SEO Creative http://www.seo-creative.co.uk Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:30:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Responsive Design Tutorial – Part 1 http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/tutorials/responsive-design-tutorial-part-1/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/tutorials/responsive-design-tutorial-part-1/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:30:18 +0000 Steve http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4795 Responsive Design Tutorial Part 1In this multi part tutorial we will take you through the basics of understanding responsive design in web design through some simple demo examples which you can follow along with at home.]]> In this multi part tutorial we will take you through the basics of understanding responsive design in web design through some simple demo examples which you can follow along with at home. The who, what’s and why’s behind responsive design can be found in our previous post “What is Responsive Design?“, be sure to read it to gain valuable background information on this hot subject before proceeding to our examples!

Part 1 – A Basic Example of Responsive Design

Copy the following code into your text editor/notepad and save the file as index.html.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"/>
<title>Responsive Design | Part 1</title>
<style type="text/css">
body{
background:#EBEBEB;
font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
color:#3C3C3C;
}

.box{
background:#FFF;
border:1px #666 solid;
padding:10px 20px;
margin:40px;
text-align:center;
border-radius:8px;
box-shadow:0px 0px 5px #999;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="box one">This div will turn to RED if the viewing area is greater than 900px</div>
<div class="box two">This div will turn to YELLOW if the viewing area is between 600px and 900px</div>
<div class="box three">This div will turn to GREEN if the viewing area is less than 600px</div>
</body>
</html>

Open this up in a browser which supports media query (basically anything other than IE 8, IE7).  Resize the window width by dragging the side of the window and the three divs should resize with the windows nicely. You didn’t realise it, but this is your first step to responsive design – WELL DONE!  View this file on any size screen and you will be able to view it as intended due to the fact that the div’s have no widths set and respond to the browser width dynamically (or responsively!).

Next step is to implement CSS media queries – the logic behind any responsive design.  Open up your index.html file in your text editor and add the following lines of code to the <style> section of the head;

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

/* min-width */
@media screen and (min-width: 900px) {
.one {
background: #D5120D;
}
}

This is your first media query.  All media queries need to be added to the end of any style sheet to overwrite any styles already applied. What we have added is a condition to query the media minimum width; and if the width of the device/browser is greater than 900px then the first div with class “one” will have a background colour of red(ish!). Resize your browser and you will see the top div change from red to white depending on the width of your browser.

Add the following code after your first media query:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

/* min-width &amp; max-width */
@media screen and (min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 900px) {
.one {
background: #D5120D;
}
.two {
background: #F0DF0F;
}
}

/* max-width */
@media screen and (max-width: 600px) {
.three {
background: #0DF246;
}
}

Now resize your browser window and you will see the three divs change colour depending on the browser size.

You have now created a webpage (albeit very simple!) which changes in design depending on the width of the end users browser/device.  Instead of background colour this could easily have been the toggle of css property “display” from “none” to “inline-block”, or the position or float of each div to suit the width.

The completed file can be downloaded here - responsive_design_part1.zip.

Part 2 coming soon…

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/tutorials/responsive-design-tutorial-part-1/feed/ 0 What is Responsive Design? http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/website-design/what-is-responsive-design/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/website-design/what-is-responsive-design/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:19:06 +0000 Steve http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4824 What is responsive design?One of the most talked about trends in web design for 2012 is responsive design. What is this relatively new buzz phrase, and what does it mean for your website? Read on!]]> One of the most talked about trends in web design for 2012 is responsive design. What is this relatively new buzz phrase, and what does it mean for your website? Read on!

What is responsive design?

Responsive design is nothing new, in fact the technology used has been with the CSS standard for some time, but browsers are just starting to accept the standard. With the steady increase in mobile devices being used to surf the web, there is little excuse to any company now to assume that most or all web traffic comes from people sat in front of a PC/Mac with a standard 4:3 monitor.

The main technology used in “responsive design” is CSS media queries.  CSS media queries basically allow you to gather data about your visitor and their browser/device capabilities (mainly screen size) and use that to apply specific CSS styles best suited to their screen size.

The Traditional Way

Web design of the past few years when targeting both traditional desktop and mobile users was to approach them as separate entities – either have separate websites for more traditional browsers on desktops and laptops and to have a dedicated mobile version usually on a separate sub domain (such as http://mobile.yourdomain.com), or to have separate style sheets dependant on the user agent (what device) that is viewing the site, i.e. is it an iPhone – use iphone.css.

