It’s challenging enough to get potential leads to find your website in internet browser search results but keeping them on your site takes an entirely different set of skills. Check out these 10 website guidelines to keep your visitors consuming your content and upping your brand awareness level. The starting line of your prospects’ buying journey begins with your content.

The post 10 Website Content Guidelines to Keep Visitors on Your Site appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

Many businesses have a “set it and forget it” attitude about their websites, especially if they don’t have a blog. Having a website is a great start to an effective online presence and there are a few easy ways to make sure it’s bringing you the best results. But when your basic business information doesn’t change, it can be hard to see how a website refresh could be helpful. If the business hasn’t changed, why should the website? The answer is that websites are about more than the information that they provide. How functional is your site? How many people are actually reading the information that you have, anyway? Let’s take a look at four huge signs that it’s time to freshen up your website.

1. Your Bounce Rate is too High or Your Conversions are too Low
   If you have enough traffic coming to your site, then you’ll be able to check your Google Analytics to see how quickly visitors are leaving your page (bounce rate) and what percentage of them are opting into an offer that you have or a contact form (conversion rate).If they’re leaving too quickly that’s a strong sign that the user experience is poor or that your site is unimpressive overall. Either way, visitors not staying long enough to learn about your business and that’s a problem. Low conversion rates are also a sign that your offer wasn’t good enough or that it was too difficult to find. Solve these issues by making sure your site has a clean, easy-to-understand layout with a prominent and tantalizing offer.  The following signs are also things that you can look at in order to update your user-experience and keep visitors on your site.
2. Your Site Loads Slowly or Isn’t Optimized for Mobile Devices
   Google knows that most users are viewing sites on their mobile devices and will take that into account when ranking yours. Take a look at your site on your phone- is it easy to find the menu button and navigate? Where is the most important information listed? Is the text and image formatting streamlined or does it look like a jigsaw puzzle? If your site looks bad on mobile, you absolutely need to update it. Whether on mobile or desktop, no visitor wants to wait for your huge media files to upload, no matter how impressive they are. If your site is S L O W, it may be a quick fix, such as compressing your media files (Find a great WordPress Plugin for that here) or paring down on how much you have on your site.
3. Your WordPress Theme, Plugins, or PHP are Outdated
   Site maintenance is important for security reasons. Business owners who follow the “set it and forget it” strategy may find themselves in trouble when they don’t keep up with updates. Outdated tools can have issues with no longer being supported, which affects site functionality. Worse still, each outdated piece is a potential entryway for your site to be hacked. Hacked sites are huge issues for several reasons, but if Google deems your site as unsafe, they will stop letting visitors into your site and may even remove you from the search results altogether. Check your site frequently and update as soon as they are made available.
4. Your Content is Bad
   Your site doesn’t just tell visitors about your business, it can convert them into customers. At least, it can if it’s written correctly. Website content can suffer from several issues ranging from simple typos to jargon-filled lectures to being flat-out boring. When writing your site content, it’s important to keep your audience in mind. They have a problem that needs fixed or a desire to fulfill and your focus should be on that, not on yourself. Make sure you’re getting to your point quickly and include social proof like testimonials to show them how you are the solution to what your visitor needs. Don’t make them work to understand what you’re trying to say or sell. Be clear, concise, and interesting. If your website is not performing the way you’d like, check these four aspects to see how it can be improved.  This is your best opportunity to shine online and shouldn’t be taken lightly.  Remember that how well your site functions, is just as important as the content you have, if not more. No one is going to stay and read what you have to say if the site isn’t loading or working for them. And no one is going to convert from visitor to customer if your content confuses them or puts them to sleep.  Keep that in mind as you make these important updates, and maybe even take a look at your competitors’ sites for inspiration (or a cautionary tale!). Another great step is to see how you are doing in Google Search Console.

Not sure what steps to take next with your website? Sounds like it’s time to set up a complementary strategy session so you can hit the ground running.

The post Four Telltale Signs That You Need to Update Your Website appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

WordPress is a great platform for building your website and the right plugins can make it even better. But with nearly 55,000 plugins to choose from, it can be hard knowing what you need. Here’s a list of 10 essential plugins anyone can benefit from. If you need help with your website, we’re happy to chat and see how we can help.

