discuss some black hat /grey techniques which I believe are not a good idea. Just listen and absorb it.
  5. Dewan Bayney – Excellent communicator, he’s very slick.  No bad language clean. I’m willing to be he’s a close friend of Pat Flynn
  6. Patt Flynn – The 800-pound gorilla of making money online.  His podcasts discuss hundreds of techniques and ideas for making money online.  There’s more focus on developing an online business (content) that using affiliate marketing.
  7. Geek Hybrid – decent communicator – he really breaks down the process well.
  8. LuSundra Everett – Excellent speaker, Videos are clear and sharp.  Some (not a ton) good things in here.
  9. Marisa Bush – She’s REAL she’s giving what she knows with no strings attached which is rare.
  10. Sanu Ogunkoya – He’s slick, polished and he sells education. Not too many videos but his concepts are strong. Check out his why campaigns fail video.
  11. Sean Cannell – Specializing in driving traffic with Youtube.
  12. Jerry Banfield – This guy is making it happen.  He’s similar to Sean Cannell. He provides tons of affiliate marketing info.  Get ready, he goes fast.

Think Twice About Hosting All Your Sites Under One Server

It appears that Google is looking at affiliate marketing websites and looking at the Whois records and the server IPs. Google does not like it when all your assets are hosted under the same shared hosting company and all the domain names have the same Whois record.  So what do you do?

  1. Get Class C IP Hosting
  2. Purchase Whois Guard so your info is hidden.

Hmmmm.. It looks like the guys over at Warrior Forums seems to think it’s  a non issue if your sites are legit.  If your into Grey hat or Black hat stuff you’ll get your ass handed to you.

This information was found from Terry Lambs Dan Brock Affiliate Marketing Course testimonial video on youtube.

Affiliate Marketing Explained from a Global Perspective

  1. Geek Hybrid – Cost Per Acquisition (or cost per action) explained – video
  2. Geek Hybrid – choosing an affiliate network (websites that find affiliate offers from websites/people that are trying to sell – Video

Paying  For Traffic to Your Funnel or Squeeze Page

  1. GrowTraffic – Personal ad network with access to 20 million viewers.
  2. The Deadbeat Affiliate Student – Talks about using Fivver for blog promotion
  3. Facebook – You can select niches down to the hair follicle.

Boosting Traffic With Fiver – Fast Facts

The Risk: Do This Wrong and You Might Piss off Google Which Will Hurt Your Rank

Source Video

The Deadbeat Affiliate Student
Robert Piercy Reviews submitting a Spintax file for blog traffic promotion at Fivver.
  • Look For around 200 -> MANUAL <-  submitted Bookmarks
  • Look for a Fivver that allows for Spintax – Click for example
  • You can add multiple key phrases and descriptions separated with a “|” (pipe)
  • See spin tax file template here

You Can See Rob’s active affiliate network site here.  Take note of how he formats his bog text.  It’s all strategy.  

Link to Fivver Account Used By Robert

Dan Brock’s Traffic Boost System WORKS

The Dan Brock traffic boost system WORKS. I created a video and post at scottfichter.com concerning a super event called the “Lancaster Gatling Gun Shoot”. It’s been three days now, and my rank for “Scott Fichter” has already dropped by five positions. I was worried that Dan’s course was outdated because the online class was created in 2015. Now that you know this fact GO FOR IT.

Dan Brock's Affiliate Marketing System Works
This graph shows proof that the Dan Brock traffic boost system still works after three years. Graph was created on 11/23/17

Scottfichter.com has only TWO posts, that’s it.  Can you imagine where it will be after 20 posts?

 

Websites With Lists of Offers For Folks Like Us (CPA Networks / Affiliate Networks)

Hint: The best affiliate Networks don’t want rookies.  The harder it is to join the better the offers. Many make you jump through hoops. MaxBounty will call you and interview you! NOTE: I will provide links to instruction on how to sign up soon. Also, never pay money to join an affiliate network.  This is a major red flag if the network asks for credit card info during sign up.

