Blog – Raney Day Design

Digital Strategies for Today’s Busy Business Owners

Raney Day Talks 11: PSA :: You got 90 DAYS!

Hello, welcome to a very unexpected podcasts episode for today. I wasn't going to publish any for today. I actually missed yesterday was national podcast day. Not to go into the details but we've just been really inundated with projects and had some changes take place within my business. We've ...

Raney Day Talks 03: Relationship Marketing with Joy Klohonatz

In this episode our special guest, Joy Klohonatz drops truth bombs on the VALUE relationship marketing can have not only in business but in life. Catch the Episode 03: Relationship Marketing with Joy Klohonatz here... Also found on: Connect with Joy... Website: www.carewithjoy.net Instagram: www.carewithjoy.net Company: https://sendogo.com/ ------------------------------------------ Interested in ...

Raney Day Talks 02: How To Work Through Fear with Cat Townsend

Today's episode is with our FIRST guest founder of The Good Alliance, Cat Townsend! Cat and her team are on a mission to "help socially motivated entrepreneurs strengthen their platform, grow their community and scale their impact." We discuss how to build momentum to work through fear in running our ...

Don’t Think A Website Is Important? Think Again

It may sound hard to believe but EVERY business needs a website, no matter how small the business is. While you may think it’s just a waste of time and resources, honestly you can’t afford to not have a website. We know we keep saying it (and really we ...

How to Accelerate Your Business Online

When you start your business you need a solid online presence. This means different things for different people, but it really all boils down to essential elements. You need a good website, knowledge about reviews and how to get them, understand directories, and knowing how people find you. Let’s go ...

Raney Day Talks 01: Overcoming Fear

It's happened! We have launched our first Raney Day Talks podcast episode! Raney Day Talks 01: Overcoming Fear Hey there. Grab your coffee and let’s talk business. How to grow it, how to sustain it and how to harness the wonderful world wide web to do it. With me your ...

Are You Sending The Right Marketing Message?

Marketing strategies are only effective if they are sending the right message. You know what your business does and you want to center your marketing around what customers are buying. But are you sending the right message about your brand? Or are you driving your customers away by sending the ...

A Great Marketing Strategy = More Traffic

Having a marketing strategy is good, but you need more than good. You need a great marketing strategy. Because a great marketing strategy means you get more traffic to your business. We all know more traffic means more money. So what makes a great strategy? Knowing who to target To ...

Show Off Your Style

Your website style says a lot about you and your business. Just a few simple elements can make your brand dazzle or it can make it can turn people away. It’s amazing how something as simple as style can make or break your brand. Let's look at your style and ...

Give Your Business The Right Logo

Okay so either you are starting a new business or you are relaunching one. What is the first thing you need? Correct, a logo. Before you start building/rebranding your business, you need to create a company logo. This will set your brand and will determine how your web design will ...

Make Your Website Branding On Point

Your website should do more than showcase your goods or services. It needs to make your brand stand out and be remembered. Remember, your website is your online calling card. You want people to think of you and your site when they need something in your industry. Is your website ...

Feed Them Social: A Social Media Plugin

Having your social media feeds on your website can increase your social media following. We recommend this plugin to get you started. https://youtu.be/XybISGKaPgg https://feedthemsocial.com/

Hootsuite: Pure Gold For Social Media

As a business you probably have more than one social media account right? And it can be time-consuming to post to all of them. Never fear, Hootsuite is here! See why we feel this tool is worth its weight in gold.

We Use Canva Like A Boss for Graphic Design

A very special edition of WordPress Wednesday. How we use Canva Like a Boss for Graphic Design. Websites, social media, ads... they all need images. If you are familiar with graphic design (or just a noob), you should check out Canva. We use it to create the AMAZING graphic for ...

Airtable. What You Need To Get Organized

Every business knows that organization is key. But what programs work the best? While each company needs to find the one that will fit their needs, we want to introduce you to Airtable. We use Airtable to keep our work organized and in one place. https://youtu.be/_sfohG0VfoU

Manage Your Social Media Like A Rockstar

As we all know (or should know) social media is a powerful tool in growing your customer base. You should also be using it to expand your brand loyalty. Honestly, nowadays social media can make or break a business. Now, companies like us at Raney Day Design can run social ...

Hello Dolly…Goodbye Dolly

As we talked about in our main blog, this blacklisted plugin is on the list because it really serves no purpose. Yep, you guessed it. We are talking about the Hello Dolly plugin. Why is this here and what does it do? Where did Hello Dolly come from? Hello Dolly ...

Sweet Captcha

We have all have heard of or used a captcha before. Sweet Captcha has a catchy name but it’s not so sweet to your website. Like we mentioned in our earlier blog, this is a major plugin on the blacklist. Not only is it not wanted by hosting companies, but ...

Broken Link Checker

You’re only human and it’s only technology...but sometimes broken links happen. We know you have a lot going on and keeping up with broken links just isn’t on your radar. But they are more important than you think. So the quick and easy fix is a plugin like Broken Link ...

Wordfence

We have been talking about plugins that some hosting companies don’t allow, WP Engine specifically. Last week we talked about WP SuperCache and what makes it where WP Engine doesn’t allow it on their server. Today we want to talk more about Wordfence and what WP Engine thinks about it. ...

