Crazy Digital Creative | SEO copywriter & WordPress Consultant

Yesterday I received an email from a local human I know about the website of a client of hers.   Whenever someone visits her client’s website, it comes up with a message “Your connection is not private” (I also got a “Your connection to this site is not secure” message when I went to visit her client’s site).   She asked if I knew what this meant and if I had any tips on how to fix it.   𝐒𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧? These kinds of messages often come with a symbol like an exclamation mark inside a red triangle or a red shield.   It means that your internet browser thinks the website might not be safe. It’s telling you to be careful about visiting that website.   𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫? The main reason for this warning is usually an issue with a website’s SSL certificate. This certificate is like a digital ID card, ensuring that a website is secure.   𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐒𝐒𝐋 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 Having an SSL certificate installed on your site is essential for several reasons:   🛡️ To shield sensitive data from prying eyes 🤝 To build trust with your website visitors 🔍 To boost search engine rankings 🔐 To help protect against cyber threats   𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 Most website hosting plans have an SSL certificate included in the plan. But I’ve come across plans that don’t include it (which is one of my bug bears!)   So, if your website is getting the above warning message, here’s what to do:   🔑 Check your hosting plan to see if SSL is included ⬆️ Upgrade your hosting plan if SSL isn’t included 🛒 Purchase a separate SSL certificate from a trusted provider if upgrading isn’t an option 🖥️ Reach out to your host company’s technical support for help with SSL installation 💾 Backup your website before anyone installs your SSL certificate 🔓 After installation of an SSL certificate, make sure all pages of your site redirect to the secure version   #website #websites #websitesecurity #WordPress

Late last year, I saw an interesting post in a business-related Facebook group asking questions about how to work with a web designer. So, I thought I’d share my answers. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐛 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫? Yes, you should. I email them the agreement I use. But before you do: 👀 read the agreement, and ❓ ask any questions you have about it I use an agreement that can be signed electronically. An agreement should provide clarity about the terms and conditions of the services you're getting. This includes the scope of your website project. It outlines my rights and obligations as well as your rights and obligations. 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚? No. While the majority of my WordPress clients are Australian-based humans, I’ve had several overseas humans use my WordPress services. There are many bad overseas web designers (I’ve lost count of how many nightmare stories I’ve heard). But there are crap providers who are local as well. 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥? You don’t need to meet your web designer for coffee (although I love a decent coffee!) A Zoom call is good though - as it allows both you and the web designer to ask each other questions. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤? My practice is to ask for 50% upfront with the remaining 50% due when the website is ready to go live. There’ve been a couple of larger projects I’ve had where this is split into smaller payments (e.g. 40% upfront then two payments of 30% and even five progress payments of 20%). 𝐌𝐲 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞: 💡 Make sure you know exactly what you’re getting for what you pay. This avoids confusion down the line which, in turn, minimises any disputes. 🛒 Buy your own domain name and website hosting 🌐 Never buy website hosting from your web designer. Not all web designers offer hosting (I don’t) but many do. And I’ve seen too many issues with this. If there’s ever a fallout between yourself and your web designer and that web designer is hosting your site, it’ll cause you additional stress that could’ve been avoided 🔍 You need clarity on what pages you want on your site. And you’ll need to provide your own content. If you get stuck with writing your own content, you’re not alone. But there are some web designers (like me) who are also trained in SEO and copywriting. But that really depends on your budget if you also use a copywriter. 🔐 Make sure you're given ADMINISTRATOR access to your own website. Insist on it! Ask a web designer before working with them: will you provide me with administrator access to my website? I’ve heard horror stories about clients who weren't given access to their own site. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐛 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫? #wordpress #websitedesign #websitedevelopment #websitedeveloper

Thanks for the lovely testimonial, Kylie. It was wonderful working with you. Kylie is an HR expert at Dreamstone HR. I helped her with: 🔍 SEO keyword research for her blog posts ✍ blog writing 📸 sourcing appropriate images 🖥 uploading her finalised blog posts to her Wix website 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭? DM to learn more. #testimonialtuesday #testimonials #copywriter #blogwriting

“The people who succeed the most are often the same people who fail the most. Because they’re the ones who try the most”. I’ve struggled with self-worth many times. I was: 🧸 that kid who got bullied and teased at school 🧑🏫 that teen who was kicked out of home at 18 and told not to come back And I'm that adult who experienced toxic relationships as well as toxic workplaces. This had a significant impact on how I viewed myself. And it’s also had a significant impact on my values. Despite these experiences, it wasn’t until I started my business that I really got into personal development. And it’s been a game-changer. I’ve just finished Worthy: How to believe you are enough and transform your life by Jamie Kern Lima. This book came at the perfect time, as a lot of self-doubt has crept back into my life this year. Some AHA moments I’ve had from this book: 🤗 Embracing imperfection is crucial for self-acceptance 😞 Rejection and failure aren’t bad things 🌟 I can define my own success that’s based on my own personal values rather than societal expectations 💖 I’m worthy as I am, regardless of what my circumstances are at any one time. And regardless of what others think 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲? I’m always keen to add to my ‘to read’ pile. Picture is of me and Lucas the Cavoodle, sitting on the couch with Jamie Kern Lima’s Worthy book. Lucas is a good book reading companion. #personaldevelopment #selfworth

