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Weekly Links Roundup – Social Auto Posting, Testimonials Plugins, MemberPress, WordPress in 2019

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Merry Christmas!

This week’s top WordPress and web marketing links.

In the process of finding a good social media auto poster (that lets you post your new or old blog posts to social media automatically) I came across this review of the best plugins for auto-posting to social sites. These are nice because once configured, you don’t have to do any extra work to get your blog posts out there on multiple sites.

One of the most important things to add to your business website is testimonials – they can really make a difference in developing trust in your users, and getting them to become new customers. Here’s a review of 9 testimonial plugins for WordPress.

One of my favorite, go-to plugins for client sites is mentioned in the post above, Strong Testimonials, and I recommend trying it. You can create multiple Views to display your testimonials in different ways throughout your site, like a rotating sidebar widget vs. a big, sliding home page testimonial.

If you’re using MemberPress to run your WordPress membership site (like WP Minder!) here’s some news for you… MemberPress now includes a downloadable files feature. You can set rules to govern downloads by members and track the number of downloads of each file.

And finally… as we close in on 2019, here are some of the predictions about WordPress in the new year. Lots of changes happening as 5.0 launched along with Gutenberg. Take a look and see what may be in store. This post is more of the developer and WordPress community view, so it might be different than what you’re expecting.

Did you find this information useful? Please share with your friends and colleagues! And comment below with questions or observations.

Weekly Links Roundup – RSS, Finding Your Blogging Niche, WordPress Glossary, MemberPress

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This week’s WordPress and web marketing links.

You probably know a little bit about RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds – your blog generates them and users can subscribe to them to get content updates. They were really popular in the early 2000’s, not so much now, but still very useful if you like to follow lots of news sources and read them all in one place. Did you know you can optimize your RSS feed to make it more attractive and get more subscribers? This post mentions Feedly, but there are still some other alternatives for aggregating RSS feeds. I personally use Feedly and like it pretty well, no complaints…

If you’re a blogger, especially a new one, you may feel like you’re struggling to find your niche – that sweet spot where you start to get some traction with your writing and readers and growth is finally happening. Maybe you feel like you just don’t have a niche, or even an idea where to focus? Don’t worry – check out the post. It may give you some ideas you haven’t thought of yet.

You know how when you run a WordPress site you run into words that are just outside any normal conversation all the time? Like when your developer talks to you and you need a dictionary to understand him/her? Here’s something just for you! A new WordPress glossary that explains all those weird terms – things like ‘Akismet’ and ‘shortcode’ and ‘custom post type.’

And finally… One of my favorite membership plugins is MemberPress. I’ve used it on a number of client sites and on my own. It’s easy to set up and has great support. Here’s a post from the folks at MemberPress for the new MemberPress user to help you get going in the right direction with your membership site.

Did you find this information useful? Please share with your friends and colleagues! And comment below with questions or observations.

 

Weekly Links Roundup – SEO Title, Membership Plugins, Security Plugins, Firewalls

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This week’s WordPress and web marketing links.

What’s the difference between the post title and the SEO title? Ever asked that question? Here’s a definitive explanation from Yoast.

If you’re thinking about creating a WordPress-based membership site, this is the post for you! Here’s a roundup of 15 of the top membership plugins to handle subscriptions, membership tiers and levels, payments, content restrictions and more. Personally I’m a big fan of MemberPress (which I use to run WP Minder’s membership program) – it should definitely be on this list too.

Wordfence has been my security plugin of choice for several years, but their recent redesign and changes in functionality leave a lot to be desired. Another good option is Sucuri – here’s a comparison of Wordfence and Sucuri.

While we’re on the topic of security, here’s a very fresh review of the top WordPress security plugins and services for 2018.

Let’s wander just a bit further down the security road and look at firewalls for WordPress. Best in class is Sucuri’s Web Application Firewall (which is included in WP Minder Small Business and higher plans). My experience with Sitelock support on behalf of clients was very poor and I cannot recommend them. If you want the most secure firewall for your business site and are not using managed WordPress hosting like our recommended partner WP Engine, Sucuri is the one to look at.