WP Super Cache

As we mentioned in our blog about blacklisted plugins, we talked about the WP SuperCache plugin. Many servers recommend not using this plugin for caching your files. But why? What makes this plugin so bad it’s been blacklisted? Well, let’s see. It’s mostly unnecessary. Most server companies already have caching ...

Are Your Plugins On The Blacklist?

Sometimes good plugins go bad. This can happen for several reasons: they become outdated, there are no revisions or support, or they become redundant. Whatever the reason, these plugins end up on the blacklist. This means that servers won’t allow them or they don’t play nice with them. Before you ...

Are They Buying?

The end goal of any website is to get the consumer to do something, as we talked about in our blog. It could be making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or even something as simple as getting them to contact you. But here is the catch, you don’t ...

What’s With The Bounce

Every business wants their site to do well. Sometimes things can be a little off, which can make people leave your site quickly. This can seriously affect your bounce rate. The higher the bounce rate, the more you know something isn’t working. So what is a bounce rate? That’s a ...

What Are They Doing While They’re Here?

Knowing your traffic is great, but you need to know what your users are doing while they are on your site. Are they looking at the same products? Are they looking at the home page? We can help you find out what is keeping your viewers engaged on your site. ...

How Did They Find Me?

So in this months blog, we talked about different Google Analytics information that you can get on your website. One that we talked about was how your customers are finding you. Finding your business online shouldn’t have to be like a game of “Where’s Waldo.” It should be easy, but ...

Keep An Eye On Your Website

Every business needs a website. That goes without saying, but what you also need is Google Analytics. This free tool from Google has so much information that can help you design your website to focus on what people want as well as maximize your marketing. All you need to take ...

Don’t Like the New Editor?

https://raneydaydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/70ad496c67334688b0544f414247a631-1551890868864.mp4 https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-editor/

How To Add An Image To Your Post Using Gutenberg

Creating A New Post Using Gutenberg

https://raneydaydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/43194d1b2bc44a95a1db2a0450746229.mp4

The Pros and Cons of The New Gutenberg

We talked yesterday about Gutenberg and how it came about. We did touch briefly on some pros and cons, but today we want to dig in a little more and also see how designers feel about the new release. Pros Playing with Blocks One of the things the new Gutenberg ...

Gutenberg: The New WordPress Update

We are sure you have heard about Gutenberg by now, the newest release from WordPress. With it being the new kid on the block, there are mixed reviews on how well the new release works. We know the new update can be confusing, so we wanted to sit down with ...

Spam: Not Just A Food

SPAM is a problem. When you heard the word SPAM, most people think of the canned meat. Well, that’s not the SPAM we mean. To clear up any confusion let's go over what SPAM really is. What is SPAM? SPAM is a message that is irrelevant and is sent in ...

Get the Beaver Builder Extras

We talked about the Beaver Builder theme last week and we mentioned the awesome Beaver Builder plugins that work well with that theme. Well, today we are going to go more in depth about those plugins and what makes them so amazing. Beaver Builder Plugin The Beaver Builder plugin is ...

Introducing the Beaver Builder Theme

Welcome back. Now we want to talk about another favorite theme of ours: Bever Builder. I know the name is different but it honestly is a great theme. It is similar to the Divi theme but it’s also very different. So if you’re ready, let’s get to it. What is ...

Get Divi Theme Bonuses

Like any good theme, plugins give them even more functionality. Your site should be just as unique as your business. If your website is created using the Divi theme then you are in luck. There are many plugins that you can use to give your website that little extra something. ...

Introducing the Divi Theme

Every web designer has themes that they prefer to work with and the Divi theme is one of ours. There is so much that you can do with this theme. So, we are going to geek out a little bit and tell you why this theme is one of our ...

Is Your Site Secure?

We all know security is important in everyday life. Your social security number, your bank and credit card numbers…all these are super protected from identity theft. But do you consider the hackers that could steal information from your website? It’s not something most people think about so don’t feel bad ...

Your Year in Review

As an entrepreneur you may only look to the future, but it’s always good to look back and recap your year. This recap should show you what the ups and downs of the past year were along with help you decide where you want the upcoming year to go. To ...

Setting Goals for The New Year

It’s the time of year when business owners start to set their goals for the new year. Do you know what you want your business to achieve in 2019? Let’s look at some realistic goals you can set to start your year strong. Make specific goals. It sounds so redundant ...

Selling For The New Year Craze

The new year is almost here. But do you know how to make your business stand out during the shopping craze? It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of all the businesses doing advertising and trying to have that one last push for sales for 2019. Here are some ...

Knowing When To Sell

It can be hard to know when to sell and when to wait. You don’t want to seem to pushy and cause them to leave. Nor do you want to wait too long and lose the sale. Here are some simple guidelines to help you know when to try for ...

Why Is Engagement Important?

We have talked about how to answer and engage your customers. But do you know why it’s so important? Your goal is to make sales and create revenue. There are benefits to having your customers engage with your business. You have a better understanding of what customers want. When customers ...

Keeping It Professional

We have all heard the phrase “keeping it real” but in business the key phrase to remember is “keeping it professional.” Staying professional in the workplace is one of the most important things to do for the chance of success. In situations of employee to employee, employer to employee, and ...

