WP-DB-Backup
WordPress Backup

The first one automatically backs up your database and sends it to an email address (I use a spare Gmail account). The second one zips up your uploads, plugins, and themes directories and emails them. You can set the backup frequency for both of them. I backup databases once a day and files once a week.

The Permalinker lets you use WP shortcodes in your page/post content that automatically update your links if you ever need to change the base URL for a site. There’s also a handy shortcode for the current template directory, making it very easy to link to or display images included in a theme rather than in the “standard” uploads directory.

This seems to be much easier than using a plugin to allow PHP execution from within pages and posts, and then using the native PHP permalink functions in WordPress. We’ll see how it goes…

For Christmas, I registered his domain for him so he could go “public”. You can check it out at RobbieHotz.com. Stop by to leave him a comment and wish him a Merry Christmas.

For a Merry Christmas from Wittmania Marketing, check out our e-mail Christmas card sent via Constant Contact earlier today.

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Preview:

Download Facebook-Vector-Icon.zip

It’s a free download, but I would appreciate it if you would leave a comment and a link so I can see how you’re using it.

Thanks!

Jay Conrad Levinson writes in Guerrilla Marketing, “Marketing isn’t about you. It’s about them.” To put it bluntly, nobody cares about your business. You have to connect with people on a what’s-in-it-for-me level. This all fits into the Wittmania strategy of telling a story that connects with people on an emotional level. If people believe that your business can change their life, just as it has for other people, they will beg you to sell them your product or service. Put your customers first and the sales will follow.

An XML sitemap lists out the pages of your site, along with hierarchical and date information. Click on the thumbnail to the right to see what the sitemap for Wittmania.com looks like this when viewed in a browser. However, when a search engine spider accesses the XML sitemap it sees a great deal of information about the pages in your site, in an organized and concise presentation. This ensures that the spiders don’t miss important site content when they index your site’s content. If content isn’t indexed, it won’t be included in search results.

As you might expect, I include an XML sitemap with every website I create. If you have questions about how to create an XML sitemap for your small business website, let me know.

But what if your site is larger or more complex? While you may be able to quickly find the page you’re looking for (after all, it is your site), it may be tough for a first-time visitor to find the content they’re after. While the value of an intuitive and well thought out site structure can’t be overstated, you can do your website visitors a tremendous favor by providing a sitemap.

Let’s consider the Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter website. Their site has nearly 50 static pages and an ever-increasing number of blog posts. While all of this information is valuable and serves a purpose, it is useless if visitors can’t get to it. That’s where their sitemap page comes in.

First, the page lists every page from the site in one place. If I came to their site because I need to contact Jeff Downing, I can quickly jump to his page. If I’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, I know exactly where to go.

Second, the sitemap gives me a visual understanding of how the site is organized. I can quickly ascertain that the site has been organized into 7 parent pages, many of which have child (and even grand-child) pages beneath them. This level of detail can help a visitor know where to start, even if they don’t see a page that is exactly what they are looking for. You can “go the extra mile” by providing your visitors with a search form. Between the sitemap and the search functionality, your visitors should be able to find exactly what they are looking for.

Readability is one of the more important aspects of Web design usability. Readable text affects how users process the information in the content. Poor readability scares readers away from the content. On the other hand, done correctly, readability allows users to efficiently read and take in the information in the text. You want users to be able to read your content and absorb it easily.

A good designer will consider the following elements when designing the look and feel of a site’s text:

1. User-Friendly Headers
2. Scannable Text
3. White Space
4. Consistency
5. Density of Text
6. Emphasis of Important Elements
7. Organization of Information
8. Clean Graphical Implementation
9. Use of Separators
10. Good Margins

We’ve all seen sites where one or more of these elements is out of balance. The result can be down right painful. This is just one of many reasons why the “do it yourself” approach might not be the best idea for your small business website. If you’re ready to enlist some professional help with your site, let me know. I’d be glad to help.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. All this loaded web design term really means is that you need to pay attention to the things that Google and Yahoo! say are important.

Search engines use programs called spiders or bots to visit websites and index site content. This data is behind the search results that come up when you search for keywords on your favorite search engine.

It is important to note that search engine spiders can only process text. That means that images, audio, or Flash-based content is basically invisible to them. So, that 700×200px banner image that contains your “mission statement” is completely ignored by the search engines. While it may look good to you, a bot can’t tell if it’s a picture of a watermelon, a fire truck, or your carefully crafted explanation of your organization’s existence.

Many site designers don’t take this into consideration when creating a site. They might be able to put a visually appealing site together, but they don’t stop to think about the relationship between design, functionality, and search engine accessibility.

If you’re ready to speak with an expert about optimizing your small business website for the best possible search engine rankings, let me know. I would be happy to review your existing site and point out any recommendations I may have.