Are You Using The Site Content Tool?
Remember These?
"The calculator, a tool that changed my world way back in 1979, when I was assigned as a manager of a dining facility feeding 200 people 3 x day x 7 days a week as a young dude in Gorisried, Germany (near Kempton in Allgau for those of you who may wonder where this little village lies)...I have been calculating ever since!" ...Dave : )
Hi, Everyone...
A quick post to ask a question and provide an answer!
How many of you are using the relatively new SiteContent tool and if you are using it, how do you find it so far?
Here is our experience and why I think you should have a serious look at this tool.
Background...
We just went through a transition of sorts, in that we are growing in websites (stores) and in team members, not to mention in the number of physical locations and total SKUs we are selling online...
Growth brings challenges. One is controlling the flow of content that you create and publish online. Although knowing the WA Site Content tool was there and using it a couple of times, I had not used it much for creating content...
As our business grows we are always looking for ways to do things faster, better, and achieving more with less. This is an imperative that all businesses deal with on an ongoing basis.
In that light, I took a relook recently at the Site Content feature and realized that I had a perfect solution to one of our issues we have as a business. I decided to give the tool a real shot, and commenced immediately to make it happen.
Here is what has happened in a VERY short period of time...
Our Experiences In 3 Days of Use
Here is a screenshot of what we have done in 3 solid days of use:
In the three days, we have managed to transition completely to this tool, and all of our content for 10 websites will now flow through this one central location.
One day later (Day 4)...
Two Days Later (Day 5)
Day 10?
Here are some of our observations:
(1) If you notice, in the three days we have managed to write over 35k words of content, publish 20 articles (two I had already published with the tool), and we have an additional 11 (and more being added at this very moment) to the qeue...
Additional note from Day 4: In one day, from day 3 to day 4, we added an additional almost 7000 words and 7 articles...
Additional note from Day 5: We added another 6 articles and almost 8000 words...
(2) I now have a perfect place to track what everyone is doing and also see where the content is going, and when it is published, and by who. We have created buckets for each website, and can see at a glance what is going on with each website.
(3) No longer do I have to log into each website to see what is going on, it is all here at my fingertips! I expect that this tool will save at least 40 hours of work a week for us, maybe more.
(4) It also is a place where team members can see how they are doing and compare it with other team members to see how they can get better. There are so many superlatives that I could add, but bottom line, this is one great tool!
(5) You must still check the website to add tags, check SEO, and do a final grammar and spelling check. BUT, my time for checking that these steps have been completed has been shortened considerably, and when my time savings is added to the time they are saving...Again, 40 hours at least!
NEW NOTE: I would like to be able to quickly sort all posts by bucket....Right now there is no way to do this...
Bottom Line: The tool is working flawlessly for us.
In Regards To My Question...
If you are not using this or perhaps are giving it just a bit of attention I urge you to have another look. It can really help your output and track what is going on with each website that you may be working on.
Bottom Line:
It works for us and I am sure it will work for you. In fact, I consider this as valuable a tool as the many other tools we have at our fingertips here at Wealthy Affiliate! You can leverage all of these to produce more, get more leads, get more conversions, and make more commissions...
It pays to calculate continuously as you go about the business of online business. This is yet one more example of the value you get as a member of Wealthy Affiliate. I am a testament as to the value of YOU calculating too!
Forty hours is not a drop in the bucket for us, and any time you save in any small matter it means you can be more productive, have more time for the family, or more time for your personal interests...
So Are You Using This Tool?
What has been your experiences to now? Would you recommend it to others? Are there things you would add to the tool to make it better? I am interested in your feedback, I am ALWAYS looking for a better way!
Here is a synopsis of the suggestions I have collated to now, as an update and from one of my comments below:
"@arielharris7
Thanks for the kind words Ariel...
To summarize, here are the things that everyone has noted so far that can be considered for 2,0:
(1) Grammar check function could be improved...
(2) Image search function could be improved...
(3) Google indexing confirmation is not always accurate...
(4) No way to add in tags...
(5) No way to assign posts categories you may have on the website...
(6) No way to allow a team member access to the tool without having them also getting access to the rest of the WA site...
(7) There has been some mention of issues while adding in HTML...
(8) Limited formatting capabilities for posts...
(9) A useful addition would be to add buckets within buckets...Examples might be a video site bucket having sub-buckets for editing, video script writing, how to create videos, etc.
(10) It would also be nice to be able to sort all the posts by the bucket. Right now you have to select a post and look to see what bucket it is in and then click on that to see how many articles are in each bucket...Having a sort by bucket feature would save time...
There have been many good suggestions, by you and all, and it is great to have such a discussion here that in the end will help us all get better with our online marketing businesses!"
OK, I think we have some useful information and feedback for Kyle now, thanks everyone for adding to the discussion!
Remember...
I believe in ALL of you!
Cheers and Happy Holidays!
Dave : )
Recent Comments
60
I use the Site Tool for website posts and I love it. I haven't thought about possible improvements. Perhaps an H4 tag would be helpful.
Site Tool provides everything I need to write a post.
I like the word count being clearly visible, as opposed to where it appears in WordPress editor. Being able to see exactly how many words I've yet to write to reach a target, is very helpful.
Thanks for your post, Dave.
Hi, Valerie...Thanks for stopping by and having a look here today. All suggestions I have from the comments and my own experience I have added to the base post, so hopefully Kyle and Carson will have a look and consider adding one or more to the next version of the tool. It is a useful tool indeed as is, and I am sure it will get even better as time goes on! Have a great day! Dave : )
Hi Dave,
Thank you for being more elaborate in this our new site content. I have written a little blog on it but mine was so just a little and lacked details. Anybody that uses this platform has something to say.
This is another good thing that has happened for us the community.
I believe, as new technology continues to surface for us more time we save and more productive we become.
Yes I am using site content and I don't think I have any other platform than that, it has made me to improve in my writing too.
Thanks for sharing
Hi there, Bibian! Good to hear that you are using the tool and it is working for you. I think many folks here can benefit and maybe through posts and discussions such as what we have had here, the tool will get even better than it already is! Cheers, and enjoy your Holidays! Dave : )
Hello Dave, impressive you are such a writing machine team! Since I am just one person, I have written about 70+ articles since the transformation to Site Content.
I am grateful for many parts of it. It makes it so much easier with graphics. And I adore that all the blogs are in one place to get to see a pattern or what needs to be further addressed.
I have found a few bugs. One as stated earlier, is that the grammar function has some bugs. So I feel like I have to recheck after the grammar check.
And the other bug is that it says none of the articles have been indexed on google, when they actually have. I asked the community about it and got replies that several had the same experience. I am sure that will also be addressed.
Also, and this could be specific to my older computer, it always freezes on Site Content..but not anywhere else. weird??
I would love to see how it is going to be upgraded specifically with the grammar function.
Oh and I agree, the graphics are not specific to what is input. It always makes me laugh as to what comes up on a search. But mostly I find what I need.
Now if they can also add the alt tags and SEO descriptions we would be flying..yes?
But oh yes! I am loving Site Content for its cutting to the chase.
Thanks for writing this. Great job.
Thanks for the kind words Ariel...
To summarize, here are the things that everyone has noted so far that can be considered for 2,0:
(1) Grammar check function could be improved...
(2) Image search function could be improved...
(3) Google indexing confirmation is not always accurate...
(4) No way to add in tags...
(5) No way to assign posts categories you may have on the website...
(6) No way to allow a team member access to the tool without having them also getting access to the rest of the WA site...
(7) There has been some mention of issues while adding in HTML...
(8) Limited formatting capabilities for posts...
(9) A useful addition would be to add buckets within buckets...Examples might be a video site bucket having sub-buckets for editing, video script writing, how to create videos, etc.
(10) It would also be nice to be able to sort all the posts by the bucket. Right now you have to select a post and look to see what bucket it is in and then click on that to see how many articles are in each bucket...Having a sort by bucket feature would save time...