The Power of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing can be a confusing concept…but it doesn’t have to be. Digital marketing is simply a marketing plan for how you are represented online. This will include your website, social media posts, blog posts, online listings, and any other online aspect. With the rise in numbers of how many ...

Why Have Opt-ins?

If you are looking to build your leads database, you probably want to use an opt-in form on your website. Digital marketing is a very effective way of reaching your customers and part of that strategy plan is using opt-ins to gain more email addresses. These addresses are used for ...

Using On-Site SEO/Yoast

As a small business owner, you may not always have the budget to put towards a large SEO package and you may be considering doing your own on-site SEO. SEO can be complicated, and you may not have the confidence in it yourself. There are some tools you can use ...

The Power of Landing Pages

An essential part of any marketing campaign includes at least one landing page. However, there may be some website owners that feel that landing pages are a waste of time and money. This is simply not true. Landing pages are invaluable to your marketing campaign. Let's look closer at what ...

Why Be Mobile Friendly?

You always hear people talking about how you need to have a mobile friendly website. Why, what’s the big deal about being mobile friendly? My web builder charges me more for mobile friendly so why should I spend the money? Here are some important reasons why you should make sure ...

The Power of Blogs

Many business owners feel that posting blogs is a waste of time (or money if you are paying someone else to write them). However, they are a powerful part of getting your business recognized and getting your website to rank higher. In truth, if you are posting blogs you have ...

How to Increase Your Conversion Rates

Most businesses that have a website track and monitor traffic to their sites. However, many may see where they are getting good traffic, but they are not getting many sales. Do you know what you need to do to increase your conversion rates and get people to do the action ...

How Often To Blog/ Social Media Post

In today’s business world you should have a marketing strategy. As any good marketing company can tell you, blogs and social media posts are an important part of your strategy. But how often should you post to get the most leads and exposure? Well, there’s no real good answer for ...

Video Content vs Written Content

Every business owner knows that a marketing campaign is important to their business. Do you know which content to use to maximize your marketing strategy? There is a lot of debate on which content is best, video content or written content. Really, you have to decide which content is going ...

Understanding Content Volume

We all know that content is king when it comes to marketing, but how much content is too much or too little? If you’re not publishing/posting something new, valuable, and worth paying attention to every single day, then you’re losing valuable leads. Let’s talk more about content volume and what ...

How To Create a Lead Generation Strategy

Everyone has heard the phrase “lead generation,” but do you know how to create a simple but powerful lead generation strategy? Most small business owners don’t. We are going to go over nine powerful ideas on how to get the most out of your lead generation strategy. Don’t be ...

New Look, New Approach, and a New Attitude

Hey there! Jen here checking in. Since I launched and moved this business to the great state of PA it has undergone some changes over the years. It has been a crazy-fun, enjoyable yet informative ride. As with many businesses we’ve seen growing pains, but I personally believe we took ...

Using Call To Actions

You are getting traffic to your site, but do you know how to make them customers? Sure you may have a button that says something like “Buy Now” but does that really get people to buy? Let’s look at some ways to improve your call to actions to get people ...

Keeping Your Content Fresh

A lot of business owners will create their website and think that is good enough. However, to keep your customers coming back to your site again and again you need to keep your content fresh. This may include adding new content to pages. Here are some ways you can keep ...

Why Is Site Speed Important?

If you are noticing that viewers are not staying on your site for long and are not converting to sales, then one thing that you need to check is your site speed. What is a website site speed and why is it important? Site speed can impact your ranking and ...

Understanding Website Security

Most business owners think that since they are a small business that they don’t need to worry about internet security. They feel that since they are such a small business they don’t have to worry about being hacked. Unfortunately, that is a misconception. EVERY business should have website security. You ...

6 Ways To Keep Your Website Running Like a Boss

Having a website is a labor of love and is the backbone of your online presence. It can be easy to let it fall to the wayside when you are busy running your business. There are some simple things you can do to make sure your website is in tip-top ...

Understanding Your Conversion Rate

When you are going over your analytics for your website, one thing to look at is your conversion rate. Not everyone knows what a conversion rate is and what it will tell you about your website. Let’s look more closely at conversion rates and how they impact your website. ...

Paid Traffic vs Organic Traffic

Everyone wants traffic to their website. Traffic means potential sales right? Do you know the best way to get traffic to your site? Should you use paid traffic or is organic traffic better? What does paid traffic and organic traffic even mean? Don’t worry, we have you covered. We are ...

Knowing Your Page Views

If you are using Google Analytics or any other type of metric tracking on your website, you are probably tracking and seeing your page views. Now page views are important and they give you great information, but they are not to be confused with visits. Let's sit and go over ...

How to Use Keywords

If you have heard anything about SEO I am sure you have heard the word “keywords” before. But do you know what keywords are and how they work? What can keywords do for your site? Let’s go a little more in detail about what keywords are and what they do. ...

The Power of Google Analytics

I’m sure you have heard everyone say you need to make sure you have Google Analytics installed on your site. But do you know what it does or why it’s so important? Let's look a little more in depth at what Google Analytics can do for your business and your ...

Understanding Key Performance Indicators

Most people feel that once the website is built and is live then all they need to is maybe throw some advertising to it and that’s it. Unfortunately it’s not that easy. Once your site is up and you have traffic going to it you need to monitor your ...