The post 10 WordPress Plugins Worth Checking Out appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

Emerging technologies have laid the foundation of running a successful business online through mobile apps and websites. Technology has completely changed the way of doing business and basic activities. Having said that, there has been a massive demand for website development services across the globe.

According to Job academy, 17.4 billion websites were recorded active at the end of year 2020. They have also predicted that the number will grow by 13% at the end of 2028. This statistics suggests that there will be a huge wave of websites. People are taking their business online is another proof of the rise in demand.

Interestingly, the rise in demand would also seek quality website development services. Companies would require web developers who can work both on simple and complex projects. Hence, as a web developer, you need to uplift your skill set and use your knowledge to master the art of web developing.

Web Development Best Practices 2022

In this article, we have mentioned some of the key web development skills that every web developer needs to implement. These skills are tested and verified by industry-best web development practitioners. So without further ado, let’s dive straight into it.

1. Define your Project plan and purpose

Well-defined plan always helps web developers to perform more efficiently. It is important to prepare a blueprint for the project which will help developers work their purposes out. Having said that, developers should never start coding without understanding the key project requirements, and this can only be derived by having an effective project plan.

Needless to say that the ultimate goal remains the same which is to achieve the end-result in time. However, classifying the whole project plan in different objectives would keep developers’ interest in work and they will be more focused in completing projects as they’ll have clear targets.

2. Accessibility is Necessity

Web design is gradually becoming more popular as it includes all the possible services a user can ask for. However, very few amongst the world’s best websites can meet the accessibility standards. Hence, you need to make sure that website you design must target every individual.

The fact is that one billion people worldwide have some sort of disability. You need to make sure even with the disability, people should be able to utilize your website. In simple words, your main goal should be to develop design-friendly websites so that everyone can access it.

3. Follow the standards of web Development

Being a web developer, one should always look to add elements of creativity in their projects. Brainstorming is necessary to produce creative innovations. However, the standard norms of web development should never be forgotten. Following standards of web development would help you in creating a website that is easily accessible across the globe. Following are some of the key standards of web development that you should always take into consideration.

• Hyperlinks should be clearly visible to users for enhancing their user-friendliness
• Top right of the webpage should be reserved for putting company’s details, contact information, and registration option
• The top left corner of the website(homepage) should be kept for company’s logo and tagline
• Navigation map should be integrated uniformly across all the web pages

4. A user-friendly interface is your go-to feature

Regardless of how cutting-edge your web development project is, you ought to constantly put efforts to make an easy to use interface. Otherwise why bother having a site that can’t serve the end-client? You can always study companies that have offered highly-interactive and user-friendly websites using ReactJS. An easy to use interface helps the end-client and makes future updates along with providing effective website management.

While developing websites there are few things you must consider along with coding. Keep the end-users in mind and try to develop a website that solves their key problems. Develop ideas on how you can easily interact with the users and implement it in your website.

5. Spotless Coding

In other words, we can say that smart codes, not long codes. As we know, coding is the prominent need of any website. It is like the heart of it. However, you must avoid long coding structures. If you want to deliver high-performing websites, you have to have proper coding. You can get rid of the bugs by not having long-codes for the purpose which can be solved by smart (short) coding.

Other than assisting you with building a smooth and user-friendly interface, short codes are pivotal for a web development project being executed by a group of web developers. It helps when the code of your colleague is not difficult to peruse and comprehend since you’re expected to edit and change their codes to accomplish the finished result. Short codes are likewise simple to alter if there should arise an occurrence of future changes.

Bonus Tips:

1. Compatibility across Multiple devices

Almost 7 billion people across the world use smartphones. In addition to that, the number is going to increase day by day. As we know mobile devices are one of the most common mediums to access web services. Laptops, tablets are there too where users can access websites. Hence, your website along with its data must be accessible across multiple platforms.

2. Don’t mix HTML with CSS or JavaScript

Right understanding about the use case of HTML is fundamental for any coder, and it’s one of the principal things most software engineers learn. In future, you’ll likewise become familiar with different coding languages, like CSS, JavaScript, etc. it’s vital not to join different programming languages when they don’t function admirably together.

HTML and CSS, for instance, can get extremely muddled when consolidated, and it isn’t viewed as great practice to blend JavaScript in with your HTML documents.

