That being said, the home to your brand should be more than an eye-candy. It has to be simple enough that they can explore without any hassle, and rich enough to ask for more. It’s a delicate balance. Anyone can create a website, but it takes careful planning come up with a good one.

Below are some of the key principles you should keep in mind when planning web design.

Purpose

Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful. – John Maeda

Why did you put up your website in the first place? What purpose does it fulfill for your target audience? How much do you know about them? Purpose comes down to individual pages, too: Each page should offer a certain type of information like entertainment, engagement, or transaction with your business. Creating a sales page? Keep the focus on your offering, and reinforce it as you go along. Creating an About page? Tell ’em about your company and the wonderful people behind it. You don’t need to put up a circus in a single page.

Navigation

People ignore designs that ignore people. – Frank Chimero

Dead ends are the end of engagement in your website. And as you already know, the goal is to keep them engaged until they’re ready to take the next step. Navigation is the framework containing all the touches happening within your website. It should feature a logical hierarchy; clear CTAs and clickable buttons; and the right information within 3 clicks. It’s a lot to keep track of, but creating a sitemap and constantly testing links and buttons will keep you on top of your game.

Mobile-friendly

The role of a designer is that of a good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests. – Charles Eames

As a consumer of information yourself, you know there are plenty of moments when you’d rather browse in your smartphone than get up and turn on your laptop to search something. Whether it be smartphone or tablet, people prefer the convenience of browsing on smaller screens now, especially when they’re on the go. In fact, there are varying stats everywhere but the most credible I can find is over 60% and climbing. So if your website is stuck on desktop view, you could be losing these viewers to your competition’s mobile-friendly layout. To fix this, you can either rebuild your site with multiple widths, or come up with a dedicated mobile site they can easily navigate on.

Communication

Get rid of anything that is not essential to making a point. – Christoph Niemann

Clear, well-organised information make a reader and SEO-friendly website. With tons of distractions on the internet, your viewers tend to want information quickly. They (We!) skim a lot, so placing meaningful headings, subheadings, and bullet points are more preferable than long, windy sentences.

The post 4 Design Principles That Make A Smart Website appeared first on Stacked Site.

First, I need to preface this email by saying 2 things.

1. We’re going to get geeky. There will probably be terminology and ideas that make little sense. If digital automation interests you, then lets chat about it. I do not charge for a chat, I’d love to learn about your business and often a small and simple tweak gets huge results… so you really have nothing to lose by chatting. SCHEDULE A TIME TO CHAT BELOW!
2. I also need to say not all businesses are created equal. Different businesses will most probably use different tools. Some tool sets work better with gSuite, while others are better suited for Office365. Some are more Mac oriented, while others are Windows. A creative studio with a team will probably centre their tool stack around a project management tool, whereas a consultant would be more interested in the CRM.

Anyway…you get the deal. Here’s we go!

My company, Stackd Design has changed it’s focus and structure over the years, from just me, to a team of 10 and now back to a smaller team with specialist consultants for specialty areas. Before I pay wages, my ENTIRE operational cost for software and subscriptions for the ENTIRE team is only $237 /month. This is a completely scaleable solution. Whether I am approached by 1 or 10 new clients in a week, that $237 price tag stays the same month to month. That means my business systems only costs $2,844 to run each year – and through digital automation I can earn much more than that.

It use to be that a business would need a big budget to run the business with any sort of digital automation. The truth these days, is there are so many alternatives to the big enterprise solutions that you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars each month to get something effective. You just need to know someone (like me) who can integrate great tools, directly with your website, to get results.

Here’s a break down of what I use.

Emails and Documents – GSUITE
CRM Choice – STREAK
Email Marketing – DRIP
Automated Outreach – REPLY UP
Project Management – TRELLO
Scheduling – RESOURCE GURU
Communication – SLACK
Integration – ZAPIER
Appointment Scheduling – CALENDLY
Book Keeping – XERO

This tool stack works great for me because 95% of my communication is through email. I’ve been using Gmail for the longest time with a whole set of extra extensions to super power it – so Streak CRM was appealing to me and my team, as it integrates directly with Gmail.

