Author: robin_wp

Every so often, something happens which makes you smile in appreciation of someone’s thoughtfulness.

As a speaker in #WCTO 2017 next month, I received an email a few weeks ago from Martha Chan offering to put up a speaker in her home and save the expense and bother of a hotel for the two nights of the conference. She included a drive in on both days.

I couldn’t resist replying just to express my appreciation for her offer notwithstanding that I’m in Toronto and not in need myself. She replied and, in our exchange, it occurred to me Continue reading “The spirit of community is alive at WCTO”

Can a professional website be created by the ultra low cost freelancers sourced in
one of the many freelance marketplace sites?

Why not find out first hand?

That’s the task that Guy Gentil, a WordPress freelancer recently arrived in Toronto, set out for himself. Have a site built with a commercial theme, a custom logo and original content. Use offshore freelancers with whom he would Continue reading “Outsourcing a WordPress site build, a show and tell story”

By Robin Macrae

You’ve seen in Google search results those product prices, sports event dates and teams playing, star ratings, recipe cooking times and other nuggets of useful information displayed for some pages. They are rich snippets and a valuable SEO enhancement you can add to the content of your site and its pages.

Rich snippet is the term used to describe the structured data markup that can be added to a page’s existing HTML, which in turn allow search engines to better understand what information is contained on the page. S: A Beginner’s Guide to Rich Snippets – Unamo Blog.

There’s no mystery why and how these pages have this advantage. By adding structured data— aka schema markup—to your content, you can make Continue reading “Scheme your way to more SEO traffic with structured data”

When you’ve put the time and effort into a WordCamp presentation, don’t misfire on some basics in delivering it.

This post has tips on making the most of your WordCamp speaking opportunity. It’s not a guide or advice on preparing the presentation itself but rather, having developed a good one, getting the most from it. There are lots of tutorials, guides and advice specific to Continue reading “10 tips for making the most of your WordCamp speaking opportunity”

For speakers, see the companion post, 10 tips for making the most of your WordCamp speaking opportunity. You may find some of the tips for attendees here to be helpful in your preparation.

You’re planning to attend WordCamp Toronto this year, have a ticket and now you’re thinking that a bit of preparation would be a good idea. Congratulations! You’re going to get a lot more out of the event with that in mind.

Even if you have attended a WordCamp, most of us just show up and wing it. Don’t. You’ve started to think about it so here are some tips from my experience at tech gatherings for OS launches to product introductions to user conferences such as WordCamp.

The first tip is to state the obvious. The more time spent reviewing and evaluating session choices and getting organized for WordCamp, the better the experience and more useful the content will be for you. Admittedly, speakers vary widely in the quality of their presentation descriptions. The casual nature of the event means Continue reading “5 keys to a rewarding and enjoyable WordCamp experience”