Webinar Wednesday 208 – September 24, 2025

Brilliant Directories Mobile App (00:01:56)

• The new version of the Brilliant Directories mobile app is expected to be released in October, and it will be available for download from Apple or Android app stores by searching for Brilliant Directories, allowing users to stay connected with their site on the go (00:01:56).
• The upcoming update will be the first phase, followed by the introduction of real-time push notifications for actions such as new members, payments, and form inquiries, which will be a valuable feature for site owners (00:02:13).
• A contest is currently ongoing, where participants can win an iPad Air by leaving a comment on the giveaway post in the Facebook group, and if the contest reaches a thousand unique entries, two iPads will be given away (00:02:48).
• The contest will end on September 30th, and the winner will be announced in the Facebook group on October 1st, making it a fun way to engage with the community and reward participants (00:03:06).
• Webinar Wednesday is a weekly event where the Brilliant Directories team shares new updates, features, and tips to help users grow their community, increase traffic, and identify revenue opportunities, making it the best place to stay up-to-date on the latest developments (00:04:21).
• The webinar also includes a questions and answers section, where participants can ask questions and get help with their site or strategy, and they can also request to have their microphone unmuted to ask verbal questions (00:04:53).
• The team will do their best to resolve issues within a 2-3 minute time frame, and if not, they will recommend reaching out to support or asking in the Facebook group for further assistance (00:05:28).

MORE INSIGHTS: See which members spend the most & other key metrics (00:05:52)

• An update has been released with new insights and stats, providing more information for review, including snapshots of members who have joined, revenue, and pending items, which serve as a to-do list for admin moderation, new leads, and pass-through invoices (00:05:52).
• The pending items section includes a list of tasks that require attention, such as new leads that need to be matched with members, and pass-through invoices that may need to be reviewed or cancelled (00:06:12).
• A "what do you want to do today" section is available, offering quick links to view members, revenue, web pages, and more, with corresponding create actions, such as adding a member or creating an invoice or post (00:06:29).
• New wizards have been introduced, including a create post wizard that utilizes AI to generate content, with plans to add more wizards for tasks like creating newsletters and social posts (00:06:45).
• The newest insights include a stream of the 10 newest members, payments, and posts created on the site, as well as new form inquiries, which can be clicked on to view the inquiry and take further action (00:07:03).
• The top revenue contributors insight shows which members have spent the most money on the site over a specified period, such as year to date or last 30 days, and displays the number of payments made (00:07:23).
• The top publishers insight displays the members who have created the most posts over a specified period, with quick links to view their profile or all their posts (00:07:43).
• The profile analytics add-on provides a row of statistics that shows which members have received the most profile views, helping to identify who is driving the most traffic to the site and which profiles are most popular (00:08:01).
• The profile statistics add-on is useful for understanding which members are generating the most traffic and engagement on the site, with the ability to view their profile or all their posts (00:08:18).
• The update includes various other insights and stats, such as the ability to search through a period of time to find specific information, and to view the number of payments made by top spenders (00:08:36).
• The insights and stats are designed to provide a pulse of what is being created on the site, and to help identify areas of activity and engagement (00:09:14).
• The quick links and create actions are intended to make it easier to manage the site and take action on various tasks and inquiries (00:09:31).
• Website insights can be used to identify revenue opportunities, such as reaching out to free members who are getting a ton of hits, which can be a great upsell opportunity, and finding touch points to recommend upgrades (00:09:49).
• The module related to posts with the most views on the site allows website owners to see which posts are performing well, such as articles, event posts, or photo albums, and identify which member published the post (00:10:08).
• Visitor activity can be tracked, including interaction types such as profile views, post views, and social media link clicks, providing a good sense of visitor activity and top engagement actions (00:10:45).
• The line chart and bar chart provide a visual representation of the top 10 membership plans, including the total amount generated over time for paid plans, and the line chart shows activity on the site, such as signups, logins, leads, reviews, posts created, and comments (00:11:22).
• The financial analytics feature allows website owners to view financial data, such as the total amount generated each month, and toggle between different date ranges, with the option to turn off some of the lines and focus on specific metrics (00:11:59).
• The modules can be reordered or disabled, allowing website owners to customize the layout and focus on specific metrics, and save their changes for future reference (00:12:52).
• The website insights feature provides a snapshot of the site's activity, enabling website owners to make informed decisions, and is expected to receive enhancements in the future, providing even more transparency into site activity (00:12:34).
• A line chart is displayed at the top of the website's dashboard, providing a customizable look and feel that allows users to prioritize what they want to see when logging in, without having to scroll down (00:13:26).
• The next topic is related to web hooks, which are explained for those who may not be familiar with the term, to help them understand its relevance and application (00:13:46).