Design to maximum widths, not devices

The new shift to responsive design takes the ideas from the second option above, but applies differing CSS rules (or CSS style sheets) depending on the users’ screen width.  This allows for more flexibility with the increased varying dimensions of devices which may visit your site.  You are no longer restricted to either desktop.css or iphone.css for example.  This logic is done within the CSS using media queries.

Example of CSS media query

The idea is now to design your website knowing that the end users’ browser width could vary in size, and to style up the content accordingly.  If a user is on a mobile phone, chances are their width dimension is no more than 450-480px, so you need to think about how the page would look at that size.  Static boxes of set widths when viewed on a desktop now need to shown at full width to maximise the screen real estate. And navigation links need to be more natural when viewed as a narrow and long website.

Become fluid, not rigid

A second part to responsive design is a fluid structure to your site.  In order to utilise the media queries and design for differing device resolutions your site needs to be designed to be fluid – with each section capable of moving left or right, and becoming small and larger depending on the browser width.  Ideally you need to chop up your site into sections such as a header, navigation, sidebar, content and footer and utilise some kind of grid system to allow each section to able to change in width, height and visibility depending on your viewers width – to best suit to their needs.

Responsive design is handy for Windows 7 users too

A very handy hint and a great example why sites built with responsive design are cool is if you are using Windows 7 and you “Window Key + LEFT/RIGHT Arrow” a browser window or “woosh” it to the left or right of the screen it will snap at 50% screen width.  With a static site you will then have to scroll horizontally, however, with a responsive design site, the content, images and design will have “responded” to your new width and adjusted accordingly, allowing you to still read the site at half the width of your monitor without having to scroll side to side.

Example of responsive design on Windows 7 split screen

Example of BBC and Smashing Magazine when viewed split screen on a single monitor.  Smashing Magazine is still easy to read and fully viewable, but the BBC now has horizontal scroll bars to get to the other side of the site.

Responsive design is design only, not delivery

A word of warning about using responsive design is that you are only affecting the look and feel of the site.  You are still delivering the same content, images and data to the user, so if you are designing a site intended for mobile use then you would also need to think about mobile delivery considerations too – to reduce the amount of data needed to send to the remote device over possible 3G speeds, reduce final image dimensions before downloading them and not displaying content if it is not relevant and/or not needed.

Think of YouTube’s default site and it’s mobile site as an example…

YouTube full website

YouTube mobile website

The mobile version of Youtube is stripped down to it’s bare essentials which allows the site to load quickly and more efficiently on mobile devices over slower connections.  This is done by having a separate site (m.youtube.com) to it’s main site.

The use of media queries and/or separate sites would need to be taken into consideration when developing for mobile audiences and be dependant on your specific requirements.

Using Media Queries for Web Apps

With the increasing popularity of mobile phone web apps for portable devices it is even more important to know your target user, and with web apps being written to be cross-device compatible to capitalise on different device markets – CSS media queries are a great technology to use to adjust to slightly different variations in screen widths.

Practice what you preach?

You may or may not have checked if the SEO Creative website responds to you stretching your browser window back and forth, but at this current time our design is not 100% responsive yet… but keep coming back and checking, as we intend to roll out a new theme to our site, incorporating a fully fluid responsive design!

A Step by Step Tutorial Guide to Responsive Design

In the next few weeks we will be releasing a step by step guide to help you better understand responsive design and how to implement it.  After the final part of the tutorial, you will be able to take what you have learnt and implement it into existing websites you may have, or apply the techniques to new projects which you think may or may not need a better mobile presence.

Step 1 of the tutorial coming soon…

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/website-design/what-is-responsive-design/feed/ 2 New security services offered for WordPress websites http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/website-design/new-security-services-offered-for-wordpress-websites/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/website-design/new-security-services-offered-for-wordpress-websites/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:08:03 +0000 Luke http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4891 wordpress-securityWe are now offering additional security packages for WordPress websites to further harden the platform from hacking attempts.]]> wordpres security

January 2012 saw in increase in hacking attempts on a number of high profile websites, and this included a number of government and large corporate websites that you would expect to have a high level of security. Smaller websites were also targeted that use OpenSource platforms such as WordPress, as these are potential more vulnerable as hackers know how the platform works. However before you get too concerned, a great aspect of OpenSource websites is the continuous level of free updates which includes fixing or addressing any known security bugs. Keeping your WordPress platform up to date with the latest version can be enough for most people.

