Bringing About Change, One Microbonus at a Time

Recognizing each other’s work is a cornerstone of our team’s culture. We use Bonusly, a platform that allows team members to recognize their peers by giving micro bonuses to each other for excellent work. Every team member receives a monthly stipend they can use to reward teammates for excellent work or for going the extra mile.

Over the last few months, we’ve adjusted these bonuses to incorporate a community-giving component. Each time a team member gives a micro bonus, they can also choose to support the recipient’s selected charitable organization. When a message of recognition includes the recipient’s charity hashtag, SiteCare matches the micro bonus, dollar for dollar, and donates it to the specified organization.

For example, “+20 @Byron, for setting a tremendous example of showing up every day for the SiteCare mission. #empowerothers #excellence #BigCityMountaineers,” meant that both Byron and his charity each received twenty dollars. 

Impacting Communities in Our Own Backyards

Our team members, scattered from South Africa to the Philippines, Pakistan to the United States, and beyond, chose charities that positively impact their communities.

Here’s a brief look at some of the organizations we’ve supported in the last quarter:

• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: This society is dedicated to working towards a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and myeloma and improving the quality of life of patients and their families.
• Next for Autism: Transforms nationally available services for people with autism by strategically designing, launching, and supporting innovative programs.
• Border Collie Rescue: This NGO is committed to rescuing and rehabilitating Border Collie dogs facing abandonment or euthanasia.
• Groundworks Collaborative: Provides ongoing support to Vermont families and individuals facing housing and food insecurities.
• iKhaya Le Themba: Offers holistic care to children and families impacted by HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation: Defends civil liberties in the digital world, championing user privacy, free expression, and innovation.
• Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital: A cancer hospital and research center in Pakistan which provides free care to thousands.
• Protection of Animal Welfare Society (PAWS): Works to alleviate animal suffering through rescue, rehabilitation, and education.
• The Counselling Hub: Provides affordable mental health services to patients in South Africa.
• Doctors Without Borders: Delivers international emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare.
• American Civil Liberties Union: Works to defend and preserve individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
• Society for Protection against Cruelty to Animals (SPCA): This organization protects and enhances the lives of animals through adoption, rescue, spay/neuter programs, and public education.
• Sinag Kalinga, A Home For Those Who Have None: Aims to provide homes and basic necessities for homeless individuals and families in the Philippines.
• Big City Mountaineers: Provides wilderness mentoring expeditions for under-resourced urban youth.
• Oklahoma Humane Society: Works to enhance the well-being of animals and enrich the lives of people in Oklahoma.
• National Ability Center: Empowers individuals of all abilities by building self-esteem, confidence, and lifetime skills through sports, recreation, and educational programs.

Each micro bonus and subsequent match from SiteCare contribute to the fantastic work these organizations are doing worldwide.

Fostering A Culture of Recognition and Community Support

Since starting the program in 2022, we’ve noticed a significant uptick in peer recognition, fostering an even stronger camaraderie and team spirit as our employees go out of their way to support each other’s chosen charities. To date, we’ve contributed almost $3,500 to various charitable organizations worldwide, with each donation made in the team member’s honor.

Why It Matters

What sets this initiative apart is that it’s a testament to the power of peer-to-peer recognition for outstanding work performed. It’s a shining example of how businesses can simultaneously support their employees and the communities in which they live.

By sharing our Charitable Contributions program, we hope to inspire other companies; every contribution can have a positive impact, no matter how small. We believe that together, we can give back to our communities and take a small step toward making the world a better place.     

The post SiteCare Supports Global Charities Through Staff Recognition Program appeared first on WordPress Support & Optimization Specialists.

Founded in 2012, Maintainn was one of the first WordPress maintenance companies to offer 24/7 security monitoring, daily off-site backups, updates to WordPress core, themes, plugins, a dedicated WordPress support desk, and custom development. Maintainn was acquired in 2014 by WebDevStudios.

As a result of the acquisition, SiteCare will incorporate Maintainn’s assets into its WordPress support and maintenance portfolio. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“As we become a leader in the WordPress maintenance and digital marketing space, Maintainn will help us accelerate our efforts to deliver a best-in-class support solution to WordPress sites around the world,” said Drew Barton, founder and CEO of SiteCare. “Our commitment to building the best client experience is strengthened with Maintainn as part of our family. We are thrilled to welcome Maintainn’s clients for an exceptional experience.”

The acquisition will allow WebDevStudios to focus on large-scale development projects. While at the same time, SiteCare will continue to offer first-class WordPress support services and introduce its suite of digital marketing services to an even wider audience.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Maintainn,” said WebDevStudios CEO Brad Williams. “Our partnership with SiteCare catalyzes future growth between our two companies.”

This is SiteCare’s second acquisition of a WordPress management company. In 2018, SiteCare acquired WP Site Care. It is the company’s fourth acquisition in as many years. 