WEBHOOK UPDATES: New triggers for post deletions & member imports (00:13:46)

• Web hooks are a feature that sends details of actions taken on a site to third-party platforms, and new web hooks have been added for when a post is deleted, including "post standard deleted" and "post photo album deleted" triggers (00:13:46).
• These new web hooks allow users to take action on other platforms when a post or photo album post is deleted, providing more flexibility and automation options (00:14:04).
• The business data import tool has been updated to trigger web hooks when new members are added to a site, ensuring that member imports and web hooks work together seamlessly (00:14:22).
• Previously, members added using the business data import tool did not trigger the web hook for new member additions, but this issue has now been resolved, allowing for consistent syncing of member data (00:14:41).
• The updated web hook functionality for member imports means that every time a member is added using the business data import tool, the web hook for adding new members will be triggered, passing the relevant information to connected platforms (00:15:00).

FASTER PAGESPEED: Total Blocking Time (TBT) reduced across all BD sites (00:15:06)

• A significant improvement was made to the page speed of all BD sites, resulting in a small percentage gain, with the total blocking time reduced from a couple hundred milliseconds to around 20-50 milliseconds, which is a big win, especially since this improvement was achieved in a controlled environment, (00:15:06).
• The reduction in total blocking time is expected to provide a higher starting point for page speed scores when custom assets are added to a site, as these additions can sometimes weigh down the score over time, (00:15:24).
• The improvement in page speed was observed across all BD sites, with a specific example showing the total blocking time reduced to 38 milliseconds on the writer review page, which previously had a total blocking time of around 200-300 milliseconds, (00:15:59).
• The page speed score for mobile is now at 98, and almost 100% for everything else, demonstrating the effectiveness of the updates, and users are encouraged to report any issues they encounter to the support team, (00:16:17).
• The team is committed to continuously monitoring and improving the page speed and total blocking time across all BD sites, acknowledging that there are always smaller details that can be improved to maintain high scores, (00:16:37).

API ENDPOINT: Fetch total count of user statistics via new API call (stat type + user_id) (00:16:43)

• A new API endpoint is available, which allows developers to fetch the total count of user statistics, and this feature is tied to the profile statistics add-on, enabling users to retrieve specific statistics such as profile views for a particular user ID (00:16:43).
• The API endpoint provides the ability to fetch various user statistics, including the number of times a user's link was clicked, and it can be used in conjunction with third-party platforms to create alternate dashboards (00:17:06).
• The profile statistics feature is not only useful for members to see their performance but also serves as a retention tool, as it provides members with insights into their profile's performance, such as views and clicks to their website, making them less likely to cancel their membership (00:17:44).
• The profile statistics add-on is part of the VIP add-ons club, and more information about it can be shared for those interested in learning more about this feature and its benefits (00:18:02).
• Additionally, enhanced hosting is scheduled to be released soon, which is a separate development from the new API endpoint and profile statistics add-on (00:18:23).