You can further improve the security to your WordPress sites however, and there are a number of practices that can be employed to do this. We touched upon this recently in our post protecting your WordPress website. These include:

  • Restricting access to directories and files
  • Preventing remote script execution & changing file permissions
  • Removing default users and improving password strengths
  • Changing the default database structure
  • Limiting public information
  • Installing additional security plugins

There are also a number of things you can do proactively, such as setting up regular backups on your server. Although you may have backups of all the files for your website theme, if you were to lose your database with i.e. 3 years of posts and page content this would be a disaster. Regular/daily updates will ensure that you always have a current backup of your database to completely restore your site if required.

We have now started including these practices in all our WordPress websites on the initial build, however if your site was developed a long time ago or was created by another web agency, we are now offering security updates as a package for peace of mind. If this is something you are interested in, then contact us to find out more.

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/website-design/new-security-services-offered-for-wordpress-websites/feed/ 0 What is Inbound Marketing? http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/internet-marketing/what-is-inbound-marketing/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/internet-marketing/what-is-inbound-marketing/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:19:59 +0000 Sadie http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4879 Inbound MarketingThe term Inbound Marketing is as overly used as 'I'm going to give it 110%' from an Apprentice candidate, but inbound marketing should be applied to your internet marketing strategy ]]> Inbound Marketing

 

What is inbound marketing and how does it apply to you?

The term Inbound Marketing is as overly used as ‘I’m going to give it 110%’ from one of Lord Sugars Apprentice candidate’s, but inbound marketing is actually a very useful strategy that businesses and SEO agencies should be applying.

Inbound Marketing definition

Inbound Marketing is by definition marketing that brings users to your website,this kind of marketing infers trust as users find you and rate you therefore making the conversion process a lot easier. Inbound Marketing techniques often ties in with search engines, social media platforms and blogging as these are ways that a company can  exhibit understanding of the industry and build up trust, letting potential customers find them.

The internet has provided two way communication with businesses and their customers and from this many users like to take it upon them to research and find the best company for a service or product, this may be from price comparisons, reviews or search and social media, whatever the referrer customers feel more comfortable finding you and by developing your online presence this is called inbound marketing.

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing

Outbound Marketing is the traditional form of going to customers to get sales, this is cold calling, emailing databases, press releases and TV adverts, although this can be good for brand recognition and will still convert the rate of conversions is often a lot lower. This is because you often have a lot of objection handling to do whereas the trust associated with inbound marketing counter objects at an earlier stage.

Inbound marketing is now considered to be a more cost effective way of marketing;

“If you have more Money than brains, you should focus on Outbound Marketing. If you have more Brains than money, you should focus on Inbound Marketing.” – Guy Kawasaki

Combining Inbound and Outbound Marketing

If you have a good marketing budget it is recommended to combine inbound and outbound marketing, outbound marketing can be excellent for brand recognition and already knowing a brand when you find them via inbound marketing will enhance the users trust for the website.

For example, you see a TV advert for a clothes company, you then see a friend recommend that clothes company through social media, you remember the brand and also the added recommendation from your friend when you find a interesting style piece on one of their blogs, you then feel comfortable purchasing from the ‘expert’ clothes company that have a recognisable brand and your friend recommends.

If you do have a limited budget it is better to focus on inbound marketing as this can reach a wider audience and outbound marketing can work against you without the support of inbound marketing;

For example a TV advert or Magazine advert will prompt you to search for a company name, if this company name comes up no where in the search engines but has lots of bad reviews appearing then you are not likely to purchase from that company.

 

Inbound Marketing and SEO

The term, Inbound Marketing, has been banded around for years but recently seems to be taking precedence in internet marketing and SEM campaigns. This is a good thing for business owners and has been highlighted by social media recommendations such as Google plus and recent Google algorithm changes that are focusing more on the user experience.

Recently SEO has started to include more and more aspects of Search Engine Marketing such as Social Media and reputation management, these are all integral to an Inbound Marketing campaign. Link building is no longer just getting links from sites, a combination of relevant and strong links are required as well as referring links that will actually send converting traffic to your website. SEO has always been a key element of inbound marketing and was one way you could ‘tick’ that marketing box in board meetings.