Conclusion:

We hope this article will help you understand the top five web development practices. The journey of becoming a profound web developer is not that easy, but right guidance and continuous coding practice can enable you to become one. Always keep the end-users in mind that will help you create interactive websites. Let us know what you think about this article, do share your valuable reviews in the comment section below.

Author Bio: 

Ankit Thakor is a marketer by trade and a football player by passion. He is a Saas Marketing Specialist at SoftwareWorld. He specializes in using compelling content to capture consumer dollars for world-class SaaS brands.

Twitter:           https://twitter.com/ankitthakor14
Linkedin:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankitthakor/
Quora:             https://www.quora.com/profile/Ankit-Thakor

The post Top 5 Web Development Best Practices appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

If you imagine you can improve your website’s user experience by giving everyone that visits a one-year membership in the Jelly of the Month Club, you’re either visionary or severely misguided. 

Since we don’t pass judgment here, we won’t make that call, but it is worth mentioning that none of the advice you’ll find in this article involves jams, jellies, or any other sort of preserves. It is the gift that keeps on giving the whole year, but there are much better ways to optimize your website. 

Here are five inexpensive methods to improve your visitors’ experiences. If after reading you still feel like a year’s worth of jelly is better advice, please let us know your favorite flavor 😉.

Make Sure Your Contact Info Is Easy to Find

You want to make it as simple as possible for website visitors to get in touch with you. When someone is ready to convert you don’t want your contact info hidden in some obscure corner of your website. 

On top of having a “contact us” page, you should place your contact information in the header and footer of every page. That way no matter where your visitor is on your site when they decide to contact you, they’re just a tap or scroll away at most, from connecting with you.

Place a Free Offer Above the Fold

Adding a free offer at the top of your home page in order to capture your users’ email addresses sounds more like a way to improve your experience instead of your users, and that’s because it is. Adding a free offer can significantly boost your website’s conversion rate.

However, your users are visiting your website because they’re interested in what you’re offering. If you make it easy for them to get useful information in exchange for their email address, many people will appreciate the effort. 

If you like Mexican food and you visited tacoscompleteme.com, would you enjoy your visit more if they offered you a free taco in exchange for your contact information? Of course, you would. You may even be tempted to create extra email addresses and enjoy Taco Tuesday for a month! We don’t recommend that.

Be Certain Your Site Navigation is Clear and Easy

Just like no one would visit your hotel if all the floors were misnumbered and the hallways were something out thriller movie, a confusing website that’s hard to navigate will drive visitors away.

Make sure that your page names are descriptive of the content you’ll find on the page, and only feature relevant content on each page. Clear navigation allows a visitor to know exactly where they should go no matter what information they’re looking for. 

Consider that 55% of people spend less than 15 seconds on a website before deciding whether to stay. If poor navigation prevents them from getting their pressing questions answered, you’ll be on the receiving end of a high bounce rate. Your bounce rate is calculated by how many times someone visits only one page of your website then leaves in a short period of time.

Remove Jargon from Your Content

Website content should be concise and easy to understand. Assuming that all of your visitors are savvy enough to process dense industry jargon is a great way to stop getting website visitors.

In order to offer a better user experience, you should assume instead that everyone visiting your website is a novice interested in learning more about your subject matter. Ditch the jargon and replace it with clear content that’s approachable for newbies.

Mobile Responsiveness

By the end of 2019, mobile web traffic represented roughly 52% of total traffic worldwide. If your website isn’t responsive for mobile devices, you’re ruining your site’s user experience for more than half of the people that want the information, product, or services that you provide.

That might be fine for businesses that sell mobile devices to people that have never owned one, but otherwise, a lack of mobile responsiveness is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.

Imagine if you punched every other customer in the face as they entered your store. They would likely be a bit put off by their user experience. Omitting mobile responsiveness is roughly the same thing, though easier on your fingers.

Fun fact: Google now ranks websites based on “mobile-first”. That means how your website looks on mobile as well as how visitors interact on mobile devices.

Bonus Items!

When are seven things better than five? When you’re helping a princess in the woods when you’re interested in infracting some deadly sins, and right now! Here are two bonus strategies for improving your site’s user experience.

Reduce Your Load Times

Remember that fifteen seconds you have to prevent a visitor from bouncing? That includes the amount of time it takes for your website to load. 

