Which Update Should I Do FIRST In WordPress???
I was in the StudioPress forum the other day after WordPress came out with their latest update, along with Genesis coming out with an update as well…apparently, some site owners had problems because they applied the update for Genesis first, then their site went down, leaving them unable to login or see the site. There “is” an order when thinking about updates…
- WordPress itself
- Theme
- Plugins
I try to use the automatic update process through WordPress instead of the manual update on the host server end. It’s easier to accept an update and just follow the prompts for most of my clients, so that’s what I do.
ALWAYS remember to do an “export” under your Tools bar (left side of dashboard) to export an .xml file of all your posts and pages at least once a week so you have that .xml file as backup.
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Nancy Golliday
Website / Blog (re)Design for Marketing Results
FirstCoastDesigns.Com
Nancy@FirstCoastDesigns.com
912.673.8238 (Office/Home)
912.322.2858 (Mobile)
Cost Comparisons for Self-Hosted Sites and Point2 Agent
In real estate, syndication and an IDX solution are a must-have for your buyers and sellers! However, budget always plays a role in what’s decided for your online presence…here’s a tip…
A Professional Membership with Point2 Agent:
$49.95/mo
Syndication, no IDX (extra fees apply), a blog that’s not self-hosted and not so user-friendly
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An IDX Solution, Syndication, “AND” a Self-Hosted Site:
$5/mo for Self-Hosting the Site
$30-$50/mo for “dsIDXpress” for Blogs
$20/mo for a Standard Membership with Point2 Agent for the syndication
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With the exception of an IDX solution that would be out of my price range above, you’re looking at around the same monthly cost between Point2 Agent and an All-In-One Solution with a mix!
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Nancy Golliday
Website / Blog (re)Design for Marketing Results
FirstCoastDesigns.Com
Nancy@FirstCoastDesigns.com
912.673.8238 (Office/Home)
912.322.2858 (Mobile)
Will My Self-Hosted WordPress “Look” Like a Blog or Website?
It can look however you want it to look! WordPress with any theme allows for showcasing a “page” as the home page or “blog” as the home page.
Samples of a Page as the Home Page…
FigTreeInn.Com (client is using this as their main website and blog site)
Samples of Blogs as the Home Page…
RIHouseHunt.Com (client is using this as their main website and blog site)
GoldCanyonHomes.Net (client is using this as just the blog site – they have a main website on another platform)
So keep this in mind when you’re thinking about your online presence and budget…you get the best of both worlds with a self-hosted WordPress site!
Theme Cost: Avg. $70-200
Host Cost: Avg. $50-70 per year
Domain Cost: Avg. $10/year
Click here for more information on Self-Hosted WordPress Sites and what we can do for you!
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Nancy Golliday
Website / Blog (re)Design for Marketing Results
FirstCoastDesigns.Com
Nancy@FirstCoastDesigns.com
912.673.8238 (Office/Home)
912.322.2858 (Mobile)
Image Mapping (HTML5) vs Flash Element(s)
Apple announced they will not be recognizing “flash” elements on their iPad (read full article)…
When designing your website, a great alternative is an image map. An image map is a single image with multiple “hot links” within it. No, it’s not the transitioning images you see in a lot of our sites, however I think the image mapping is just as nice aesthetically.
You can see a sample in our Newsletter – the thumbnails within the content area are a single image with multiple hot spots.
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Great for Realtors wanting to have an “interactive” map for listings in those towns or neighborhoods!
Samples:
http://www.northfloridahomesearch.com/NEIGHBORHOODS/page_2092221.html
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Nancy Golliday
Website / Blog (re)Design for Marketing Results
FirstCoastDesigns.Com
Nancy@FirstCoastDesigns.com
912.673.8238 (Office/Home)
912.322.2858 (Mobile)
Video Tutorials for Point2 Agent, WordPress, Facebook!
Your very own video tutorials using your own site(s) during the step-by-step process. And only get what you need! So far we’ve been able to provide clients with the following after the customization is complete…
VIDEO TUTORIALS BASED ON YOUR WANTS AND NEEDS…
- Adding Pages to Custom Navigation Menu (Point2 Agent)
- Working with Page Content (Point2 Agent & WordPress)
- Working with Tables (Point2 Agent & WordPress)
- Adding Listings to Pages by Town / Neighborhood (Point2 Agent)
- Replacing Custom Header in Your Site (Point2 Agent & WordPress)
- Working with Graphics in Your Site (Point2 Agent & WordPress)
- Working with the Featured Content Gallery (Agent Press for WordPress)
- Working with the Slider (Genesis Framework for WordPress)
- Working with Hooks (Thesis & Agent Press for WordPress)
- Working with Facebook Business (Fan) Pages
- Working with FBML in Facebook Business (Fan) Pages
- Incorporating Video / Flash into Facebook FBML
- Creating Custom You Tube Channels for Websites
Video Pricing available upon request.
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Nancy Golliday
Website / Blog (re)Design for Marketing Results
FirstCoastDesigns.Com
Nancy@FirstCoastDesigns.com
912.673.8238 (Office/Home)
912.322.2858 (Mobile)
Website (re)Design for Marketing Results
1. Goal: More visitors and leads.
The reason you’re redesigning your website is to increase conversion rates, and this is achieved through content, conversion tools, etc. The icing on the cake would then be a nice pleasing website “surround” for the viewer. Focus on the infamous phrase ”what’s in it for me (the viewer)?” (WIIFM), not a nicely redesigned “look” but the same stagnate content.
2. Avoid pitfalls.
Your existing website has a lot of assets that you have built up. These assets help your prospects find your website and help you turn them into leads and clients. You need to find out what these assets are (great content, keywords you rank for, inbound links to individual pages, conversion tools) and protect them carefully during a redesign.
3. Spend resources on remarkable content that attracts and converts. Not expensive design.
The design should be pleasing and layout user-friendly, but that does not mean expensive. Focus on the content of the website for conversion. Allot more of the budget for content and conversion tools and less for design.
4. Create an ongoing content building strategy.
If you have more content, on average you will have more website visitors and grow your business faster. A 100 page website will beat a 10 page website 90% of the time. So build a strategy to continue to add more and more content to your website over time. Blogging makes creating content easy.
5. Enable conversion experiments.
The key to driving your conversion rate and the number of leads you get from your website over time is to constantly improve the effectiveness of your conversion tools – this usually means your landing pages. If you build a completely static website and have to go to a consultant or IT person each and every time you want to set up a new landing page or to change an existing page, you might be limiting your ability to quickly experiment and improve.
6. Include a blog, RSS, landing pages, SEO
Any website built today should include these basics.
Website (re)Design for Marketing Results Package…
A complete design/management package for small to medium-sized businesses - you just handle the sales and leads!
Monthly Services Include - Website Maintenance, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Google Analytics Report, Bounce Rate, Link Building, Link Exchange, Internet Marketing, Reputation Mgmt.
Some Websites…
DianeSonenson.Com
GlennPomeroy.Com
JesseLemonsHomes.Com
MaxWellRealtyInvere.Ca
LuCohen.Com
OBrienRealtyOnline.Com
NextGenerationRealtyGroup.Com