Digital Culture NYC

Use WordPress better in your organization!

Amanda McCormick, Cofounder

by on

Favorite Tools for Designing with WordPress Blocks

Just like you might get sick of looking at that once-trendy stainless steel countertop or look askance at the pile of low-rise jeans in the back of your closet, your website, too, might be showing signs it’s not the trendsetter it once was.

Ten years ago, social tools were all the rage. There was no integration or social sharing widget we weren’t slapping onto sites.

More recently, websites have become much more streamlined, thanks in part to the ubiquity of mobile phones.

We love working with WordPress blocks because they open up so many opportunities to completely break out of old, boxy web design templates.

Even better, our clients continually surprise us with their ideas for big, vibrant panels, using video and interactive elements and much more.

But another challenge often comes up in our work: clients can be overwhelmed by the options! And when you think about it, that’s only natural — there are a LOT of them!

So today, we wanted to write a post about getting your creative juices flowing for using blocks and WordPress.

Sometimes just perusing the best-in-class example of web design in 2023 can spark a desire to evolve your website.

You may not end up with the trendiest looking site on the block, but you will have some ideas to freshen things up.

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1. Decide on an Objective

Deciding on an objective will help you in several ways, but mostly because it will narrow down:

  • What sites you look to for inspiration
  • What your redesign needs are

Your objective may be tied to a specific initiative such as:

  • I have an event coming up and I’d like to create a bespoke page or “microsite” to which I can direct attendees
  • I have a marketing campaign and I’d like to give it a branded look.

You may have a more general set of objectives:

  • Improve time spent on page (measured by Google)
  • Push email signups
  • Surface archives more often

Step 2. Look to the Trends

Another key component of a successful redesign is being aware of trends that are shaping web design in both:

  • your industry or sector
  • the web design world itself

Some recent trends we really like and our clients have used:

Mobile first: these sites put visual information front and center and are usually big and bold. They are designed with mobile users in mind first of all, and desktop as a workable alternative.

Video background: another very dynamic look that we have been admiring on client sites. This is a pretty easy fit for most sites nowadays and the good news is, mobile now supports video backgrounds (as long as they don’t have sound!)

Scrolling pages 

Step 3. Developing Design Inspo

The next step is to match your specific objective to a design idea. For this there are several great tools we reccommend.

Tools to use:

Site Inspire

Site Inspire is still one of my favorites. It’s a clearinghouse of website design, organized by site type and subject, so it’s easy to find exactly what you are looking for. Just make sure you look at the posting date and try to collect inspiration from sites designed within the past three years.

Google

Google is also your friend. It’s also worth simply Googling whatever you are attempting to do:

  • “Best example of lead generation pages”
  • “Best events listings for theaters”
  • “Best newsletter landing pages”

Scope out the competition

Often overlooked but incredibly important! We had a client who wanted us to provide a 30-day calendar interface for their events. Mobile first design has made these more rare but a quick search connected us to examples of similar organizations that we then showed to the client for their feedback. Always look to see what the competition is doing — it will definitely give you great ideas.

What You Can Do with Blocks & Builders

The native capability that WordPress has now with blocks is pretty darn impressive, but sometimes our clients want even more plug and play options. That’s where custom block sets and builders come into play. These are usually a set of layouts and templates that you can use in a modular fashion without needing to code or manipulate your website’s core files (always a plus).

Some that we have used and like:

  • Genesis Pro Blocks: this is pretty useful and extensive block set that comes with bundled with Genesis themes, and it’s a great really flexible block set that we use a lot.
  • Kadence: this is a beautiful and extensive block set and builder that can really help you enhance your site without knowing a lot of code.  
  • Elementor: this is a page builder that has proven very popular thanks to its slick, page-ready designs. We have used it, and it often is heavier than we want on our sites, but it can be a good option, especially for quick development.

Are you ready to refresh your site and want some more help?

Please contact us for more information about how we work with brands and organizations to boost the capabilities of their WordPress sites.

by on

Down & Dirty Guide to Selling Classes Online

Earlier this week, Catapult Story was abruptly shuttered. A number of full-time staffers and excellent teachers were laid off from their amazing course program. Devastating news to the many fans of this prestigious literary magazine and class destination — including me!

It’s also surely prompted some of those amazing teachers to wonder: can I host classes on my own?

The good news is that yes, technically speaking, it’s much easier than it’s ever been. So I wanted to put together a quick guide on how to set up an online writing class for anyone wondering about the absolute minimum buy-in for such an enterprise.

Step 1: Build a List

Most people, when deciding to set up on an online class, jump immediately to the technical concerns of how to charge and how to host the class. Those parts are actually some of the easiest components of online class building.

The hard part? You guessed it. Marketing. You can’t make any money from a class without customers. And in order to sell ten seats to a class, you more than likely need 10x that in prospects. So how do you find those people? You build a list.

