So, why do you? Is it because someone told you that you SHOULD have one? Is your website basically a glorified brochure? More importantly, what do your visitors do after they get to your website? What are your website goals?

If I had a dollar for every time someone couldn’t answer the questions above I’d be a pretty rich man.

(Image Credit: James Vaughan)

Don’t Be Presumptuous

When you’ve decided to put out the cash to either have a website built for you or to learn how to build a website from scratch yourself, shouldn’t it have a way of recovering those costs? This is where website goals become critical.

Most of the traffic that is coming to your site is very often “cold traffic”. Meaning that they probably have never heard of you. They still have not built up enough trust in you to pay you for your products or services.

A “Buy Now” button is probably not the thing people want to see when they first visit your site. That’s kind of like heading for third base within the first five minutes of your blind date. Rarely does it work and when it does, you usually regret it in the morning.

Be Approachable

Dan Andrews over at The Lifestyle Business Podcast says there is no better way to build trust with your potential customers than putting your phone number on your site (paraphrased). I’ve got mine on my contact page.

However, a lot of the people that reach out to me do so through my contact page via my email address that is listed there. With that said, I get contacted the most through my contact form. Why? Most likely because it is the path of least resistance. Do what works for you.

Give Before You Get

What if your visitors aren’t ready to even head to second base? Perhaps you need to buy them dinner first? Perhaps you need to give them something for free. They’ll give you their email address and then they can learn more about what you’re about.

Often this is referred to as a lead magnet. This can be a free ebook, a sample audio track or even a video. You’ll see an example of that here. I offer a free downloadable guide book with 10 essentials that you should know about building an internet presence.

You’ll see opt-in forms in various places on my site so that new visitors have plenty of opportunity to get my free guide. Derek Halpern at Social Triggers has done some impressive site analysis videos of some pretty popular sites. In theses videos he discusses how to optimize your site for these types of interactions.

One of the best improvements you can make to your site is adding a chance for your visitors to opt-in after each of your articles. Hopefully they liked the article they have just read and you’ll leave them wanting more.

This was the reason that I had the After Post Content Box plugin for WordPress created. The plugin makes it easy for you to add a sign up form to your single post pages.

After the visitors to your site start receiving your articles on a regular basis you will start building trust. They’ll be able to see what you’re all about which may lead them to want to buy your products or hire you for your services. They may refer their friends to you. You’ll also have a chance to let them know of your new products.

Define Your Website Goals

I’m not going to claim to be a conversion expert. It doesn’t take a conversion expert to understand that you need to have clearly defined website goals. Otherwise you’re just wasting your time, money or both.

Every website is slightly different and different websites require different strategies. Recently, Peep Laja (who happens to be a conversion expert) of ConversionXL completed a multi-part review of several websites. He looked at numerous sites and analyzed what worked and what didn’t.

Ultimately you want to make sure it’s easy for someone to give you their money. You do have a product or service to sell someone, don’t you?

I’ve been on sites where I had my credit card out and I was ready to pay but I clicked away because the whole process was frustrating or complicated. There’s always a competitor that makes it easier. Do it right in the beginning or be the competitor.

In the end, you want to have a clear path for your site’s visitors. There is no reason to have a website because you SHOULD have one. You website also needs to be more than a glorified brochure. When was the last time you gave a pretty picture money? Set some website goals and make sure your website is capable of living up to them.

What do you think are your most important website goals?

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on Why Do You Even Have A Website? at MatthewHooper.com!

Christmas is approaching quickly! I thought that it would be fitting to come up with a list some great Christmas gift ideas that you could give the internet presence builder in your life. You could also give them to yourself with some of that Christmas cash you will find in your Christmas stocking on the 25th. The items on this list are all items that I use very often in doing what I do. These are all items that I have personal experience with and I would have been very happy to receive as gifts at Christmas or any other time of the year.

(Image Credit: James Vaughan)

MacBook Air

Christmas gifts like this will win you huge points. The problem is that it’s a little pricey so you should make sure the receiver is worthy! I know. You’re probably thinking what kind of list starts off with such an expensive item. Usually on these types of gift lists the most expensive item is listed last. However, for me, I have found that my MacBook Air is the best purchase I made all year. It’s thin, it’s light and most of all, it’s fast. I went with the 13″ version but the 11″ model is even smaller, thinner and lighter! Since this is my new daily driver, I decided to go with a bigger screen. I am pretty sure that anybody won’t be disappointed to get a MacBook Air under the tree this year!

iPhone

Here we are at the second item on the list and it’s not much cheaper than the first. Trust me, they get cheaper but this is another item that I use constantly. I can’t even remember what life was like before I had an iPhone! I’m still using an iPhone 3Gs because we have been moving around a lot and I don’t want to get into a contract but it’s getting a little long-in-the-tooth. I bought my iPhone while living in Taiwan and fortunately it’s unlocked. It can get a little costly to buy an iPhone unlocked but it is great to be able to swap out SIM cards while in different countries. You can’t go wrong with an iPhone.

