How to Optimize Images for your Wordpress Website to Help Your SEO
Did you know that images can generate a TON of traffic from image-based search engines like Google? It’s true. In today’s video tutorial, I’m showing you step-by-step how you can optimize the images on your own Wordpress Website to help boost your SEO. Please note: I use an Apple Computer. If you’re not a Mac user and you are using a PC — here’s a link for instructions on how to change the file names in Windows. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!
Video Tutorial: How to Update Wordpress to Secure Your Website
I had eleven sites hacked last week. Yes, 11. I have three security plugins installed. I thought I had strong usernames and passwords. Turns out, I didn’t. After I got the hack repaired and back up and running (if you don’t already know about the amazing guys at Websavers…you really should check them out for your hosting needs!), I began the tedious process of changing ALL my passwords and at the same time creating much more secure user names. I created a video tutorial for you showing you step-by-step how you can do this for your own site. Please take…
November Free Gifts Just for You | Screensavers and Wallpapers
It’s November already! I am back from the Action Academy Retreat I co-led with my good friend Jac McNeil last week. I’m feeling totally inspired. Watching the amazing women who gathered at beautiful Oceanstone Resort bond and make big boss decisions in their own businesses was amazing. Here’s a gift for you. The quote I used for your November Wallpaper became our unofficial manifesto at our retreat. I’ve created a wallpaper for you to use on your mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. Enjoy! You can get your own copies here (just right click and save once the new window opens):…
3 Ways You Can Activate Your Creativity & Discover What Experience Your Dream Clients are Craving From You
As a female entrepreneur, I know what the whispers in your heart sound like. I know because I have them in my own too. I know the mental energy it takes to be able to plan your next exciting offer. The thing is we are often so busy working in our businesses it’s difficult to find the mojo to work ON our business. Between clients, marketing, social media, networking, family, friends, and passions {to name only a few}, where can you find the time to get creative + inspired? In today’s post, I’m sharing my top 3 tips for activating that…
3 Smart Strategies to Attract More Business
My teenage daughter and I are currently making our way across Europe. It’s incredible. Last night I sat watching the sunset over the Aegean Sea and thought about our experiences thus far. As I sat with breeze blowing in my hair and the sweet smell of the sea air, I was quickly reminded how slowing down can help the women I work with gain some serious traction in attracting more clients. I thought about how my daughter and I started this journey alone, not knowing what to expect. And how after our first few hours, we got to know and…
Claiming My Truth: I Am a Teacher
We are all on a journey. This I recognize. Some journeys are bumpier than others. Some are smooth sailing. It will not come as a surprise to you that I LOVE all things tech-y. Designing and coding a website is fun for me. It’s easy and there is no better challenge in my world than conquering a new software and making it work for my clients. What you may not know about me is that I started off in this world as a teacher. An elementary school teacher to be exact. I was Miss MacKinnon long before I became Krista Smith. I loved…
FREE: New Screensavers/Wallpaper for Spring!
I’m not sure where you live but here in Nova Scotia it’s been a loooooooooonnnnnnng winter. In the past fourteen days alone, we’ve received just over 90 centimeters of the white stuff (that’s 35 and 1/2 inches!) here in the Halifax area. SERIOUSLY. You’d think as a Canadian, I’d be use to snow. The thing is we live in a Maritime climate. A typical winter for us means 10-15 cm of snow followed by rain a few days later that washes the white stuff away. We generally have cold temperatures but our proximity to the Atlantic Ocean brings a mixed…
Why it’s Finally Time to Get Friendly with Mobile for your Website
It’s time, pretty lady. Google has made a decision that will impact how your website shows up in search results. And it’s starting on April 21, 2015. My inbox has been flooded with emails the past couple of months from clients, colleagues, and friends asking why they are getting a notification from Google that their beautiful website has mobile usability errors. Or, they have noticed the buzz on social media talking about Google making changes and rewarding websites who are recognized as mobile friendly. What exactly is Mobile Responsive Design? I made the move early last year to design…
How to create custom graphics for your blog posts
All around the interwebs lately I’ve had clients and colleagues ask me how they go about creating a custom graphic for their blog posts. Are you curious why adding an image to your blog post or on social media is a savvy online move? I’ve outlined my top five reasons here: Bigger engagement – it’s true. Your followers or users are much more inclined to engage with you when there is an image attached to your post. I’ve personally seen at least a 5x increase in engagement when I share a an image compared to sharing a text only post.…
A New and FREE E-course just for you :)
Hello Beautiful! February is here and I’ve been in full on creation mode since January began. I’m hoping you’ve been nourishing your own creative inner self too! I’ve just finished an intensive weekend course called Pattern Camp by Jessica Swift. I loved every second of learning new things. Being a student again took me back to thinking about when I was a teacher myself. I educated young minds here in Nova Scotia for ten years. I loved every second of it. I’m certain that’s why I’m so excited about a new e-course I’ve developed with my very good friend and…
Happy New Year to You – Screen Savers for Your Computer & Mobile Devices
It’s a time of new beginnings. New ideas. Dreams. Plans. As we enter into 2015, I’m so excited for what’s possible. I had amazing feedback from you last month with the wallpaper screensavers I created for you! I was inspired this morning to create three more choices for you for January. Here’s my favorite on my iPad: Enjoy & please share with your friends! All you need to do is click on the one you’d like to download (it’ll open in a new window), then simply right click, save as, and then download to your device. Once it’s saved, go into your screen saver settings to…
