Archive for WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT

WordPress sites, design
Posted by DBC Digital on
 March 22, 2019

Why Hiring a Pro is Better Than DIY WordPress Website Creation

We’re pleased to offer a free digital marketing consultation. Call today, (303) 357-5757, or e-mail dbc@dbcdigital.com.

Wordpress logo

What is WordPress?

Simply put, WordPress is one of the most popular ways to create a website or blog. WordPress is used by individuals, large businesses, and everyone in between — including DBC Digital. In fact, WordPress powers over 30% of all the websites on the Internet. So that means more than one in four websites that you visit are likely WordPress sites, including: Whitehouse.gov, Microsoft’s “News Center” blog, and The Walt Disney Company.

WordPress sites

 

WordPress Sites

If we’re getting more technical, then WordPress is defined as an open-source content management system (CMS) licensed under GPLv2. This means that anyone can use or modify the WordPress software for free. A content management system is basically a tool that makes it easy to manage the important aspects of your website (like its content) without needing to have any programming knowledge.

Why choose WordPress?

Now that you have an understanding of what WordPress is, let’s explore why it’s a good choice for your business.

  1. Popular. As we mentioned earlier, WordPress is popular with over 75 million websites using it, and about 35 million sites hosted on WordPress.com. There is no more popular content management system (CMS) than WordPress.
  2. Ecommerce. WordPress is an excellent ecommerce option. Adding an online store to your site will cost you extra on pretty much all site builders. However, it’s free on WordPress with WooCommerce.
  3. Open-source. WordPress is an open-source technology, meaning anyone, anywhere can use, study, change and redistribute its source code. So there are tens of thousands of site themes available (if not more). WordPress’ official page has over 290 themes just by itself.
  4. Secure and safe. Another reason why WordPress is a great option is the security measures the WordPress developers take to preserve the trust of its users. The WordPress staff is constantly updating the CMS, along with the plugs-ins (software that can be added to a WordPress website for additional features) that integrate with it.
  5. Integration. WordPress integrates with many popular 3rd-party platforms to make your website current. Plenty of plugins exist that let you easily send out email campaigns and newsletters. Also, there are plugins that allow you to accept credit card payments for an ecommerce site. Basically, you can find plugins for just about every kind of function you want to add to your site.
  6. Multi-user capability. The developer doesn’t have to be the only individual running your website because WordPress makes it simple to assign different access roles for different people. Here are some of the roles the plugin, “WordPress Codex”, provides:
  • Super Admin – has total access to website features.
  • Administrator – has access to administration features.
  • Editor – can publish their own posts and approve or remove the posts of others users.
  • Author – can manage and publish their own posts.
  • Contributor – can manage and write their own posts but must rely on administrator to approve them.
  • Subscriber – can view and edit their own profile (essentially, a user with their own account).
  1. Keeps improving. Thanks to its open source coding and innovative developers, WordPress keeps improving as the years go by. Whether the WordPress staff are adding new features, developers are creating new plugins, or coders have programmed new features to customize your site, the CMS keeps evolving for the better.

WordPress Programming

Why Hire an Expert?

Now that you understand the benefits a WordPress site provides, let’s take a look at why having someone help with the website creation might be right for you.

You May Need a Custom Theme

Employing a developer enables you to build a theme to your exact specifications while ensuring a completely unique design. It lets you stand out from the competition, yet frees you up to focus on running your site rather than customizing it.

If you take a tour of the WordPress theme directory or premium theme marketplace, you will find there are countless high-quality themes available for you to use immediately. However, if you find that these options come close but don’t quite deliver what you need, you may want to use a custom theme instead.

While going the custom route may add time and expense to your plans, it is definitely worth contemplating if you know exactly what you want for your site.

A custom theme offers several benefits, since it:

  • Is precisely the visual appeal and functionality you need.
  • Removes the bloat of options that you won’t use.
  • Lets you have a say in the quality during every step of the development process.

