Get help with your site build solution, SEO, search ranking, content, security, and more. Our guide provides comprehensive documentation to help starters and professionals get the most from their site.
As websites must be built and managed, the numerous build solutions and variations can offer many functions to different categories of users. This can make selecting particular tools for a project treacherous. The tooling choice can either complement or contradict the return on investment (ROI) in many areas (properties). And it can be hard to strike a good balance when planning for future events, except to constantly improve along with the landscape. That’s where this document aims to help. We use it to inform customers about the options we are recommending and the ways they can best utilise their website. We also cover how getting to market quickly and learning what value your customers want can often be more important than the perfect plan.
It can be used as a reference document during the agile process or as a guide to understanding the landscape. It is designed to be helpful for editors, designers, technicians, engineers, and myself.
This information is formatted in a friendly way for users of any expertise level. If you encounter an industry term that is not properly explained or something that is unclear, please get in touch. Any such issues are considered an error with the document.
Currently under construction. Refer to the web page for the latest updates.
Any feedback is welcomed. You can find the option at the bottom of each page.
Keep in mind that choosing and managing the easiest website, or the easiest e-commerce website, can be challenging. Which is best for you?
1 - Getting started with websites
How the best website build solution can serve as a platform to leverage showcasing products and services, sharing information, and building credibility.
Having a website is crucial in today’s digital age. It provides an online presence for individuals and businesses alike, allowing them to connect with potential customers and clients from all over the world. A website serves as a platform for showcasing products and services, sharing information, and building credibility. Additionally, a website can improve brand recognition and is crucial in establishing a professional image. With the majority of consumers turning to the internet to research and purchase products, having a website is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
As tools have become ever more advanced, they have tended to work in layers. Each layer of primitives are built using combinations of previous layers. Working with the correct set of these blocks and being able to incorporate them into your workflow is now crucial. There are no correct answers. Using the best tool for your needs is great.
If what you want is a landing page and checkout, there is no need for a GUI. Plenty of great templates are freely available. That is, unless you want to frequently change the layout of the page and you don’t want to use dynamic data. Plus, paying the cost for active support by GUI web builder software is only worth it if there are multiple unplanned changes. And you need active support.
In recent years, AI intelligence has become very important. However, it works best with only a few types of content. When using frameworks and leveraging its features, users build on easy-to-use framework primitives. By selecting the primitives that best align with the needs of a project, it serves to amplify the gain from any investment. Confused? Keep reading to learn more.
Tip: **Intelligent** AI and text
Developers love text; all we do is create text files. Search engines also understand text well, or at least the easiest.
AI, which produces the most lightly next text character given some textual artifact to work with, has recently become very powerful. Utilizing the power can be as simple as using Grammarly’s generative AI to help you write documents in a compatible format or training your own domain-specific models.
Use formats that promote integration with useful technology while enabling your control over the source.
~ snowdon.dev
Create a free website today in 5 mins
Before we get started learning the best website practices, you can follow this guide to creating a website for free. This method is quite complex and can be limited when it comes to making changes, but the walkthrough will create a website exactly like this example. Keep reading to learn more about other options. Once setup, navigate to the admin panel and login. You may now change the pre-configured website details to fit your own business. Learn more about the website settings by viewing the documentation.
The next step is to register a domain, and you’re mostly done.
The tech stack used in the previous build is JamStack. It is a very good starting point. However, it requires some computing knowledge to make changes. I still recommend giving it a shot, even if you end up choosing to use another build type for your business.
This particular website template is great for a service-based business like mine and can easily be extended to have e-commerce functionality. Since it is a static website, it is very cheap to manage. The technology used is also open source and quite new, which makes it somewhat error-prone and hard to use. When using this approach, getting setup and started may take longer than five minutes if you have never used similar components. Take your time and get to know the platform you think is most appealing.
Don’t like this one? All of its features must be configured. Try creating an example site using another brand of website build solution. Many offer free packages to let you experiment. See our reviews of common brands - here.
What we cover in this documentation
As you delve deeper into the world of web development, you’ll come across complicated topics that require the expertise of a seasoned developer to navigate effectively. However, not all businesses require such complex solutions, especially those that don’t plan on heavy usage in the digital space or are exploring web development themselves. In such cases, sticking to the solution you have chosen and utilising the framework they have in place is normally the best idea. As the documentation progresses, we will cover these topics in depth, but for now, it’s important to understand that not all businesses require advanced web development solutions, and it’s perfectly fine to utilise what works best for you.
When it comes to choosing a website builder, there are a lot of options available on the market. Each website builder has its own unique features and benefits, but they all fall into a few different categories. Before diving into the specific benefits and drawbacks of each website builder, it’s important to first understand the different types that exist.
The first type of website builder is the drag-and-drop builder, which is the most common type. This builder allows users to drag and drop various elements onto a page to create their own website. The second type is the template-based builder, which provides users with pre-designed templates to choose from and customize. Finally, there’s the code-based builder, which requires users to have coding knowledge and skills to create their website.
Once you understand the different types of website builders, it’s easier to compare them. While all website builders have similar features, it’s important to compare the types to determine which one best suits your needs. For example, a drag-and-drop builder may be best for those who have no experience with coding or website design, while a code-based builder may be ideal for those who have more technical expertise. While choosing a code-based editor may limit your ability in some regards, like creating dynamic content or stepping outside of the existing framework, many services or widgets can be added to extend the capabilities of a domain, regardless of which type was chosen.
To show an example of extending beyond the first-class properties of a build solution, a website created with a GUI builder with many tailor-designed pages can still link to a shop made with WordPress. But now both ends require configuration when anything changes. It may be best to tailor everything if the number of changes is low; otherwise, a custom-developed solution to handle bulk changes in a custom manner would better handle the requirements. This often means a custom developed solution or a framework like WordPress is a better fit for larger businesses. When businesses want solutions that are completely robust, they often prefer a typed language. Using a different language, like C# or Rust to provide the content management system can have major benefits but also some drawbacks. This is one of the reasons that has kept WordPress adoption high.
The various types of website builders cater to a wide range of users, who may have different goals and levels of expertise. Some website builder consumers may prefer to use the builder types and create their own website to achieve a functional and attractive online presence, while others may choose to outsource the task to a professional to ensure a high-quality end result. Regardless of the approach taken, the vast range of website builders available on the market today makes it easier than ever to create a website that meets your specific needs.