There so many of these sites it’s hard to keep track. If you want access to them all its best that you sign up with OfferVault.  There’s purpose is to keep track of all these websites.  Bob Prebreza talks about this in this video.

  1. MaxBounty = This is the best one.  How to join Hint: Don’t bother trying unless you have tried others first. This is quality network and they will call you before letting you in.  They have been around for years.
  2. Offer Vault
  3. ClickSure
  4. EPC Boss
  5. Click Bank
  6. JVZOO
  7. PeerFly

Why Can’t You Just Sign Up and Go?

We’ll consider what’s going on.  These sites write the checks and the hackers know it.  All they have to do is spin up a website, create a sales funnel and use stolen credit cards to make the purchases. Then the affiliate network sends them the check. But when the owners of the stolen cards find out that their cards have been stolen they back the charges off and the affiliate network is out the money.  THEY DON’T WANT THIS SITUATION.  They will ask you about what sites you have, what you have sold in the past and why. They will listen to see if you understand how affiliate marketing works. If they think you’re a chump or that you are lying you’ll never get in.

Beware The Affiliate Cookie Duration

When choosing affiliate listing sites make sure you pay attention to the cookie durations. Your objective is the longest duration possible. For example, if the customer gets sent to the product page, you selling but does not buy they may revisit the page at a later time and buy. If the cookie duration is long and the user is using the same browser and computer, you’ll get credit for the purchase.

So What’s a good Cookie Duration?

Five Days or Less: This is a red flag. Avoid these deals.
One Week: There are quite a few of these.
30 Days: This is best
30 Days and Up: This is even better.

The more time you get, the greater the potential for you to get the commission.

The Four Types of Affiliate Commission Structures

  1. Promote Product > Sold > You Get Commission
    • PRO: Easy to setup
    • CON: Low commissions due to lower trust
  2. Pay Per Action / Pay for Leap
    • PRO: Action completions are higher
    • CON: Commissions are smaller
  3. Gets the potential lead to the salesperson
    • PRO: Higher commissions
    • CON: Commissions based on length of call
  4. Reoccurring Commissions
    • PRO: Commissions continue to come in

Affiliate Network Sites for Beginners

  1. Amazon
  2. PeerFly
  3. ShareASale
  4. WealthAffiliate
  5. MaxBounty = Hmm some folks say this is a good start?

Don’t Let Your Network Account Manager Tell You That Offer Pay Is the Best Metric

This video by Mr. Opulent explains that when he’s looking for good offers listed at network sites he talks to his account manager that’s assigned to him. He asks for two metrics.  1) What market industry or niche is showing the highest volume (buyers)  2) What are the Earnings Per Click (EPC)?  Do not focus on the amount of pay for an offer.  What would you prefer?  Would you pursue an offer that pays 1 dollar but gets a conversion rate of 100% or would you pursue an offer that pays $100 but converts 1% of the time?  This is why EPC is the metric you should always consider.

Getting User To Act With The Use of ClickFunnels.com

Paid Advertising With Facebook

Buying Traffic For The First Time? Reduce The Risk With a Prepaid Debit Card

If you’re new to Affiliate Marketing you’re probably freaked out by the potential to get ripped off. Let me boil it down. Every paid traffic source wants a credit card and it’s up to you to shut it off if your campaign fails.  Trust me it’s gonna happen when your green.  If buy keywords and fail to track your ROI and walk away from it your gonna get used like a shammy at a diving competition. A debit card is your firewall.  The worst thing it can do is run out.  Should you put $10,000 on it right off the bat? HELL NO! Be smart. Here’s Cole explaining how to get accesses to ClickFunnels by using a debit card and getting access to a free trial for beginners.  He illustrates another great reason to use debit cards here.