While creating your own WordPress theme is a great option to level-up your skills, it can be a timely process. So if you’re short on time or simply more interested in focusing on your site’s content rather than the code, hiring a developer will allow you to get your ideal theme without a steep learning curve.

SEO Expertise

Search engines remain one of the best sources of online traffic. A high-ranking page can bring in thousands of visitors to any web presence. For that reason, pretty much every website owner is ideally concerned with SEO (search engine optimization). For starters, even just using WordPress is already putting you ahead in the SEO game. In fact, some would argue that WordPress is the best CMS for SEO and we at DBC Digital believe there is merit to this view. Many individuals often believe that SEO is an easy task and can be done on one’s own. But, there are many aspects of SEO that only an expert can handle. SEO involves different kinds of tools and methods that you may not be well aware of, no matter how accustomed to the internet you may be. You might not be able to use and execute SEO techniques correctly for the best results.

In Conclusion

Save time and make money. Successful business owners must be hardworking, innovative, resourceful, and smart. So if you’re reading this blog, most likely these characteristics apply to you. You are more than capable of building your own website. Yes, we believe in you. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Building a website that “wows” and leaves an impression takes time. Successful business owners also know when to delegate duties so they can put their efforts towards growing the business. When it comes to creating a website — take your own advice. Do what you do best and for everything else, hire experts to do what they do best.

 

So how will you use WordPress? Please know DBC Digital is here to help. Let’s start a discussion today.  

 

DBC Digital is a full-service digital marketing company that provides everything you need to run successful content marketing campaigns. We’re located in the Denver metro area, just south of the Denver Tech Center, near I-25 and Dry Creek Road. We provide marketing services for businesses and organizations throughout the United States.

Categories : Website Design, WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
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SLL Security, SLLCertificates, Digital Marketing
Posted by DBC Digital on
 August 15, 2018

SSL Security — Is your website looking the part?

We’re pleased to offer a free website consultation. Call today, (303) 357-5757, or e-mail dbc@dbcdigital.com.

Providing your website visitors with a secure browsing experience is more crucial than ever.

Website security is now so vital that Google has stepped in with new security standards coinciding with their release of Chrome 68. Recently, Google announced that it will mark ALL sites as “not secure” that have not upgraded their SSL certificates from the old “HTTP” to the more secure “HTTPS”.”

SLL Security, SLL Certificates, Digital Marketing

This change in the way Google evaluates your site should be taken seriously since this type of warning will most certainly drive potential customers away. Not having HTTPS also will impact your search rankings and can increase your vulnerability to hackers.

Now, let’s take a look at what you should do about it.

What is SSL?

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and is technology that keeps your site visitors’ data (credit card info, etc.) safe from hackers. The technology encrypts the information as it flows between your site and the servers. SSL shows visitors that you have been verified as the site’s official owner.

What Are The Benefits Of An SSL Certificate?

GoDaddy explains an SSL as creating a “secure tunnel through which information including usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and more can pass safely.”

SSL Certificates also:

  • Boost Google search rankings
  • Guarantees visitor data is secure between servers
  • Reinforces customer trust
  • Increases conversion rates

How Do I Know If My Webite Is Secure?

The two primary ways you will know whether your site is secure or not are:

  1. Your website URL should start with “HTTPS” not “HTTP”.
  2. Look for the little green padlock icon next to the website URL on your browser bar. All websites considered “secure” should have the green padlock.

SLL Security, SLL Certificates, Digital Marketing

One thing to note —  SSL does not guarantee that your website itself is protected. While HTTPS keeps your visitor’s information secure in transit, SSL doesn’t do anything to help protect your website from being hacked so you will still need to keep your site current with the latest security features, themes and plugins.

What’s the Difference Between HTTP and HTTPS?

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the way data is sent between your browser and the website you are visiting. HTTPS uses SSL certificates to ensure that all communications are encrypted and is the secure version of HTTP. (Yep. The “S” means “secure.”)