After comparing the types of website builders, it’s important to consider the unique benefits and drawbacks of each individual website builder. By doing so, you can determine which one is the best fit for your business’s needs. Some website builders may be better suited for e-commerce sites, while others may be better for creating portfolios or personal blogs. Some enable users to quickly create templates and then add content to those templates. Other solutions allow templates to be generated from combinations of varient information.
To sum up, this documentation will provide a comprehensive overview of the various types of website builders and their respective benefits and drawbacks. Armed with this knowledge, you can confidently select the website builder that best aligns with your business needs. By making an informed decision, you can save time, money, and frustration while achieving a functional and visually appealing online presence. To select the best tools that fit the domain of your project and enable your investment to be leveraged throughout its lifespan, you must understand the content that will be added. And by using the correct build solution, benefits can be gained in many areas of a business—areas that extend way beyond the scope of your initial ideal website.
2 - Internet Security: Modern business practices
Modern security practices for marketers: understanding and managing the risks. Learn the techniques of black-hat hackers and white-hat security professionals.
Before moving on to advanced topics, editing and learning about the great selection of tools that are available. If you are new to the online world or are looking for a refresher with security (as everyone is, the Information Commissioners Office is included as well, as of 2024), this is the guide for you. Learn the various ways to stay safe online and bookmark this page to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and security topics.
When creating websites, and even when using our secure editor software, it can be dangerous. The internet poses serious risks for those out of touch. Learn about the ways that hackers and scammers will attempt to use when attacking you.
2.1 - Applications: Programs pose various serious security risks
Learn about the ways applications can compromise your security in more ways than simply being scammed or hacked. We also cover advise on modern operating systems.
How can applications pose security risks?
Applications, when executed, are given permission to run what is called application code within the kernel of your operating system. This grants the application creator the ability to do most anything that the user of the system can. There have been some attempts at implementing restrictive rules. However, while they are effective at some critical attack vectors, they fall well short of stopping the problem. Often, attack vectors that are prevented by those systems are themselves defeated when some other legacy method requires the mechanism to be disabled.
There are also major use-case discrepancies when it comes to programs. Meaning when the average user is using something, the program is not intended for that particular use. It’s an industry tool designed for very stringent conditions.
The restrictive controls issued by modern companies, namely Apple, serve to create a more secure platform. However, the abilities of the programs that users can use are also heavily restricted. Many programs require you to not use the Apple Store and its secure ecosystem. It has also served to stop any development from happening on the parts of the operating system outside of the application ecosystem, which have received few updates for over 10 years. For Apple Macs, this applies only to the desktop. As the mobile operating systems are completely Apple operating systems, containing all the modern components. Still, jailbreaking Apple devices from their restrictions, has proven trivial.
Android has a more open platform and operates more like desktop computers. They also implement their own restrictive controls, which are said to be more visable than Apples. I am not a Android user.
Chromebooks, on the other hand, are somewhat different since there are no user applications, at least without disabling many restrictions. This makes them somewhat secure against this attack vector. However, there are other vectors, like the Webp incident.
Without taking into account any actual intent of being malicious, other means can pose a security risk. A factor that is amplified by the conditions imposed on programs by stringent requirements. Often, maintainers of the program source code can take a direction that encompasses something that was outside your initial threat analysis. In addition, these changes are often hard to pick out as being relevant during the chaos of the day-to-day. This makes reading any terms of service a critical part of managing providers, which people often overlook. Given the monopolistic current state of the economy (as of 2024), this lack of ability to migrate to other suitable competitors poses a serious security risk for a large percentage of the population. This issue may abate with time with the passage of patents (I don’t know; as a developer, I’m told to never read patents, but there’s a 20-year limit); however, (whats a patent) the current major monopolistic players exert lots of control over the policies that will dictate the architecture of the systems we are developing.
What are the consequences of the security risks?
In short, to completely own a target user. And once a target user has been infected, it is often trivial to escalate to other users on the system or network. Again, methods have been implemented that have addressed the issues to some extent, but the solutions themselves have created more complexity. Complexity rarely improves things and often makes it much worse for some subsets of users.
Once a computer has been infected, the damage can be quite severe. However, it depends on the computer that has been infected and the virus or person that infected it.
The methods to improve the issues have created systems where another factor must be used to authenticate.
This means that often, to perform small grade account hacking or to escalate privileges while already owning some devices of a target, the second factor also needs to be compromised. This has lead to multibillion-pound black (many of them will be legal companies given only an obligation to do what’s reasonable, many lightly won’t be) market industries that are collecting data about us as you read this document. This data serves to help the assailants should they gain access to your devices via some automated campaign to find susceptible devices. Assuming completly good intent on the part of any companies, their data being hacked is still a large concern. If you are as old as me, type your email into haveibeenpwned.
2.2 - Downloads: How different files can be harmful
Understanding how various file types can be dangerous to download. Learn how you can prevent your self from any viruses.
What makes a file dangerous
Files can be dangerous in many ways. Recently, we have seen more high-profile cases of non-executable files being exploited. There has been a number, but the one with the highest profile was Webp. Webp is a modern file format built to replace the older JPEG standard; however, there was a major bug that allowed arbitrary code execution on a target device. This was a very critical security flaw, and it was lucky to have been found by researchers who reported the issue. This type of issue is rare and is a stark reminder to keep your application up-to-date and ensure you have continued security support.
While with the webp bug, malicious images could perform arbitrary code execution, but this attack vector is often exploited from a much simpler angle. By getting a user to open an executable program. This means the program and the code contained within will be executed on the system running it. If the code is malicious, then running it will be dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. How can you tell? Well its very hard and time consuming to examine a program. Some programs are easier than other to examine. It is never good to execute something you do not trust.
Each system has various files that can be executed. Windows has the .exe; Apple Mac does not have the same type of executable; they have more secure apps. However, on Mac, you can also install other forms of binary applications if you want to bypass the app store. These other forms of binary, too, can be dangerous. Most desktop operating systems also allow other programmes to be installed, which allows users to run other programs. These programs, too, have custom file extensions like .py and can be dangerous to open. In the case of .py, it will be opened by the Python interpreter. Python is a scripting language that’s installed by default on many desktop operating systems and powers lots of great applications.
How can dangerous files be prevented
The safest way to prevent dangerous files is to never download them. If you never have them, then there is no way to mis-click and open something that you don’t intend to.
Understanding the file format you open
Before downloading or accessing any file via any medium, you must first find the file extension. Sometimes operating systems don’t show you the extension directly, and you must instruct it to show the full file name. When the full file name is not displayed, the extension can be found in the extension file column of the file explorer.