 

Online Tools / Resources to Help You Make Money with Affiliate Marketing

  1. Warrior Form – Free, Jammed with valuable quality forum posts.  FANTASTIC
  2. SEO Clerks – A community of folks who provide services (for a price) that help you with your venture
  3. Google Alerts – find out what others are talking about in your niche.
  4. http://www.evernote.com – Forget taking notes on paper. It sucks
  5. TextExpander – WOAH! Major productivity creator. This is a keystroke snippet maker. It is FANTASTIC
  6. http://o.tecademics.com/ – very slick education site.  Its education is flawless. I plan on diving in on this one.
  7. https://letsworkonline.net – A blog site that touches on many subjects.  It’s pretty good.

Cost Per Action (CPA) Marketing – https://youtu.be/r8jvwCRj8gA  (reasons why this guy does not do it.)

Effective YouTube Sales Tips

Creating A Tie Down Question

Create A Tie Down: Ask a question that demands a yes response
Use no more than two tie downs. More than two and you’ll appear to be pushy which is a turn-off.

The Alternate of Choice Question Technique

Ask a question like this, “Would you like to A or B?” Both A and B options are what you want and the person making the selection thinks they are in power and so they are more apt to make the selection. For example, if you ask, a question with a single option the response will be yes or no. You never want a “no” response.

Identifying Typical Buyer Fear

  • They are afraid to be sold. They are afraid of you. Come back as an expert advisor.
  • They are afraid to make a mistake. You must isolate these elements and take the pressure off their mind.
  • They are afraid they are being lied to. Using honesty from your heart is the best way to combat this thinking. You come from a foundation fo truth. Use storytelling to explain why you believe the product.
  • Fear of loss of importance. NEVER belittle the prospect. NEVER. You must convey empathy by putting yourself in their shoes. Reflect on your frustrations with the wrong products first.
  • Fear of the unknown. Be the teacher and become the expert.

Avoid the Use of the Following Words in Your Videos or Sales Copy.

  1. Avoid: Cost / Price Use: Total Amount
  2. Avoid: Down Payment Use: initial amount
  3. Avoid: Monthy Payment Use: monthly amount or monthly investment
  4. Avoid: Contract Use: form
  5. Avoid: Buy Use: own
  6. Avoid: Sell
  7. Avoid: Sold Use: involved
  8. Avoid: Deal Use: opportunity

Good Lighting Helps

Using natural light behind the camera creates a very natural and the effect creates excellent skin tone. If you use non natural lighting, make sure you the bulbs with the same Kelvin rating. Don’t mix them because they put off different colors. It’ll make your face look weird.

Tune Your Youtube Video So that It Ranks Higher Fast

  1. Define Your Video Subject
  2. Visit YouTube and Search your Subjectyoutube
  3. Take note of the “About Results” that show up towards the top of the Youtube page.
  4. You want lower numbers (under 20 to 30K) higher numbers means you’ll probably have a harder time getting visible on Youtube.
  5. Now you’ll test to see how many videos are conditioned for higher rank. In other words, we’ll be testing to see if the current competitive videos are effectively modified for rank. So here’s what you do. Execute a find on your browser (Mac = Command +F) and enter your keyword. Look to see how many times your keyword shows up in the video title and or description of the videos you searched on youtube. If the resulting videos display your keyword, an effective rank position will be impossible because the competition is already doing it. You must combat this by looking for a different keyword.
  6. Enter you discovered keyword into the title and description of your video. Use the least amount of words possible in your title.
  7. Enter your keyword into youtube and look to see what suggested keywords show up underneath. This technique is called “Keyword Stemming” Enter suggestions that are relevant to your video and enter them as tags into your video.
  8. SECRET WEAPON: Make sure that you physically talk about the term you’re trying to rank on. Youtube will automatically analyze the audio of the video and convert it to text for closed captioning. In other words, YouTube ranks based upon your spoken words!
  9. Make sure your thumbnail is colorful, has a simple message and pops visually.

Actual Money Making Techniques.

Please, if you know of any websites that provide this information let me know. I’d like to grow this section of the page.

  1. Money Making Method  – Using Craigs List – video
  2. Instagram mentions – Using Instagram and Mentions to drive traffic to your landing page Explanation (Dockery)

Limiting Your Liability

When an affiliate network asks for a social security number it’s a bit of a wake-up call.  You should consider limiting your liability. If you’re just starting out the best option for you is to set up an LLC.  Below summarizes talking points why this is true.