I have built multiple sales and nurture funnels directly in Streak. These are called ‘Pipelines’. As an email comes in – it goes into a pipeline. As it moves through the various stages of a pipeline it has tags automatically added and removed so I can segment my audience later on. When a contact record in my CRM changes it also syncs with the same contact record in DRIP. This allows automated workflows to run (just like the one you are on now). The workflows can send emails, split test, notify me, collect analytics, etc. Whenever work is low, one strategy for new clients revolves around my subscription to Reply up for Automated Outreach. This sends a series of emails to highly qualified prospects, but cuts the sequence if they reply. Once they reply they are automatically added to my CRM.

With all of this automation, my website is at the heart. My leads and clients are constantly heading back to either my landing pages, or forms which drive extra automation. Now that I have a great system setup and in place, it is automated and easy. This is what I really love to do and it is the thing that sets me apart from most other ‘web people’ out there.

I would be genuinely interested to know how much of this stuff you think is important, and if you have automated it already. Feel free to comment below and let me know.

If you are in contact with somebody who needs to get more leads from their website – then there’s a stack of ways to get in contact with me:

[email protected]
0408705939

Schedule a call.

( I Love Automation! )

Thank you for taking the time to read this email. I really do appreciate it. Please feel free to reach out if you have a questions, need advice, or want to chat.

Talk soon.
Dave

The post Here's a list of tools I use. appeared first on Stacked Site.

I’ve had a thousand gigs and travelled the world with music. Some gigs have been big – some very small. In fact I remember one night years ago, I played a massive main stage festival gig to 10,000 people – a screaming sea of heads loving every moment of it… then I drove from that gig straight to an 80th birthday where they asked me to play in a different room (away from guests) on an out of tune piano. I learnt humility quickly – that’s for sure!

Anyway… I had an idea to start a music lesson website almost 20 years ago. The website alone cost me my life savings – $20,000. If I wanted to update it I had to pay an extra $100 for every change. But that didn’t matter… because the website got hacked anyway – only 6 months in.  I was devastated. Turns out the developer had saved a file in the root directory called ‘passwords.txt’ and it was visible to the world. I lost absolutely everything and needed to start again. My second website cost a lot less. Only $5,000. It lasted only 1 year before it got hacked.

I was out of money so I did something that many people only learn out of necessity, something daring, something radical… I learnt to code. I quickly learnt that to have a successful website I would also need to learn photoshop, illustrator and some design skills. Then I needed to figure out some marketing, and lead generation, systems, software, don’t forget sales, oh yeah – accounting, etc, etc.  Any small business owner will understand they need to wear a lot of hats.  I have had a lot of opportunities to learn lessons over the past 20 years, some huge wins, and some crushing defeats. All making me stronger and helping me understand how all the pieces fit together.

My approach to business and life is a real no BS approach. I talk openly and truthfully about everything and am able to find solutions that are a win/win for everybody. I don’t like ‘breaking the bank’ and usually find ways with new clients to stage the work so that we can get quick wins… start getting some return on the investment, then it makes sense to proceed to the next piece of work.

I find creating websites that are both visually appealing and technically powerful is much like a music concert. For over 15 years I have been designing digital and web solutions and have been a professional jazz and concert musician for even longer. Having a deep understanding of every instrument and element and how they inter-relate is the key for both a high functioning website and a performance that engages and inspires.

If you are in contact with somebody who needs to get more leads from their website – then there’s a stack of ways to get in contact with me:

[email protected]
+61 408 705 939

Book a time to talk with this tool I use.

I love automation!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I really do appreciate it. Please feel free to reach out if you have a questions, in need of advice, or simply want to chat. You can also leave a comment below!

