Uncategorized – DrawYourPets Blog

Optimizing In-Home Care St Louis

There were five factors that contributed to the optimization of In-Home Care St Louis.

1. Site Speed

First, I optimized the site speed for In-Home Care St Louis by compressing all images and increasing expiration dates for cacheable resources. I worked with our hosting company, Flywheel, to reduce redirects and remove all duplicate content.

By doing this, we were able to achieve an A in performance and an A+ score in structure on GTMetrix:

2. Keyword Research / Implementation

Second, we researched and ultimately generated a list of 50 keywords for In-Home Care St Louis. Considering their name, In Home Care St Louis, that key-phrase became the #1 target. We discovered that the keyphrase In-Home Care St Louis received a monthly search volume of 390 with a difficulty score of 43 / 100 on Ubersuggest. We added In-Home Care St Louis as the focus keyphrase on the home page via the Yoast SEO tool, and added it as a related key-phrase on other pages via the G Meta Keywords plugin.

49 other keywords were researched and targeted after a competitive analysis using the SEMRush SEO tool. Therefore, these keywords are a combination of what our competitors are ranking for and what we’d like to rank for as a business.

3. Accessibility / UX Testing

Third, I tested the website for accessibility issues using the Axe Devtools browser extension and also completed cross-browser testing using Browserstack. As a result, I was able to fix multiple color-contrast compliance issues by using the WebAIM tool. Lawsuits are on the rise for inaccessible websites. Therefore, accessibility is becoming increasingly important. DBS Interactive describes 8 different ways that SEO and Accessibility go hand-in-hand in this article.

4. Backlink Research

Creating backlinks is hard, but SEMrush makes it easier. By using the Link Building tool, we were able to generate a list of over 5,000 domain prospects for establishing backlinks. As a result, it then becomes our job to sift through this list and determine which links are achievable. You can reach out to website owners via Gmail, LinkedIn, or other forms of social media. Check out this article from Backlinko.com on how to establish credible backlinks in 2021.

5. Social Media

In conclusion, something that goes hand-in-hand with Backlinks, but also is very different, is social media outreach. Yes, you can use a social media post to create a backlink to your site, but you are the one who’s creating this content. However, social media pages still carry just as much weight as a regular website. Ellen DeGeneres’s Twitter page, for example, has a domain authority of 59 on SEMrush:

That’s a better Domain Authority score than the websites for the Chicago Cubs (cubs.com), Hurley Apparel (hurley.com), and Orville Redenbacher (orville.com). This carries serious weight for just being a social media page. If you’re able to gather followers through marketing and outreach campaigns, then you too can establish credible backlinks to your website through your Social Media posts.

Best Tutorials for Customizing WordPress Themes

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After researching this topic, I have learned that there are two ways of creating a custom WordPress theme:

– writing a custom theme from scratch
– creating a child theme

I have yet to try these methods, but I have found that there are great tutorials that teach both styles. Here are the five best tutorials for customizing WordPress themes.

1.) How To Create a WordPress Theme: The Ultimate WordPress Theme Tutorial

The first tutorial that I found was written by Ian Stewart in 2009. The tutorial walks you through a 12-step process using thorough descriptions and explanations for each step. Stewart, for example, will give you the code for the HTML structure and then explain the various classes for each tag / how they create your desired structure. Rather than just copying and pasting the code into your text editor without really knowing why, you’re given a good explanation for each step throughout this tutorial.

If there’s any drawback to this tutorial, it’s that it was written nearly 7 years ago, so it’s hard to know if all of this code is still valid, considering how fast things change in website design.

2.) How To Create and Customize a WordPress Child Theme

This tutorial begins by saying:

“When trying to make changes to a website, a staggering number of people opt to edit their theme directly. This means that they are changing or adding files in their current theme’s folder, which creates a number of problems.”

The greatest of these problems is that any modification made to the theme via direct edit will be lost once the theme is updated by the developer. If the user is not able to keep their theme up to date, then their security can become at risk.

A better option is to create a child theme, which allows you to make a number of changes to a website without touching the original theme files.

The tutorial goes on to explain more about child themes, such as how they relate to a parent theme and how they have the ability to change its style, function, layout, and template. You can customize a parent theme beyond recognition just by using a parent / child theme relationship.

Another advantage to using child themes is its simplicity – you only need a folder, style sheet, and a functions.php file.

