Nov 8, 2021
Optimizing your WordPress website is a never-ending job.
But that doesn't mean it has to be hard or complicated.
Syed Balkhi, founder and CEO of Awesome Motive joins Loren Baker for a discussion around tools that will make your WordPress SEO simpler.
With a community-first approach, Syed's team was able to solve users' problems, partner with other tools, or build tools for free. The value at the core of their success? If they helped others win, they won as well.
Learn more about the tools they developed, the secrets of their success, and how Awesome Motive and their full suite of WordPress tools became industry leaders.
“We give people the freedom to do the advanced things that they want to do and that's what we've really built before.” - Syed Balkhi, [14:26]
“I remember the early days when WordPress came out, I was telling people I'm going to become a blogger. They said what are you doing? Why? You have to create new content every day? Are you crazy? I said, ‘Let’s do it!’” - Loren Baker, [33:36]
“Our goal is to fight inequality through education. This is why everything you see on WP Beginner is free. We don't charge for courses, there are hundreds of videos for free that we create and I believe that helps level the playing field and creates a better tomorrow.” - Syed Balkhi, [48:56]
[00:00] - A look at Syed Balkhi, Awesome Motive, and their impressive WordPress brands
[03:44] - Why is on-site search important?
[07:09] - What’s unique about All In One SEO?
[16:25] - Opt-in Monster & other cross-platform tools
[18:58] - Does TrustPulse work?
[20:04] - What is Sugar Calendar, and how does it work?
[22:15] - How Syed describes most of their plugins
[23:02] - Using Seed Prod for faster landing pages and sites
[24:28] - How WPBeginner began and what Syed learned doing it
[33:57] - The “aha!” moment with WP Beginner
[35:04] - How Opt-In Monster started
[37:41] - How Syed got into analytics and MonsterInsights
[42:06] - The core culture of Awesome Motive
[42:47] - How does WPBeginner Growth Fund work?
[47:53] - How Syed gives back through Pencils of Promise
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“The beginner tools, we made it beginner-friendly - that was our first goal. But we also have the power tools because it's really built for us the migrating sites and the redirects.” - Syed Balkhi, [13:26]
“Don't try to be everybody to everyone. You might end up drifting away from your core value. That's when business growth starts slowing down.” - Syed Balkhi, [39:56]
“I might not be the smartest person in the room but I'm smart enough to know what I don't know
and smart enough to bring people in that know what I don't know, so we can work together and come to a solution at the end of the day.”- Loren Baker, [40:27]
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Connect with Syed Balkhi:
The mission of Syed Balkhi is for small businesses to have a level playing field. More than 19 million websites use his software to grow and compete with the big boys. More than 100 million people read his blogs every year to increase their website traffic, sales, and conversions!
Connect with Syed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/syedbalkhi/
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/syedbalkhi
Pencils of Promise: https://pencilsofpromise.org/
Visit: https://awesomemotive.com/about/
Connect with Loren Baker, Founder of Search Engine Journal:
Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker
Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker