image of someone checking their email

Use Business Email for Your Small Business


Stop using hotmail.com, gmail.com, aol.com, yahoo.com, outlook.com, or any other .com or random TLD for your small business email addresses. Use the DOMAIN NAME of your website instead (i.e. mydomain.com).

One of the most common mistakes small business owners make is to use a general, free email address to communicate with their partners, vendors, employees, and customers. Using a “personal” email address for business class email is problematic for several reasons, and they are:

🔐 Security: Today, nefarious actors employ free personal email to commit fraud and extract revenue from unsuspecting customers. A scammer could register an email address matching the name of your business. For example, my agency is “digitalstrategyworks.com.” The scammer would open an email account: “[email protected]” then reach out to my customers using that false address. The customer may not realize it’s not me and disregard safety, but if they are aware your email comes from your domain, it’s more likely to reach them. Additionally, when you use business email, protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are applied, confirming you are who you say you are.

✅ Branding: When I send an email from my domain, “i.e. (me)@digitalstrategyworks.com,” my brand is impressed upon the recipient that I’m a trusted contact. Trust is critical. And, the recipient is more likely to open it.

📩 Deliverability: Today, all major providers of email, whether that be Google or your hosting company, utilize a “white list” and “black list.” As emails are delivered, the email address itself and the content of the emails are ranked for the likelihood of spam or scams, and they end up in your customers’ spam folders. Using a business email address through a service like Google Workspace “whitelists” your email address as it originates from your domain. Additionally, providers of free personal email also don’t like it when you use a free, personal email address to send hundreds or thousands of emails to customers. Your account is at risk and could be shut down at any time. You’d lose all your contacts and access to emails in your inbox.

These are just a few good reasons to use business-class email on your domain. Unsure how to set up a business-class email address, please do reach out to me, and I can set it up for you. I use Google Workspace, which comes with mail, docs, sheets (like Excel), calendar, and more. Reach out to me and we’ll set up a call to get you started with your proper business email address.

Mastering Brand Consistency: How to Maintain a Unified Brand Voice and Visual Identity Across Social Media Channels

In today’s digital world, businesses must maintain a unified brand voice and visual identity across various social media platforms to build strong brand recognition and deepen audience engagement. Each platform has its own characteristics, but a consistent brand presence can foster trust and long-term loyalty. Keep reading for strategies that businesses can employ to keep their branding consistent across all social media channels.

Develop a Multi-Platform Style Guide

A brand style guide is essential for ensuring consistency, especially when different teams or individuals manage different social media channels. While the brand’s core identity remains the same, the style guide should account for the unique nature of each platform. For example, Instagram may focus more on visuals, while platforms like LinkedIn may require a more formal tone. Tailor the guide to each platform without straying from the core brand message. Include best practices for tone, language, and visuals on each platform. This approach ensures that, while the content may vary in format or tone slightly, it all feels like part of the same brand.

Use Consistent Visual Branding

Visual identity plays a major role in creating a unified brand image across social media. The company logo, fonts, colors, and imagery should remain consistent across all platforms. Whether it’s a Facebook cover photo, an Instagram post, or a YouTube thumbnail, these elements should be instantly recognizable as belonging to your brand. Create templates for common social media posts, such as quotes, product highlights, or announcements, that align with your brand’s visual identity. This reduces the need for constant redesign and ensures consistency. However, make sure to optimize images and visuals for each platform, as dimensions and formats differ.

Adapt Your Voice Without Losing Consistency

While each social media platform has its unique style, adapting your brand voice to fit the audience and context of each platform is crucial for engagement. For instance, your tone on Instagram may be more casual, while LinkedIn might demand a professional approach. That said, any adaptations should remain within the brand’s core voice. The brand should feel familiar across channels, regardless of variations in tone—whether professional, friendly, or humorous. An effective way to maintain consistency is by using the same key phrases or brand-specific jargon across all platforms, ensuring a seamless experience for your audience.

Leverage Content Repurposing Smartly

Repurposing content across social media channels is a great way to maintain consistency, but it should be done thoughtfully. Directly copying content from one platform to another may harm engagement because each platform’s audience expects different styles and formats. Instead, repurpose content in a way that feels native to each platform. For example, turn a long blog post into a series of Instagram visuals or a concise Twitter thread. This approach ensures that your brand message remains consistent while appealing to each platform’s specific audience and content preferences.

