-
Recent Posts
- “My Partner Wants to Use WordPress Because 50% of the Web Uses It. Help!”
- Does EmDash Solve WordPress’s Problems, or Do You Need UltimateWB?
- How Not to Use AI: Stanford University Can Tell You
- Best Website Builder for SEO: WordPress vs. Wix vs. UltimateWB
- How to Make Sure Your Website Colors Have Enough Contrast for Accessibility
- Mobile-Friendly Website Checklist: 20 Things to Check
- Beehiiv Website Builder Review: The Problem Isn’t the Design – It’s the Lack of Control
- Elementor’s “Angie” AI Is More Than Bloat: Credits, Subscriptions, and a Growing Platform Problem
- How to Pass Google Business Profile Video Verification for Service Businesses
- The Great Deskilling: Why AI Dependence is Turning Developers into Prompt Babysitters
- The Three-Month Fuse: The Everest Forms Pro Attack and Why a Patched Plugin Can Still Put Websites at Risk
- Computer Screen Has Black Bars on the Sides: How to Fix It
- Could AI Make Humans Extinct Within the Next Decade?
- Is Weebly Getting Out of the Website-Builder Business?
- Are You “Leaking SEO” by Linking to Other Websites?
- Wix Harmony Is Now in Google Gemini. So Why Are Users Still Complaining?
- When AI Sounds Confident but Gets It Wrong: The Mount Shasta Rescue
- When AI Agents Start Working Together, Who Is Really in Control?
Categories
Category Archives: Ask David!
Are Personal Websites Still Worth It? Why Ownership Still Wins in the AI Era
There’s a question that keeps resurfacing in different forms:
Are personal websites still worth it?
It shows up in slightly different searches:
- “do I need a personal website anymore”
- “are websites still relevant”
- “is it worth having a personal site in 2026”
And underneath all of them is the same assumption:
If social platforms and AI handle discovery, does owning a website still matter?
The short answer is yes - but not for the reasons most people think.
The longer
... Continue reading
Posted in Ask David!, Social Media
Tagged ai optimization, AI search, aio, AIO optimization, algorithm, are websites still worth it, audience retention, brand positioning, build trust, content consumption, conversion, convert leads, creator economy, customer retention, digital branding, email marketing, engagement, generative engine optimization, geo, GEO optimization, instagram, linkedin, mailing list, medium, ownership, personal websites, search engine optimization, seo, seo strategy, social media, social platform, substack, trustworthy, twitter, user retention, visibility, website ownership, youtube
Leave a comment
Your Website is Your Silent Salesperson: Is “Basic” Costing You Money?
Should I upgrade my website?
Every dollar matters when you’re building a small business. Early on, it’s natural to look for the fastest and cheapest way to get online, which is why so many businesses start with “basic” website templates.
At first glance, these platforms seem practical. They’re quick, affordable, and require little technical knowledge. But over time, a more important question emerges:
What is your current website actually costing you in lost trust, missed leads, and reduced conversions?
Because
... Continue reading
Posted in Ask David!, Business, Website Design
Tagged bloat, bounce rate, conversion optimization, conversions, convert leads, core web vitals, crawlability, custom websites, design trends, digital marketing, fast load times, fast website, first impressions, indexing, mobile friendly, online business, plugins, responsive, roi, scalability, seo, slow website, small business, templates, trustworthy, up-to-date, ux design, visibility, web development, website builder, website design, website performance, website ROI
Leave a comment
What Happened to Quora? Building a Q&A Site That Won’t Sell Out Your Users
Quora has become a cautionary tale for the modern developer. It is still technically online, but the platform has been hollowed out from the inside. What was once a destination for expertise has devolved into a cluttered space of bot-generated questions, AI-regurgitated answers, and an intrusive volume of ads that make the site nearly unreadable.
From a development and management perspective, this wasn’t an accident or the result of a hostile takeover. Despite raising hundreds of millions to stay independent,
... Continue reading
Posted in Ask David!, Business, Social Networking, Technology in the News
Tagged ad-farm, ai-scaling, avoid bot spam, building a Q&A site, community engagement, community moderation, digital autonomy, high-quality knowledge sharing, how to build a Q&A site, Q&A platform development, quora, Quora alternatives, Quora decline, scrapbooks app, seo, short-term revenue, social hub architect, social network, social network software, user retention, user-generated content, web development
Leave a comment
How to Create a Forum with a Membership Paywall: Platform Comparison
If you have spent any time browsing Reddit for website advice lately, you’ve likely seen the same question over and over: “I need a structured forum with a paywall, but I’m tired of the technical headaches.”
