An interesting observation digging into the numbers from our survey...
WordPress agency owners paying themselves under $50K, working full-time, and relying on passive referrals are 49% more likely to cite burnout as their #1 growth barrier.
Posts by Kyle Van Deusen
We surveyed 600+ WordPress agency owners and freelancers about their business. Here's what we learned:
theadminbar.com/2026-survey/
I've found hearing that usually means you're doing a great job ๐
Hang in there, Kevin! If he's anything like my kids, it will be another hairbrained idea in about 36 hours.
This was super simple in Figma... but "designer Kyle" often really upsets "developer Kyle" ๐
Turns out, this one isn't too difficult โ and it's a really flexible concept you can adapt a bunch of different ways to add visual interest to your designs.
youtu.be/FDfNeWOJdeI
If you've ever asked yourself "wait, which blue did I
use on the buttons?" โ this post is for you.
Breaking down the two-layer color system I wish I'd
understood years ago ๐จ
This week in The Friday Chaser:
๐ง Are you measuring output or outcomes?
๐ค Hermozi's take on AI and agencies
๐จ The two-layer color system that fixes everything
๐ Do clients actually need WordPress?
Get it delivered ๐ theadminbar.com/the-friday-c...
Most designers manage color one of two ways... Both have a fatal flaw.
New video breaking down why โ and the system that
fixes both at once ๐จ
youtu.be/uQOgcLdaLTg
This week in The Friday Chaser:
๐ง WP 6.9.2 broke sites (and got patched fast)
๐ง The $5 part that taught me what we actually sell
๐ธ Which lead gen channel brings 3X the revenue?
๐ค Vibe coding: coming to WordPress near you
Get it tomorrow: theadminbar.com/the-friday-c...
We asked 12K+ WordPress agencies what they use for security.
There's no one solution, but rather a combo of solutions to cover all the layers.
theadminbar.com/the-best-wor...
We asked 12,000 agency owners what they use for meeting scheduling.
The answers split into 4 camps: pay monthly, pay once, use what you already have, or go open-source.
Here's what people are actually using (and why):
theadminbar.com/the-best-boo...
Got some open spots for a "secondary" sponsor in The Admin Bar's newsletter.
Spot 1 opens Mar 13
Spot 2 opens Mar 27
These are 10-week runs @ $100/wk.
It goes out to over 10K freelancers & agency owners in the WordPress space. First come first serve: theadminbar.com/advertise/
Our annual survey is a unique opportunity to better understand our industry, find out what's normal, and see what's possible.
Completely anonymous, 20 multiple-choice questions, results published in full:
theadminbar.com/survey-2026
Live with @brianleejackson.com talking about Perfmatters new code snippets features (and why they're so blazing fast!)
www.youtube.com/live/h39MiQ1...
๐ฌ @kevinpowell.co 'bout to put a restraining order on me ๐คฃ
We asked 12,000+ agency owners how they optimize their images โ wow, we actually have a runaway favorite this time (and it's my personal fav!)
theadminbar.com/the-best-ima...
Jumping between desktop, tablet, and mobile breakpoints inside GenerateBlocks just to tweak padding, font sizes, and grid columns is not my favorite way to spend the day.
So here are a few tips that will save you messing with breakpoints!
youtu.be/volrh2JO1vg
This week, we asked 12,000+ web agencies what keyword research tools they rely on:
theadminbar.com/the-best-key...
This week we asked 12,000+ agency owners what proposal software they use โ pretty interesting to see the results!
theadminbar.com/the-best-pro...
This menu dropdown button I found on a friend's website caught my eye (and solves a problem I've run into a lot) โ so I put together a quick tutorial on how to achieve this look and functionality in GenerateBlocks:
youtu.be/6l8d_0ik27s
This week in The Friday Chaser:
๐ง Every agency's #1 priority
โ๏ธ A legacy client turns bully
๐ช Cookie consent gone wrong
๐ Cloudflare 101 course
๐ง Domain registrars ranked
Sign up today, get it tomorrow morning! theadminbar.com/tfc
Price isnโt the only thing that matters with domain registrars โ control, client access, delegated management, and upsells matter way more.
Hereโs what real agencies choose and why:
๐ theadminbar.com/the-best-dom...
On February 26th, we're doing a deep dive into why we built a performance-first code snippet manager into Perfmatters and how you can take full advantage of it on your WordPress sites! โก
Shout-out to @theadminbar.com for putting this together.
theadminbar.com/events/code-...
So fun to see that these interviews were doing are influencing what ChatGPT says about agency owners. We've done over 30 of them, and I haven't found an instance yet where AI isn't including them ๐
We asked 12,000+ web designers & developers to share their favorite Analytics Platforms.
They told us what they actually use, what clients can understand, and why "simple" keeps winning:
theadminbar.com/the-best-ana...
If the typography on your site is not right, the whole thing looks off.
This week I'm sharing 10 practical CSS tips for improving your website's typography: youtu.be/zpoOEiBwZ2g
We asked 12,000+ web designers & developers to share their favorite browser extensions. Here's are the ones that came up the most:
theadminbar.com/the-best-bro...
Page builders make it easy to design right inside WordPress โ drag, drop, tweak, repeat. I did that for years. It felt fast. It felt efficient. And it felt like the โmodernโ way to build sites.
But I don't think it's actually the right approach.
youtu.be/YEiJTbiu3jM
๐
youtu.be/0lfus8cd44s?...
Easily show/hide WordPress menu items ๐
@GenerateBlocks dynamic conditions donโt just work on blocks โ you can use them on menus, too.
Show the right links to the right users (and boost conversions).
โถ๏ธ youtu.be/nj_LbhAklz4
Overlapping items can be a pain in the butt if you're fiddling with negative margins.... but CSS Grid makes a killer layout like this simple!
youtu.be/eKIiUaHnvlQ