It is the responsibility of a WP website owner to make sure their site is as secure as possible.

If you have a WordPress website you really need to be concerned with security. Cybercriminals are constantly searching for an opportunity to infiltrate a site and your WordPress site could very well be a target.

This certainly is not ‘news,’ and has been well-known for a very long time, and yet a huge number of website owners still do not stop and consider website protection. They don’t do anything to secure their website simply because it’s way too technical and just plain tedious, and far too often, most people just assume it will not happen to them.

When it comes to Content Management Systems, WordPress is by far the most popular anywhere in the world, with more than 70 million users.

According to W3Techs, WordPress powers 63% of all the websites on the Web and there are over 2.5 billion WordPress pages that are read by over 300 million people every day.

There are no indications that the growth of WordPress is going to slow, but what is well-known is that, as a lot more users come on board, the security threat grows ever bigger.

The great news is that Activate Action Marketing is now offering an affordable service to take your WP website security to a whole new level.

We will evaluate your WP website security risk by checking for vulnerabilities, and will then implement and enforce the latest recommended WordPress security strategies and techniques.

If you have a WordPress site, it is vital that you take at least the basic steps to make sure you are safeguarded from cybercriminals. So be sure to take advantage of this timely service to give you the best chance of defeating the hackers.

Contact us today to get an estimate.

Fortunately, the world has become a lot more disabled-friendly in the last few decades and helpful tools such as ramps and handles are a lot more common making the world more accessible for the disabled.

However, when it comes to website accessibility the online world has a long way to go.

There is a great deal of discussion these days with respect to appropriate development practices and accessible website design and style. If you don’t believe any of this applies to your website, you almost certainly do not understand what this is all about.

Website Accessibility relates to the process of developing websites that will be able to be used by people of any ability or disability. Numerous issues come into play when accounting for a person’s eyesight, mobility, auditory and logic capabilities.

For example, a huge number of people are affected by colour blindness.

What is colour blindness? Colour blindness (colour vision deficiency, or CVD) impacts somewhere around 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women in the world. In The United Kingdom, this means that there are roughly 3 million colour blind people (about 4.5% of the overall population), the majority of whom are men.

In Australia, about 8% of men and 0.4% of women are affected by colour blindness to some extent.

That alone could mean that, for millions of people, your fancy website is pretty much unusable and this is just one example!

The Web Accessibility Initiative

The WAI started in 1999 by the World Wide Web Consortium and is viewed as the standard set of guidelines for creating accessible websites.

We are at a point now where there is no doubt accessibility is becoming extremely important, in fact, it is already a legal requirement in some countries with hundreds of lawsuits underway and fines into six figures being imposed!

Whilst the threat of a large fine might be enough to stir website owners into action it isn’t the only reason to take accessibility seriously.

Number one – It’s the right thing to do!

Another of the main benefits of course is increased usability, which according to usability guru, Jakob Nielson, https://www.nngroup.com/ can increase the sales/conversion rate of a website by 100% and traffic by 150%.

Website accessibility offers so many added benefits that I honestly do question why such a huge number of websites have such diabolically inadequate accessibility.

The great news is that Activate Action Marketing is now offering an affordable service to take your WP website accessibility to a whole new level.

We will evaluate your WP website accessibility, and will then implement the latest recommended WordPress accessibility strategies and techniques.

Contact us today to get an estimate.

DISCLAIMER

Whilst we will improve your WordPress website accessibility, it may not be enough to cover the unique compliance needs of your particular business. Therefore, once we have made changes, we recommend you consult a professional consultant to make sure your business practices and site accessibility are adequate for your situation and implement any extra measures if required.

Important: Not Being GDPR Compliant Can Shut Your Business Down!

Every Website Needs To Be GDPR Compliant Now!

If you are in business you’ve probably already heard about the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) a new law passed by the EU (European Union) that mandates every website to follow some requirements.

Do you REALLY Need To Be GDPR Compliant?

• If people from ANY country in the European Union can visit and interact with your site, you need to be compliant.
• If people from the EU can sign up as leads on your site, or give you their data in any other way, you need to be compliant.
• If your site makes use of any cookies or has any 3rd party integrations that use cookies (Facebook pixel, analytics, etc.) you need to be compliant.
• It doesn’t matter whether you sell anything to EU people or not. If they can access your website, you must be compliant.

If you’ve logged in lately into any big-name website. Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Basecamp, Freshdesk – everyone, yes, everyone has updated their Terms of service and have made changes to the website according to the requirements of GDPR that came into force on May 25th, 2018.

They’ve covered themselves, but have you?

If the answer is no, you’re running a serious risk RIGHT NOW.

