Create a WordPress Under Construction Page
In a recent tutorial, I showed you how to create a coming soon page in WordPress. The primary purpose of a coming soon page is to let people know that you plan to launch a product or service soon. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create an under construction page in WordPress. You might be thinking that a coming soon page and an under construction page are not very different. Well, you would be right. They both indicate that something will be ready for you to use soon. However, there is a subtle difference and that's why we will approach this problem a bit differently here. A coming soon page can be about a product, event, company or a whole website. However, it doesn't make as much sense to create an under construction page for an event or a company. An under construction page can be about your whole website being under construction or it can just refer to some section of a website that you are actively working on or maintaining. In this tutorial I'll teach you how to create a WordPress under construction or maintenance page that lets users access other parts of the website. You will, of course, be able to show the under construction notice for the whole website as well. Here is a preview of the final result of our Under Construction page that lets users know that we are currently creating a Menu Generator for them so affected parts of the website will be inaccessible for some time. ![]() ![]() ![]() Finding the Right Plugin and Initial PlanningThe first step would be to find the right plugin. We are looking for something that will let us have complete control over the textual content of the page. It should also give us reasonable flexibility regarding the visual appearance like setting a background color, font family or logo. Two more features that I would like in the plugin include the ability to restrict or allow access to a specific set of pages and to be able to use CSS to modify the page in more powerful and unique ways. The plugin that met all these requirements for me was the Maintenance plugin. I would highly recommend that you take a similar approach when searching for plugins. Make a list of features that you want and then actively filter out plugins which don't meet your criteria. This will save you a lot of time instead of using the first plugin you find right away and then discovering that it doesn't do exactly what you want. Keeping Users InformedWe will be adding a section to our under construction page to let users know what we are planning to do. This could include things like interesting features or a possible release date. You can also provide them links to some other posts on the website where they could read more about it. Provide Easy Ways to ConnectNow that people visiting the under construction page know what you are doing, it makes sense to let them know that they can be part of the process. We will be including links to some social media accounts on the page to allow everyone to contact us. Create a WordPress Under Construction PageWe will begin creating our under construction page by installing the free maintenance plugin. Once you have installed and activated the plugin it will show up in the navigation menu on the admin dashboard. You can see the current status of the plugin from the admin toolbar. ![]() ![]() ![]() Once the maintenance mode is turned on with this plugin, try visiting any page on your website either in a private window or after logging out from the current session. It should show you a generic maintenance page similar to the image below. ![]() ![]() ![]() We will now start modifying this page so that the text says something like under construction etc. among other things. Changing the TextLets begin by changing the text that we show to users. Click on the Maintenance is On link in the admin toolbar to directly open the plugin settings page. You can also select Maintenance from the navigation menu in the admin dashboard to go to the settings page. Change the page title to "Menu Generator" is Under Construction and the headline to Creating the Best "Menu Generator" Tool for You. Now put the following HTML in the Description field. <section class="main-content"> <p>We know that creating navigation menus for your website can be tricky. So, we are creating an awesome menu generator for you.</p> <p>Here are some articles for you to read while we are building the Menu Generator.</p> <ul> <li><a href="/navigation-menu-types/">Different types of navigation menus.</a></li> <li><a href="/navigation-and-accessibility/">Navigation menus and accessibility.</a></li> <li><a href="/mega-menu-tips/">Tips for building a mega menu.</a></li> </ul> </section> Your plugin settings page should now look like the following image. Please note that the HTML for the Description field goes under the Text tab. This allows us to write the content for the page in HTML so that we can target specific elements later using CSS rules. ![]() ![]() ![]() Click on the Save Changes button and hit Preview to see the updated version of our under construction page. It should look similar to the image below. ![]() ![]() ![]() Updating Images and UI ColorsNow it is time to make some changes to the visual appearance of our under construction page. We will begin with the images. If you scroll down a little bit on the plugin settings page, you will find an option to upload a logo as well as a background image. First, click on the Upload Logo button and choose your website logo from the media library. After that, click on the Upload Background button and pick an image that you like the best. I have used this User Experience illustration from Reshot. Did you notice a lock icon in the previous preview images of our construction page? Clicking on the lock icon open a login form that you can use to log in to the website and see all the restricted pages hidden by the plugin. You can set a new background color for the login form on the plugin settings. There is also an option to change the color of the font. We will leave them all at their default values but change the Font Family from Open Sans to Yanone Kaffeesatz. ![]() ![]() ![]() Click the Save Changes button and the construction page should now look similar to the following image. ![]() ![]() ![]() Adding Custom CSSOur under construction page is now starting to take shape but there are a few things that I would like to change. There isn't enough contrast between the logo and the background so we will add a white background along with some borders using CSS. The font size seems too small for the main content as well. So, we will be increasing the font size and make some other changes like adding a translucent black background. We will also change the alignment of the text to left. All this can be done with the help of following CSS rules. div.logo-box img { background: white; border-bottom: 10px solid black; border-top: 10px solid red; padding: 10px 0; border-radius: 30% 70% 70% 30% / 30% 70% 40% 70%; } section.main-content { font-size: 1.8rem; width: 800px; margin: 0 auto; background: #00000024; padding: 50px; text-align: left; box-shadow: 0 0 4px #000000a6; } section.main-content ul { list-style: none; line-height: 1.5; } body.maintenance section.main-content p { font-size: 1.8rem; margin-bottom: 2rem; } .site-content h2.heading { font-size: 3.8rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; } footer { font-size: 1.8rem; } You need to paste all these CSS rules in the Custom CSS section on the plugin settings page. Now, click on the Save Changes button and the under construction page should start looking like the image below. ![]() ![]() ![]() Allowing Access to Certain PagesThe under construction page of our Menu Generator links to three different posts on our website. It wouldn't make much sense if clicking on those links redirects the users back to the under construction page. We can solve this problem by excluding some pages from being under maintenance mode in the plugin settings. This will make these pages accessible to all our visitors. Scroll to the bottom of the settings page and enter the name of published posts that you want the public to access under Posts. ![]() ![]() ![]() Final ThoughtsIn this tutorial, you learned how to create an under construction page for a website using a free plugin. We began by updating the text in order to provide users all the necessary information about our under construction page. Then we added a relevant background image as well as the website logo so that nothing looks out of place. Finally, we used custom CSS rules to make changes to the visual appearance of the logo as well as other text on the page. You might have noticed that the page currently contains no contact information for visitors. This has been left out as an exercise for you. Try to follow the steps listed in the tutorial and add a link to the Contact Us page inside the main content. via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/11/create-wordpress-under-construction-page.html November 02, 2021 at 10:57PM
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WooCommerce vs Shopify: Which One is Right for You?
