A brute force attack is where hackers use software to try and “guess” your password.

So the quickest and easiest thing you can do to protect your site from the bullies is:

1. Make sure your wordpress password is complex.

Use a combination of letters and numbers. Don’t use dictionary words. LOTS of people use a zero for an “o” and a one for an “i” so mix up your letters, numbers and special characters. You can change your password in dashboard > users > all users > edit

2. Delete any users that don’t need access to your site

(like tech people you no longer use)

3. Limit the number of login attempts on your site.

You can use this plugin http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/limit-login-attempts/ that only takes a minute to install and set  up. Since the “attack” is brute force / trial and error this can be very effective.

4. Use a security plugin

Something like this http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/better-wp-security/

5. Manually password protect the “wp-login.php” file

Step by step instructions are here:  http://support.hostgator.com/articles/specialized-help/technical/wordpress/wordpress-login-brute-force-attack

And just in case always make sure your site is backed up

Hosting companies are blocking access as quickly as they can, but you can help protect your own site as well.

For more info check out wordpress’s codex http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress 

Please share this post with your friends.They really need to know this. There is a lot more you can do and a lot of great plugins. If you have any tips or favourite tools please share them in the comments.

EDIT: I forgot a  couple of  basics in my rush to get this info out to you.

A. Make sure your wordpress install, plugins and themes are all up to date.

B. Don’t use admin for your user name. (you can’t change it as such but you CAN create a new admin user and then delete the old one)

I’m sure there are more – comment below!

One of the big indicators Google uses to decide what is relevant to show to searches is how “current” a website is.

Think about it for a minute.

There are 9 gazillion websites out there – lots of them have been abandoned for years and have very out of date information. How does the big G know what information is still good? One way is how recent it is…

FACT : If your website is updated regularly it can help your rankings.

FACT: If you have lots of quality pages on your website it can help your rankings.

FACT: If your website is shared with others on social media it can help your rankings. (AND bring more referral customers)

FACT: If people come to your website and stay a while it can help your rankings.

FACT: If people come to your website and then come BACK repeatedly it can help your rankings.

FACT: One of the easiest, neatest, most effective way to do all of the above is with a blog.

Whether you call it a blog , news, musings, tips and tricks, spotlight, current events or anything else a blog serves many, many MANY purposes. Not only for SEO (search engine optimisation= ” getting on google”), but for client education, engagement, setting yourself up as the expert in your field etc.

This post is all about SEO though, so how do your write a blog post with good SEO in 5 easy steps? 

Step 1. Write for your customers / clients and tell them things that they are interested in.

Don’t get so caught up in SEO for SEO’s sake. Always write with  your clients in mind. What are the questions you get asked all the time? How do they ask you? Use the words THEY use in language they understand.

By all means do some keyword research as I talked about in the last post but then forget about it at least for your first draft.

Some good topic ideas:

• How to…
• Top 10
• Case studies
• Stories
• Client spotlight
• Behind the scenes
• Quick Tips

Step 2. Once you have written, go back and make sure you are actually using the words (or related keywords) consistently throughout the page.

This means beginning middle and end. In a natural way.

Example: One of my earliest clients (ok my husband) had a page he wanted to rank on google for his band name “Groove Casino”. They had a bio on their studio website, with testimonials and a set list but it wasn’t coming up in Google Search. When I had a peek I noticed that the name wasn’t anywhere on the page after the intro paragraph. He had switched to “we” or nothing at all. So a few edits like saying “Grove Casino set list” in a heading, and “Groove casino compilation” in a link to the demo and “Book Groove Casino at”.. instead of “book us at” has that page ranking number 1 on Google for their keyword ever since.

(This is the actual page btw, no I didn’t do the design but they are available for bookings and are awesome)

ps the Studio is actually for sale as I write as well if anyone in in the market?

Step 3. Name your Images and use ALT text

When you put images on your blog name  the actual file something useful and descriptive (not IMG-7864) . And use the alternate text field. Most content management systems have a spot during the upload process that you can put in your “ALT Text” . Use it. This is not only to tell Google what the image is but also for vision impaired people so they can have the page “read” to them. Don’t just stuff in keywords though. Describe the image and if you can work in a keyword while you are doing it all the better.

Step 4. Use your meta title and meta description tags

This is easy if you are using wordpress, if not you may need to try a bit harder.

The title will be the blue links that show up in Google search and the description the couple of lines of text underneath that people read to decide whether or not to click your listing.

If you use wordpress:

Some wordpress themes have a built in SEO section. If  not you can download All in one SEO pack , or Yoast SEO  plugin.