Five Things You May Be Missing on Your Contact Page (and How They Can Improve Your Client On-boarding Process & Bottom Line)
One of the pages on a newly designed or redesigned website that often isn’t given as much thought as the essential about, services, or portfolio page is your contact page. The page that people land when they’re ready to reach out to you. Some web visitors will land here after spending time getting to know you either on your website or through social media or even in person. I believe there are five things that most online entrepreneurs miss out on when creating this page that can impact how you bring new clients into your process and can impact your bottom line in…
December Treats for You – Screen Savers for your computer and mobile devices
It’s December and for me this is a time of quiet reflection. When I pause to think about the amazing people who’ve come into my life in the past year. This year I’m grateful for the incredible women who chose me to design their online home. It’s a time of year for me to be grateful for all the goodness I’ve seen, felt, heard, and witnessed. It’s the time of year where I find myself spending extra time on Pinterest, curating inspiration for next year. In early November, I was lucky enough to reconnect with one of my best friends from…
A Digital DNA Design for Insightful Gail Gaspar
Today I have the privilege of introducing you to Gail Gaspar. Gail is a co-active coach who helps her clients create the lifestyle they crave in the “next-stage” of their lives. Through her own eye-opening transformation, she designed a process of Leading True that enables her clients to navigate business building and career changes with a fulfilling lifestyle outcome in mind. Gail fully believes it is possible to reinvent yourself with a renewed sense of purpose at any stage of life. Don’t you just love that? Let’s meet Gail and get inspired: What’s the best way to bottom line what…
A Digital DNA Design for the Beautiful Monica Faux-Kota
Today I’d like to introduce you to Monica Faux-Kota. Monica is a soul-sister. She’s equal parts intuitive, compassionate, genuine, and nurturing. Her web design journey took a little longer than most of my clients. She came to me looking for a dream site for her massage therapy practice. The certifications, courses, and creds Monica has under her belt combined with her passion for supporting women on their journey makes her speciality in empowering women to be the best they can be a perfect fit for her loving personality. One of the things I’ve come to love about working with Monica is that she never stops…
A Digital DNA Design for the Insightful Lorena Knapp
Today I’d like to introduce you to Lorena Knapp. Lorena is an Accountability Coach specializing in helping people identify their next steps and creating a plan of action to move forward. What would you be doing if you weren’t waiting for someday? An Accountability Coach (like Lorena!) will help you identify what’s holding you back and create a plan of action to help you move forward. The thing I love about Lorena is that she walks the walk and talks the talk. She’s a dream chaser and helps her clients chase their own big dreams. Her upcoming group program, Big Life Accountability Support Team…
Customizing and Personalizing your Opt-In Process using MailChimp
Imagine this: Melanie (who happens to be your most perfect client, though neither of you know that yet!) is clicking around online. She’s searching for just what you have to offer. She spends time with your website and gets more and more drawn in as she scans through your site. She reads your last couple of blog posts and feels an instant connection with you. She’s not quite ready to buy what you’re offering yet but she’s very interested to see how your services might be exactly what she’s been searching for. She spies your newsletter sign up, is intrigued…
A Digital DNA Design for the brilliant Michelle MacLean
Today I’d like to introduce you to Michelle MacLean. Michelle works primarily with women who are struggling with the effects of sugar. She helps them reclaim their inner sweetness and let go of sugar for good. Her new signature service, The Sugar Shift, is an eight-week transformational program in exploring how you think and feel about your body, about food, and about sugar. By signing up to Michelle’s newsletter, you’ll receive her free primer workbook, or Module 0 of the Sugar Shift, with 4 powerful exercises to figure out if you are ready for a Sugar Shift. I adore how this site came…
A Digital DNA Design for the Beautiful Amy Kessel
Today I have the privilege of introducing you to Amy Kessel. She works with women who are moving into a more intentional and authentic way of living and leading. By signing up to her newsletter list, you receive her complimentary Personal Power Assessment which will help you uncover where you can tap into your own personal power. Her intuitive and intellectual ability to hone in and help you negotiate your challenges will leave you craving her compassionate touch. I adore her and her work. Let’s dive in and meet her: What’s the best way to bottom line what you do? I’m a co-conspirator, an…
Creative Ideas for your 404 Page
One of the pages you rarely think about is your error page. By intentionally creating a page that your web visitors will land on if they arrive on your site in error, I believe you’ll strengthen your personal brand. You’re illustrating to your clients that you’ve considered every part of the user experience when you customize your 404 error page. Google defines a 404 error as: Google discovers content by following links from one page to another. Generally, a Not Found status error (usually a 404 HTTP status code) is returned when Googlebot attempts to visit a page that doesn’t exist—either…
Fonts I love for June
I’m introducing a new monthly series today on font families. Choosing type (or fonts) for your website is an important piece of creating a cohesive personal brand. When thinking about the fonts you need for your website, you also need to consider web safe fonts. Google has a wide range of web fonts that, when used creatively, can punch up your website to show off your personality. I encourage all my clients to consider readability, size, color, letter spacing, and font weight when looking at fonts. All of these factors can be tweaked to make a big enough difference for you to use…
Unveiling My New Online Home!