In one of our previous posts, we compared WordPress and Shopify to help you figure out which might be better choice for you to set up your own online store. We separately covered different factors like cost, extensibility, support and customization etc. to see how both these platforms stacked against each other. In this article, we will do a similar comparison for WooCommerce and Shopify. The primary difference here is that WooCommerce is simply a plugin for WordPress. This will make our comparison a bit more specific and accurate when discussing the following aspects: You can also jump directly to the end of the article to find out Which One is Best for You? WooCommerce vs Shopify: The Basic DifferenceLets begin the discussion by starting with the main difference between these two platforms that sets up the stage for the rest of the comparison. ![]() ![]() ![]() Shopify is a full-fledged platform that will handle everything from hosting, security, payment and inventory management for you. It is a closed system that is designed to make your experience of setting up an online store hassle free and beginner friendly. ![]() ![]() ![]() You probably already know that WordPress is a general purpose open-source CMS which you can extend to create almost all kinds of websites. WooCommerce is one of the many WordPress plugins that extends its functionality. The primary purpose of WooCommerce is to help you sell things using a WordPress-based website. Basically, WooCommerce and Shopify are similar in the sense that they both focus on eCommerce. However, they are different in the way they address this problem. Shopify is a comparatively closed system that tries to do things on your behalf while WooCommerce requires a more hands-on approach. WooCommerce vs Shopify: Required Time and EffortThe sole purpose of the Shopify platform is to help people sell things online and they try their best to make the whole process as quick, simple and beginner-friendly as possible. This means that you will have to spend very little time thinking about things that are not directly related to selling. You don't have to worry about picking a domain name registrar or do any research about web hosting providers among other things. WooCommerce is also meant to help you sell things online but it is an open-source WordPress plugin. It is not meant to take care of everything for you. The primary aim here is to let you have the freedom to do whatever you want. Things will be a bit easier if you already have a WordPress-based website set up. This is because it means that you don't have to start from the very beginning by registering a domain etc. However, you will still need to take care of things like updates, security, backups, and website design. You should consider using Shopify if you are an absolute beginner or have little technical know-how related to web development. This will make sure that you are up and running very quickly without having to spend a lot of time learning the absolute basics of things that aren't directly related to your business. WooCommerce vs Shopify: Design ChoicesThe UI of your eCommerce store can have a huge impact on the number of sales. Everything else being equal, people are more likely to buy products from an easy to navigate website that shows them all the information they need about a product. All this essentially comes down to picking a theme that fits well with your plan regarding the overall content of the website. ![]() ![]() ![]() There are around 80 different themes listed on the Shopify website and hundreds more on ThemeForest that you can use while creating your online store. Some of these themes are free while others are paid. WooCommerce is primarily concerned with the backend functionality that allows you to sell things online while leaving the design aspect up to you or other theme developers. It will usually work fine with a lot of themes provided they are following the standard practices and recommendations. You can search for a term like eCommerce and pick one of over 500 free themes to install. While this might not always be true but you will notice that the Shopify themes usually have a more polished and professional layout compared to free WordPress eCommerce themes. However, WooCommerce is pretty popular so it is easy to find a lot of premium themes that are designed with WooCommerce integration in mind. I will have to call this one a tie because both Shopify and WooCommerce have plenty of themes available for you to use. WooCommerce vs Shopify: Accepting PaymentsAll online stores need to accept payments from their users. There are many important things that need to be kept in mind here. Any payment method that you use has to meet two requirements: it should be secure and it should be available to your customers. Both Shopify and WooCommerce come with their own integrated payment systems called Shopify Payments and WooCommerce payments respectively. Both of them are powered by Stripe. Also, it is not a problem if you don't want to use these built-in payment solutions. Both these platforms allow you to integrate 3rd party payment gateways. The only major difference between these two is that while WooCommerce doesn't charge any extra fee when you integrate a 3rd-party payment gateway, Shopify will takes its own cut over and above the default processing charge of the 3rd-party gateway. This might not be a huge deal for some store owners but it can have a huge impact on the others. The costs will add up if you have high sales volume and most of your users prefer to pay using a 3rd party payment gateway instead of Shopify payments. The extra fee charged by Shopify for using a 3rd party payment gateway makes WooCommerce =the winner of this round. WooCommerce vs Shopify: ScalabilityEveryone wants their business to scale up and reach new heights. One of the worst things that can happen when your business starts to take off is that your whole setup comes crashing down because it can't take on the additional load. This causes damage to both your revenue and your reputation. Scalability problems can happen either due to inadequate hardware or unoptimized software. Hardware-related problems can be resolved quickly by simply upgrading your hardware. However, figuring out exactly what piece of software is causing optimization issues can be a bit tricky. In fact, what might seem like lack of hardware resources could actually turn out to be software optimization problem. As I have mentioned earlier, WooCommerce is open-source and it gives you the freedom to integrate all kinds of 3rd-party plugins and themes in your store. This means that you could have scalability issues due to a 3rd-party plugin or theme that are not fault of either WooCommerce or your web host. Shopify, on the other hand, handles all the technical details behind the scene. You don't have to worry about monitoring your resource usage to see whether the RAM or CPU needs an upgrade. You are also less likely to run into any software optimization issues because there is a dedicated team of developers working constantly to keep everything running smoothly. I would like to emphasize here that the above discussion does not mean that you will definitely run into problem when scaling your business on WooCommerce. I am just saying that you will need to be a lot more careful about it when using WooCommerce. All you have to do in case of Shopify is simply buy a bigger plan. The winner for scalability is Shopify primarily due to its hassle-free experience for scaling up your business. WooCommerce vs Shopify: Cost of Setting Up the StoreHow much money you spend while setting up your online store and to keep it running depends on a number of factors. These costs are a bit easier to calculate for