1. You file a single return (like you do as a sole proprietor)  but you submit a Schedule “C” and in there you report on your companies income and expenses.
2. Owners or members of the LLC file a partnership and each return a 1065 form. Each person gets a K1 and the income shows up on their personal return.
4. If your business grows you can switch into an S Corporation.  S Corporation is designed for folks who make more money due to the tax implications.
5. Limited Liability Corporations are simple to setup and require much less paperwork.

This video is a must watch.

Using The Google Keyword Planner (GKP) To Find Niche Markets

If your new to the GKP your going to find it difficult to get a global perspective on it because it is jammed with parameters and data.  Below are some videos that will help you.

YouTube and the Google Keyword Planner

Jerry Banfield discusses why YouTube advertising is awesome and he reviews what he does. Warning he flies through it and it’s a lot to digest. Video He discusses many many solutions here.  It’s an amazing video.

Keep Fighting & Keep Quite

When creating your blog understand that money will not come right away. You must stay positive and keep fighting. The money will eventually continue to roll in. Remember NOT to tell your family and friends about what you are doing. Unless your friends are abnormally positive, they will make you feel like shit. They will call you crazy and try to convince you that you that making money online is stupid, dangerous and a waste of time. Don’t open the door to this negativity. Keep your activities close to the vest. You’ll be better off. When the money does start to coming in, they will come to you for advice on how to do it themselves. Wait until the checks come in!

Content Creation That Makes The Visitor Buy Your Product

Before you start to write content for your product consider these tips that will aid in making the reader buy the product your selling.

  1. Make your the page title has the primary search term towards the front of the title
  2. Don’t be afraid to create a longer title
  3. Use multiple desired search terms in your header.
  4. Avoid going beyond a <h3> tag in the body copy
  5. Avoid big paragraph blocks in your body copy
  6. Use one to two sentences and bullet points
  7. Use bolded text

3 Crucial Improvements That WordPress Must Have

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Three Crucial WordPress Improvements

WordPress is the best Content Management system without a doubt. Sure Drupal has a superior code structure, and Joomla has super flexible theme and user control, but you can’t ignore WordPress’s user base and the fact just about every strange need you may have has already been thought of and figured out with a plugin.

This isn’t to say that WordPress is perfect. There can be more improvements, and I’m going to write about what I think are the top 3 most crucial improvements that WordPress should have.

#1 The Media Library

When you upload a photo to WordPress, it automatically creates multiple sizes. These extra images at first glance don’t seem to be much of an issue but if you have an active blog run by a team of people the size of the wp-content/uploads folder (which is where the photos reside) explodes in size.

These extra and unused JPG and PNGs create unneeded website bloat. When the files pile up backups can become an issue because it takes too long to compile the archive. The lengthened backup process taxes server CPU usage and many hosts will shut down the process. Now you have to exclude /wp-content/uploads to get the backup to run which means it’s not a 100% backup. It’s a headache.

Zeroing Out the Sizes in Media Settings Does Not Fix The Issue.

You’ll read everywhere that the solution to the file bloat is to place zeros in settings > media but unfortunately this does not resolve the issue because it’s not the only place where image sizes are defined. The commands found in your theme’s function.php file also create files sizes.

Solution #1 Create Images if Needed vs. Create Before Needed.

Why is it that WordPress has to create the multiple sizes before they are used on the site? For example you post a 500px by 500px image. You upload the image to the media library and place it in your post. When realizing it’s too big, you click the image options and define what smaller size you need. Then and only then would WordPress create the reduced size

Solution #2 Give the User the Option to Exclude it Multiple Size Generation when posting pages/posts.

In this example, you create an image that’s the perfect size for your blog. When you upload it to the post, there is a checkbox that reads, “Multiple sizes are not needed” when checked it overrides all size creation parameters in both the core and the theme’s function.php file.

