-
Recent Posts
- 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?
- WPForms and Rank Math: Did These WordPress Plugins Create a Backdoor With Admin Access?
- AI Can Text Your Friends for You. Wait, Who Am I Talking To?
- Bill Gates Is Betting on AI to Help Healthcare – While Warning About What AI Could Do to Jobs
- Wix Says AI Website Owners Should Care About Portability. There’s Just One Problem.
- WordPress 7.1 Broke WP Rocket: The Fatal Error and the Plugin Problem
- WordPress vs. UltimateWB for an Artist Website: Which Should You Choose?
- Thinking About Switching From WordPress? What Should You Consider Before You Move?
- The Airtable Acquisition Raises a Bigger Question: Do You Really Own the Software Your Business Runs On?
- How to Use Google Search Console’s New Generative AI Data to Improve Your SEO
- How to Update the Same Website Content on Multiple Pages at Once
- Discovered vs. Crawled Not Indexed in Google Search Console: What’s the Difference and How to Fix Each
- The Small Business Guide to Auditing Google Ads and Website Costs
Categories
Tag Archives: third-party plugins
Is Your Google Search Console “Average Position” Lying to You?
You log into Google Search Console (GSC) and see massive numbers under your daily impressions. Your site is popping up in thousands of search results! Then, you check your sitewide Average Position metric. It hovers somewhere between 10 and 15. On really good days, you might even celebrate hitting the coveted single digits - positions 7–9.
But then you look at your actual traffic, and the click count is surprisingly low.
With AI Overviews and Featured Snippets now eating up
... Continue reading
Posted in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website Traffic
Tagged ai overviews, average position, bloat, clean code, click-through rate, clicks, ctr, fast loading times, fast website, featured snippets, Google Search Console, gsc, html, impressions, long-tail keywords, plugins, ranking position, search engine ranking, seo, third-party plugins
Leave a comment
The WordPress Events Calendar Pro Price Hike – and the Alternative
If you manage a WordPress site, you’ve likely seen the headlines - or worse, the new invoice. The Events Calendar Pro (TEC Pro), long considered the "standard" WordPress plugin for event management, has completed its transition into the Liquid Web / StellarWP corporate machine.
For many admins, the result is a massive price hike that changes the math of running a WordPress site. What was once a community-focused tool is now a
... Continue reading
Posted in Compare Website Builders
Tagged acquisitions, bait-and-switch, bait-and-switch pricing, Events Calendar, Events Calendar Pro, liquid web, m&a, mergers, ownership, paywall, saas, stellarwp, tec, tec pro, the events calendar, the events calendar pro, third-party plugins, WordPress, wordpress vs ultimatewb
Leave a comment
How to Use Website Psychology Without Manipulation: Beyond the Hype
Marketing and copywriting experts often reference the “Life-Force 8” popularized by Drew Eric Whitman in his book Cashvertising - eight core human drives tied to survival, comfort, social approval, security, and personal success. These instincts are real, and they influence how people respond to advertising, websites, and online experiences.
The problem is not psychology itself. The problem is how it is often used.
A lot of modern marketing advice focuses on maximizing conversions through pressure tactics, emotional manipulation, artificial urgency,
... Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Tagged boost conversions, build trust, Cashvertising, clarity, clean code, compatibility, conversions, copyrighting, customizable, customization vs templates, Drew Eric Whitman, flexibility, guide, hosted vs self-hosted websites, hosted website builder, Life-Force 8, marketing, plugin bloat, psychology, respect, seo, step-by-step, success tax, third-party plugins, transparency, trust, tutorial, webp, webp converter, WebP images
Leave a comment
How to Design a Website From Scratch: The Ultimate Guide for Builders
Starting a new web project is an incredible feeling, but it may come with a common challenge: The Blank Canvas Syndrome. When you have the power of a flexible platform like UltimateWB, the possibilities are endless - which might make it harder to pick a direction when you are new to designing.