However Google now takes more account of inbound marketing therefore therefore content and link acquisition is no longer enough to ensure the success of a website and we will see how Google plus develops to sculpt the shape of inbound marketing and bring SEO further into the mix.

 

 

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/internet-marketing/what-is-inbound-marketing/feed/ 0 Native Apps vs Web Apps – Which is best for you? http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/mobile/native-apps-vs-web-apps-which-is-best-for-you/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/mobile/native-apps-vs-web-apps-which-is-best-for-you/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:42:16 +0000 Luke http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4785 html5 and smartphone iconsSo what is the difference between a web app and a native app on a mobile device, and which one is best suited to your requirements?]]> html5 and smartphone icons

Web apps are increasing in popularity. The main reasons for this include being much more accessible to web developers and web designers than native apps, generally being cheaper to develop for the client, and working cross platform. It sounds good but if you’re considering developing a mobile app, the question of developing it as a native app or a web app isn’t always clear cut. Ultimately it depends on your specific project requirements. But what are the differences between the two?

A native app has generally been built in either C#, Objective C or Cocoa. It will be built for a specific device such as iPhone, Android phone, Blackberry etc and will need to be downloaded and installed on your phone in order for it to work. These apps are downloaded from i.e. in Apple’s case, the App Store.

A web app is hosted online and is built using standard web technologies such as PHP, CSS, JQuery etc. It will look and work like a native app (to a point) but isn’t installed on the users phone. It has the capacity to work cross platform, and an icon can be saved on the users phone like a native app in the form of a bookmark for easy access.

Here are a few of the pros and cons for each type of app:

Native Apps

Native Apps

Pros

Cons

Full device access

Expensive

Very fast performance

Approval Process

App Store

Updating

Not dependent on 3G / WiFi connection

Device specific

Initial download required

Web Apps

Web Apps

Pros

Cons

Fast performance

Partial device access

Cost effective

Not available in App Store

No approval process

Typically more data used each time

Fast / easy updates

3G / WiFi connection always required

Cross platform

No initial download required

 

Okay so on first glance you may look at this and see that there appears to be more pros than cons for web apps, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are best for you. Lets take a closer look at what each pro and con means.

Full device access

Having full device access means that you can use the mobile GPS, camera, have access to images, use the accelerometer/gyroscope and much more. If you you need this functionality, then chances are you’re going to need a native app. Depending on your functionality, you may be able to integrate a third party app to enable you to use these device sensors and file system functions. For example, you can use a third party application to enable your web app to browse for and upload images.

Performance

If you have a very simple application, the difference in performance between a web app and native app is negligible. However as the complexity increases, the performance of a native app becomes more and more obvious. This is largely because any calculations/logic are being done client side i.e. via PHP which is susceptible to server load and network latency, as opposed to using the on board hardware.

App store

Being able to put your finished app on the App store is a big bonus, especially if you intend to make money by selling it for a one off cost. This is particularly true for apps like games, which if they do well or become popular, can sell in massive quantities and bring in a ton of revenue. At the very least it makes your app more accessible to your potential market. With a web app, you are limited to marketing it yourself, although it can be useful to have the app at a secure/hidden location if it’s not for public use (i.e. specific to a client’s needs).

Approval process

Although the App Store is undeniably great, there are also issues including the approval process. Once you submit your finished app to the App Store, it can take a few weeks before it is approved and available for download. This isn’t a major issue, however I have heard a few people that have had real problems with this when it comes to working to a specific deadline (don’t set a deadline in stone as it will be largely out of your control) and updating you app (see next point). Clearly this is not an issue with web apps as it is available as soon as you upload it.

Updating your app

So at some point you may wish to update your app. This could be because you have an upgrade to the functionality, or something as simple as a few bug fixes based on feedback. With a web app, this is simple. As soon as you make the changes this is immediately reflected and all the web app users will see the update. With a native app, it is reliant on people seeing that an update is available and then updating it manually. The main issue I have come across with native apps relates back to the approval process at the App Store. Take this scenario as an example. A new app goes live and is downloaded by a few users. They notice a bug with the app and leave some negative feedback. The developer quickly updates the app and resubmits it for approval, but because the approval process takes a few weeks, the app builds up a lot of negative feedback and then stops being downloaded because of it’s poor rating. I’ve heard about this on a few occasions from various developers, and this can be a real problem.

