‘Blueprint’ Training and Certification Program for Facebook

8th May 20158th May 2015 Graeme D Anderson

Facebook has recently unveiled it’s Blueprint training and certification program. Blueprint is a new program that helps train agencies, partners and marketers on the best practices for advertising and marketing campaigns.

Our web developer, Craig Simpson, has successfully completed all 35 training modules covering a broad range of topics including managing ads, advertising objectives, targeting, campaign optimization, audience engagement and more.

More and more businesses are starting to advertise on Facebook, using it to promote their products, services and businesses to real people. On Facebook, unlike Google Adwords, it doesn’t matter what users are searching for, all that matters is who your customers are. You’re talking directly to real people with real interests, hobbies and jobs – not keywords.

Gain An Edge Over Your Competitors

As powerful as Facebook’s advertising platform is, it’s surprising how many businesses are still not using it, or at least not properly. As a result, if your competitors aren’t advertising, you gain a fantastic advantage and an opportunity to win business you might have otherwise lost out on.

We can help create engaging advertising and market your business on mobile and desktop devices. Using Ad Manager and Insights we can track your advertising spend, evaluate what’s working and what isn’t, and make informed choices that will bring value to your business.

If you’d like to know more about our web design services, or how we can help with your Facebook marketing, get in touch with us. Complete our contact form, or call our Aberdeen office number on (01224) 914800.

Three Simple Ways to Bring Trust and Credibility to Your Website

7th May 20156th May 2015 Graeme D Anderson

If you want website visitors to interact with your business online, there are a few very straightforward ways to instantly build trust and credibility. A recent study by Huff Industrial Marketing and KoMarketing, signposted the following factors as being crucial to your success online.

Thorough Contact Information

More than 90% of individuals surveyed said that thorough contact information was a “must have” or “very important”. Placing your full office address, telephone number and email address on your website gives your visitor the instant security that you’re a legitimate business, and that if they have any problems they can visit you in person.

About Us Page & Team Bios

Adding engaging content to your About Us page, and letting your audience see the faces behind your business can help to build credibility and build a better relationship with your website visitors. Give team bios a more personal feel to build trust and let visitors connect with your staff on a personal and professional level.

Client List & Testimonials

Showing your website visitors that you’ve worked with reputable businesses, or someone from their local area, gives them an instant feeling of trust and credibility in your business. Ths trust and credibility will increase exponentially if you’re able to demonstrate, through customer testimonials, that you’ve performed good work.

Planning what your website says about your business is a key step in our web design process. We’ll help you write engaging content that turns your visitors into customers. Contact us to find out more.

WordPress Security Essentials – Initial Website Setup

6th May 20155th May 2015 Graeme D Anderson

When it comes to setting up your WordPress website, there are a couple of very simple and straightforward ways you can improve security in less than 10 minutes!

Before even installing WordPress, though, it’s important to consider your web host and whether they’re properly equipped to host your WordPress website. With 41% of hacking attempts being caused by a security vulnerability on a hosting platform, it pays to host your website with a good quality hosting company, focused on security.

Sepcifically, you should look for a host that:

Is optimized for running WordPress.
Includes a WordPress optimized firewall.
Has malware scanning and intrusive file detection.
Has expert staff to deal with WordPress security issues.

Typically, I will install the latest version of WordPress and configure it manually, following our strict security guidelines. Here are five simple ways you can beef up your WordPress security:

Long, randomly generated strings for MySQL database name, username, password and WordPress table prefix.

Using Strong Password Generator, I will create long and complex strings to secure access to the website database. Even WordPress table prefix (normally just wp_) will be changed to a long, randomly generated string.

Remove ‘admin’ User, or User with ID 1.

Whether you use a one click install, or set up WordPress manually, the first user (you, the administrator) will have an ID which equals 1. That is, you are the first user to have been created on this installation. As part of our security routine, we will create another Admin user, and delete the original. This prevents potential hackers from taking the easy route to either target the ‘Admin’ username, or users with the default ID of 1.

Secure files and folders using .htaccess rules.

We have create a bulletproof .htaccess file which can be easily copied into each WordPress installation we create. Htaccess is a configuration file for use on web servers running the Apache Web Server software, which allows us to prevent access to certain file types and folders within our WordPress installation.

Enforce strong passwords.

By default, WordPress will allow you to set your own account password, and to anything you like. By installing a plugin called Enforce Strong Password we can ensure that none of your blog users have set their password to ‘password’.

Limit Login Attempts

In order to prevent a hacker from trying multiple passwords in order to gain access to your WordPress installation, we install a plugin called Limit Login Attempts. This means that after 3 failed login attempts you will be locked for 20 minutes (these figures are of course configurable).

When it comes to making your website more secure, a bit of common sense goes a long way. You can reduce the chances of your website being compromised by taking precautionary measures, such as:

Do not login to your website on unsecured networks.
Be wary of allowing people to upload files to your website via a form as hackers can use it to upload a malicious script – Even if you only allow image uploads, sneaky files such as image.jpg.php have been known to slip through
Make sure your computer does not have any viruses by installing antivirus software such as Sophos Cloud Based Antivirus.
If you are ever concerned about logged in users (editors, authors) doing something malicious on your website, use a plugin such as Simple Login Log or Audit Trail to track their activity.

If you’d like us to take a look at your existing WordPress installation and check its security, or you’re a local business looking for WordPress web design in Scotland, we’re happy to help.

Why not complete our simple contact form, or call our Aberdeen office number on (01224) 914800 to chat with our friendly staff.

Keeping Your Website Safe & Secure With Our WordPress Monthly Maintenance

5th May 2015 Graeme D Anderson

There’s no question that WordPress is a fantastic platform to build your website – it’s flexible, extensible, and really easy to use. However, keeping your WordPress website running smoothly does require a certain amount of upkeep.

WordPress is open source software, and is under active development as we speak. Bugs are being squashed, features are being added, and updates are being released all the time. The most important part of maintaining your business website is keeping your WordPress installation and plugins up to date. These vital updates will secure your website from hacking attempts and malware infection, and prevent potential downtime.

We’ve recently put together a WordPress Monthly Maintenance package designed to give you peace of mind that your website is safe and secure.

Our expert WordPress developers will proactively carry out upgrades, and undertake maintenance on a monthly schedule. With advanced security scanning and comprehensive uptime monitoring, you can rest assured your website is in safe hands.

Our complete WordPress Monthly Maintenance package includes:

WordPress Core & Plugin Updates
Secure Website Backups
Enterprise Grade Security
Priority Support
Monthly Usage Statistics & Performance Scans
Library of Training Videos
Monthly Maintenance Report

This service is available to WordPress website owners, and provides fantastic value, at a cost of only £35 per month (based on an annual commitment, paid in advance).

To find out more about this service, and to hear how we can keep your business website safe and secure, why not complete our contact form, or drop us a line on (01224) 914800 and talk to a member of our team.