Understanding Bounce Rates

What are bounce rates and why is it important to know? A bounce rate is basically stating that someone came to your website and did nothing before leaving. In a nutshell, they came, they saw, they left. When you have a high bounce rate it means that your home page ...

Formatting Your Blog for Better SEO

Blogs can be a great tool for helping boost your SEO ranking but you need to make sure they are formatted correctly. One of the best ways that we have come across is to use the Yoast SEO plugin. It has a paid version but for what we want the ...

Finding the Right Tone for Your Blog

When writing your blog you want to make sure your tone fits you and your business. This can mean that your tone can be relaxed and funny, or serious and straight to the point. We are going to help you figure out what your tone is to help you further ...

How to Write the Perfect Headline

You have the perfect blog in mind and you have it all written up. Now you just need to title it, but you want it to be something that will make people want to read your blog. No problem, we have you covered. We will go over some important things ...

Blogging Basics 101

Blogging has taken the world by storm and since Justin Hall began blogging in 1994, it has become THE way to communicate, both for individuals and businesses alike. The most asked question is what makes a great blog? How do I write a blog that people will want to read? ...

How to Add Users For Your Website

When you have a website, sometimes you will find the need to add a user to your site. This is an easy thing to do. We will go over how to do this step-by-step Step 1: Once you have logged into your website, look at the menu to the ...

What Does a Theme Do?

Anyone that has ever worked with a website has heard the term “theme” before. What does a theme do for your website? Let’s take a look at what using a theme can do and why using one is a good idea. First off a theme creates the structure of your ...

How to Install a WordPress Theme

Creating a website from scratch can be rewarding as you are able to really design your website layout and how it will flow. However not everyone has that kind of time or really that kind of ability. That is where WordPress themes come in. Read on to learn how to ...

What Is a Plugin (And Why Do I Need Them)?

When you are building your website you want it to do all of these amazing things. Book appointments on the website, accept payments, show your live social media feed...the options go on forever. But how do you make your website do these fantastic things? Well you could be super skilled ...

How to Install a Plugin On Your Website

When you are building a website or you want your site to do something special, you will find yourself needing to install a plugin. While this is not a complicated task, it can sometimes leave you confused on exactly how to load the plugin. Today we are going to clear ...

Maximize Your Email Campaign for 2018

Some business when they use email marketing struggle to get a good return on those emails. They always ask questions like “How do I get more people to open them?” or “What good does this do for our advertising campaign?” These are good questions and today we are going over ...

How to Size Your Images In Your Blog Post

Sometimes when you add images inside your blog post they may not be the right size. This is a quick and easy fix to make your images the right size for your post. Step 1: Login to your site and click on posts in the left hand menu. Step ...

How to Schedule a Blog Post

Sometimes you have a blog or post but it’s not quite time for it to go public yet. Today we are going to teach you how to load that post and to schedule a time for it to post for you automatically. Let’s get started. Step 1: Once you ...

How to Reply to a Comment

It’s great when people leave comments on your posts but do you know how to respond to them? Why should you respond? Responding to comments creates customer engagement and allows them to connect on a personal level with your company. It shows them you are listening to what they are ...

How to Change Your Website Admin Email Address

There are times when you need to change your website's admin email address. Maybe you are changing who is in charge or maybe you are just getting too many emails. Whatever the reason you need to change it but are unsure how. You have come to the right place, and ...

5 Tools that Make Managing Your Social Media Presence Easier

Let’s’ face it. When it comes to marketing your business, there’s a lot to do - and keep tabs on. Blogging . . . maintaining your website . . . sending email campaigns, and, of course, managing your social media presence. That alone can potentially ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 35: How to Turn Social Sharing Counts On and Off in Monarch

You know that whether you have a personal or business blog, its success largely depends on how many people actually read it. As a result, you make sure you promote it on your social media channels. But are there other ways to grow your blog’s audience? Absolutely! One easy way ...

5 Reasons to Repurpose Your Content

As a savvy entrepreneur, you know you need to add content marketing into your overall marketing strategy. Not only does content marketing generate more than three times as many leads as tradition outbound marketing, it also costs 62% less1. But if you’re only creating new ...

WordPress Wednesday 34: How to Set Up Your Gravatar

Have you noticed that some people have a photo next to their name when they leave a comment on a website? Sometimes, it’s a picture of the actual person. Or it might be a brand’s logo. Other times, it can be a generic person icon. These pictures are ...

5 Important Things to Check Before Implementing Your Inbound Marketing Strategy

Ready to start acting on your 2018 inbound marketing plan? Great! Set yourself up for success by making sure you’ve taken these 5 crucial steps before implementing your inbound marketing strategy. So you’ve finished developing your 2018 marketing plan. Congratulations! If you’re like you ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 33: How to Change the Default Timezone in WordPress

If you’ve been working with WordPress, you might have noticed that when you post a blog, published a page, respond to a comment, or view a form entry, the time is displayed. WordPress defaults to Universal Time Coordinated, or UTC. But what if the default time isn’t correct for your ...

3 Tips to Develop a 2018 Digital Marketing Strategy that Positions You For Growth

With 2017 quickly coming to a close, it’s time to work on your 2018 digital marketing strategy. And we’re not talking opening this year’s strategy, changing a few dates, and renaming it ‘‘2018 Online Marketing Plan.’ Nope. Not at all. We want 2018 to be ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 32: How to Add a Copyright to the Footer of Your WordPress Site

With the end of the year quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about changes and updates to your site. One change that you need to make is the copyright in the footer of your site. And in WordPress Wednesday Tip 32, we’re going to show you how to do ...

