It's important for every business to install security patches in WordPress (WP), given the growing number of cyberthreats targeting businesses. Apart from defending your website from threats, patches guarantee that your business stays intact and your data remains in safe hands. But sometimes a security update can cause issues. Why does this happen, and can it be prevented? Be cautious with updates In 2017, WP issued 21 updates and 33% of these focused on security. Despite their many benefits, these updates caused some sites to crash and caused downtime related plugin incompatibilities. To take advantage of updates without experiencing any drawbacks, our technicians shared the following tips: Check plugin compatibility A typical WP site has anywhere from 10 to 50 plugins installed that enable additional functionality. Some are supported by developers who constantly update these plugins while others are not. For a fully functional website, always choose plugins that are backed by certified development teams, and be wary of error-prone free plugins. We know how difficult it is to designate a portion of your business expenses on improving your site, but in the long run, you’ll realize that relying on free plugins will generate more website crashes than website leads. Choose how you update Every time WP releases a new version, you get a notification in the dashboard. There, you are given an option to select a manual or automatic one-click update. Consider the effect of ... [Read More]
How to Leverage Social Media for your Business
Do you, as a new or even a very experienced business owner, know how to take advantage of social media exposure, especially if no one has any idea what your new business is all about? The truth is, this is one of the best uses of social media that I can think of. Even you can succeed with social media, even if you have what could be perceived as a small, newbie brand. Read on to learn more. #1 Prove you’re an expert It’s important to know everything there is about your product/brand, and often it's a good idea to know even everything beyond it. According to PR firm founder Heather DeSantis of Publicity For Good, one needs to “transition from being a business owner and someone selling a product to a thought leader. You have to have actionable tips that other small-business owners can take action on”. #2 Establish profiles on major social media sites Take time to figure out which social media sites your target customers frequent. Then set up pages or profiles on those sites -- and post content regularly, at least once a week. To post to multiple social media platforms at a time, consider using a service such as Hootsuite. Once profiles are up and running, don't let them fall behind. Outdated profiles are almost as bad as nonexistent ones. #3 Create fresh, shareable content Google loves original and valuable content. By creating informative articles, people will share links to your site and you'll notice a difference in Google's search results. Just remember: Write for ... [Read More]
Deluge Launches Newly Designed Site for PayServ Payroll
In today's business world it is often easy to forget the great work that goes into keeping our small businesses running. PayServ Payroll is one of those payroll companies that do a great job to keep small and medium businesses moving along behind the scenes. About PayServ Payroll PayServ is a Rockland County, NY based payroll company that specializes in intimate relationships with small businesses providing payroll and human capital solutions for businesses with as little as one employee to even a thousand employees. At PayServ, you’re not an account number, you’re a person. They make a point of not just printing your paychecks, but knowing and anticipating your company’s payroll and accounting needs. When you enlist their services, you get dedicated account representatives who go out of their way to get to know your company and its requirements, so they can better serve you. The Challenge The Deluge Interactive Website Design and Creative team had to create a visually impressive but functional website to show off Payserv's impressive list of services and capabilities but also to attract new clients so SEO is a major focus of this project. The Work We built the website utilizing WordPress and a specialized custom theme that allows for robust SEO along with the ability to highlight important events and news about Payserv's business updates. Our team here at Deluge Interactive, a full service New Jersey based website design firm handled everything in this project ... [Read More]
Using Google Posts can Attract More Local Business
Launched in 2016 at the end of the year this new product was certainly overshadowed by the presidential election, Google Posts was originally intended to be used by the presidential candidates. In response to the extreme limitation, Google expanded the service to a number of local businesses in the same year. Here’s why it gained popularity among small- and medium-sized businesses so quickly: What are Google Posts and what can They can do for your SMB? Google Posts enable merchants to share timely, relevant updates right on Google Search and Maps. Google Posts basically allow users to communicate directly in the search results. This differs from the Knowledge Panel since you can highlight content, information, products or services. These posts can be images, videos, or even animated GIFs. You can even add inline links on the posts to drive traffic to a particular page, service or product. According to Google, this enhanced format enables searchers to hear directly from you while complementing existing search results across the web. Postings Google Posts are shown instantly and show up in search results on both mobile and desktop platforms. Whether they’re texts, images, videos, or events, you can schedule the time and duration of the post with ease. Posts are shown on the default view for the first 7 days (or when the event date the post referenced has passed), and beyond that in their historical view under the Posts tab on mobile. This is a great feature that ... [Read More]
WordPress Maintenance Checklist
WordPress is one of the most powerful blogging and content management systems (CMS) to date. Since it powers approximately 27% of all websites, there’s no room for sluggish load times, potential security vulnerabilities, or search engine delistings. To avoid these problems altogether, sticking to the following this WordPress Maintenance checklist will help. Make Frequent Backups It’s crucial that you perform a daily offsite backup of your WordPress files and database. This ensures data security in the event of a network breach or natural disaster and facilitates the resumption of your business's regular operations. Although there are plugins like BackUpWordPress that help to automate the backup process, you should still perform manual backups. It is important to find a hosting partner that offers frequent backups or even Managed WordPress Hosting. Verify your Backups Not only should you be making backups, you should also be verifying them. By doing so, you are making sure that the backed up files are going where they are supposed to, and backups are being restored. The last thing you need is a failed backup strategy on the day you need it most! Daily Security Reports If you ask any cybersecurity expert, “Is it crucial to maintain a daily network security report?” the answer will be a resounding YES. While you might not have enough time to carry out thorough inspections and create these reports yourself, you can rely on security monitoring services like Delaney Computer ... [Read More]