I’m so excited to show you around my new online home. It’s been a while coming. If you’d prefer to listen to this post, you can do that here. The last year has been amazing. I’ve had the privilege of working with women with whom I’ve developed wonderful friendships. I’ve also had the opportunity to dust off my teaching hat and support the students of Amanda Aiken’s Girls Guide to Web Design. Working with two other incredible women (Stephanie and Katy) made it so awesome — thanks girls! I’ve learned a ton and a great time doing it. For the past couple of…
How I went from 183 followers to over 1400 on Pinterest (in four days!)
I still can’t believe it. I made a couple of small shifts in the way I was using Pinterest for my business late last week. The results are blowing my mind. On one of my boards, I went from this on May 16: To THIS last night (and if I’d known this was going to happen, I would have taken screen shots at different points over the weekend! As it is, I found these in my email archives): I just took this screen shot on my iPad: I…
The Reason I Adore Working With Wordpress
Wordpress is my canvass. It’s the content management system that almost all of the micro business owners I know use to run their website. I’ve been activating the web essence of women entrepreneurs for over three years now. One of my very best friends, Jac McNeil, wanted to add new design elements to her site. She enlisted the talent of artist for entrepreneurs Lisa McLoughlin to create personalized images for her new design. Customizing a premium theme like the one I use (Thesis) gives me the flexibility to be able to make subtle or huge changes to your overall site…
Identifying the MOST Important Reason for Building a Website
The top three questions I ask each new client interested in web design all involve strategy. Specifically their web goal. I can tell you one thing for sure. I believe the answer should never be, “To have a place online where people can find me.” Trust me on this one :) It needs to be SO much more than that. I believe your web goal should connect directly with what your most desirable clients want and need from you. It’s my opinion that your ideal client simply will not be able to ignore you when you show up for real. That…
A Case Study: Using Photographs to Elevate Your Personal Brand
I’ve been asked several times in the last two weeks about photographs. Specifically how you can strengthen your personal brand by adding images to your web presence. This past August, it was time. Two years had passed since my last headshots were taken. I really needed (and wanted) to update my website and social media profiles with images that really reflected me and the work that I do. So I went on a mission. I started looking through pinterest to find images that spoke to me. Maybe it was a pose I liked. Maybe it was the lighting of another.…
A Digital DNA Design for Beth Williamson Ruse
Each client I work with, I fall in love with. Such is the nature of my work. Beth was no exception. This gorgeous woman came looking for, “A web designer who was able to take the vision I had in my head and compile the bits and pieces of that vision (from the calming colors of the beach to the coziness of a warm blanket) to translate it into a website that was a reflection of me, my work and my vibe.” I am beyond thrilled with our collaborative result! When Beth came to me, she was looking for her site to feel…
Five Things You Need Before Hiring a Web Designer
I adore the excitement that comes with each new client looking to work with me to build a website and a personal brand. I’ve discovered through working with my ideal clients that there are five things that can actually stop the process from going forward. And you know how frustrating that can be…for both of us. For you, the client, because you’re finally ready for the investment that comes with a professional design. For me, because I’m in love with your work and can’t wait to breathe life into it and bring it alive visually. If you’re looking to get your…
How to update to iOS 7
Here’s the Directions to update your iPhone/iPad if you haven’t already. I’ve spent a lot of time helping people sort through this on the weekend. Trust me, ladies. Do this. 1. Download the latest version of iTunes to your computer. Install it once downloaded. MUST DO THIS. If you’ve never done this, what a fabulous time to start! 2. Make sure the update is installed on your computer and open iTunes. 3. Connect your device via the USB cord. It’ll show up as a device in the upper right hand of the iTunes dashboard. (see pic below) 4. Click on…
The progression of a redesign
I’ve had the privilege of being the web designer for the website iterations for Jac McNeil for a couple of years now. I thought it was time to highlight where we’ve been since we started. Here’s what we started with. A very spacious, clean, and professional look. Bringing in a lot of nature photos and anchoring the white with black, burnt amber, and a lake blue. Jac contacted me in November of 2012 to look at her site again. She wanted it to feel more her. We wanted to bring in her warmth and her elegant sense of style. This iteration felt…
