Website Maintenance

Website Maintenance tips

People are usually a little lost when it comes to sitting down and actually figuring out what to do for their website/blog on a day-to-day basis. Think of it like like servicing your car or getting regular checkups with your GP...  
If you happen to get stuck, here are few things  you can do day-to-day that will help the results of your website

1. Write Relevant Content. Regularly if possible.

With all the updates Google are doing there is one main focus, relevant content. Therefore, to be found on Google you need to be producing relevant content regularly and consistently. This aids both Google and the visitors who read your website and to extract as much information as possible.

2. Get Customer Feedback.

Approach some customers and ask them for constructive feedback on your website. Ask specific questions:

• Was it easy to find our contact details?
• Could you easily subscribe to our newsletter?
• Was it appealing to look at?

These questions should reflect the goals of your website. If you want people to subscribe to our newsletter, it needs to be ridiculously easy for your visitors to subscribe to your newsletter and not have to click a dozen buttons and fill out a handful of forms.

3. Blog

Blogging is a great tool to get regular, relevant content up on your website. It also encourages your visitors to offer feedback on your blog post. Especially if you have asked them for feedback and your blog answers some of their concerns.

4. Sourcing/Taking Appropriate Images.

It is far more beneficial to your website/blog to use your own images. Imagine if you saw one of the photos that are on your website, on a competitor’s website. You both bought it legally so you both have the right to display it on your website. Sourcing or taking your own images removes this situation entirely.

5. Navigation

If your website is difficult to navigate, your visitors won’t end up where you want them to go [or where they are wanting to go]. Your website navigation, especially to your key pages, needs to be easy to follow - you should be able to get there in as few clicks as possible. Your contact us form should always be no more than two clicks away from any page.

6 Create a Page For Each New Product or Service

This is by far the most obvious thing you can do to your website on a day-to-day basis. Whenever you get a new stock item or start a new service there has to be a page for it on your website. Take advantage of its recency and put a button on the home page saying “New Product”. This will draw traffic to that product as well as generate interest about it.

7. Identify Where Your Target Market Is Online.

Your target market has to be realistic and also specific. Now find out where they are online.

• Are they on social media? If so, which one?
• What forums do the visit?
• What blog are they subscribed to?

All these things help you generate relations with your target market and this also gives you an opportunity to present your business as an expert.

8. Know Your Analytics

What is the point of doing all this work if you can’t measure if it worked or not. You need to get familiar with your websites analytics. You don’t need to become some analytics nerd but understand the fundamental areas to which you, as a business owner, need to pay attention to.

This could be things such as conversion rates, bounce rates, landing pages and exit pages.


These tips were sourced here

Anti Virus

What is Anti Virus Software?

Anti-virus software is a program or set of programs that are designed to prevent, search for, detect, and remove software viruses, and other malicious software like worms, trojans, adware, and more.

It is critical for computer users to have software installed and up-to-date. A computer without anti-virus software installed can/will be infected within minutes of connecting to the internet. The bombardment is constant, with anti-virus companies updating their detection tools constantly to deal with the more than 60,000 new pieces of malware created daily.

Always be sure you have the best, up-to-date security software installed to protect your computers, laptops, tablets + smartphones

Tips for Prevention and Detection 

  

Do not open any files attached to an email from an unknown, suspicious or untrustworthy source.
Do not open any files attached to an email unless you know what it is, even if it appears to come from a friend or someone you know. Some viruses can replicate themselves and spread through email. Confirm that your contact really sent an attachment.
Do not open any files attached to an email if the subject line is questionable or unexpected.
Delete chain emails and junk email. Do not forward or reply to any to them. These types of email are considered spam - unsolicited, intrusive messages that clog up the inboxes and networks.
Do not download any files from strangers.
Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Ensure that the source is a legitimate and reputable one. Verify that an anti-virus program checks the files on the download site.
Update your anti-virus software regularly. McAfee security software like McAfee Total Protection update automatically and continuously via the Internet.
Back up your files on a regular basis. If a virus destroys your files, at least you can replace them with your back-up copy. You should store your backup copy in a separate location from your work files, one that is preferably not on your computer.
When in doubt, always err on the side of caution and do not open, download, or execute any files or email attachments. Not executing is the more important of these caveats. Check with your product vendors for updates for your operating system, web browser, and email. 
If you are in doubt about any potential virus-related situation you find yourself in, please contact us


The tips originally from McAfee