List building: the tech specs

To build a list, first you are going to need an email marketing platform. Personally, I am agnostic about these. They all do pretty much the same thing. Many folks want to start with something that has a free tier. Here are some options:

  • MailChimp: tried and true, many people use this, and their free tier allows you to have 1,000 subscribers which is pretty sweet.
  • ConvertKit: This company has a great, user-friendly interface and their free plan allows you to manage up to 300 subscribers (which is great for a start!)
  • Substack: This is a very hot platform which promises writers great fortunes via monetizing their newsletters. While this is a highly unrealistic goal for most folks (and I’ll write more about this in another post), Substack is a great option for list management and they also have a handy web interface which many folks now use as a free or cheap website, which is another good bonus.

The nuts and bolts of list building

It’s fine to start with a small circle of friends and family. You might want to start out with a message to those people telling them what you are up to and letting them know how to opt-out of future communication if they want to (all of the outfits listed above make that easy).

Give it away, give it away, give it away now

The second major component of list building is a truth many fledgling online marketers don’t want to hear.

You need to create something valuable — and then give it away for zero dollars.

But fear not! Actually, you are being paid in email addresses, aka “leads” which can easily be worth more than a few bucks.

What type of content should you make? That’s up to you, but often the best content is a free sample of what you’re ultimately going to be offering.

So if you teach novel-writing, maybe concoct a 30 minute class on how to create a chapter-by-chapter breakdown.

If you teach memoir, perhaps a class on how to write great family stories without your family wanting to kill you.

You get the idea. It’s you, it’s what you’re going to teach. It’s a free sample.

Marketing can get more complicated from here, and include social media, but for most people it’s valuable just to start with something like this — and it’s certainly the fastest way to rack up leads.

Do the above and hopefully you’re on your way to your email list. Shoot for 100 email addresses in the beginning. And always be thinking about attracting more people to your list. Through free webinars, online content, and yes, newsletters!

Step 2: Decide on the tech stack for your course

There are numerous off-the-shelf options for online classes these days. In the simplest terms you need:

  • A tech platform where you can teach
  • A way of collecting money

Personally, for the sake of simplicity, I would just go with Zoom (premium) for this (which allows more than 45 mins of instruction) and Paypal for the payment. Both require minimal setup costs and especially in the early days, you are building a minimum viable product for your class, and I would steer away from making your life more complicated than it needs to be.

If you can fill 10 or so seats in your Zoom class, you are well on your way to becoming a successful online teacher.

Step 3: Important extras

Probably the most important extra for your class would be a dedicated web address. I’ve previously written about how to do this super simply on the cheap and you can read about that here.

Second, you might want to provide a place for your class to chat, and in that respect, Slack and Discord are both good free options.

That’s it in a nutshell. If you found this post valuable, please share it!

by on

Does SEO intimidate you? You’re not alone

SEO. Three little letters that can get awfully intimidating. 

That’s a shame, in my opinion. Sometimes I talk to companies and individuals with really unique, compelling stories to tell, but they get completely hamstrung by a set of esoteric-seeming technical mumbo-jumbo around gaming search engines.

Worse, the technical smoke and mirrors can obscure the fact that what matters most in search is simple: Well-written content with useful information targeted to a specific audience.

Let’s break that down a little. 

“Well-written”: this means writing that is concise, organized and mindful of keywords.

“Useful information”: ideally information that’s not readily available elsewhere. In other words a niche you are uniquely qualified to provide content on. 

“Targeted”: You have identified a group of people who really need the information you want to provide.

If you can address those three things (and I’m not saying that’s easy!), you can feel free to ignore the scary-sounding technical stuff around finer points of meta keywords, canonicalization or fill in the SEO-jargon-du-jour. 

Your performance in search should improve markedly over time. And it will feel organic. 

Are you ready to get started? Here are some great action steps for improving the impact of your writing in search: 

  • If you want to improve the quality of your writing generally: it’s hard to do better than the classic, Strunk & White, Elements of Style. Even though this was written pre-computer age, it still has a lot of value for organizing ideas and cutting out fluff. 
  • If you want to make your content more targeted: Conduct a competitive analysis of others in the space; research other organizations or writers who are on the same subject as yours. What qualities do you think makes their work successful or popular? 
  • If you want to ensure you’re leveraging keywords: use a tool like Google AdWords to see the search volume of terms you are using.

by on Leave a Comment

Make Your Own Website for Podcasters & Writers

Join me for this one-hour session on how to DIY a website for yourself that will help you present your professional and/or creative self, including how to present a portfolio .

When & Where

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at 7:00 PM
NEW LINK VIA ZOOM

What the Session Will Cover

  • The most important considerations in setting up a successful website
  • The ins and outs of platforms and design
  • A super-simplified approach to help you get something up quickly as well as options for embellishment
  • What to include on your site
  • Tips on growing your audience

We’ll reserve some time for Q&A.

About Amanda

Amanda McCormick has been DIYing websites since 2008 and has worked with a number of podcasts and journalists over the years on crafting web presences. Recent clients include New York Public Radio and Katz Media.

RSVP for reminder and follow up materials (video/resources):