When using an HTTP website, there is the risk your connection could be hacked — resulting in stolen or manipulated data. With HTTPS, your data is encrypted and the person on the other end must have the “decoder” for your data to be readable. To anyone else, your encrypted data is meaningless. In addition to providing security, HTTPS also results in better site performance by blocking ISPs (Internet Service Providers) from injecting those annoying and intrusive ads.

What is the first thing I should do?

If you have not already done so, purchase an SSL certificate today. You will need to install the SSL certificate and migrate your website to HTTPS.

Where Do I Buy An SSL Certificate?

Most larger web hosts (Go Daddy, etc.) provide SSL certificates and have services to automatically configure web servers to support HTTPS connections — making your life easier.

Or — You have the option to obtain an SSL certificate for your domain directly from a Certified Authority (CA). You will then have to configure the certificate on your web host, or on your own servers if you are hosting the site yourself.

You can also get a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt, a popular CA that provides certificates in the interest of creating a safer Internet: https://letsencrypt.org/

If you prefer someone to handle all this for you, you can contact us or your web programmer. We can help you get your certificate and then configure your website for https.

In Conclusion

Keeping your customers safe is good business. Update your SSL certificate today to ensure the data your website is processing, storing, and utilizing is safe and encrypted. Also, Chrome’s flagging of HTTP sites as “unsecure” is just one more step in a list of changes soon to come that are intended to better protect the privacy and security of sensitive information. There is no reason to jeopardize the trust of your users, so go get your green padlock today.

 

 

Please note: DBC Digital is a full-service marketing agency in the Denver metro area. We’re in Centennial, just off I-25 and Dry Creek. We work with clients throughout Colorado and the U.S., in a variety of industries, including: real estate, financial, insurance, and mortgage.

Categories : INTERNET MARKETING, Marketing, Search Marketing, SEO, WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
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website-maintenance-dbcdigital
Posted by Greg Sherwood on
 April 10, 2018

3 Ways to Keep Your Business Website Running Smoothly

We’re pleased to offer a free website consultation. Call today, (303) 357-5757, or e-mail dbc@dbcdigital.com.

 

If you have a business, you likely have a website for marketing. Any business looking for leads, to retain existing customers or help their customers stay informed, needs their own website.

Eighty-one percent of consumers do online research before buying a product or service. So, if you don’t have a website or you’re not running regular website maintenance, Google is passing you by and presenting your competitors instead.

We’re on the same page, right?  The great thing about having a website for your business is that you can update it. You can adapt it as you figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Not Only Do You Need a Website, it Needs to Run Smoothly

But not only does your business need a website, you need one that runs smoothly, makes it easy for your customers to find you and one that provides info about who’s visiting.

Your website is your storefront for the internet and when people come to your store they expect it to be open and the lights to be on.

But putting up a website and keeping it running are two separate things.

Keeping your website in shape is like tuning up your bicycle. No one tunes their bike because it’s their favorite thing to do. They tune it so they can keep riding it.

In the same way, just because your website is “live” doesn’t mean you’ve got nothing to do anymore. That’s just the beginning.

Here’s a few important priorities you’ll need to focus on to keep your website running smoothly.

1. Keeping Your Website Updated

Much like a house needs beams to hold it up, websites are built using a Content Management System. WordPress is the most popular CMS but there are others you may have heard of, like Drupal, Joomla and Magento.

Just like your house has standard features like plumbing and heating, most websites include “plugins” that work with the CMS so your website runs better. There are hundreds of plugins out there, but the standard plugins usually increase security, use analytics to improve your site and help people find you in searches.

No matter what CMS you use or what plugins you have installed, they constantly need to be updated or your site could turn off the lights.

You also need to be sure you have the latest security features and that you’re not leaving yourself open to cyber attacks.

Long story short, you need to keep your site and your plugins up to date.