LaCie Network Space 2

Residing inside of a MacBook Air is a limited amount of storage space because Airs use a solid state drive (SSD). SSDs have no moving parts and this makes them faster and lighter but large SSD drives are very expensive. This is why I wanted a larger network attached storage (NAS) drive. The version of the LaCie Network Space 2 drive that I have is 2TB. This drive can be plugged into an open port on a wireless router. This means that it doesn’t need to be plugged into a computer but it can be accessed over a wifi network. Additionally, I already had a 1.5TB Western Digital USB drive. It’s plugged into the extra USB port on the front of the LaCie drive. The LaCie drive can then backup to the WesternDigital drive. The extra USB port can also be used to plug a printer into so that you could print wirelessly from networked computers. On top of all of that, the drive has a built in bittorrent client. The downloads will continue even if all of the computers in the house are shut off. The LaCie Network Space 2 is an inexpensive solution for someone looking to detach themselves from their external drives.

Dropbox

It is important to access data on the go and online data storage is fantastic. Dropbox is like the NAS above but the drive doesn’t reside in your possession. The data is actually stored in the “cloud”. Meaning that you have access to the data from any place on the planet that has internet access. I use Dropbox to sync data between my Mac, iPhone and iPad. I also use it to share data with clients, family or friends regardless of if they are on a Mac or Windows computer. I also use Dropbox as part of the website backup system for a lot of my sites. You start off with 2GB of storage and if you need more then you can pay for additional space. Check out this Dropbox video to learn more.

Logitech Headset

Small, low quality microphones built into computers usually sound terrible. When I work with people online I use tools like Skype, GoToMeeting or GoToAssist. These tools are great but audio quality becomes very important. Most computers have built in microphones but the way to get clear audio is by using a headset microphone. These headsets will help your gift recipient to have better audio when creating these recordings or taking part in Skype calls. I prefer Logitech Headsets since they have always worked the best for me. I also recommend getting one with a USB connection since all that needs to be done is plug the headset in and it works. I use the Logitech USB Headset H530.

ScreenFlow

Technology has got to the point where creating great looking screencasts is actually easy to do. One of the best tools out there for doing this is ScreenFlow. This application gives you, or the receiver of your gift, the ability to record their screens. There are some basic editing tools built in and the ability to add some simple callouts. I also find it useful to record the screens of the people I work with so that they have something to refer back to after our sessions are finished. Sometimes I even use ScreenFlow to do simple editing of video files that are not even screen recordings. There are other similar tools out there but Screenflow is the one that I prefer.

Dreamhost

Most online presences are built on top of a website. In order to build a website you need to have a place to store your files. If you take a minute to look around these days, you are going to see countless web hosting companies online. The question is which one of these web hosts should you choose for yourself or as a gift for someone else. I have been using Dreamhost since 2006, after going through a few others. Dreamhost offers a bunch of extra tools, like one-click installs of WordPress, which are useful for building an internet presence. Take a look into Dreamhost.

Headway Themes

A WordPress website isn’t truly ready for primetime until it has received a new coat of paint. Headway Themes is one of the most flexible themes out there today. It incorporates a very easy to use visual editor that makes it easy for people that do not have programming experience. If the person that you’re buying a Christmas gift for has already started to build their internet presence and they have been using WordPress, a theme like Headway will be greatly appreciated.

Moo Cards

Something that most people exchange all the time are business cards. Even if business cards are becoming less and less necessary in the online world, a nice looking business card says a lot about the person handing it over. I really like the quality of Moo Cards and the Moo MiniCards are a bit more unique than the piles of generic business cards that are handed out every day. Moo has a bunch of different styles of cards, stickers and cases to hold them and Moo Cards are well worth looking into.

Merry Christmas!

So, why 9? I’ll give you one clue. C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S! Enjoy the holiday season!

How has your Christmas preparations been going? If your not celebrating Christmas this season what are you doing instead?

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on 9 Great Christmas Gift Ideas for Building an Internet Presence at MatthewHooper.com!

When a lot of small businesses or organizations start out looking for a website, very often they end up with a custom coded static website. The limitations of a static website soon present themselves and then small businesses or organizations look for other options.

One of the limitations of a static website is that when you, as the website owner, want to make any changes to the website, you have to go out and hire a programmer to do just that. Meaning that if your phone number changes, you’re looking at a fee to make those minor changes on your website. If you haven’t already got a WordPress website, you might be wondering how to move from a static HTML website to WordPress.

Before we begin, note that the process below applies to websites that are static HTML sites and not for those moving from a different CMS (like Blogger, TypePad, Drupal, Joomla, etc.) to WordPress. If your site is a collection of .html or .htm documents, then the following will apply to you.

