Why Website Security Isn't "Set It and Forget It" in the Age of AI — And What It Takes to Stay Safe

As AI reshapes the landscape, website security has gotten harder — and the threats have changed in ways that "just keep your software updated" no longer fully addresses. Here's what's happening, in plain terms, and how careful, active management keeps sites safe.

I want to share something that's been making headlines in the web security world lately, because it affects nearly every website built on platforms like Joomla and WordPress — which means it affects most of the sites I manage.

Read more: Why Website Security Isn't "Set It and Forget It" in the Age of AI — And What It Takes to Stay Safe

Is Your Online Presence Built on Sand? Reasons You Need a Website & Email Marketing Too

The Social Media Dilemma: A Cautionary Tale

Just like a castle built on sand, a business that relies solely on social media can be vulnerable to the unpredictable tides of platform changes and algorithm updates.

Social media platforms are essential tools for businesses to communicate with their audiences. However, relying solely on these platforms can be risky.

Read more: Is Your Online Presence Built on Sand? Reasons You Need a Website & Email Marketing Too

New Google & Yahoo Bulk Email Rules: What You Need to Know (2024 Update)

You may have heard that Google and Yahoo implemented new bulk email rules starting in February 2024.

Some people I've encountered ask, "What is bulk email"?

Read more: New Google & Yahoo Bulk Email Rules: What You Need to Know (2024 Update)

Build Your Business Reputation With Customer Reviews

Reviews and testimonials are everywhere! Because they work!!

They are especially prevalent online. Do you ever see a product on Amazon that doesn't include reviews? Have you relied on reviews when choosing a hotel? A restaurant? A home repair person?

Soon after you make a purchase or use a service, do you start getting emails asking you to provide a review or give feedback?

Read more: Build Your Business Reputation With Customer Reviews

Overcoming the Challenges of Writing A Blog (and why you need to do it)

I've talked before about the benefits of writing a blog.

And, today, I am taking steps to listen to myself!

Yes, I know all the reasons to write regular blog posts -- and I do believe in them.  Actually, when I was doing a good job of publishing monthly and pushing the content out through email and social media, I saw increases in my website traffic -- and more importantly -- increases in my business.

So why did I stop?  Sounds like a no-brainer, right?

Read more: Overcoming the Challenges of Writing A Blog (and why you need to do it)

Changes are coming to Joomla! and WordPress

I've been working with technology for a long time. The one thing that you can always count on is change—it's inevitable. Usually, the changes are good, sometimes they aren't, but you just have to keep moving with them anyway.

Many years ago, you never wanted to be the first to implement a new change or update. You could count on a lot of bugs and problems. It was much better to let others work through those and apply the update once issues were ironed out. It was even advisable not to upgrade until the NEXT latest and greatest was ready to be released. That was before all our systems were connected to the Internet and introduced security concerns.

Read more: Changes are coming to Joomla! and WordPress

Consistency in Your Content Marketing and Beyond

This definition, from Dictionary.com, speaks to the process and power of applying consistency to your content marketing strategy as well as other processes in your organization.

When talking with small and mid-sized business owners and organization leaders, I frequently see one of two significant problems:

Read more: Consistency in Your Content Marketing and Beyond

Get Off the Hamster Wheel With Your Content

Do you ever feel like you are a hamster running as fast as you can, but just going in circles?

You are constantly reading about how you need to write content, how you need to post regularly on the various social media platforms, how many times A DAY you need to post on each, how many emails to send a week— oh my! I'm tired just writing that! THAT sounds like a full-time job already!

But your business, whether it's growing or established requires most of your attention. And besides that, you just don't have time or like that "writing stuff."

Read more: Get Off the Hamster Wheel With Your Content

Reflecting on Our Heritage

Summer has sprung! The Fourth of July Independence Day holiday is just around the corner.

I thought I'd get away from the Google Analytics tutorial posts of the last few months—just temporarily—to write something a bit lighter. But what?

• Can I tie the work I provide to my clients to Independence Day? Well, I guess I could, but that wouldn't be light. 
• Can I give you a list of Independence Day "fun facts?" I could, but you can Google that and get more lists than you ever want to look at.

Overall, my creative juices weren't coming up with any fun post where I could make a connection between Independence Day and eKamria.

Read more: Reflecting on Our Heritage

Google Analytics - Learn More About Your Audience

This is the third post in a series to explain Google Analytics and to help you discover how it can be used to understand traffic to your website, how visitors use your site and provide you some insight into improvements you may consider to increase the effectiveness of your digital activities.

In this post, we will explore some of the more useful information in the Audience Reports section.  Since this series is meant to help introduce Google Analytics to those who don't know much about it, I will be skipping over a lot and talking about reports that could be most useful to the widest audience.

Read more: Google Analytics - Learn More About Your Audience