10 Things I Learned at WordCamp KC 2016

WordCamp is always a pleasure, and WordCamp KC has a special place in my heart since we’ve been sponsoring, speaking, and organizing there from the start. This year, Josepha and I went to make friends and learn things, and I learned a lot. I also made some new friends, including Angie Pedersen, whom you see with me in the picture here.

Among the things I learned is that some people, including Jamie Smith, feel strongly that numbered lists should not be used for items where the order of the items is not important. The order of the items below is random (that is the kind of note taker I am), but the title promises 10 things, so I feel that there should be an ordered list to match that title.

Be that as it may, here’s what I learned at WordCamp KC 2016:

1. From Zack Pike I learned that Google Tag Manager plugins have limitations; it’s better to place the GTM code directly into the code at your site, or to have your webmaster do that for you.
2. From Michele Butcher I learned that Jetpack does way more stuff than I had realized. If you, like me, have been lazy about checking out all the features, you should make the time.
3. From Brian Hilliard I learned that a positive attitude toward sales is a business advantage. Okay, that wasn’t news, but Brian’s session was enjoyable and inspiring, so he deserves a shout-out.
4. From Rob Walch I learned that there are 7,500 female bloggers for every female podcaster. Rob had lots of interesting data to share, including a study that determined that ads are less irritating on podcasts than they are at blogs. I also learned from Rob that iTunes search relies on title, authors, and subscribers, not on well-written descriptions, as I would have expected.
5. From Nile Flores I learned that the Yoast SEO plugin will integrate with Facebook Insights.
6. From Brigid Greene  I learned that data visualizations are called vizzes.
7. From Breht Burri I learned that podcast show notes are powerful — that’s how to get listeners to your website.
8. From Chris Brown I learned that those Terms of Service pages that essentially nobody reads are important if you have an e-commerce site, if you collect sensitive information, or if you’re visited by kids. I also learned that we should make our clients write their own, so that we don’t end up legally responsible.
9. From Marc Benzakein, who joins us in using the Underpants Gnomes as a business strategy example, I learned that companies should expect to get business because of their websites, not through their websites.
10. From Jeremy Green I learned that using Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is a lot easier than I would have expected. Clients, give us a shout if you want this update for your website.

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