There have been many good suggestions, by you and all, and it is great to have such a discussion here that in the end will help us all get better with our online marketing businesses!
Cheers and Happy Holidays!
Dave : )
Hi Dave
I have started to use it to some extent, and maybe I will do it more now that I'm building more WA-hosted text bases sites. Until now I have had too much going on that is hosted and managed outside WA.
But because of lots of mobile writing mainly from iPad, most of my writing is still done on my iPad, cloud-stored and then imported to SiteContent for final spelling and duplicate check.
I struggle a bit with posting via Site Content because most of my posts are created using the page builders of my themes (Divi and Thrive) to optimize image use and responsiveness, and then it's more effective to copy/paste text one chunk at the time into the builder.
So, I post to a sandbox site I have on free siterubix where I have coded the theme to give all posts noindex and nofollow. (This is also my theme experimental site).
Therefore you can say that I mainly use Site Content for duplicate checking, which is also a feature that I can get if I go premium on Grammarly. But if I can get the function free here, no need to pay for Grammarly.
Until now, I have had a somewhat streamlined system for gathering research and writing several articles simultaneously, and all I do is done in a way so that I can continue writing for a week or so in offline mode without losing progress.
I think the concept of Site Content is brilliant, and I will absolutely look into if there are ways for me to include it more in my workflow.
And therefore, posts like this are very useful, in order to see how others use the tool.
Jorn
Thanks for stopping by Jorn, and some good information for the rest of us when it comes to how you are getting your content created and published.
I think the key is that everyone has to have a system to make the whole process as efficient as possible. If not, I find that too much time is wasted, and I do not like that.
Content is just one element of the overall online business, but an important one, even in the case of stores...
Over time I think it is worth the investment as it will bring down the acquisition cost for new customers.
In looking at many successful stores that use Shopify as a platform, I see that many start using paid traffic to get some initial attention, then they stop and count on content, repeat business or word of mouth, publicity, etc.
Right now we are adding some new innovative means of capturing names and email addresses of site visitors so we can retarget using email campaigns. We draw them in through the content...
Our target audience is sent into 'buckets' of like audience members. For instance, one bucket is those people that added an item to their cart and abandoned it...
Another would be those that went through to check out but did not buy...Yet another would be ones that actually purchased...And so it goes - right now we have 10 buckets!
Getting a bit off track, but so much of everything we co is based on content. I was using a combination of 3-4 things to organize and get things done, and the Site Content tool has reduced that to only 2...
I think that the great feedback and suggestion will make the tool that much better, but I am not complaining. It is a marked improvement from what we have been doing.
Note we are doing the same for video creation, for social actions on all the accounts (we have more social accounts than websites)...Every way possible we continue to improve...
It sounds to me that you are doing the same with your operation!
Cheers!
Dave : )
It's all about finding a way to do what we do in the most efficient way, and new tools need to "qualify" in that process and prove that they either add important functionality or improve the workflow.
I can absolutely see the benefits of Site Content, but now I am in my most busy time of the year and that is not the time to experiment too much.
What you do regarding tracking and capturing user behavior is very interesting. The abandoned cart issue is one that many try to find a way to make use of since the sale was (temporarily) lost.
If you can find out exactly where they abandoned it, you can also do changes to the UI so they do not leave that easy.
I have not been working too much on that, but some years ago I was involved in programming what to do about inventory count fro abandoned carts.
Inventory was real-time updated, and if there was only one in stock, and it was bought and then abandoned, a cookie kept it in the cart for some hours in case the user came back, while inventory was showing 0, so nobody could buy. Frontend, the webstore was written in Java, and backend, the inventory, was Python, and it was not fun at all.
But back to Site Content. The tool has potential and can be very very useful and also the things that Kyle blogged about that is in the loop for the coming year look very interesting.
I will send you a pm shortly about some other stuff.
Jorn
Awesome Dave that is some real productivity there I am very impressed, content creation is one of the things that holds many folks back.
Just a question I see you refer to your team, so folks that either work for you or you collaborate with login and use site content to create content and then publish or do you glance it as editor, prior to publishing?