#2 Replacing Images In The Media Library Create New Images

The following situation happens thousand times a day with WordPress. The designer creates an image and places it on the site as a background image, logo, banner, etc. After reviewing the updated page, you realize that the image is the wrong size, color or aspect, etc. You jump back into Photoshop and make the change. If you upload the filename a second time, WordPress does not overwrite the file. WordPress takes the file and appends a “-1” to the name and creates a second post (yes, images in the Media Library are post types). Now, if the system is producing four extra sizes for each photo that’s eight photos created when there should only be one.

 To fix the issue, you have to go back to the library and remove the original which is a major PITA.  

Solution: WordPress should execute an if/then statement replacing an image with the same name. WordPress should automatically overwrite image images like an FTP client. I realize that the Media library is a post type just like pages and posts, image uploads should behave like the image are being overwritten no duplicated.

#3 Automatically Highlighting Text View Code

This feature would be fantastic. Many times when you have complex HTML in a page or post it’s difficult to find the code that generates specific parts of the page. What I do is place a series of X’s near the area that I need to edit which helps me find the area needing attention. If WordPress could automatically highlight the section that was selected in the visual tab, it would make development so much faster and easier. Dreamweaver used to do this back when I built static sites. It is the only feature I miss with that program.

INCREDIBLE – Update 4.9 Which Occurred on November 15th, 2017 Just Resolved The Code Highlighting Need

I’ve been waiting for this capability for seven years, and the day I write this blog post highlighting the need for this feature BOOM WordPress releases the solution. Thank you, Lord. This update is one of the most significant they have occurred in a while.

Thank you, WordPress Community!

15 Must-Have (And Free) WordPress Plugins

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15 Must-Have (And Free) WordPress Plugins

In this post, I’m going to reveal my 15 Must-Have (And Free) WordPress Plugins. The plugins that I’m going to review are ones that I install on EVERY WordPress website I build as a default. This list comes from over seven years of experimentation. I will break down the plugins into categories so you can find what you need fast. Here goes.

Security Plugins

All in One Security and FirewallAll In One Security (over 600,000 installs) – This plugin is fantastic because setup is fast and easy. The software allows you to export your settings to a flat file which will enable you to import them to a new site. Work efficiency is crucial, so this plugin is a win. My settings are just tight enough to make the site secure but not so tight that it impedes day to day work efficiency. Download my import settings here.

Get All In One Security

Email Address EncoderEmail Address Encoder (90,000 installs) – For those who don’t know, there are malicious programs called email-harvesting robots that scan websites for email addresses? The email addresses are collected and sold on the dark web for spammers. Email Address Encoder uses code to hide your email from these programs. This plugin is a must-have.
Get Email Address Encoder

Advanced Automatica Updates
Advanced Automatic Updates (100,000 installs) – This WordPress plugin is new as of this year. It automatically updates your WordPress theme and plugins. Now I have to suggest that if you do use this software that you use Robot Uptime to monitor the status of your site. There’s a chance that plugin updates crash the site so make sure that Robot Uptime (free) is watching your site.

Get Advanced Automatic Updates

 

Zero Spam
Captchas are no longer needed! Yes!

WordPress Zero Spam (20,000 installs) – This plugin stops folks from spamming you via your online forms including post comments. It also removes the need for captchas for your sendmail forms. HEADS UP! If you’re using Gravity Forms (like me) make sure you replace this plugin with Gravity Forms Zero Spam. It uses the same technology, but it’s reconfigured to work more efficiently with Gravity Form’s code base.

Get Zero Spam
Get Zero Spam for Gravity Forms

WordPress Speed

Litespeed Cache PluginLiteSpeed Cache – If you’ve read my posts you know that I rave about MDD hosting. LiteSpeed Cache is a big reason why. This caching plugin connects your site to the LiteSpeed web hosting operating system in such a way that caching is fast and easy.

If your an MDD customer install this plugin immediately.

Get The Litespeed Cache Plugin

Comet Cache PluginComet Cache (60,000 installs) – If your not an MDD customer consider the Comet Cache WordPress plugin. It’s easy to set up. Cache plugins are inherently tricky to configure, and this is where Comet Cache beats the competition. If you wish to have more control, and you don’t care about endless parameters, download W3 Total Cache and tweak till your hearts content.

