We are at the end of August 2021. You know what that means. We ar on the downside of the year.
We have had challenges again this year, but we are moving towards my favorite time of the year, Fall!
As we round the curve, today we are going to look at some things you need to know moving towards the end of the year.
Get ready to learn Gutenberg
I’m not sure if you have done much work with Gutenberg or not, but now is the time to start if you have not.
Early on Gutenberg got lots of pushback from how it was pushed out, but it has improved with time.
Once WordPress 5.0 came out, it was only a matter of time until it was the way to publish articles.
Now, we know that support for the Classic Editor ends on December 31, 2021.
The announcement was made in November of 2018.
There are three ways I improved my Gutenberg skills.
First, I did a site on WordPress.com for a client. They did not need the flexibility of a self-hosted site and they were a non-profit. It was the perfect excuse to dip my toes into Gutenberg.
I completely built the website in Gutenberg which allowed me to work with blocks and learn and Gutenberg is already built into the WordPress.com platform
Second, I launched two internal projects in Gutenberg. The first one is LocalDigital.Services which is a home for a digital marketing email for local businesses.
I am using Newsletter Glue for the newsletter which works exclusively with Gutenberg. This allows me to work with blocks in a post setting.
Finally, I created a new website as the home of my new podcast, Storyteller Cafe. The entire website is Astra + blocks using one of Astra’s starter themes.
This allowed me to work on pages in the Gutenberg setting.
How have you dipped your toes into the waters of Gutenberg?
Start working with Full Site Editing
The other day I watched a webinar about Full Site Editing (FSE). I know many people are wary of this, but I found myself intrigued.
One thing I learned is that you have to have a compatible theme to use FSE. Currently, there is only a handful available.
Gutenberg Times has a list where you can see what is compatible.
List of WordPress Themes for Full-Site Editing and Resources
When I watched the presenter work in FSE, it looked almost like he was working in Beaver Builder or Elementor. I was astonished!
It works really well with blocks, and it is the future of website building. Even so, you still may need your own page builder to help with various types of pages.
But if you are doing a more brochure-type website with a few pages, you can do this easily with FSE and blocks.
I am looking forward to giving it a try now that I know more. I need to spin up a demo site to try it out.
Have you tried out FSE? What do you think?
FSE Resources
www.masterfse.com (Course)
Newfold… What happened to EIG?
Matt Medeiros podcast interview with Joost via the WP Minute about the acquisition by Newfold
Newfold (EIG) has an _interesting_ persona in the WordPress space. How do you see them fitting in with the WordPress culture now that Yoast is part of the brand?
First of all, Newfold is not EIG. While EIG certainly is a part of Newfold Digital, the company is very different from what EIG was, with different leadership. They acquired us for a large part because of our commitment to the WordPress community, I think that says a lot about them.
I think we will be able to help Newfold brands interact with the WordPress community in a good way. In general, I think we can be an ally to all who want to further develop a great WordPress ecosystem.
Source: The WP Minute
So, according to Joost de Valk, the EIG we all know and love is a very different company with new leadership. This is important because it will help us understand what happens to the Yoast plugin going forward. Many people are concerned about the old EIG owning the leading SEO plugin in the market.
We shall see.
Looking for a new SEO Plugin? here are some options
Since Yoast has been acquired by EIG’s Newfound Digital, whatever they are called, many are looking for new SEO plugins. There are other excellent SEO plugins in the repository.
- Slim SEO
- SEO Press
- All in One
- Rankmath
- The SEO Framework
Which is your favorite SEO plugin?
You are your client’s most secure asset!
Business owners often don’t count the cost of digital assets. But, if you have business owners using your maintenance and web care services, you are their most valuable asset!
And with the further popularity of WordPress, and more people trying to crack our information, the fact that you handle security for them is a huge value add.
They need you!
You keep them from getting in trouble.
Develop a good relationship, keep a regular line of communication, and continue to be successful.
Recently WP Scan and Wordfence put out their mid-year report. Take a look and see how valuable you are!
Mid-year security report from Wordfence and WP Scan.
Keep using MainWP and keeping your clients’ sites safe.
WPMRR Summit kicks off in September
I’m visiting with Joe Howard now to do an article in September ahead of the WPMRR virtual summit. Recently, I visited him on the WPMRR podcast.
The purpose of this summit is to help web agency owners build recurring revenue businesses.
Wrapping it up
The last four months are some of my favorite months. I crave the cooler weather after a hot and humid Arkansas summer, and I am ready for some pumpkin!
In some ways, I start to feel refreshed in the fall. We are hitting the last third of the year and we have things left to do before we enter the holiday season.
What things have you done or learned in 2021? What do you look forward to for the remainder of the year?
