• 1200 pixels wide by 675 pixels tall on the Desktop
• 1200 pixels wide by 457 pixels tall on the Mobile

Facebook Page Cover Graphic Space

The above graphics shows the space each platform uses. The larger desktop area provides a great place for adding a background image or color. The mobile area also known as “safe space” across platform, is great for text or graphics. Let us look at a real world example.

The background, or desktop area, contains the content area of the WordPress page or post. Over the content area is a transparent blueish cover color. In the front, in the mobile space, is the new logo and what I do. Want access to the SVG template I use? Here you go.

Facebook Page Cover SVG

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Managed WordPress versus managed WordPress hosting

That is an excellent question. With so many hosting companies offering managed WordPress, what separates my service from theirs.

Managed WordPress Places Focus on Client

Until something updates and breaks your site, automation is not bad. However, it is then up to you to fix the issues. This can be through restoring back to a point before the update, if your site has a backup strategy in place. Or asking the host and waiting.

Managed WordPress works by manually applying updates. Prevention of site downtime is important. Updates should not come with surprises, but they often do. I check your site, post updates, to alleviate the stress of surprises. Daily checks and updates, all without any need to contact me. And as a WordPress developer, I can assist you with WordPress related matters.

Managed WordPress Customizes Updates

The managed WordPress options I have seen seem to be of a one size fits all variety. Automatic updates performed automatically, based on the type of update, is selectable. This is great. However, update strategies for your site should be tailor for your site. Each new full release of WordPress core (4.6, 4.7, and 4.8, for example) will come with it’s own nuances. Some might even reek havoc on your site, depending on how things are setup. A seasoned WordPress developer on your team, testing each new release, is an asset for your site.

Managed WordPress is Host Independent

Managed WordPress offers benefits, regardless of who your site uses for hosting purposes. Whether you are using GoDaddy, BlueHost, HostGator, SiteGround, A2Hosting, or anyone else, my service will work for you. A simple and free plugin, MainWP Child, helps setup a gateway to manage your site. The MainWP parent plugin on my end can do the rest. Yes, I use a WordPress plugin to manage your site.

The Managed WordPress service through Michael Mann Web Design was setup to give you peace of mind. Completed on a daily-basis, for an insanely low entry cost. Each month of site management also includes 2 hours of support per month. And I will work with you on a remotely stored backup strategy.

So if you go over your allowed hours, an additional hourly rate applies. There is a price cap however, equal to the monthly cost of the Site Management+ package, in any given month. Designed for budget minded individual, this cap remove any insane surprises. So if you go over your allowed hours, an additional hourly rate applies.

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The post All in One SEO Pack Overview appeared first on Michael Mann Web Design.

Yoast SEO Dashboard Widget

Yoast SEO offers an amazing dashboard widget, where you can see how content on your site is doing. As you can see, of the 14 pieces of content on this site, 11 of them don’t have a target keyword set. This does keep the content out of the search engine thoug. It simply means no keyword for checking with Yoast SEO was added. Believe it or not, this is how most sites using Yoast SEO are setup. Most sites have it installed and active, but have not gone any further with it than that7.

Publish Area Integration

Yoast SEO integrates into the publish area of content, to provide a quick glance at how a piece of content is doing. This same indicator is on the main “page” for pages, posts, and other content types. The default state is grey, meaning no keyword has been set.

The SEO Metabox

Underneath each post and page, you will find this SEO box. This explains some of the items search engines are looking for, called “indicators”. Each of these “indicators” help to ensure that the basic requirements are met. Now don’t go crazy reworking all of your content, as not getting a perfect green on everything is fine. Strive to at least get a green for Readability and SEO in the Publish area.

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Search Engine Optimization = Content

That’s correct. When search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing come looking at your site, they are looking at your content. If you follow a few simple “rules”, you will be ahead of the game.

Content Title

Have you ever had your attention grabbed by a news articles title? That is what you are going for with your own contents title. Make the title stand out to show just what your content is about.

