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3 Tips to Make Your Website Rank Better on Google
The First Page of Google – How to Improve Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
One of the most frequent questions we get is “How do I make my WordPress website better and rank higher on Google?” Today, we’ll give you 3 tips you can do in conjunction with your web developer that will help your site perform better. After all, your website is your 24/7 marketing presence!
ADA Compliance
You may be thinking that ADA Compliance laws only cover brick-and-mortar companies or getting around town and you’d be correct. While there aren’t hard-and-fast laws governing ADA compliance for the web, there are guidelines for ADA compliance.
Using a plugin such as UserWay provides WordPress sites with the option for the visually impaired and hearing impaired to find and navigate your site more easily. Often the free version provides a website with all the compliance necessary. Learn more about the free versus full-compliance option here: https://userway.org/compare.
Once the plugin is activated, work with your web developer to go through the site and make the changes necessary for compliance.
Organic Search Engine Optimization for all Your Website’s Pages
Key words, phrases, and industry catchphrases are critical to good Organic SEO. Every WordPress site has sections for meta tags, header tags, and titles that, properly completed, will increase search engine visibility. Using a plugin such as Yoast is an excellent start. Working with your web developer to find the proper key words and phrases, is the next step because often the “insider” company language doesn’t translate to what people are searching for on the web. Find out more about SEO at https://yoast.com
Update WordPress Themes and Plugins
All WordPress websites use a theme to give the site its basic structure and navigational layout. The theme is then customized to your specifications. Third-party plugins for forms, events, calendars and more are available for free or paid use. The independent developers of these themes and plugins update them on a regular basis. It’s important to check your site’s Dashboard monthly and update the plugins. Some will require additional work to keep the theme and customizations working smoothly. Your web developer can assist with this.
Contact Us today to discuss how Acorn Interactive can help your business grow.
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Google 68 Release Requires SSL Certificates for all Sites
Secure vs Not Secure Website Notifications
In July of 2018, the release of Google 68 and the new Chrome browser will require SSL Certificates for all websites or the browser will show “Not Secure” notifications. This will also affect page ranking.
What Does This Mean For My Website
Google’s new security algorithm will now require all websites to have an SSL Certificate and all URLs on all sites’ pages to redirect from http:// to https:// .
Three Things to Do To Make Your Site Secure
First, if you do not have an SSL Certificate, site visitors will see the “Not Secure” message along with a notice of “back to safety” and a warning page. This will cost your site not only page views, but also site visitors, and business.
Second, While Google doesn’t require the https://www URLs in order to be ranked within Google’s search functions, it is a big factor in how well Google ranks your site. What does this mean for your business on the web? It means that without an SSL, all your hard work with Organic and paid Search Engine Optimization (SEO) won’t have the potential to rank well and provide a profitable return on investment. This means a loss/lowering in search ranking for your site, keeping your company away from the customers you want to entice.
Third, and most importantly, make sure you get a reputable web developer to do the SSL and URL redirect work for you. It’s not as simple as activating a Certificate. Contact us for more information and to make sure your site is up-to-date.
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PCI Compliance – Deadline Moved
Organizations Using SSL and Early TLS Encryption Must Change to a secure version of TLS (currently 1.1 or Higher) by June 2018
WAKEFIELD, Mass. Following significant feedback from the global PCI community and security experts, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), a global forum for the development of payment card security standards, today announced a change to the date that organizations who process payments must migrate to TLS 1.1 encryption or higher. The previous date of June 2016 has been moved to June 2018.
The original deadline date for migration, June 2016, was included in the most recent version of the PCI Data Security Standard, version 3.1 (PCI DSS 3.1), which was published in April of 2015. The new deadline date, June 2018, will be included in the next version of the PCI Data Security Standard, which is expected in 2016.
“Early market feedback told us migration to more secure encryption would be technically simple, and it was, but in the field a lot of business issues surfaced as we continued dialog with merchants, payment processors and banks,” said Stephen Orfei, General Manager, PCI SSC. “We want merchants protected against data theft but not at the expense of turning away business, so we changed the date. The global payments ecosystem is complex, especially when you think about how much more business is done today on mobile devices around the world. If you put mobile requirements together with encryption, the SHA-1 browser upgrade and EMV in the US, that’s a lot to handle.
And it means it will take some time to get everyone up to speed. We’re working very hard with representatives from every part of the ecosystem to make sure it happens as before the bad guys break in.”
“Some payment security organizations service thousands of international customers all of whom use different SSL and TLS configurations,” said Troy Leach, Chief Technology Officer, PCI SSC. “The migration date will be changed in the updated Standard next year to accommodate those companies and their clients. Other related provisions will also change to ensure all new customers are outfitted with the most secure encryption into the future. Still, we encourage all organizations to migrate as soon as possible and remain vigilant. Staying current with software patches remains an important piece of the security puzzle.” In addition to the migration deadline date-change, the PCI Security Standards Council has updated:
A new requirement date for payment service providers to begin offering more secure TLS 1.1 or higher encryption A requirement for new implementations to be based on TLS 1.1 or higher. An exception to the deadline date for Payment Terminals, known as “POI” or Points of Interaction.
To answer questions about the migration deadline date-change and other requirement updates, the PCI Security Standards Council has recorded a webinar that includes the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which originally reported the vulnerabilities in SSL and early versions of TLS in 2014. Expert speakers from the Assessor community, who review and grade organizations on compliance with payment security requirements, are also on the webcast. In addition, a Bulletin on Migration has been created and is available for download from the PCI Security Standards Council website.
Merchants are encouraged to contact their payment processors and / or acquiring banks for detailed guidance on upgrading their ecommerce sites to the more secure encryption offered by TLS 1.1 or higher.
Contact Us today to discuss how Acorn Interactive can help your business grow.
Learn MoreProduct Management Module for Manufacturing Companies
Acorn Interactive releases new web-based software module that simplifies construction of on-line product catalogs
Solving the Problem of Managing and Updating a Large Product Catalog in a Fast-Paced Manufacturing Environment.
Product Management Module Example
Managing the content for large numbers of products online has traditionally been a challenge for manufacturers, and distributors. Especially when the product content includes multiple images, videos and downloadable brochures.
The Product Management Module streamlines the creation of web-based product catalogs for manufacturers, distributors and multi-level marketers.
The module puts you in control of your content without needing web development tools or technical knowledge.
An administrative panel allows upload of descriptions, specifications, features, multiple images, videos and downloadable brochures and other documents.
- Dynamically groups products into catagories
- Dynamically creates category overview pages
- Dynamically splits content into tabbed format so that pages remain compact, yet can contain a lot of content
- Unlimited number images per product with auto resizing and thumbnail image creation
- Supports unlimited downloadable brochures, documents, drawings
- Support multiple videos with streaming embedded video player
- We can also enable you feed the same catalog into your distributors’ websites with minimal work on their part so that you maintain control of the quality, presentation and the way your brands or products are presented to customers around the globe.
The module isn’t just limited to products. It’s also an ideal platform to present services, projects, and case studies.
Contact Us today to discuss how Acorn Interactive can help your business grow.
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