Cookies can fall into several categories:

• Essential: these are required for the website to work properly
• Functional: these keep track of preferences, like whether you want to stay logged in to a subscription site
• Targeting/ Tracking: these include advertising, analytics, and social media features

GDPR regulations require you to notify visitors that your website uses cookies. The good news is that this can be done quite easily! In this demo, we’re going to show you how to install and configure the WordPress plugin – Cookie Notice for GDPR – as this has one of the easiest setups we’ve seen (there are many other free or paid plugins for you to choose from as well).

Here is an example of a cookie notification banner:

Adding a cookie consent banner in WordPress is a breeze. To begin, simply go to the plugins section from the dashboard, then click the “add new” button.

In the plugins search field, search for cookie notification banner. In our case, we have already chosen a free plugin called, Cookie Notice for GDPR, so we’ll just search for that:

Pro tip: when you search for plugins, it is important to note the number of active installations and reviews, as well as the compatibility with your version of WordPress. Ideally, you want to find a plugin that has a large number of installations and overwhelmingly positive reviews, as well as active support from the developer so that you have the reassurance of a current, well-coded plugin with lots of satisfied users.

Once you’ve found your plugin of choice, click “Install Now” and then “Activate.”

Now that you’ve got your plugin, all you have to do is go in and customize the settings according to your preferences. This free version has a number of customizable options such as:

• cookie notification message
• button text
• choice to link to Privacy Policy
• cookie expiry
• placement of bar in header or footer
• text and bar color

You can personalize the notification message and button text, and configure other settings like the placement of the bar, and its color. When you’re done configuring things, click “Save” and then pop over to your website to admire your new cookie notification banner! Now visitors will know that you mean business and you’ll be part of the growing number of sites that have taken steps to have this important GDPR compliant measure in place.

Need help installing a cookie notification banner? Contact Us.

The post How to Install and Configure a Website Cookie Consent Banner in WordPress appeared first on Content Strategy Online.

Get Noticed: Add an Emoticon To Your Email Subject

If you engage in email marketing (which you definitely should!) then you probably wonder how to ensure that your message is seen amid the stream of emails that most of us receive each day. In addition to crafting a great subject line, adding an emoticon to your email subject can really help your email to stand out!

The method below works for the more common email clients like Gmail, Apple Mail, and Outlook (it may not work for older clients, like AOL – if you want more information, this article from Campaign Monitor goes through the results of their tests of various email clients.)

To grab an emoticon, go to http://graphemica.com/, click on the emoticon you want (to enlarge it), and copy it using Right-click and Copy. Then paste the emoticon into your email subject where you want it to appear! Common spots include the start and end of the subject line but you can technically place it anywhere in that area.

If you use an email service like MailChimp, they have incorporated this feature into the email builder to make it very simple.

Remember to test how this renders by sending yourself a few preview copies of your email message, then view them on multiple devices so you can test for as many possible scenarios as possible.

Have fun!

The post Get Noticed: Add an Emoticon to Your Email Subject appeared first on Content Strategy Online.

Enter the Eisenhower Decision Matrix.

As the name suggests, this simple yet amazingly helpful tool was created by the US’s 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

You can imagine how many important tasks came across his desk everyday. So he created his own tool to manage them.

The matrix consists of 4 boxes:

1 – Important / Urgent
2 – Important / Not urgent
3 – Not important / Urgent
4 – Not important / Not urgent

To use the matrix, simply categorize every task you have into one of these 4 boxes. You may choose to do this at the start of the day, or as a way to finish your workday by planning for the following one.

Once you have categorized your To Do’s, then you:

Do the important and urgent stuff now
Schedule the important non-urgent work
Delegate the non-important urgent tasks
Discard the non-important and non-urgent work

Note: If you don’t have anyone to delegate to let us know – we can give you some tips on how to find affordable and specialized freelancers to delegate some of the urgent but not important tasks to.

That’s all there is to it! And boy does it work, especially if you make it a daily activity.

Not only does this make you start with the work that you really should do first (which isn’t always the stuff you want to do) but it also frees your mind. You don’t have to worry about keeping all the tasks in your head and planning your time because you have put it all down on paper, prioritizing as you go.

If you do this, you might be surprised at how much of a burden you were carrying. It feels good to release and to really zero in on what you need to do now for maximum impact.

Every day, update your matrix, work through the tasks, then begin again with each new day.

Here’s a link to download a template for the Eisenhower matrix. Hope you find this useful!

The post Eisenhower Decision Matrix appeared first on Content Strategy Online.

Who needs a privacy policy?

Consider whether your website uses any of the following:

• website traffic analytics like Google Analytics
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) service like Salesforce
• ecommerce payment processing
• email marketing sign up forms
• social media share buttons

These are just a few examples where data is being shared with a third party and you are required to notify visitors of this in your privacy policy.

Your privacy policy says a lot about you and your business.

While it could be tempting to simply copy and paste a privacy policy from another website, doing so would be a superficial solution. You may also be selling yourself short because, like any other page on your website, the contents of your privacy policy communicate important information about your brand and your mission. Taking the time to create a professional looking privacy policy demonstrates that you value your website visitors – it also presents an opportunity to review current operating procedures and even fine tune, as necessary. Presenting the details in simple, easy to follow language conveys the message that you are upfront about your data collection process and have nothing to hide.

Need help creating your privacy policy? Let us know!

If you’re ready to create or update your privacy policy, download our Privacy Policy Checklist to make sure you’ve got it all covered.

Click here to see the whole privacy policy checklist

The post GDPR Privacy Policy Checklist appeared first on Content Strategy Online.