2. Website Back-ups

Part of your website maintenance is making sure your website is backed up.  It’s also probably not very high on your list of priorities. We usually don’t think about a disaster until one happens. Just like you need car insurance when you drive, you need to regularly back-up your site.

If something breaks, you can roll back your site to when it was last working. That way you don’t suffer the downtime of a broken site and it gives you time to figure out what’s wrong, instead of scrambling to fix your site.

3. On-Page SEO

Proper website maintenance includes SEO.  SEO is the digital equivalent of picking a storefront location in an area with heavy foot traffic. People are more likely to buy from you if you make it easy for them to find you.

That’s what the right SEO does for you, it makes it easier for your potential customers to discover you. When that 81% goes online to find what they’re looking for, the right SEO can lead them to your door.

Great SEO can take some effort but the more you update your site with info that’s relevant to your customers, the better SEO you’re going to have.

Conclusion

When it comes to your website it’s easy to want to set it and forget it–until something unfortunate happens. But the right website maintenance activity – concentrating on SEO, properly updating your plugins and making sure you have a back-up in case of emergency, can make a big difference to your website.

Which means it could make a big difference to your business.

Need Help?

We offer monthly and quarterly website maintenance service packages and provide priority service if you do need help with your site. It doesn’t have to be hard or costly, and we have packages that make it easy and painless.

We offer daily or on-demand backups, so you don’t lose any valuable information in case of an emergency.

DBC Digital can also help make sure you have the right plugins and we can automatically update your plugins on a regular schedule, which means better security and a properly working website.

We also write content for many of our clients.  We can help you with blog posts and info guides that not only make you look like the expert you are, but help improve your SEO search results too.

Give us a call at 303.357.5757 or email us at dbc@dbcdigital.com and we’ll help you figure out a service package that works best for you.

 

 

Please note: DBC Digital is a full-service marketing company. We’re located in the Denver metro area, just south of the Denver Tech Center, near I-25 and Dry Creek Road.

Categories : Marketing, SEO, Website Design, WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
Posted by DBC Digital on
 January 1, 2018

Web Design Trends for 2018

We’re pleased to offer a free website consultation. Call today, (303) 357-5757, or e-mail dbc@dbcdigital.com.

 

The Biggest Web Design Trends for 2018

As our use of the web keeps evolving, so do the trends for web design. With technology creating new and exciting options and the overwhelming use of mobile devices to feed our insatiable need for knowledge and entertainment, these are the major website design trends for 2018.

1. Clean and Simple Home Pages

Websites are moving away from busy web pages and making their home page clean, simple and sometimes even stark. These website owners understand that their visitors know to scroll down the page for more info, so the starting page now can convey just one simple message.

Check out Spotify, who uses bright colors, one central idea, and a simple design to get their messaging across.

2. Bright Colors and Distinct Typography

Spotify isn’t the only website not scared to go bold. A lot of sites are heading towards bolder colors and creating their own typography, so their website helps you immediately recognize their brand. For instance, most people now recognize the lowercase “f” that’s part of the Facebook logo.  That kind of brand recognition has become an important goal to companies on a very-crowded internet.

The bicycle company Cyclemon uses a similar approach with their home page.  They use a bright yellow background with light-pink lettering and a distinct font. They’re fighting to get your attention by being bright, colorful and different. The biggest web design trends in 2018 will follow this pattern of being noticeable and unique.

cyclemon-website design trends 2018

3. Video that Plays in the Background (“Cinemagraphs”)

While some argue that it’s a distraction, a 2017 web design trend that’s gaining momentum in 2018 is video movement when you open the homepage. Sites like K23 Media use looping video that plays behind their menu, creating a sense of movement to their website.

cinemagraphs-website design trend 2018

 4. Progressive Web Apps

The love of mobile apps is spilling over to web design. Web designers are taking the best of web and the best of app designs and blending them to create a new hybrid called “progressive web apps.” These progressive web apps are built to work in all environments, easily switching between mobile to desktop.