(Image Credit: Alden Jewell)

A Static Site to WordPress Overview

There are a few stages of this process. Before you get stated, below is a complete overview of the entire process. As you can see, the process isn’t really that complicated and it should be something that someone with basic technology skills could do on their own. That said, don’t be scared to look for help

Just remember to take your time and work through everything systematically.

WordPress Compatibility

Most web hosts (that are worth using) will have some type of automatic WordPress installation process. Later when you go to install WordPress, this should only take you a few minutes to complete.

By some chance your web host does not have an auto installer for you, you might want to look into a more capable web host. From what I have seen, if your web host does not have an auto installer then that is a good indication that they are not capable of running WordPress.

WordPress requires certain server technologies in order to run. If your web host doesn’t have those capabilities then you won’t even be able to install WordPress on your own.

Some web hosts are capable of running WordPress but they won’t install it for you. This means that you will be able to install it on your own but it is a more involved process. If you’re doing this for the first them then you are better off with a host that will install WordPress for you.

You Need a Map, GPS Won’t Work

The first thing that you are going to need to do is create site map of your existing website. Make notes and take screenshots of every page on your site and how they are linked together.

You want to make sure that all of the original web addresses are recorded exactly like they are on your existing website. This is so that you can reconstruct your entire website within WordPress when you are ready to do so. Note the entire URL string, for example, http://www.YourDomain.com/PageName/SubPageName. The URL structure is important to ensure that all of the current links coming into your site stay active. Any changes or deletions that you make probably will effect your traffic and your search rankings.

Take notes on the sidebars (if you have any) and any of the content in them. Do you have social sharing buttons, email opt-in forms, product descriptions or links, etc.? All of this should be noted. Again, screenshots are probably the most effective way of doing this.

Calling in a Sub

Create a temporary subdomain so that you can have a temporary location for your website so that it won’t be completely offline during your WordPress migration. A subdomain is basically a domain within a domain. This could be something like http://SubDomain.YourDomain.com/.

This can usually be done from within your web host control panel. Take a look through your control panel and if you can’t figure out how to do it on your own, contact your web host’s support staff and they will probably be able to help you add the subdomain.

For example, create a new subdomain called “old” that you will delete after your move to WordPress is over. This will give you a domain like this http://old.YourDomain.com/. It’s a little ugly but it’s only temporary.

Moving Day

You are going to have to move your existing site to a temporary location if you want to keep it in working order until the new site is up and running. One thing that is good about older style HTML sites is that they can easily be moved. However, make sure that you create a complete backup of your existing site before you begin.

Backing up a static HTML site is simple. Launch your favourite FTP application and download all of the files from your site to your computer. If something goes wrong, you have a copy to fall back on.

After you have backed up your site, use an FTP program to copy (not move) your existing website to the new subdomain. This means that there will be two copies of your site. One that you will find by going to http://www.YourDomain.com/ and one that you will find at http://old.YourDomain.com/. There is actually a third that you have backed up. You backed up, right?

The only problem that you may have when moving an existing site is interlinking between the existing pages. If your existing site is setup to link to existing pages using absolute paths then your are going to have to change your links. If they are using relative paths, you should be good.

A relative path means that a developer isn’t linking to existing pages using the full URL structure, so the link often looks like /page1.html/ instead of http://www.YourDomain.com/page1.html/. The latter URL structure is an absolute path.

If you understand HTML code, you should be able to open up your website’s pages in an HTML editor and look at the links. (You might need some help with this part if you don’t know your way around HTML code.) If they show the full URL then you are going to have to change those. Change these to a relative structure. This means that you should be able to delete the http://www.YourDomain.com/ part of the URL from all of your links.

After you have made all of the required changes, carefully go through all of your interlinked pages and ensure that all of your links have been changed. Be sure they are linking to the pages in your subdomain and not the pages in their original location. Pay attention to the address bar when clicking links.

Install WordPress

Before you install WordPress, go through your original website’s root directory and delete everything. Don’t worry, you still have a backup of your original site and a copy in the subdomain.

Note that after you delete your original website, your visitors will not know where to go until after WordPress has been installed. So do that immediately after you have deleted your original site.

Quickly log into your web host and install WordPress. This should only take a few minutes to complete. Do the initial setup and install a WordPress plugin called Maintenance Mode by Michael Wöhrer

After you have installed and activated the WordPress Maintenance Mode plugin, you will need to also activate it in the plugin’s settings. The Maintenance Mode plugin will create a landing page on your website that all your visitors will see. You will also be able to include a countdown to the launch of your new site if you wish.

All incoming links will be redirected to the landing page so they will not receive the dreaded 404 error. You will also be able to customize your landing pages with your own text. This gives you the opportunity to add a link to the temporary site location and a message explaining that you will soon be launching a new and improved site.