When opening a file on a desktop computer, you should understand all of the programs that can open the file format. When clicking on a file, the computer looks at the extension (that part at the end, like somefile.txt is a txt file). It then opens that file with the application installed as the default for the given file extension. For example, on Microsoft Windows, when you open a .exe file Windows will run that with the builtin exec function. This means that running a .exe file is something that should only be done if you trust the program you are running.
On Apple mobile systems, instead of opening a file with an application, you must send the file from one application to another. Either directly or by explicitly giving it the application permission to access a file.
Safe ways to execute files
You can also isolate the user and file system that you are giving access to execute within. To isolate, you can run any program on a dedicated user or within a virtual machine. This can give some form of security, however it is not impossible to hack out of a virtual machine. And many programs require using super user permissions, which removes lots of protections.
2.3 - Hyperlinks: Protecting Yourself from Scammers
Networking Attack Vectors and Hyperlink Exploits: Understanding can go a long way in preventing you from falling prey to scams. Learn to handle your applications and hyperlinks like a pro.
When it comes to protecting yourself from scammers, it’s important to understand the various networking attack vectors that they may use. One common way scammers try to exploit their victims is through the use of hyperlinks. While there is a low probability of getting exploited by the invocation of a hyperlink executing malicious code on any intermediate services, it’s still important to be cautious. When receiving any message, it has proven to be risky, with many exploits completely owning target devices. I mean sending a message literally, not in some strange technical sense; people have been hacked when receiving text messages.
It is very important to keep your applications up-to-date with any security patches and ensure that you have continued security support. Applications here mean any logic, your operating system, firmware, hardware, or any apps you have installed.
What is the meaning of a dangerous hyperlink?
Hyperlinks can serve a variety of purposes. They can enrich text with a call to action or link (and resolve) to content on the internet. While these are simple use cases, there are many potential options and mechanisms available. Dangerous hyperlinks are those that are intended to harm, as such links can be as simple as a tailored message for overpriced products.
There are other, more complex attack vectors. For example, when opening a website in a web browser, the website page is given control to execute various scripts and HTTP requests. This allows a malicious website to make requests to third-party origins. While most requests to third parties cause no harm, it is the responsibility of the website owner to implement appropriate security mechanisms to prevent any cross-site request forgery.
You can find example code showing this behaviour written in Python. To run this code, start both the client.py and server.py servers (via python server.py & ; python client.py). Then open the URL http://localhost:8080, which is a web page served from the server server. Then open URL http://localhost:8081, the client server, that makes a request to the server (using sandbox execution) that contains the cookies set by the server.
The first party authority can restrict its cookies by setting attributes upon page load, For example, SameSite=Strict. A fully secured example is as follows:
The SameSite attribute, along with the Secure and Path attributes, further restricts the cookie to being sent during the HTTP (not sandbox) lifecycle and only being sent on requests for a particular argument (path) of the website.
importtimefromhttp.serverimportBaseHTTPRequestHandler,HTTPServerfromhttpimportcookieshostName="localhost"serverPort=8081classMyServer(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):defdo_GET(self):self.send_response(200)self.send_header("Content-type","text/html")self.end_headers()self.wfile.write(bytes("<html><head></head><body><script>const run = async () => {const response = await fetch('http://localhost:8080', {credentials: 'include'}); const text = await response.text(); debugger}; run()</script><img src=\"http://localhost:8080\" /></body></html>","utf-8"))if__name__=="__main__":webServer=HTTPServer((hostName,serverPort),MyServer)print("Server started http://%s:%s"%(hostName,serverPort))try:webServer.serve_forever()exceptKeyboardInterrupt:passwebServer.server_close()print("Server stopped.")
importtimefromhttp.serverimportBaseHTTPRequestHandler,HTTPServerfromhttpimportcookieshostName="localhost"serverPort=8080classMyServer(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):defdo_GET(self):self.send_response(200)self.send_header("Content-type","text/html")cookie=cookies.SimpleCookie()cookie['a_cookie']="Cookie_Value"cookie['b_cookie']="Cookie_Value2"print("hello: "+self.path)print(self.headers.get('Cookie'))formorselincookie.values():self.send_header("Set-Cookie",morsel.OutputString())self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin","*")self.end_headers()self.wfile.write(bytes("<html><head><title>Test Server</title></head><body></body></html","utf-8"))if__name__=="__main__":webServer=HTTPServer((hostName,serverPort),MyServer)print("Server started http://%s:%s"%(hostName,serverPort))try:webServer.serve_forever()exceptKeyboardInterrupt:passwebServer.server_close()print("Server stopped.")
As of July 2024, by default third-party websites can still send fully authenticated requests to arbitrary third parties using the sandbox execution request lifecyle. Although mechanisms like Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) and SameSite (cookies) have been added to address some parts of this issue - by allowing the target resource to specify if they permit the request origin to make requests - the fullly authenticated request can still be made via the default laxSameSite cookies attribute. Adding to the complexity, the fetch API defaults to prevent any credential leaks, but can include them if the target adheres to CORS. On the other hand, source requests (such as those from an <img> element) do make authenticated requests by default. Update 14/Aug/2024 Google are currently leading improving implementations with the Private Network Access Secure Contexts, Chrome 0.0.0.0 bug, Safari WebKit 0.0.0.0 bug and Firefox 0.0.0.0 bug. However, all current solutions put the access in the hands of the applications servers.
What is a hyperlink?
Hyperlinks definition
What are hyperlinks? A hyperlink is an element of a user interface that is enriched by a link to a URL. There are multiple types of hyperlinks in web browsers and HTML clients. Email clients have fewer types of elements and now have some controls, but both contain the most common ones.
The official definition of a hyperlink goes:
an electronic link providing direct access from one distinctively marked place in a hypertext or hypermedia document to another in the same or a different document
~ merriam-webster
What are some common Hyperlinks?
Both of the elements mentioned below do not show the URL that will be resolved without some interaction on the user’s part. One thing to notice about many hyperlinks is that they have an interface in the browser where you can see more information.
For example, right-click an anchor (your traditional hyperlink) or an image to see custom options.
Common elements (written in HTML code) of types of hyperlinks:
The image element loads and displays an image in the client. Images may be invisible, with the purpose being to track you instead of showing a picture. Some links, like an image element, resolve the URL before any user interaction. With web browsers, the HTTP response for a web page document controls the policies that allow a page to make further cross origin requests. This works by marking HTTP responses with headers.