ENHANCED HOSTING: Allow AI to Crawl and Index Your Website (soon) (00:18:29)

• Users have been requesting to allow AI bots, such as Grock, ChatGPT, and Perplexity, to crawl their websites, and a solution is being developed to handle the aggressive crawling of these bots (00:18:29).
• An enhanced hosting bundle will be released soon, which will allow AI SEO visibility, enable AI bots to crawl websites, and include an extra 10 GB of bandwidth and SSL security to offset the increased bandwidth usage (00:19:04).
• The enhanced hosting bundle is designed to safely manage the extra load caused by AI crawling, by allocating twice the server resources to handle the aggressive crawling (00:19:43).
• Users can express their interest in the enhanced hosting bundle by clicking on a link and filling out a notification form, which will inform them when the service becomes available in the next several weeks (00:20:21).
• The forever free hosting option will still be available, but the enhanced hosting bundle will unlock the ability for AI bots to crawl websites for AI SEO visibility (00:20:58).

QUICK CREATE: Wizards to Create SEO Content with AI for landing pages & more (soon) (00:21:10)

• Wizards are being created to generate SEO content for landing pages and search results pages, with the goal of incorporating this feature more extensively, and this development is already in progress (00:21:10)
• New themes and designs are also being introduced as part of the enhancements (00:21:10)

THEMES: New homepage layouts to pair with Secondary Hero Content (soon) (00:21:22)

• New homepage layouts are being developed to pair with the recently released secondary hero content for homepages, allowing users to quickly toggle between different configurations based on their needs, such as promotions or videos, using simple point-and-click settings (00:21:22).
• The new configurations will provide users with more flexibility in customizing their homepage hero, including options for buttons, search, or other features, and will be released soon (00:21:38).
• The updates are a result of suggestions from the Brilliant Directories community, and users are encouraged to provide feedback and ask questions in the comments, which will be addressed in the questions and answers section (00:21:56).

BD Quick Tips - Intro (00:22:01)

• The BD Quick Tips segment is introduced as a fun part of the webinars, covering often overlooked but highly valuable features within the platform, including how to edit individual member subscriptions, individual webpage options in the web page builder, and 301 redirects (00:22:01).
• The three topics to be covered in the BD Quick Tips segment are briefly outlined, with the first topic being how to edit individual member subscriptions, which will be explored in more detail (00:22:19).
• The importance of 301 redirects is highlighted, particularly for new users who have migrated or are migrating from an old website to BD, as they will likely need to set up 301 redirects (00:22:40).

1) Edit Member Subscriptions (00:22:51)

• Editing a current member's subscription details can be done without canceling or starting a new subscription, and this can be achieved by going to the individual member's account or the search subscriptions page in the admin area, which provides a stream of all active and inactive subscriptions (00:22:51).
• The search subscriptions page allows for editing of individual subscriptions, including updating the subscription billing amount, billing cycle, and next payment due date, as well as adding internal admin notes and deleting past due or upcoming invoices (00:23:26).
• When editing a subscription, a popup window appears, enabling the update of various details, such as the subscription billing amount, billing cycle, and next payment due date, and also allows for the addition of internal admin notes to explain the reason for the edit (00:23:44).
• The edit subscription feature is useful for helping members who may be experiencing financial difficulties, as it allows for changes to be made to their subscription, such as providing a discounted rate or adjusting the next payment due date, and also enables the deletion of obsolete past due or upcoming invoices (00:24:20).
• The search subscriptions page provides a macro view of subscriptions, displaying information such as the total amount generated from a subscription, the number of stopped or canceled payments, and the create date and next payment date, whereas the transaction history page shows every individual transaction (00:25:54).
• For canceled or ended subscriptions, there are no actions available, but for active subscriptions with a next payment date, the search subscriptions page displays this information, allowing for edits or other actions to be taken as needed (00:26:31).
• The search function allows users to find specific membership plans, and it displays the total number of subscriptions, the aggregate total generated, and provides filters to search for active or ended subscriptions, as well as billing cycles (00:26:49).
• Users can reset the search and apply different filters, such as searching for ended subscriptions to calculate churn rate, or searching by date created to see how many subscriptions were started over a period of time (00:27:30).
• The search function also allows users to filter by subscription status, such as active or ended, and by billing cycles, including monthly or other plans (00:28:07).
• The search subscriptions page provides a broader view of all active subscriptions on the website, while the transaction history page shows a constant stream of individual transactions that have been processed on the site (00:28:45).
• The dashboard displays the newest payments, but it does not currently show the number of subscriptions started or ended, which would be useful insights to add to the dashboard (00:29:03).
• The webpage options are available for further customization and exploration, providing additional features and functionalities for users (00:29:24).