You can use something like:

Welcome to Acme Widgets! We are currently in the process of building a brand new site for you to enjoy. However, it is going to take a bit of time to complete. In the mean time, you can still use our old site. Click here to view it.

As a logged in administrator, you will see the site as it will be seen by your visitors. This gives you the chance to work on the site without all of your visitors seeing the site in an unfinished state.

Go through and complete the setup of WordPress like you would for any other purpose. If this is the first time that you have setup WordPress, you might want to look into my online WordPress course.

You Can Rebuild It. You Have the Technology.

Now that you have setup and installed WordPress, it’s time to rebuild your original site. You might be able to find a WordPress theme that closely resembles your original site. There is also the option to hire a developer to build a theme that looks like your original site. I’d recommend using the new Headway 3.0 theme since you should be able to recreate your existing theme with the revamped visual editor. I love the Headway theme, it’s slick!

Take a look at those screenshots and your notes. Go into the widget manager and create your sidebars to look similar to what you had before. This is also your opportunity to add or remove any information that you have be dying to change in your sidebars.

Take your list of pages and go into the pages section of WordPress. Create a new page for every page that existed on your website previously. Give your pages nice descriptive titles and don’t worry about what the pages were called or what their URLs were before. Rebuild the content on every page as it was on the original site.

You will be able to go back-and-forth between your original site at your subdomain and copy-and-paste the text into the new pages. Upload images into WordPress using the WordPress media manager. Don’t link to the images in your subdomain since we are going to remove the subdomain later on.

Traffic Control

When you created your new pages, WordPress created new URLs for these pages. WordPress calls these permalinks. If you are happy with the WordPress URLs then leave them alone. If you want to modify them then go ahead and do that now. Don’t worry what your old URLs were on your original site.

Between the title input field and the content input filed in the page editor of WordPress you will see the permalink of the page. You can click the “edit” button next to the permalink if you need to change the URL to something more suitable. Make a note of all the URLs of the new pages.

With Simple 301 Redirects by Scott Nellé you can create a search engine friendly redirect called a 301 redirect. This means that all incoming links will be redirected to the new location and all the previous search engine weight will also be directed to the new location. Follow the example in the plugin’s settings and input your old URLs in the first input field and the new URLs in the second input field.

After you have gone through and added in all of your old page URLs to redirect to your new page URLs, you’re all set.

Bloggity Blog

Since your original website was a static website, you probably didn’t have a blog. Now is the opportunity to add one. This is a built in feature of WordPress so all you need to do is start adding your posts and you should be all set.

You’ll also need to add a link to your blog if you don’t want to have your blog on the home page of your site. Create a new page with the title “blog” without any other content on it. Publish that page and link to it in your navigation. Depending on your theme, most of the time it will create a page with your blog posts on it.

In the reading settings for WordPress, be sure to change the “Front page displays” options. Set the page that you want as your home page in the “Front page” drop down and set the blog page under “Posts page”.

It’s up to you whether or not you want to add a blog. I still find it odd how many people tell me that they don’t want a blog on their website when we first start working together. However, after they have learned about the benefits of content marketing, they decided that regularly publishing articles to their websites is a good strategy.

Break Out the Brooms

Your website should be well on its way to completion at this point. Turn off the maintenance mode plugin and log out of your WordPress dashboard. You should now be seeing your site as a non-logged in visitor.

Click through the whole site and make sure all of the links work and that the website is behaving as it should. Manually type in the old URLs from your original website into the address bar of your browser. Make sure that they all redirect to the new pages on your WordPress website. If not, go back and double check the settings for the Simple 301 Redirect plugin.

After you have decided that your website is in working order, you can delete your old temporary site. You can use an FTP program to delete all of the files in the subdomain first but deleting the subdomain from your web host control panel should also delete every trace of the subdomain.

Finito!

That’s it! You’re new WordPress website should be up and running now. The old site has been removed and all of the old URLs should redirect to the new URLs. The content from your old website should all be on your new website. You can start adding new content to your website and modifying existing content whenever your feel the need. Congratulations!

Have you ever had to move a static site to WordPress? How did it turn out?

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on The Definitive Guide to Moving a Static Site to WordPress at MatthewHooper.com!

It’s that time of year where the internet goes crazy with one-day sales. Unlike the Black Friday sales, you don’t need to get up early and stand in lines for hours. You also don’t need to worry about being trampled to death for a $2 waffle maker.

So you decided that 2012 is going to be the year where you finally get your WordPress website up and running? Well now’s your chance to get started! It’s time for the first ever Cyber Monday WordPress Course Sale!

For today only, save $40 on your purchase of either the Deluxe Package or the Basic Package of The WordPress Course!

Use the coupon code cybermonday before midnight pacific time on Monday November 28th, 2011.

Visit TheWordPressCourse.com and enter the coupon code during checkout.

(Image Credit: Elliott Brown)

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on Cyber Monday WordPress Course Sale! at MatthewHooper.com!