Get The Comet Cache Plugin

Speed Booster Pack Plugin

Speed Booster Pack (40,000 installs and growing fast) – This software is my all time favorite. Ever run your site against the Pingdom Speed test and wonder how to fix all the issues that it raises? This plug is the solution. It compresses and moves your site’s script calls so that pages print much faster. Run this thing with caution. Junky bells and whistles themes won’t like it. Run a backup before allowing it to make changes. If your using Genesis themes like me, you won’t have problems. RUN A BACKUP FIRST!

Get The Speed Booster Pack Plugin
plugin performance profilter
Plugin Performance Profiler (100,000 installs) This plugin was developed by Godaddy, and it’s beneficial. Its sole purpose is to analyze what plugins are negatively impacting load time on your site. I suggest that you install the plugin run the test, remove the bad plugins and uninstall or deactivate the plugin.

always uninstall plugins that are not being used.

Get The Plugin Performance Profiler Plugin

SEO Traffic Building

Yoast PluginYoast (5,000,000 installs) This plugin provides feedback on the effectiveness of your keyword usage from the search engines perspective. It teaches you how to boost traffic on your site. If you have a blog, this plugin is a must.

rolling eyes
Yoast? Really? Yes!

Get The Yoast Plugin

Now if you’re an SEO professional your probably rolling your eyes right now because you consider this plugin “chump software”. Well, that may be true, but it works, and it’s educating folks on how to get better rank. It’s got my vote. Reply below if you If you have a better alternative. I want to know about it.

Ping Optimizer PluginWordPress Ping Optimizer (100,000 installs) Oh! This one is awesome. Did you know that WordPress allows you to automatically submit your blog posts to a list of websites that will link back to your posts? Go to Settings > Writing > Update Services and enter this list of domains into that field.

Now here’s the kicker. Every time you resave your newly created blog post, it is automatically resubmitted to the list. This constant resubmission to the sites could get you listed as a Blog Spammer. WordPress Ping Optimizer reduces the announcements to a defined time limit protecting your domain from being listed.

Get The WordPress Ping Optimizer Plugin

Full Website Backups – Database and Site Files

Duplicator (over 1,000,000 installs) This software was initially designed for website migration from one web server to another, but it’s great for backups too. The only downside is it can run for long periods of time which taxes server process time. Some web servers (Godaddy!!!!!) don’t let it run. Ease of use is fantastic. Also, DesktopServer uses it as a way to set up local instances of websites which makes things so easy for WordPress development at the office.

Get The Duplicator Plugin

Backup Guard (90,000 installs) If you can’t get Duplicator to execute a backup due to your server’s process limitations Backup Guard is your best bet. Creating backup are super simple. It’s easier than Duplicator. The software is free to run a backup but reinstalling from the archive will cost you money. It’s worth the cost.

Get The Backup Guard Plugin

Miscellaneous

Search Meter (30,000 installs) Ever wonder what words are being searched on your site? This plugin provides a report so you can see who’s looking for what. If folks are looking for a keyword and you don’t have a page to support it get one built right away. This plugin helps you see what users want.

Get The Search Meter Plugin

Magic Date (100 Installs) This little gem is what makes WordPress awesome. It satisfies a tiny need that I come across so often. Ever have a client call you and ask you to update the “Years in Business” date? This plugin keeps that number up to date for you automatically. It’s versatile, and it works by using a shortcode. It can be used for the copyright date as well.

Get The Magic Date Plugin

Advanced Responsive Video Embedder (ARVE) (60,000 installs) – This plugin makes YouTube video embeds easy. Check out the benefits below:

  • Disable Related Videos
  • Embeds are Responsive
  • Autoplay
  • video alignment
  • accepts almost all video site embed codes
  • SEO friendly

Get The ARVE Plugin

Do You Agree with My 15 Must-Have (And Free) WordPress Plugins?

