Nicholas Thompson

WARNING **RADICAL HONESTY POST** 😅 So today marks the second day in my new journey of reducing my screentime. But you work at a computer, I hear you say! Yeah but that's the thing. I have been looking at my job as 'separate' to any screen time consumed in the morning or evening and in the endeavor of radical honesty, this became a pretty big issue for me! Those of you who know me will know I'm raw-dogging life without ADHD meds (a personal choice) and there are pros and cons to this. One of the cons is that even though I am an absolute Pro with a capital P at masking, sometimes my impulses take over and I form really bad and unhealthy habits that are hard to break. For what it's worth, when I'm with my kids, it's rare I look at my phone unless it rings but that means that when I'm not I have a million notifications and end up getting sucked in. I also love ❤️TV and film❤️ so many evenings are spent devouring HBO's latest offering or maybe a Prime Home Premier if I'm feeling spicy. I started feeling really low recently and when I thought about it, the amount of hours that my eyes were focused on a screen were really totting up😅The thing is, when you have ADHD you kind of live your life with racing thoughts every waking moment of the day and I realised that my recreational screen use was me trying to self-medicate my exceptionally busy brain, which for obvious reasons isn't great. I mean, what therapist ever recommended more screentime as a means to treat ADHD symptoms? 🤣 Ironically, I've always been really strict on my kids using devices (they only have the telly or laptop for schoolwork) and my 11 year old only has a burner phone as I don't want his social development to be stunted by a screen and internet use, which surprisingly, he's cool with. So I'm owning my shit and making a decision to reduce my out of work hours screentime down to an hour a day and TV is going to become a treat after the gym or at weekends once my kids are in bed. I want to rediscover my creativity away from a screen and I'm hoping this will only enhance the passion and ideas I already bring to my job, which I love! Is anyone else out there just feeling that we are all spending way too much time looking at screens or is it just me? 😅😂 #partialdigitaldetox

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⚙️ Helpful tech tools ⚙️ Next up in my series of helpful tech tools I’ve found over the years is IFTTT: If That Then That. IFTTT is a platform which lets you join apps, devices and services by creating automations between them. For example, if you post a new blog to your WordPress site, you can set up an automation for a tweet to go out at the same time. If you’re a big user of Zoom (as I am), you can ask IFTTT to send you a weekly digest of the meetings you’ve attended. Here’s how it works: 1️⃣ Choose your trigger – a new blog post, approaching spacecraft, a particular date or frequency etc. 2️⃣ Choose your action – what do you want to happen? 3️⃣ Name your automation/‘applet' – e.g. ‘When I post a new blog on the website, post a tweet’ Simple! Find out more about IFTTT here: https://ifttt.com/ For more helpful tools like this one, check out ‘9 free tech tools’ for free on our website 👉 https://lnkd.in/ebM3rMGH #techtips #resource

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At Vervaunt we've been much more hands-on with Shopify Flow over the last 6-9 months after seeing some big improvements, leading to much more useful and complex flows being achieved. I still think there's a few big improvements needed around the UI and configuration before it becomes a real Zapier-esque self serve system, but hope that will eventually come (Gavin Ballard posted about this a few weeks ago which had a lot of good context and discussion). But one element i'm a big fan of are the ready-to-go Flow Templates. This is going to be the common route of connecting vendors in the tech stack together in the medium term. It makes so much more sense handling these fully within the Shopify infrastructure and the days of an app having a big private library of integrations as a USP are numbered. I've cobbled together a quick video of connecting Census > Slack in about 3 clicks to highlight the ease of this for a merchant.

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Need to be in one of these meetings/focus groups where we discuss the absolute need for a radish/turnip emoji Apparently these new emoji may be coming to Android and iOS

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Have you seen my recent blog yet?! 🧐 One of the most common questions I’m asked as website optimisation consultant is “why does Google keep re-writing my search snippets”? Allow me to explain, and then show you how to stop them doing it… READ ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ezY2f64R #SEOexpert #SEOtips #Blog

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It's always nice when we get a client who has been with us long enough to move onto the 2nd or 3rd iteration of their website. RF Landscape Products 2020 Ltd thank you for your loyalty! The previous RF site was a brochureware platform, which showcased products, but required users to inquire for more information. A conscious choice; their business model 5 years ago is very different to what it is now. The brief: a full refresh and transformation into a fully functional eCommerce site. Now, we all realise it's not as SIMPLE as setting up a checkout button and calling it a day... if only it were that easy (Particularly with complex products like paving - how much to cover the customer's area, how much sealant can we upsell with it, nightmare shipping logistics) We stripped the concept down to its most basic form and delved into the user journey. We made sure every touchpoint was optimised for conversions, using the strategies I shared with you the other day. The result? A new website that perfectly complements their high-end product line, featuring an easy-to-use interface > a streamlined user experience. Since the overhaul, here's the stats: → Average engagement time on the site has increased by over 100%. → Conversions have surged by 63% compared to the previous period (OK, OK, there's a new conversion method, fair) → Customer feedback for their trade customers ordering online has been overwhelmingly positive Better performance. Better engagement. More conversions. It's amazing what can happen when you listen to the data and trust your partners. ------- 👋🏻I’m Liam, Founder of Identify Digital. Are you looking to transform your website into a powerful eCommerce platform? If the answer is yes then we should have a chat.