As much as I have talked about the importance of backing up in the past, it’s a little odd that I have yet to talk about the importance of backing up your WordPress website. Backing up your website is probably the most important thing that you can do immediately after you have finished setting up your website. This means that if you haven’t put a backup plan in place, you’re at risk of losing it all.

The WordPress Backup System

The key to backing up is to ensure that you have a proper backup system in place. Every good system should meet the following criteria:

A backup system should be automated in order to ensure that you don’t forget to create a backup. It should be redundant so that you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket. Finally, it should also be secure so that you don’t need to worry about if the system is vulnerable.

Long ago I wrote about how to backup your home computers and in that article I discussed the importance have having your data stored in three locations. For our WordPress backup system we are going to also ensure that our website data is stored in three locations.

The first location is on your web server where the website currently lives. The second location is on your home computer where you know it’s safe. The final location is Dropbox since this gives us a redundant location to keep our data safe and secure.

The workflow will go as follows, WordPress creates a backup on your server (more on this below), the backup is sent to Dropbox and finally Dropbox syncs the backup to your computer. The best part is that this is a set it and forget it system.

Setup Your System

The first thing that you will need to do is make sure you have a Dropbox account. If you don’t already have one, it’s quick, easy and free to setup. When you first signup, you’ll start out with 2 GB of online storage which is more than enough to do what we are going to do here.

Dropbox is a fantastic service that let’s you store files online and sync them back to your computers so that you have access to them from the web, your personal computers and your mobile devices.

After your Dropbox account is setup, you’re going to want to make sure that you have also installed the Dropbox software on at least one of your computers so that you can sync all of the data from Dropbox to it.

The next thing you are going to do is install the BackWPup plugin on your WordPress website. The video below is taken directly from my WordPress Course and it walks you through the entire process of setting up the BackWPup plugin. As a little aded bonus, the video also briefly covers how to update your WordPress website. Something that is just as important as backing up.

Then What

After the initial setup is complete, your WordPress backup system will run in the background. It will ensure that if your server ever gets corrupted that you still have copies of your website. By scheduling your backups, you will never have to worry about whether or not you remembered to backup your site. If anything ever goes wrong, all you need to do is restore one of your backups.

Myself, I usually schedule complete backups once a month and database backups weekly. Since the database backups are usually pretty small I get them emailed to me. I use Gmail so I just archive these backups and I know they will be there if I ever need them.

One last note: If you are planning on doing any major modifications to your site or if you are going to move to a new theme for your website, then make sure you run a complete backup first. That way if something goes bad, you have a bit of a safety net.

Do you have a backup plan? Have you ever had to restore data from a backup? Leave a comment and tell your story.

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on WordPress Backup: Do it Today or Lose it Forever at MatthewHooper.com!

The great thing about WordPress is the massive amount of themes available today. WordPress themes can usually run anywhere from free to around a hundred dollars for a premium theme. Let’s say that one of the themes that are currently available on the market today doesn’t suit your needs, you can always get one custom built. The problem with this is that this usually costs a pretty penny. Fortunately, there is a better solution.

What is Headway?

In between custom built themes and premium themes is something known as a framework. These frameworks allow you to quickly update and modify the look and layout of a theme but the mechanics behind the theme are already in place. A framework provides you with a lot of flexibility at a cost very close to that of a premium theme.

Headway falls into the framework classification. By using the Headway Themes framework you are able to create custom looking sites without having to go in and edit the code. You can modify the layout, change the colours and backgrounds all from an easy-to-use visual editor. However, if you are familiar with CSS, you can add some custom CSS to your layouts. If you don’t even know what CSS is, you’ll still get by just fine. Headway isn’t the only WordPress theme framework out there but, in my opinion, it is one of the best.

The video below is a sneak peak at the upcoming release of Headway 3.0 and it’s also what solidified my move to Headway. After you watch the video you’ll get a better idea of what Headway is and how it can speed up the creation of your next site.

Why I’m Switching to Headway

It doesn’t matter whether I am building a site for myself or building a site for someone else, I don’t want to have to spend too long on the layout or waste time reinventing the wheel every time I put something together. In order to save time and to keep the budget low, I usually started out with some type of premium theme and massaged it to suit either my needs or the needs of the party that I was building the site for.

Headway Themes gives me the flexibility I need to put together a website that has a custom look and feel without having to design a theme from scratch. It’s as if the foundation and building walls are already in place and all I need to do is add the paint and partition walls to divide up the rooms.

I have a developer license that allows me to put Headway on any WordPress website I build as part of the services I provide. This provides me with the ability to deliver faster turn-around times while still providing a customized look. I’ll eventually rebuild MatthewHooper.com in Headway when I have time.

I have been looking at moving to a theme framework for a couple of months now. In the end I settled on Headway Themes because it has a sold list of features and it provides the most layout variations of any framework I’ve seen.