Web design trends in 2018 will feature more upgraded websites with animated page transitions, “push” notifications and splash screens.

Sites like Flipboard are built using the progressive web app mentality, making it quick and easy to use.

5. A Focus on Mobile-Responsive

Progressive web apps have become popular because having a site that’s mobile friendly is incredibly important. According to Google, over 50% of web searches are now done on a mobile phone.

With Google rolling out its new mobile-first index in 2018, being mobile friendly is an absolute must for website owners if they want to show up in search results.

What’s a mobile-first index? That means Google will rank and present search listings based on the mobile version of your content, even when someone is searching from their desktop. Every site must now be mobile friendly (“responsive”) if you want to rank better than dead-last in Google.

6. Screen-Bottom Navigation

With our love of mobile searching, the way we search has totally changed. Since certain parts of our phone screen are easier to reach with one hand, we’re getting used to clicking at the bottom of the screen while we navigate.  Many apps follow this rule and use the bottom navigation (a.k.a. tab bar)  for the most important features.

Facebook makes main pieces of their core functionality available with one tap at the bottom, allowing rapid switching between features.

With mobile app design taking over, web designers are placing “sticky” menu items (they stay in the same place even when you scroll) at the bottom of the site instead of the top.

7. 3D and Virtual Reality

As virtual reality becomes more common, virtual reality for websites is becoming a bigger trend. For example, 3D technology works especially well for the real estate market, where people can take a 3D tour of a home without stepping foot out of their house or the agent’s office.

New technology from companies like Matterport has allowed real estate agents to show some of their listings in 3D. Now prospective buyers can do an interactive initial tour of a house just by clicking on a website. Expect to see more amazing things done with 3D and virtual reality in 2018.

Bottom Line for 2018 Website Design Trends

2018 website design trends will be all about making it easier to stand out, to be noticed, incorporating more video and making it easier to navigate the web. Simple design, bold colors, greater mobility and incorporating what works on mobile devices into all web design will be what’s happening in web design in 2018.

If it’s time to update your website, give us a call at (303) 357-5757 or send us a note at dbc@dbcdigital.com.  We’ll take a look and give you some ideas and options.

 

 

Please note: At DBC Digital, we offer marketing for small and medium-sized business. Our primary services include digital marketing, printing, graphic design, web development, and social media marketing. We’re in Centennial, near I-25 and Dry Creek. We serve clients throughout the Denver metro area, Colorado, and the U.S.

 

Categories : MESSAGING AND DESIGN, Website Design, WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
Tags :
website design
Posted by Greg Sherwood on
 November 20, 2017

4 Reasons You Need to Update Your Website Now

We’re pleased to offer a free website consultation. Call today, (303) 357-5757, or e-mail dbc@dbcdigital.com.

 

As a business owner, when was the last time you thought about your website’s design?

Chances are you put up a website, called it good, went out for pizza and went on with the day-to-day business of running your company.

But there have been a lot of changes in the world of marketing over the last few years, and your website is one of the most important parts of your marketing and branding.

Like it or not, your website is a 24/7 online rep for your company. When people judge your website, they’re judging your company.

If your site is falling behind in any of these four categories, you’re likely losing prospects and money.

  1. Your Website is Showing its Age

For most prospects, your website is the first time they’ll meet “you.” Even if they find you another way, you can bet they’re going to jump online and visit your website.

81% of customers search online before buying a product or service, so your customers will have already formed an impression about you and your company before they decide to buy.

It only takes .02 seconds for a person to form a first impression of your site. And that first internet impression is a doozy.

Think about it this way, if someone with dry, frizzy hair with an outdated cut tries to sell you the latest hair products, you’re probably not buying what they’re selling.

You do not want your website to be the mullet-cut of the internet.