If I have picked that up right, this is a game changer and taking things to a totally new level, I am very interested. to see how you do this.
Hi, Alexander...
The productivity is needed because we do want fresh content on all sites, I have had to cut back somewhat because we are also using other tools for creating videos of every product that we sell...
Initially, I was checking every article prior to publishing\ and making minor changes (more major changes at first), but as the team members get used to the things I look for, it gets easier and faster...
I do like to have a look at everything just to do a final once over. I catch fewer and fewer things. The thing the tool does too that I have not mentioned is that there seems to be a little competition as to who can do a better job...
The team members are full time with us too, which is an advantage, because they only work for us. Over time I am teaching them the business, and it would be my hope that as they grow up their roles will change.
My plan is to open a full-time business in the Philippines to support our own operations, but also to provide outsourcing support for other online marketers...The people I am training now will step into management positions when that time comes.
Secondly, my hope is that they also join us as partners and open their own stores, running many of the tasks through our operation. At that point the people THEY train will take over as managers.
Definitely, Site Content and the many other tools that we are using will help us realize this dream over time. I am sure that as Kyle and Carson read through the comments and suggestions, the tool will get better and better as all things here seem to do...
Cheers and have a great day!
Dave : )
Thanks for the response Dave I have to agree with you every new platform seems to improve and get better as new things are added, the value here at WA is unbelievable.
What a very good way to develop your team, very innovative and they will all benefit from their exposure to WA as well, a brilliant way to get maximum leverage from Site content truly impressed.
I have been trying to force myself to write in SiteContent as much as possible and it looks as though I have just squeaked ahead of your team.
Things I hope to see changed in the 2.0 version would be able to create buckets within buckets for an even better organization. I can not even imagine running more websites than what I have already. Along with that having an index issue so you don't have to scroll to the bottom every time if that's where a certain bucket happens to be. I also love the sort of feature image that it uses for behind the title which really helps with identification of certain pieces of work.
I have given up on the publishing part as it causes me more work in the end. Now all my content is written in a way where copy and paste are that much easier and saves me work in the long run.
I wish the format matched that of the WP Editor as no matter how I try to add my images, create my margins and padding, when I take it to the back office it changes everything completely.
I love the idea of the image generator. The editing options are amazing! But the overall operation of the search bar is pretty bad. I typed in rope just yesterday, I got more images of women and sunsets and only 4 pictures of anything that resembled rope. I find myself still going elsewhere for images as it's high;y unreliable for me.
I never knew I could even write but the SiteContent platform has really helped me to utilize this new found talent but I find it very hard to transition it to a final project. I have noticed that the spelling/grammar checker has greatly improved from only a month ago. Grammarly still out punctuates it and still catches more prepositions and sentence structure but I notice it getting better by the day.
Overall it is a great concept and has amazing potential so I am excited like a 16 yr old about to lose their virginity as I await the new changes predicted for SiteContent. I am super glad you have got it working so well for yourself, I know you will be giddy with the new and improved version with its release quite soon! Great post-Dave...did you use SiteContent for it? LOL
Hi, Jair...
You are doing really well with this tool, I must say!
I had to laugh reading your last question in the great and useful comment you added...Answer: Nope, but I should have used the tool for this post hehe...I need to create a bucket maybe!
You bring up some great ideas for 2.0 of the tool, and I hope that Kyle and Carson have a chance to read through the comments so they can consider all the useful ideas for upgrades to the tool we'd like to see!
For me, I was using (and still am) a spreadsheet that is broken down by the website, subject, and keywords, person assigned, and due dates...
The problem was I could not see in one place what all was being done and by whom. I have them provide me a daily update on activities and it is included as one item to report, but that was not real-time...
Back to how you are using the tool...You may be right on not trying to publish at all from the tool, rather just copy and paste, format, add whatever additional changes needed, then publish...
I will ask the team what they think will work better for them...Just because I see 'published' on the tool for an article does not mean all the rest of the work has been done...