Why You Should Switch to Headway

If you watched the video above and you’re not absolutely blown away by the ease of creating a new website then there isn’t much I can do to convince you. I understand that Headway isn’t the best solution for everybody since it isn’t a true turn-key solution. A beginner may still prefer to look at a premium theme that simply needs to be installed. However, if you want to build a website or even multiple websites that have a unique look and feel, then Headway Themes is probably one of the best bets out there today. 

You can also add your own custom CSS to create something even better. Knowing CSS gives you another tool in your tool belt but you don’t need to know any code if you want to start using it today.

Headway 3.0 Release

As of writing, Headway 3.0 is set to be released on the 25th of November. The great thing is that all current Headway Themes license holders get unlimited updates for life. After the release of Headway 3.0, licensing will require an anual renewal fee plus the cost of a developer license will increase. A Headway Themes personal license will only set you back $87 and you’ll be able to put it on two different sites. The developer package is slightly less than double that price but you’ll be able to put it on as many sites as you choose. This is what I have. Get it before the 3.0 release and you’ll get all future updates without having to face an anual fee.

If you want to check out Headway Themes click this link to learn more.

Did you watch the video above? What do you think of the new Headway Themes 3.0 framework? Is this something that you think you will use? Have you tried it already?

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on Why I’m Switching to Headway Themes and Why You Should Too at MatthewHooper.com!

Over the last couple of weeks you may have seen a lot from me but just on other sites. In an effort to promote my new online WordPress course, I have been fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to write guest posts on some very interesting websites.

(Image Credit: Rudi Riet)

JosephArchibald.com

Joseph has been a great resource for myself and many others. He writes mostly about search engine optimization and how to rank websites in search engines. I first came across Joseph via his 40-day Google ranking challenge which he eventually turned into an excellent ebook: 40-Day Challenge

Joseph’s website attracts more of an intermediate audience with a lot of people that already know what they’re doing when it comes to building and ranking websites. From conversations with Joseph, I do know that he occasionally gets interest from people that are just starting out that ask him where to start.

The article I wrote for his site was on how to get started out on the right foot, even before you start trying to build links to your website in order to achieve better rankings.

The Skool of Life

Srini Rao is someone that has a very broad online presence. He has an excellent personal development site at The Skool of Life and he also has a very successful podcast about blogging at BlogcastFM. Above all else, he schedules his life around the tides which fuel his surfing addiction.

Since the audience at The Skool of Life is mostly interested in personal development, I wrote an article that encourages people to promote themselves as experts. After all, everyone is an expert at something.

Get Busy Living

Benny Hsu has created a pretty engaged audience over at his Get Busy Living site. Benny is a pretty interesting guy and we also have a shared Taiwan connection but I haven’t actually had the luxury of sharing a drink with Benny in person. Maybe one day.

In the mean time, I wrote an article for Benny’s site that plays on his site’s name and ideology. The article encourages people to just get busy instead of waiting around until the right time comes around.

Virtual Business Lifestyle

Chris Ducker’s website is a bit of a deviation from the sites above. The content on his site is all about working and running businesses virtually.

Due to the majority of the audience on Chris’s site being interested in businesses and utilizing outsourcing to grow them, I took a different approach to the article for his site. The piece that I wrote for the VBL crowd discusses the benefits of using existing online training programs in order to train virtual staff.

Your Turn

Go out and visit the sites that I’ve linked above. Read the articles and leave a comment on them. When you’ve finished, come back here (or to MatthewHooper.com if you’re reading this via email) and leave a comment to let me know which one you liked the best and why.

Oh, and if you haven’t done so yet, go and check out The WordPress Course!

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on Guest Post Roundup at MatthewHooper.com!

After many long hours and lots of blood, sweat and (mostly) tears, I am super excited to be able to finally announce that The WordPress Course is officially available! From the original product mind map to today, this course has taken nearly six months to complete. As a loyal reader, I’ve got a special launch offer for you so make sure that you read all the way to the end.

What is The WordPress Course?

As you probably already know, the main focus of this website is to help individuals, small businesses and organizations build an internet presence. Most of what I demonstrate and teach is that a solid internet presence starts with a website that you can use as your central internet hub.

Over time I have come to the realization there are still a lot people that prefer to learn to setup and build their own website. This may be due to budget constraints or a preference to be involved in the whole process, among other reasons. This is why I have created The WordPress Course.

The WordPress Course is designed to walk you through the entire process of setting up a WordPress website step-by-step. There are a lot of bells and whistles in WordPress so in the course I show you exactly what boxes to tick and what buttons to push. The whole objective of The WordPress Course is to take the guess work out of the entire process.

What The WordPress Course Isn’t

The wonderful thing about WordPress is that it is theme (aka template) driven and it is also built on a database so that your content can be displayed dynamically. This means that it is very easy to add content to WordPress. This course does not teach you how to modify databases or write custom code.