Shopify but they will still differ from one business to another. ![]() ![]() ![]() You pay a monthly fee when you set up a store with Shopify. This will cover things like hosting and a SSL certificate. You can also buy your own custom domain name for a fixed annual cost. A basic Shopify plan costs $29 per month and a top-level domain name will usually cost less than $14 per year. Additional optional costs that you will incur include the purchase of premium themes. There is also a variable cost due to transaction fees that Shopify expects you to pay for successfully placed orders. Costs are a bit harder to estimate with WooCommerce. WooCommerce itself is free to use, just like WordPress. However, you will still need to purchase a domain name and a hosting account. One thing that can keep costs down in WooCommerce is its open-source nature. A lot of people develop free plugins and themes that can act as alternatives to premium options with some compromise in functionality or features. WooCommerce will definitely be a cheaper option if you don't mind looking around for free or cheaper alternatives to premium plugins and themes. However, the costs can add up quickly if you are not careful. Which One is Best for You?Creating an online store is an involved process and requires you to take a variety of factors into consideration. Here's a summary of the factors we've discussed in this post:
All you have to do now is figure out the importance you give to each of these factors when setting up your online store. Shopify is a good option for creating an online store if you are looking for something that doesn't require much technical know-how and can be set up relatively quickly. WooCommerce is ideal for people who want more control over every aspect of their store. Setting up an online store using WooCommerce takes time and effort but it can save you money in the long run. I will also recommend that you take a look at my other post that compares Shopify with WordPress. Some of the points mentioned in that article are relevant here as well. via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/11/woocommerce-vs-shopify-which-one-is.html November 02, 2021 at 10:57PM
8 Best WooCommerce Subscription Plugins
Do you want to create a subscription website? Subscription websites are a great source of recurring income. WooCommerce subscription plugins on CodeCanyon and Envato Elements convert your WooCommerce store into a subscription website. Think of subscriptions as agreements in which a customer pays a recurring amount to access a product or service. The subscription amount is usually automatically until the customer cancels the subscription. To cancel a subscription means losing access to the product or service. The quick way to understand how subscription websites work is to look at these three subscription business models:
Access to Digital Products Users can pay weekly, monthly, or annually to access audio, books, software, courses, and so on. A good example of this type of subscription services is Envato Elements where for a monthly payment you can gain access to unlimited, royalty-free digital resources like stock video, website templates, and more. Replenishment This model is perfect if you sell restockable products: for example if you are an organic food farmer with customers subscribe to a food box. You can offer a subscription that will allow customers to replenish their weekly stock. Curating Maybe you run a beauty products business and you want to curate beauty boxes that your customers can subscribe to receive periodically. ![]() ![]() ![]() Why Subscription Websites?
While we're on the topic of subscriptions, why don't look briefly at how your subscription with Envato Elements will benefit you! Unlimited downloads of 54+ million creative assets under one no-strings-attached subscription covered by a lifetime commercial license.
While we're on the topic of subscriptions, why don't look briefly at how your subscription with Envato Elements will benefit you! Unlimited downloads of 54+ million creative assets under one no-strings-attached subscription covered by a lifetime commercial license.
The Best Subscription Plugins For WooCommerce1. Subscriptio—WooCommerce Subscriptions![]() ![]() ![]() Subscriptio adds recurring payment capabilities to your WooCommerce so you can sell subscriptions for all sorts of tangible and digital products. Subscriptions are purchased as regular WooCommerce products. Simple and variable products can be turned into subscriptions to which you can set payment cycles, free trial length, subscription length and so on. You can create semi-automatic or fully automatic billing. In addition, you can pause, resume subscriptions, and cancel them. The customer can also do the same. Other features of this best-selling subscription plugin include:
For a detailed look on how to create subscriptions with this plugin take a look at this post by Sajal Soni: 2. SUMO Subscriptions—WooCommerce Subscription System![]() ![]() ![]() SUMO Subscriptions will help you create and sell subscription products from your WooCommerce store. You can sell simple subscriptions, variable subscriptions, and grouped product subscriptions. Users can pay for multiple subscriptions in a single checkout. Additional features of this subscription plugin for WooCommerce include:
The plugin is translation-ready and compatible with WPML. 3. Um-Switcher—Subscriptions for Ultimate Member![]() ![]() ![]() This subscription addon for Ultimate Member plugin takes away the auto-recurring payment option and allows members the choice to renew their own subscriptions. The thinking behind it is happy subscribers will always return. Secondly, subscribers won't feel forced to signup for longer than they want to. The add-on comes with a robust email template from where you can send re-subscription reminders by email. It also integrates with email newsletter platforms like MailChimp. The plugin is perfect for selling subscriptions that give access to products and services. Some good examples would be:
4. Jeg PayPal Paywall and Content Subscriptions System![]() ![]() ![]() Jeg PayPal Paywall is a content subscription plugin that allows your customers to pay using PayPal in order to access your content. This plugin is available on Envato Elements and you can use it with themes that work with WooCommerce. Some features include:
5. BeautyBox—Subscription Box Elementor Template Kit![]() ![]() ![]() If you use Elementor to build subscription websites then the BeautyBox template kit is a perfect addition. Beauty boxes are a great source of subscription income. They are perfect for those who sell cosmetics and want to offer they customers a regular curated subscription experience. This BeautyBox kit is has ten pages for Elementor Pro and WooCommerce: home, pricing, previous box, support and FAQ, pricing, shop, contact, single product, and more. BeautyBox also comes with two pop-ups: a discount popup and a side menu popup. The discount popup appears after an unregistered user scrolls through the homepage. The side-menu popup becomes the mobile menu when the user accesses the site from a mobile device. This kit is available on Envato Elements. Free WooCommerce Subscription PluginsYITH WooCommerce Subscription![]() ![]() ![]() YITH WooCommerce Subscription is the perfect solution if you want to earn and manage recurring payments on your WooCommerce store for selling products and services with a subscription. Some features of this plugin include:
Subscriptions For WooCommerce![]() ![]() ![]() With this plugin you can manage subscriptions for your online WooCommerce store or your offline store. You'll be able to earn recurring income whether you're selling online courses, gym services, milk or so on. S2 Subscription for WooCommerce![]() ![]() ![]() S2 Subscription for WooCommerce allows sell subscriptions for simple and variable products. Users can subscribe for years, months, weeks or days. You can even add a signup fee, trial period, and more. You can receive payment for products in installments. The plugin supports payment gateways like Paypal, Stripe, and cash on delivery. Things to Consider When Running a Subscription Website1. Subscriptions Create Predictable RevenueToo much effort goes into selling to one customer. Once you've sold that one item, you have to start all over again: spending money, time, and energy finding the next customer. But there is no guarantee you will sell your product again. This income is never consistent or predictable. The question is, would you rather earn money selling one item or do you want to earn each month, for years to come, from many loyal customers. 2. Focus on Building Relationships With the Customers You HaveIt costs more to find a new customer than to keep one. The customers you have are already a source of reliable income for your subscription business. Many businesses invest a lot of money, time and energy in getting customers. But then once they have customers they stop investing in building customer relationships. 3. Use Blogs and Newsletters to Keep in TouchThere are many ways to attend to these relationships but the best ones are still blogs and newsletters. This is where you provide consistent value to your customer base through solid content that has something to offer. You can automate your communication processes in order to deliver. 4. Build an Excellent ProductYour product should be consistently reliable and of very high quality. You can't afford to be complacent in this area! On Envato Tuts+ you will find more posts on subscription themes and plugins. Here are a few:
via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/11/8-best-woocommerce-subscription-plugins.html November 02, 2021 at 10:57PM
Set Background Image for Your WordPress Website
Each image or video you use on your website defines your brand for your audience. So, background images on your website are important and you should design or choose them keeping in view you brand style and target audience. In this tutorial, you'll learn a number of ways to set a background image on your WordPress website. I'll take you through the process of setting your WordPress background image in detail so that you can easily do it yourself. Whether you are hosting your WordPress site with WordPress.com or are using a self-managed server, this tutorial is for you. You'll learn the following methods of setting a background image for your WordPress website:
Option 1. Add a Background Image with WordPress Theme SettingsMany free WordPress themes let you set a background image. I am using the Twenty Twenty-One theme which is a simple go-to theme for blogs, portfolio, and small businesses. This theme also allows you to have a background image. Sign into the admin section of your WordPress site. You can handle most of your WordPress settings from here. Click Appearance which holds all the settings for how your website looks. You'll be asked to chose a theme. Choose Twenty Twenty-One as you theme (or any other theme that allows you to have a background image). Now, hover over the Appearance menu and click Background. The theme Customizer window will appear and let you chose a background image. ![]() ![]() ![]() Now, Select Image and either choose an image from your WordPress Library or upload an image. You can set the details of your background image like alt text, title, caption, and descriptions. If your focus is SEO, it is always a great idea to add alt text. Once you save the settings and choose the image, your WordPress background image will change. Now, you can explore the different Preset options (Fill Screen, Fit to Screen, etc.) to explore which will allow you make your background image look exactly how you want it. ![]() ![]() ![]() Remember to click on the Save Changes button in the top left or your changes will not be saved. Option 2. Add a Background Image Using WordPress PluginsUsing plugins to make changes in the appearance of your website is only recommended if you have a self-manage WordPress site, or if you have invested in a paid plan from WordPress.com. If you choose to use plugins with your free WordPress.com account, your domain will change from .wordpress.com to .wpcomstaging.com which is not ideal. Plugins offer a lot of features and functionality to your WordPress site. For instance, with a background plugin you can add different backgrounds in multiple areas of your website: posts, pages, and categories. You can also set a YouTube video as your background with one plugin. Plugins can also resize your images and videos for phones so that your audience can easily enjoy your website from their phones.
For this tutorial, we are using a very basic free plugin. It is called the Simple Full Screen Background Image plugin. Once you activate the plugin, hover your mouse over Appearance. Now, click the new option, Fullscreen BG Image. ![]() ![]() ![]() Then, click Choose Image and upload the image you want as your WordPress background image. You can also choose an image from your Media Library if you have previously added your preferred background image there. ![]() ![]() ![]() You can add the details like alt text, caption, and description of the image if you wish. Click Use Image and then, Save Options. Now, head to your website to see how your WordPress background image looks. Option 3. Add Background Photos using CSSAgain, to add a background image using CSS, you will have to have a self-hosted WordPress site, or subscribe to a paid plan on WordPress.com. Custom CSS will not only allow you to add a background image, but you can also make various changes in the appearance of your website to make it look exactly how you want. Navigate on the WordPress dashboard and click on Appearance > Additional CSS. ![]() ![]() ![]() Now, add these lines of code in the CSS field to set a WordPress background image. body { background-image: url("https://theimageurl"); background-position: center center; background-size: cover; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; } Replace You can also add custom backgrounds and images to the individual posts on your WordPress website. To do that, you will need this code: body.category-slug { background-image: url("http://anotherimageurl"); background-position: center center; background-size: cover; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; } Just like before, you will have to replace Once you are done making the changes in CSS, don’t forget to click on the Save Changes button to store all the modifications. Now you can visit your site to view the new background image! Pay Attention to the Image SizeBefore you upload any image to your WordPress site, focus on its size. It's tempting to add a high-quality visual. However, this could increase the loading speed of your website. It does not sound like a big deal; however, the slower your site is, the greater the bounce rate, meaning more people leave your website before reading or seeing its contents. This, in turn, affects your conversions. Google has said that two seconds is the ideal site speed especially if you are business. However, on the other hand, adding poor quality images just for the sake of having a smaller size can also impact the user experience negatively. So, the ideal practice is to keep a balance and add good quality pictures but only when necessary—that is when they are adding value to your content, and only to the resolution needed. SummaryIn this tutorial, I showed you three ways of setting WordPress background image.