Monitor and Adjust Based on Audience Feedback

Maintaining a unified brand voice and visual identity across platforms requires ongoing monitoring. Audience preferences change, and your brand’s approach may need to adjust to remain relevant while maintaining core consistency. Regularly analyze social media engagement metrics and pay attention to feedback to gauge how well your content is resonating with audiences on different platforms. Based on this feedback, you can make subtle shifts in tone or visual style, adapting to what works best for each platform without compromising your brand’s overall identity. This ensures that your messaging remains fresh and engaging while staying true to your core branding.

Using Adobe Express to Maintain a Unified Brand Voice and Visual Identity

Adobe Express offers a suite of tools that can help businesses maintain a cohesive brand voice and visual identity across various social media platforms. Below are some key Adobe Express features that can streamline the process of ensuring brand consistency:
  • Easily create a professional logo that reflects your brand identity and use it across all your marketing materials for instant recognition.
  • Remove image backgrounds to create clean, polished visuals that highlight your products or services without distractions.
  • Build engaging infographics to communicate key brand messages and data in a visually compelling and consistent style.
  • Design sleek presentations that carry your brand’s fonts, colors, and imagery for a cohesive look across every customer touchpoint.
A unified brand voice and visual identity across social media channels are critical for building strong brand recognition and increasing audience engagement. By defining your brand’s core identity, developing a tailored style guide, and ensuring consistency in both visuals and tone, businesses can build a cohesive and memorable presence. Balancing the need for platform-specific content with a unified brand approach will help engage diverse audiences effectively while maintaining consistency across all channels. Photo via Adobe Stock
stock image of woman with laptop standing nexxt to server room in office building.

Have You Set Up Backups for Your WordPress Website?


An important aspect of self-hosting a WordPress website is ensuring a backup system is in place. Those of you working with Squarespace, Wix, or Weebly don’t need to worry about backups, because those platforms host the underlying CMS themselves.

When you self-host a WordPress install on a common web host, that service provides WordPress for you, and backups are a necessary safety measure to ensure you don’t lose your site or valuable content.

For many years, backups were a mystery. “Does my web host provide backups?” Maybe or maybe not. Your site was hacked or disrupted in some way, and you found out the hard way that cheap, shared hosting does not provide for backups. You lost everything and couldn’t get it back.

Recognizing the opportunity, a cottage industry of WordPress backup plugins popped up. While they solved a problem, the few that appeared had built in a default setting to back up your website to your own web server.

What? Backing up to your own server? In a folder created in your uploads directory on the server?. A server that can go down at any time?

Yes, that’s what I said. Makes no sense.

At the very least, it provided a backup system, but besides the server corrupting or getting hacked, all those backups ate up your allotted storage. You could set it to take a backup nightly and remove the prior version. However, if you wanted to set it to 30 days of backups, all of a sudden, you were out of storage space.

Your web host notified you of this, but you had absolutely no idea this was going on in the background. Storage is not unlimited, and backups can eat up all your storage allotment. When you reached your max storage capacity, your web host froze your site until you removed all of the backups to get back under the storage limit, which was only 50GB. You probably had to hire someone to log in to your server via FTP and investigate, which you could have done yourself if only you knew how!

While these plugins had options to back up to Amazon Cloud or Google Drive, you’re not a developer and weren’t sure how to set that up, so you left it to its own devices.

Some time went by, and there was a realization that backing up to your own server is a huge problem, so Automattic (the PRO services arm of WordPress) launched VaultPress, which synced your backup offsite onto their servers and provided one-click restore features.

Not to be outdone by Automattic or the backup plugins, website hosting companies like WP Engine, Flywheel, Kinsta, and Siteground began offering 30 days of site backups with a one-click restore function as a feature of your paid “managed hosting: plan. These plans are more expensive because they offer developer-centric features and access that the cheaper shared hosting does not.

The truth is, even if you have a “managed hosting” plan at one of the aforementioned hosting companies, you probably have no idea how backups work.

Want to learn more? Book coaching time with me!

Picture of two young men looking at code on a computer screen.

A Quick Guide to Working with Offshore WordPress Developers

One of the most frustrating aspects of WordPress web development is working with offshore teams. It shouldn’t be so hard, but it is.

The number one issue is: CULTURE!

Web developers in India, Ukraine, Brazil, and parts of Eastern Europe have vastly different approaches to how they design and build the website you want and need. They’ve all learned different ways of doing things and will apply what they know, which might work for them, but not for anyone else coming on board that doesn’t have a handle on how they did what they’ve done.

