MailChimp WordPress plugins reviews

MailChimp is all the rave these days. A few customers have contacted me recently about integrating their WordPress website with MailChimp and fortunately these two marry together VERY nicely thanks to a large amount of plugins which are developed for integrating WordPress and MailChimp. This review covers three MailChimp WordPress plugins which I am testing for a client.

MailChimp List Subscribe Form – WordPress Plugin

Pros:

• Super easy setup
• Lot’s of options
• Puts a signup form directly in the widget area

Cons:

MailChimp Widget- WordPress plugin

Pros:

• Provides customization for the success message users get once subscribed.
• User does not have to leave page to use the widget.
• Looks really nice.

Cons:

• Did not offer nearly as many options as the MailChimp List Subscribe Form
• No built in customization for the look and feel of this plugin widget.
• This plugin does not give the option to show the custom signup form fields, only name and email.
• Widget disappears after a user sign up…this is confusing.

Other Worthy MailChimp WordPress Plugins

Here are a few other WordPress plugins for using with MailChimp which I did not test out but would love to:

• MailChimp via Formidable Pro for WordPress
• ChimpExpress
• WordPress Registration and Comment Form Integration
• Easy MailChimp Integration
• WordChimp
• WP MailChimp Widget
• YIKES, Inc Easy MailChimp Extender for WordPress - allows you to easily add a MailChimp signup form to a page or post.
• AutoChimp - Sync your WordPress user user data with your MailChimp mailing list. Create campaigns from blog posts.
• WordPress MailChimp Comment Optin
• and there are 50 more WordPress plugins to integrate your MailChimp account here.

Edited: January 18th, 2012

SEO tips for 2012

With Google’s new “Panda” update, search engine optimzation has really changed recently. Here are some new tips for SEO in 2012.

Get Quality Backlinks

Google used to focus on the quantity of backlinks now they focus on the quality of backlinks. Focus on quality backlinks from regional/local website and industry focused websites if you are a small business.

Use Videos on the Website

Help create a brand among your web visitors. The 3rd largest search engine is now YOUTUBE, video marketing will help capture this large audience. Setup and Youtube and Vimeo account–Google’s recent (Panda) update makes the use of video marketing all more important.

Quality Content

• You really need a blog these days!
• Start by identifying what website tools would be helpful for someone searching for your keywords in your region (if you are small biz)… search tools? If you provide a paid service, can your website feature estimates on the website? Do you have a contact or feedback form where users can reach you?

2012 Search Engine Optimization TIPS (right from the source)

• These videos feature Matt Cutts, Head of Google’s Webspam Team

Optimize your Title, URL and Google snippet

Meta Descriptions are Back!

Meta Tag Keywords are OUT!

This seems obvious to me but if you have a website, provide some tools for mobile users and for sharing on social networks.  78% of business people use their mobile devices to check email and browse the Internet while at work. 93% of adults in the USA are Facebook users too.

Edited: January 13th, 2012

WordPress plugins for teleclass webinars and teleseminars

Hands down, the best event management with built in CRM is Eventbrite.com … Fortunately, there is a WordPress Plugin for Eventbrite. Also super slick is Eventbrite’s webinar tutorial for setting up an event as a webinar.

• Here a listing of all the Eventbrite WordPress plugins.

WebReserv Embedded Booking Calendar seems like a slick, it feels like it is a paid service and I would bet it is NOT free but looks well supported as a WordPress Booking plugin and maybe a good solution for paid webinar providers that integrate with WP.

As the commercial hop industry ramps up in the Midwest, more and more interested parties have been coming to me with questions about growing hops. Recently I have decided to organize a series of teleclasses to give interested parties a chance to ask their questions of me while making it worth my time and being able to provide answers remotely.

There are actually a few nice free options for producing a webinar, teleclass or teleseminar, but a lot of choices from each. I often thought that skype might be a really good option for running a scxheduled seminar – attendees just call in at a certain schedule. The Contact Call Plugin – Voice Plugin for Websites Wordpress plugin provides a free option for users to call you using call forwarding to skype.

Here are a few services and links I am considering while looking into how to provide and market teleclass seminars.

http://absolutewrite.com/novels/teleclass.htm

From this article: http://www.homebusinesswiz.com/2006/11/how-to-record-teleclasses-and-conference-calls.html

One option which seems to be a winner is  Banckle Online Meeting This is a free webinar service just like GoToMeeting.com but FREE! and integrated with WordPress. Really? Yes! Here is the info on how to integrate Bankle with a WordPress website.

A conference or bridge line service at FreeConference.com

Being able to integrate a webinar with the functionality of WordPress’s posts would be slick. Here is a WordPress plugin which provides webinar registration.

This video may work

More info here http://www.wendycholbi.com/teleclass-nuts-bolts-part-2-getting-the-word-out/ like…

If you’re going to make the call-in information public anyway, I’d suggest going one step further and broadcasting your call as a live Internet radio show. You can do this for free at sites including BlogTalkRadio.com and TalkShoe.com (I personally prefer TalkShoe because there are no restrictions on when you can broadcast, you can have more live callers, and you can also schedule “private” broadcasts). People can listen on their computers or call in, you can easily get a recording (which will live on in your public archives, too), and you also get a bit more exposure by using the Internet radio site as a platform.

Other related posts by this author: http://www.wendycholbi.com/teleclass-nuts-bolts-part-1-conference-lines/ and Teleclass Nuts & Bolts, Part 3: Recordings (and backup recordings!) at http://www.wendycholbi.com/teleclass-nuts-bolts-part-3-recordings-and-backup-recordings/

After reading through a bunch of these Webinar, teleclass and teleseminar options, it looks like webinars are going to be the most effective for giving attendees the opportunity to truely interact and ask questions about growing hops and establishing a hopyard trellis.

Edited: January 7th, 2012

Youtube Channel Designs Best-of

As I work to design a new Youtube channel for an existing client, design plays a huge role in effectively communicating the brand identity of my client. Here are some examples of good Youtbe channel designs which inspire my work.

NikeFootball’s Channel at http://www.youtube.com/nikefootball

Gillette’s Youtube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/gillette

Harley Davidson’s Youtube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/harleydavidson

Pepsi’s Youtube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/Pepsi

Motorolla’s Youtube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/motorola

4oD’s Youtube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/4OD

As an added bonus, Webdistortion.com has a free Youtube layered photoshop template which is available for download here: http://www.webdistortion.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/youtube.zip and here are directions on how to setup a custom Youtube channel design at http://www.strangecorp.com/news/knowledge-bank/you-tube/youtube-channel-design/

Edited: January 6th, 2012