A few months ago I was contacted by a web developer to do SEO keyword research for one of their clients. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠? Their client had already engaged a copywriter. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞? The copywriter has no SEO knowledge. This made my face cringe and wonder, ‘why?’ Speaking of ‘why’, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 to write your website, blog and sales page content: 🔍 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. SEO copywriters understand how to optimise content for the search engine gods. They know how to do SEO keyword research and how to use SEO best practices when using that research to write your website content. 🚦 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜. SEO content helps your website’s organic visibility. This increases your website’s visibility, attracting more of your ideal humans to visit it. 🧭 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Not only is SEO content important, it also needs to be appealing to the humans you want to buy from you. It needs to be both informative and engaging. And a good SEO copywriter knows how to do this. 🎯 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. Effective SEO copywriting involves writing compelling content that speaks directly to your ideal humans. Compelling content is more likely to persuade your ideal humans to act. This includes good use of call-to-actions throughout your website copy. 💰 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. SEO is generally more cost-effective than paid advertising. Once content is optimised for search engines and starts ranking well, it can continue attracting website traffic without ongoing costs. This long-term benefit makes investing in an SEO copywriter a smart investment, if you’re looking to maximise your digital marketing budget. 📍 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬. For businesses with a local focus, SEO copywriters can optimise website, blog and sales page content for local search terms to help you appear in local search results. This is important if you’re wanting to attract nearby humans searching for you on their mobile phones. 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠? DM me to find out how I can help you. #seo #seocopywriting #copywriting #seocopywriter #digitalmarketing

This year has been a struggle for many business owners. During such times, it’s natural for business owners to tighten their belts and cut back on expenses. Marketing often falls victim to these cuts. But maintaining a strong presence is crucial.   𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, even when the going gets tough:   👁️ 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. Maintaining brand visibility creates a unique opportunity for businesses that continue marketing, allowing them to stand out and maintain – or even increase – their market presence. 🤝 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭. Consumers tend to gravitate towards brands they recognise and trust. By maintaining your marketing efforts, you ensure that you stay top-of-mind to your target market. 🌱 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡. Historical data shows that businesses who continue marketing during recessions often experience better financial performance during and after the downturn. 🎯 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬’ 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬. Economic challenges can lead to a shift in consumer behaviour and needs. By continuing to market, you can adapt your strategies to meet changing demands by aligning your services to align with your target market’s current needs.   If you’re feeling squeezed with your finances, but still want to keep on top of your digital marketing, there are ways I can help you without breaking the bank. DM me to learn more.   #digitalmarketing #copywriting #seo #wordpress

𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. Thanks, Rachel, for the 5-star Google review. And no, I didn’t just give myself a testimonial 🤣 Rachel Townsend initially set up her own WordPress website before approaching me for a redesign along with some WordPress/Divi Theme training. Impressed with the outcome, her husband – who’s involved with a local soccer club – also approached me to revamp their website and provide training as well. 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞? Not only do I build/rebuild websites, I'm also a trained SEO copywriter. DM me to find out more how I can help you with your WordPress website. #testimonial #testimonials #clientlove

There’ve been a couple of times this year where I’ve felt tempted to quit my business. But yesterday, the universe delivered a silver lining. I’m happy to be a finalist in not one, but two, categories at the 2024 Australian Ladies in Business Awards – Online Business of the Year (which I won in 2023) and Creative Service of the Year. Here’s to resilience, growth and the journey ahead. #businessawards #womeninbusiness

Lucas the Cavoodle hasn't been to my WOTSO coworking spot this month. But when he does come here, he loves being the centre of attention. Instead of using his dog bed, he makes himself comfortable in the middle of the aisle. Why? He’s decided that this strategy to gets him maximum human interaction. After all, if humans have to step over or around him, they’ll surely say hello, right?! Just like Lucas who makes himself visible, 𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬. SEO visibility: 💡 involves 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 (keyword research, content marketing, link building, on-page optimisation and technical SEO) to improve its ranking in search engine results. This increases your website’s visibility. 🚦 generally 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜. Websites in the top three spots receive the majority of clicks, making visibility crucial for attracting your ideal humans 📈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 such as SEMrush and Diib. This helps you understand your website’s performance and identify areas of improvement 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞? DM me to have a chat about how I can help you improve your SEO. #seo #searchengineoptimization #websiteseo #seocopywriting

𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞? The first thing I do is backup the website, even if it was backed up in the last few days. There are several reasons why I do this. But, before I do, let me tell you what happened to a WordPress training client I had last year. They had a WordPress site that they loved. And then one day, poof – it disappeared. Worse yet, they’d never backed up their website. So, they ended up having to get a new website created as soon as possible so they could continue advertising upcoming events at their venue. That’s a stressful situation that could’ve easily been avoided. Yes, I know. This isn’t a sexy WordPress topic to talk about. But I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard these kinds of stories. And I’ve also audited countless WordPress sites that weren’t backed up. Now back to 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞: 🛡️ To guard against human error 🔙 To reverse problems during WordPress, Theme or Plugin updates 💾 To prevent loss of data ❌ To handle compatibility issues after updates 🦠 To resolve malware infections 🔐 To provide protection against hackers 📦 To simplify the process of migrating web hosts ✔️ To create a test version of your website The cost of backing up regularly is more economical than having to either spend a lot of time rebuilding your website, or a lot of money getting someone else to rebuild your site. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 If you’re uncomfortable using your website’s cPanel (control panel) to backup your site, then that’s okay. There are a few different backup plugins you can use. 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐬. The free version of this plugin works well. I’ve found that sometimes there are issues connecting it with OneDrive, so I recommend connecting it with either Google Drive or Dropbox. 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩𝐬 (𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐲): this is a paid option but it works well. You get some storage with Solid Backups that you can send your backups to. But you can also send backups to Amazon S3, Dropbox or OneDrive, if you prefer. Both of these options allow you to automate the backup process. You can automate these to backup weekly, fortnightly or as you prefer. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞? If you want a fresh set of eyes on your WordPress site, I have a WordPress health check service. It’s an obligation-free, fixed-price service designed to give you peace of mind. Interested? DM me to learn more. #wordpress #wordpresswebsite #backups