I’ve worked with India-based developers for many years. What I’ve come to learn is that they go to school to learn web development, but they don’t go to school to learn how to solve problems. And, they say “yes” an awful lot but yes means they can try, not yes, they can do. Maybe with experience, they will, but like any junior developer anywhere, they will just build what they think you want in the only way they know how without thinking through the impact down the road.

For example, a few years ago, I needed my India team to build a website with a header and footer in a page builder called Divi. The page builder has a process for this. But what did my developers do? They custom-coded the header and the footer. This was before I learned how to do it in Divi myself.

Years later, once I had to go in and fix something, I couldn’t.

Why?

Because the way they built it with custom code was complicated, and they left me with no documentation on how they did it.

Back then, I didn’t know what I know now. I paid far more for what I needed because I didn’t know how to instruct them otherwise. And, when I finally found out years later, I’d stopped working with them because of these mishaps, so I had no recourse but to rebuild it all myself.

That’s right – a non-developer with product development experience and a deep understanding of WordPress fixed it all in under an hour. I can’t remember how much time it took them all those years ago, but it certainly wasn’t an hour.

Are you struggling with a WordPress project that you can’t seem to wrap your head around? Are you finding it hard to work with the offshore team that pitched you on being able to do anything you ask for without explaining how or why they’re going to do it that way?

If you need a coach to walk you through aspects of your web development project, I’m happy to be there for you. Schedule time with me to discuss your project. Let’s have a conversation about where you are and where you need to go, then start to right the wrongs that you may be experiencing.

As a WordPress coach, consultant, and trainer, I’ve worked with designers, developers, project managers, email marketers, social media managers, and many other roles on hundreds of projects. Let’s connect so I can assist you with working through your challenging website development roadblocks.

Screenshot of User Table in WordPress

A Quick Guide to User Roles in WordPress


What is a “user role” in WordPress? That’s a question asked by so many of my WordPress coaching clients.

A “user role” is an assignment of rights and permissions to each user in a content management system.

Out of the box, WordPress assigns various user roles that allow or deny the ability to take actions in the system.

These are:

  • Subscriber: a user role that has no login rights, but gives a user the ability to receive notifications from WordPress. A subscriber may get post notifications or comment notifications on a blog they subscribe to.
  • Contributor: This role allows the user to log in and submit a draft of a blog post, but the post cannot be published. It can be read, edited, and published by the Editor role. This helps a site owner control content publishing, so a contributor’s contribution can go through an editorial process.
  • Author: The author role has contributor and publishing rights. An author can log in, create a post, and publish that post without editorial oversight, but they cannot edit another Author or contributor’s submission. Authors are also granted an Author page that lists all posts published by the Author. This page can contain the Author’s avatar, social media profile links, and an email address.
  • Editor: This role is the second-highest role. An Editor can edit and manage all posts in draft mode or publish to the system. The Editor can edit posts and pages, which are distinctly different. A post is usually a piece of content with metadata, like categories and tags, a post date and time, the name of the Author or Contributor, and loads in reverse chronological order – the latest post first, the oldest last. A page is just what it says – a page of content or utility, like terms and conditions or contact us. Editors have robust control over pages and posts with the ability to edit, publish, unpublish, and delete. Editors can also restore revisions, which are sort of like backups of posts without using your host’s site backup system. Editors cannot interact with Administrator-level controls.
  • Administrator: Has all rights in the system. Can add and remove Users, assign roles, access theme and plugin controls, install and delete themes and plugins, and manage system-level controls under the site’s Settings panel.

These roles are available in every WordPress installation.

Can roles be added or further restricted? Yes. There are User Role plugins to add custom User roles. For example, you can give an Author the same rights as an Editor. And, sometimes a plugin can add a User Role. For example, my Radio Station PRO plugin adds a user role for Show Hosts and Show Producers, and enables rights in the plugin to create and manage show content.

User Roles, therefore, are extensible and fluid. They’re only fixed because most people don’t realize how flexible they can be.

There is one additional role, Super Admin, that can manage all the sites in a multisite network.

Digital Strategy Works Hero Banner screenshot as an example

What is a “Hero Banner” On Your Website?


What is a “hero banner?”

Of course, you can ask ChatGPT or Gemini and get an answer, but since you’re here reading this post, I’ll tell you what it is.

A “hero banner” is the first section below your website header, which uses three specific components to drive interest to action.

It should start below the website header, which holds your navigation menu, and end at the bottom of the screen

It’s all the person viewing your home page should see, unless they scroll below.m it. That content is filler content.