The common suggestions - Wix, WordPress, and standalone scripts - fail to meet the actual needs of a niche community builder. Here is the definitive breakdown of why these legacy platforms fall short, and what the true alternative is.
What a Community Forum Needs:
Posted in Apps Comparison, Ask David!, Compare Website Builders
Tagged BuddyBoss, captcha, circle, discord, exploit, forum, forum spam, memberpress, mighty networks, organic traffic, paywall, phpbb, plugin compatibility, plugins, saas, search engine optimization, security issues, seo, slack, spam, subscriptions, third party plugins, vbulletin, vps, vulnerability, Wix, wix forum, Wix Groups vs Forums, WordPress, wordpress security, xenforo
Leave a comment
Personal Website vs. Substack? Why You Need to Own Your Site
The debate over Substack versus a personal website is fundamentally about digital ownership. While platforms like Substack offer convenience, they leave writers vulnerable to the discretion and algorithmic shifts of a third party.
Building a brand on a platform you do not own is a strategic risk. Establishing a dedicated website is the only way to ensure true independence.
The Myth of Ownership on Third-Party Platforms
Substack makes it easy to start, but that ease comes at a cost. When
... Continue reading
Posted in Ask David!
Tagged authority, backlinks, brand strategy, branding, content ownership, custom domain, digital assets, digital independence, digital ownership, online presence, personal branding, personal website vs substack, professional blogging, scalability, search engine optimization, self-hosted, seo, substack, web development, web sovereignty, website builder
Leave a comment
Is Google AdSense Allowed on Free Website Builders Like Google Sites?
If you are looking to monetize your content, you might be tempted by the "free" price tag of builders like Google Sites. However, there is a massive catch that most users don't discover until they’ve already put in the work: You cannot install and run Google AdSense on Google Sites.
Even if you are an expert at creating content, these platforms are structurally designed to keep you from profiting from it. Here is the breakdown of why the "free" route
... Continue reading
Posted in Ask David!, Compare Website Builders
Tagged ads.txt fix, ads.txt Google Sites, avoid free website builders, best builder for AdSense, earn money from website, file-level access, free website builder, free website builders, google adsense, Google AdSense verification, Google Sites, Google Sites monetization, Google Sites vs UltimateWB, head, head tag access, header, html, monetize Google Sites, monetize website, professional blog monetization, professional website publishing, root access, small business website tips, website backend access, website builder comparison, website monetization restrictions, website ownership
Leave a comment
How to Audit Your Website Disk Space: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you’ve received a notification that your disk space is full - or if it seems to be filling up faster than expected - it’s time for a "digital deep clean." Most of the time, the culprit isn't the website itself, but hidden files, unoptimized media, or software "hoarding."
Here is how to find exactly what is taking up the room.
1. Get the Stats in cPanel
Don't guess where the space is going. Use the Disk Usage tool in
... Continue reading
Posted in Ask David!, Web Hosting
Tagged cpanel, cPanel Disk Usage tutorial, cPanel tutorial, disk space, disk space cleanup, disk usage, integrated blog vs full site, optimize website images, plugins, security, security risks, technical seo, third-party plugins, web hosting storage, website disk space, website performance optimization, WordPress bloat, WordPress storage audit
Leave a comment
Does Google still use PageRank to rate your website?
"Ask David" short answer: yes. While you can’t see it anymore, PageRank is still a "core" part of how Google determines which websites are trustworthy and important.
Related: What Makes a Simple Website Feel Trustworthy? (From Real User Experience, Not Theory)
However, the PageRank of today is very different from the simple "0 to 10" score people obsessed over in the early 2000s.
How PageRank Works in 2026
In the early days, PageRank was the primary way Google ranked
... Continue reading
Posted in Ask David!, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Tagged ahref, Ahrefs Domain Rating, authority, backlinks, E-E-A-T, experience, expertise, google, google algorithm, google pagerank, google ranking, high value link, important, internal linking, Larry Page, link spam, low value link, moz, Moz Domain Authority, new york times, pagerank, reasonable surfer, seed set, stanford, trustworthy, useful, wikipedia
Leave a comment
Does “Test Live URL” help Google index your webpage faster?
Does clicking on the "Test Live URL" on Google Search Console after using the "Request Indexing" link make Google index your page sooner? Or was it just a coincidence?
“Ask David” answer: The short answer is no, if you experienced Google indexing your page soon after testing the Live URL, it was just a coincidence. Clicking
... Continue readingUsing a URL Shortener and Passing the SEO Link Juice
Does using a URL shortener like azipURL or TinyURL not pass on the SEO link juice of having a backlink posted somewhere?
"Ask David" answer:
Actually, using a URL shortener like azipURL, TinyURL, or Bitly generally does pass on the SEO
... Continue reading