It’s actually worse than that. 47% of people expect a website to load in two seconds or less. If it takes longer than three seconds, 40% of people will leave immediately, and they are likely to never return. These are lost prospects that will never get to experience your website. 

This demonstrates how important fractions of a second can be. There are myriad ways to improve your load times. Check Google PageSpeed Insights to see how your site loads. Shorter load times always improve user experiences.

Remove Broken Links and Broken Images

Broken images ruin the aesthetics of your website, and broken links annoy visitors. Both should be avoided. Thankfully it’s easy to find and fix these problems. You can use a free service like brokenlinkcheck.com to scan your website for links that point to content that’s no longer available. Or a plugin for WordPress sites. To find broken images, simply scan through every page on your site with your eyes wide open. 

If you’d like some help optimizing your site’s user experience, contact us today. We can help get your customers singing your praises, and you singing ours!*

*You won’t be required to sing the first time we speak, but we’ll love you if you do. 

The post 5 Ways to Create a Better User Experience on Your Website appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

You probably remember how excited you were when you first launched your website. With an online presence, it would be easier than ever for potential customers to find your business.

Or would it?

Many business owners learned the hard way that websites aren’t a “Build it and they will come” scenario.  Others spend time and money on marketing techniques that fell flat.

The thing is, even after you realize you needed to market your website; you may not have the right elements on your site to get the best results. It’s so important that you don’t put the cart before the horse and start marketing a site that is working against your success online.

Here are a few things that you MUST have in place before you start driving traffic to your website.

Let’s start with content.

– Keywords-

Incorporate relevant, targeted keywords in your content, title tags, and metadata (titles and description should be unique for each page). This will help the search engines know what each page of your website is about. Never ever just call your Home page “Home”.  This is a mistake you’ll see on a lot of websites.

-Optimized Content-

Optimize your page content.  If Google can’t figure out what your site is about, then they won’t add you to the search results and you’re likely to confuse your visitors as well.

We knew a pest control company that used the phrase “pest prevention” across their site, hoping to set themselves apart from the competition. Well, it worked…just not how they wanted. Since they didn’t use the more popular term, “Pest Control” anywhere on the site, they were ranked on page 12 for that term. Meanwhile, prospective customers weren’t really searching for “Pest Prevention”, so they were losing out on all of those leads. They would have been much better off using both phrases on their site.

Use popular keywords, but also remember to add related terms and synonyms to strengthen your site.

-Duplicate Content-

Many business owners don’t consider duplicate content. It’s much easier to just re-use the content you’ve written instead of spending the time to write something new, right? Easier? Maybe. But helpful?  Nope!

First, you don’t want to use the same content that other sites have. It causes a few problems. First, if you don’t have permission to use that content then you can get in some hot water for copyright violations. The other is the search engines are usually only going to display one site with that content and it will typically be the site that has the most authority (or the site that had it first). This causes some issues with replicated sites provided by Franchisors and some marketing companies. See if you can control your content and make it unique. Referencing content on other sites is perfectly fine so long as it’s not multiple paragraphs of content and you reference the source.

For content on your own site that is duplicated for one reason or another, you can add a no-index tag to the pages that have duplicated content. This generally happens with retail or e-commerce sites and may not apply to you.

-Social Sharing Buttons-

These buttons allow your visitors to share your content on their social media pages. Some of the social sharing buttons have counters as well, which offer social proof of how many times content has been shared. You’ve likely seen posts that your friends have shared in your news feeds. Imagine what it would be like to have your visitors sharing your great content to their connections.

-Call to Action-

Have a call to action at the end of every page. Let your visitors know what you want them to do next. For instance, you can tell them to contact you, to fill out a form for a download, or even head to another page on your website. Just don’t let them finish reading what you have to say without leading them to the next step. Your goal should be to show your visitors valuable content and then lead them into doing business with you.

-Video-

Video can be very powerful. You can use video on your website to share your story, offer a virtual tour, give tutorials, and more. Visitors and search engines prefer seeing multiple forms of media on your website. You can also keep people on your website for a longer period of time with a video.

-Testimonials-

Testimonials offer social proof.  No one is really going to place bad reviews or testimonials on their own website. However, if you’ve got some solid testimonials that add credibility to your products or service, I say add them. You can also link out to review sites if you prefer. Just make it easy for your visitors to see the good things people have to say about you.