To build a professional site, you don't need to be an artist. You just need to balance two things: Logic (the technical structure) and Empathy (the human
... Continue reading
Posted in Website Design
Tagged 5-second rule, accessibility, bloat, color contrast, colors, css, easy navigation, empathy, fast website, google search engine ranking, logic, mobile, navigation, ownership, plugin bloat, plugins, responsive, scalability, search engine optimization, seo, third-party plugins, website design, website speed, whitespace
Leave a comment
WordPress Kirki Customizer Takeover: The Automatic Bait-and-Switch Plugin Trend
The WordPress community is currently witnessing a troubling and "despicable" trend: the acquisition and subsequent "bloating" of popular, lightweight plugins. This isn't just a manual update issue - it is a systemic problem where sites are being fundamentally changed through automatic updates without the owner’s consent.
The recent crisis involving the Kirki Customizer framework and the historical "bait-and-switch" of WP User Avatar serve as a reminder in why the WordPress "plugin stack" model is a risky gamble for
... Continue reading
Posted in Compare Website Builders, Technology in the News, Website Security
Tagged auto-update, bloat, BuddyX, Droip, fatal errors, feature creep, Kirki Customizer, plugins, ProfilePress, Reign, security issues, security liability, slow website, Themeum, third-party plugins, website security, WordPress, WP User Avatar, XStore
Leave a comment
When Your CMS is the Bottleneck: A Performance Reality Check
It’s a common misconception that a slow website is just a "mobile problem." We recently audited a WordPress-based lifestyle blog where the performance was sluggish across the board - hitting the 70s on desktop and dropping to the 30s on mobile.
When a site fails to perform on a high-speed desktop connection, you aren't just looking at a slow network or a weak processor. You are looking at a fundamental architectural problem.
The Problem: Bloat as a Feature
This
... Continue readingHow 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
The WordPress Backdoor Scandal: Why 30+ “Trusted” Plugins Just Turned Malicious
This recent security breach in the WordPress ecosystem is a massive wake-up call for website owners. A portfolio of over 30 plugins was sold to a new owner who immediately weaponized them with backdoors.
If you use UltimateWB, you are in a much safer position than the average WordPress user - and here is why.
The Attack: What Happened?
A portfolio of 30+ plugins (formerly under "WP Online Support," now "Essential Plugin") was sold on Flippa for a six-figure
... Continue readingDo you really own your WordPress website?
Popular Plugins Are Subscription-Based and SaaS - How to Get the Same Features Built-In
When you first install WordPress, it feels free, flexible, and entirely under your control.
And at the core, it is.
The Full Short Answer: Yes, you own the core open-source WordPress code and your database content. However, if your business relies on premium subscription plugins, SaaS integrations, or proprietary themes to function, your ownership is functionally compromised. If you stop paying annual licensing fees, your site
... Continue reading
Posted in Ask David!, Compare Website Builders
Tagged bloat, performance, plugin dependencies, plugins, saas, saas plugins, scripts, self-hosted websites, third-party plugins, website maintenance costs, website ownership, WooCommerce subscriptions, WordPress, wordpress plugins, WordPress scalability, WordPress updates
Leave a comment
How to Find a Website Builder with Low Maintenance Requirements
Managing a website can be time-consuming - updating content, fixing broken links, or dealing with compatibility issues can quickly become a full-time job. Choosing a website builder that minimizes maintenance can save you hours of work each week.
The key is to look for a platform with built-in features, easy updates, responsive design, and easy content management. Platforms like UltimateWB are designed around these principles, making it easy to maintain a professional, scalable website without constant upkeep.
Here’s what
... Continue reading
Posted in Compare Website Builders
Tagged automatic updates, built-in features, built-in website features, compatibility, compatibility issues, easy website management, forms, forms builder, low maintenance, low maintenance website builder, minimal website upkeep, plugins, responsive, responsive app, responsive design, responsive website design, scalable, scalable website platform, search engine optimization, security, security risks, seo, third-party plugins, website content management
Leave a comment