The settings out of the box are usually fine (unless you know what you are doing it’s probably best to just leave them as it is) .

Once installed you will have a section below the part you write your post in. The two sections that are REALLY important are the title and description.

 If you use Joomla:

here is a good post on how to do the mechanics for your Joomla site

If you use html :

You’ll need to look in the <head> section  for title and description see here: (click for bigger image)

 Step 5 – Make it easy to share

Install a social media plugin of some sort so people can share your content easily with their friends. Again with wordpress its super easy. I like (and use) shareaholic which works on WordPress, Tumblr, Drupal and many other platforms. Here is their wordpress plugin . Which reminds me…

Bonus step 6: Don’t be afraid to link out

If it’s relevant link out to other sites, Google is all about getting the best experience for their users, so link to relevant content on your blog (like step 1 of this blog series)  or to authority sites, resources and examples like I have throughout this post. Its good for your visitors and good for google!

QUICK TIP: set  your links to open in a new tab though so people don’t lose their place if they are following along and clicking as they go.

So, there you have it. How to get your website on Google by smart blogging.

If you liked it share the love below and  look out  for part 3 >>>>Using social media to help rank on Google.

Please share any other SEO / Blogging tips and tricks you have or any questions in the comments! There are no dumb questions

Firstly : What do you mean by getting your website on Google ? 

There is often lots of confusion about this. Google (and other search engines) take specific words or phrases people type in (called keywords) and try and find the most relevant web pages that match the search.

This means that there are an almost infinite number of searches and you will never ever be on the front page for each and every one. So… you have to pick your battles. It’s usually easy to rank for your business name, (unless you have a really generic one). So you should do that for sure. That way when people want to find you specifically they can. If you search for “Essential Wellbeing for Business”  for instance you’ll find that the whole front page is us. Yay team! This is great for referral based businesses like ours.

BUT – You want people who don’t KNOW they want you yet though – right?  So you want to rank for broader, more general search terms.

Usually when someone says they aren’t on Google. What they mean is they aren’t on Google for the words they want to be found for.

The trick is picking the right words. Ones that people are searching for and the competition isn’t too high for your effort / reward. You need to make sure you get a good ROI (return on investment)

Example: You wont find me for the term “SEO” (Search Engine Optimisation). I haven’t tried to rank for it and I don’t intend to. It is a part of my business – sure and my team do a great job at it. BUT if you think about it… I’d be competing for the term SEO using SEO against squillions of full time massive SEO firms. It would be a hopeless case unless I spent huge amounts of time / money. The ROI isn’t worth it to me.  For me I get SEO work from referrals and existing clients and that suits me fine.

But, I do rank for “how much does SEO cost?”

On the front page… For a blog post I wrote a year ago… And did nothing with other than post it. (with basic on page optimisation that I will teach you later)  By the way phrases like that “how much does SEO cost” are called long tail keywords. They have less searches but are more specific and easier to rank for. If someone is searching how much something costs you have a pretty good idea they are almost ready to buy, or else they are new to the industry and trying to set their price. 

So..

Ranking on Google Step 1:  Decide what “keywords” you want to rank for (called targeting).

This is usually your business name plus other more generic things.

Tips on how to target:

• If you are a local business target your location. (eg Photography Manly)
• If you specialise target your speciality (eg Baby Photography, or combine the two and target “Baby Photography Manly”)
• Research what people are searching for. Are they looking for baby photography? or Infant photography? Or Baby Portraits? or something else entirely.  This is called “keyword research” And you can do it yourself with google keyword tool

Watch the video (less than 3 minutes) to see how over my shoulder.

When I was choosing what to call this blog post I actually used the tool.

My draft title was “Why isn’t my website on Google?” but when I searched, look what I found:

There are 100 times the searches for “how do I get my website on Google” instead of “why isn’t my website on Google?”

It’s worth the effort.

Ok.. now for some action.

Your mission,  should you choose to accept it:

Spend a bit of time this week making Google your friend. Do some thinking and research one WHAT you want to target, what your target market are looking for and if you are location based, speciality based or both. If you need some help we do offer a keyword research service (using pro tools not the Google adwords tool). Contact us or just give a yell in the comments.

Tell us in the comments too, how you get on in your research and please ask if you have any questions at all. I’m here to help!

Next blog post will be all about using Blogging for SEO (to rank on Google) and  the on page optimisation that I used to rank for ”how much does SEO cost?”.

’till then see you in the comments and on Facebook and don’t forget – if you like this share it with your friends. 