5 Online Networking Tips You Can Use Today

Love it or hate it, networking is an absolute must for all businesses. But in today’s digital world, there’s much more available to business owners than just traditional networking events. Online networking is just as powerful as in-person networking and can lead to great ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 31: How to Password Protect a Page in WordPress

Have you ever noticed the visibility option in the publishing section of your WordPress pages? Wondering what it’s for and how to use it? Well, you’re in luck because we’re going to tell you about one of WordPress’ nifty features within this option! By default, all of the pages on ...

Is Your Site Scaring Away Visitors? 3 Tips to Design a Boo-tiful Website

Happy Halloween! While you may be enjoying scaring the little ghosts and goblins visiting your house tonight, there’s definitely one group of visitors you don’t want to scare away - your website’s visitors! And few things will spook them more than a poorly designed ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 30: How to Customize Confirmations in Gravity Forms

As one of your biggest marketing investments, your website needs to bring you a steady stream of leads. And forms are one of the easiest ways to achieve this. You probably have at least one on your site already. (If not, check out WordPress Wednesday Tip 28 and learn how ...

5 Must Have Elements of a Landing Page that Converts

A few days ago, we were at an event and overheard a group of small business owners talking about landing pages. “I don’t know,” one said. “I think it’s just a page on your website.” “I’m not really sure what they’re for,” remarked another. Always up ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 29: How to Create a Signature for Your Blog

You know that blogging is a great way to improve SEO, drive visitors to your site, and gain credibility in your industry, but did you know your blog is also great for building relationships with current and prospective customers? One easy way to gain trust outside of your content is ...

9 Easy Ways to Build Trust with Your Website

You probably know that the majority of us (a whopping 81%) conduct online research before making a purchase. But, did you know that the most common way people gather information is by visiting company websites? It’s true! After conducting an online search, 36% of ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 28: How to Create a Form with Gravity Forms

Almost every single website you visit includes at least one form somewhere on the site. Chances are, yours does too. Whether they provide visitors a simple way to contact you, sign up for your newsletter, or submit an order, forms are an essential part of your site and overall marketing ...

5 Steps to Develop a Content Marketing Funnel for Your Small Business

Did you know that 74% of people choose to do business with the first company to provide valuable and useful content? Or that 52% view more than 8 pieces of content from the company they give their business to?1 Read on and learn ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 27: Save Time In WordPress with Keyboard Shortcuts

If you follow us on social media and read our blog then you know this month we’re all about creating content marketing funnels. And you know that putting one (or more!) in place is going to help you convert more leads into customers - which means more work and revenue! ...

Improve Your Conversion Rate with Content Funnels

Are you satisfied with your conversion rate? If not, you’re certainly not alone. Over 42% of business owners report that converting leads to customers is their biggest challenge. Read on for a great way to improve your conversion rate. Can you believe ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 26: How to Update Your User Profile in WordPress

Don’t you just love WordPress? Its flexibility. Its user-friendliness. Its . . . everything. Well get ready to fall even more head over heels because this week, we’re going to show you some different settings you can tweak in WordPress that will help: Customize your experience Boost your SEO Build ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 25: How to Link to Part of Page in WordPress

Wow! Can you believe it’s been a year since we’ve been sharing our WordPress Wednesday Tips with you? (We sure can’t!) What do you think? Are you finding them helpful? Anyway - in our second tip, we showed you how to add links in any post or page. In that post, ...

Social Media KPIs: How Business Owners Can Track Social Media ROI

Regardless of whether your business has been on social media for years or you’re just starting out, it’s important to establish and monitor social media KPIs to make sure you’re getting a high return on your investment. ‘What is a KPI?’ you ask. Key Performance Indicators are ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 24: How to Add Google Analytics to WordPress Without a Plugin

One of the most important - and dare we say, fun - parts of launching your WordPress website is keeping track of your site’s performance. Site visits, unique visitors, bounce rate, and other important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can be easily tracked by adding Google Analytics onto your WordPress site. ...

Does Blogging Increase Website Traffic? What We Discovered

There’s a lot of debate as to whether blogging for your business is still relevant in today’s social media marketing environment. And is it any wonder? With new content formats and features emerging every day, it’s hard ...

WordPress Wednesday 23: 12 WordPress Blogging Tutorials

a Do you follow us on Twitter? Then you know that this month we're focusing on how to blog successfully for your business. For this week's WordPress Wednesday, we thought we'd include all of our WordPress blogging tutorials in one handy ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 22: Creating Anchored Menus in Divi

When someone visits your website, you want to make sure they have no problem finding what they’re looking for. And having a clear, easy-to-follow navigation menu is key. But what if you only have a one-page site? Is having a menu still necessary? Yes! But not the traditional menu that’s ...

9 {Easy} Email Marketing Tips to Boost Your Small Business

It’s been the called the cockroach of the internet. It’s officially middle age. It’s {still} the #1 way businesses communicate. And it gives the highest return on investment of all marketing channels available today. What is it? Email! When done well, email marketing ...

