Tag - WebDesigner

Why Your Business NAP is so Important
21Mar

Why Your Business NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) is so Important

NAP is short for your business name, address and phone number. When Google scans various databases on the internet for your company it's absolutely crucial that these three items are EXACT and consistent. If I was on Yelp as "Brian Houdek The Web Designer" or "Brian Houdek Web Design LLC" or "Brian Houdek Web Design Inc" Google would look at that as a completely different company than "Brian Houdek Web Design". If your address is "123 Test St" it's crucial you write it exactly the same throughout the internet. "123 Test St." (dot after St.) or "123 Test Street" will be looked at as different and therefore not the same company. Finally, your phone number must remain consistent. Did your number change over the years? Do you have a local number and an 800 number? Make sure you always pick one primary phone number and always enter that phone number as the primary one.

The more LEGITIMATE databases your company information is in the better for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). These directories give your business validity in the eyes of Google. Most of them link back to your website, which is another ranking factor Google uses. As a rule of thumb, I recommend my clients use their Google My Business listing as the "master" listing, ensuring all other listings have the same information.

On the Internet there are four major data aggregators that store your business information. These are Neustar Localeze, InfoUSA, Acxiom and Factual. These data aggregators take your business information and push it out to many smaller databases on the Internet. In addition to these aggregators, there are also many big name directories your business should be in. Examples are Bing Places For Business, Apple Maps, Angie's List, Manta and many, many more.

I have multiple tools to scan these databases and see where your business information is missing or inaccurate. I can easily update this information and charge a flat fee. If you want me to run a free scan for your business contact me today.

General, Marketing, SEO, Website Design, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Happy Saint Patrick's Day
15Mar

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day from my family to yours! According to Ancestry DNA, I'm 43% Irish but this weekend we are all Irish. Did you know Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival? Enjoy your corned beef and cabbage responsibly :)

Looking for a talented website and graphic designer who listens to your needs and gets your business noticed? I'm a freelance website and graphic designer who understands the difficulties of small businesses. I have helped business owners from many industries grow their business by implementing a comprehensive website and advertising strategy. Interested in learning more? Contact me today.

General, Graphic Design, Marketing, Website Design, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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What to do if your email server gets BLOCKED
08Mar

What to do if your email server gets BLOCKED

Let's say you have an employee that wants to send out a promotional email to thousands of customers using their company email address. They send it out and a day or two later you start noticing that you're sending emails but they're not being delivered. Perhaps you're receiving bounce emails saying your server is blocked or clients are saying they're not receiving your emails. The reason... SPAM. If you have to send an email to a large group of people I recommend using a service like MailChimp. Anytime you send a promotional email you are REQUIRED to have an unsubscribe link so customers can remove themselves from your mailing list. If you don't include that a customer can report your email as spam and start a chain reaction that's tough to stop.

Spam is a big problem. We all get it and it's really annoying. When you're the one sending the spam the internet has many tools to make sure you never send an email again. If someone marks an email from you as spam in Gmail that doesn't necessarily mean you'll end up on a block list, but if multiple people in a short period of time mark your email as spam you can be in big trouble.

The Internet has numerous Domain Block Lists (DBL's) that keep track of spammers IP addresses and domains. Block Lists are lists of IP addresses that have been reported and listed as “known” sources of spam. There are public and private blacklists. Public blacklists are published and made available to the public—many times as a free service, sometimes for a fee. There are hundreds of well-known public blacklists.

To get off a block list, or more typically multiple block lists you have to use some tools to find out who is blocking you and why. Below are some of my favorite tools to scan your domain name/IP address to see if it's being blocked.

Depending on which block list you're on the removal process varies. It's best to first figure out who is blocking you and follow their instructions to remove you from the list. In addition to intentional spam you may end up on these lists if your server is improperly configured or even hacked. I use RBLmon to regularly check my email servers and my clients' servers to ensure I stay ahead of the issue should it ever arise.

Is your email server getting blocked? I've been through this process before and I've helped many clients get off these block lists. Contact me today and I'd be happy to help you get your email server off these block lists and keep it off.

Website Design, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Google Fonts - Great Free and Open Source Fonts
22Feb

Google Fonts – Great Free and Open Source Fonts

Google Fonts says their goal is to make "the web more beautiful, fast, and open through great typography." They certainly have done that and their selection of fonts continues to grow. Every Google Font is free and open source, meaning that you don't have to worry about licensing issues. At the time of this article there are 915 to choose from.

I have been using Google Fonts on my websites for years. However, even if you're not a web designer you can download the fonts to your computer and use them in any document. To the right of each font you'll see a + symbol. Once you press that Google "adds" it to your downloads (a popup menu that appears in the bottom right after adding the font). If you click on the downloads (it will say # Family Selected) you will notice a download icon on the top right. To download the entire font family with different font weights and italic styles click on "Customize". On this screen you can select the entire font family if you want. Once you have everything selected, download the fonts and install them on your computer.

Do you have a website that needs better use of fonts? Interested in learning more about Google Fonts? Contact Me today and I'd be happy to show you how Google Fonts can improve your website.

Graphic Design, Website Design, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Buffer Makes Multi-Channel Social Media Posting Easy
15Feb

Buffer Makes Multi-Platform Social Media Posting Easy

It has been proven that a business who is active in social media ranks higher. It's part of Google's ranking algorithm. Another important part of Google's ranking algorithm is having fresh content on your website (ie a blog). How nice would it be to make a blog post on your website and have it automatically go to multiple social media platforms... That's what Buffer can do (with some plugins).

Buffer by itself allows you to schedule posts, analyze performance, and manage all your social media accounts in one place. Supported platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest. You can link to three social media platforms for free. If you want to post to them all (highly recommended) they currently charge $144/year. You can create posts within Buffer's website, schedule posts and very easily post to a single social media platform, or all at once.