If you have a plugin that completes the same tasks and does it better let me know.  I just found a better map plugin that fast powerful fast loading and free.  Stay tuned I’ll post it here real soon.

How to Choose an Effective Domain Name

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The 800-Pound Gorilla is .COM

What Are The Best Top Level Domains (TLDs)?

Before understanding how to choose an effective domain name you must first understand which TLDs are most valuable. The list below is written with the assumption that the domain name represents a commercial business. This domain list of value is called a domain fallback hierarchy.

Domain Name Fallback Hierarchy of Value

Fallback HierarchyThe following describes the most recognizable TLD naming convention.  #1 Is the best and value drops off from there. The list explains TLDs from most recognizable to least.

  1. .COM Short Word No Dash  –  This is the 800-pound Gorilla of TLDs. If you find a short (under six to eight characters) one, buy it right away and keep it forever.
  2. .NET Short Word No Dash –  This is an excellent fallback.  It’s fully recognized and acceptable.
  3. .COM Two Short Words No Dash –  Make sure words are not too long. RedDog is good RedPneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis  NOT GOOD, yes that’s a word.
  4. .COM Two Short Words One Dash
  5. .NET Two Short Words No Dash
  6. .NET Two Short Words No Dash
  7. .BIZ Short Word No Dash.
  8. .COM Three Words No Dash – The shorter the total characters the better.  Do The Words Have a ring to them?  For Example BlueToothBreakdown.com  It’s long but it rings.
  9. .COM Three Words With Dashes – Keep those characters short.

Do you agree with this fallback Hierarchy? Reply Below.

[arve url=”https://youtu.be/FxTW69t21AI” mode=”normal” align=”center” promote_link=”no” upload_date=”11/4/17″ autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”800″ /]

Below is a Working Example of a Fallback Hierarchy of Value for “Joe’s Automotive”

  1. joes.com – If this was available it would be worth THOUSANDS of dollars.
  2. joes.net
  3. joesautomotive.com
  4. joes-automotive.com
  5. joesautomotive.net
  6. joes-automotive.net
  7. joes.biz
  8. joesautomotiverepair.com
  9. joes-automotive-repair.com – The Word “Automotive” is long for this one.  The users should consider “Car” or “Auto” for three words with dashes.

Dynadot Searches Domain Names For YouAfter creating your list check them all at one time by visiting Dynadot.   Dynadot will check availability on all the domains all at one time. Aweseom eh?  Don’t forget to check off “I entered complete domain names with TLDs.”

No Success? Try A Few New Words Like:

  1. Joes Car Automotive
  2. Joes Car Repair
  3. Joes Repair
  4. Joes Car Fix
  5. Joes Garage
  6. Joes Car Garage
  7. Joes Automotive Garage

Each name above will be tested against the .com .net with dashes / without dashes hierarchy system explained above.

If after testing these names you still don’t get positive results it’s time to go farther with descriptive names. Below reviews three websites that will help with name suggestions.

1. Cool Domain Name IdeasCoolnameideas.com: Excellent for the person who has naming flexibility. The site asks for keywords and things like business benefits, style, and type. Answering these questions will modify the returned list. Clicked suggested names will display if the name is available as a .com and let you know if the name is available as a Twitter handle.

2. Domain Name SoupDomainnamesoup.com: This site allows you to enter words and it returns suggestions. The site will let you see if .com and .us are available. It also has a “Wizard” button that remixes your submitted words. You can continue to remix words with the “Wizard” button until you find the name you want.

Still No Joy? – Consider Fivver For Help On How to Choose an Effective Domain Name

FiverrYou can hire help at fivver.com to do the work for you but make damn sure the person your hiring is of solid character. They could be a domain squatter in sheep’s clothing. They could buy the domain you’re looking for right out from underneath you. Execute due diligence!

Do you agree on this these techniques on how to choose an effective domain name? I’d like your opinion on it? I’d be especially interested in what you think about future awareness of longer TLDs. Will they ever be recognized? Would it make sense to buy them? Reply below.

I hope this helps you with your website venture.