WooCommerce security features are just one of the many things that help you create a more successful online shop.

While you might think your products or site design is what’s most important to your customers, they also want you to help keep them safe. By having a secure platform, you’re keeping their digital identities safer.

When you add WooCommerce’s own security features in with your regular security measures and maintenance, you give your customers security and safety while they’re shopping with you.

Force SSL

WooCommerce recommends setting up the Force SSL setting immediately after you install WooCommerce. This is to ensure every customer is forced to use a secure, encrypted connection every time they check out. Naturally, you’ll need an SSL certificate.

The object is to prevent a hijacked browser or other issues from creating a non-secure connection between your site and the customer’s computer. It’s a simple security measure that’s built into WooCommerce.

Regular Updates

While you might not think of updates as WooCommerce security features, they’re actually one of the most important. Much like with WordPress itself, core updates to WooCommerce aren’t just about new features or bug fixes. In fact, they’re often to address potential security flaws before hackers have a chance to attack your store.

WooCommerce releases regular updates and security updates as needed. However, they’re only effective if you install them quickly. Usually, hackers already know about even minor security issues before an update is even released. So, the sooner you install the patch, the better. Hackers scan for sites using outdated software versions and you don’t want your site to be one of them.

Code Audits

WooCommerce takes security seriously. For instance, this is why the company partnered with the Internet security firm Sucuri to ensure their code is as secure as possible. While this was first announced in 2012, WooCommerce still lists Sucuri as their code auditor on their website.

Sucuri’s experts audit every single line of code for the core platform and updates to ensure there aren’t any security issues. This creates a much more secure platform. However, adding secure hosting and a security plugin helps boost your security even more.

PCI Compliant Payment Gateways

Any site or business that accepts must be PCI compliant. The PCI Security Standards Council works to create guidelines for accepting and processing payments more securely. Naturally, the goal is to avoid data loss as much as possible.

PCI compliant payment gateways are a part of WooCommerce security features. While you’ll have to install an extension to access the gateways, WooCommerce only approves compliant extensions. This means you’ll be able to provide your customers with a secure checkout process every time.

Compliments WordPress Security

You can’t talk about WooCommerce security features without pointing out that it’s designed to work perfectly with WordPress’s built-in security. WordPress also releases regular security updates. By installing them regularly, you’re able to boost the security of your WooCommerce store too. WooCommerce is consistently maintained to ensure it’s always compatible with the latest version of WordPress.

For optimal security, keep WordPress and WooCommerce updated as the security of each compliments the other for an overall safer site.

Security Extensions

You’ll have to install extensions for some WooCommerce security features. Luckily, WooCommerce’s extension store includes the best extensions for ecommerce stores. The store only lists extensions regularly maintained and updated by the developers.

One of the most popular security extensions for WooCommerce is Jetpack. It’s free to install and helps protect your site from brute force attacks, attempted account hacks and much more. Also, you get warnings if your site goes down for any reason, which helps you recover faster in the event a hacker does get in and tries to take your site down.

Have questions about how WooCommerce boosts security on your site? Contact Darren today to learn more about WooCommerce and WordPress security.

Image: TheDigitalWay

Installing WooCommerce is an exciting moment. Suddenly, you’re turning WordPress into a powerful ecommerce store.

Your immediate focus might be on the new Products area of your WordPress dashboard, but the WooCommerce backend includes quite a few elements you need to be aware of.

From better store management to preparing for the worst, take the time to explore your backend settings to ensure your storefront is perfect for your customers at all times.

1. Setting Up Security

When you’re setting up an ecommerce store, security must be a priority. A single security incident could ruin your site’s reputation permanently and risk the personal identities of your customers. WooCommerce is for creating online stores, not securing them. This is why you have to take steps to secure your WooCommerce backend.