My friend: Hi Marama. do you know this guy or think he is any good?
Cheers, 41 minutes ago

My friend:  The one who has 10 billion likes on his facebook, lol, sorry…how can you read my mind?
37 minutes ago

Marama Carmichael
ummm still lost LOL is it a promoted post that says I like it? FB have changed the way they show advertising…

Turns out that was EXACTLY what it was! She was kind enough to take a screen capture :

Nothing against Mike, I don’t know him. I liked his page not long ago to get to know what he was about, but I do not recommend (or not recommend) him.

The way facebook are showing “sponsored stories” now is that if you like the page that pays for the ad (sponsored story) your face is presented right beside the story. There is a “related post” tag at the top and a “sponsored” tag at the bottom.

On average only 10% of your likers see your post – which is one reason people pay for “sponsored stories”. I didn’t even SEE this post of Mikes  and it looked to my friend like I was recommending it. Do you think this is misleading?

I am VERY careful about what I recommend or endorse to my friends and clients. I think endorsements really reflect on your reputation and my reputation is very important to me.

I “like” all sorts of Facebook pages, some out of personal interest, some because they are friends of mine and I want to support them, some for market research and to see what my industry is doing. Some to see if I would like to work further with them etc etc. For me this facebook change will mean I go through and unlike a bunch of pages.

What do you think about this? From a marketing perspective at first look it is effective. My friend saw it as a recommendation and payed attention to the ad. But do you think it will get businesses in trouble? Is it misleading advertising? Would you as a business even THINK this is how a  ”Facebook sponsored story” would show to your target market?

I’d be really interested in hearing what you have to say so please comment away!!  In the meantime, now you know when you are seeing an ad not a recommendation!

EDIT: Because I enjoy a spot of irony I actually sponsored this blog post on Facebook – so if you are here because you saw the story with your friends face next to it, know that they may or may not agree or disagree or even care about this post, me or Essential Wellbeing for Business.

If you want to you can REALLY share it with your friends with the buttons below.

The first two question I will try and answer now, without making you want to poke your eyes out. The 3rd really depends on your business and what you need.

What is Responsive Design?

Responsive design is building your main website so it re-arranges itself according to the screen size it is being viewed on. This means that even on a PC, if you are on a responsive designed site and reduce the browser size the images and text and even videos will re-format so you don’t have to scroll across (only up and down). Some designs remove unneeded content (like image sliders for instance that can slow down a site).

 Benefits of responsive design are:

1. Works great on desk-tops and tablets.

2. Is readable and relativly easy to use on mobile phones

3. Doesn’t need maintaining separately.

Disadvantages of responsive design are:

1. On mobile sites can load slowly depending on the content.

2. Navigation on mobile sites is not always clear.

3. Can be very costly if re-doing an NON- responsive design to a responsive one (depending on the design)

4. Sometimes the realignment of element may be a little odd. For example a sidebar is usually put to the bottom of the page if it is kept in the skinny version of a site (what you would see on a mobile phone). Not as attractive on a mobile phone sometimes.

5. Often people on a mobile phone will be looking for quick answers to specific questions and a responsive design could be to wordy.

Mobile Optimised Website

A true mobile website is a standalone version. It has some sort of redirection from your main site and shows only to mobile visitors. You can decide what visitors will be sent to the mobile site. So if you want only people on phones can be re-directed and people on a tablet can stay on the main site.

Usually very focused and brief information, maps, contact details, click to call , menus coupons etc. Often uses technology built into the phone like GPS navigation etc.

File sizes are as low as possible for quick loading.

Advantages of Mobile Optimised over Responsive Design

1. Fast loading, user orientated content.

2. SEO advantages for mobile search (partly due to the fast loading)

3. Can be turned easily into a “web app” for users to be prompted to download an icon on the home page of their phone.

4. Can have in-store promotions linked via QR code for coupons and customer loyalty programs

5. Is cheaper than converting an existing website to responsive design.

6. Is purpose built – so it isn’t trying to be all things to all people like a responsive design is

 Disadvantages of Mobile Optimised vs Responsive Design

1. Two sites mean two lots of changes need to be made in most cases when you change your site. (Can have blog feeds incorporated though without having to do two blogs)

2.  Design can look quite different from your main site.

Which way is best?

It really depends on your business and what you already have in place. If you are starting out but have enough budget I would usually recommend doing a responsive design for desktop and tablet and a mobile optimised website for phones.

If you already have a website and don’t change the core content often, I would let a tablet deal with the main site with it’s own built in system and just get a mobile optimised site.