Cross platform

As mentioned earlier, with native apps you develop specifically for a single device such as the the iPhone/Android/Blackberry etc. With a web app, you only need to create one version of the app, but you can have slightly different stylesheets in CSS depending on the browser and screen resolution. This is a much quicker and easier way of having a cross browser compatible app.

Data usage

A web app is reliant on having an internet connection, and generally this isn’t an issue with a mobile device as you will normally have either a 3G or WiFi connection. However, we’ve all experienced times when you don’t have a good signal (I used to have this issue driving up to Cumbria) or in the worst case scenario, none at all! Most native apps will work without a connection as all the files are stored locally on the device. If it uses a remote database for storing information, then most apps will store the information locally and then sync the data when a connection is next available. With a web app, this is not an option. Another interesting point with data usage is the initial download that is required with a native app. When you download the app from the App Store, it can take a few minutes to download especially if it is a large app with videos and images and you’re on a 3G connection. With a web app, you get much quicker access as you only need to download the parts of the app you view. On the flip side however, over the lifetime of an app you may use more data overall with a web app compared to the initial download of the native app, even with elements of the web app being cached (i.e. if you watch an embedded video multiple times).

Budget

Finally, what normally makes or breaks a decision to go with a native or web app – the price! Generally speaking a web app is much cheaper and faster to develop, and you have a lot more control when working within specific deadlines of a project. However, if you start getting into more complex functionality that requires a work around or a series of third party apps, this could become less cost effective and a less robust solution, especially if you intend on rolling it out to a large number of devices. Specialist development teams that work only on mobile apps are your best bet, but these can have a high price tag associated with them. Depending on your requirements though, you may be forced to go down the native app route.

Wait! There’s more…

So just as you think you’ve got your head around the difference between native apps and web apps, there are still other options available. Here are just two more, but I’m sure a few people out there may be able to offer even more possibilities.

Building Native Apps with web technologies

There’s always the option of building native apps using web technologies. Again, this isn’t a perfect solution but may be a cheaper way of developing your app depending on your requirements. Using something such as Adobe AIR to wrap your app up in XCode, will enable you to create a native web app with access to a lot of the device features. This may not be a good solution if your building i.e. a game, but for a large proportion of apps this is all you need.

Cross platform native apps

If you intend on developing an app to run on multiple platforms, there are SDKs becoming available that seem to allow you to export your apps into different native formats. I don’t know the full details of all this yet, but this could be quite a cost saving exercise for those people developing native apps on multiple platforms.

Summary

So hopefully you have found this blog useful, and it hasn’t created more questions than answers. It really all depends on your requirements, but web apps can be a very good alternative to native apps.

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/mobile/native-apps-vs-web-apps-which-is-best-for-you/feed/ 2 February 2012 – PageRank update http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/seo/february-2012-pagerank-update/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/seo/february-2012-pagerank-update/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:15:31 +0000 Luke http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4868 page rankThere has been another PageRank update as of February 2012, but does it really matter?]]> page rank

So this month, February 2012, there has been another PageRank update. This is now three months since the last update so it would appear that Google is now going back to the 3 month update cycle it used prior to having no updates for over 12 months. Interestingly the PageRank algorithm appears to have become much stricter as most websites seem to have dropped or remained the same, with very few actually improving (aside from sites improving from i.e. PR0 to PR1 etc).

Now before I receive a load of criticism for blogging about this subject, I should point out that PageRank is not the be all and end all of SEO as many web design and SEO companies would have you believe. In fact, PageRank now plays a really small part to SEO and should be seen really as more of an indicator than anything else.

Here are some things you may or may not know about PageRank:

  • Although PageRank is currently being publicly updated on a 3 month cycle (that we see), Google actually updates PageRank every day
  • PageRank does not affect your rankings, however it is an indication of the number, quality and diversity of links to your site
  • Reductions in PageRank are more likely a result of links being ignored (or lower value placed on them) by the algorithm as opposed to sites being penalised for having particular links.

In the SEO community chatter, I’ve heard a lot of people saying that they don’t care about their PageRank and they are not even going to check it on their own or their clients websites. I find this strange, and I wonder how much of it is true or just bravado. As mentioned, your PR won’t affect your rankings however if your site drops from a PR5 to a PR1 I would certainly want to know about it and investigate why it has happened. It would suggest that a lot of the links to the site are now being ignored or having less value associated with them.