2) Web Page Builder: Page Options (00:29:31)

• The web page builder allows control over various options for individual web pages, including layout, navigation, and indexing by search engines, which is particularly useful for creating landing pages or one-off pages for marketing purposes (00:29:31).
• The page options tab in the web page builder sidebar provides a range of options to choose from, such as hiding the website header and footer, or the main menu, to create distraction-free landing pages (00:29:50).
• Users can also choose what Google and other search engines index with specific pages by selecting whether or not a page is no index and no follow, and can create a custom sidebar for a specific web page (00:30:28).
• The custom sidebar option allows users to create a new sidebar and choose to only display it on a specific landing page, providing flexibility in designing landing pages (00:30:45).
• Editing the page options can help improve conversion rates, especially for social media campaigns with links to lead magnets, offers, and email capture forms, by creating a clutter-free page with a focus on the lead capture form (00:31:38).
• Users can add their branding, such as a logo, to the page even if the header is hidden, and can also add a sidebar with custom modules to the page (00:32:17).
• For developers, there is the option to add custom code to a landing page and disable the default CSS, allowing for the creation of a custom landing page from scratch without competing stylesheets (00:33:13).
• Disabling the default CSS provides a blank slate for designing a custom landing page, and users can use tools like Figma or other webpage builders to create custom code and add it to the page (00:33:32).
• The ability to turn off and on the default CSS provides flexibility in designing custom landing pages, and is a useful option for users who want to create unique and effective landing pages (00:33:50).

3) Old Page → New Page: 301 Redirects (00:34:10)

• 301 redirects allow visitors to be redirected from an old URL to a new one, which is useful when URLs are changed, such as when a member changes their name, and this can be done manually in the developer hub by entering the source URL and the redirect URL (00:34:10).
• If a lot of 301 redirects need to be created, such as when migrating an old site to Brilliant Directories, they can be imported using a CSV file, making the process quick and simple (00:35:00).
• 301 redirects help preserve rankings and eliminate broken links by redirecting visitors from old, non-existent pages to new or updated ones, and this is particularly useful when migrating pages to Brilliant Directories (00:35:18).
• When a site is started from scratch on Brilliant Directories, 301 redirects are not usually necessary, as the system automatically creates them when a member's profile URL changes, such as when they update their name (00:36:12).
• The Brilliant Directories platform automatically creates 301 redirects for member profiles and posts when their URLs change, such as when a member changes their name or a blog article title is edited, ensuring that maintenance is virtually zero (00:36:30).
• 301 redirects are also useful when running contests and offers, as they allow pages to be redirected to a new location when the campaign ends, such as redirecting an offer page to the homepage (00:37:27).
• The automatic creation of 301 redirects in Brilliant Directories helps to ensure that visitors are redirected to the correct page, even if the original URL has been shared on social media or email marketing, preventing them from reaching a broken page (00:37:09).
• A demonstration of redirecting a contact us page to a search results page was shown, where a redirect rule was created and saved, resulting in the contact us page being inaccessible and redirecting to the search results page instead (00:38:04).
• The redirect rule can be deleted if needed, allowing the original page to be accessed again, and it is safe to keep redirect rules to avoid losing traffic to older pages, which can be funneled to valid pages on the website (00:39:17).
• When creating a 301 redirect, an internal admin note can be added to remind administrators why the rule was created, such as when a promotion ends and a promotional landing page is redirected to a normal pricing page (00:40:13).
• The internal admin note is only visible to administrators and can be useful for keeping track of changes made to the website, including 301 redirects (00:40:32).
• The demonstration showed that even if a page is deleted, the redirect rule can still funnel traffic to a valid page on the website, preventing loss of traffic to older pages (00:38:59).