If you are still confused or ready to take action why not take me up on my free consultation offer? You can have up to an hour of my time for free (and I charge $100 an hour  usually)

Give me a call on 02 8003 7133 or email  info@ewfb.biz to book your free (of course no obligation) consultation.

Chat soon! – Marama

One that you shouldn’t put off though,  is your mobile version of your website.

So, why does your business need a mobile website if the normal site is working just fine? Here are five good reasons to start with:

1.The look of your site on a mobile device: 

You may wonder why people can’t just view your existing traditional website on their mobile devices. The truth is, they can. The problem is it  just doesn’t look very good on a mobile device.  If you shrink the screen on your desktop until you cant read the text, you’ll get an idea of how it looks.  Not a good viewing experience, right?

2. The facts and figures / Stats

You can’t argue with numbers. Studies have shown that by next year (2013) more people will be accessing the internet via mobile devises than desktop computers. In fact, many people accessing the web today already only use their mobile devices. Not catering to the change in Internet use means you miss out on customers. Period.

3.Data transfer time /cost / allowance.

Traditional websites have much more data than mobile websites, and therefore can take a very long time to load on a mobile connection. This is not only frustrating  it can also use up your customers data allowance and / or cost them more on their phone bill. Many mobile users must pay data transfer fees. How patient are you when you are waiting for a web site to download? And how happy are you to have your data allowance used up ? Enough said.

4.Navigation.

Without a proper mobile site your mobile phone will resize the standard website and do the best it can with it.  That means site visitors must do an awful lot of scrolling up and down and zooming in and out to take the whole site in . . . and let’s face it, no-one wants to work that hard to read a web page. Also big fingers and itty bitty screens just don’t play well together so hitting the navigation buttons can be nigh on impossible. And if you put this point with point 3 who’d wait another 5 minutes for the next page to load anyway. Easy and fast navigation is super important.  See what we did for Lawrence Dry cleaners recently >>>

5.Today’s web audience.

Today’s web audience use their mobile device for everything – shopping, searching, entertainment, socialising and more – knowing this you can add mobile specific aspects to your mobile website to increase your reach and broaden your customer base. Studies have shown that mobile web browsers are more likely to buy right then. Either on line or to come into your store. They want instant gratification though. Your site needs to give them what they want quickly and easily.

As you can see, there are a number of very good reasons to build a mobile website for your business, and as soon as possible.  Contact us for help to get started straight away.

(This was going to be a facebook post ,but I got carried away – I’d LOVE to hear what you think!)

Case in point, I had an enquiry from a website I have my services listed on for some graphic design work.

This was the job:
“Id like to see low res logo ideas and pay for a high res copy or even just the idea.
Id like to keep the colour in the BG but think the font/lay out of the name is lacking.
This is my website”

So I send a quote through and a few hours later get this email:

“If you are interested in sending me a small low res version of your ideas and I pick one to use, I will be more than happy to pay your quote.
I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with.” And they go on to give a pretty detailed brief with a phone number , but no name…

I give them a call to confirm they are actually accepting the quote and not just shopping around (I DON”T do work on spec btw) and the guy says – “oh thanks for that but we’ve got someone” Wha??

* Thinks to self * “Just as well I checked and didn’t we didn’t do a whole bunch of logo designs and waste a LOT of time”

The interesting thing is this guy does photo editing so I would think he would know how painstaking creative work can be.

I know I don’t like to pay for sub standard work, so I totally get the appeal and maybe even the need especially for new businesses before a track record and portfolio is built.

EWFB never works on spec, but we do have a “you’ll be happy with it” guarantee that has bitten us in the butt from time to time.

So… what do you think?
Do you think it’s ok to ask for work to be done and only pay if you use it? If so what sort of conditions do you think are fair? And do YOU offer to do work on spec?
Let us know in the comments below! And bring your friends to join the conversation by sharing this post.

Firstly where NOT to get web images.

Google images or just “off the web”. You need to have the rights to use any images on your website or blog. Taking an image off someone elses site can result in huge bills. Getty Images own a LOT of images and they just send you a letter with an invoice if you are found to have used their image.

So, where DO you get Legal Images?

The safest way is to use stock photo sites. There are a number of them and a quick Google search will give you tonnes, but my favourite is dreamstime .

They have a free section and a paid section. The free section tends to have part of photo shoots etc and be a bit limited . However, the search functionality of the site as a whole is great and I’ve always found what I’ve needed which isn’t the case for other sites. Usually I buy images though – this is my go-to site for web design images.

Here is a quick video of how to find and buy images.

You may need to turn your sound up a little to hear. I apologise for tripping over my tongue a bit too!