Talk soon.
Dave

The post How I Got Hacked appeared first on Stacked Site.

I’m Dave Spicer, founder of Stackd Design. Considering I’m an expert at Digital Automation, – I’d like to share with you exactly what I do using an automated email workflow I built using DRIP. I really do respect your time AND your inbox – so this workflow only contains three emails from me. If you don’t think there’s any value in my three emails then you can either not join the workflow, or after an email or two – hit unsubscribe in the footer – but I promise to share with you all the automation tools, secrets and integrations I’m personally using for Stackd Design within the next 3 emails.

So what exactly do I, Dave Spicer do at Stackd? What is the mission? What get’s me up in the morning?… I am passionate about building smarter websites that work, nurture & convert.

You might think… what’s so hard about building a website? Well… nothing. Let’s be honest, it’s not hard to build a website these days. Many businesses choose to find a website builder platform and throw something together over a weekend. These websites often look great too! They are often templates from award winning designers and sometimes have a real ‘wow’ factor.

Is that what I do though? … No way – because I don’t really want my clients to have a new website… I want them to get leads and new business – that usually requires a smarter website.

Within my business, I know that it often takes 7 to 12 touch points to build trust and a relationship that might lead to new business. To be brutally honest with you, this is part of the reason you are receiving this email in the first place! My website is just one piece of the puzzle, but then I also use GSUITE for emails and documents, I schedule appointments through CALENDLY, I use STREAK for Customer Relationship Management and Sales Funnels, DRIP handles my automated workflows, TRELLO for project management, SLACK for team communication, and more!

And guess what… this completely automated, well oiled, lead nurturing machine all centres around the website. That’s how I build smarter websites that work, nurture & convert.

These tools I mentioned aren’t perfect for everyone.. but they seem perfect for me, right now. Different business models may require a different set of tools. I’ve used almost all of them so if you are comparing I’m happy to have a chat. Also, If you are in contact with somebody who needs to get more leads from their website – then there’s a stack of ways to get in contact with me:

[email protected]
0408705939

Schedule a call.

( I Love Automation! )

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I really do appreciate it. Please feel free to reach out if you have a questions, need advice, or want to chat. You can also leave a comment below!

Talk soon.
Dave

The post Who is behind Stackd Design? appeared first on Stacked Site.

Stackd Design founder Dave Spicer will outline the latest advancements that now make it possible to connect with your target market instantly! You will learn how to download an email list of 10,000 of your ideal clients instantly. Within the next few years this will become common practice… but right now, nobody knows about it – so become the first.

In addition, now that you know how to get your ideal client to connect – Dave will reveal small changes that will encourage your clients to make that first step.

Bookings are absolutely essential! Click here to view the full details.]]>

The post How to triple your business in 2017 appeared first on Stacked Site.

So, care should be taken to protect your website from hacking attempts. But sometimes despite your best efforts, your website may still get hacked. The following are some sequential steps that you should take to recover your website.

Steps to repair and recover your website

1. Check your computer first: The local environment should be scanned for any viruses first. If your computer is infected, it makes the job of hackers easy. First, get your antivirus updated.

2. Change passwords: You will have to change all the passwords that may have been compromised due to the hacking attack. You will have to change passwords in the control panel of your website, your network and also your database so that the hacker no longer has access to sensitive information. You should change cPanel passwords, FTP passwords and SSH password. Also if your website has multiple user acoounts, make sure to create new passwords for all users. A hacker may use his access to create new users. If you closely scrutinize the user account administration of your website, you may be able to identify the bogus user accounts and remove them.

3. Understand what exactly happened: You should first try to determine the nature of the attack. Did the attackers inject any new code, did they include a remote file or did they hack the cPanel? Is your website the only domain hacked or did other websites also fall to the attack in case of a shared web host?

4. Contact your web host: Most web hosts have the right tools, a support team with the right skills and specific information about the hacking attack that can help you identify the nature of the problems or find a solution. They can also provide backup support. If you are on a shared hosting service, other domains hosted may have been compromised as well. So a concerted effort will be needed.