But using a child theme isn’t always the best option. If you only want to change something minor on your website, such as a color or font, it’s probably better to use a CSS plug-in. Child themes are better for large changes like design overhaul and multiple template changes.

Like in the previous article, the author provides you with the code and then give a thorough explanation for each step. However, since this article was written in January 2016, you can rest assured that everything is current and up-to-date.

3.) WordPress Theme Tutorial – Youtube Playlist by LearnWebCode

One of the most important things when looking for a Youtube tutorial is how well the instructor communicates. Since none of the information is written down, poor communication becomes a problem with a video series.

This tutorial by LearnCodeWeb does a good job of providing thorough explanations in plain English. The tutorial currently has 286,882 views and 2212 / 2252 likes (98% likes), and based on the reviews in the comment section, it seems to be doing a good job.

LearnWebCode is said to have “awesome language skill” and is a “gifted teacher.” Obviously there is no guaranteed response for your questions on his tutorial series, but some of the questions have been answered by other users.

4.) WordPress 101: Create a Theme From Scratch – Youtube Playlist by Alessandro Castellani

This tutorial by Alessandro Castellani also has a very high rating with 809/821 likes (99%) and over 65,000 views on the first video in the playlist.

There are 22 videos in total, which cover everything you will need to create a custom WordPress theme. However, you will need to have a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP to begin.

Also, as you may have noticed by his name, Alessandro is from Italy, so his accent can be a bit distracting. But his knowledge is excellent and he has been described as “an amazing teacher” by viewers.

5.) How to Create a Child WordPress Theme

In this article for WPmudev by Daniel Pataki, you are provided with reasoning for child theme usage and a step by step process with explanations.

There are also explanations on child theme mechanics (how child themes actually work), notes/instructions from theme makers, and a bit on modifiable functions.

This is a fairly short article but it’s direct and to the point, and it’s nice to have something directly from a WordPress developer with years of experience.

5 Free Social Media Plugins

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Social media is necessary for modern-day marketing. Using it can easily double your website’s traffic – that’s why you want to customize your icons to fit your needs. There’s no need to pay for something that you can get for free, so here are 5 plugins that will dramatically improve the social media icons on your site.

1.) Social Media and Share Icons (Ultimate Social Media)

Ultimate Social Media is one of the most popular plugins for social media icons, averaging about 5,000 downloads a day for the month of February. Ultimate Social Media provides you with links to over 200 social media platforms and offers style, positioning, and functionality that will create serious improvements on your site.

Ultimate Social Media helps you decide whether or not your social media links will be fixed, whether or not they will “pop-up” and allow a user to share, whether or not they will display at the bottom of each post, whether or not they will enable subscription via email, whether or not they will provide animation for icons, and whether or not they will show “counts” for share information (to name some of the features).

This plugin will also take you through a step-by-step process for installation and set-up. Ultimate Social Media has received an average of 4.9 / 5 stars and has been downloaded over 70,000 times, so there isn’t any risk in trying it.

2. Ultimate Social Media Icons (Plus)

The sister plugin of Ultimate Social Media, Ultimate Social Media Icons Plus, provides even more features and makes it even easier for the user. Just like Ultimate Social Media, you can still add icons for over 200 social media platforms. But, with Ultimate Social Media Icons Plus, you can:

– place icons before a post

– place icons next to a post on your homepage

– display the icons before and after a post (not just the standard set)

– have more control over where you place the icons

This plugin currently has 10,000 active installs and an average rating of 4.9/5 stars. You can see its full reviews here, and, like it’s sister product, it’s also offered as a free plugin.

3. Social Media Feather

In terms of active installs, Social Media Feather is the most popular plugin on this list with a total of over 100,000 installations. Social Media Feather has tutorials for the beginner and is the only social media sharing / bookmarking plugin with full support for retina and high resolution displays, such as those that are used in the iPad 5 and other devices.

This plugin is mostly known for its simplicity, performance and unobtrusive effect. In order to achieve a high level of performance, the plugin does not use JavaScript, which in turn helps it run faster while still providing typical social media functions, like professional media share and high quality icons.

Social Media Feather also offers widgets for sharing and following that you can place in a widgetized area within your site, while the widgets expose some settings and the parameters to tweak the appearance of the icons.

The plugin also comes with a default icon set but still allows for the customization of the icons by using social icon skins, which can be customized to create interesting effects like fading or greying out.

Social Media Feather has received an average rating of 4.5/5 stars and again there is no risk because it’s free.