As a day-to-day user of WordPress, this is not necessary. All you need to do is install WordPress and select the right theme for your needs. No database management or custom coding is required.

The WordPress Course will take you from having absolutely no website to having a fully functioning WordPress website that you have complete control of in a single weekend or a few evenings. So, if you already have a completed WordPress website, this course is probably not for you. However, I can still provide you with some one-on-one help if you are having WordPress troubles.

A Special Offer for You

As I said at the start, I would like to make you special offer. If you signup for the course before October 15th only, you will save $25. In order to get that special discount, all you have to do is help spread the word about The WordPress Course on Facebook or Twitter. It’s simple, click the “Share to Get” button below to receive the special coupon code. After you have the code, head on over to The WordPress Course and use the discount code during checkout. That’s it!

 SORRY, THIS DISCOUNT HAS EXPIRED

PS: I would still really appreciate it if you can help spread the word about The WordPress Course by sharing this post on Facebook or Twitter. Even if you have already signed up for the course or even if you don’t plan on signing up today.

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on Introducing The WordPress Course at MatthewHooper.com!

One of the most common misconceptions when launching a new website is that “if you build it, they will come.” If you believe this to be true, you’re not alone.

We need to remember that people don’t go to search engines looking for your website, business, or organization. Most people use search engines to find solutions to problems.

(Image Credit: Jean-François Gornet)

Solve Problems with Content

Quite often, people using google won’t do a search for Acme Widgets. Especially if they have never heard of Acme Widgets before. That said, they might do a search for something like, “how to connect a thing-a-ma-jig to a whatch-a-ma-call-it.” By doing that type of search, they may find out that Acme Widgets provides such a solution.

The searcher lands on the Acme Widgets’ website and browses through all of the high-fangled widgets that Acme has to offer. They find one that suits their needs and buys it. The searcher is happy, Acme is happy and the next time the searcher is looking for a similar solution, they’ll know where to go. The searcher will probably also recommend Acme Widgets to their friends on Facebook or Twitter. This is content marketing plus social marketing at its finest!

First Steps in Content Marketing

Now let’s backup a bit so that we can see how this whole cycle took place in the first place. The forward thinkers at Acme Widgets decided to start writing articles about how each of their widgets can be used. They even profiled case studies and added customer testimonials to these articles. They made a mandate of creating articles that described how to solve the problems that they knew they could solve. They weren’t even thinking about content marketing.

Over a period of time, Acme Widgets built up a large archive of articles. These articles were all picked up by search engines. Now when someone types a question into the search box, they find a solution. A solution that Acme Widgets has the answer to.

Acme Widgets has also decided to take advantage of one of the common features of a CMS, like WordPress. They have comments at the end of each of their articles. Whenever someone has a question or comment, Acme Widgets has provided them with a way to ask those questions. Acme Widgets also has an easy way to respond to their questions. The questions and answers are now also at the end of the articles for future visitors to see. This means that Acme Widgets doesn’t have to keep answering the same questions. They can focus on creating more great content and more great widgets. After all, Acme Widgets loves creating widgets.

Why Create Content

Whenever you create content for your website, it stays there forever (or until you delete it). This content may get bumped off of your homepage and into your archives. You might even forget that you created it but search engines are like elephants, they never forget. You might create a piece of content and it can be new to someone different every day. This means that every day, someone new is discovering your site for the first time through a search.

The advantages to creating content instead of creating an advertising campaign is that your content lives on forever. An advertising campaign will only last as long as you a putting money in to it. Advertising is still a good way to get traffic to your site, so it shouldn’t be dismissed. The point is, content marketing lives on for a lot longer.

This may come as a shock to you but the Acme Widgets example is made-up. Even though the example is fictional, this is something that you should be doing. Content marketing can be adapted to suit any type of business, organization or individual. Think about the solutions that you are trying to provide for people. Then start writing about how you can provide those solutions.

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on What is Content Marketing and Why You Should Be Doing It at MatthewHooper.com!

One thing that is hard for even me to believe is that I’ve been in Taiwan for over seven years. Seven years ago I stepped off a Malaysia Airlines flight and into the heat and humidity of Taipei. It was shortly after 5:00am and I, along with two of my friends, had been in transit for far more hours than even I care to remember. We had left Vancouver about 24 hours earlier, with a layover in LA, so it was nice to finally be at our final destination. I had never been to Taiwan before and I barely even knew anything about the place. I have learned a lot about the culture and the people of Taiwan since I’ve been here, most importantly, I’ve also learnt some valuable life lessons after seven years of living in Taipei, Taiwan.

Common Sense isn’t Common

Long ago I wrote about how common sense isn’t common. As we grow, we learn different lessons from our parents, our friends and the schools we attend. We are taught to look both ways before we cross the road and to always wait patiently in lines. We do things just because it is “common sense”.