WooCommerce has multiple recommendations for securing your store immediately after installing WooCommerce, including:

• Use a secure host
• Use strong passwords
• Enable two-factor authentication
• Use security plugins, such as Jetpack Protect
• Secure FTP directories
• Keep WooCommerce, WooCommerce plugins and WordPress up to date

2. Checking Your Stats

By default, your WooCommerce backend gives you access to numerous reports to see how your store is performing. The Reports section of WooCommerce gives you insight into order histories, order trends, individual product sales, coupon/discount performance, how many guests versus customers and much more.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your store, give the reports a try. They make it much easier to turn your online store into a success.

3. Clearing Your Caches

WooCommerce caches data for multiple parts of your store, such as shipping rate calculations. Over time, this data builds up and slows down your site. While you might have set up a caching solution for WordPress, you might not have done the same for WooCommerce.

Under the System Status section of WooCommerce, use the Tools tab to clear out individual caches. This boosts speed and performance, which makes customers happier.

4. Maintaining Your System

Just like with anything else on your website, you have to do some general maintenance on WooCommerce from time to time. The WooCommerce backend has built-in maintenance and troubleshooting tools. For instance, the cache clearing feature above gives you the tools you need to regularly clean the cache.

The System Status area of WooCommerce is designed to help you quickly uncover issues and see if everything’s performing correctly. Run a system report to check critical details about your site and to help WooCommerce support staff help you fix any problems as quickly as possible.

If the worst happens, there’s also an option to reset everything back to defaults. This is perfect if you made numerous changes and suddenly nothing works right.

5. Customising Backend Features

The Settings area of WooCommerce is one of the areas you’ll want to change as quickly as possible. You might be more interested in the storefront, but the WooCommerce backend is where you customise all the options that ensure purchases calculate correctly, customers are notified of orders and products ship using the chosen method.

While there are numerous options to customise, you usually don’t change them much after the first time. However, it is vital to go through every option to ensure your store runs smoothly. Some of the areas where you might want to make changes include:

• General settings, such as your store’s home location and base currency
• Setting up the option to allow product reviews
• Calculating taxes and shipping
• Customising the checkout process
• Customising the customer account page
• Choosing which emails to send and when

6. Increasing WooCommerce Functionality

Another area you might frequent, especially at first is the Add-Ons area of the WooCommerce backend. This is where you can quickly find and manage extensions for WooCommerce, such as accepting various payment methods or offering shipping through different companies.

7. Clearing Out Excess

While you already know about caching, that’s not the only excess that slows down your WooCommerce store. Having too many extensions can drastically slow down not only WooCommerce, but WordPress in general. Start by checking your WooCommerce Add-Ons area to see if there are any extensions you don’t need. Remove any old ones to help speed up performance.

You should also remove any WordPress plugins and themes that you no longer use. These can negatively affect your entire site, including WooCommerce functionality.

8. Enabling Backups

WooCommerce doesn’t come with a way to back up your site. While this might not seem related to the WooCommerce backend, you should ensure your WordPress backup solution includes all your WooCommerce directories too. Should the worst happen, you’ll be able to restore your store and get back to your customers quickly.

Interested in using WooCommerce to open your own ecommerce store? Contact me today to find out how I can help.

Image: rawpixel.com

Conversions are what helps keep your ecommerce store alive, but what if no one’s buying anything?

The first step is to use WooCommerce, which makes managing an online store easier. The second step is to boost conversions using highly effective WooCommerce tips.

These tips help you take WooCommerce to the next level. If you’re ready to start growing your online store, start implementing these tips today.

Offer Multiple Payment Methods

One of the easiest WooCommerce tips to implement is offering multiple payment methods. You never know what’s more convenient for your customers. Some may only use credit cards while others prefer PayPal. WooCommerce offers numerous payment extensions for free to ensure you always have the perfect way for your customers to pay.

They’re easy to set up and it helps reduce shopping cart abandonment when shoppers find out their preferred payment method isn’t accepted.

Speed Things Up

No matter how many WooCommerce tips you try, a slow loading site still hurts conversions. The problem isn’t your products or checkout process. It’s the fact that shoppers don’t stay on your site long enough to view any products. When pages load too slowly, your shoppers abandon your site for the competition.

A few simple ways to speed things up include:

• Compressing image sizes (high-quality images don’t have to slow your site down)
• Use a WordPress caching plugin
• Run the free Google PageSpeed Insights tool (offers suggestions on ways to improve)

Reduce Cart Abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment is an issue for all ecommerce stores. Boost your conversions by making the checkout process as simple and painless as possible. One of the best places to start is with a WooCommerce cart abandonment plugin, such as:

• Recart
• Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce
• WooCommerce Recover Abandoned Cart
• Optimonk
• Jilt

Even with the right plugin, your shopping cart might still be too intimidating. Ensure consumers aren’t afraid to go through the process by:

• Limiting how much information you ask for
• Offering checkout without creating an account
• Limiting the number of steps during the process
• Making it easy to enter information on any device

WooCommerce also lists shopping cart extensions designed to boost conversions. For instance, add in upsells, offer free shipping, provide special discounts and more.

Use Enhanced eCommerce Tracking

Google Analytics is ideal for helping you better understand your site’s performance. It’s also perfect for increasing conversions with WooCommerce. Google added Enhanced eCommerce Tracking as a new data point to track. The Enhanced Ecommerce Google Analytics plugin allows you to take advantage of this in your WooCommerce store.

Find out where cart abandonment happens, see how many related products shoppers click on and display shopping behaviour reports.

Showcase Your Products Better

One of the harder WooCommerce tips to implement is showcasing your products in their best light. While it’s technically easy, you have so many customisation options that it may seem overwhelming to start with. For instance, should you list your products in a list format or grid? How large should product images be? How long should your product descriptions be?

WooCommerce also offers extensions to improve product listings, such as offering a quick-view option, and merchandising extensions to give customers more options, such as comparing products side-by-side.

It’s also important to provide detailed product descriptions showcase all features and try to answer all questions. Offering multiple images or even a short video of each product helps show consumers more so they’re more likely to buy.

Implement Reviews

No matter what platform you build your ecommerce site on, reviews are important. In fact, 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a friend’s personal recommendation. If it’s between your site and a site that includes customer reviews, shoppers prefer the site with reviews.

People want to know that others have tried the product they’re considering. It’s peace of mind before making an investment. This is especially true on higher priced items. Even with the best product images and descriptions, reviews make a difference. This is one of the best WooCommerce tips for seeing an increase in conversions faster.

Is your ecommerce store optimised with the right WooCommerce settings and extensions? Contact StuartMedia today to learn more about using WooCommerce and how to improve your site.

Image: LinkedIn Sales Navigator

It’s a common misconception that WordPress is just a blogging platform. After all, that’s what the original purpose was for.

However, it’s all the other features that make WordPress more than a blogging platform. The possibilities for using WordPress are seemingly endless.

If you’ve ever wondered just what WordPress is capable of, it’s time to look beyond the blogging aspect and uncover some of the other powerful features.

Blogging Is Just One Feature

WordPress was initially developed as a personal publishing system, but it developed into something much more advanced. Since then, the blog portion has become just one of the many features. Now, WordPress includes features, such as:

• Develop and manage static pages
• Sell products
• Optimise for search engines
• Implement your own features (through open source coding and plugins)
• Create responsive sites
• Store and manage data for your business and consumers

While this list could easily fill this post, it’s just a sampling of what makes WordPress more than a blogging platform. With all these features, there’s no reason to limit yourself to just blogging.

Run An Entire Online Business

About this time last year, I covered the reasons why WordPress is ideal for small business websites. Yes, you can host your business’s blog, but you’re able to run your entire online business through WordPress. With ecommerce plugins and themes, you’re able to manage and sell inventory online. Interact with customers, build an email list, connect social media accounts and much more.

If you want to see examples of major brands doing just this, check out my post 8 Examples Of Major Sites Using WordPress. WordPress.com and WordPress.org also list some of the most notable users and sites. Between these three links, it’s difficult to imagine using WordPress just as blog, though that’s still an option, especially for personal blogs.

Create Full Applications

The ability to create full applications makes WordPress more than a blogging platform. One company actually used WordPress to create a SaaS application (software as a service). In fact, they did it in just one month. This shows the versatility of what started as a user-friendly blogging system. While most businesses probably won’t think of WordPress for this use, it is an option for creating your own in-house SaaS apps.

Plugins And Themes Go Beyond Blogging

Take a quick look at the most popular themes and plugins on WordPress.org. How many of those seem exclusive to blogging? While some of the SEO plugins definitely cater to blogs, they also work for static web pages. After all, if a page has content on it, it’s available for Google to index. You want to optimise every single page on your website.

The themes listed are what truly show the difference between a simple blogging platform and a complete content and website management system. Most look like professional business sites, which is kind of the idea. They’re designed not just to showcase your personal thoughts on whatever crosses your mind, but to impress potential customers and clients.

If WordPress was just a blogging platform, you’d see much simpler themes that just focus on organising posts and categories. In fact, it’d probably look more like the early days of Blogger versus the highly used WordPress.

Powerful Database Features

One feature that’s often overlooked when it comes to WordPress is databases. You probably already know about the databases tied specifically to your site’s content and files. These are just the basics. These are the databases used to organise your site’s content and users.

However, when you’re using WordPress for a business, you’re able to create databases to store and organise customer data. For instance, certain plugins provide detailed analytics based on customer data on your site. This data is stored in databases within WordPress for you to use to provide better experiences for your customers.

Ready to see what WordPress could do for you? Learn more and find out how to start your own WordPress site by contacting me today.

Image: Corinne Kutz

You’ll find no shortage of ecommerce options for your website, but one you might want to consider is WordPress.

WordPress offers the best ecommerce solutions, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the popularity of WordPress as a whole. Still, some think of WordPress only for blogging and not for an online business.

Once you realise all that WordPress has to offer, it’s easy to see that it’s far more than a CMS and works well as a full ecommerce solution.

Integrates Well

One of the things that make WordPress so popular is how well the platform integrates with other services. For instance, take a look at WooCommerce, which powers 28% of all ecommerce sites. Hundreds of extensions are available for accepting payments, scheduling package deliveries and managing an email list. All it takes is a few clicks to integrate with most popular ecommerce solutions.

When you’re able to use the services you already know and love, it’s easier to manage your site the way you want.

Simple Installation

WordPress easily offers the best ecommerce solutions simply due to ease of installation. Most web hosts have a one-click WordPress installation feature and ecommerce themes install easily as well. You’ll get online faster versus spending weeks just trying to get started. Of course, between WordPress developers and the WordPress community, you always have support whenever you need it.

Customise Both Appearance And Function

WordPress offers thousands of themes and plugins to let you fully customise the appearance and function of your ecommerce site. With other solutions, you might find yourself limited. For instance, if you want to ensure your site is available for mobile visitors, you can choose a responsive theme that automatically adjusts based on your visitors’ screens.

Many plugins are designed specifically for ecommerce and make it easier than ever to customise your store. Some of the best ecommerce solutions for WordPress to include:

• WooCommerce
• Ecwid
• Easy Digital Downloads
• WP Ecommerce

No matter which solution you choose, you’re able to customise it completely along with your theme to ensure you site is unique to your business.

Includes Regular Security And Feature Updates

While this doesn’t just apply to ecommerce sites, it is something that sets WordPress apart when choosing the best ecommerce solutions. WordPress is often a target for hackers since it’s so widely used, but to combat that threat, WordPress releases regular security updates. Of course, you have to make sure you install them in order to keep your site safer. Remember to take extra security precautions too, such as changing admin passwords and using a security plugin.

In addition to security updates, feature updates are also released. This means you get to take advantage of the latest WordPress has to offer and it’s all offered for free.

The popular WordPress ecommerce solutions also release regular updates to put security first. For instance, a single outdated plugin could compromise your site. Keep your theme and plugins updated for a more secure site for your visitors.

Easy To Learn And Manage

WordPress is designed to make it easy for anyone to manage their own website. The intuitive backend helps you upload content in minutes. As a result, it offers the best ecommerce solutions because the learning curve is so small. You’re not going to spend forever trying to figure out how to upload product images and descriptions. It’s not difficult to master setting up a shopping cart and checkout process.

The less time you have to spend learning how to use your ecommerce solution, the more time you can spend on what matters most – getting your products/services in front of potential customers.

Start your search for an ecommerce solution with WordPress and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what the platform has to offer.

Want to set up your own ecommerce site with WordPress? Make the process even easier by contacting Darren today to get started.

Image: Jens Kreuter

Search engine optimisation is one of those terms you hear often, but it seems to change so often that you might wonder if you really need it at all.

The answer is a resounding yes! There’s a reason WordPress has built-in SEO features (though a little more optimisation is always a good thing).

One of the most cost effective website marketing tools that also has a high ROI is search engine optimisation. If you’re still one the fence about implementing it, let the following reasons convince you to start today.

Gain Organic Traffic

Imagine spending a few minutes marketing and then getting traffic again and again with no additional work. SEO gives you something that other marketing methods fall short on – minimal time for optimal results. For instance, if you write an optimised blog post for your site, it could help you rank in search engines for years to come.

Some even call if free traffic because it comes as a result of something you were doing anyway, such as adding product description or updating your site’s content. Organic traffic comes from real people searching for what they need. It’s just one of the many reasons this type of traffic is so valuable.

Reduce Marketing Time

Social media, ad campaigns and email lists all take time. With search engine optimisation, your site is doing the marketing for you. All it takes is the time you’d already be spending uploading new content and maintaining your site. While the other types of marketing are important, wouldn’t it be nice to get results even when you don’t have the time or budget for other types of marketing?

Target A Specific Audience

When you think of SEO, you probably think of keywords. This is an important part of search engine optimisation and it still works well as long as it’s done right. The key is to forget about keyword stuffing and consider user intent instead. You can still focus on a keyword (for instance, this post focuses on “search engine optimisation), but work in common phrases naturally, such “optimise a website,” “SEO” and “website marketing.” By focusing on natural searches and long tail keywords, you optimise your site for a specific audience.

Out Rank The Competition

Search for your site’s basic purpose on Google and see how many results are there. For instance, I just searched for “WordPress developer” and got over 26 million results. So the problem is how to become more competitive and land on those first few pages of results. This is where a search engine optimised site is key. For instance, I don’t just optimise my site for WordPress development, I also geo-target by my location along with using other SEO tactics, such as:

• Using cleaner code
• Optimising page load speeds
• Updating content regularly
• Using a variety of keyword phrases based around user intent

The right SEO can help you out rank your competition.

Make Your Site Easier For Google To Find

Sitemaps aren’t covered much when it comes to optimising a website. However, they’re vital for helping Google and other search engines find your site. Think of them as a way for search engines to “read” your site and understand its structure. This leads to better rankings.

Become A 24/7 Store Front

The more important reason your website needs to be optimised is so it becomes a 24/7 store front for your business. With optimisation, it’s going to be difficult for anyone to find you without direct marketing. When you’re sleeping, SEO continues to draw in traffic for you. After all, this is the entire purpose of your site – to work for you, even when you can’t work.

Search Engine Optimisation Tools To Try

While you can do search engine optimisation on your own, WordPress has this great feature called plugins. As you may have guessed, WordPress has plenty of SEO plugins to choose from to help you out, such as:

• Yoast SEO
• All In One SEO Pack
• SEO Ultimate
• SEOPressor
• Premium SEO Pack

Each has its own benefits. You can also check out some of my favorite overall WordPress plugins.

Ready to optimise your website? Contact Darren today to get started with an optimised WordPress site.

Image: Maliha Mannan

Businesses create websites for one reason – to work as a business tool 24/7. When your website is this important, you have to make sure it’s managed properly.

Odds are, you already have the content part taken care of, but what about regular maintenance or changing features? You could try to do it alone, but it’s time consuming and if you make a mistake, your website could be offline for hours or even days.

To get the most from your WordPress, you need experts to help you manage it. Think of it as a way to keep one of your most valuable business tools in optimal condition without you needing to worry.

Keep It Secure

As the most widely used CMS, WordPress is a popular target for hackers. That’s also why WordPress releases regular security and core updates to keep your site as secure as possible. If you’re handling WordPress security yourself, you’ll have several regular tasks to keep track of, such as:

• Updating WordPress and ensuring your theme and plugins are compatible
• Maintaining security software, such as anti-virus and firewall (your host may handle this for you)
• Locking down all accounts
• Monitoring for potential problems, such as files that shouldn’t exist or logins that happen during odd hours

You may think no one would want to hack your site, but hackers don’t care about the size of your website, they just want it for things, such as:

• Steal your bandwidth
• Storing and sharing malicious files
• Using your website to hack other sites

If you’re not diligent, it’s the same as leaving the front door of a brick-and-mortar business wide open 24/7, even after closing. Having experts manage your security means you don’t have to worry about leaving the door open to your site.

Stay On Top Of Trends

Think back five years ago and only a few people were really talking about responsive design. Jump forward to today and it’s vital for your website’s success. However, staying on top of web design trends and knowing what’s best for your specific business is difficult. After all, you’re busy running the actual business.

WordPress experts understand the latest trends and can help you decide which new features might be best to help your site stay competitive and current. After all, using an outdated business tool isn’t going to be helpful for building your business.

Maintain Current Backups

You’ve likely heard that every business needs a disaster and recovery plan. A crucial part of this plan is having current website backups. If something was to happen to your site right now, are you certain you have a recent backup that works? Even when you have the best of intentions, it’s easy to forget to back up your site after a major change.

Experts manage your backups and help you get back online when the worst happens. They even ensure the backup is viable and doesn’t cause you more problems, such as putting a backup online that still contains malware.

Handle Theme & Plugin Installation

Themes and plugins are two of the best things about WordPress. They also help you highly customise your business tool to your needs. The problem is they’re not always easy to install and maintain. For instance, they’re just as vulnerable to security issues as WordPress itself. Take January 2017’s vulnerability roundup as proof.

You need someone who not only knows how to install a new theme or plugin without it crashing your site, but also keeps it updated and ensures your site isn’t using malicious plugins or themes.

Review Your Site For Issues

Unless you’re using your website yourself, you might not notice any suddenly speed problems or downtime. You might not realise that a page isn’t loading correctly. WordPress experts keep an eye on your website and watch for issues that can drastically damage your site’s reputation and rank.

An Expertly Managed Business Tool

The best business tool is one that’s expertly managed. Trying to wear all the hats in your business just makes you tired. Leave your website in the hands of someone whose business is WordPress and never let WordPress woes get you down again.

Looking for someone to help manage your site’s design and keep it current? Contact Darren today to see just how WordPress experts can help you.

Image: Carl Heyerdahl

After your website’s up and running, the job still isn’t completely done. You need support for your site.

Every WordPress site needs WordPress support to continue to look great and function smoothly. In many cases, support could just save your business.

Imagine a home without any maintenance. After a while, it’d fall apart. Without support for your WordPress website, it could fall apart too, taking your business with it.

1. Keep Your Site More Secure

Security is an issue with any website, but due to WordPress’s popularity, hackers love to target the platform. Outdated software, themes and plugins could leave your site vulnerable to threats. Depending on the severity of the hack, your business may not be able to recover.

Not only do security issues take your site offline, they also affect your rankings and destroy customer trust. Even the smallest businesses are vulnerable, as Rokenbok Education found out the hard way. Breaches happen all the time and the results can be catastrophic unless you have support to help prevent problems and fix issues after they happen.

2. Save Valuable Time

Think about how much time you spend writing a blog post. It’s a time consuming process and it’s why many businesses outsource the writing. The same is true with WordPress support. If you only have a small team or if you’re managing everything on your own, you may not have time to handle the support on your own. Ignoring it could lead to a hacked site and 45% of hacked sites see at least some loss of traffic as a result.

Instead of having to take risks with your business or ignoring other important business tasks, get professional WordPress support when you need it.

3. Add In New Features

Web design isn’t a static object. Think about how websites looked in the 90s and now compare them with today’s websites. There’s a significant difference. Today’s sites load faster, look cleaner and lay out information in a better way. If your business’s WordPress site looks like it hasn’t been touched for years, it will drive people away.

With the right support, you can stay on top of the latest WordPress trends, such as these 2017 trends. The last thing you want is to lose business to a competitor that just has a better performing website.

4. Optimise For Better Rankings

Using cleaner code, updating to a responsive site, adding in an SEO plugin and other types of optimisations are all great ways to boost rankings. Without WordPress support, you may watch your business’s site slide further down the list.

Your site needs to be optimised regularly to meet Google’s standards. While you can handle some things, such as keywords, other things require involve in-depth knowledge of the WordPress platform.

5. Install And Configure Themes And Plugins

Themes and plugins are what makes WordPress so popular and easy to customise. The problem is, if they’re not installed correctly or kept up to date, they could cause your website to crash, be vulnerable to security threats and/or function improperly. What happens if you install a new theme and suddenly, nothing works right? Rolling back might not work.

This is where WordPress support can help. Instead of just hoping all your current plugins are compatible with a new theme and vice versa, a professional can check for compatibility and ensure all settings are correct before you go live with the changes. This keeps your site online and prevents nasty security vulnerabilities from incorrect installations and sketchy themes and plugins.

6. Tweak Settings For Better Performance

Website performance is vital for providing a great visitor experience, leading to organic traffic from social sharing and online word-of-mouth referrals. The problem is poor WordPress support could leave your site sluggish and glitchy after a while. Poor performance, such as slow loading speeds and large images, could have a massive impact on conversions and overall traffic.

It’s hard to know what to do to boost performance on your own. Getting support means you have someone who knows what to look for, what tests to run and what changes to make to get and keep your site where it needs to be.

Get The WordPress Support You Need

WordPress support isn’t something you can put off. Your business needs it to keep running smoothly. Whether your site is brand new or has been around for years, start 2017 off right by getting it support to run at its best at all times.

Looking for ways to optimise and support your site? Contact Darren today to get started.

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Your WordPress website looked great when it first went online, but how long ago was that?

Websites have to be refreshed often to look current, otherwise, they start to look more like an antique. For instance, at one point, the computer above was cutting edge, but would you use it today?

If you’re not sure if your WordPress website is old, see how your site compares with these signs. Even just a few small upgrades could make a major difference in how visitors perceive your site.

1. Takes Too Long To Load

Sadly, even some brand new sites take too long to load, but old websites often load even slower. According to one study, between 1999 to 2010, visitors’ patience decreased from 8 seconds to just 3 seconds. Today’s visitors are even less patient.

If your site takes more than a few seconds to load, you could be losing visitors. Try loading your website on different browsers to see how it performs. You can also use Pingdom to test loading times. If you have time to grab a cup of coffee, your WordPress website is old and needs a major refresh.

2. Poor Quality Or Too Few Images

No one likes to see graphics that are blurry, pixelated, or too small to even see clearly. Your visitors are visual creatures. When images are low quality or there are too few images, visitors get distracted and move on.

Improving your images and adding in more images holds attention, helps your site load faster (since quality images compressed for web pages are smaller in size) and boosts conversions.

3. It Only Fits Certain Screens

Does your site fit on all screens or just desktops? A sure sign your WordPress website is old is whether it’s mobile friendly or not. I’ve talked about why a mobile friendly or responsive design is vital to boosting your page rank and increasing visitors. This isn’t a passing trend. Google and your mobile visitors take responsive design seriously. Give your site an upgrade and appeal to your mobile audience too.

4. No Way To Contact You

Does your website only have an email address and/or phone number? That worked well in the late 90s and early 2000s, but times have changed. Visitors want an even easier way to contact you. Your WordPress website needs an easy to use contact form that sends messages directly to your email address. It’s easier for users and ensures no one sends messages to the wrong email address.

5. It’s Hard For Customers To Order

If you have an ecommerce site, it has to be easy for customers to order. Take a look at your checkout process. Is it secure and using an SSL certificate? How many steps are involved? Customers expect a secure checkout and if they don’t feel safe, they’ll move to the competition. If you make customers go through 10 screens to place an order, they’ll get frustrated and move on as well.

6. Bounce Rate Is Too High

If you use analytic software, which every website should, check your bounce rate. A high bounce rate is a sign your WordPress website is old and may have broken links, outdated content and pages that are difficult to interact with. While a high bounce rate could just indicate you need to change your content strategy, you should take a high bounce rate seriously.

Bonus: It’s Rarely Updated, if Ever

Think back to the last time your WordPress website was updated. If it’s been over a year, a refresh is needed. Simple changes to the design, optimising pages and adding in more user friendly features helps improve the user experience. If you want to stay competitive, regular updates are a necessity.

Keep Your WordPress Site Fresh

Besides updating your WordPress software, themes and plugins, updating the website itself is a crucial part of WordPress maintenance. Keep your WordPress website fresh and you’ll continue to keep your visitors happy and coming back for more.

Does your WordPress website need a makeover to make it look shiny and new? Contact Darren today to learn how to get started.

Image: Arkadiusz Sikorski

You may have noticed more sites are starting to use SSL certificates for more than just ecommerce sites.

Using SSL certificates with WordPress could put your site ahead of the competition. Many visitors are looking for HTTPS and the lock symbol in their browsers in order to feel more secure when simply browsing a new website.

With more of your visitors putting security first, now is the time to think about implementing SSL with your own WordPress site. Your visitors and even the search giant, Google, will appreciate it.

SSL Isn’t Just For Ecommerce

Until recently, you typically only saw SSL certificates on ecommerce sites or sites asking you to log in. Basically, they were only used when personal data might be transferred. While visitors should never enter user credentials or shop without first checking for HTTPS and the lock symbol, they’re starting to want a more secure browsing experience on every page of a website.

As of June 2016, 30% of all Google search results had implemented SSL. It’s predicted that in another 16-17 months, that number may jump to 50% or more. This shows a trend towards creating a safer experience for online audiences.

Google’s View On SSL

Why is there a sudden shift in SSL certificates? Google. In 2014, Google announced a small algorithm change that would affect how HTTPS websites ranked. At the time, this was only a very light ranking aspect and didn’t really affect many search results. However, the change alone was enough to encourage many sites to make the switch.

Google’s not done, though. In 2017, anyone using the Google Chrome browser will see a warning about sites that collect login data or credit information, but don’t use HTTPS. Users will be warned that the site may be unsafe. This is just phase one in a gradual change that will eventually warn about more HTTP only sites, whether they collect personal data or not.

Using SSL Certificates With WordPress

As you can see, Google is determined to create a safer Internet. While it’s not a major problem for site owners right now, it could become one in the near future. Whether your WordPress site allows visitors to shop or requires them to log in, switching to HTTPS could be beneficial. The biggest question you probably have now is where should you start.

The first step is to purchase an SSL certificate for your site. Some web hosts include a free SSL certificate while others provide the option to purchase one. Comodo, DigiCert and GlobalSign are just a few options available. An open source option is available for free, but WordPress.org still recommends a paid certificate.

Once you’ve purchased an SSL certificate, you can ask your web host to install it for you. You’ll also need to change your WordPress Address and Site Address under General Settings in your WordPress Dashboard to HTTPS versus HTTP.

You can also install plugins to help implement and manage SSL settings. A few of the most commonly used plugins include Really Simple SSL, WP Encrypt and WP Force SSL.

Secure Today For A Safer Tomorrow

SSL provides a more secure connection for your visitors. Whether they’re searching for something on your site or entering their credit card to make a purchase, they want to know your site takes their privacy seriously. Help them see that you do by using SSL certificates with WordPress.

Google’s changes may not affect your site right now, but the trend is shifting. Think of it like mobile-friendly sites. This was only a trend five years ago, but now it’s vital to boost your ranking. Make the change today to a more secure site for a safer experience for your visitors and to stay on top of Google’s changing algorithms.

Need help making your site more secure for your visitors? Contact Darren today to find out how to get started.

Image: Sean MacEntee