The fine for violating these requirements is as high as Euros 20 Million or 4% of your global revenue. Whichever is GREATER. Not only that, you might even be barred from serving any customer from the EU ever again.

GDPR does not require you to be a European citizen, or for you to be a European based business to find you guilty and impose a fine. They can do it even if you’re located across the Pacific ocean and have absolutely no interest in what’s happening in Europe. You don’t even have to sell anything to European customers. If visitors from ANY EU Country can surf your site, you are required to adhere to GDPR rules.

You can’t escape it either, because like it or not, your country has a legal agreement about law enforcement with the EU and all other larger countries.

Even though the GDPR was only implemented on the 25th of May 2018 it has already started to impact marketers and several prominent social networks have already been hit with lawsuits.

The worst (or best if you’re an end-user) is that it pins liability on businesses of all sizes. Not just giants like Facebook and Google, but really small players like you and I too.

If your website is not compliant you could face significant legal costs and hassles that will stop you from focusing on your business. (It takes just one complaint against your business for you to be embroiled in a legal nightmare and mark my words, it won’t take long for lawyers to realise what a gold mine a businesses’ failure to comply with the GDPR is for them!)

If you want to stay in business there’s no escaping GDPR, even in Australia, we HAVE to conform.

There’s NO ALTERNATIVE.

Everyone with a website has to take the journey to GDPR compliance, no matter how small you are, no matter how difficult it is, and no matter how much effort it takes. If you’re running a business that’s online, you’ll need to be GDPR compliant.

If you have a website, it makes good business sense (if you haven’t already done so) to do one of two things ASAP …

1. Do not allow ANY visitors from ANY EU country to access your website.

OR

2. If your site is accepting ANY traffic from ANY EU country you have to comply with GDPR or risk significant fines regardless of where you are based around the world.

This means ensuring that:

• You are compliant with the GDPR Cookie Consent requirement.
• You are compliant with the GDPR Terms & Conditions requirements.
• You are compliant with the GDPR Privacy Policy requirements.
• You are compliant with the GDPR requirements of the Right To Be Forgotten regulation.
• You are compliant with the GDPR requirements of Mandatory Data Access regulation.
• You are compliant with GDPR Data Breach Notification requirements.
• You are compliant with GDPR Data Rectification requirements.

I know it sounds like a big job and it is, but the good news is we are offering an affordable and quick compliance service to anyone with a WordPress website.

For just AU$277 (inc GST) we will implement the following on your website:

When visitors from any country in the EU visit your site they will see a prominent box stating …

“Important GDPR Compliance Notice. Cookies help us deliver our services and so this site makes use of cookies which may contain tracking information about visitors. If you are visiting our site from any EU country, in order to continue to browse this site, according to the GDPR, you must agree to our use of cookies. Please click ‘OK’ in order to continue using this site.”

Only when they click OK will they be able to continue and their IP address and date and time of acceptance will be automatically logged.

GDPR Compliant Terms and Conditions page with ‘Accept’ Tick Box. This page will ONLY be shown to visitors from any EU country. In accordance with the GDPR, EU visitors to your site will be required to tick and accept your Terms and Conditions in order to continue to your Privacy Policy page. Their IP address and date and time of acceptance will be automatically logged.

GDPR Compliant Privacy Policy Page with ‘Accept’ Tick Box. This page will ONLY be shown to visitors from any EU country. In accordance with the GDPR, EU visitors to your site will be required to tick and accept in order to continue to browse your site. Their IP address and date and time of acceptance will be automatically logged.

A ‘Data Request’ Page where any visitor to your site can request the following and they will be automatically emailed the information they have requested. The page will include:

• Data Access Request
• Forget Data Request
• Rectify Data Request
• Unsubscribe Request

These pages will all be added to your website menus so they are easily accessible by visitors to your website.

If this service is of interest to you, please contact us and we will get started straight away so you can have peace of mind that your site at least meets the above GDPR requirements.

DISCLAIMER

Whilst we will implement the 7 GDPR requirements listed above on your WordPress website, it may not be enough to cover the unique compliance needs of your particular business. Therefore, once we have made all the changes listed above, we recommend you consult a professional privacy or GDPR consultant to make sure your business practices and site structure complies with GDPR and implement any extra measures if required.

When creating a website for your business, there are certain things to keep in mind from a design perspective that can make or break your site. Even if you do not plan to spend a fortune on your site, paying attention to each of these items you will ensure that the final product is something of which you can be proud.