<imgclass="fit-picture"src="/media/cc0-images/grapefruit-slice-332-332.jpg"alt="Grapefruit slice atop a pile of other slices"/>
The anchor element is your typical call to action, which, when clicked, navigates to a URL. It may also open an application that has been registered as the default for the scheme of the URL. Specified in the href attribute of an anchor tag, href="https://linkhere.com".
<ahref="https://example.com">Website</a>
The website can also declare if the text content within their window should be parsed and enriched with hyperlinks when a format has been detected. This means that any text that starts with https:// prefix will automatically link to the resource that it specifies. It also works with other formats so there is no need to prefix phone numbers and email addresses with the tel: and mailto: scheme. Using format detection any phone number or email address will also gain a browser-controlled right-click interface automatically.
What is a URL?
In short, a URL identifies a resource.
In a typical URL, there are a few components to be aware of. Let’s take a look at the example link: https://marketeer.snowdon.dev.
Info: Scheme of a URL (Uniform Resource Locators)
Notice the https:// denoting a protocol or scheme, the https part specifies the scheme, and :// separates a scheme from an authority.
Schemes are used as a link to an application; however, applications can be either installed or native on the device. Any installed third-party applications may register their own scheme on a device.
Info: The authority or domain of a URL
Full domain or authority:
The authority includes all the domains under an eTLD or TLD; it is the full domain name after any protocol.
Sub domain of an authority:
Notice marketeer.snowdon.dev denoting an authority; it’s a subdomain of a domain registered to a single person or organization. A subdomain (marketeer) is the child of its parent (snowdon.dev).
However, it is within the discretion of the parent to allow persons or organisations to use subdomains.
Effective domains (eTLD):
Often, you may see a business with the address as a child of another business.
For example, example.web.app, example is a child of the .web organisation, and .web is a child of the .app organization.
Owners of TLDs are typically registered bodies within a country, or of companies operating under terms of ICANN.
For example, .co.uk or .uk is managed by Nominet.uk
The term eTLD stands for “effective top-level domain” and is a domain under which domains can be registered by a single organisation.
The definition of eTLD may also include marketeer.snowdon.dev, but, since snowdon.dev is not a publicly registrable domain. The eTLD is instead its parent snowdon.dev. Any domains under the eTLD should be managed by the same umbrella; Sub domains cannot have sub domains, any such domain would still be under the snowdon.dev umbrella.
Example of children of an eTLD include: hosting.snowdon.dev, www.hosting.snowdon.dev, marketeer.snowdon.dev, www.marketeer.snowdon.dev and many more.
The address of a URL
The authority or full domain is an important part of the URL. The part that controls the equivalent of a physical address for a postal service.
How the URL is resolved
The scheme is also important, as it’s the part of the URL that indicates how the identified resource will be acted upon. When a URL is executed, control is given to the domain eTLD owner to resolve the resource specified by the URL. In the case of an HTTPS request for a website, the contents are displayed in the browser.
Warning: Zero encryption
HTTP (the insecure version of HTTPS) is another scheme that a hyperlink may specify. When the target URL is executed with the HTTP protocol, the TCP request will have zero encryption.
A critical attack vector that’s out of the scope of this article. Use HTTP only if you understand the risks.
Using URLs in applications
Not all parts of a URL are required; for example, in a web browser, the only required part is the full domain (authority); by default, any request will also default to using the HTTPS protocol and the port number 443. This turns a request for marketeer.snowdon.dev into https://marketeer.snowdon.dev:443.
The authority is also not the full resource locator that clients (the navigator in the case of a web browser) will use to scope their interaction. The full origin of a URL includes a port number that specifies an application on an authority’s application server. Many people overlook the port number because web browsers automatically connect to an application’s default port (443) if it’s not explicitly specified. However, when determining the scope of a website’s origin, the browser must include the port number. This is necessary because servers can host multiple HTTP server applications on a single application server. This means that https://marketeer.snowdon.dev:445 and https://marketeer.snowdon.dev:446 are separate origins. The term origin therefore includes the domain. authority, protocol, and scheme.
Arguments or resources of an origin
URLs also have directories, pages, and arguments. Take a look at the URL, notice one URL takes another as an argument. The first authority domain is vscode.dev and the argument is my CV. If you open that link and have authorization, you can open the source files of my cv in the vscode.dev editor application.
As an example of why it is important to trust the authority domain, URLs (with HTTPS) are used to request a resource, but they may also redirect to another URL. Many operating systems and browsers offer zero notification when a website has directed the browser’s window away from a first-party (first-authority) domain. A mechanic that is used in many legitimate application flows. Sometimes with authorization. Redirects may even be transparent to the primary user flow. Redirecting back to any expected page without the user being aware.
What happens when I share a hyperlink?
Browser windows can also share hyperlinks in a browser-controlled interface, in contrast to opening a browser-controlled interface for a hyperlink. The navigator (browser) will allow prompts given transient activation, an event within the origin. This means that websites can use JavaScript to invoke the share menu for any URL. It’s important to note that share prompt dialogues do not provide a completely browser-controlled interface, as the user agent has the ability to modify some of the contents.
You download the latest copy of a website and execute it. There is nothing to say if the page is malicious or their webpage (code) doesn’t look identical to your banks.
Tip: validate before executing
When presented with any context displaying enriched media, some parts remain trusted. For web browsers, the browser-controlled user interfaces (urlbar, hover, right click) will display the canonical URL of any hyperlink. Ensure you validate the context (source) and the hyperlink. Is every link on Google trusted? No.
When a hyperlink to a website is executed, there are many attack surfaces to be aware of. First, the type of execution determines the attack surface: have you clicked a hyperlink and navigated to the website it serves via HTTPS, or has the link opened a FTP client instead? When a page loads, it can request other assets, like an image, which are loaded and embedded on the page by either a first-party or third-party authority.
This area has been problematic in the past because browser controls have to balance protections for the website, any third parties, and the user. To take an example of the image element, by default, a first party can’t read the contents of a third party’s website but can embed them. That makes sense; you want to be able to include images on a site without the site being able to modify them.
However, since HTTP requests can set cookies, they can also be used to track users across websites. Many browsers are now implementing features to prevent tracking across the web, but since any requests must still be made with TCP, any complete out-of-the-box default implementation for the internet remains something of the future.
With loading websites, there are multiple important stages in its life cycle:
Escalations of information permission responsibilities.
Still, using a browser is much safer than downloading desktop applications. Web browsers run any code within a sandbox, similar to more modern mobile operating systems.
