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.

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.

Do these things to reduce the spam you receive:

1. Disguise your email: The most common mistake that a website owner does is to put up the email ID exactly as it is. For ex. [email protected]: IDs like this easily find themselves on a spammer’s list and make you an easy target. Alternatively, what you can do is put up your email in all letters like this: abc(AT)alphabets(DOT)com. Not including email ID symbols means that it has very little chance of getting detected by a spammer. People who actually want to contact you can definitely know how to do that by substituting the alphabets with the appropriate punctuations or symbols. Now, what do you do if the people who want to contact you get confused by this? This brings us to point no.2

2. Put up a picture of your email: Instead of typing your email ID, convert it into an image, or put up a screen-shot or photo- anything that is not typed. Technically, you actually haven’t put up your email ID, but only uploaded a picture. This has got to be one of the best ways to outwit those spammers, ever. At the same time, you are eliminating any confusion for the one reading it- a complete win-win!

3. Add a contact form: By adding these forms you are asking the person who wants to contact you to give his or her details to you so that you can contact them instead of them mailing you first. As a result, you are not posting an email ID that can be spammed. Only a genuine probable client will bother to fill the form so what you get are mails from really interested people.

Need fool-proof ways to eliminate spam coming in from your website? Computer professionals can baffle you with the number of ways you can prevent spam. Contact a professional now and kiss those spammers good bye forever!

The post How to Prevent Spam Coming Through Your Websites appeared first on Stacked Site.

Some argue that websites can be built without breaking a sweat with CSS, JavaScript or HTML. Then why should frameworks find an application in web design? But others say that if you are building a simple website without a lot of pages or a dynamic website, frameworks find good use. If you have to create multiple log-in credentials on your website, a framework would provide you with a structure to do it easily without having to do it multiple times manually.  Frameworks are templates which contain snippets of codes and other design elements which help you to take care of the basic design needs of your web-page and help you to save a lot of valuable project time.

Another major advantage of a framework is that a lot of them have been tested, debugged and validated. So, it not only saves you the time of writing the code in markup language but also save you the time of testing.

When you are designing a website, you will have your areas of strength. There may be other areas where you need some help. So, if you are using frameworks, you get instant, ready-made help.

What is a framework?

A framework is a set of tools or design conventions that is stored in the form of modules and can be invoked by calling it as a function in a code that you may be writing. A lot of ordinary tasks are taken care of through these modules. A framework doesn’t mean a licensed product that you will have to subscribe to or buy. You can create your own framework and store it as a module in a library and call it any number of times.

Advantages

• They are usually very fast. You can use an API to create a simple design in one-tenth of the time probably of what you would have taken otherwise.
• They can boost the efficiency as designers can focus more on solving the unique challenges rather than having to take care of common problems perfunctorily. This definitely boosts output and problem solving abilities.
• It definitely brings down the final cost of the project at hand.

Disadvantages

• The scope of work may be limited as you have to use the same framework essentially even with modifications.
• Frameworks contain files like normalize.css that have not been configured for the particular context in which you want to apply them.

A framework has both pros and cons. It is up to you to decide whether you want to use them or not. If you can identify the right context for its application, it does provide you a lot of leveraging power and speed. Carefully protect your individuality even when you are using an open source framework.

The post Should You Be Using Frameworks In Your Web Designs? appeared first on Stacked Site.

Many clients want to cut corners or simply want to get a job done at the lowest possible cost which may compromise the security or functional aspects of the project. A project manager has to step up to the task of telling the client about the pitfalls and the future consequences of a rushed job.

A project manager is also expected to evaluate the financial return on a particular project and try to utilize the best team available to maximize profit while creating value for the project. He/She also has to ensure that there is no gap between what is promised and what is delivered.

Flexible project plans are more effective

In order to succeed at a goal, a team needs to have a proper plan. It is important for a UX design team to focus on the process of building a website which is user-friendly and which generates leads for the client. That is only possible if the team has all the right information and inputs from the client. They will need to know what the users of the website expect from it and what kind of a target group the client has in mind. A project manager can step in to collect all the relevant information and pass it onto the design team.

Effective project management can help the two sides to set a measurable and realistic goal. It is important for them to agree on the metrics that would be used to measure the outcomes. Providing information early on will also make it easy for the client to allocate a budget for the website and also provide any other resources that may be needed. Project management is important for the UX design team as well as for the client. Whichever side you belong to, you have to use it effectively for all round success of a project.