One of the biggest hurdles that I encountered in Taiwan is assuming that “common sense” was “common sense” everywhere. I now realize that if I am the only one doing something that I believe to be “common sense”, then it’s me that doesn’t have “common sense”. Life Lesson number one: Sometimes you just have to learn to adapt to your environment.

There is No Status Quo

In the west, a lot of us learn that there is a way that things need to be done and that we should just keep on doing things the same as they have always been done. You do something so that you can get into some school. You work your ass off so that you can get good grades in the hopes of employers lining up to hire you upon graduation. They don’t. After you slave away in a cubicle for 60 hours a week and put in your time, you might get a promotion so that you can now work 80 hours a week. You do this while getting small incremental raises that mostly get sucked up by the tax man.

Why do we do this? Because we’re told that this is the status quo and that it’s what we have to do. There are many reasons why I have been in Taiwan for seven years. For instance, I just spent seven years earning a living doing something that I was never educated to do and most days I wore cargo shorts and Birkenstocks. Life lesson number two: Don’t something just because you’re told you should do something.

Safety Nets aren’t Required

When I first came to Taiwan, I was concerned about a lot of things. Like most travelers, I was worried that someone was going to mug me and take all my things. I was worried that someone was going to break into my place at night. I was worried that I would lose all my money and get stuck in Taiwan forever. It’s the kinds of things that I worried about regardless of if I was in Asia, Europe or South America. It’s simply the fear of the unknown.

You know what? None of those concerns ever materialized, in Taiwan or in any other country I’ve visited (I still feel I was one step away from being mugged in some dark street in Manila, but that is a story for another time). No matter where you go, people are people. There will always be opportunists looking for an easy buck but that’s also true in Canada, where I’m from. If you go out waving your money around, don’t be surprised if someone takes it. Life lesson number three: Go and live life, don’t worry about what might happen.

Try Everything

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Taiwan is the sheer variety of food that you can find here. One of the most noticeable foods here is something called chou duo fu which literally translates to stinky tofu. I spent forever avoiding it but in the end, I gave it a try. It stinks, it really stinks. However, it actually tastes alright. It’s pretty sour but overall it’s not too bad. Barbecued with a bit of cilantro and peanut powder is my favourite way to eat it.

Apart from chou duo fu, Taiwan is home to fantastic night markets filled with fried, barbecued, boiled or steamed food that you may or may not recognize. The people of Taiwan are very resourceful so they don’t often through out any part of an animal that still has flesh on it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve eaten some things that made me want to gag. Those things I never put in my mouth again, but at least I tried. Life lesson number four: Just because something is different than what you are used, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try something new.

Life’s Roads are Full of Detours

I went through school, got a job and did the 40-hours a week (or more) thing that I thought I was supposed to do. I spent a lot of time following a road that was ingrained in me all through school and into my early adulthood. I started to take one detour and then another and now I am doing something that I never thought I would be doing. Fifteen years ago, if you had told that I would spend the better part of my late 20s and early 30s in a small Asian nation doing something that was nowhere near what I went to school for, I would have said your were crazy.

It’s easy for you to sit down when you are young and map out the roads ahead of you. Then one day you’ll look in the rearview mirror you realize that the road behind you looks nothing like the road you mapped out. Life lesson number five: Embrace the uncertainties in life and enjoy the detours they give you.

Do Talk to Strangers

When I first came to Taiwan, I didn’t know anyone here except for the two people that I came here with. One of them had never been to Taiwan before and the other had been for less than a year before returning to Canada for a few months, so there was a lot of the blind leading the blind. They returned to Canada a few years later but I decided to stay.

Given certain circumstances, you may not always get to decide who your friends are. As a foreigner in a foreign land, sometimes you might associate more with the people that you can speak with and less because you share common interests. What you may discover is that the world is full of interesting people from all walks of life. Life lesson number six: Get out and meet new people, they’ll make you a better person.

Life Lessons aren’t In Books

It’s a bit cliché to say at this point but you won’t learn a thing about life in books. I’m not saying you should stop reading books but it is probably a good idea to stop believing everything you read. Most self-help gurus are more screwed up than the people they’re claiming to be able to help. Don’t listen to them. Don’t listen to me. Listen to yourself.

Life lesson number seven: Stop listening to the shoulds and need tos, just live your life and be happy.

Final Thoughts…

Even though I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Taiwan, it’s time for my wife (who is pregnant with our first child) and I to move to Canada. We are looking forward to the next stage of our lives together as we expand our family but I will never forget Taiwan and the valuable life lessons that I leaned from it. Obviously, with my wife being Taiwanese, we will be returning regularly but it’s time to pack the bags.

Have you got something to add? Leave a comment on 7 Life Lessons Learned from 7 Years in Taiwan at MatthewHooper.com!