Here are 5 tips for designing your business website, even on a budget:

Tip #1: Make sure your Web site loads in 5 seconds or less: Have you ever tried to view a Web site only to find that it takes 10 or 20 seconds to come up on your screen? Unless it has been recommended by a friend or you have some other burning desire to visit the site, you probably likely gave up and moved on. The first 5 seconds is very important in terms of the attention span of your visitor. During that period, you need your site to load and for the visitor to be able to “get” what your site is about. If it takes longer than this, your visitors will run out of patience and leave. Tip: if you want to show off a long flash presentation, try featuring it on a page other than the home page.

Tip #2: Limit the menu bar to 5 options: Your Web site needs to be singular in purpose and focused in appearance. If your site is trying to be all things to all people, it will end up being of value to almost nobody. The simplicity and focus of your site design is reflected in your navigation and symbolized on your home page by your menu options. If you believe your site requires more than five menu options, make some of them sub-menus that are available only after the user selects one of the five main options.

Tip #3: Make clearly visible a call to action: Ever shopped at an IKEA? Their stores have a non-traditional layout that allows you to look around freely and yet literally leads you from one section to another, right on through to the multiple cash registers and food goodies waiting for you at the end of your path. Let this serve as a model for how to set up your Web site: on every page, you need to make it abundantly clear to your site visitors just exactly what it is you want them to do. Do you want them to contact you? Order your product or service? Add a comment to your Web site? Whatever it is, make this call to action very easy to spot both textually and graphically from anywhere on the site.

Tip #4: Provide free and clear access to additional help options: You do not want to lose sales (or visits, or whatever your goal for your visitors maybe be) just because you failed to give someone the chance to ask a question. Just as with your call to action, make it clear to visitors that no matter where they are on your site they can easily locate help via phone, e-mail, live chat, call back, user forum, or knowledge database. Hint: present the various options in a prioritized manner depending upon anticipated user needs.

Tip #5: Show consistency among other design elements: The look-and-feel of your site as a whole is really just a combination of all of its individual components. Pay close attention to every detailed component of your new site. Use appropriate colors and graphics, pay attention to font size, make sure your messaging is readable and makes sense, and make sure images look crisp and appealing. Items that you think are minor might form the basis for whether someone chooses to stay on your site or find that of a competitor.

Whether you are designing your own site or hiring a professional designer, pay attention to these items and you will have a winning site for your business.

Web design for an online business is serious business. No matter how important and unique your product or service is, what keeps a customer on a website is the web design, what makes customers buy is the ease of the process.

Probably you already know that designing a business website is not like designing a personal website that only your friends and family will see. Since your target from a business website is customers who are going to pay you money, your web design for an online business must be appealing and convincing that you are worth paying.

Web design for an online business says a lot about the business and its owners. Its important to present a professional image; otherwise you will end up handing customers to your competitors even if you have better products and services.

Amateurish web design shines a bad light on a professional business. If your web design looks amateurish, people will think youre an amateur. Of course, that may be an inaccurate assumption, but it is the reality of the way things are. A professional image makes people more comfortable, and more likely to use your product or service.

Good web design includes pages that are easy to navigate, and that are pleasing to the eye. Think of a few of your favorite websites, visit them and browse them thoroughly. Take notes of why you like them. Keep the list handy when youre ready to design your own business website. Also keep in mind why visitors will be visiting your site.

In designing a business web site you will have to think like a customer. If this does not make sense to you, browse similar business websites and consider the things that are keeping you on the website for a longer time. Also take notes about the things that are encouraging you to leave the website you are visiting and to look for your required service or product elsewhere. Your target should be to keep your customer at your website the longest time for a simple reason, if this visit to your site did not translate into a sale, his comfortable stay will introduce him to other products that will be in the back of his mind and will come back to get it when he needs it.

A handy peace of information to keep in mind is that websites attract visitors because theyre seeking information. Maybe they want to purchase an item or service that you offer, so do not spare any effort to give a detailed, nicely arranged and easy accessible information about every product or service that you offer. Good web design insures that visitors will have an easy time finding the information they need. You only have a split of a second to retain visitors, so make the most of that time.

The main page should get to the point. Flash intro pages look nice, and show that youre current on technology. But Flash intro pages annoy many people, and cause them to click away from your site without going further. If you must have a Flash intro, at least include the option to skip it. Other than that, when you are in the phase of search engine optimization, you are going to have a hard time optimizing flash websites.

Furthermore, good web design also takes into account some people use dial-up services. Successful web design means the page is available to everyone, not just those with broadband or cable connections. If possible, keep graphics and special effects to a minimum. Overloading a page with too many extras looks amateurish, and makes the page load slowly.

Successful web design can make or break your business. Create a site that is appealing and easy to navigate, and your visitors will be glad they found it, happy to revisit and recommend.