Most scamming techniques involve tricking a user into believing false information. Operating within the capabilities of the browser’s sandbox, scammers must find ways to exploit your behaviour.
Security issues where criminals can successfully leverage remote code execution exploits are rare. The browser is at least secure with the latest software updates applied.
On an iPhone, when long-touching a hyperlink, it may open the website. Any such window opens you up to all the attack surfaces. In fact, tools exist that can control a browser window owned by a website remotely.
Let’s look at the process of ascertaining if a link is from the purported source. First, you must have downloaded the link from a source. Check if your current context is valid. Second, you must validate any further links (calls to action).
I’m not currently aware of an acceptable way to confirm a link in many contexts on the iPhone. If you touch a hyperlink and drag, you get a preview of the link, which displays the target URL. However, this leads to the risk of making a long-press gesture and opening a preview window by accident, or tapping and opening the hyperlink.
It is worth noting that your computer software and any extensions installed on an application (like Chrome extensions or Safari extensions) may also compromise the web browser window. If you have any installed, they too may alter the contents and must be trusted.
Usually, for websites, the protocol is HTTPS or HTTP (its unsecured version). Addressing web pages requires one of these two, but browsers also know how to handle other schemes, such as mailto: (to open a mail client), so don’t be surprised if you see other protocols.
How can I protect myself from hyperlinks?
Understanding contact points
Interacting with a hyperlink is a complicated proposition. When an email is downloaded by a mail client and you open it, they are both points of execution of code. Interactions happen at all points, but for example, when opening an email, it must be displayed, and you may make a remote network request to display an image. Scrolling content into view on some applications may also make a remote network request for the title of a website page.
Reduce information exposure
When making network requests, you may prevent the exposure of your internet protocol address by using a remote machine to proxy those requests. Common tools are available, like trusted VPN software.
Trust your contacts
When you see a hyperlink or something that contains a hyperlink, be cautious. Don’t just click one for the sake of it if you don’t trust them. Even websites that are legitimate from a technical perspective may not be from a business or moral one. I have heard reports of websites being used as a means of farming human validation tests to bypass security measures on other websites. Selling your act of validating your human as a product to monetise. Often, these enterprises must steal to offer products good enough to attract visitors.
Validate hyperlinks are owned by who you expect
First, validate that the link is to a target URL that you expect and trust. Next, it’s important to validate that the target URL is owned by who you expect. The aim is to view the canonical target URL of any hyperlink and not the text sequence that has been enriched.
On desktop, simply hover on them with a mouse to see any tooltip in the bottom left or right click.
Validate the information source
Warning: tooltip in different contexts
A tooltip from a website may not be safe since it’s controlled by the UI (user interface) within its window. In your email client, the HTML is more restrictive and doesn’t give the email sender the ability to control a hyperlink tooltip (or right click). In email, text is not trusted; the tooltip is.
Tip: After opening - valid sources of the canonical target URL
The URL bar is at the top or bottom of browsers. Or in your browser history.
Tip: Before opening - valid sources of the canonical target URL
A hyperlink is a button that refers to a target. The browser processes a particular piece of data called the canonical target URL. But that is not necessarily the text that a user sees.
On desktop, hover, right click
On touch, long press with: disabled preview windows
When validating a hyperlink or URL, the canonical target URL may only be displayed as metadata hidden behind some interaction. Be careful to trust the tooltip or source of information you are using. Especially any used to showcase an eTLD.
How are sources valid or not valid?
Tip: Some control is delegated to a user
Formats like HTML or subsets of HTML allow various levels of control to the sender of the document.
In an email, the sender may control the text, which is enriched as a hyperlink. Since they can use a subset of HTML, however, they cannot control the tooltip within an email client.
When using parts of a client (email, website, social media feed, messages) outside of its sandbox, they can still be trusted regardless of the user content within.
In a web browser, for example, the url bar and a right-click menu always remain in control of the browser (browser-controlled interface). When interacting with some visual element within the browser’s window, like a hyperlink embedded on a web page, you may be presented with a browser-controlled interface or a website-controlled interface. Sometimes an extra click must be issued to open the browser-controlled right-click interface instead of a webpage-controlled right-click interface.
Websites, on the other hand, may control any element within its window using the full HTML standard. That’s why we must opt to use other methods to view hyperlink metadata.
Reduce the number of risks
Once a hyperlink has been displayed on a device, the risk increases if it is interacted with. More so on a touch-screen device. Simply touching any hyperlink can fully execute a website. Hovering on the desktop works great, but I personally do not like the features here in the iOS world.
Plan: Have a public device for reading messages from untrusted sources.
Reuse: Store your trusted sources and refer back to them.
Filter: Use mail clients with good junk detection.
Caution: Approach any untrusted link with caution.
Separate: Have separated public contact points (like mine, hello@snowdon.dev).
Obscure: Use hidden email addresses for non-public-facing services.
Limit: Use private windows to open any less trusted websites.
Protect: Hide your IP address using a VPN.
Remember you are human
Tip: be prepared
What happens if you make a mistake or get unlucky? Keeping healthy digital storage habits can help with any mitigation and peace of mind. I am referring to methods like backups or using two-factor authentication.
Humans will make mistakes. No person in the world can tell me they haven’t misclicked a link.
Add further protections
Given the many potential vulnerabilities, it’s important to take steps to protect yourself from scammers. This might include being cautious about clicking on links from unknown sources, reading about issues, using anti-virus software, using only minimal attack surfaces, and preventing any automatic local requests.
How can disabling preview windows help?
On the iPhone or other mobile operating systems You may disable Preview Windows to enable a method of viewing the target URL within the context of a browser-controlled user interface (UI), but this currently leaves the risk of accidentally using the feature by leaving it on. However, with them disabled, users may simply long-touch to view the canonical target URL.
What we need is an approved list of websites; however, this has privacy downsides, storage costs, and considerable challenges in managing such a list.
How can disabling automatic remote content loading help?
When some applications see a hyperlink or an image, they will resolve the link to determine information about it. Many applications use this method to display a picture or the title and description. Any network request to a server will expose the IP address of the calling device. In some cases, attacks may be trivial.
For example, sending an email to a victim and getting their IP address, then starting a denial-of-service attack to overflow their available network traffic, stopping them from accessing the internet.
By disabling the option to load remote content, you can ensure you are not loading anything you didn’t expect. Often, this feature is used with email, where messages aren’t necessarily from trusted sources.