Will AI be included in Enhanced Hosting custom servers? (00:40:50)

• There are two similar questions being addressed, one of which is from Ryan, regarding whether the AI component will be included in the enhanced hosting custom servers (00:40:50).
• The questions also involve Wade and pertain to the possibility of allowing AI to crawl a site if the user has a dedicated server (00:40:50).

Does BD block AI crawlers outside of robots.txt on dedicated servers? (00:41:03)

• BD currently blocks AI crawlers on dedicated servers due to their aggressive nature, which was driving up bandwidth, and this blockage occurs outside of the Robots.txt file (00:41:03).
• If a user has a dedicated hosting server on BD and wants to allow AI crawling, they can email the support team to enable it, and then add it to the robots.txt file if needed, with a list of about 25 user agents for AI box available when the enhanced hosting update is released (00:41:40).
• The enhanced hosting option is being introduced to provide a happy medium for users who want to allow AI crawling without having to upgrade to a dedicated server, which can cost upwards of $500 per month, with the enhanced hosting option costing $15 more per month (00:42:17).
• The enhanced hosting option is not yet live, but users can click on a link to get notified when it becomes available, and it is expected that within the next month or so, there will be options available to everyone to support AI crawling safely, whether through the enhanced hosting plan or on dedicated servers (00:42:57).
• Users on dedicated servers can pilot the AI crawling feature by letting the BD team know, which can be a good testing ground since bandwidth is not as critical on dedicated servers, and the team will be working to roll out the enhanced hosting option over the next few weeks (00:42:38).

Plans to release Create A Post wizard to members? (00:43:23)

• Plans are potentially in place to release a "Create a Post" wizard for articles to members in the future, with the goal of helping website owners reliably and rapidly create content for their sites using AI (00:43:23).
• Currently, members can enable a ChatGPT content creator, which allows them to use AI to create an article by putting a user prompt in the editor, highlighting it, and receiving a response, although this method is not as perfect as the planned wizard (00:43:40).
• The existing chat GPT content creator can be enabled for members, and a short video, potentially 30 seconds long, can be created to explain how it works and increase adoption among members (00:43:56).
• The development team is excited about providing more AI assistance to help with content creation, and there are plans to create a few more wizards in the admin area to support this goal (00:44:16).
• Overall, the aim is to enhance content creation capabilities for members using AI technology, with potential future releases and current workarounds available to support this objective (00:44:35).

Can the site handle a burst of traffic after low activity? (00:44:41)

• The site's ability to handle a burst of traffic after a period of low activity is a concern, with the possibility of several hundred thousand visitors in one day, and the answer is yes, the site can handle such a burst, with automatic management and allocation systems in place to route traffic accordingly (00:44:41).
• The forever free hosting plan has built-in systems to manage influxes of traffic, and users should not be afraid to bring more traffic to their site, as this is a positive thing, and the server team is primarily concerned with mitigating DDoS attacks (00:45:00).
• The server team has mitigation strategies in place to block or mitigate downtime caused by DDoS attacks, which are bot attacks that try to take down a server with hundreds of thousands of requests, and users can expect everything to work as expected (00:45:18).
• The BD network has a page, network.billiantdirectories.com, where users can see all the servers within the network, and the goal is to achieve 99.9% uptime, with some servers currently at 99.8% due to maintenance issues or upcoming upgrades to newer servers (00:45:36).
• The team is constantly working to ensure maximum uptime for all users, monitoring servers and addressing any issues that exceed their standard thresholds, and upgrading older servers to newer ones to maintain optimal performance (00:45:57).

