Websites

Hi Will, There is an option, when you are working on a new WordPress blog or editing an old one, to make it ‘sticky’. This word almost always means something like: ‘keep it at the top of the screen’. In this case it means, keep it at the top of the stack of blogs, so that visitors to your blog page will see it first. You have to manually select…[Read more]

I’m not a fan of stock images – I appreciate that my business is a very visual experience and so I’m not short of a photo or two, but I can’t help feeling that spending the time to capture the special image you need to support your business, is time and investment well spent!

Hi David, you take amazing photos. 🙂
Time is indeed a key factor, in that many of us are pressed for time.
If you have the skill and the opportunity to take your own photographs this is the way to go.

Thank you for sharing this, Will – most interesting.

Yes, understood. If there is no profile picture in Zoom it would display your name against a black background. Please see my response to your previous post.

Hi Margi, You will need to access your Zoom profile: sign in to the Zoom web portal and click Profile. You can view and edit the following settings: Profile Picture: To add or change your profile picture, click Change, then adjust the crop area on your current picture or upload a new one.
This page goes through the…[Read more]

Please share some of the keyword phrases that you want to be found for, Will.
It would be helpful to decrease your website loading time.
I suggest that you simplify your webcopy. What you do and deliver must be crystal clear in the first paragraph.

I am focusing properly on keywords now and I will let you know.
I have changed copy on home page and PWA APP examples so far, much better i think

Thanks for this, Will. I imagine that you will build a Maltix PWA App and let us know where can can view / download this?

I think that the easiest way is to install a sitemap in WordPress is via the Yoast plugin. The (Yoast) steps include an option to create a sitemap which looks like this: https://www.nigeltemple.com/sitemap_index.xml

It is not the most important SEO factor, however it is said that the Google SEO bot likes to find a sitemap.

Hi David, Patreon https://www.patreon.com is an interesting platform that I have previously looked at. I think that the copy needs to be engaging, conversational and relaxed. I suggest that you click around the site and read quite a bit of their content in order to absorb their style.
Use outbound anchor text links to FB etc.
With regards to…[Read more]

Thank you Nigel!

Hi Margi, I would begin with your marketing strategy and plan. All too often, people leap into website design without a clear understanding of where they are placed in the market, what their key messages are and how they are going to attract and keep customers.
With regards to WordPress try and use as few plugins as possible (see my recent…[Read more]

Putting videos together is a creative act, Will! They can be a great way of getting your message across.

* If possible, cut down the number of WordPress plugins.
* Make your images smaller and use few images if you can.
* Do not use inexpenisive hosting as this is a false economy.
* Check the loading speed here:
https://www.uptrends.com/tools/website-speed-test

Thanks for this, uptrends produces a very thorough analysis. Ben recommended that I move from Fasthosts to TSO, so I don’t think that hosting is a problem. However, other than by reviews how do I benchmark a hosting company.

Benchmarking a hosting company is a challenge, David. I have looked at dozens of them. We have used TSO Host for a long time, however you could take a look at: https://premium.wpmudev.org/hosting

@dkl I recall Nigel suggesting the use of tinypng.com to reduce the size of the image file in terms of MB, but not the size you see, important distinction perhaps. Oh, and it’s easy to use and works well – just upload images the download the reduced size ones. Thanks Nigel.

Thanks David

Interesting point, David. I have visited a few websites recently which looked like they were created sometime in the last century. IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) a business website should load quickly, use a consistent set of colours, work properly on a smartphone and have a clean, modern look. I realise that the latter is subjective.
PS An update…[Read more]

Google can take a few weeks before it starts to appear. This link http://lamplightbooks.co.uk I am inserting in this thread may help. I would announce the site within social media, as this will help.

Just to add that you need to insert your social media links for the icons that you are using.

Glad to hear that the MailChimp subscription process works. Yes, I would go live now. Over time, I am sure that you will be updating your website.

Start with a DIY approach, Margi.
I suggest that you Mind Map the key points that you want to get across.
Position the Mind Map so that you see it during filming.
Experiment with filming short clips using your smartphone.
You should be able to email these to yourself, which will mean that the files can be transferred to, say, Youtube.

Thanks, that’s so helpful.

It is looking good; I have just filled in the MailChimp subscription form, however, I have not received the double opt in confirmation message. If you take a look within MailChimp, you should be able to see whether I am there (or not!)

I have received the ‘double optin’ email from MailChimp. A small point: the ‘click through to our website’ button didn’t work. If you go to Signup Forms in your MC account, there is a drop down menu which will include this email. (You can edit it).

Hi Phil, I can see the logo in the upper left hand corner, so all good, I think.
I suggest that you use a white background colour, behind the text.
No, I would not change the theme.

Hi Phil, Goodness – the website has moved on in the last few days. 🙂
I am not sure about the light yellow background behind the bodycopy text, as this makes it a little hard to read the words.
I suggest that you change the word ‘Home’, which appears at the top of the homepage to: Lamplight Books
Hyperlinks to, say, Amazon should open up in a new…[Read more]

With regards to creating internal links: highlight the relevant text and then click on the chain icon and insert the full URL (i.e. include the http part) of the post or page that you wish to link to.

With regards to the various items that are appearing towards the foot of your pages, login and go to: Appearance / Widgets and delete the items in Footer 1 and 2.