You might or might not need a background image for your WordPress website. However, if you choose to have a background image, know that it is a significant element that sets your brand style for your audience. So make sure your WordPress background image reflects your brand image. via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/10/set-background-image-for-your-wordpress.html October 28, 2021 at 01:57AM
Create a WordPress Cookie Consent Popup
Have you ever come across a website where a small window pops up, asking you if you’re okay with them storing your cookies? And that window does not go away unless you agree or choose some other option. That is exactly what we call a "cookie consent popup". In this guide, I'll explain how you can add a cookie consent popup to your WordPress website in a few easy steps. However, before we proceed on to adding our WordPress cookie consent popup, we first need to understand why is there a need for cookies in the first place. What are Cookies?Simply put, cookies are small files stored by your web browser that let a web server keep track of the way you use its site. Accessing a website from your browser may seem like a simple process, but behind the scenes it is slightly more complex. A whole series of back and forth communication takes place between your browser and the server before a website is displayed on your screen. The moment you enter the URL, your browser will ask for some information from the server where the website is hosted. The server, on the other hand, will asks for some information in return from your browser. Once both of the parties are satisfied and shake hands, the website you want to visit becomes visible. This is where the cookies play their part. They have optimized the system a little bit. Cookies store all the necessary information regarding the user's interaction with the website and make that information available to the server so it can present a consistent experience across all the pages of the site and across different sessions. When a user accesses a website for the first time, a cookie is created on their computer. If they access the same website again, the cookie will be sent to the server with information about how they used the site previously. For example, if you add an item to your cart in an online store, that item will often be listed in a cookie. That way when you navigate to another page or even come back to the store another time, your item will still be in the cart. Cookies were initially developed to enhance the user experience and did not require permission. However, cookies are increasingly used to track users in ways they might not expect. With privacy concerns becoming more and more important in recent times, some jurisdictions require that you have the user’s permission before you send and receive cookies from their computer. With that being said, let’s get to building our very own WordPress cookie consent popup and giving your users a piece of their much-deserved privacy. But, does your website require cookie consent in the first place? Does Your Website Need a Cookie Consent PopUp?Let’s be honest here. Most websites use cookies. However, if you're not sure, you can figure out if your website stores cookies or not. After all, it will not be the best use of time to develop a cookie consent popup for a website that does not use cookies. To get to know about the cookie status of your website using Google Chrome, type in the URL and wait for it to load properly. Next, click on the lock icon next to the URL of your website. In the drop-down menu that pops up, you’ll be shown the number of cookies that your website is using. ![]() ![]() ![]() If there are one or more cookies in use, and your website is used by people in the EU or in California, you'll need a WordPress cookie consent popup for your website. Adding a Cookie Consent Popup to Your WordPress WebsiteWordPress allows you to add a cookie consent popup to your website in a few clicks. You won't need any programming knowledge for this. However, having general information about the WordPress plugins is necessary to optimize your WordPress use. WordPress offers a wide range of plugins for integrating a cookie consent popup to your website. For this tutorial, I will be using the free CookieYes plugin. Installing the CookieYes PluginYou can install this cookie consent popup plugin like any other plugin from the WordPress dashboard. Hover your mouse over to the Plugins menu in the navigation bar on the left. Select Add New and you will be taken to a new window for every possible free plugin that WordPress has to offer. ![]() ![]() ![]() Search for the CookieYes plugin and install the first plugin that shows up. ![]() ![]() ![]() Once it is installed, activate it and you’re good to go. Now lets see what options this cookie consent plugin has in store for you. GDPR Cookie Consent SettingsThe plugin will appear in the navigation bar on the left once you have activated it. Hover your mouse over GPDR Cookie Consent and select Settings. ![]() ![]() ![]() This is where you can customize your WordPress cookie consent popup for your website. In the settings, you will see five other tabs, all of which provide different kinds of customization for your popup. In the General tab, you’ll be able to enable or disable the popup. It will be enabled by default when you visit the settings for the first time. Let’s take a deeper look into all the customization options that the General tab has to offer. General SettingsOther than simply enabling the popup, this tab allows you to select the type of law against which your website will accept cookies. Each region has its own laws when it comes to cookies. So, you will have to look into it a little but before you select the most suitable option for your website. ![]() ![]() ![]() Moreover, you can choose if the popup disappears after a while, when the user starts scrolling. If the popup disappears this way, this would mean that you are assuming the user has given you their consent to store their information. It's not a good practice to assume consent in this way. In fact it's highly unethical, as the user here is not giving you direct permission so let’s keep this option disabled. Now, let’s move on to customizing our WordPress cookie consent popup. Customize the Cookie Consent PopupThis is how the popup will look in the beginning, right at the bottom of your homepage: ![]() ![]() ![]() You can see that this is more of a banner than a cookie consent popup. However, once the you've selected the Accept All option, the popup will disappear. It will not allow you to see any further customizations that you make to it. For testing purposes, you'll want to keep this popup visible so that you can see the changes you make. You can allow this by enabling the revisit consent widget. This can be done through the Customize Cookie Bar > Revisit content tab. ![]() ![]() ![]() This will allow you to keep a button on your website at all times from which you can access the popup menu. If you want, you can change the position of this button too. For this tutorial, it is located at the bottom left of the screen. ![]() ![]() ![]() To turn the cookie consent banner into a popup, scroll down to the show cookie bar as option and select popup. You can then add an overlay to it if you want. Adding an overlay to your WordPress cookie consent popup will stop the user from accessing the website until they take an action from the popup. ![]() ![]() ![]() Other options on this tab will allow you to change the background color of your popup, the font color, and the font style. You can also add a custom message and a custom heading to your popup, an option you can utilize to strengthen your brand message. But, are there any button customizations available for the cookie consent popup? Customize ButtonsThis is the third tab in the settings menu—it allows you to get creative with the buttons of the cookie consent popup. ![]() ![]() ![]() By default, there will only be two buttons integrated into your popup menu. Here’s how to add a new button:
You can add four different kinds of buttons to the popup. Let’s say we want to add a reject button to our popup for the users who don’t want their information to be stored on the servers. For that, we’ll add [cookie_reject] in the message dialogue box in the Customize Cookie Bar settings. ![]() ![]() ![]() This is how that reject button will show up on your popup: ![]() ![]() ![]() After integrating a button, you can change its size, background color, text color, and whatnot. You can even add a link to another web page where the users will be redirected when they click a specific button on your cookie consent popup. ![]() ![]() ![]() ConclusionA few easy steps and now you have a cookie consent popup integrated into your WordPress website. CookieYes was only one plugin. If you want, you can explore more cookie plugins that are available on WordPress. There are also thousands of premium WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon that can help enhance your business's website. Have a look through this large collection of plugins, and you'll find helpful plugins in all different types of categories, from marketing to eCommerce to social media.