The real power of Buffer is revealed when you integrate your WordPress blog with it. Wordpress to Buffer Pro is an awesome tool that allows your WordPress blog to connect to Buffer. You can choose to either send the posts to Buffer and review them there before posting, or just automatically post the article to ALL your social media platforms at once. That's what I do and I LOVE it. It saves me a ton of time.

I have implemented this solution for numerous clients and they have reaped the benefits by ranking higher. As I've mentioned before, SEO is not one or two things. It's many things that have to be followed in order to improve your ranking. This solution not only satisfies Google's need for fresh content on your website, but it also satisfies the social media aspect of SEO. If you're interested in implementing this solution on your website, contact me today.

Graphic Design, Marketing, SEO, Website Design, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Keeping WordPress Secure
08Feb

Keeping WordPress Secure

Occasionally I'll get a question from a client asking if WordPress is secure. If properly maintained and monitored, WordPress is one of the most secure CMS (Content Management System) platforms available. With that being said, if not properly maintained and monitored WordPress is currently the most popular target for hackers. WordPress powers over 30% of the ENTIRE internet and 60% of CMS powered websites use WordPress. For hackers it's simply a game of numbers.

WordPress MUST be Updated on a Regular Basis

If you don't update your WordPress website on a regular basis, or monitor its security, there's a good chance it will get hacked. I update my clients WordPress plugins on a daily basis. A little tool called MainWP makes that an easy task for me since I manage a lot of WordPress websites. I'm able to login to one place, scan my managed websites and update everything with the click of a button. Plugins are a source of many security vulnerabilities within WordPress installations. WordPress plugin updates often contain security-related fixes. When a plugin developer discovers a security flaw and pushes an update to fix it, the hackers take note. Hackers use scripts that are constantly scanning the internet for known vulnerabilities.

WordPress Security Monitoring

My favorite tool for monitoring the security of my WordPress websites is Wordfence. Wordfence is a great firewall with a ton of options and also has a malware scanner. I always like to show my clients their "Live Traffic" feature that shows every single IP address that tries to access your website, what they were trying to access and where their IP address is located. In the past 24 hours, I had IP addresses from the Philipines, Hong Kong, Russia, France, Turkey and India try to probe my website for various vulnerabilities. This happens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The WordPress Login Page is the Most Popular Target

The WordPress login page located at /wp-login.php is the most popular target for hackers. There are numerous ways to combat this. Wordfence allows you to limit the number of login attempts before blocking an IP address. I set that number to 2. They also allow you to immediately block any login attempt with an invalid username. It's important to create a username that can't be easily guessed (and NEVER use admin). Once a hacker has your username they will use a brute force attack that will keep trying to login to WordPress with different passwords. In addition to using Wordfence, I limit access to the /wp-login.php page by IP address. If your IP address doesn't belong to me or my client, it will get blocked. This can cause some issues when trying to login from a new place, but I've found that minor inconvenience is overshadowed by the high level of security it provides.

Is Your WordPress Website Secure?

Is your head spinning yet? I just touched on the basics of WordPress security. If your website is not being properly managed or maintained contact me today and I can get you back on the right track.

Website Design, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Background Image Generator By SiteOrigin
01Feb

Background Image Generator by SiteOrigin

Small repeating images that create a background pattern are something I use in every website I design. Background Image Generator by SiteOrigin is my favorite tool for creating these patterns. They give users the ability to use ANY hex color (There are 16,777,216 hex colors) to change the color of their simple background patterns. Their customizable background images come from another great website, Subtle Patterns. They have hundreds to choose from. You can also add filters, change the intensity of the pattern and add noise to the background image. The patterns are well optimized so they load fast on websites.

There are other background image generators out there, but none with the great features Background Image Generator provides. It's also free so you can't beat that! Check out my portfolio to see the many different patterns I've used on clients websites or contact me today to learn more.

Graphic Design, Website Design, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Bulk Resize Photos - My Favorite Resizing Tool
25Jan

Bulk Resize Photos – My Favorite Resizing Tool

Often times I have to resize a TON of images for image galleries and they have to have some consistency. Ideally, I try to keep the image width consistent. Bulk Resize Photos makes the process so much easier than it used to be. They claim to be able to process 150 photos in under 60 seconds and I can attest... it's fast! Their website makes it extremely easy to set the parameters for resizing your photos with a sufficient amount of options (Scale, Longest Side, Width, Height, Exact Size or even add a watermark). Before you know it all your photos are the same size and downloaded to your computer. Too easy...

I have clients with hundreds of photos in their gallery and Bulk Resize Photos has saved me a tremendous amount of time. If you're interested in creating a beautiful image gallery with consistently sized photos, contact me today.

Graphic Design, Website Design, , , , , , , , , ,
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Noun Project
08Jan

Noun Project – My Favorite Source for Icons

For me, Website Design and Graphic Design go hand in hand. I'm always searching for design elements to use on websites, logos, print materials etc. These design elements can come in many forms, but the most basic is the ICON. My favorite place to get icons is a website called Noun Project. I have had a premium subscription with them for years (The cost is currently $39.99/year).

Noun Project provides access to OVER 1 MILLION icons. The best part is their icons come in PNG (transparent background) and SVG (A vector format). This allows users to bring the file into Photoshop or Illustrator and easily manipulate it. I've used their icons on websites, logos, flyers, brochures and the list goes on. A simple search for the word "rain" in Noun Project produces over 9,000 search results.

If you're looking for stock icons for a project be sure to consider Noun Project.

Graphic Design, Website Design, , , , , , , , , ,
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