Content is very important, but no words will help you if your visitors have a terrible experience on your site. Let’s talk about how to enhance the user experience.

-Coding-

You need a site free of coding errors.  If your site has coding errors it can cause a poor user experience but also make it difficult for the search engines to understand what your site is about. You can use tools such as this one to see what needs to be fixed.

-Mobile-

Your site should be mobile responsive. Mobile search has taken a lead to desktop searches in many industries and if your site isn’t compatible, you will lose leads. There are several mobile emulators you can use to check your site if you don’t have access to all of the popular devices out there.

If you aren’t sure what devices your visitors are using, be sure to install and check Google Analytics. This will break down your visitors by percentage and also give you an indication of how long those visitors are staying on your site or how quickly they are abandoning your site You can also see what Google has to say.

-Speed-

A slow website can kill your business online. I can’t stress this enough. In fact, think about the last time you went to a website and it seemed to take forever for the page to load. Did you stick around or jump ship once you realized it was going to take a while? I always say thirty seconds doesn’t seem like a long time unless you are waiting for the microwave. Well ten seconds doesn’t seem like a long time unless you are waiting for a website to load

To check your page load time you can use Google or Pingdom.  These tools will give you a report of specific information you can pass along to your developer to increase the speed of your website.

-Page not Found-

404 pages are irritating, plain, and simple. This is when a page no longer exists on your website. There are several reasons a business might remove pages from their website, but that doesn’t guarantee a visitor won’t come across it.

The best thing to do when you remove a page from your website is to make sure there is a 301 redirect set up. This allows all urls that have been deleted to “redirect” to another page, generally the home page but you can edit as you need. 

-Navigation-

Display breadcrumbs – the path that shows visitors how they got to that page – so the user can see where they are in relation to other pages. It’s helpful if they want to go back to see something else in the same category on your site. If your site does not have a lot of pages, this isn’t as much of an issue.

-Contact Info-

Make sure your contact info is displayed. This may seem like a no-brainer but I come across sites all the time that don’t have contact information. It’s true that some businesses are run entirely online and you can only reach them via a contact form. However, if you see customers or clients in person, allow calls for sales and customer service, or if you are a local business you need to have your contact info front and center.

Make sure your contact information (including your address for local businesses) is in your header, your footer, and on a separate contact page as well.

-Map-

If you are a local business and customers come to your location, you should include a map with your location.  When I come to a site that offers that, it’s a lot easier for me to decide if I want to visit that business. Make it easier for your customers to find you.

-Offer Something-

Your site should already offer valuable information, but try adding an incentive offer. If your goal is to get people to fill out a form, especially if you want to market to them again, try offering something of value in exchange for getting that email. It can be your newsletter, coupon,  or discount offer on a purchase. It can be an ebook or other download, such as a white paper. You may even have more than one offer on your website. Keep testing this until you find what works with your audience.

-Forms-

Use a lead capture form. Let’s face it, we live in a digital age and a lot of site visitors would rather fill out a form than call someone. It can be convenient if they are at work or even at their child’s soccer practice. I like to use forms instead of calling most of the time. It gives me an opportunity to not have to wait in case there is a phone tree and I can see how quick the company is to respond which tells me a bit about their level of customer service. Another benefit of forms is that you can capture the visitor’s information and market to them again (this is HUGE).

Alright, with these items in place, you can all but guarantee your visitors are going to have an easy time getting what they want from your site. Let’s talk a little bit about your links before we get too technical.

-Your Social Media-

Display links to your social media pages. We are social on a worldwide scale now. There are people who actually get their daily news from Facebook. You’ve got to invite your readers to connect with you on social media.

-Link out-

Add relevant, authoritative outbound links to your site. It’s ok to reference other websites within your content. It adds a level of trust. If you have industry associations or awards, vendor products you represent, or other publications, go ahead and link to those.

-Link in-

Internal hyperlinks to your other pages are a must. Make sure to reference your other pages within your pages and blog posts. It will keep your visitors on your site and increase your trust levels.

-Link Well-

Check for broken links. There’s nothing quite as irritating as being interested in something and finding that the link is broken and you won’t be getting that content. Personally, it drives me nuts. It doesn’t make your site look good, either. With WordPress there are plugins that can help you stay on top of this. There are also other online tools that will provide you with broken link reports.