Here is one last tip: you should keep your cookie consent popup as simple and less intruding as possible. It helps with overall user experience. In fact, this tip is valid for other popups you want on your website as well. via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/10/create-wordpress-cookie-consent-popup.html October 16, 2021 at 02:57PM
When Your Website Doesn’t Have the Rank It Deserves
We often hear complaints from people who feel that Google doesn’t treat them right. We hear passionate rants about how the vastly inferior competition gets better treatment, and suggestions that Google has some personal ax to grind, or that the competitor is doing something nefarious to get their undeserved rankings. Their website, people tell us, deserves better rankings than it has. It just doesn’t have the rank it deserves. Often we can look and see why the competitor outranks the person doing the ranting. One case turned out to be particularly interesting, though, because the company in question so clearly deserved the rankings they wanted. The rank you deserveLet’s be honest: if you sell gears, you don’t necessarily deserve the top ranking on the search engines any more than any other seller of gears. In this case, though, we’re talking about the company that makes the gears, the company whose name is on the gears, the company that has been selling those gears for fifty years. And yet this company isn’t even on the first page for most of the keywords they want. Let’s say they’re the Acme Gear Company. And let’s say that the company that’s eating their lunch is the Apex Hardware Group. In fact, there are plenty of companies ahead of Acme on most searches, but Apex is consistently ahead of Acme on searches for Acme gears. Now, Apex has been a little bit hostile to Acme. Acme has acme.com, but Apex has registered acmegears.com, acme.net, acmegears.biz, acmegearcompany.com — everything they could think of. They’ve also done nice pages on their site about the high quality of Acme gears, the traditions of the company, and why Apex gears make good substitutes for Acme gears. It’s not illegal, but a competitor can cause you trouble with this kind of behavior, and they’ve probably done it on purpose. But Acme hasn’t been minding their virtual store the way they should. How to fight backIf your company is behind some strong competitors, what steps can you take?
What will the searcher choose? Not the first one on the list. When their minimalist entry shows up lower down on the page, which is the case for most of the possible searches, Acme.com has no chance. Make sure that your meta language does its job.
Notice that we’re not talking here about gaming the system or duping the search engines. Acme should be the first choice when people search for Acme gears. The search engines want to give people what they’re looking for. Acme — and possibly your company, too — just needs to cooperate. The post When Your Website Doesn’t Have the Rank It Deserves appeared first on Haden Interactive. Via Tech http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/10/when-your-website-doesnt-have-rank-it.html October 13, 2021 at 03:57AM
How to Automate PPC Advertising for Small Businesses
Automation is an ongoing trend in paid advertising. Google, Microsoft, and Facebook enhance AI-based opportunities and roll out new automated features to make it easier to manage campaigns and deliver data-driven results. Besides, more and more third-party automation platforms and toolkits for specific PPC tasks enter the market. By leveraging them, you can significantly reduce your time spent and boost PPC performance, even if you’re not seasoned in paid advertising. However, when it comes to PPC automation, small businesses that set up PPC campaigns in-house often face a range of issues, from lack of expertise to tight marketing budgets that restrict paying for various third-party tools. How to keep balance when choosing the automation solution for PPC? How do you not overpay for tools and features that you won’t use? We’ll walk you through key PPC automation opportunities for small businesses and highlight the pros and downsides to help you get exactly what you need.