Tips :

• Always choose a size BIGGER than you need. The video above is 640 pixels (640px) wide, so if you wanted an image that size you’d choose the 800 pixel option not the 400 pixel option.  If you wanted am image the size of the graph in my sidebar the smallest size would be plenty.
• If you want to use the image in print as WELL as on the web you will need one of the larger sizes or you’ll end up with fuzzy printing.
• Buying more credits in one go saves you money.
• If you google an image and find one you like with a watermark on it it usually means it’s available to buy. Most watermarks have the website on them. Istock photo for instance is obvious. You can then go to the website and buy the licence.

Other options:

Flickr   This can be good if you really don’t want to pay for the image – if you are blogging often you may be looking for free options.. A lot of people share their images under creative commons licences just be sure to check the licence. Often it’s just that they want a credit and link on your site back to their flickr profile.

Take your own photos. If you took the photo than you have the rights to it. Just be sure to have the permission of anyone else in the image before you use it.

I hope this was helpful for you – let me know what you think in the comments , or tell me what is your favourite place to find images? I’d love to hear!

Steph is launching her new business (a Reiki Practice) . She is targeting largely the corporate market, so wants to present a very professional brand, but she also wants to project “happiness”.

When she contacted us at the end of April she was putting the finishing touchs to her  business card see below:

The card looked great and very professional, but we wanted to inject a bit more “happy” .  We looked at some different concepts until we settled on a coloured bubble theme that Steph loved.

The challenge was to keep the white on grey motif that she ALSO loved from the business card and incorporate it into the new concept.

Here is the result:

Main Website Design :

(click the image to go to the site)

You can see the coloured bubble theme, we picked a few colours from that and chose round social media icons so it all sits nicely together.  We used the white on grey from her business card design in the content and created the white space around so the colours weren’t too much.

Largish images on each page also brightened the site. We created a white border around some images to separate from the grey background.

The website is search engine friendly and easy to maintain with Google analytics installed. When Steph is ready to start blogging it’s waiting for her.

Mobile Optimised Website version:

The mobile version of the site is super fast to load and has mobile features like:

• Click to Call function
• Easy booking requests
• Map and directions.
• Big easy to navigate buttons
• Easy to complete forms for contact

To check how it looks on your mobile phone you can scan this QR code , or go to the reikiroom.co from your mobile phone and it will automatically redirect you.

The mobile site also has lots of invisible things to help it rank quickly on Google mobile independently of the main website.

You can also go back to the desktop version at any time if you prefer.

Facebook Business Page Design:

Of course Facebook is a fabulous marketing option for a business like this so we did matching FB cover image and a version of the hand logo designed to fit properly to facebooks specifications.

She is launching now, so click the image to go and like her page

Print Design for Flyers and Gift vouchers:

As I write this we are working on the last stage of the project. A gift certificate and flyer set. (work in progress)

NB these designs have not yet been approved and the offers in them are not available through this site / image. 

Gift Voucher (in progress)

The final version of this wont have the special offer on it, but will be otherwise very similar.

Information Flyer (in progress)

The flyer is designed to educate people as to what Reiki is and what it can do for them, while carrying through the branding from the business cards and website. We will be changing the curve on the first page and a couple of little alignment issues.

This project will be completed in the next day or so (we are just finalising the print work) and took less than 7 weeks from start to finish.

A big thank-you to Steph for agreeing to be a case study, it would be great if you could support her new business!

So, what do you think? Did you know we did whole packages like this? Do you have consistent branding across all mediums? Do you think it even matters?

We’d love to hear your thoughts ! Sound off in  the comments below.

Here are 6 key features of  Web Design for mobile:

1. Big buttons/ Icons and Navigation: 

When you are looking on a mobile device you usually use your thumb to slide or click on icons. They need to be easy to see and nice and big so they work well with a thumb one handed.

2. Clear Details and Simplified content:

Most people don’t browse the web on their mobile device –  Usually they are looking for something very specific that they want right then and there. A contact number, an address, a menu etc. Make these things VERY easy to find.

A mobile website should be very streamlined, it’s not the place to go into great detail. Quick and easy is what we are looking for.

3. Click to call/ click to email/ call back:

A nice big “click to call” button is vital to all mobile sites. As I just said one main reason customers go to a mobile website is
Of course you can also run advertising based on click to call, to find a phone number to call.  Making it super easy by having a click to call or email function increases engagement and makes it more likely they will make contact.

4. Interactive maps / directions

As well as having an address, your mobile website can utilise the GPS features of smart phones and give step by step directions to your location.

5. Keep the special effects down.