In this podcast, I will show you the most cost-effective way you can run a Facebook Live while re-streaming to multiple platforms, add guest speakers and share your screen.  Yes, that’s right, you can do all three things at the same time without it costing you a fortune! 

To watch the video or read the full blog article, visit https://sharonxhenderson.com/blog

In today’s tutorial, I reveal the top 5 reasons why you need to have a valid SSL Certificate installed on your website.  That is followed by a step-by-step guide to installing the Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate on your website via cPanel.  And the best news – Let’s Encrypt is free!  Yes, you heard it right – it will cost you nothing. Nada. Zilch.  Which is pretty cool in my book! 

You can read the full article and watch the video at https://sharonxhenderson.com/blog

In this podcast, I demonstrate the process for changing your domain name at the Domain Registry where it’s registered in four easy steps!

Your domain name is essentially the URL you see displayed in your browser bar.  The domain name is what’s important for your business, because of the brand association attached to it.

When I’m building a website, I tend not to use my ultimate domain until the site is finished.  That’s because we don’t want people to be able to see a half-developed site.  So, I will normally build on a very obscure domain name, and then I tend to create a subdomain.  A sub-domain is an additional component of the url.  For example, let’s say I use “website” as my subdomain for sharonxhenderson.com, my full url will be website.sharonxhenderson.com.  And nobody is going to find the website I’m building on this obscure sub-domain.

Have you ever tried installing a WordPress plugin, only to see a WordPress directory error that the plugin installation failed.  Why? Because the destination plugin folder already exists?

In this podcast, I walk you through the process for removing a plugin folder from the File Manager in your website host’s CPanel.  This is a follow on from my last tutorial, where we explored 7 Must-Have WordPress Plugins for your Business.  During this particular Live, I discovered that I was unable to install the UpdraftPlus backup plugin.  That’s because there was a corrupted version already installed.  So, it was necessary to go into the CPanel file manager and delete the offending folder.  Tune in for the low down on how to fix this common problem.

In this tutorial, I walk you through the 7 Must Have WordPress Plugins Your Business needs.

Introduction to WordPress Plugins

I’m often asked what WordPress plugins you should install on your website.  Of course that depends very much on what functionality you’re seeking to achieve.  That said, there are certain core plugins that should be installed on every WordPress as an absolute minimum.

While there’s no getting away from the fact that we need to add plugins to extend the performance of our core theme, it’s important to thing long and hard before clicking the “install plugin” button in your WordPress dashboard! That’s because, if you’re anything like me, the WordPress plugin repository can create a similar sense of excitement to being a kid in a candy store!

So, a great mantra to follow is that less is usually more!  Not only will too many plugins slow down your site’s performance, but you are also increasing the likelihood of conflicts occurring with your theme and your other plugins.  So that’s why we need to be really careful about the plugins that we install into our WordPress website and only choose the ones that we absolutely need.  But be discerning too.  So if you’re faced with a choice between a plugin that hasn’t been updated recently, and one that was updated very recently, that’s a big clue!  If a plugin has a warning that it’s untested with your version of WordPress, then steer clear as this means that the plugin is not well-maintained and security risks are likely.  Look out for plugins that have had a high number of installations, as it’s clearly a popular plugin.

Another reason to keep the number of installed plugins to an absolute minimum, is this.  Every time you install an additional plugin, you’re injecting additional code into your site.   That introduces a new variable and a greater chance of a conflict with your existing plugins or your theme.  Developers do their best to test their software for compatibility with the most common permutations of themes and plugins.   However, when one considers the sheer number of products on the market, it’s impossible to rule out every single conflict scenario.

If you find that your website has started behaving in an odd way, the first thing to do is to use the Chrome inspector (right-click your mouse and select the “inspect” option) and head on over to the console tab.

If you'd like to watch the video, you can see it here:

https://youtu.be/2MbrUjtRaR0

In this episode, I demonstrate how to add a new page to the WordPress Navigation Menu.  But before diving into this demo, I wanted to mention the fact that I am in the process of re-branding, which is super-exciting! Originally, all my projects were under the “KEM Biz in a Box” umbrella. But I’ve since changed the name of my Facebook group to better reflect what the group is all about.  So the new name for the group is “The Entrepreneurs Marketing & WordPress Community with Sharon Henderson”.

In Episode 12, learn why it's so important to have a great website.  In this episode, Tonia Painter joined me live in the studio to audit her website.