WordPress Wednesday How to backdate a blog post in wordpress

WordPress Wednesday Tip 21: How to Backdate a Blog Post in WordPress

Let's face it. Sometimes life happens and you just weren't able to get through your {ever growing} To Do List. And despite every intention, you didn't publish today's blog post. You're pretty bummed because you know consistency is the key to growing {and keeping} your audience, improving your SEO score, and ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 20: How To Bulk Edit the Author of Blog Posts

A few weeks ago, we showed you how to change the author of a blog post. This is great if you only need to change one or two posts, but what if you need to edit several? Manually going into several posts is seriously time-consuming. And if there's one thing more precious than ...

4 of Our Favorite {Free} Tools to Manage a Small Business More Efficiently

What’s {almost} better than being a small business owner? Having an entire week dedicated to it! In case you didn’t know, this week is National Small Business Week - A time devoted to celebrating your hard work, can-do spirit, ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 19: Optimizing Posts for Search Engines with Yoast

In a crowded online world, getting your blog posts found on Google is crucial to your business success. Follow along with this week's WordPress Wednesday Tip and start optimizing posts for search engines with Yoast today! Let's get started. #WordPressWednesday Tip 19: Optimizing Posts for Search Engines with Yoast 1. ...

How to Do SEO: The Technophobe Version

I confess. Three years ago, SEO confused me to no end. I wasn’t terribly ‘techie’ at the time and just didn’t get it. Or so I thought . . . My, how things have changed! I've learned a lot since then. ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 18: Embedding a video into a blog post

WordPress Wednesday Tip 18: Embedding Videos into a Blog Post

You know that using video as part of your social media strategy is all the rage this year. But did you know that adding video to your blog posts is a great way to attract, engage, and draw visitors back to your site, too? WordPress Wednesday Tip 18 shows you ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 17: How to change the Author of a Blog Post

WordPress Wednesday Tip 17: Changing the Author of a Blog Post

Have you noticed that the author's name is published underneath the title of a post in WordPress? This is a great way to create an online presence for the author. But what if someone else wrote the post and you're just publishing it for them? You're named as the author ...

3 More Ways Not to Curate Content on Twitter

Have you ever started following someone on Twitter only to regret it the next day? Maybe their tweets have overtaken your feed? Or their links direct you to spammy sites? Or they don't practice social sharing etiquette and pass ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 16: Setting Up {or Changing} Form Notifications

Do you have a contact form on your WordPress site? Are you constantly logging in to see if someone submitted a form? Well, that stops today! WordPress has a handy tool that will send you email notifications when someone submits a form! (Hello, Efficiency!) What's even better? You can send notifications ...

Social Media Marketing Falling Flat? 5 Ways You Can Fix It

Social media marketing falling flat? As a results-oriented entrepreneur, it's really frustrating when your marketing efforts aren't producing the results you were expecting. But you can start turning things around today with these 5 Tips to Improve Your Social Media ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip 15: Resetting Your WordPress Password

As a busy entrepreneur, you make every minute count. So this morning when you took the kids to library for book circle, you jumped on one of the public computers to work on your next blog. But once you got ...

3 Types of Content Every Business Needs to Create to Maximize Conversions

Considering content marketing for your business? Smart move! According to Demand Metric, inbound marketing generates 3x more leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less! But the same types of content don't appeal to {and ultimately convert} all visitors to your ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip #14 – Fixing Link Text Appearing with a Strikethrough

Have you ever been scrolling through the front end of your site and noticed a link with a strikethrough? You know that you didn't add it, so what's going on? If you have a broken link plugin installed on your site, this is telling visitors that the link is broken. ...

3 Ways {Not} to Curate Content for Your Twitter Followers

You work hard to provide valuable and useful information to your fans on Twitter. But there's a fine line between being helpful and flat out annoying. And it's a surprisingly easy line to cross. Here are 3 ways not to curate content for your Twitter followers. 3 Ways NOT to ...

#WordPress Wednesday Tip #13 – Editing a Published Post

It happens to all of us. You're hurriedly typing up a blog post trying to reach a deadline so you don't let your readers down. Maybe you give it a quick once over and then hit publish. Later you notice it -- a glaring typo. Ugh! What's a detail-oriented ...

How to Reach Your Business Goals by Adding Inbound to Your Marketing Strategy

Traditional marketing methods not working to get customers, increase your sales, and grow your business? Reach your business goals by adding inbound to your marketing strategy this year. Quick! What did you do the last time you received a telemarketing call? How about the last time someone knocked on your door asking ...

WordPress Wednesday #12 Tip – Adding Alt Tags to Images

Want to know a great way to easily improve your SEO ranking? Then #WordPress Wednesday Tip 12 is for you! One of the easiest ways to rank higher in Google searches is to add alt tags to your blog images. How do you do this? It's easy if you follow ...

WordPress Wednesday #11 Tip – Creating A New Post

Resolve to blog more for your business in 2017? Great! Then this week’s #WordPress Wednesday Tip #11 – Creating a New Post is for you! It's so easy, you might just start blogging every day! Let’s get started… 1. Hover over 'Post' on your Dashboard. 2. Click 'Add New'. 3. ...