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WordPress 6.6 may affect other add-ons/page-builders so ensure that your site does not auto-update to WP 6.6. Test on a Staging site - and have an Exported back-up - before updating. Don't rush to update and then throw your Cornetto upwards. #WordPress

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When building apps iOS often comes first, especially if working with a US or UK client. But it's important to remember that globally Android has a 71% market share. And I think very affordable Android phones are at a point where they are pretty great - you can get phones now for less than £200 that have great cameras, are fast and are well designed. If you're thinking of building for mobile, make sure you consider Android as well as iOS if you want to target a global market.

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Have you got an idea for a great online tool or app or plugin? Maybe you've thought about something that could help you, or it may be something your suppliers or customers could do with? We are always keen to talk to people with ideas! Get in touch for a free initial consultation. We will discuss your idea, give some ideas on the feasibility of it, and do some market research. We love working with entrepreneurs and businesses. Over the years we've built up a great amount of experience which we would love to share with you! #appdeveloper #wedevelopment #coding

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I'll be wrapping up a couple of projects this month which meeeeans I have some availability coming up for September and October 🙌🙌 (as well as some time end of this month for quick projects!) Give me a shout if you need support with anything regarding: ⚙️ Technical SEO - audits, health checks, internal linking assessments, schema markup, page speed audits, implementation support 📝Content - briefs, strategies, audits, E-E-A-T assessments, optimisation 📃 On-page - optimisation, keyword research, structure assessments, implementation support 📍Local - map listing optimisation, local search audit, keyword opportunity and strategy 📈 GA4 & GTM - audits, setups, and integrations with consent platforms

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What’s a low-carbon website and why would you want one? This week I’m going to answer these 2 questions. First, some background. I’m going to be going unusually in-depth but stay with me. The internet uses a vast quantity of electricity. A report by the UK Government stated that “Data centres, communication networks and user devices accounted for an estimated 4-6% of global electricity use in 2020”. You can read that report in full here; https://lnkd.in/eFD_izEH The report also highlights emerging trends such as Blockchain, the Internet of Things and Machine Learning are likely to increase the amount of power needed. What are these and why are they important? Blockchains are a constantly growing list of records, known as Blocks. These are most commonly used with Cryptocurrency. The Internet of Things (or IoT) is a neat little network of interrelated devices that connect and exchange data with each other and the cloud. There are four main categories; Consumer IoT, Commercial IoT, Industrial IoT (IoT), and Infrastructure IoT. Consumer IoT, for example, includes devices like smart home gadgets, wearable technology, and personal health trackers, enhancing everyday convenience and personal well-being. Machine Learning is the scary one. A branch of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer science that focuses on using data and algorithms to enable AI to imitate the way that humans learn, gradually improving its accuracy. There is no need to program, as the AI learns from and develops itself. There are strong indications that Machine Learning and AI are consuming a LOT more power now than they were in 2020. Isn’t that astounding? It’s also important to point out that most of the electricity needed by the internet comes from burning fossil fuels. To be fair, there are now more data centres powered by renewable energy than ever before which helps to a small degree. OK, so using the internet produces a lot of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. That’s not just websites, of course, it’s email, video calls, streaming etc. Now that I have given some context, tomorrow I will explain what a low-carbon website is and explain why you may want one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AttractMore. Doing good work for good people. Erin Andrea Craske Sonal Dack Kim Wilson #sustainability #smallbusiness #networking #ecommerce #travel

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Yes, that's right — it's the monthly update you've all been waiting for...... here are my current Google Search positions for russellgillman.co.uk 🥳 📈 🚀 It's great to see my re-launched website climbing the rankings again, slowly but surely; a few number one spots already, even though some of those terms aren't likely to get searched very regularly. (And, yes, I really was number one for 'freelance web designer london' at one point – quite a few years ago now, but something to aim for in future months!) ⭐ #seo #freelancewebdesigner #webdesigner #webdeveloper #websiteconsultant #readinguk #readingberkshire #webdesign #webdevelopment #googlesearch

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I read a really interesting article that was discussing which was more important. A stand out design for your website or investing in SEO. The comments on the article were all really good but the simplicity of one of the comments just stood out so I thought I needed to share it here. He said "Imagine you have a stunning palace and your palace is hidden in a dense forest. If there is no road to the palace no-one gets to see it's beauty! SEO is the road that leads to the palace." Is your palace your beautiful website or it is your product that isn't getting any visibility? Either way, are you doing enough to drive traffic to your website.

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Google’s recent algorithm leak has revealed vital info on reranking and topical authority. Stay ahead by adapting your strategy today. How do you think this will impact your SEO plans? Read more 👉 https://snip.ly/l4wd43 #contactora #seotips #ukseoagency #digitalmarketing #SEO #SEOstrategy #marketingnews

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Freelance Business Coaches - do they exist? Does anyone know of any? Want to what I think is the next level, and thinking I might need some help. All thoughts and recommendations welcome.

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Quick Fix of The Day: This one is for WordPress sites with English content for a UK only audience. It's a little tweak for SEO and Accessibility. WordPress sets the site language to English US by default which in turn sets <html lang="en_US"> telling search engines that your site is golden for people with language preferences of English - United States. If your audience is for English speakers in the UK then have a go at this quick fix. Best to do this on a desktop 😁 Check your current settings: Go to your home page and right-hand mouse click > click view source. At the top of the source code you'll see the <html tag and if that looks like this <html lang="en_US"> jump into your WordPress admin. When your logged into wordpress find settings in the left-hand menu and select "General". About halfway down the settings page you'll find "Website Language", Select English (UK) from the dropdown menu. Scroll down and click "Save Changes" and your done. Bang tidy, quick fix. 🛠 Drop me a message if you want to chat about this or any other digital marketing issue that's bugging you. ✊ #seo #digitalmarketing

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