The landscape is changing! In this increasingly digital world in which we live, a website is a necessity for businesses big and small alike. It needs to be well-designed for user-experience, and to convert visitors into loyal, returning customers.  When people search for your business, it's typically your website that they happen upon first. And first impressions matter!  Moreover, your website promotes your business 24/7 - so you want to make sure it's doing this as effectively as possible.

In this episode, we covered all of the following essential ingredients for a killer website:

a. Website Design and Branding Tips

Interested in taking advantage of Sharon's Free Website Audit Service?  Would you like a website health check for your own website?  Sharon will analyze your website configuration, performance, optimization and speed. She will also advise you on how well the website is designed for user experience and conversion of visitors into loyal, returning customers.

Join our Free Facebook Group, KEM WordPress Community

Wordpress Educator and KEM WordPress Community Founder, Sharon Henderson, offers a free website review for KEM WordPress Community Members.

About Sharon Henderson:

In episode #11, I have the honour of talking with our Resident SEO and Google My Business Expert, The Determined Mom, Amanda Tento. 

No matter how small your business is, it's extremely important to be listed in Google to drive more customers to your business. Small business owners often think that they don’t need to be on Google. But that is not true! If you're not using this feature, you are missing out on the chance of getting more clients.

Here are the reasons why:

1. Local SEO is very important. Consumers tend to search for local businesses online and if you haven’t verified your Google listing, there is a good chance that your business won’t show up when people search online for the products and services that your business provides.

2. The Google My Business listing has a free online advertising tool, which is Google Reviews.

3. There are more people now who use apps like Google Maps to look for products and service providers. And if your business doesn't show up in their search, how will they know that your business even exists? Google My Business is the ideal way to rank your local business in the top 3 Google Maps results.

Most small business owners don’t know how to make Google My Business work for their business. Watch this video from KEM WordPress Community: Ask The Expert  - Live Q&A to learn more about the importance and benefits of Google My Business and how it can be utilized better with Review Extensions and Call Extensions. You'll also learn how Google Maps is used in conjunction with Local Business Pages!

Watch this video from KEM WordPress Community: Ask The Expert  - Live Q&A where Business Management Expert - Amanda Tento discusses the importance of Google My Business Optimization.

Setting up Google My Business is an incredibly effective way to make your business more visible and discoverable by Google. And yes it is FREE to set up!!

More about Amanda:

Join the free Facebook Group for more Wordpress Tips to support you on your WordPress & Traffic Generation journey.

In episode 10, resident expert, Joshua Jarvis, Owner and Founder of Yak Local, talks to us about the 4 Pillars of SEO Strategy.  Are you new to SEO and would like to learn how to use SEO ("Search Engine Optimisation") strategies to rank your website on Google?

Applying  "The 4 Pillars of SEO Strategy" will help you achieve a ranking of your business on the first page of Google in 2019!

Here's some background about the "SEO Strategy Guy", Joshua Jarvis. He is the owner of YakLocal, a full service digital agency, that specializes in Search Engine Optimization, AdWords, and Social Media as effective channels for business growth and development. YakLocal has been responsible for driving thousands of users to their clients' websites, through Organic Search Traffic.  Joshua gets immense satisfaction from watching their strategy take a website from Zero to Hero!

Join the free Facebook Group for more Wordpress Tips to support you on your WordPress & Traffic Generation journey.

Welcome to Episode #9 of the Kiwi Mompreneur Show where I'm honoured to talk with Guest Speaker, a Social Media Strategist and the CEO of "Just Sayin' Social" agency, Leslie Laws.  In this episode, Leslie takes us through everything you need for a spectacular Pinterest Account that will generate revenue for your business!

Pinterest is a social media platform that serves as a visual bookmarking site and allows users to save websites, blogs, videos - and any other content - to boards by pinning pictures. It is also a visual search engine just like Google and YouTube.  You can search for - and find -  pretty much anything on Pinterest!

Pinterest is a great platform that will generate traffic to your blog, website, or YouTube channel with minimal effort.  Pinterest is an invaluable tool for generating organic traffic for your business.

In this video "KEM WordPress Community - Pinterest Basics: What you need to know about Pinterest?" - Leslie Laws, an Online Marketing Specialist, discusses how you can use Pinterest for your business - including Pinterest Strategy and super helpful Pinterest tips.

More about Leslie Laws:

Join the free Facebook Group for more Wordpress Tips to support you on your WordPress & Traffic Generation journey.