And internet time moves much faster than regular time. Consider the shelf life of a meme before it dies. What looked ground-breaking a few months ago might look pretty dated today.

If you have an outdated site that doesn’t represent your brand the way it should, you’re losing business.

  1. Your Website Isn’t Mobile-Responsive

According to Google, there’s over a 50% chance you’re reading this on your phone right now. The way we’re searching is drastically changing and anyone who’s been out in public knows how much time we spend on our phones.

“Responsive” is just a fancy way of saying your site automatically adapts to fit the screen you’re viewing it on, whether it’s computers, phones or tablets.

Mobile responsive design is a website must, not only because that’s how people search, but also because Google demands it.

If your site doesn’t look good on a phone or tablet, then Google is going to ding you. So even when someone’s searching for what you sell, you’re not going to show up as high in search rankings.

Search engines expect responsive design.  It’s like if you showed up to buy a new car and it didn’t have any wheels.

  1. Your Website SEO Isn’t Cutting It

Most people know that SEO is the key to ranking high in web searches. Google is constantly updating their SEO rules again-and-again.  To maintain or improve your ranking in searches you need to constantly adapt.

Long gone are the days when you could toss up some cut-rate article with the right keywords and expect it to get clicks.

Google is wise to these shenanigans and they’re always revamping their calculations so their search results are always providing the best answers for their visitors.

That means if someone’s searching for “Denver web design companies,” or “the best pizza in the Highlands,” Google’s going to make sure they get the right matches.

Until we overthrow our Google overlords, we must play by their rules. (Just kidding Google, you’re the best!)

The bad news is that it takes a lot of work to stay on Google’s good side. You can no longer just put up a website and leave it. Google expects regular site updates and wants to see you consistently adding quality content.

If you haven’t updated your site in a while, those little search engine crawlers will pass you by.

The good news is that if you’re providing the kind of high-quality content Google and your prospects love, and have the right SEO baked into your site, you’re going to show up higher in Google searches.

The more you update your website content, the better off you’ll be. So, if you haven’t updated your site in a while, you need to hit “refresh.”

  1. Your Website Isn’t Easy to Navigate

As you skim this article, you’re probably aware that our attention spans are shrinking. Remember how you have less than a second to make a good impression?

Well if you don’t make it super easy for your clients to navigate your site they’re going to move on.

Great user experience (UX) design isn’t just an added bonus, your customers are demanding it.

We live in the land where we want it easy and we want it now. If your site isn’t easy to use or takes too long to load (not more than 2-3 seconds on mobile), we’re going to move on to watch some cat videos or check our Instagram for the tenth time.

The good news is you don’t have to guess how people feel about your site. Check your web analytics. It’ll tell you what happens when visitors reach your site.

Do you have a high bounce rate?  Are people leaving your site too soon? Do you have a low number of pageviews per visitor? What site pages are visitors spending the most time on?

If your customers are calling it quits too early, that probably means your site isn’t keeping them engaged or they’re having a hard time finding what they want.

Your web analytics are a great place to discover what’s working and what isn’t.

High bounce rate? It’s time to change it up.

It All Comes Down to This

Your website needs to make it easy for your potential customers.

If your site isn’t properly representing your brand, or is hard to view on mobile devices, isn’t easy to find in a search or is hard to navigate, then you need to update.

I know, I know, updating your website sounds like such a pain. The good news is it doesn’t have to be hard or expensive or painful but if it’s not getting the job done, it does need to happen.

Just imagine what you and your pretty new site can accomplish with a fresh cut and style.

Give us a call to talk about what new options might work for you.

 

 

Please note: DBC Digital is a full-service marketing agency in the Denver metro area. We’re in Centennial, just off I-25 and Dry Creek. We work with clients throughout Colorado and the U.S., in a variety of industries, including: real estate, financial, insurance, and mortgage.

 

Categories : Marketing, MESSAGING AND DESIGN, Search Marketing, SEO, WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
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