The post What is the Role of Project Management in UX Design Projects? appeared first on Stacked Site.

If you are really serious about improving the conversion rate of your website, you should follow the below mentioned tips to make your checkout page more effective.

Visual appeal is one of the many important aspects of improving the user experience of a checkout page of a website. If the page has structured layout, it improves navigability of the page and encourages the prospect to go ahead with the purchase. Getting the balance of color, white space and content absolutely perfect is the key here. Some of the important design elements are-

1. Add the checkout button at the top and bottom of the page– A checkout button should be colorful, attractive and have animation effects if possible. More importantly though, a checkout button should be placed at the top as well as the bottom of the page so that the customer doesn’t have to scroll up and down too much to find the all important button. Experts state that putting the conversion button above the fold is a very good practice to improve user experience and thus conversion. 

2. Have the option of going back to shopping from the checkout page- When designing the checkout page make sure that you allow the users to return to the main product selection and shopping page from the checkout page. Sometimes, the consumer may forget to select a particular product when they are checking out. If they are not given an option to return to the product selection page and is checked out fully, they may not come to make the other purchase that was on their mind, especially if it requires them to sign in again. Most usability studies would red flag it.

3. Credit card logos and security seals- This improves the trust factor of a website. Include these on the checkout page to communicate to the prospect that transactions on this website are safe and very easy. Also have multiple payment gateway options.

More information on the product and payment options before the final checkout is recommended.

4. Product summary and testimonials– You can include a short description about the product they have selected on the checkout page so that the customer is absolutely sure that they have made the right decision. Hold back nothing. Be transparent. Include some believable testimonials which give the designation and place of residence of the customer who is sharing the testimonial. See that it explains how the customer has been benefited and their experience with this particular website.

5. Include promo code on the website: A lot of websites overlook it. If there is a promo code for a particular purchase, include it on the website itself so that customers won’t have to leave the website to find out the promo code and then return. A lot of them won’t return if they have to find it by doing a quick internet search.

Most of these recommended ideas have been discussed by various experts in the past. There are many more ideas that you can look at. But, these are the easiest points to get started with and implementing these ideas will surely improve the conversion rate of your e-commerce site.

The post 5 Checkout Page Strategies to Improve E-Commerce Website Conversion Rates appeared first on Stacked Site.

• De-clutter your site landing pages. A site that has too much going on will leave visitors both overwhelmed and confused. They won’t be able to spot that CTA button amidst all that clutter. It can also leave users under the impression that you are trying too hard to win them over. You want to keep your site design simple and appealing.
• While it’s not a bad idea to do up your site a little differently than other sites out there, you don’t want to miss out on the basics in the process. Online users have come to expect a certain few basics on all sites- About Us, Careers, Investors, Social Media, Store Locator, Privacy Policy, and Contact Us pages for example. You will usually find most of these tabs on the footer of the page. Make sure your website has these basics covered, so site visitors do not feel as if they’re in unfamiliar online territory.
• Icons and images do a good job of upping that professional quotient of your website. Images are great storytellers. In fact. some of the biggest brands out there have full-blown images as the backdrop for their site. Icons are equally important for a professional touch. Whether you’re talking about the features of your service or why customers should choose your business, the use of icons makes it look more professional and believable.
• Keep the navigation simple, so visitors easily find what they’re here for. Online users are usually quite impatient to find things. A site with navigation that is complex or not user-friendly will negatively affect user experience, and may cause users to leave the site. A search bar and site map are indispensable for professional sites. A smooth, intuitive navigation could mean lower bounce rate and higher conversions for your brand.

A quick site audit from a professional Brisbane web design agency can reveal what changes your site needs to appear professional. Remember, how your site looks not just affects whether or not users decide to stay on your site, but also their purchase decisions with your brand.

The post How to Give Your Website a Professional Appeal appeared first on Stacked Site.