Safety through understanding
Every application can manage its context and how it handles any hyperlinks it receives. To explain how only some contexts are vulnerable, you must first understand how applications commonly handle links. Some applications would simply display text as a sequence of characters, which is perfectly safe. Other applications detect that some sequence of characters is a hyperlink and will enrich the visual element to indicate that it has become a call to action. Herein lies the issue, as such a link may be dangerous.
How does social media stack up?
Some people consider social media websites to be more secure in certain regards. Many don’t allow user control of any logic on users’ devices. From my tests, instead of getting the website meta information on the clients end like other applications, popular social media networks now serve their content from their own CDN. Which stops the sender of the message from being able to perform networking fingerprints. I have tested this with Facebook and LinkedIn, and they are using the CDN. However, it is worth noting that not all social media applications will serve their content from their own servers and instead will serve content from the original source website. If you would like a review of all the popular websites, please email me.
Since a website that is receiving HTTP requests can use that information for insights like impressions, hits, and video play time estimates, it is not known which option is the best. And it is very much up to the user.
How does Email stack up?
HTML email hyperlinks, in contrast to social media, give the sender of an email access to a restricted version of HTML. HTML allows control over the enrichment of the content shown to the user. Often, this method has been used to show hyperlinks that purport to link to a legitimate website while actually linking to a website owned by the hacker. Another important point with email clients is that, by default, they allow the sender to invoke network calls as soon as an email has been opened.
How do chat applications stack up?
Many chat applications allow network requests, like social media. But they do not provide a way to control how content is enriched. However, there are many features that are complicated enough to cause issues in the future. I’m looking at you, Emoji.
For example, a user can send another user a URL, which can then be parsed from the side of the user who receives the message. The receiving application uses information from open graph and HTML meta data to create a card relevant to the URL.
While Apple has recently implemented a guard to ensure users invoke any network call, the features to control this are still very much lacking.
How do other applications stack up?
Hyperlinks in PDF format
Many applications support a concept like hyperlinks. A PDF can have links that can lead to a hyperlink, a place in a document, or a file on the device.
Conclusion
Please leave feedback or get in contact if you would like more details, videos, or pictures.
3 - Learn about website properties
Website Build Solution: When looking for the best solution, it’s a good idea to compare its properties and your use cases.
When it comes to building a website for your business, there are a plethora of options available on the market. From website builders to content management systems, the choices can be overwhelming. However, it’s important to take into account both the website builder and business scalability properties to make the best choice.
In this section, we defined website build solution properties as ease of use, cost, and customisation options. On the other hand, business scalability properties refer to the ability of a website to grow and adapt to changing business needs, such as increased traffic or new functionality requirements.
To choose the best solution for your business, it’s important to consider both sets of properties. For instance, if your business is just starting out and doesn’t require complex functionality, a website builder with a simple interface and low cost might be the best choice. However, if you’re planning for growth and expansion, a more scalable solution, such as a CMS, might be a better fit.
It’s important to note that the best solution for your business might not always be the most popular or trendy one. For instance, a website builder that’s popular among small businesses might not be the best choice for a business that’s looking to scale rapidly.
Ultimately, the key is to choose a solution that meets both your immediate needs and long-term goals. By taking into account both website builder and business scalability properties, you can make an informed decision that sets your business up for success.
3.1 - Website Business Properties -- Learn more
Taking a look at each of the properties that website build solutions provide for businesses.
Here, properties are defined as those of a website build solution such that any effect is felt by the business. Instead of the properties of the build solution that allow the business to manage websites.
For example, a solution with a robust business property is of zero value if a new design is to be created. In that case, a solution with reliability and value may be best. However, as per the development and robustness properties, your design changes may not affect your solution properties. So, if your future changes are predictable, you may benefit from a robust solution.
3.1.1 - Reliability: Website business properties
Why Reliability is Key for Your Website’s Success In today’s digital age
In this section, we will explore the properties of reliability.
Common Causes of Website Downtime:
Server issues: Problems with your web hosting provider’s servers can cause your website to go down or become slow. This can happen due to hardware failure, software issues, or overload.
Third-party integrations: If your website relies on third-party services, such as payment gateways or social media platforms, any issues with those services can affect your website’s performance.
Cyberattacks: Hackers can target websites to disrupt their operations, steal sensitive data, or deface the site. 4. Software updates: Updating your website’s software is essential for security and functionality, but it can also introduce bugs and compatibility issues that can cause downtime.
Response: Issues are sometimes unavoidable, being able to respond effectively can increase customer strength.
What makes a reliable website build solution:
Utility cost: Ensure utility costs are low. Serving only necessary features in responses to web page requests.
Monitor infrastructure: Monitoring tools track uptime and aid response if it goes down.
Conduct regular maintenance: Keep your website’s software up to date, perform regular backups, and conduct security audits to prevent cyberattacks.
Test website performance: Regularly test performance, speed, and user experience to identify and fix any issues.
Have a plan in place: Developed plan for responding to issues, including communicating with customers, identifying the cause of the issue, and resolving it as quickly as possible.
Availability: Can the service be accessed globally and will it remain up if part of country goes down.
Information: Is the information and tools accessible to users, can they share it, or rely on your website to retain the information they value.
Why reliability is important
Your website needs to be reliable to ensure your business’s success. A reliable website is one that is available, responsive, and functional at all times.
When your website is down or not functioning properly, it can have a significant impact on your business. It can result in lost revenue, damage to your brand reputation, and frustrates customers. For example, if your e-commerce website goes down during a busy shopping season, you could lose out on a lot of sales and potentially lose customers to competitors.
In addition to these immediate consequences, unreliable websites can also have long-term effects. Google and other search engines take website reliability into account when ranking websites in search results. If your website is frequently down or slow, it can negatively impact your search engine rankings and make it harder for potential customers to find you online.
3.1.2 - Robust: Website business properties
Robust investment - Best Practices for Long-Term Success When Building a Website
A website that is built to last can save time, money, and boost credibility.
In this article, we will discuss some of the best properties of website build solutions that can stand the test of time.
Right Technology Stack
Choosing the right technologies for any use case is the most important factor in building a website that can last for years. Always choose a platform that is reliable, scalable, and flexible. WordPress, for example, is a popular and reliable platform that provides a wide range of features for admin users and extension options. It is essential to select a technology that can adapt to both current and future needs.
Responsive Design
No matter your business, industry trends are often initiated by multi billion dollar entities. While any solution may meet the requirements now, but when the technological landscape continues to mature, will the your solution still meet the new requirements. If not, you must migrate to a new framework or suffer from being left behind by competitors.