In-Built Ad Platforms’ Automation Features—It’s All about Expertise and TimeAd platforms allocate huge resources to make advertisers’ experiences easier and increase the ROAS of their campaigns. For example, in Google Ads, as a PPC leading platform across the world, you can benefit from using machine learning and in-built tools to drive more conversions at an optimized cost. First of all, you should pay attention to Google’s Smart Bidding, an automated bid strategy that considers a wide range of signals, including the user’s unique context and the probability of conversion. At first sight, Smart Bidding is super easy-to-use—you just set your Target ROAS or CPA, and wait until the system drives your conversions. But the reality is that many advertisers after enabling Smart Bidding see their campaigns underperforming. There are various reasons for that, from incorrect attribution models to low tCPA or tROAS values. To boost your performance with Smart Bidding, you should be experienced in PPC and understand what you’re setting and why. Instead of Smart Bidding, Google has a variety of automation tools and features such as:
These tools are free, but you need to dive into how they work and how to make the most of them. However, Google leaves a great part of routine tasks to advertisers, even when they use the features mentioned above. For example, for aggregated PPC reporting and in-depth competitor analysis you should do by yourself; keyword research with Google’s tools is not as deep as it could be, and so on. That’s why advertisers commonly opt-in one or several additional toolkits to automate specific tasks. Pros
Cons
Automation Tools for Specific Tasks—Be ready to Pay for Unnecessary Functions or Several SubscriptionsThere are different tools for PPC advertisers. Some of them allow you to solve highly specialized tasks such as:
Some of the tools are easy-to-use, while others need some time to delve into. But keep in mind that you should pay at least for 3-4 tools to automate all the actions throughout the advertising process. Alternatively, you may take a look at the tools with wide functionality, such as SemRush, Serpstat, or SimilarWeb. They provide you with both SEO and PPC data and allow you to solve most of the tasks. The main downside of these tools is that they work apart from your PPC campaigns—you can’t link your accounts to them to get profitable insights, create reports, set up alerts, and perform bulk actions. So, when you opt-in for such tools, keep in mind that they are not about multi-level PPC automation. Pros
Cons
PPC Automation Platform—Accessible Solution for Small BusinessesIf you’re a marketer or a small business owner who doesn’t want to overpay for a number of scattered tools, the best solution would be to leverage a single platform that allows you to automate most of your routine actions and provide you with profitable insights. Such platforms are created exactly for PPC advertisers who need an all-in-one accessible solution. With an automated platform, you don’t need to dive into scripts, automated rules, and other complicated Google features; you don’t need to overpay for various specific tools and waste time on aggregating the data. According to the poll run by PromoNavi, a digital platform for marketers and small businesses, here are the main reasons why entrepreneurs start using it:
When you choose an automation platform, keep in mind that its features should cover all stages of the advertising process:
Pros
Cons
To Wrap UpIf you’re a small advertiser, whether an in-house marketer, freelancer, or small business owner, you should make a step towards multi-level PPC automation to save time and gain better results. Experienced PPC pros often prefer using free tools provided by search and social advertising platforms. However, they subscribe to third-party platforms to solve specific tasks, such as competitor analysis or reporting. If you want to save money and manage all the campaigns within a single interface, the best solution is to opt-in to the PPC automation platform. It allows you to quickly prepare a campaign, launch, monitor, and optimize it. What you need is to link your advertising account, and you’ll start getting better results. The post How to Automate PPC Advertising for Small Businesses first appeared on Reviewz'n'Tips. Via Tech http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/10/how-to-automate-ppc-advertising-for.html October 07, 2021 at 11:57PM
Designhill Logo Maker: How to Create a Professional Logo for Your Business
When starting a business, the first thing you need is to create a company logo. Whatever your company, logos are of paramount importance. It would be unfair to say that the logo does not play a crucial role in affirming your corporate identity: the logo is the way you present yourself to the world. This is why it is very important to design a quality logo. In this article, I will introduce Designhill logo maker, an artificial intelligence tool you can use to build a professional logo for your business, in a matter of minutes.
How to Use Designhill to Create a Logo in Less than 5 MinutesStart by adding your business name in the field and click on “generate logos”. On the next page, choose 5 or more designs you like to help the artificial intelligence of Designhill understand which styles you prefer: Once you have selected what you like, you can proceed to the next step, by clicking on “continue”. Now, it’s time to pick your favorite colors. Select the colors you’d like Designhill to build your logo around. Reviewz’n’Tips site look is around the green, so I’ll go with this theme: Click “Continue” to proceed to the next page. Here you want to add:
Now, you need to search and add up to 5 symbols (you can edit any of these choices later). Enter your business keyword to find the proper symbols. I typed “blogging” and Designhill logo maker suggested me some related keywords: Once you have chosen up to five symbols, you can proceed to the next page, by clicking on “continue”. Fantastic, you’re almost done! All you have to do is signing up via Facebook, Google, or via email. I used Google to create my Designhill account and I’ve chosen this logo, among all the ones created: If you want to make additional tweaks, here you can edit all the parts of the logo. For example, you can change the company name and slogan, including font size and letter-spacing. You can also tweak colors, tagging in the editor the element you want to change. You may even edit the symbol in your logo, including its size and distance. Also, in the following screenshot, see how you can place it below, above or next the company name: You may finally want to add an inner or outer container, choosing from all the ones available, in different shapes:
On the preview page of any section, you will see how your new logo will look on different objects and promotional items, in different business situations. Once you have completed all the edits, you are good to go!
Designhill PackagesNow, to get your logo, choose the package that best suits your needs: The Basic at 15$ (one-time payment) will include a low-resolution logo file (best for those who are low on budget and are just starting out). The Premium at 50$ (most popular package) will deliver high-resolution logo files for your website, social media, print, packaging & branding. Plus:
With the Basic and Premium packages, a user can edit the designs even after purchase up to 7 days. The Enterprise will include everything in the Premium package, plus a personal service with a Designhill designer to create a customized and unique logo. Other than these packages, you can add any of the following services:
All of these are also generated/created within a few minutes. Choose any of these services to get your preferred design, and send it off for printing!
Designhill Customer FeedbackDesignhill logo maker has a 4.94/5 average star, based on 31684 ratings, so far. Here is one of them:
Final WordsWhether you have a small or big business, Designhill has the right solution. Artificial intelligence is the perfect tool to create a logo for your company in less than 5 minutes. While, if you have a big brand and you need personalized service, you can choose this way. With so many professional designers that work with Designhill, you will surely be able to create the perfect logo for your business.
So, what are you waiting for? Get started right now. And you, what do you think? Are you going to test Designhill? Please leave your views in the comments below, and don’t forget to share the post, thanks! The post Designhill Logo Maker: How to Create a Professional Logo for Your Business first appeared on Reviewz'n'Tips. Via Tech http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/10/designhill-logo-maker-how-to-create.html October 05, 2021 at 11:57PM
5 Social Media Marketing Best Practices for Increased Engagement
Social media is a great way to boost online visibility and grow your followers. And by constantly engaging with each one, you can convert them into customers or clients of your business. For that to happen, you can’t just hop onto any social media platform, publish new posts, and expect people to come in droves. You must develop a concrete plan that will help take your business to the top with the help of social media. In this post, you will learn critical social media marketing best practices to help take your social media game to the next level.