5. Update your CMS and plugins: You should always use updated CMS platform and also use the latest versions of the plugins because hackers often find a loophole in versions that have not been updated.

6. Remove your site from blacklists: Many search engines including Google may balcklist your website if they find it hacked or infected by malware. In such a case, you will have to request them to remove your website from such a list because it affects your SERP or they may even remove your website from search index.

7. Take your site offline briefly: If you can’t fix the problems immediately, take the website offline briefly. It would prevent further damage by the hacker and also stop your users from getting a malware alert which can damage your reputation. Instead, display a 503 error message to inform the users that the website is temporarily unavailable.

Conclusion

A website can be hacked due to many reasons and in many ways. But you should always take steps that mitigate chances of an attack. Don’t make it easy for hackers to attack your website. If you are not confident with coding, consult a professional in case of a hacking attack.

The post How to Fix and Recover a Hacked Website? appeared first on Stacked Site.

The problem of getting infected with malware is that Google might mark your site as “unsafe”. A message may be displayed to that effect to the visitors. It could be a great deal of embarrassment and loss of face for your company. Also, if some malicious code is embedded in your site, a search engine would continue to crawl it and the links found in the source code may get indexed to your link profile. That could get you into further trouble.

How would you know that you have been hacked?

It is not always easy to tell if your site has been hacked. You should look for malicious links in your source code first. For example, if you have a site called yoursite.com, where ‘yoursite’ represents your website, and you see links and content that does not seem remotely related to your site, it is possible that your site has been hacked.

What would you do in the aftermath of a malware attack?

If you feel that the security of your website has been compromised, you should immediately start by changing and strengthening websites. If you have a WP powered website, you should change your FTP password and your WP admin password. Try to set longer and stronger passwords which use multiple characters because hackers often use software which are extremely quick and can use brute force to guess the correct password. You may consider changing the file access permission to ‘read only’ in case you find malicious links in your ‘.htaccess’ files.

One more important tip is to check your plugins in WP because they are often infected, especially if not updated. Just disable them by renaming the directory. If the live web scanner shows that your computer is now clean, you would know that that problem was in the plugin. You can now change the name of the plugin directory to the original one, and the site would go live again.

Conclusion

If you are not very tech-savvy or someone who is not good with programming, you could leave the problem to a professional expert. You may visit stackddesign.com, and create a ticket explaining the malware problem, and the professionals at ‘stackd.design’ will take care of the malware problem for you.

The post How to Remove malware from your Website? appeared first on Stacked Site.

WordPress checks the child theme first for a particular functionality and if it does not exist, then WordPress checks its parent theme for the functionality. According to ‘ElegantThemes’, 85% of WordPress users modify themes but only 35% use child themes. The reason could be a lack of knowledge about child themes or perceived difficulty in creating one.

Reasons for using child themes

• Makes updates easier: If you update without a child theme, you can either update or lose the changes that you have made to the theme or not update it at all. Of course, not updating the themes, plugins, and the software WordPress would make it outdated, and cause it to lose efficiency. Security may also be compromised.
• Makes the process of development easier: If you decide to make an update without a child theme, you may be adding snippets of code to the code base of the original theme, which could run into hundreds if not thousands of lines. That means, tracking the changes may become cumbersome later on. It makes more sense to make changes to the child theme which contains less number of files and also less code to handle. That makes the documentation process easier.
• Makes reverting to the original condition easier: If you think that customization of the theme did not go according to your plan, you can simply disable the child theme, and everything would go back to the original state.

Steps for creating a child theme

A child theme can be created by following these simple steps:

1. A theme directory needs to be created in the WordPress install.
2. A style sheet with appropriate information about your child theme has to be created.
3. You may now use the functionalities of the parent theme.
4. Activate the child theme, and the WordPress site would look like the original.