Wordpress Security and Maintenance Tips for 2017

12 WordPress Maintenance and Security Tips for 2017

Updated: 7/17/18 Because of its user-friendliness and functionality, WordPress is now the most popular website platform in the world. Believe it or not, 500 new WordPress sites are created everyday. However, due to it's popularity, it's especially vulnerable to attacks by hackers. In fact, the FBI has actually issued warnings to site owners ...

#WordPress Wednesday Tip #10 – Managing Your Media Gallery

Ever wondered where all your images go once you upload them into WordPress posts or pages? This week's #WordPress Wednesday Tip #10 - Managing Your Media Gallery will show you! Let's get started... #WordPress Wednesday Tip #10 - Managing Your Media Gallery Every image/document/ etc. that has been ...

5 Quick Ways to Get Your Website Ready for 2017

Can you believe we're in the home stretch of 2016 already? In just a few short weeks, we'll be ringing in the new year. Will your website be ready? If not, read on for 5 quick ways to get your website ready for 2017. 5 Easy Ways to ...

WordPress Wednesday #9 Tip - How To Add A Page

WordPress Wednesday Tip #9 – How To Add A Page

This week we are discussing for our WordPress Wednesday #9 Tip is How To Add A Page. This is critical as sites tend to grow and change you need to know how to add new pages when necessary. Let's get started! WordPress Wednesday Tip #9 - How To Add A ...

How to Stop Ghost Spam from Haunting Your Analytics

Halloween may have been yesterday, but ghosts are still hanging around. What in the world are we talking about? Ghost spam, of course! In case you've never heard of it, ghost spam is a type of referral traffic that shows up in your Google Analytics as a visit to your ...

WordPress Wednesday #8 - Using Screen Options

WordPress Wednesday Tip #8 – Using Screen Options

This week is a real treat (no tricks here!)! Ever wonder what "Screen Options" did? You may have never even noticed this little WordPress feature, but we assure you that you will love learning about it. Let's get started with today's #WordPressWednesday Tip #8 - Using Screen Options! WordPress Wednesday ...

5 Totally Doable Ways to Improve Your SEO Today

Whew! These past few weeks have sure been a whirlwind for us at RDD! New projects, valuable care plans, and a full day at the first ever Wordcamp Pittsburgh! The day's hottest topic? Search Engine Optimization! You know, that magical way websites show up in internet searches? Well friends, we ...

WordPress Wednesday #7 – How To Edit A Page

Hi and we are back with #WordPressWednesday! This week we will walk you through How To Edit A Page in WordPress. This week's post is great for any newbie to WordPress! It is important to keep your content updated and to do that you need to edit the pages on ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip #6 – Managing Comments

This week's WordPress Wednesday Tip #6 -Managing Comments provides a quick overview of your "Discussion Settings" and how to (you guessed it) manage your site's comments. If you are a WordPress newbie you may be thinking, "You said this post was about managing comments. What does Discussion Settings have to ...

3 Common Social Media Struggles Business Owners Face: Solved

As an entrepreneur, you wear a lot of hats. In any given day, you find yourself playing the roles of service provider, accountant, executive, sales manager, and so much more. You're probably also finding yourself in the roles of marketing director and social media manager. But, like most business owners, you likely don’t have time ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip #5 – How to Edit Permalinks

Before we jump into this week's WordPress Wednesday Tip #5 - How To Edit Permalinks let's recap. If you've been following along our series you should be able to... schedule posts add links in any post or page insert a picture into a post or page add featured images That leads ...

WordPress Wednesday #4 How to Add featured Image

WordPress Wednesday Tip #4 – How to Add Featured Images

Great job keeping up with our #WordPressWednesday tips! Today we will be discussing Featured Images. Why are featured images important? Think of these images as the book cover of your post or page. It can show the tone/ mood or what the post or page is about. It also provides ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip #3 – How to Schedule Posts

Now that you are into your WordPress dashboard and following along with our #WordPressWednesday tips let's talk about a very helpful tool that WordPress provides... Post Scheduling. [Insert cheers and confetti here] We just love this feature. Researching, writing, editing, proofing and then posting is a lot of work when ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip #2

This week in our #WordPressWednesday Tip #2 we are discussing adding hyperlinks to your posts or pages. Here's the scenario: you have worked up a great blog post and have it ready to publish. You realize that the article you mentioned in the third paragraph should be linked to the ...

Handling a Negative Online Review Like a Champ

As business owners, we pride ourselves on the quality of our products, services, and, well . . . everything. We pour our hearts and souls into our companies, devote countless hours perfecting our craft, and spend many sleepless nights building a great brand. So when an unhappy customer writes a negative online review about ...

WordPress Wednesday Tip #1

This week we kick off our #WordPressWednesday Tips. These are weekly tips on everything and anything related to WordPress. If you would like to receive these tips directly to your inbox sign up here: http://eepurl.com/cajoKX. This Week's #WordPressWednesday tip is: How to insert a picture into a post or page Log into ...

{UPDATED} 20 Places to Find Stunning Free Stock Photos

Are you tired of spending your hard earned money on stock images so cheesy you start craving nachos just thinking of them? You know the ones - those pictures with the plastic-looking people wearing business suits and fake, toothy smiles? Then you're definitely in for a treat! We’ve curated a list of 17 of our favorite ...

5 Tips to BOOST your TWITTER Following

This article, "5 tips to boost your Twitter following" is a follow up from our previous post, "5 Tips to BOOST your FACEBOOK Following". Getting started with Twitter can seem like an overwhelming task. Lately we've heard, "I can only use 140 characters?" and "I have to use the pound sign?" [Yes! Those ...

10 Easy Ways to Come Up with Blog Topics

The white expanse of the blank page stretches before you like a lonely tundra. The cursor winks at you as if it knows exactly what you’re thinking. “What in the world should I blog about?" We've all been there - the dreaded writer's block - but we're here to ...

WP Elevation Digital Business Consultant

Jennifer Sakowski, Founder and Chief Creative Officer has recently completed her certification to become a "WP Elevation Digital Business Consultant" by WP Elevation. "WP Elevation is a global business mastermind group for WordPress consultants that helps its members better serve their clients through communication, development workflow and project management best practices." ...

5 Tips to BOOST your FACEBOOK Following

Come on! Everyone is doing it! There is nothing to be scared of. Don't be nervous... What is it? Facebook! It is time for you to grow your business' following. Facebook is HUGE and there is no reason for your business not to be active on it. Don't believe me? Here ...

Current Changes

Have you noticed some changes around rddold.wpengine.com? We'd like to let you in on some inner office news. The current changes include: We've expanded... Officially in June of 2015, Theresa Wray joined the RDD team as our very own Content Manager. Her background in Mental Health and Family Therapy combined ...

Facebook Tip :: Adding A Call-To-Action Button

Facebook has been working on adding new tools for business page owners and here is one that can help drive traffic to your site! How To Add A Call-To-Action Button to your Facebook Page: 1. Log into Facebook and navigate to your Facebook Page 2. Click on "Create Call to ...

How Facebook's Latest Changes Are Affecting Your Business

Facebook is at it again! They've rolled out a lot of changes at the start of this year. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked, "So the news feed changes... I'm going to have to pay to promote my business??". The truth is... not necessarily! Yes, your ...

New Year New Focus

Hello to 2015! If you are like me you just love a fresh start! And hello to New Year's Resolutions Goals! We are smack dab in the middle of the first full work week after the holiday. Have you took inventory over your business strategy? Specifically your marketing strategy? Marketing ...

Client Meeting and Blog Mobility

Last Month was a real treat! I spent most of the day with a client, Kristen of Contempo Artistries. Contempo is a fabulous salon located in Greensburg, PA. "As a fashion forward and evolving salon since 2007, it is [their] goal to bring you the cutting edge style of a high end ...

Social Media :: YOU CAN!

Last night I had the privilege to speak at the Women's Business Network, Inc.'s Leadership Training. The hot topic that I was asked to speak on was Social Media and how to be effective using it to grow a business' online presence. This is probably one of my favorite topics to present ...

Thursday Testimonial

Today's testimonial brought to you from a local hair salon owner: "Just got back from a salon business owner's seminar and WOW. It was awesome. Really motivating. But wanted to let you know a girl from LA spoke about social media promotion and marketing your business and everything you taught me ...

FAQ’s Answered!

Each week we get flooded with questions about Social Media, WordPress, Email Marketing, and Design. We LOVE talking about all things in the online marketing world but have no way to track, share and respond to all those fabulous questions. Each week we will pull from the submitted questions and answer ...

Is your password really safe?

Lately there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the The Heartbleed bug and which networks were affected. That has caused questions to arise, "is my password really safe". The first thing Raney Day Design would recommend is to read this article. Then this one. Next as Mashable.com mentioned, "Although changing ...

How To: Schedule Messages using HootSuite

It's no lie, we need help too sometimes. We understand how working 'in' your business gets in the way of working 'on' your business. Especially when it comes to marketing your business online. As in posting messages to your social networks. Remember when we mentioned some of our favorite small ...

Creating Lists in Twitter

Now that you are using Twitter, ever feel overwhelmed with keeping up on your news feed? Struggle to stay active with certain Twitter friends? Try sorting who you follow into lists! Here's how... Log into your Twitter account Click on 'Me' Click 'Lists' on the left Here you can manage/ ...

Making the Switch

Since we opened our doors we have been faithfully using Freshbooks to keep us on top of our invoicing and working with clients. The time has come for us to take a huge switch. I feel as though we are 'becoming' a grown up since majority of other established organizations ...

How to Utilize Facebook

I have Facebook for my business, but how do I best utilize it? Don’t worry! We’re here to give pointers on how to best use your Facebook page for your business! Have regular posting day where you make general announcements; like when a new product is coming out, business events, ...

LinkedIn Recap

Last Saturday concluded our "The Basics for Your Business" series and wrapped up with LinkedIn. Thank you for those that attended. It is exciting to see your new or updated profiles! For those of you who where unable to make it, here are some of the major points: LinkedIn is ...

{Repost} "25 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter"

Wow! Who knew that a social media website (that was meant for pleasure), can also be used to gather knowledge? I didn’t! Next time you log in to Twitter, think of something you’re not an expert on, and look it up. You might find out something amazing! Mashable posted a ...

BEFORE You Hire a Web Designer

Are you ready to re-design your website? Have you been searching for a web designer and are ready to contact them? Congratulations! BUT, before you do let's look at 10 things you should know and do BEFORE you contact then! 1. WHY? As a business owner, your website IS an ...