Why is WordPress so popular?

You may have noticed that WordPress is powering so many modern websites (23% of all websites to be exact). WordPress can be found running independent blogs written by your neighbor, to notable brands like The New Yorker or BBC America. But why is WordPress so popular? Easy To Use WordPress is user friendly and intuitive … Read more

WordPress Site Speed – five ways to step on the gas

Site load speed is one of those topics that rarely gets enough attention. In WordPress, there are about three zillion ways to improve load speed. We use some of these for our WordPress maintenance plans and have had dramatic results in some cases, so we thought we’d share the love. gZip compression gZip compression is … Read more

Ghost Referral Spam in Google Analytics

I have to admit I don’t like spam — not with breakfast, not in my Jello, and certainly not in my Google Analytics reports. Google has provided the interwebs with a really complex and useful tool for analyzing website traffic, and it’s totally free. But therein lies the problem. Anyone can sign up for Google … Read more

Building a Better Blog Post – Engage your Readers and Nurture your SEO

I’m a relatively new addition to the Watermelon Web Works team, and when they asked me to create blogging content, I was a bit under prepared. I’d never published content for a high end development company before! But I realized it was time to put my expertise down on paper (so to speak), and translate … Read more

What’s in a name: Secrets to a great URL

It’s no secret that the setup for your website determines how easily people can find it online; in fact, it’s the core concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). What is less commonly known is that a huge part of getting more traction on your website happens before anyone, from visitors to Google’s indexing bots, even … Read more

Learning to use the WordPress editor

The WordPress editor is where most content is created on a page or post in WordPress. The tools of the WordPress editor assist in adding images, formatting text, and organizing your content. Knowing how to use the tools will allow you to think about your content more professionally, and provide more engaging content. Toolbar Toggle … Read more

Secure Your WordPress Site with Wordfence

As of March 20 2015 WordPress accounted for 60.3% of all websites with a defined content management system (CMS) and an estimated 23.9% of ALL websites in the world (Per http://w3techs.com). That is quite an impressive number, but not surprising given how easy it is to create a site with WordPress and perform powerful functions … Read more

WordPress Multisite: Building a Network

We often talk to our clients about how powerful WordPress is, and that it has grown leaps and bounds from its humble beginnings as a blogger-centric platform.  One great example of the robust nature of WordPress is the ability to create a network of sites all driven with a single WordPress installation by using the … Read more

Google algorithms, SEO and the prime directive for your website

What the heck is a Google algorithm? Does it have fins? This was a question posed to me by one of our clients recently. It does not have fins. It may, however, make some hard-working people shriek at the approach of a potential website killer. AlgorithmA procedure or formula for solving a problem The problem … Read more

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