How to import scraped members without duplicates (00:46:28)

• To import members without duplicates, especially when they have no email and are assigned a sequential email by the system, it is possible to mitigate or look out for duplicates by using the search members page, which has a tool to find duplicates (00:46:28).
• The find duplicates tool can be used to identify members with the same phone number, and it will show all the members who have the same exact phone number, allowing for decisions to be made on whether to delete or keep duplicates (00:47:25).
• The tool can also be used to search for duplicates based on other criteria such as email or address, and as the admin of the site, it is possible to decide to delete, merge, or keep duplicates (00:48:06).
• When using the business data tool, it will automatically skip records that have already been imported, but if importing from a different source, such as an Excel file, duplicates may still be entered (00:49:38).
• To keep the directory tidy, it is recommended to aim for 90% tidiness, and perform maintenance tasks such as phone number matching and address matching on a regular basis, such as once a month (00:50:15).
• The find duplicates tool can be used to group records that were matched as duplicates, making it easier to identify and manage duplicates, and a note has been made to consider implementing this feature (00:49:19).

How to embed on the coming soon page with full-width display (00:50:48)

• To embed content on a coming soon page with a full-width display, there are a few possible solutions, and one of the main issues is that the coming soon page has limitations, such as not being able to switch to full width or be used as a widget (00:50:48).
• The coming soon page is a useful feature for collecting email addresses when a site is not yet fully live, and it can be set up by switching the site to staging mode in the general settings, which allows work on internal pages while displaying a standard coming soon page to visitors (00:51:38).
• To achieve a full-width display on the coming soon page, the option to select full width is normally available in the page options, but in this case, it is missing, and a workaround or fix will be implemented to address this issue (00:52:32).
• Once the full-width option is available for the coming soon page, it can be enabled by checking the corresponding box, which will allow the content to span the entire width of the page (00:53:11).
• The missing full-width option on the coming soon page will be fixed and made available in the next day or so, and in the meantime, alternative solutions can be explored to achieve a full-width embed on the coming soon page (00:53:29).

Can the system detect permanently closed numbers on Google? (00:53:53)

• The business importer tool searches different sources for businesses that are not classified as permanently closed, and it will only find businesses that are still open or have hours of operation, without a filter for permanently closed businesses (00:53:53).
• The intention of the tool is to find active businesses or businesses that are open, and a filter for permanently closed businesses is not planned to be added, as it was found that many users were not looking for closed businesses (00:54:14).
• The decision to exclude permanently closed businesses from the search results was made after receiving push back from users who were getting closed businesses in their search results, and it is acknowledged that there may be other tools available to search for permanently closed businesses (00:54:32).
• There is an invitation to share the specific use case for searching for permanently closed businesses, as the current tool is designed to search for active and open businesses, with guard rails in place to ensure this (00:54:52).
• The tool's current functionality is considered sufficient, and the discussion is moved on to the next question from Rob, with the topic of permanently closed businesses considered resolved (00:55:11).

How to add a banner above the profile (00:55:16)

• To add a banner above a member's profile, several options are available, including adding a member listing badge, which allows badges to be added at the top of the member's profile, right in line with their header area (00:55:32).
• Another option is to use the cover photo add-on, which can be assigned to different membership plans and allows members to have a cover photo at the top of their page, similar to Facebook or LinkedIn (00:56:10).
• For custom content above a member's profile, the quick edit option for a member can be used, which includes advanced options such as adding custom head code, custom footer code, or custom CSS (00:56:47).
• The custom code options can be used for tracking, embedding JavaScript, or adding content to the page, and can also be used to add a secondary banner (00:57:06).
• On higher-tiered plans, some websites allow members to add their own live chat code to their profile pages, which can be embedded using the custom head code or custom CSS options (00:57:27).