???? How I’m Getting Ready for Black Friday 2025 as a Kansas Web Designer
Black Friday has kind of turned into “tool season” for me. As a Kansas web designer working with businesses in Manhattan, Wamego, Junction City, and across the Flint Hills, this is when I refresh my stack, renew licenses, and help clients grab the tools that actually move the needle for their websites.
Over on my main business site, MKS Web Design, I put together a detailed breakdown of the specific WordPress plugins and platforms I’ll be watching this year. If you want the full list with links and deal notes, you can read that post here:
???? Black Friday 2025: My Go-To WordPress Tools & Deals (MKS Web Design – Kansas Edition)
This article you’re reading now on anthonyrichter.com is more of a personal summary — how I think about Black Friday from a strategy point of view, not just a big list of links.
???? My Black Friday Philosophy (Kansas Flavor)
For me, Black Friday isn’t about grabbing every “lifetime deal” that pops up in my inbox. I’m usually thinking about three very simple questions for my Kansas clients and my own workflow:
- Will this tool make my clients’ sites faster or easier to use?
- Will this reduce monthly costs or simplify my stack long-term?
- Am I already using something that does the job “good enough”?
Most of the business owners I work with in Manhattan, Topeka, or rural Kansas don’t care about having 20 plugins. They care that their site loads quick, shows up in Google, and doesn’t break when they add a new product or blog post. So the tools I stalk on Black Friday are focused on reliability and speed first, fancy stuff second.
???? My Core Stack Going Into Black Friday 2025
In the MKS Web Design post I broke things down tool-by-tool (Bricks, ACF Pro, WP GridBuilder, Fluent Forms, SEOPress, ShortPixel, and more). Here’s the shorter “strategy view” of that same stack, the way I actually think about it in my head:
- Page & theme building: Bricks Builder and legacy Oxygen sites. I’ll mainly look for add-ons or templates here, since the core builders rarely do Black Friday discounts.
- Content structure: ACF Pro + custom post types for things like projects, careers, portfolios, staff, etc. If ACF runs 40% off again, that’s a no-brainer upgrade window for clients who are on older licenses.
- Search & filtering: WP GridBuilder and Relevanssi. These two handle most of the “find it fast” work for larger Kansas sites like catalogs, real-estate, or multi-location businesses.
- Forms & CRM: Fluent Forms + FluentCRM. This combo lets a local business collect leads, tag them, and follow up without paying for a huge SaaS they don’t really use.
- SEO & analytics: SEOPress Pro + AnalyticsWP (or privacy-friendly tracking). This is where I keep things lean; most people don’t need 500 SEO settings, they just need the right 20.
- Speed & assets: ShortPixel for images, plus a few caching / optimization decisions I make depending on the host & stack.
I go deeper into the specific Black Friday discounts for each of these in the MKS article. Instead of repeating all that here, I’d rather keep this page focused on how to decide what’s worth grabbing and what you can safely skip.
???? How I Decide What to Buy (or Recommend) on Black Friday
When I’m advising a Kansas business owner — or just upgrading my own toolset — I usually follow a pretty simple filter. It’s not perfect, but it keeps me from buying random stuff because the checkout timer is yelling at me.
- 1. Do we already use it every week?
If a tool is already in my daily workflow (ACF, Bricks, WP GridBuilder, Fluent Forms), Black Friday is when I look at lifetime plans, higher tiers, or extra licenses. - 2. Will this lower hosting or dev time long-term?
A plugin that replaces three other plugins, or lets me build something in half the time, is more valuable to my clients than a “nice-to-have” add-on. - 3. Is this solving a real, current problem?
For example: slow WooCommerce product pages, clunky contact forms, or poor search results. If the tool doesn’t map to a real pain point, I let the deal go. There’s always another sale later, even if the discount isn’t as loud. - 4. Can my clients actually use it themselves?
I try to avoid stacking tools that only I understand. A lot of my Kansas clients log into their site maybe once a week — things need to feel simple, not like a cockpit.
When those boxes are checked and there’s a solid Black Friday discount, that’s when I pull the trigger or recommend that a client upgrades their license. Otherwise, I stay put and keep the stack lean.
???? Want the Full Tool List & Deal Breakdown?
If you’re a developer, freelancer, or Kansas business owner who wants the actual list of tools and direct links, make sure to read the full breakdown here (opens in a new tab):
???? Black Friday 2025: My Go-To WordPress Tools & Deals (MKS Web Design – Kansas Edition)
That post is more of a resource hub with the official URLs and notes on what each plugin does, plus the expected Black Friday deals. This page you’re on now is the “why” behind that list — how I’m thinking about 2025 and what I’ll be recommending to my own clients in the Sunflower State.
???? Final Thoughts (From One Kansas Web Nerd to Another)
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the Black Friday “must-buy” lists, you’re not alone. My honest suggestion is: focus on a small, reliable stack that will still make sense in 2–3 years. You don’t need every shiny plugin; you just need the right ones that support your business, your clients, and your sanity.
If you’d like a second set of eyes on your current site or your stack, I’m always happy to chat. You can reach me through my main studio at MKS Web Design, or just start by reading the full Black Friday tools article linked above and go from there.