Good discussion and I am really glad that the tool is working for you. You are a competitor for sure, and there is no doubt in my mind that whatever you set out to do, you will do!
Thanks for the detailed reply!
Cheers!
Dave : )
Thanks, Dave, if I could now just get traffic to my site I would be happy. All the best and if you ever need some help, a fresh look at a situation or even an ear to bounce an idea off ... no better ear than that of a professional bartender! Happy Affiliating!!
I use it for the images only. I love the new image feature!
I don't use it for writing, but I also don't write nearly as much as you guys!
I am perfectly happy writing directly in Wordpress. We are limited in what we can do in there so I don't want to write in something with a lot more options like Word and then past it into Wordpress and be limited anyway. I have not really tried writing in Site Content so I don't know much about it's capabilities.
If I wrote more I suppose it might be good but I really don't know why. I am lucky if I write one post per week.
I am probably stuck in time but oh well.
Jessica
Yes, I have less and less time for writing, hence sharing the labor with team members...We have a few things to help automate how the whole thing works, but I needed a place to actually see in front of me quickly what everyone is doing...This tool does that....Cheers and enjoy the holidays! Dave : )
Great article Dave. This is a good reminder for the folks that haven't realized the potential with this platform yet. If they are not using it yet, they are definitely missing out on the benefits!
I love it. SiteContent does a great job for content marketing organization and efficiency. My favorite features are templates (time saver), grammer check (readability helper) and images from 3 sources in one (another time saver). My next step is to start using the article publish frequency goal feature. To keep me adhered to some sort of consistent writing plan.
I do have an issue when embedding direct html code into SiteContent, because there is no HTML view. This does require manual editing in WP. But that doesn't bother me. No software tool is ever perfect. All software is designed by humans. If humans are not perfect, software shouldn't be expected to be either :)
Hi, Kim...
I am glad to hear that you have also found this tool to be so useful! I know what you mean when you talk about no tool doing everything you would like!
Like you, I am willing to live with the limitations the tool may have because the benefits so much outweigh the things we'd like to have...
The things that are not there covers maybe 10%, and for these special requirements, I can do a workaround. Checking what is actually posted and making minor adjustments is also a step that I do not mind having...
This allows minor changes, checking for tags and SEO, and also using Grammarly, we can do one more check of spelling and grammar...
In my case, I will always take the time to also have a look. As I gain more trust in the abilities of the team members, I may be able to stop doing this.
Essentially they learn what it is I am looking for as they see the content evolve, and why I want it that way. I am not charging them for the training, instead, I am paying them to learn hehe!
I like your attitude, nothing or no one is perfect, we just have to learn to deal with it!
Thanks for adding to the conversation!
Dave : )
Yes, you are right. Editing in WP is a requirement anyway because of what you mentioned: tags, SEO, final grammar and format check, etc. Good point.
Awesome Dave!
Yes, I have recently decided to give the site content a go and have published 18 articles with almost 34,000 words my Friend.
Ironically I also posted a blog here on WA about the Site Content tool at about the same time you must have posted this one.
My post is not nearly as good or detailed as yours but I am also enjoying the Site Content tool and am amazed at the time it saves me.
Thank you Dave for sharing & caring,
Tony
Hey there Tony!
Super that you are using it. I like the way it shows in totality what you have created, that in itself is a motivator to push and do more...
I will have to check out your post, I am always interested in reading others' take on things. This tool has so much value two articles are warranted!
Not sure if this one is better than your, and is no matter. The more people that hear about how the tool helps and start using it, the better!
Cheers and thanks for stopping by and the kind words, my friend! I think we see each other more on Facebook than here!
Dave : )
See more comments
Great post, but folks don't appear to be using the tool. I wrote privacy policies for a few of my websites and it tells me that I have written more words than 65% of WA. Sad, as this is a great tool, and if folks are using the four templates to add their privacy policies, about me, etc., to their websites, they would be writing far more words than the statistics seem to indicate. Loved this post, since I manage multiple sites, it gave me insights how to manage them more effectively.