About WebDevStudios

WebDevStudios (WD3, LLC) is a website development company focusing on custom WordPress websites and plugin development, providing custom solutions for clients like The Wall Street Journal, Starbucks, Microsoft, Viacom, and the National Basketball Association.

About SiteCare

SiteCare, LLC is a WordPress support and maintenance leader with a full suite of digital marketing services. With clients and staff worldwide, SiteCare is growing a community of WordPress site owners with its SiteCare Club and training seminars on search engine optimization, user experience, and more. 

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Southern Web’s journey to rebrand itself and its subsidiaries into SiteCare is the culmination of several strategic acquisitions and years of careful planning and business forecasting.

The story begins in 2005 with the creation of Southern Web, an Atlanta-based digital agency founded by former CNN web developer Drew Barton. While originally just a web design firm, the agency steadily grew as it began offering digital marketing services, including search engine optimization, pay-per-click management, email marketing, and more.

In 2018, Southern Web acquired WP Site Care, a WordPress maintenance and support agency founded in 2012 by respected WordPress aficionado and current SiteCare Vice President of Technology Ryan Sullivan.

The summer of 2020 marked yet another milestone for Southern Web with the acquisition of Firing Squad, an email lead generation company based in Cape Town, South Africa, and founded by entrepreneur Jason Bagley.

These two major acquisitions expanded Southern Web’s scope of services and client rosters and transformed the company into a global, remote workplace composed of more than a dozen full-time team members spread across five time zones and three continents.

“With such phenomenal growth over the past couple of years, we realized our name did not represent our global reach — a full rebrand was the appropriate next step. Consolidating our multiple service lines under one common moniker simply made sense,” Barton explains. “As our expertise has evolved both beyond the United States and beyond the WP Site Care brand, we embraced our trademark ‘SiteCare’ because it fully encompasses the essence of what we do here — whether it’s your WordPress site or your sales funnel, we help you optimize it.”

There’s no doubt that 2020 has been difficult for many businesses across the globe. As more businesses seek out professional partners to manage and grow their digital assets, SiteCare is pleased to provide a “one-stop-shop” experience. From WordPress maintenance packages to POI-focused lead generation strategies, SiteCare offers everything a business needs to survive and thrive.

SiteCare’s focus services areas are two-fold:

• WordPress maintenance and support services, which include managed WordPress updates, managed web hosting, a development team, and emergency site support when clients need it most.
• Lead generation services that help businesses grow online, reach new customers and increase their leads and sales. These services include search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, email marketing, email lead generation, pay-per-click (PPC) management, and social media marketing.

SiteCare also offers a one-on-one website consulting program called SiteCoach, which empowers business owners with actionable insights and strategies for increasing revenue through technical website improvements and ROI-focused digital marketing.

Want to know more about our services? Start a conversation today by emailing sales@sitecare.com.

The post Southern Web Announces Rebrand, Changes Name to SiteCare appeared first on WordPress Support & Optimization Specialists.

We stand in solidarity with the Black community to condemn the killings of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless victims before them.

We join with the millions of people in cities across all 50 states who are taking to the streets to mourn and protest. These demonstrations come on the heels of a global pandemic that disproportionately harms Black people in the U.S.

We want to be very clear: We condemn racism, ignorance, and the propagation of hate. At our workplace, we do not tolerate any forms of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, religion, age, familial status, or ability.

However, our words are only as powerful as the actions we choose to take.

One of our company values is to “Empower Others” — whether that means helping our clients achieve success with their websites and digital marketing or helping the next generation gain access to the gift of technology that we have always taken for granted.

With our company values in mind, Southern Web will be donating over the next year to four organizations working to end racial discrimination and expand economic opportunity for people of color in the tech industry:

• Black Girls Code is a non-profit organization that empowers young Black girls in underrepresented communities through computer coding workshops and after-school programs.
• All Star Code is a non-profit educational organization that helps boys and young men of color develop the skills and tools they need to succeed as entrepreneurs in the tech industry.
• Yes We Code is a scholarship program designed to increase diversity in the tech industry by removing financial barriers and expanding access to quality tech education.
• /dev/color is a non-profit organization that helps Black software engineers grow into industry leaders through career mapping, networking, and peer groups.

We will also be matching our team members’ donations to these organizations dollar-for-dollar up to , and we are extending the dollar-for-dollar matching opportunity to our clients and the public at large. If you would like to donate to these organizations and receive a dollar-for-dollar match from us, please send an email to justice@sitecare.com.

People of color — especially Black people — have carried the staggering weight of injustice for generations. It is time for everyone to step up and work together to help relieve that burden.

While the work to dismantle deeply rooted systems of oppression will be long and difficult, we are committed to doing a small but necessary part in building a kinder and more equitable world for everyone.

In solidarity,

The entire team at SiteCare

The post We’re Joining the Fight for Racial Justice appeared first on WordPress Support & Optimization Specialists.