Tag - WebDevelopment

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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Search Engine Optimization Considerations
29Nov

Search Engine Optimization Considerations

While the content on your website plays a very large role in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), there are many parts to ranking well with Google and Bing. A business that has had a web presence for 15 years is going to have a big advantage over a new company with no web presence. One big reason is the number of legitimate websites linking to your website. The older your domain is the higher probability third party websites are linking to it. There are four major data aggregators on the Internet (Infogroup, Localeze, Acxiom and Factual) that distribute your business information to many smaller third party websites. In order to get your business indexed with them you have to use third party tools. Over the years I have helped many clients accomplish this task at a very reasonable cost. Another commonly overlooked part of SEO is social media presence. Google has been giving increasing weight to companies with an active social media presence. I recommend my clients post once per week on multiple platforms. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the best to focus on. Posting to all three can be accomplished using third party software that allows you to post to all your social media platforms from one place. Fresh content on your website is another important ranking factor. For most small businesses this is tough. Your services never change, so what do you do? The answer is a blog. I've built many blogs for clients that link to their social media platforms. You post to your Wordpress blog and the post is automatically shared to all of your social media platforms. Over the years SEO has changed. On-page SEO is and will always be the most important ranking factor, but the off-page SEO content is playing an increasing role in Google's rankings. Contact me today for a customized plan for your business.  
SEO, Website Design, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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