• Optimize the content on your site with the right location-augmented keywords. You also want to choose keywords based on how you think users would enter search phrases. For instance, if a user wanted to find a restaurant in Miami, then they are probably going to be typing in ‘restaurant Miami’, ‘Miami restaurant’, or ‘where to eat Miami’. You can also use keyword tools to optimize your site more efficiently.
• Make sure you have information such as the hours of operation and address of your local business mentioned in the landing page, so site visitors can easily find it.Visitors won’t have the time to comb through your site to find the information.
• Mobile devices and local searches have grown synonymous in the recent past. If you want to cater to a local target audience, then you need a mobile-friendly site. A site that is not compatible for mobile devices will lose leads. With mobile-friendly quotient of site becoming a ranking factor in the Google search algorithm, you have even more reason to be setting up a mobile-friendly site. It’s either go mobile, or go home for local businesses.
• If you’re looking to rank well in your local SEO strategy, then you don’t want to stop with just incorporating location-specific keywords on your landing pages. You will be surprised how much of a difference having location-specific content on your site can make to your site traffic and SEO rankings.
• Stay active on social media platforms, and interact with your audience. You need to consistently engage your social media audience, which takes time and effort. However, it can pay off, and help your business gain better visibility and draw more traffic to your site. Social media signals impact your SEO rankings as well; another reason why you should take social media marketing up for consideration for a better SEO score.

For more information or assistance with SEO marketing, you can get in touch with our Brisbane digital marketing agency.

The post Top Local SEO Tips For Businesses appeared first on Stacked Site.

Clear message

Can a user understand the service/product/value you offer within the first few seconds of visiting your site?

The average site has under 7 seconds to help make a visitor understand what it does, according to digital marketing Brisbane experts. Given how user attention spans are getting lower, don’t be surprised if some visitors spend as much as just 3 seconds to decide whether or not they want to stay on your site.

Your website should be designed so it sends through a clear message to the visitor. Ask any professional Brisbane graphic design agency and they will tell you how image sliders and too much information translate to higher bounce rate.

Businesses like the idea of using clever tag-lines and quirky web design formats for their pages. But given how little a time users take to decide whether or not they want to stay on your website, you are better off sticking to standard web design formats and punchlines that convey a clear business message.

Visual cues

Visual cues are a great way to capture the attention of users. However, if you include too many visual cues, you will leave the user confused. So you want to use visual cues sparingly, and strategically, say advertising agency Brisbane experts.

You may be tempted to use stock photos for your website landing pages as it an easy option, but they don’t always have the intended impact. Try using exclusive images of your business instead, so you can connect better with your customers.

For instance, if you operate a food delivery service, have a professional photographer take pictures of your staff in action during their workday, and that of happy customers, instead of run-off-the-mill photos.

Videos can be a great way to keep site visitors hooked as well, say marketing agency Brisbane. Rather than explaining what your business does in page-long content, put up a video for users to watch so they can understand what you do.

Of course, you do not want your video to be set on auto-play; if anything it will dissuade the user from watching the video, as most users like to choose the what and how of consuming online content.

The post Is Your Web Design Aligned With Your Digital Marketing Strategy? appeared first on Stacked Site.

Separate SEO and web design strategies

SEO and web design go hand in hand. Businesses with sound SEO performance will tell you how important it is to incorporate SEO logic into web design.

Your website pages need to be optimized for SEO and conversion. You want conversion-critical pages to get noticed, and not get drowned in all the noise created by the other pages. Too little content and crawlers have very little information to work with to index your page to the right audience. You want your site content optimized so it draws the target audience.

Businesses that are operating with separate SEO and web design strategies would do good to start with a site audit, so they can redo their site with a common strategy.

Broken links

Broken links are not just looked down upon by users, but by Google as well. The Google search engine uses crawling activity to index websites online. When website crawlers come across a broken link, the site is naturally seen as one that has poor usability, which in turn affects your rankings.

Whether you have inbound dead links, or links to other sites that are broken, it gets in the way of visitors trying to access information, and hurts your site’s trust quotient. There are various web tools, apps and plugins that you can use to spot broken links on your site and fix them.

Lack of mobile-friendly site strategy

When the Mobilegeddon occurred, many sites instantly lost their high ranking status. Mobile device usage cannot afford to be ignored, and setting up a mobile site has become mandatory.

Statistics show that 40 percent of users access sites through their mobile devices. If you do not have a mobile-friendly site then you are not just missing out on a large portion of potential customers but also losing search engine ranking points.

Google’s recent search engine algorithm updates focus on mobile device usage. It’s pretty clear that you will be out of the search engine race if you do not have a mobile-friendly site.

You have two options here. You can set up a single responsive site that automatically adapts itself to fit the dimensions of the device that it is being viewed on. Or you can get separate sites for desktop and mobile devices, to take your mobile-friendly strategy forward.

The post Website SEO Mistakes You Want to Avoid appeared first on Stacked Site.