Easy as pie!  Ready for the final section? We’ve got some tips to help you understand which technical pieces are going to help you get the most out of your website.

-Alt Attribute-

All images need to have alt-attribute, or alternative text. The search engines can’t read images. What they can read is the text you attribute to that image. With WordPress sites this is pretty simple to do. When you upload an image you can add the alt-text at the same time. There are also plugins  that can help you.

-Robots.txt-

This is a little more technical, but basically this regulates web robot behavior and search engine indexing. Make sure your webmaster has this set up.

-Google Analytics –

Make sure you use your Google account to set up Google Analytics and then send your web developer the code to add to your website. You can always grant someone else access to your account, but you want to be the owner/admin of the account that generates your Analytics code. This way you are in control and you can check your data at any time. This is really valuable information that gives you data on where your visitors are coming from as well as their behavior on your website. This is one of the easiest and fastest ways to find elements on your website that need to be changed. If you need assistance understanding Google Analytics, feel free to contact us.

-Google Search Console-

There are certain steps you need to take to help Google index your site:

• Generate a sitemap for your website.
• Set up your account in your Google account then verify your site.
• Add your site to the Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools).
• Submit your sitemap.

The Google Search Console also offers up a lot of other data and it’s the way Google will communicate with you. If you ever end up with a Google Penalty for your site, this is where you will find out. Don’t let someone else own this account. Just like your Google Analytics account, you can give someone else access.

-What Next?-

Well this has been quite a journey hasn’t it? We hope you have found this information useful.  Just remember to take it one step at a time. The more you have done, there better your site will work for you.

If you’re ready to step up your online presence, you can contact us for a free strategy session.

The post How To Tell If Your Website Is Hurting Your Business appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

An airplane needs two wings to fly.

Saw off one of them, and the plane will not take off.

(And you will be hauled away for attacking an airplane.) While this analogy has been widely used in a variety of circles, it is also quite apropos for webmasters.

Since most entrepreneurs are in charge of creating their own websites, making a mistake here can be fatal to the business’ online presence.

Even as improper coding is a nightmare for the search engine spiders that so craftily spin the Worldwide Web, unsuitable content is of just as little value to the reader.

When you want more visitors to come to your website, you have to first beat the competition for the Internet eyeballs.

In so doing, you have to explain to search engines, list your services, and show consumers what sets you apart from the others.

In the early SEO days, companies that used black hat tactics usually won the search engine results game – but little else.

These practices have been mostly weeded out and the companies had to revamp to compete again.

Modern-day content marketing needs to be subtle and offer something of genuine value to the reader.

For example, your website’s content – checked for proper search engine optimization (SEO) – must showcase the benefits that consumers enjoy when choosing to subscribe to your newsletter, follow you on Facebook or read your blog.

Tell shoppers why they should choose you and not the widget-maker down the street.

Remember that the majority of Internet visitors do not just surf the web for makers of green widgets because they have nothing better to do.

No! These are genuine consumers who are searching online for solutions to problems, quandaries, and needs.

Connecting with searchers is done via website content that offers answers, solutions, tips, and tricks.

Your blog, for example, must strike a balance between marketing your company – call us today! – and offering excellent tips and information.

The latter category might include tutorials, lists, and extensive product reviews that would interest shoppers visiting your business. But not every piece of content has to be the written word.

Adding video content is an excellent option for heightening the interest in your product, giving your website visitors something different and approaching your niche from different angles.

Once you have this wing of the airplane firmly attached, it is time to head to the other side.

It is frequently in the area of coding that aspiring webmasters are making their biggest mistakes.

HTML, the unique language of coders, is extensive and unforgiving.

Make an error here, and your site does not display properly and shows you off as an amateur.

Making matters worse, search engine spiders discount your website as holding insufficient content.

When the spiders do not find HTML that is perfect, they give up.

Thus, the failure to close a bracket, which is easy to do when dealing with HTML, can cost you a top-level ranking.

Because content and coding are two biggies in website effectiveness, forward-looking entrepreneurs have chosen to hire experts for these tasks.

This is your business we are talking about.

Do not guess!

Know that your website is as close to perfect as humanly possible.

If you need help with coding issues or content for your website, contact us today.