Conclusion

A child theme has a lot of advantages and is easy to use, contrary to popular belief. If you are a designer who makes frequent changes to your WordPress supported blog or website, start using child themes and enjoy the advantages.

The post Why should you be Using Child Theme for your WordPress Site? appeared first on Stacked Site.

While Robot.txt is an exclusion protocol and tells search engines what not to crawl on your site, sitemaps do the exact opposite. It helps search engines index important portions of the website and thus improve its visibility. Google was the first search engine to use XML sitemaps which are different from ordinary HTML sitemaps. Now, other search engines are also following suit and thus the importance of sitemaps have grown further from the point of view of SEO.

Advantages of sitemaps

1. A sitemap is like a blueprint: A sitemap is like a blueprint for building a house. It guides people who are working on the project to design a website. It should be kept in a central location and in a format that makes it easily accessible. It helps everybody working on the project to know the project status, the changes that have been made or changes that may be made. It saves wastage of resources and extra work that would have been required otherwise.
2. A sitemap helps to understand the goals: A sitemap gives a goal and a plan to the designer. It helps the designing team to understand what they exactly want from this website and what needs to be done in order to attain those goals.
3. Avoid duplication of content: It would be a waste of time and resources if you continue to create similar content again, and again, every time you need it. It is far more elegant and efficient to interlink content. A sitemap helps you to understand which pages exist where and how they have been interlinked. It makes the process of linking easier.
4. Sitemaps make it easier for search engines to index changes: Although search engines take a lot of time to index new pages or changes to your website, the process can be made more streamlined by having a sitemap which captures the changes.

Conclusion

A sitemap is an essential part of a website from the point of view of design, SEO, and navigability. Google does not even penalize sites if they have one XML sitemap and another HTML sitemap. As the importance of indexing increases and search engines come equipped with better crawling algorithms, websites would need good sitemaps to make the process of loading the site URLs quicker.

The post Importance of Sitemaps for your Websites appeared first on Stacked Site.

Low PHP memory limit set by website host

Shared hosting providers often do this. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough memory for your plug-ins to run, or scripts to be executed, or both, ultimately resulting in the White Screen of Death.

There is a simple fix for this:
Simply log in to your FTP server, find the public_html folder, and open the wp-config.php file in a text editor. Add the line

define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘64M’);

to the PHP code (you should find a section starting with some lines later – anywhere between these two lines will do), save the file and close it.

Plug-ins

A faulty plug-in could be causing the White Screen of Death. In the public_html folder, look for a sub-folder named wp-content. Inside this, there should be a folder named plugins. All you have to do is rename it to something else, like ‘Betsy’ – or any other name you like. Then see if your site is working, minus the plug-ins. If it is, you now know for sure that the White Screen of Death is caused by an incompatible plug-in.

What is the solution?

Inside the plugins (or Betsy as it is now) folder, you will find a folder for each of of your plug-ins. Rename Betsy back to plugins, but try the renaming process for each plug-in’s folder (and then reloading the site) until you find out which one is causing the White Screen of Death. You find the plug-in responsible when you have renamed that plug-in’s folder and the White Screen of Death doesn’t occur.

After you have zeroed in on the culprit, see if you can find an alternative plug-in for your website. If not, try updating it to its latest version. If none of the plug-ins are causing the White Screen of Death, then it might be your WordPress theme.

WordPress theme

In the public_html folder, there should be a folder named themes. Rename it, and the site should revert back to its default theme. If the White Screen of Death no longer appears, you know your theme was causing it. Just like we did with the plug-ins, you can rename it back to themes, but before doing so, you can rename the active theme’s folder name.

This changes your theme, but better that than a White Screen of Death. You can then try downloading a new WordPress them for your site.

Too technical? We can get your WordPress site back up and running for FREE. And in less than an hour!

The post Get Rid of the White Screen of Death – Permanently! appeared first on Stacked Site.