4. Cresta Social Share Counter

Cresta Social Share Counter is a relatively underrated plugin, mostly because of its simplicity. However, its simplicity is also what separates it from its competition. Even though it’s limited in how many platforms it allows, with Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Linkedin, and Pinterest being the only available options (in the free version), it still provides a client with all of the same features as the plugins I mentioned before, such as:

– different icon styles

– fade animation

– floating social buttons

– the option to display icons before or after content

– a shortcut code to display the icons anywhere on the page

Obviously as you can see from the title, the share count is the most distinguishable aspect of this plugin. The share count shows how many times the content has been shared to each social media platform – this can be very useful in deciding whether or not to display particular icons.

In addition, Cresta Social Share Counter has a responsive Support Team that offers effective solutions. Cresta’s customer satisfaction rate is at 95%.

5. Floating Social Media Icon (Acurax)

The Floating Social Media Icon plugin by Acurax includes the following features: over 20 icon themes, icon size and order alignment, simple configuration, support for widgets, shortcode, and PHP, floating, fast loading time (due to the small number of icons), help documentation, and it has been featured on several plugin review sites.

Another thing that separates this plugin from others is that it offers support for Pinterest and icon size – no other plugins offer this type of support specifically.

As explained in the title, the social media icons float to one side of the page, which creates simple navigation and reminds the user that they’re there without becoming a distraction.

A live demo of this plugin can be found at the developers’ website. You will notice that the icons immediately capture your attention and then float to the side, but these features can be adjusted according to your preferences.

To learn more about some of the best social media plugins that are free of charge, check out these sites:
ModernWpThemes
ShoutMeLoud

Why I Think Social Media Marketing Is Interesting

social_media_strategy Social media has changed the way that we market. If a business does not use social media, it is often considered “out of touch” and not relatable, since 75% of all adults use some form of social media. In light of these statistics,we develop a strategy with unique practices.

1. Social Media Strategy

My social media strategy involves using the following sites: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest. Specifically as an artist, Instagram and Pinterest are good for displaying visual media, and as I film my drawing process, I’m able to provide high-speed drawing videos for additional entertainment on YouTube. Facebook and twitter are mostly for updates – Facebook is especially good for interacting with potential clients.

2. Social Media Best Practice

It’s good to keep things simple, yet attention-grabbing. Unfortunately in today’s world, there is an increasing correlation between attention and success. Publicity is publicity, even if it’s negative. Therefore, try to keep things creative in order to grab your viewer’s attention in a good way instead of through cheap ploys and immorality.

3. Articles I Recommend

Here is an article that I recommend by Convince&Convert. The article provides a simple 8 step strategy for using social media effectively. Some of their tangible advice includes imitating your competition, having a narrow tweeting purpose, and using valid measurements to determine your ROI efficiency.

Another article by Forbes talks about how to treat your followers and clients. Especially with the rise of things like Yelp and Google Reviews, there is a serious correlation between success and customer satisfaction.

5 Articles That Examine Effective Blogging

number-5 1.) ImForza, an online marketing and web development firm with over 30 years experience in the field, describes various tips and techniques that are used for creating an effective blog. Unlike other articles that only provide you with effective tips, however, ImForza also explains how blogs are important to your business.

2.) For a more personal take on blogging, Annabel Candy offers detailed advice based on her own experience in the field. It’s fun to see her advice actually take shape in the blog post as you read.

3.) For tips and tricks only, about.com gives you 5 useful techniques for blogging, 4 of which are unique to many other articles on the internet.

4.) Instead of boring you with a list of generic guidelines, Want2Discover helps you become a better blogger by telling you what not to do. Check out Bastiaan Blikman’s hilariously honest compilation of instructions for the novice blogger.

5.) Digital Marketing Pro creates a hierarchy of steps as opposed to a random list. By following these 10 simple steps in order, you can learn to create a constant steam of content to increase your rank among users, search engines, and social media platforms.

Drawing Wesson

Drawing Wesson was fun – it was one of my first commissioned fine art pieces. Wesson was created using a 9” x 12” bristol drawing pad and Sanford Design graphite pencils. Though he is currently retired, Wesson used to be a model for Purina, and this drawing captures his vivacious yet elegant spirit during that time period. Wesson is the face of the Washington Veterinarian Clinic in Washington, Missouri. To this day, he is there to greet you with a smile as you enter the door.

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