What I like about Schema Pro is that the setup wizard allows me to map schema to specific pages - without adding it all manually, on a post-by-post (or page-by-page) basis.
Still wondering whether Schema Markup is meant for you? We have with us today a marketing expert whose advice has been featured on websites like HuffPost, Search Engine Journal, SEMRush, Forbes, GoDaddy, etc.
Yes! We have Adam Connell who will be sharing his WordPress story and a few titsy bitsy tips on WordPress, some plugins that he uses and a lot more.
So, let’s move on to read more!
Still wondering whether Schema Markup is meant for you? We have with us today a marketing expert whose advice has been featured on websites like HuffPost, Search Engine Journal, SEMRush, Forbes, GoDaddy, etc.
Yes! We have Adam Connell who will be sharing his WordPress story and a few titsy bitsy tips on WordPress, some plugins that he uses and a lot more.
So, let’s move on to read more!
It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Adam! Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
You too! Sure thing – I’m a writer and marketer from the UK.
I specialize in content marketing, and I have a strong background in SEO. Before focusing 100% on my own projects, I was the operations manager at a marketing agency here in the UK.
And when I’m not working, I’m usually playing guitar.
The Guitar! Wow! It sounds great to hear such hobbies from people who are thought to be the busiest. I am sorry if this is a little off-topic, but what kind of music do you play?
Great question – I could talk about music and guitars for hours haha 
I tend to play anything from blues to hard rock and metal (usually one or the other, depending on my mood at the time).
I love the vibe from bluesy lead guitar solos with plenty of “feels” I guess we could say. And I really dig rhythmic riffs from progressive metal.
Playing guitar is one of the things I do to get in a different headspace, typically if I’m feeling a bit too much “decision” fatigue.
Sometimes, I’ll just close down my web browser, put on a backing track, plug in my Fender Strat or PRS Vela, and “noodle” away for a while. I find that it’s a great way to unwind.
So, Blogging Wizard and Funnel Overload have been doing really well! Was blogging something you always wanted to do?
I had absolutely no desire to start a blog when I was younger. At school, a few friends of mine had blog’s and they were just online diaries, where they’d talk about food or whatever they’d done at the weekend.
That really wasn’t for me. But, I had no idea what blogging could be at that point. We’re talking around the time of Geocities.
Building websites, though? That was another story entirely. I built, well, attempted to build my first website in HTML using Dreamweaver when I was around 12 years old.
I didn’t launch those websites but I did pick up some useful Dreamweaver skills.
It wasn’t until I was at college building a website for an online record label when the blogging thing “accidentally” happened.
I’d reached a point where I’d build several iterations of the website with Dreamweaver. And I needed something easier to update. Something I could use for announcing new releases. I searched around for a bit and found WordPress.
It was perfect! I picked a decent looking theme, rebuilt the website and started using the blogging functionality within WordPress to announce new releases.
That record label actually made a loss, and we converted it to a free “netlabel” soon after launch but we ended up having around 60 releases, and close to 3 million downloads.
Those results were in part because we were regularly blogging about those new releases & promoting those posts across various communities and social platforms.
This fundamentally changed what I thought blogging was, and what could be achieved with a blog.
Oh! So, that brought you here! How many blogs do you have now and how do you manage contributing to all of them?
I have 5 blogs at the moment, including my new guitar blog.
I like writing more lengthy content which makes it fairly time-consuming to publish content (this is what I typically do for Blogging Wizard and Funnel Overload).
But, on my personal blog, I’m trying to keep my posts fairly short and reduce friction in the publishing process – this means I can get more content out into the world without overthinking it.
Contributing to all of them is a huge challenge, but I offset this with outsourced content and the occasional guest post. And I hired my girlfriend, Nicola, to help me with editing & social media management – this has freed up a lot of my time.
Another thing that helps is making every step of the editorial process as process driven as possible.
For example, I have a database of content ideas so I never run out of topic ideas. I’ve got an editorial calendar for each website, and a step-by-step publication & promotion checklist that I work through whenever a post goes live.
Wow! A database makes it sound like a big treasure box of ideas! So, what is your favorite thing that you like writing about?
I’m quite fond of writing about tools & technology – especially marketing tools. I enjoy trying out new tools as well. I’m constantly amazed by what is so easy to do now that wasn’t an option 3-4 years ago.
And, I just finished up writing around 26,000 words of content for the launch of my guitar blog – a lot of content but I enjoyed every moment of it.
I am sure you did! It is always interesting to work on something you love!
We’ve already heard about how you found WordPress! And, tell me how are you liking the recent developments in it?
I came across WordPress somewhere around 2009.
Now, 10 years later, it’s amazing to see how much it has grown. What was once something thought of as a blogging platform is now used to power educational blogs, huge e-commerce sites, job websites, and social networks?
And I’m finally starting to warm up to Gutenberg. It’s got some distance to go but it’s got a lot of potential.
I switched over my personal blog recently and found a bunch of things far easier than they were in the previous editor. Things like adding images and conversion focused elements. And it even removes all the span tags that the previous editor left in when copying content over from Google Docs.
Although it wasn’t loved in the beginning, Gutenberg is bringing out a change and many are loving this new editor! Have you tried using the Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg?
Yes! I launched a new version of my personal blog recently and converted all my content to blocks to try out Gutenberg.
While it’s not perfect yet (neither is the old editor), I see so much potential with Gutenberg. And after using it for a while, I’m noticing just how restrictive the Classic Editor is.
It’s so much easier to create engaging content that looks the way I want it to look (without having to use an external page builder plugin), and the Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg gives me even more options. I’m excited to see where things go with the new editor.
So, coming to some marketing talks!
Could you name a few WordPress plugins that have helped bring in traffic on your blog?
Sure!
- Social Snap – my new favourite social sharing plugin. It’s got a bunch of useful features, but the way it allows me to upload vertical Pinterest images has helped me get more traffic from Pinterest.
- Schema Pro – makes it extremely easy to add schema markup so my content stands out more in Google search.
So, Schema Pro for applying schema markup! Can you share your experience using Schema Pro plugin?
My experience has been frictionless!
And by that, I mean, I setup the plugin using the setup wizard and I haven’t had to touch it since. It’s effortless.
What I love about Schema Pro is that I can add something like article schema automatically to my pages. And there’s no horrible box on the front end like with other plugins.
That’s nice to hear! 🙂
Was there any other Schema plugin or method you used to add schema markup? What made you switch to Schema Pro?
For years, my go-to plugin was WP Rich Snippets. Partly for review schema.
But, the developer doesn’t seem to be supporting the plugin any more so I needed an alternative.
With Schema Pro, I can add review schema for specific posts, then automatically add other schema types such as article/software/local business, etc.
What is the best thing that you liked about Schema Pro?
I’ve mentioned this a few times, but hands down, it’s the way the Schema Pro setup wizard allows me to map schema to specific pages – without adding it all manually, on a post-by-post (or page-by-page) basis.
Do you have some results that you’ve seen after implementing schema markup with Schema Pro?
It’s difficult to say exactly because I was already using schema before (and I’ve still got a few sites to migrate to Schema Pro).
But, for me, it all comes down to how much time a plugin saves and the functionality it offers.
And Schema Pro saves me a heck of a lot of time. It’s now a “default” plugin for me to install on new sites.
Wow! It's a pleasure to see Schema Pro has made up to your list! 🙂
Do you have some piece of advice for beginners and industry experts explaining why schema markup is important and how well can you do that with Schema Pro?
David Hartshorne explains it best in his beginner’s guide to rich snippets & schema, on Blogging Wizard. But, ultimately, it boils down to this:
While adding schema (or structured data) to your pages won’t influence rankings directly, it will help your content stand out more in search. The result? More clicks from search.
They also help Google understand your website better.
Well, so I mentioned the Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg earlier, then we heard about your love for Schema Pro.
Are there any other Brainstorm Force products that you use?
Yes! I recently switched one of my websites over to the Astra theme, and I’m also running the Ultimate Addons for Elementor too.
That’s sounds great! So, we’d be gradually pulling you over to try all of our products! 😀
And, well… Managing so many websites is a difficult task that you have mastered! Could you please share a picture of your setup with our audience?
I work from a few different locations (home/office, etc), but today I’m at my home studio which looks like this:
This space is used for audio and video production work, but I run everything from Google Drive for file storage, and task management via Notion. This means everything I need for my business is in the cloud and sync’d across multiple devices.
Together with my iPhone and Macbook, it makes it easy to work from pretty much wherever I am at the time.
That looks pretty cool! 🙂
So, Adam, what is the best advice that you would want to give WordPress bloggers in 2019?
Ignore everyone else’s opinion on Gutenberg and judge it for yourself.
I have my issues with Gutenberg, particularly how the roll out was pushed (and yes, there are still a few glitches). But, because of all the hate people were directing towards it, I didn’t give it a chance.
When I tried it out for myself? It turns out it’s actually not as bad as so many people were making out.
Sure, change can be difficult and it’s not perfect. We’ve got the Classic Editor plugin if we don’t want to make that change.
I’ve got Gutenberg on a few of my websites and I’m enjoying using it.
A bunch of the bugs or annoyances in the old editor are gone. And we can do far more with our content that we couldn’t before – and that’s a good thing.
It won’t be right for everyone, sure, but it’s got plenty of potential.
Finally, I am sure our readers would want to learn more from you or simply get in touch! Where can they find or read more about you?
So, here’s wrapping it up!
Thank you Adam for taking out time and sharing your wonderful journey with us! It feels really good to get to know people with different likings doing what they love the most. And it feels even better to know that our products are making a difference!
So, this was a story of Adam Connell a marketing expert, a blogger, and well… a guitarist too – who loves Schema Pro for its ease of use and the automation it offers.
Have another story for us? We’ll love to get that here!