The Content

Your title should grab the visitor and draw them into the content. However, the content must 1) match the title in terms of subject matter, and 2) be broken down into bite size chunks. What I mean by bite size chunks is paragraphs and sections.

Don’t be afraid to break down your content using subheaders. Far too often I see content with just blocks of text, perhaps a photo thrown in here and there, and no subheaders. Subheaders are great when you are switching gears and want to not lose the visitor. Let them know what the next area of content is about.

Visual Aids

Graphics are great within your content as appropriate. Don’t simply throw them in to fill up space. If they serve a purpose, such as supporting your content’s topic, great. If they are just fillers, ditch them.

While on the topic of graphics, make sure that you are serving an appropriately sized graphic, both in height and width as well as file size. More on that in the article titled “Optimizing Your Site’s Graphics – Some Helpful Tips”.

Use Your Tools

If you are a WordPress user, meaning your site is running on WordPress, then you have a few plugins that can help with a ton of the optimization for search engines. The two big ones are Yoast SEO and All in One SEO. Each is a topic of its own, so click on the one you are using and dive in.

That’s really it for Search Engine Optimization. Sure we could get into more detail and look at the various resources out there which will help us choose target keywords and so much more, but for the basics, this just about covers it. Happy Search Engine optimizing!

Additional SEO Training

Not enough about SEO for you? No worries. Frugal Web Guy offers affordable training on topics such as this and more, built around the WordPress platform. Be sure to checkout the training arm of Michael Mann Web Design today!

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Web Site Update Check Details

In addition to more checks, records will now be kept of what updates took place when. This brings in more accountability on my part and provides clients with more information about the maintenance of their sites. No more will clients simply rely on me to do updates and hear nothing regarding  what changes are being made. I will also do more site checks to ensure the updates do not potentially render your site useless and work more diligently to correct any issues that might arise.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding your web site, do not hesitate to contact me. I might not be available 24/7, but I come as close as possible as one person can.

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How to Request a Free WordPress Cleanup

All one needs to do is to reach out to me and let me know you need WordPress cleanup services for your site. Once the necessary access information is received, I will begin work on cleaning up your web site. Once completed, you will receive a detailed report outlining the results of the WordPress cleanup. The report will include what was discovered and what was done to correct the problems.  I will also include steps to harden security on your web site, to help with future compromise prevention.

Future Free WordPress Cleanup Offers

As 2017 comes close to closing, I will re-evaluate the free WordPress cleanup service, and potentially extend the offer further. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, the best way to express that in a public manner is to reach out via Facebook as a comment on the post I will be adding once I share this announcement.

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• $wpdb->prepare() can create unexpected and unsafe queries leading to potential SQL injection (SQLi). WordPress core is not directly vulnerable to this issue, but we’ve added hardening to prevent plugins and themes from accidentally causing a vulnerability.

The $wpdb->prepare prepares database queries and as noted, does not directly affect the core. This fix makes it more difficult for add-on items like themes and plugins to cause a vulnerability.

There are additional items fixed by this security release and a list of what is fixed by WordPress 4.8.2 Security release is provided by the good folks at WordPress.

Bravo to the WordPress team for being on top of security issues, as they are discovered. Remember that WordPress is open source and there is a wide community looking out for us. Make sure your site is kept up-to-date, not just with the core, but also plugins and themes. And if you are signed up for my site management through me, you are covered.

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Then a switch to a new brand came about in 2014-2015 to Frugal Web Guy. This new arm engulfed WPbyMe and expanded the mission beyond text based training into more video based training. The second half of 2016 will see the frugal brand overtaking the OS4Me brand as well. A new hub for all educational opportunities will be built over the next few weeks over at frugaltraining.com. It is my hope to take training for WordPress and the various Open Source Software to the next level, providing some of the very best in the industry.

Hope you will come along for the ride, as I woke to educate the next generation of Web Professionals.

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