A hero banner consists of:

  1. A background graphic, photo, or video that captures the person’s attention and conveys what the organization is about.

I use a background video no more than a few seconds long that is looped, so the motion is constant. A background video can really create a story about the organization, sometimes more than an image ever could. The motion creates energy, and the viewer will stop to watch the video, which increases time spent on the site and can reduce your bounce rate.

  1. A concise sentence (and maybe subtext) that tells the viewer exactly what your business offers.

For my Digital Strategy Works digital marketing agency, I use this:

Primary – “dynamic digital strategies for content and commerce”

Sub-text – @Planning integrated web, mobile, and social strategies to foster organic engagement and regenerative growth!”

  1. A call-to-action button that, when clicked, takes the viewer directly to your offer. I use “Get Started” for my button text.

A call-to-action is the prompt that directs the viewer to where you want them to go. It stands alone as the primary way to drive your potential customers into your sales channel.

Are you following these steps to close your deal, sell your product, or generate new leads? If you need help with this, let’s schedule 30 minutes to chat about getting you unstuck.

Book time with me.

We can go over this, as well as address more of your website design or redesign needs.

Website Architecture Sketch

Web Design and SEO Coaching for Small Business


You are a small business owner, and you need a working website to communicate your value proposition or sell your products to potential customers.

You’ve taken the steps to get started, but you’re not really sure how to pull it all together.

Someone says, “You need a hero banner that converts!” What the f*&$^ does that mean?

You need a graphical UI designer (or, do you?), and you find a print designer who doesn’t do web design. Why are the two so different?

You need a developer (or, do you?) and you don’t know where or how to get started. Someone introduces you to a web developer from India. You work with that resource for a week. The design is horrible, but the site structure is okay. How do you fix it?

You need CONTENT, but don’t really know what content you’ll need and why. You say to yourself, “I can’t produce content for my website, I don’t have the time or even know how to do it. Who is going to create it?”

You want a podcast and you think you have to put it on a 3rd party podcast platform and not your website (but, do you?). You aren’t sure what goes into a podcast or how it’s distributed.

Someone says, “Have you given the developer your UI for the site yet”? And, you have no idea what that means.

You have $1,000. A web developer in the US quotes you $10,000, but an offshore developer quotes you $750. Why the huge difference in cost/budget?

So many questions, rarely a sufficient answer.

You’re frozen. You’re wondering why this is so hard when everyone else told you, just get this (insert website platform here) or just hire these people, and you’ll be off and running in no time!

(Psst: That’s never really true, is it?)

It’s not that easy? All the know-it-alls that tell you building your website will be easy-peasy, and they actually have no idea what you want, so their advice is premature.

How do you learn about all this? How do you reach for help when no one in your circle is an expert or willing to spend the time explaining it.

That’s where I come in.

Set up a free, 30-minute call with me, and we’ll explore your issues and then set out a plan to help you better understand what you’re getting yourself into.

I’ve built hundreds of websites over the last 30 years. Through that experience, I’ve learned a whole lot. I can share that with you when we begin working together.

Book a 30-minute free consultation today, and let’s get on this!

Good Neighbor Podcast: Digital Strategy Works


Tony Zeoli, founder of Asheville-based Digital Strategy Works, a web design and digital marketing consultancy, recently appeared on the Good Neighbor Podcast to talk about website design and development, SEO, and digital marketing strategy.

What began during the COVID shutdown has grown into a nationwide movement celebrating small businesses. Good Neighbor Podcast brings together local podcasters from across the country to spotlight the entrepreneurs, professionals, and business owners who power their communities. Small business is the heart of every neighborhood—and we’re here to share their stories. 🎙️ Tune in to hear from your good neighbors—and learn how to nominate a business to be featured on the show.

Stream Player WordPress.org Plugin Page Banner Image

Stream Player (Open Source) by Radio Station by netmix® Launched


I am super excited to finally announce the launch of our Stream Player plugin for WordPress, which allows you to livestream audio on your WordPress website with Shoutcast, Icecast, and Live365. It may also work with other stream providers, but we can’t test or have access to all of them, so we’re hoping to get some feedback.

There’s an issue now where the block isn’t displaying in the block library, but the shortcode [radio-player] works. It’s free to download and get started livestreaming. Stream Player (open-source) supports 7 different formats and 3 player scripts,, as well!

Read about Stream Player features and download on the plugin page. 

Check out the player demo right here!

[radio-player]

See the screen hosts below for a view into the admin and the front-end player.