It’s been a very hectic month for us here at RMDS.
We’ve developed some powerful technology, and we’re excited to share the new features and updates to old ones. And we’re also finalizing one more major roll-out before the end of the year. Talking to many of you, we know everyone’s making plans for the end of the year and preparing for 2026. Let’s finish on a high note.
Rainmaker Platform Versions 3.5.4 and 3.5.5
In the past month, we released versions 3.5.4 and 3.5.5 for Rainmaker Platform. These are major updates that added extra functionality to the platform.
Version 3.5.4 added a MemberPress NavTools integration. This gives you custom tabs for exclusive resources, personalized dashboards and more that you can use to add value to your memberships.
In version 3.5.5 we integrated user purchase journeys. Transaction events now allow you to track your user journeys with MemberPress and WooCommerce integration in Google Analytics 4.
We have a third major update right around the corner — we’ve completely revamped Rainmaker Platform’s podcasting capabilities. We’re currently in testing with a few clients, and the update should be coming later this month.
For more information, see the Rainmaker Platform changelog.
The Rainmaker Platform Tools You Aren’t Using
A few months ago, we audited our Rainmaker Platform sites to look at which features were most and least popular with our clients. Many of you are using features like WooCommerce, MemberPress and LearnDash, but there are a number of options that only a few of our clients are using.
Anyone who’s ever opened an old toolbox knows that when it comes time to clean it out, you’re going to run into some useful stuff at the bottom that would make your work a lot easier. You pull out that old pair of pliers and say “Huh! I was looking for that. Could have used that last Wednesday.”
Don’t let that be the case with your website. Let’s take a look at some of the features that might have fallen through the cracks and what you might be missing out on.
To get started, mouse over the Settings gear menu at the top right of your Rainmaker Platform Dashboard and click Features.
Then choose the Add-Ons tab.
This is where you can find the five features we’re going to look at today. To turn these on, check the box next to the feature, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the blue Save button.
ShortPixel
We know site speed is a concern for many of our clients, and there are multiple features on Rainmaker Platform that help. One of them is the image optimizer ShortPixel.
Un-optimized images may be 4 to 5 times or more the size they need to be to display correctly on your site. Modern smartphones often take images that are well over a megabyte, and illustrations can be large as well. To put that in perspective, if you remember floppy disks, most modern smartphone photos wouldn’t even fit on a floppy disk.
The more data you send when your website loads, the longer it takes. Even if you’ve resized the image on the page via code, your site is still sending all the image data to the browser. Slow image loads make people impatient, sometimes even leading to them leaving your site. And site load times impact search engine rankings too.
ShortPixel runs in the background to optimize your images for you. It compresses and changes the format of images to remove bloat and make your site load faster. If you’re worried about site speed, this is one of the features you should be most interested in.
Autoptimize
Images make a significant impact on your site speed, but there are other factors as well. Autoptimize looks at each page and removes the digital assets that aren’t needed on that page.
Unused scripts, code and CSS together make up what we call page bloat. Bloat slows down a web page without any benefit to the user experience. This code exists for a reason; much of it is general and applies to the whole site so everything displays correctly, but it isn’t necessary for every page and can often be safely removed or not run.
In addition, sometimes the instructions in the scripts may not be in an efficient order. Think of it like a list of tasks in your house; there’s an efficient way to do those tasks so you’re not constantly going back and forth to the kitchen or the garage. Autoptimize helps organize scripts so they run effectively. Take a look at this feature if you want to optimize the speed of your site.
Easy Testimonials
Word of mouth is the oldest and most effective marketing, and testimonials are a way to harness that power on your own website. Testimonials drive engagement and create interest in your brand. Other people’s words create social proof — proof that other people like your brand, which can create a big barrier to competition and sway undecided people to your side.
Easy Testimonials makes it simple to put that information on your site. With this feature enabled, you can add testimonials to your site with an easy-to-use widget.
Rich Snippets
One of the important keys to proper optimization is “schema data.” Schema data helps search engines display things like products, events, people, recipes, videos, articles, etc. correctly in the search or snippet box. Without this information, Google may be able to pick up the type of content you have on your site, but schema data ensures that it knows exactly how to categorize each content type. Properly constructed snippets are important for AI search too.
Rich Snippets is a tool that helps you add schema data to your content. This is particularly helpful for content types that can show up in other Google content areas, like Google Shopping or Google News. Use this to make your content more visible and machine-readable.
Popup Maker
There’s a reason you still see popups on many websites: they work. A good popup can keep people from bouncing without signing up for a newsletter or nudge them to buy items from a shopping cart that would otherwise be abandoned.
Popup Maker is a flexible, easy-to-use tool that allows you to create your own popups on your Rainmaker Platform site. Use this to capture email addresses, stop bounces and create stickiness for your audience.
Dig Deeper In the Toolbox
Rainmaker Platform is overflowing with features you can use to optimize your website. It’s easy to overlook something. Dig a little deeper in the toolbox and take a second look at some of the tools you might be overlooking to make your site more effective. And if you need a hand, we’re here to help; just drop us a line, anytime
Best Regards,
David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services