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​Issue 965 - 12 Types of Websites
​Issue 966 - 4 Reasons You Need A Website
​Issue 967 - What Makes A Good Website?
​​​​Issue 968 - Create An Awesome Website - 1
​​​Issue 969 - Create An Awesome Website - 2​​​​​
Issue 970 - Create An Awesome Website - 3
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​​​​​​​Issue 971 - Create An Awesome Website - 4
​​​​​​​Issue 972 - Create An Awesome Website - 5
​​​​​​​​Issue 973 - Create An Awesome Website - 6
​​​​​​Issue 974 - Create An Awesome Website - 7
​​​​​​​​​Issue 975 - Create An Awesome Website - 8
​​​​​​​​Issue 976 - 9 Things You Need On Your Site
​​​​​​​​​​Issue 977 - How to Build An E-Commerce Website
​​​​​​​​​Issue 978 - 20 Things You Should Know - Websites
​​​​​​​​​​​Issue 979 - Your Business Needs A Website in 2023
ISSUE 965
TWELVE TYPES
​OF WEBSITES

​1. Business 
   A business website or lead generation website give people an insight into the company’s values and inform potential customers about their products or services.
   A strongly branded business website aims to influence people’s buying decisions and establish the company’s credibility within the industry.
 
2. eCommerce 
   eCommerce websites allow people to conduct the entire purchase process online.  It should include strong “call to action” buttons and marketing integration with social media for advertising and drawing customers to your site.
 
3. Personal blog
   Personal blogs are places for sharing life updates, individual opinions, news online, hobby-related content, communicating with other who have similar interests, connecting with family, or even to promote and sell promotional products and branded merchandise.
 
4. News websites
   News and media websites focus on delivering up-to-date information about the latest world events to the public. Sites like Fox News, OCN, and The Blaze are successful examples of the news websites.
 
5. Online portfolio
   Portfolio websites showcase the skills, previous projects, and reviews of creative professionals who monetize their skills and are on the hunt for employment.
 
6. Educational websites
   Educational Institutions create websites for online courses. These types of websites aim to enhance people’s learning experiences — both inside and outside the classroom.
 
7. Web portal
   Businesses use portals for internally distributing work-related information and communicating with employees.  Schools use portals to facilitate communication between students and teaching staff.
 
8. Entertainment
   E! Online and Netflix are some of the most popular entertainment websites, and provide visitors with endless entertainment and generate profit from it. Magazine websites are another big part of this niche.
 
9. Online forum
   Forums are used to connect users with similar interests via discussion boards. Topics are divided into categories and forums archive messages under threads.
 
10. Nonprofit websites
   The Internet has helped many charities and non-profit organizations to widen their reach. A website is a platform to promote their cause and connect with potential donors.
 
11. Wiki
   Wikis are the internet equivalent of encyclopedias and you can create a wiki website for almost any niche out there.
 
12. Infopreneur
  Infopreneur websites are between eCommerce and business websites. These types of websites focus on selling digital information in the form of tutorials, webinars, eBooks, videos.

   This requires building a successful and well-known brand, branding themselves as experts and leverage their professional expertise and experience in a particular field.
​
   Blogging and a strong content marketing strategy gain traffic to their website.
ISSUE 966
4 REASONS YOU
MAY NEED 
​A WEBSITE

​​
  • If you run a business, you need a website.
  • If you want public exposure, you need a website.
  • If you want to do pretty much anything in the 21st century, first you need a website. 
 
But you ask…
“What does a website offer?” 
 
Gain more exposure
According to Assets.com, 47% of people visit a company website before making a purchase. If you don’t have a website, these shoppers with buy elsewhere.
And with 4.54 billion people accessing the internet regularly, there’s a good chance that new users discover your website each day — particularly if you manage to climb the search rankings.
Not only does exposure expand your reachability, but it may also increase your brand awareness in the most cost-effective way.
​
Allow easy access
A website allows 24/7 access to your content. People can quickly obtain the information they need from you anytime they want.
Not just that, but they’re also able to do it without having to meet you in person.
All users have the same ability to access the website and its information regardless of their location.

Build your image and credibility
  • Whatever type of website you have, it’ll help convince potential customers you’re trustworthy. 
  • It’s an effective and affordable way to establish a reputation and authority in your niche industry.
  • It’s easier to leave a positive impression on others — further benefiting your branding.

Stay on top of trends
Keeping on top of trends helps you to follow the trends of how people shop and consume.
 
Managing a website requires you to keep creating content and making sure it’s up-to-date information. You must stay on top of the industry’s latest innovations and the market’s demands.

This can not only directly benefit the growth of your website, but also keep you on your toes regarding changes that may affect your brand.
 
The reality is, you don’t need to be tech savvy, getting a professional website for your business can be cheap and easy, and to make it even simpler for you – not having a website is costing you time and money.
ISSUE 967
WHAT MAKES A
​GOOD WEBSITE?

​Creating a website for your business can be a big challenge; it’s a lot of pressure to design the best reflection of your company, digitally. Carrie Sownie of 99 designs says to think of it as a “virtual storefront” where the homepage is the front door. You want your website to be aesthetically pleasing enough to invite them in and an appealing web design helps you do that. Here we’ve collected some great web design inspiration to start you off on the right foot and get those web design ideas flowing.

But there is more than just that to effective web design. Let’s go over the basics for what makes a good website before we look at some brilliant website design ideas.

1. Effective and evolving design
Have you ever clicked on a website and instantly got lost in the clutter of buttons, text and links? The impression your website makes directly reflects the competency of your business. A well-designed page is important for building trust and communicating value to potential customers.

So, it’s best to always keep the user experience in mind when designing; elements like a compelling layout, whitespace, excellent copy and a thoughtful style guide will go far in grabbing and maintaining customer attention. A good balance in web design encourages a good experience for your customers.

What’s more, responsive design is key: no matter the user’s screen size, platform or orientation, a great responsive website provides them with an optimal experience, every time. Regular, thorough market research will help you to consistently adapt and evolve your website to fit the ever-changing needs of your consumers—remember, digital design is constantly expanding and so should your website.

2. Communicating your brand identity
Your website plays a key part in building a consistent brand identity. Your logo, tagline, branded imagery and values should be obvious through the messaging of every page of the website. Accumulatively, your site should clearly answer “who” and “what” your brand is/does so that visitors get it within seconds!

3. Appealing to your audience
The most important part of building a brand and website is keeping your target audience in mind. All design choices need to answer how you can best serve them and create a positive, memorable and unique experience for them. Without this, you won’t be able to stand up next to competitors. Use language and imagery that will appeal to them and reflect values they can relate to.

4. Focusing on value
When a visitor arrives on your homepage, it needs to compel them to stick around. The homepage is the best place to nail your value proposition so that prospective customers choose to stay on your website and not navigate to your competitors’. By offering a quality service/product and using the tips above, you will convert those who are “just browsing” into customers!
ISSUE 968
HOW TO CREATE
AN AWESOME
WEBSITE - PART 1

​Awesome Branding
​
  1. Get a professional logo. This is a great way to build instant credibility.
  2. Upload a favicon (the square icon on your browser tab). Use X-Icon Editor to generate a 64×64 pixel favicon.
  3. Always make sure the image is twice as large as it’s container, then scale it down.
  4. Use 2–3 colors max on your website. You should have a background color, a call-to-action color, and an accent color.
  5. When choosing a color palette, start with complementary or triad colors. Adjust from there. Good color combos give you a design that tells a story.

Awesome Typography
​
  1. Pick a premium font. Use a service like Typekit. It’s been said that 95% of the web is typography. Going with a premium font is the easiest and most inexpensive way to make a good impression.
  2. Use 2–3 fonts maximum. Choose a heading font and a paragraph font. One more if you want a font for special cases.
  3. Set a body font size at 16px minimum. Anything smaller is difficult to read on large displays. Scale down to 12px on mobile devices.
  4. Set font sizes for your paragraph text, H4, H3, H2, and H1. Base your line-heights and text margins on this scale.
  5. Design other typographical elements like blockquotes, bulleted lists, numbered lists, captions, help text, alerts, highlighted text, code samples, abbreviations, and even addresses.
  6. Install a custom icon font like Font Awesome instead of using images for common elements like social media logos, navigation buttons, and interactive graphics. An icon font loads faster, scales endlessly, and gives you the freedom to change it’s color as you wish.

​Awesome Layouts
​
  1. Use the rule of thirds for a base layout. Divide your layout into thirds horizontally and vertically, then align key focus points where the lines intersect.
  2. Maintain a vertical grid with a grid system. Break your interface into 8-, 12-, 16-column layouts with generous gutters between columns.
  3. Keep a consistent vertical rhythm with a baseline grid. The space between lines of text is just as important as the space between content blocks. Every line of text should have a margin bottom that sits on the baseline.
  4. White space is luxurious. It’s there to create breathing room and balance. Draw your readers’ eye to what’s most important.
  5. Balance the visual elements of your site like the buttons, inputs, forms, headlines, etc. You should be able to blur your eyes and track the path that you want your users to take.
Stay tuned in the upcoming months for:
AWESOME… Graphic Design, Content, User Interfaces, User Experience, Development, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Page Speed, Website Security
ISSUE 969
HOW TO CREATE
AN AWESOME
WEBSITE - PART 2

​Awesome Graphic Design
​
  1. Write a custom ebook about something to do with your business for your opt-in bonus. This can make a huge difference in your conversion rate.
  2. Design a custom graphic or illustration for your homepage or sales pages. A nice illustration that’s done specifically for your site is an easy way to make your site more memorable. There is a time and place for stock photos.
  3. Create a custom or series of custom blog post feature images about your business. That’s the image that spreads on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. When a user sees a certain type of image associated with a blog post, they should know that it was written by you.  Stick your logo on all custom art or photos.
  4. Display custom avatar illustrations or caricatures for yourself and each member of your team. Custom caricatures can be less expensive than hiring a professional photographer each time you add someone to your team. Plus, it’s a nice gift to a new team member.  Go to Fiverr.com
  5. Custom infographics that display data and other content in a visual way tend to get more traffic than the blog post equivalent. People like to share infographics on their own sites with a backlink back to your site.
  6. If you produce a video or series of videos, you should have a custom video intro and/or outro to give it a professional touch. Not to mention other video graphics or animations that’ll help your brand stick out.  Again, use Fiverr.com

Awesome Content
​​
  1. Create a custom error 404 page that’ll display anytime a user tries to visit a page that doesn’t exist. Use the 404 page to direct them back to the homepage or help them find what they’re looking for.
  2. Other than your homepage, your about page is likely the most visited page on your site. Make sure it represents you and your company well.
  3. A contact page will help people contact you, but it’ll also build trust between you, your visitors, and even Google. When determining how to rank your site, the bots will find your contact page and look for an email, phone number, and address. Contact info tells Google that the site is slightly more trustworthy.
  4. It’s good to have opt-in forms strategically sprinkled throughout your site, but it’s also smart to have a squeeze page with nothing but a high-converting opt-in. When you want someone to subscribe, link to that page.
  5. When someone subscribes to your list, make sure you send them to a confirmation page asking them to confirm their email. If they don’t confirm their email right away, they might forget about it and never come back.
  6. After they click the confirmation link in the email, send them to a thank you page where they can see what’s next. It’s a page every subscriber will see and they’ll only see once, so it’s a perfect opportunity to give them a deal or encourage them to make a purchase.
  7. Your website or theme should have a landing page template that you can use when you need your users to take a specific action.
  8. If you sell something, make sure you have a nice-looking sales page. Start with a headline. Make room for your pitch. Maybe add a sales video. And direct people to purchase at the bottom of the page.
ISSUE 970
HOW TO CREATE
AN AWESOME
WEBSITE - PART 3

​Awesome User Interfaces
​
  1. Use big, bold call-to-action buttons. Every page should have one goal. It’s almost always to click a button. Make sure that button can’t be missed.
  2. Add hover and active states to your links, buttons, inputs, and text areas. If you choose to lighten your buttons on hover, you should also lighten the links and the borders on your inputs.
  3. Be consistent with form styling. All text areas and input fields should be styled the same. Same border colors, background colors, on hover, on active, placeholder text, active text, etc. Make sure the tab indexes are set up correctly so you can tab through them in the right order.
  4. Change the color of visited links, to let the user know that they’ve been to that page before.
  5. Once you have your logo, colors, typography, layout, and image sizes, establish a style guide. Good user interfaces are built with consistent components that are always styled the same.
Awesome User Experience
​
  1. Add micro-interactions to buttons and other fields. For instance, an “Upload” button should change to “Uploading” or “Processing” after it’s clicked.
  2. No scroll jacking! Never mess with the default behavior of the browser. You might think it’s nice to scroll twice as fast as normal, but it’s not.
  3. Get rid of your homepage slider. They decrease conversions and there are better ways to display more information in a small space.
  4. Never use a welcome gate. When visiting your homepage for the first time, the user expects to see your homepage.
  5. Use headlines, sub-headlines, lead paragraphs, lists, and captions to make your content easily scannable. Most people who visit a webpage will scan it before they decide to read it.
  6. Add descriptive placeholder text to all of your forms, inputs, and dropdowns. If you want someone to fill out a field in a certain way, tell them. For dropdown or select fields, make the first option descriptive. “Select Year” is better than “2016”.
  7. Add HTML5 validation on your forms to make it clear when there’s an error in the form after a user tries to submit it.
  8. Make your websites accessible for the visually impaired by avoiding vague link names, reducing clutter, using punctuation, keeping a simple layout, adding alt text to images, using larger text, and maintaining high contrast between text and background colors.
  9.  Check your site for broken links with BrokenLinkCheck.com. ​Fix broken links so people don’t get mad when they click them.​ ​
ISSUE 971
HOW TO CREATE
AN AWESOME
WEBSITE - PART 4
​
Awesome Development
  1. Make sure your site is mobile-optimized to display responsively on any device. Properly mobile-optimized sites load faster, rank higher, and give your users a better experience.
  2. Generate and display the optimal image size. If you upload a large image, like a blog post feature image, and you want to display it in other places across the site, like the sidebar, make sure you display the thumbnail version of the image instead of the full-size image.
  3. Add alt and title tags to all images and links. If for some reason an image isn’t loading, your site will display the alt text in its place. Also, when you hover over links, the browser displays the title tag for that link.
  4. Use <strong> and <em> instead of <b> and <i> to bold and italicize text. They have the same effect, but they have a fundamental difference. <b> is a style. <strong> is an indication of how something should be understood.
  5. Fix sloppy HTML. When you copy paste content into a WYSIWYG editor (like the visual view in WordPress), it adds lots of unnecessary spans and inline styles. Overtime, your site will become un-readable.
  6. Speaking of which, remove inline styles from your HTML. 99% of the time, your styling rules should go into a CSS file so you can update all instances of a component at the same time instead of page-by-page, line-by-line.
  7. Use Sass variables instead of CSS to keep colors and other components consistent across your site. Want to change a color and every shade of that color? Update one line instead of hundreds.
  8. Link to permalinks not URLs in case you switch domains. For example, when linking to a certain page, your HTML should read, <a href=“/slug-goes-here”> instead of <a href=“http://domain.com/slug-goes-here”>. Same for image sources and CSS backgrounds. If you don’t do this and put the site on a new domain, all of your sources will link to pages and files that no longer exist.
  9. Test for cross-browser compatibility by making sure your site displays properly in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, and other browsers. Older versions of IE are notoriously bad at displaying websites. Use 9. BrowserStack and check manually.
  10. Use 10. W3C’s Markup Validation Service to find glaring errors in your HTML. Keep in mind, most sites don’t have perfectly valid HTML. It’s not the top priority but will give you a good sense if there are any errors.
  11. Set up a staging environment to make changes to your current website. Ideally you should have a production site, which everyone sees, and a staging site, where your developer makes changes. Once the changes are ready to go live, push the staging site to production.
  12. Show current year in copyright footer. When you see a site with an old copyright, you assume that it’s no longer active. Use a PHP or similar script to display the current year instead of static text (e.g. © <established year> — <current year>).​
ISSUE 972
HOW TO CREATE
AN AWESOME
WEBSITE - PART 5

​Awesome Search Engine Optimization
  1. Choose one keyword phrase per page that you want that page to rank for. Focus on optimizing every aspect of that page for that keyword. Not in the put-this-keyword-in-every-sentence sense. Just be smart about how you want it to rank.
  2. Set keyword-rich title tags on every page. The title displays as the blue link in Google search results. Limit to 55-characters.
  3. Include one and only one H1 tag per page. In most cases, this will be the same as your title tag.
  4. Include plenty of H2’s, H3’s, and H4’s within the content of your page to create subheadlines and visual hierarchy.
  5. Optimize your page for a specific keyword by including it in the title, H1, subheadlines and in the first 1/3 of the content.
  6. Your meta description displays in search results as the description under the link. Make sure you include it on every page and include the keyword phrase.
  7. Your permalink, which is the URL after the domain (i.e. domain.com/permalink-here/), should include the keyword phrase separated by dashes.
  8. Google considers domain age in it’s algorithm because a domain that’s registered for many years is likely to be a higher-quality resource. Register your domain for several years in advance. If you registered your domain for 10 years, then you’re serious about your business.
  9. On average, the first result on the SERP (search engine results page) for any given keyword leads to a page with more than 2000 words per page. When writing a blog post or creating a page that you want to rank well, try to hit at least 2000 words.
  10. Always create a sitemap as a sitemap.xml file and put it in your root directory so it displays on domain.com/sitemap.xml. It tells Google where all of your pages sit and should automatically update when you add new content. Submit it to Google through Webmaster Tools.
  11. Add your website Google Webmaster Tools so you can see how Google indexes your site and stay updated if there are any critical issues.
  12. To help your images rank, always rename your images and other files before uploading to your website (e.g. rank_for_this_keyword_phrase.png).
  13. Include a robots.txt file on your site to tell web crawlers which pages they should and should not index.
  14. Add a canonical redirect to point the non-www to the www version of your website, or vice versa.
  15. Research and integrate LSI keywords (latent semantic indexing) on every page to help the page rank for the main keyword phrase. Find the LSI keywords by Googling your keyword phrase and searching for the “Searches related to…” links.
  16. Make sure to actively interlink your content. Every page on your site should be accessible through three or fewer clicks from the homepage.
  17. Add structured data on relevant pages to help Google properly index your content. Page types that need custom structured data include people, products, events, organizations, movies, books, and reviews. Use Schema Creator to generate structured data.
  18. Check Google’s PageSpeed Insights to make sure you’ve fixed all of the common problems that slow down your page speed. The faster your site loads, the higher it’ll rank.
ISSUE 973
HOW TO CREATE
AN AWESOME
WEBSITE - PART 6

Awesome Social Media
​
  1. Limit the number of social media buttons on your posts and pages because each button runs a script that adds extra load time to the page. Only include 1–5 buttons, -- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram -- where your content most often gets shared.
  2. Create social media graphics for your Facebook page, Twitter account, and YouTube channel. Custom graphics make an immediately positive impression that’ll encourage first-time visitors to like, follow, and subscribe to your page, profile, or channel.
  3. Set up Facebook Open Graph META tags to make sure your content is shared correctly on Facebook. Use the Facebook Debugger  https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/to check your homepage, posts, and other pages to see how they display when someone shares that URL.
  4. Set up Twitter Cards to automatically attach rich photos and videos to your tweets when a URL on your site is shared. Get started with Twitter Cards - https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-for-websites/cards/guides/getting-started.
  5. Use the Snippet guide - https://www.highervisibility.com/seo/tools/serp-snippet-optimizer. 
  6. Tuck away the social media icons on your site that link back to your profiles. Make them small or only show them in the footer or doormat.

The purpose of social media marketing is to get people back to your site, not the other way around.

Over 97% of marketers are now using social media to engage with their audiences. But if you’re tasked with starting a social media strategy for your company, you might be wondering which type of platforms you should be on.

There are 5 main “types” of Social Media:  Social Networking, Video Sharing, Interactive Media, and Blogging.

Social Networking is the most traditional form of social media where users can easily communicate with others through simple actions like tagging, hash-tagging, commenting, private messaging, reacting to posts, and re-sharing content.

Aside from social interaction, newsfeeds on common social networking platforms are designed to show off a mix of text and visuals, rather than one primary content type.

This flexibility makes social networking platforms easy to begin a social strategy on because you can experiment with different forms of content before branching out to platforms that require more specific content types.

For those who want to dabble in video or graphics, these platforms could be a great place to test this new content. With the growth of video marketing, many have begun to launch more advanced features like Facebook Stories and Twitter’s live streams.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have also started to encourage native video and photo uploads more heavily. Recently, Facebook even adjusted its algorithms to favor live video and image uploads. This has caused these types of native content to gain greater user engagement.
The main rule when including social media in your marketing is to post!  No one wants to click a link and see nothing new.
ISSUE 974
HOW TO CREATE
AN AWESOME
WEBSITE - PART 7

Awesome Page Speed
​
1. Keep  page weight under 2MB. Use  tools.pingdom.com  to check the page weight for your primary landing pages. Anything more than 2MB is too heavy.
​
 2. Keep  page requests under 50. Every file and image on any given page is a HTTP request. The fewer the number of requests, the faster it’ll load. The average webpage has 70 requests. Use  GTmetrix  to see your requests.

 3. Design page elements with  CSS instead of background images. Never use an image to show a button, form, or other common component on your site. CSS loads faster and is more flexible in responsive layouts.

 4. Optimize images  before uploading them to your site. Tools like  TinyPNG  can reduce your image file sizes by 80–95% without losing resolution or image quality.

 5. Set up a  Content Delivery Network  to host your images and other larger files in several locations around the world. CDNs store and deliver your files from strategically located servers to maximize loading speed depending on your visitor’s physical location.

 6. Minify JavaScript, HTML, and CSS  by using compiling and compression tools prior to uploading files to your website. For JavaScript, use  Closure Compiler. For HTML, use  HTML Minifier. For CSS, use  YUI Compressor.

 7. Move  render-blocking JavaScript to the footer. The only scripts that should be placed in the header are the scripts that immediately affect the design of the page (e.g. custom fonts).

 8. Avoid landing page redirects. Redirects trigger an additional HTTP request which delays page rendering.

 9. Leverage  browser caching  by setting expiry dates for pages and page types that aren’t updated often. Browser caching instructs the browser to load previously downloaded pages from the local disk rather than through the network.

 10. Enable  gzip compression  in your server configuration. Compression can reduce the transferred response time by 90% which improves the time to first render for your pages.

 11. Enable  Keep-Alive  on your server settings to allow the same TCP connection to send and receive multiple HTTP requests, thus reducing the latency for subsequent requests.

 12. Upgrade to a  dedicated server  or premium hosting service to improve server response time. When you use a shared hosting environment, your site is typically one of hundreds on the same server. If any one of those hundred sites is experiencing a lot of traffic, it’ll slow down your page speed.
ISSUE 975
HOW TO CREATE
AN AWESOME
WEBSITE - PART 8

Awesome Web Security

Website Security is important because hackers attack at least  50,000 websites  every day. These are worrying numbers because almost every business has an online presence. The attacks target businesses of any size.   Approximately 43% of the attacks target small businesses. This means that everyone from the individual site owner to the large corporation is a target for hackers.

There are many types of attacks a hacker can use.  Brute Force Attacks, Social Engineering, SQL Injections, Keyloggers and Spyware, Remote Code Execution, and Third-Party Exploits to name a few.

Here are some important steps to keep your website and computer safe from hackers:

  1. Install an  SSL Certificate  to allow a secure connection from a web server to a browser. Most checkout software requires an SSL Certificate if you’re accepting credit cards. Google has said that an SSL Certificate will improve your search rankings.
  2. Registering your domain at WHOIS. All website owners must register their websites with a particular domain name. Domains require the owners to provide some personal information for identification purposes. The information is registered in the WHOIS databases. In addition to the personal information, website owners need to provide other types of information like the URL nameservers associated with the website.
  3. It is very important that you keep your website and computer programs and plugins up to date.  Keep your  software and plugins updated. When WordPress and other CMS software releases an update, it’s typically to patch up a vulnerability. If you don’t, it’s only a matter of time before your site will be hacked.
  4. Set up a  double authentication login gate  for your admin pages. Most hacks start with the login page.
  5. Check for and  remove malware. If your site has been hacked before, they likely added corrupt files that aren’t easy to find. If you don’t remove it promptly, your site might be blacklisted by Google which tanks your rankings and warns users to leave when they visit.
  6. Never leave your  admin username  as “admin”. Delete the default admin account and create a new one with a different username.
  7. Regularly  back up your database and website files. Most backup software and plugins only back up your database, which includes the data and content. But if you lose your site, you’ll need to have a backup of the files to restore it.

There are many website checkers on the internet.
This is a great one: https://gtmetrix.com. 

If you want your website monitored for free, these are rate the Best Free Website Monitoring Tools in 2022:
  1. StatusCake      2. Uptrends      3. Uptime Robot      4. Montastic      5. Uptimia
ISSUE 976 - MARCH 2023
9 THINGS CUSTOMERS
NEED ON YOUR WEBSITE

According to Entrepreneur, here are the 9 most important things customers want to find on your website:

1. How is your business unique?
Answer the question "Who are you?" as interestingly and compellingly (and honestly) as possible. This includes writing management bios that mention your expertise, years of experience, and any unique attributes or details that may set you apart from others. You need to answer, "What is unique about your business? Why should I buy from you?" This is missing from many business sites. Be concise!  You don't need to write a novel.
2. What does your company offer?
It's incredible how many sites you visit and you're not sure what the company offers! Make it a priority on your home page to provide general information about your products and/or services, with links to specifics on a “Products” page. Give the potential customer enough info to make a buying decision.  Customers won’t contact you for missing product information--they'll just move on to your competitor.
3. Contact information, including a phone number and physical location
This may seem like a no-brainer, but many companies are purposely vague about their location. Even if you prefer to do all business online or are home-based. This is a must, and it's one small way of building credibility and trust.
4. Third-party validation
This means customer testimonials, client lists, case studies, awards and recognition you've received, positive news clippings, and the like. Potential customers indeed want to know whom you do business with, and what current customers have to say about their experiences.  Having a presence on social networking sites and blogs, especially those serving your industry, is an increasingly popular form of validation among customers. 
5. Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
Without an SSL Certificate, Google will show your website as “unsecured”. SSL is an encryption system that helps protect the privacy of data exchanged between a customer and a website. If you have an e-commerce site that takes credit card information, customers want to know that their sensitive data is encrypted. 
6. Ease of Use
If people can't find it, they can't buy it. Keep your site crisp, clean, and easy to navigate. On your FAQs page (Frequently Asked Questions), let customers know, step-by-step, important things, such as how to order, your shipping costs, how you handle returns, and whether you have a money-back guarantee.
7. An ability to give feedback
Encourage feedback about your products and services. You might get some good stories to feature on your site or in your blog.
8. Clear calls to action
Customers want signs or buttons in order to act, be it "Buy now" "Sign up for our newsletter" or "Click here for more information." If you have a captive audience, this is the time to grab them!
9. Special offers 
By personalizing a sale with a special offer, incentive, or coupon, small businesses can gain an edge over larger companies.​
ISSUE 977 - APRIL 2023
HOW TO BUILD AN
ECOMMERCE WEBSITE

According to Forbes.com, E-commerce revenue in the U.S. was estimated to be $768 billion last year, and it is expected to exceed $1.3 trillion in the next three years.  So, if you are in retail, creating an e-commerce site can allow you to get a share of that pie.  Here are the steps that you will need to consider:

Step 1.  Choose Your Content Management System (CMS)  
The foundation of every website is a content management system (CMS).  There are several different content management systems to choose from open-source platforms such as WordPress to beginner-friendly all-in-one website builders such as Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix.  What suits you and your online store will depend on your budget and experience building websites.

Here are the most popular content management systems for e-commerce websites:
⦁ WordPress:  The world’s leading CMS -- also one of the most customizable.
⦁ Shopify, Squarespace, Wix:  These website builder features are more limited than WordPress, but they are great for beginners who want to build a website with a limited budget. 

Step 2.  Get Web Hosting & a Domain
If you plan to build your e-commerce site with WordPress, your next step is to get a web hosting plan.  If you’re using a website builder like Shopify, Squarespace, or Wix, navigate to the provider’s website and register for an account.  Register your domain name through the CMS to eliminate the need for manual domain configuration process if your chosen CMS allows.

Step 3.  Select an E-commerce Theme or Template
Themes are ready-made templates that give your website a consistent look and feel.  All subscription platforms have tons of templates, both free and paid, to choose from.

Step 4.  Customize Your Site and Build Out Web Pages
After you have found the perfect theme or template for your online store, the next step is to begin customizing it.  Uupdate your header and footer, configure your site’s navigation, and build out pages from your homepage to your refunds and return policy page.

Step 5.  Create Product Listings
Once you have built your website, the next step is to create your product catalog, complete with your product listings.  In this process, be sure to organize and categorize your listings so they are easy for your future site visitors to find and for you to manage.

Step 6.  Set Up a Payment Gateway, Inventory, and Tax Tools
After you have populated your e-commerce website, there are a few critical aspects of building an e-commerce site to attend to, from setting up a payment processor to adding inventory and tax tools.
  • Choose a Payment Gateway - When choosing and setting up a payment gateway, many online retailers opt for third-party tools such as Stripe or PayPal to make the process easier and more secure.  
  • Integrate Shipping - When integrating shipping, determine your shipping policies such as free shipping, variable fee, flat rate, etc.  And while you are at it, also establish refund and return policies.
  • Add a Sales Tax Calculator - Additionally, you may want to consider adding a tax calculator to automatically calculate sales tax, shipping, and any other fees at checkout.
Step 7.  Test and Launch Your E-Commerce Site
Test EVERY function thoroughly.
ISSUE 978 - MAY 2023
20 THINGS YOU SHOULD
KNOW ABOUT WEBSITES
  1. Anything is possible with web design and development. If you can imagine it, it can probably be done.
  2. A website is the easiest marketing component to measure in terms of effectiveness.
  3. A beautiful website is not necessarily an effective one
  4. When someone hits your home page, you have approximately 5 seconds to get their attention, explain what you do, and persuade them to contact you.
  5. A cheap and unprofessional-looking website will suck the lifeblood right out of your business.
  6. A website is 10x more cost-effective than a full-page yellow pages advertisement.
  7. Letting your cousin/brother/nephew create your website for free is a mistake for which you will pay.
  8. A Search Engine Optimized website with solid marketing content will be effective.
  9. Your web provider should be passionate about getting you a fast ROI on your website.
  10. The choice of color scheme on your site is as important as the content. The psychology of color can affect and influence buying decisions.
  11. Google ignores Metatag Keywords. They’ve said so many times. Get professional SEO.
  12. Google, Bing, and Yahoo post precisely how their search engines work. Your SEO professional knows what to do.
  13. Don’t let your website go stale. Change its content monthly, at least. A blog on your website is a great way to keep things fresh and keep people coming back.
  14. Make use of Social Networking. Now! The biggies are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Instagram.
  15. Over 75% of web users admit to deciding the credibility of a business based on the experience of using their website.
  16. Asking, “How much does a website cost?” is like asking a custom home builder, “How much does a house cost?” It all depends on what you want.
  17. Template-based website creation tools like Weebly, Wix, and Squarespace may be easy because of drag-and-drop abilities, but you will be very limited. 
  18. You should have elements on your site that keep people coming back, such as a blog, news, events, etc. 
  19. More and more people are browsing the web from smartphones. So make sure your site has a mobile version.
  20. Make sure your host backs up your website to a completely different location. 
ISSUE 979 - JUNE 2023
TOP 6 REASONS YOUR BUSINESS
NEEDS A WEBSITE IN 2023​
​
Whether you are a start-up or an established business, maximizing the reach of your product and services is your prime motive. Websites have become one of the main ways to increase your services or product reach to potential customers.   It will help generate more leads and revenue.  

⦁ According to  Statista, the number of digital buyers worldwide has increased in the past few years to 2.14 billion.
⦁ Around 4.93 billion ( 63.2 % of the world population) people use the Internet worldwide.

Reason 1: Websites Help in Increasing Brand Awareness
The Website showcases your brand for your target audience. To lead your competitors in the market, the most important thing you must do is to present who you are, what you stand for, and exactly what purpose you are serving.  

Reason 2: Websites Improve Your Credibility
Do you know more than 75% of people confess that they judge a company’s credibility by its Website design? So one of the top reasons your business needs a website  is to enhance your enterprise’s credibility. This will help build an initial level of trust, keep them engaged, and prove you are credible.  

Reason 3: Websites Attract New Customers
A website is the best way to attract new customers. A good SEO (Search Engine Optimized) website can help your business rank for various keywords and increase organic traffic on your Website.  After your Website is built, optimize your Website with SEO. More than 81 % of consumers search for products and services online.
 
Reason 4: Websites Provide Better Customer Service
A website cuts down the number of calls and increases your overall productivity. Make sure customers can find information easily on your Website.

Reason 5: Display your Best Reviews and Testimonials on your Website
Display customer testimonials and reviews prominently on your site to establish social proof. For example, if your company has appeared in newspaper articles or popular blogs, then you can feature these on your web page. You now have control over what reviews your customer reads about you, rather than random reviews on Google.

Reason 6: Websites are an Integral Part of Online Marketing
Unlike the traditional form of costly marketing using print releases, flyers, and print ads, online marketing is less expensive and more effective, and results are visible quickly.  And unlike flyers, you can keep your information up to date instantly.
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