The post The Importance of Coding & Content on Your Website appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

So, you have taken the plunge and set up a WordPress site? The ease that this platform offers makes it deceptively simple to integrate a variety of plug-ins and get them up and running in no time at all. But have you considered that you need to keep your WordPress site maintained as well? Here is why:

• Security. WordPress is a favorite of hobbyists, who in turn are a favorite target of hackers. Do not allow your business site to fall victim to a third-party hack-attack. Ensure that log-in pages as well as other sensitive areas are protected with security protocols and therefore far less likely to present a viable goal for hackers who want to quickly mine some data. Update security as new features become available.
• Technical updates. The WordPress platform is subject to numerous updates and upgrades. Plug-ins in particular need some looking after when an upgrade has occurred. If you neglect to check in on your site’s appearance regularly, you may lose quite a bit of business from consumers who have noticed that suddenly images are not lining up properly and text is covering pictures.
• Content. Are you running a business with a blog? Unless you routinely update the blog, there is a good chance that your site quickly loses its relevance within the business community and with the niche consumer to whom you are catering. The most popular blogs are updated daily. Other update frequencies include the twice-a-week setup or the weekly update. If you go any longer than this without some fresh content, you might find your ranking in the search results slipping.
• Re-branding. Have you noticed that some popular companies occasionally change their appearances ever so slightly? This is called “re-branding” and refers to the process of making your corporate identity more attractive for today’s consumers. Out with the avocado-green and in with the subtle bamboo-brown. This process also applies to WordPress skins and looks.

What is the answer for the business professional who needs the platform as a website or blog setup but does not have the time to invest in regular maintenance? For the nuts and bolts technical setups, WordPress offers hosted options that take this task off your plate. Never again do you have to worry about the appearance of your site after an upgrade. For the update of the content, the images and the links, consider paying a social media professional or freelance writer to take on the task. These professionals usually offer packages that specify the extent of their involvement in your WordPress site – and the cost.

Need help keeping your WordPress site maintained? Six Degrees Digital Media’s experienced team can help you out. Contact us today to find out more.

The post Why You Need to Keep Your WordPress Site Maintained appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.

Until you find the right web hosting service for your website, it remains invisible. The hosting company stores your site’s data on its servers and keeps them ready for Internet users who type in your website address and want to look through your pages. Although this process is pretty much universal to all hosting companies, they are not all created equal.

Costs and Benefits

Hosting plans vary by company. Most companies charge between $0.50 and $9 per month to host your personal or commercial website. What you get for this money is spelled out in your individual hosting plan. For example, some companies will throw in a free domain name and offer you unlimited traffic. Others restrict the amount of traffic to 1,000 GB. Available site storage, too, is subject to limitations. Some let you create websites with unlimited pages and agree to host them. Others limit you to 100 GB.

Tip: It is always a good idea to opt for unlimited traffic. Generous storage sizes are of secondary importance.

Look for Extras

Once you have narrowed down your search to a few hosting companies, see what additional benefits these companies offer you. It is not uncommon for businesses to offer you credits toward AdWords and Facebook advertising. Moreover, some will throw in blogging tools as well as site-building tools.

Tip: Think through your marketing plans and strategies for the website before choosing a host. When you find one with a generous traffic and storage plan as well as great additional benefits, you might have located the best contender.

Focus on Metrics

Credits toward marketing will not help you if you do not have a tracking and reporting system in place. If you are setting up an AdWords account with Google, you will most likely track your site’s performance with these tools. If you are not going this route, ensure that you have a host-run tracking system in place. This is a good idea even for AdWords users since it provides a reliable data backup.

Tip: The more detailed reporting options a hosting company offers to subscribers, the more useful the service is to the webmaster.

Customer Service

Pay close attention to the customer service that is open to you. Frequently, customer service is dependent on the service tier that you purchase. If you try to save money there, you may not get 24/7/365 live support. Instead, you may have to observe business hours, which will be of little help when your website is down on a Saturday night.

Tip: Sign up for the service level that will meet your needs when they arise. If you need a hosting company for a business website, you need an around-the-clock customer assistance option.

If you need assistance with your website, schedule a complimentary strategy session.

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How to Check if Your Website has Malware

The post How to Detect Malware on Your Website appeared first on Six Degrees Digital Media.