Focus on Security
Security should be a top priority when building a website. A secure website not only protects your data but also ensures that your website visitors’ information is safe. Security not just at digital level but across the providers which enable your business functions.
In practice security is achieved through reducing the footprint through which any security related incident may occur. Often websites using a framework like Wordpress have many functionalities which aren’t used. Any such functions unnecessarily increase the security footprint and the requirements.
Optimize for Speed
Website load time is a crucial factor in user experience. A slow website can lead to a higher bounce rate and lower user engagement. Optimizing your website for speed involves minimizing the size of files, using a reliable web host, caching content and ensuring quick execution times. A fast website can result in higher search rankings and better user experience.
Speed has many terms, migration friendly content in particular has major benefit to certain use cases. When creating a website you must take into account the changes which will happen in the future. This will save time having to migrate your content when having to change any providers.
Another important term is trade-offs, often one can trade-off one factor in favour of another. For smaller websites it may be prudent to favour hosting storage instead of increasing solution complexity. The pay-off in implementation cost savings may outweigh those of maintaining a computationally efficient implementation. With robust software any efficiency gains may be easily configured once necessary.
Support migration friendly technologies
Migration friendly technologies pay dividends when a requirement change is outside of the initial design. The correct technologies prevent any small changes, to one a single part, from requiring the entire system to be re-designed. Generally any such technologies also enable benefits primitives, such as being able to re use greater portions of content in multiple websites.
Future-Proof Your Design
Technology is continuously evolving, and it is essential to design your website with the future in mind. Once you have a rock solid understanding of what your business domain model, you may take steps to ensure that your website design is scalable and adaptable to future changes. Keep in mind that you may need to add new features, functionality, change the design in the future or move to another provider. By building your website with flexibility in mind, you can avoid costly redesigns in the future.
What makes a solution robust?
Requirements met: After the initial cost the functionality is sufficient
Meets system change: As things change, does the solution. Will the solution require change in the future?
Migration: If you need to can the bulk of the content be moved to another framework.
Sustainability: will your solution preform under all the conditions it could be subjected to.
Why is Robustness important
Robustness in technology is an essential feature that ensures the sustainability, scalability, and adaptability of any solution. In the ever-changing landscape of technology, requirements are bound to change, and that is where robust solutions come into play. Robust solutions can efficiently and effectively accommodate any new demand without much development work.
So why is robustness important? For starters, it ensures that the solution can continue to function as intended even in the face of unforeseen changes. This means that the solution can adapt to new requirements without requiring significant changes, which saves time and resources.
Moreover, robust solutions are designed to be sustainable, meaning they can continue to operate effectively for extended periods without any significant issues. This ensures that the solution can meet the needs of the user for an extended period, without the need for frequent maintenance or updates.
Robustness is also crucial for scalability. As the user base of a solution grows, the solution needs to be able to handle the increased traffic and demand. Robust solutions can handle this increased demand without any significant issues, ensuring that the user experience remains seamless and uninterrupted.
Another benefit of robust solutions is their ability to integrate seamlessly with other platforms. Due to the complicated nature of technology, integration can be a challenging and time-consuming process. However, robust solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with other platforms without requiring any significant development work. This ensures that the solution can work in conjunction with other solutions, making it more effective and efficient.
In conclusion, robustness is a critical aspect of any technology solution. It ensures that the solution can adapt to new requirements, operate effectively for extended periods, handle increased demand, and integrate seamlessly with other platforms. By prioritizing robustness, you can ensure that your technology solution is sustainable, scalable, and adaptable.
3.1.3 - Editors: Website business properties
Editorial staff - Why User Experience Matters for Your Content Team
When it comes to building a website, the focus is often on creating an attractive, user-friendly design that appeals to visitors. However, it is equally important to consider the needs of your content team, who will be responsible for creating and publishing content on your website. If your website is not editor-friendly, your content team will struggle to perform their job efficiently, which can have a negative impact on your business. In this article, we will discuss why user experience matters for your content team and offer tips for designing an editor-friendly website.
Challenges faced by content teams
Content teams face several challenges when it comes to managing and publishing content on a website. One of the biggest challenges is the complexity of content management systems (CMS) and publishing tools. Many CMS are designed for developers and require technical knowledge to operate, making it difficult for content editors to use them. This leads to a slow and frustrating editing process, which can decrease productivity.
Another challenge is the lack of flexibility in publishing tools. Many websites have a fixed layout, which makes it difficult to create unique content that stands out. This can lead to generic and unengaging content that fails to capture the attention of visitors.
Why user experience matters for your content team
Creating an editor-friendly website can have a positive impact on your content team’s productivity and job satisfaction. A well-designed CMS and publishing tools can make it easier for content editors to create and publish content, reducing the time it takes to complete tasks and increasing productivity. This allows your content team to focus on creating high-quality content rather than struggling with complex software.
An editor-friendly website can also improve the quality of your content. With a flexible layout and easy-to-use publishing tools, your content team can create unique and engaging content that stands out from the competition. This can lead to increased visitor engagement and higher conversion rates.
Tips for choosing an editor-friendly website
When designing an editor-friendly website, it is important to consider the needs of your content team. Here are some tips to get you started:
Choose a user-friendly CMS: Look for a CMS that is designed with content editors in mind. It should be easy to use and require minimal technical knowledge for its users.
Use a flexible layout: A flexible layout allows your content team to create unique content that stands out and engages visitors. With UI based editors this can be done with a drag and drop style, but often lacks in the ability to reuse any templates a user creates. However, using code based interfaces business are better able to produce and reuse templates.
Provide easy-to-use publishing tools: Your publishing tools should be intuitive and easy to use, allowing your content team to publish content quickly and efficiently. This needs to take into account the type of content one is producing. Is someone is creating content for displaying a graphics showcase, it may be better to use a GUI to get the visual flair, since the work is focused on only a few pages.
Test your website: Before launching your website, test it with your content team to ensure that it meets their needs and is easy to use.
Conclusion
Creating an editor-friendly website is essential for the success of your content team. By choosing a user-friendly CMS, using a flexible layout, and providing easy-to-use publishing tools, you can improve your content team’s productivity and job satisfaction. This can lead to higher quality content, increased visitor engagement, and higher conversion rates.
3.1.4 - Value: Website business properties
Business Value - Looking at the Properties Available When Evaluating Options.
In this article, we’ll explore how to maximise the value properties of your website by identifying and prioritising the most important capabilities and features, and measuring its performance and ROI.