# 1 – Know How Your Audience IsTo achieve success in business, you need to know how you’re targeting your products and services. Having a clear idea about your target audience allows you to properly market your business to them, thus increasing your chances of getting them to engage with your brand. It all starts with identifying their demographics. Knowing about their age, income, gender, education, interests, and other variables allows you to formulate a social media strategy that revolves around this information. Knowing their demographics also helps you establish the tone and voice you will use for your brand on social media. By communicating in a language they understand (and I’m not just talking about English), you can encourage them to take an interest in your brand and eventually follow you on social media.
# 2 – Determine Which Platforms to UtilizePart of knowing your audience is knowing which social media channels you must create profiles for. This is critical because you don’t want to spread yourself too thin across all platforms. By trying to appease everyone on all channels, you will end up appeasing no one. For instance, Facebook may have the most active users as a whole, but TikTok and Instagram have the greatest engagement levels among the younger audience. If your business caters primarily to this particular group, then highly consider focusing your social media efforts on either or both platforms. Also, you must determine the content format that you’ll use for the content you’ll publish. Posting text-based content on Facebook and Twitter are fine, but a portion of your audience may want to see video-based content, which is easier to process compared to text. Again, you’ll be able to know all this through your audience research and brainstorming.
# 3 – Plan AheadOnce you have your audience and platforms down pat, you need to come up with content ideas to be published over the course of months. Using social scheduling software, create posts for publishing ahead of time. Use the information you gathered about your audience to develop your content calendar. This way, you can maximize the results of your social media strategy and generate the most engagement.
# 4 – Listen to the PeopleOnce the content has been published, expect people to follow and try to engage with you. Take this opportunity to put your best foot forward and showcase to them what your brand is all about. You want to not only get into their good side but also to non-followers that you listen to what people have to say about your brand, whether good or bad. At the same time, there are conversations about your business that are taking place outside of your social media circles. To find out what these are, use a social media listening tool that will gather all mentions and hashtags that mention you and the campaigns you’re running. From here, you can jump into the conversation and make good of your brand in the eyes of people.
# 5 – Test and Measure ResultsWhen launching a social media strategy or campaign, consider this as the benchmark on which all your succeeding campaigns will build upon. This means every campaign you’ll launch should always be better than the ones that came before it. To do this, you need to monitor the campaign results once it concludes. From here, determine what made the campaign a success or not. If the former, simply replicate the tactics that made it a success and double down on them. If the latter, find out why it failed and either find ways on how to improve on them or scrap them all together in place of a new and much better campaign.
ConclusionSocial media marketing can get difficult especially if you don’t have the foundations of launching and implementing one. However, the tips and advice above should help you establish a replicable and sustainable process with the result of growing your business through social media.
This is a guest contribution by Christopher Jan Benitez. The post 5 Social Media Marketing Best Practices for Increased Engagement first appeared on Reviewz'n'Tips. Via Tech http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/10/5-social-media-marketing-best-practices.html October 02, 2021 at 10:57PM
Halloween WordPress Plugins
Your website may be serious business and an integral part of your marketing plan as well as your patient education or community engagement efforts. But it might also be a place for fun. If so, there are some Halloween WordPress plugins that can help you share the fun. We tried out a few. WordPress plugins are one of the great things about WordPress. They’re pieces of code that provide extra functionality automatically. Some are complicated to install and configure, but these holiday options are simple and fun. Have your web team add them just for the weekend! DW HalloweenThis simple Halloween plugin adds flying bats, floating pumpkins, creepy cats, or your own custom animations to your website. Choose from many options or upload your own files. Then customize your message. A dentist’s office might remind patients to brush their teeth after devouring Halloween candy. A vet’s office might choose to show a cat and invite kids to trick or treat at their office. A doctor’s office might link to their Pinterest page of healthy Halloween treats. Once you’ve crafted your message, just hit Publish and the creepy creatures will show up on your website. Unpublish them after Halloween. This is an easy way to add a little spookiness to your website. This plugin hasn’t been updated in years, so it might misbehave, though we tested it for 2020 and had no problems. If you use it, delete it after Halloween. An alternative, which is also out of date, is Halloween Panda.
This is a little more on the goofy side, but has lots of options. Halloween countdown pluginsThere are quite a few Halloween countdown plugins. The one shown above will automatically count down to Halloween wherever you put the shortcode. Halloween Countdown Widget will create widgets to add to your sidebar or footer, complete with a goofy cartoon vampire. If Halloween is important for your business, as it might be for a cosmetics company or salon, this could be a fun way to create a sense of urgency about those Halloween virtual party preparations. You could also create a Halloween event or special, from a costumed online class at your gym to a bone density special coupon at your clinic. Adding a count down calendar at your website can focus attention, and these plugins make it easy. You could also choose a basic countdown plugin, add your own graphics, and use it for many occasions throughout the year. WPR Halloween ScareAdd this plugin’s shortcode to your sidebar and you’ll see nothing in the sidebar. When someone visits your site, however, they’ll see static, like the “no signal” screen on an old TV. Gradually, the image of a frightened woman appears and chirps “Help me!” in a creepy little voice. The image disappears and your site is back to normal… except perhaps that you have convinced your visitors that they’ve received a communication from someone who is in grave (or at least spooky) danger. The Halloween Scare plugin is part of a tutorial developed by Aryan Duntley of WorldPress Revolution. I’ve included it in this post because it’s clever and unusual, but I don’t see any business or professional use for it. Other optionsWhile there are other Halloween Plugins in the repository, all of them (as of this writing) have a warning that they haven’t been updated recently. We’ll watch for updates or new plugins, but right now, you might as well choose one of these. Want to do something to mark the occasion, but these plugins don’t quite work for you? There are other options:
The post Halloween WordPress Plugins appeared first on Haden Interactive. Via Tech http://www.rssmix.com/via Blogger http://erinecassy.blogspot.com/2021/10/halloween-wordpress-plugins.html October 01, 2021 at 09:57PM |