How has your PR been affected following this recent update, and do you care?

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/seo/february-2012-pagerank-update/feed/ 0 Protecting your WordPress website http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/tutorials/protecting-your-wordpress-website/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/tutorials/protecting-your-wordpress-website/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:20:36 +0000 Jonathan http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4736 11949848541326072700padlock_aj_ashton_01.svg.medEver been hacked or just want to be protected in case a hacker comes knocking at your backdoor? A few simple steps will help keep many of the core WordPress files protected and hidden away.]]> Most of the following steps to secure your website are based around WordPress and making it more secure. However some of the .htaccess amends can be done for any type of website. The following steps that I’ve been taking to secure all new-development WordPress sites are to prevent from hackers accessing core files maliciously.

Firstly, open up your blog in a new window and put in “/wp-includes/”. If its blank, shows an Apache page or a 404 page not found error you’re safe! If you see a long list of files, well you probably guessed that these need to be hidden. Having these open lets anybody see your core files that are located within that directory. To prevent this we can create our own .htaccess file for the wp-includes folder. Within this htaccess file a single line of code will tell the server not to index any file in that folder. To do this simply put the below at the top of your htaccess file in the root. 

1

Options All -Indexes

While we are working with htaccess files, we might as well protect them and the wp-config.php file in the root. In all of the htaccess files that are within your website put in this code: 

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

# protect the htaccess file
<files .htaccess>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</files>

Within the root htaccess file you’ll need to put the following code to protect the wp-config.php file:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

# protect wpconfig.php
<files wp-config.php>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</files>

Lets break the code down so that we understand it. Firstly the hashtag is a comment line, so anything can be put in this line and will not effect our htaccess file. The second line targets a selected file, in the latter case its the wp-config.php file. Next we tell the htacces what order we are setting our privileges in, firstly we are defining what IP addresses to allow, then what IP addresses to deny. We don’t need to allow anybody access to these files, so we can simply put ‘deny from all’ on the penultimate line. The last line is to close the code targeting the specified file.

Next up, we need to log into our wp-admin section with an administrator account. This is so we can delete the ‘admin’ account if there is one. One of the biggest security risk within WordPress is site that only have admin accounts. These admin accounts are usually set up by default when WordPress is installed, knowing that a site will usually have an admin account gives a hacker a big head start, knowing they don’t have to figure out the username. (If you don’t have an ‘admin’ account you can skip this bit.) To do this, firstly create a NEW user in user control panel, Go for something original that would be hard to guess and create a secure password. You can use the built in WordPress strength meter for this, or one I found http://howsecureismypassword.net/ which will tell you how long it would take a desktop PC to figure your password out. Don’t forget to set the user role to ‘administrator’.
Once done, log out and back in with your new administrator account and access your user accounts once more. You want to delete ‘admin’, you’ll be asked by WordPress what you want to do with all content published under the admin user name. You can either delete this (not sure why you would though!) or Transfer it to another user. You want to transfer all content to the new administrator account you have created.

There are a few other amends you can do to your site, with a couple of plugins. Two of which I like to use are User Locker and WP Security Scan. The former will check how many times an account has tried to be accessed, if more than 5 it will lock/disable the account. This is useful against brute force attacks. WP Security Scan will let you know whats a potential security risk on your WordPress website, It checks and does numerous things like:

  • Checks database name prefix
  • Checks for admin user account
  • Hides the current WordPress version
  • Turns off WPDB errors
  • Removes WP ID META tag from core files
  • Checks for wp-admin htaccess files
  • Checks latest version of WordPress

We discussed table prefixes and while the plug-in and many other WordPress users out there suggest you should change it, it could throw errors on current sites. WordPress also suggest that you should stick with the current _wp prefix tag. I argue that it should be changed as its quite a big risk, as all WP tables will be called the same it would be easy for a hacker to target a specific table within your WP site. WP Security Scan will do this for you as well, which takes seconds.

Keeping your WordPress website on the latest update will always help to prevent hacks and bugs appearing. Hole will always be filled on new releases, making WordPress ever stronger.

Hopefully this has been useful and will keep those hackers at bay!

Happy Coding!

