I had a consulting gig recently with an agency that was doing everything “right” on paper. They pushed out solid WordPress tutorials, dug into new hooks, posted their dev insights on the blog. The problem was that none of it landed new clients. Their pipeline was dry and they couldn’t work out why. They knew development cold, but their effective content strategy was aimed at the wrong people.
It’s a common story. Developers, me included, love to talk shop. We get excited about the latest Gutenberg feature or a clever database tweak, and that content has its place. But if you want to attract clients who need a problem solved, not other developers, you’re talking to the wrong crowd. You’re stuck in the WordPress echo chamber, man. It’s comfortable, but it doesn’t pay the bills.
My first thought was, “Let’s optimize their existing posts, add a few keywords, and call it a day.” A quick technical tweak, basically. That might pull more eyes onto a WP_Query article, but they aren’t the eyes that sign off on a big project. The fix wasn’t about tweaking what they had. It was about who they were writing for. That meant a hard look at their audience and what those people care about outside of dev talk. It builds on something from a recent Hallway Hangout summary I read, about reaching past the “WordPress bubble.”
Build a content strategy around client pain points
You’ve got to think like your client, not your dev buddy. What keeps them up at night? It’s rarely “which WordPress hook should I use?” It’s “my store is slow,” or “I can’t connect my CRM to WooCommerce,” or “editing my content is a nightmare.” Your content has to speak to those exact worries. That means fewer tutorials on building a custom block (unless it’s framed as “how a custom block fixes your content chaos”) and more on how a well-built WordPress site affects their bottom line.
Usually that means using WordPress to handle content that isn’t a standard blog post. Think about the mediums that came up in that Hallway Hangout: Twitch streams, YouTube, podcasts, newsletters. Each one needs its own approach. You can build a setup in WordPress that treats these as first-class content types instead of dumping them into a generic post type, which keeps things organized as you add more.
<?php
/**
* Register custom post types for various content mediums.
*/
function bbioon_register_content_types() {
// YouTube Videos
register_post_type( 'bbioon_video',
array(
'labels' => array(
'name' => __( 'Videos', 'bbioon_textdomain' ),
'singular_name' => __( 'Video', 'bbioon_textdomain' )
),
'public' => true,
'has_archive' => true,
'supports' => array( 'title', 'editor', 'thumbnail', 'custom-fields' ),
'menu_icon' => 'dashicons-video-alt3',
)
);
// Podcast Episodes
register_post_type( 'bbioon_podcast',
array(
'labels' => array(
'name' => __( 'Podcasts', 'bbioon_textdomain' ),
'singular_name' => __( 'Podcast', 'bbioon_textdomain' )
),
'public' => true,
'has_archive' => true,
'supports' => array( 'title', 'editor', 'thumbnail', 'custom-fields' ),
'menu_icon' => 'dashicons-microphone',
)
);
// Newsletters/Long-form articles that aren't standard blog posts
register_post_type( 'bbioon_newsletter',
array(
'labels' => array(
'name' => __( 'Newsletters', 'bbioon_textdomain' ),
'singular_name' => __( 'Newsletter', 'bbioon_textdomain' )
),
'public' => true,
'has_archive' => true,
'supports' => array( 'title', 'editor', 'custom-fields' ),
'menu_icon' => 'dashicons-email-alt',
)
);
}
add_action( 'init', 'bbioon_register_content_types' );
/**
* Add custom fields for embedding and strategic metadata.
*/
function bbioon_add_custom_content_fields() {
// Example for video: embed URL
add_action( 'add_meta_boxes_bbioon_video', function() {
add_meta_box( 'bbioon_video_url', 'Video URL', 'bbioon_video_url_callback', 'bbioon_video', 'normal', 'high' );
});
// Example for podcast: audio embed
add_action( 'add_meta_boxes_bbioon_podcast', function() {
add_meta_box( 'bbioon_podcast_audio', 'Audio Embed Code', 'bbioon_podcast_audio_callback', 'bbioon_podcast', 'normal', 'high' );
});
// Callback functions for meta boxes would go here, handling input and saving.
// function bbioon_video_url_callback( $post ) { /* ... */ }
// function bbioon_podcast_audio_callback( $post ) { /* ... */ }
}
add_action( 'admin_init', 'bbioon_add_custom_content_fields' );
?>The snippet above is a basic example: it registers custom post types for different content mediums. With bbioon_video, bbioon_podcast, and bbioon_newsletter you can manage each kind of content on its own, attach the custom fields it needs (a YouTube embed URL, a podcast audio link), and keep it separate from your regular posts. That structure matters once you start pushing targeted content somewhere specific, say an API endpoint feeding a client dashboard or a dedicated “Resources” section on your site.
So what’s the takeaway?
It comes down to this: your agency’s technical skill is a given. If your content doesn’t speak to the problems your ideal clients actually have, you’re wasting your time and theirs. Learn their business, understand what they’re fighting with, and point your expertise at those conversations. That’s how you earn trust and become the obvious hire when they need a serious WordPress developer.
This stuff gets complicated fast. If you’re tired of debugging someone else’s mess and just want the site to work, drop my team a line. We’ve probably seen it before.