In broad terms, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is additional security for your website and its visitors. An SSL Certificate creates an encrypted link between the web server and a browser. This connection safeguards the data passing between them, keeping it private and secure from malicious attempts to eavesdrop, alter data, or impersonate your website. Although it is not listed as a GDPR requirement, an SSL certificate provides an additional layer of security for your website and is highly encouraged.

A quick way to check whether or not you have an SSL Certificate installed already, is to look at your website url. If it begins with “https” then you are all set, but if it is “http” you should keep reading.

Why you need an SSL Certificate
Here are just a few reasons why you should consider an SSL Certificate for your website:

– Data Privacy: an SSL certificate adds privacy protections for you and your website visitors through data encryption.

– Secure Payments: If your website has ecommerce features, an SSL Certificate is a critically important component in preventing data breaches and safely processing online payments.

– Google Organic Search Ranking: The industry standard is moving toward the eventuality that all sites will need SSL certificates or they will be flagged as “Not Secure” by Google. Websites without SSL Certificates can be marked down in SEO ranking.

– Brand Trust: When an SSL certificate is installed, most browsers display a note letting visitors know that the site is secure.

For example, in Chrome there is a green lock icon next to the word, Secure.

If you do not have an SSL Certificate, there may be times when potential visitors are scared off by a warning message informing them that your website is “not secure” or “the connection is not private.” This type of message can occur when they first arrive at the website or when they are filing in a form or payment field.

How to Get an SSL Certificate

By now you should have a good understanding of the benefits of installing an SSL certificate for your website. So, where to start? Most hosting companies offer SSL Certificates as add-ons to your plan and often offer installation assistance.

There are several different types to choose from and the right option will depend on your website set up.

It is also possible to purchase an SSL certificate from a third party vendor, but you will need some technical know-how to ensure it meets your site’s requirements, is compatible with your business’ needs, and is properly installed.

Need an SSL Certificate for your website? We can help!

The post How (and why) to get an SSL Certificate appeared first on Content Strategy Online.

Google Analytics is a free website tracking service that reports website traffic, conversions, user behavior, and more. It shows you how much traffic your website receives, which is especially relevant if you use your website to generate revenue. It can also show you the source of your traffic so you can determine if your visitors may have come from a recent interview that you did, a blog post on another site, a tweet, etc. You can also use it to look at how your visitors interact with your website once they’ve visited. If you’re at all interested in how your website is performing, then  installing Google Analytics (GA) makes excellent sense.

Installing GA involves placing some tracking code on your website. Here’s the link to sign up for your own free account from Google.

Once you’re signed up and logged in, follow the prompts to set up your GA account.

Once you have filled out all of the required information, click on the “Get Tracking ID” button. You will be taken to a screen showing you a piece of code (called a “snippet”) that you will need to copy. The code will look like this, but the obscured part will contain your Google Analytics account number instead:

Once you’ve copied the entire code snippet, send it to your website administrator to add to your website.

It usually takes 12-24 hours for traffic data to start showing up in GA. To start viewing reports, login to your GA account and go to “Reporting” in the main menu to see your data!

The post Setting up Google Analytics on your Website appeared first on Content Strategy Online.

Simply put, a “Lead Magnet” is a small yet valuable item that you offer to your website visitors for free in exchange for their email address. It is one of the most effective forms of lead generation because it offers something desirable that generally delivers a positive outcome for the recipient.

The exchange often involves information and the benefits to this are twofold – 1) freely offered, quality information helps to convert more visitors into prospects and 2) being the source of this information helps to position you as an expert in your field.

When someone gives you their email address, they have decided to trust you to a small degree. And because trust is an important component of any effort to convert a subscriber to a customer, the earlier you start the process of building trust, the better.

Lead magnets can take many forms – here are some of the more popular ones:

• Mini eBooks
• Mini Course
• Free Trial
• Cheat Sheet/Checklist
• Guide
• Survey/Quiz
• Toolkit

There isn’t a “one size fits all” answer to which type of lead magnet you should create – that really depends on your audience and what you could offer that would be valuable to them. However, to help you with the lead magnet planning process, we’ve created our own checklist

You can use this checklist to make sure that your idea for capturing more email leads fulfills the basic requirements of a good and effective lead magnet. If you manage to check all the boxes, your idea is probably worth pursuing!

If you need help creating your own lead magnet or if you have questions about additional email list building strategies, please feel free to reach out – we’d love to help!

The post Lead Magnets: 6 Key Elements Every Lead Magnet Should Have appeared first on Content Strategy Online.

Are you looking for free stock images for a website or blog? Sites like Istock, Shutterstock, or Getty Images have some really great content but if you need a lot of images for your site or other publications it can get costly, quick.

It’s also important to ensure that the images you’re using on your site are royalty-free and not bound by copyright. Copyright law is complex. Different states and countries have their own copyright laws and some allow the image owner to file suit if they find you using an image without sufficient permission. In other words, it’s not ok to just grab an image from Google Images and call it a day.

Luckily, there are some great resources online that offer images that are in the public domain meaning that they aren’t subject to copyright or royalties and are free to use for personal or even commercial purposes.

The sites listed below collectively have tens of thousands of free stock images so you can use them with the peace of mind that you are not breaking any copyright law, anywhere in the world. What’s more, the image quality is usually very high, making them perfect for digital, and in many cases, print publications.

Here are some of our favorite free image resource sites:

Pixabay

Unsplash

Gratisography

PicJumbo

Little Visuals

Picography

Jay Mantri

Public Domain Archive

And if you can’t find what you’re looking for on the sites above, here are some more that we turn to on occasion:

Reshot

StockVault

Stockphotosforfree

Freeimages

Publicdomainarchive

Picjumbo

Magdeleine

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