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/tutorials/protecting-your-wordpress-website/feed/ 0 HTML Form Default Value Removal on Focus http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/tutorials/html-form-default-value-removal-on-focus/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/tutorials/html-form-default-value-removal-on-focus/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:56:34 +0000 Steve http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4720 html form default value removal onfocusA common request from clients when building html forms for websites is for the field to have a default value which will disappear when users click on the box.]]> A common request from clients when building html forms for websites here at SEO Creative is for the field to have a default value which will disappear when users click on the box.  This is becoming very popular in new website design, negating the use of traditional labels, or even just span text next to the input describing the field.

To do this on page, simply use the below code example as a point of reference when building your forms:

1
2
3
4
5

<form>
<input type="text" value="Default Value" name="name" onblur="if (this.value == '') {this.value = 'Default Value';}" onfocus="if (this.value == 'Default Value') {this.value = '';}" />
</form>

For each input field you need to define the value.  Then add an onblur condition (when a user clicks away from an input field and the cursor loses it’s focus on the element) and an onfocus condition (when a user clicks the cursor into the input box element).  The code above checks the current box value.

  • If the value is equal to what you have defined it will change the value to ‘blank’.
  • If the value is blank when the user clicks away it will put the ‘default value’ back into the input field.
  • If the value is not equal to what you have defined (i.e. a user has entered text into the box) it will not change the field value on blur or focus.

Very simple, very handy and very cool!

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/tutorials/html-form-default-value-removal-on-focus/feed/ 1 Sex Sells, but at what cost? http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/internet-marketing/sex-sells-but-at-what-cost/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/internet-marketing/sex-sells-but-at-what-cost/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:25:00 +0000 Sadie http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4701 booth babesSex sells in marketing, in fact I can imagine the days when cavemen first invented fire they sold it as a way to make cave women strip! But we are not cavemen any more!]]> booth babes

Ask any marketing consultant and they will tell you that sex sells, in fact I can imagine the days when cavemen first invented fire they sold it as a way to make cave women warm enough to strip! But we are not cavemen any more so is it time we looked at more intelligent forms of marketing?

The main reason I ask this question is recently there have been more and more people in the SEO, computing and technology industry calling out the need for booth babes at conferences and asking how this reflects on women in the industry.

As an ex model and a SEO I have experienced being the ‘booth babe’ as well as the attendee, when I was a struggling university student I welcomed the fact I could make easy money by slapping some make up on and smiling at conferences but how has this impacted the industry as a whole.

no sex image

Sexualising women in the SEO Industry

The SEO and Internet industry is predominantly male – or it is men who are more vocal and pro active in self publicity. You can say that because more men are in the industry that using booth babes or sexual images of women as marketing tools is attracting the correct demographic, but is this further alienating other women from entering the industry, and most alarmingly is it making these intelligent young men see all women in the industry as props rather than peers?

Jane Copland was the first female SEO brave enough to speak out about her experiences of women as entertainment at conferences where men seem to think that a woman attending is fair game. Since this post more and more women have spoken out about similar experiences and their concern about the way women are used and even the use of booth babes at CES last week has re ignited the controversy. As an ex model I also found a few extra doors opening based on looks, once I came into the SEO industry I was given more opportunities to go to conferences than my male peers, more client liaison and opportunities to get involved in sales. I knew at the time it was because they wanted a few girls that were attractive enough and wouldn’t scare off the punters and I got to go to the big conferences and see the speakers so what harm could it do?

The attitudes of men at these conferences were that I was there purely to be groped and gawped at they didn’t realise that I also knew as much, if not more than some of the men. It seems the over use of booth babes has given people some sort of booth babe blindness where they assume any woman in a more male oriented industry is part of the marketing and being paid to be nice to them.

 

Frat boy attitudes

Conferences and exhibits are for socialising and networking as much as they are for sharing products and knowledge, so a big part of most conferences is the drinks later on. I have no problem with people having a drink after the conference but this coupled with attitudes of women being the decoration means ‘frat boy’ and ‘stag’ mentality seems to go a bit too far. It comes to the point where women do not always feel comfortable or respected, the fact that one woman had to speak out first shows that women do feel they can’t talk about this. By not talking about it or pulling people up on it then people get away with it and it continues; and can very often spiral out of control. I’m all for a bit of fun but we need to remember we are professionals and what would our clients think of our behaviour?

 

Geeks will be geeks

One of the arguments for the use of women in the industry as marketing tools is that the men in SEO, computing, technology etc are geeks who are stereotypically ‘bad’ with women. With web design and marketing taking off with so many different routes are we right to label the men in the industry as geeks? I know plenty of men who are as confident and attractive as a sports person and guess what they can hold an intelligent conversation. Does this sound like a man who needs help with women? Of course there are plenty of geeks, some are shy some are confident but it is the geeks that are making money and pushing the economy forward which is the inspiration for terms such as geek chic.

Labeling men as geeks is actually as bad a stereotype as assuming women are for entertainment so there is no excuse for using one to justify the other.

 

Equal Rights

This is not the place to get into arguments about pay or equality in other areas but women and men have an equal right to be good at their job, there are a lot of good female SEO’s as there are a lot of good male SEO’s. It is the individuals skills that make them good at their job, and as long as there is no weight lifting in the internet and technology industries there is no reason why a man would be better than a woman or vice versa.

 

Can Marketing evolve and should it?

Marketing can encompass many mediums and the only trick that seems to be evident across all platforms and demographics seems to be sex. It appeals to our more basic nature and maybe for the Jeremy Kyle generation it is a quick win that gets results.

However, we are talking about the technology and internet marketing industry I like to think that this area is very fast moving where your knowledge and techniques can be out of date in 6 months. Most people in these industries have degrees or the intelligence to teach themselves, they are open minded to change yet we treat them like neanderthals. Surely the marketing teams targeting our industry at events or conferences can come up with something more appealing than a booth babe?

SEO needs you

SEO needs YOU!

I know at SEO Creative we are crying out for good individuals to enter the industry so in my opinion if women don’t feel comfortable in this area we will potentially lose out on the next Lisa Myers, Judith Lewis, Gabriella Sannino and many many more. And also lets have a bit of respect for our men in SEO, most of them are intelligent, witty and don’t need marketers to pay women to be nice to them.

What are your thoughts? Have I missed the point? Do you agree? Am I just glossing over the issues? Let us know in the comments…

 

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/internet-marketing/sex-sells-but-at-what-cost/feed/ 0 Start your Web Design with a Pen and Paper http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/website-design/start-your-web-design-with-a-pen-and-paper/ http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/website-design/start-your-web-design-with-a-pen-and-paper/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:54:21 +0000 Sadie http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/?p=4686 pen and paper designWebsite design is a process that changes dramatically from designer to designer but the best designs are born from an old fashioned pen and paper starting point. ]]> pen and paper design

Website design is a process that changes dramatically from designer to designer but the best designs are born from an old fashioned pen and paper starting point.

I started the design process as a graphic designer, this was taught to me very conceptually and a pen and paper was the first point of call. You may criticise this as obviously I would use paper to start as a majority of the time the end product was print, but the first stages of a design and development in web design are much faster when you play around on paper first.

Web designers have come from a number of different back grounds, whether you went to university to study web design, computing, development, multimedia design or maybe you were self taught or learned on the job? If you are a good web designer the way you got to that place doesn’t matter, it is how you will turn yourself into a great web designer and what approach you use. Our top tip to create amazing designs is to go back to old school design methods such as a pen and paper.

Make design mistakes faster

Using a pen (or pencil) and paper to sketch out initial wire frames, concepts and designs means you can look at what works and what doesn’t work much faster. You can brainstorm ideas using keywords that will be integrated into the content at a later time to make sure the design fits the content, this style of designing means you can create a really unique and bespoke website that reflects the brand, products and will convert.

Playing around with designs at this stage and brainstorming is a lot faster on paper than it is in photoshop, although you won’t get the finished design from a sketch you can save a lot of time with the creative idea behind the website concept by working it out before you have turned on your computer.

Designers should still know website development

I came out of university knowing a little Flash and HTML but nothing of CSS or any other programming language so my first website designs were very complex to develop and not user friendly. Simple things like font choice meant my approved design would cause headaches for the developers and the end product wouldn’t work well on a website, although could have created a lovely printed brochure.

I cringe when looking at my first designs for websites and can spot a website designed by a print designer a mile off, so although I think going back to the old fashioned ways of designing are a great start make sure you have a good understanding of the way websites work before starting your design, even learn a bit of coding.

]]> http://www.seo-creative.co.uk/website-design/start-your-web-design-with-a-pen-and-paper/feed/ 0