By going through the documentation contained on this website, you will be able to identify the most important capabilities and features for your business needs. This will enable you to choose a solution that has the most value for the investment you make. We believe that by having the right knowledge at your disposal, you will be better equipped to make an informed decision that will benefit your business in the long run.
The first step in ensuring that your website meets your business needs is to identify what those needs are. Consider what your goals and objectives are for your website - are you looking to generate leads, increase sales, or simply provide information? Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, you can begin to identify the capabilities and features that will help you achieve them.
When it comes to prioritising these capabilities and features, it’s important to focus on those that will have the greatest impact on your business. This might include things like a user-friendly interface, a clear call-to-action, or high-quality content that is optimised for search engines. By prioritising these key elements, you can ensure that your website is delivering the maximum value to your business and your users.
Of course, it’s not enough to simply implement these capabilities and features - you also need to measure their performance and ROI. This can be done through a variety of metrics, such as website traffic, conversion rates, and customer engagement. By regularly tracking these metrics, you can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions about how to optimise your website for success.
In conclusion, maximising the value of your website requires a strategic approach that focuses on identifying and prioritising the most important capabilities and features, and measuring its performance and ROI. By taking these steps, you can ensure that your website is delivering real value to your business and your users, and driving the results you need to succeed.
3.1.5 - Development: Website business properties
Bespoke Development - The development property requires technical experts to work directly with web standards.
When building a website, there are many options available to you, from using a website builder to hiring a professional web developer. While website builders have come a long way in recent years, there are still some situations where a technical expert may be necessary to develop custom solutions for your website.
Other builders (discussed in this documentation) will not include any features. These builders will require an expert developer to provide this content as an artifact which is used by the builder. Builders of this type can be extended at any time, however the content management system may only use the features which are enabled.
In this article, we will explore these scenarios and offer tips for finding and working with a development partner.
Complex Integrations
If you need to integrate your website with third-party applications or services, a technical expert may be necessary. For example, if you want to integrate your website with a CRM system or payment gateway, a developer may be required to ensure a seamless flow of data between the two systems. A technical expert can also work with APIs to create custom integrations that are not available out-of-the-box.
Custom Functionality
If you need specific functionality that is not offered by your website builder, a technical expert can help. For example, if you want to create a custom booking system or a custom search function, a developer can create the necessary code to make it happen. A skilled developer can also review your existing codebase to identify areas for improvement and create custom solutions that are tailored to your business needs.
Tips for Finding and Working with a Development Partner
When looking for a development partner, it’s important to find someone who has experience working with similar technologies. This ensures that they are familiar with the platform and can create custom solutions that integrate seamlessly. You should also look for a developer with a portfolio of work that demonstrates their expertise and experience.
When working with a developer, communication is key. Be clear about your goals and expectations, and ask for regular progress updates. You should also establish a clear timeline for the project and discuss the cost upfront to avoid any surprises later on.
Conclusion
While website builders offer a lot of functionality out-of-the-box, there are still situations where a technical expert may be necessary to develop custom solutions. When looking for a development partner, it’s important to find someone with experience working with your website builder or CMS, and to establish clear communication and expectations from the outset. By working with a skilled developer, you can create a website that is truly tailored to your business needs.
3.2 - Website solution properties
Solution Properties of Websites: Here we review the properties that the various website build solutions can provide.
While website build solutions offer different benefits, there are also drawbacks to consider. As business properties are related to some effect on the business, solution properties have some affect on the business properties. When selecting a build solution with certain solution properties, they influence the business properties.
When, for example, a business never plans to achieve massive scale, there is no need to account for this in the solution properties. A solution may have low scalability properties, but that does not affect its business reliability. Or a website operating in the UK may only need to support a maximum of 10 million visitors, not 1 billion.
Additionally, choosing a build solution grants users the ability to work within its framework. The features and direction of the solution dictate the moves that can be made. That does not always mean that the current framework is permanent. As many frameworks operate on built-in web standards, this allows you to easily move or change direction when you are creating something new. Other frameworks move in the direction of a usecase or cause. While generic frameworks try not to impose any first-party constraints, only those imposed on the solution by the current landscape.
A major landscape constraint is the operating systems and applications that are used to access web content. The companies that control those components exert a lot of influence over the landscape and its direction. When selecting a solution, it pays to incorporate this complicated factor. To distribute an online game, it may be necessary to rely on Google or Apple owned software components to make that work. But there is no such imposition on e-books, they can work just fine with even old-school terminal-based browsers (shout out to Lynx).
Solution Properties of Websites - Here we review the properties the the various different website build solutions.
While website builders offer a range of customisation options, they are often limited compared to what’s available in custom-designed websites. This may make it difficult to create a truly unique website that stands out from the competition. Builders have their features and marketplaces, which give many options to users. However, any applications may be lacking features or active developer support. Custom developed features are designed to requirements. But do not include anything outside of those requirements. This means many typical features may not be available. Some Web builders do not offer the native ability to reuse development work as efficiently as traditional developers would write code. Plus, Web builder functionality can have excess features that bloat the experience for your users. Website builder functionality is the same as other websites, which may be good or bad.
3.2.2 - Templates: website solution properties
Here we Review The Properties Of Templates - Templates are the reusable components of your website frontend.
While templates offer a great starting point, they may not be suitable for every website. This can be especially problematic for those who need a website with specific functionality or design requirements.
Web builders have taken great leaps recently, and artificial intelligence has helped. AI templates and features often still require expert validation.
Some templates can change without limitation, other templates will only allow changes within their programmable logic.
Whether purchasing, developing or renting a template builder. The need to produce a design and create an artefact is still necessary. Each option comes with its drawbacks and benefits. The artefact you produce may look the same to the user, but the business properties differ.
When building a solution, some templates need to execute logic or interpolate data from a data source. Custom builds have many tools chosen to produce the myriad of formats needed for broad exposure on all device formats. Complex applications require multiple formats to be at maximum efficiency everywhere they are used. Correct solutions often acknowledge this fact by developing to reuse the artifact in multiple contexts, where using native formats provide no further required functionality.
For example, often mobile applications don’t need custom native development. The features of the website format suffice for all applicable mobile operating systems. In cases where a few extra capabilities are required, it’s often effective to reuse your website content in a mobile operating system wrapper application. Instead of investing in developing many different native mobile application formats.
One of the biggest advantages of using a website builder is cost-effectiveness.
One of the biggest advantages of using a website builder is cost-effectiveness. Hiring a web designer or developer to create a website from scratch can be an expensive proposition, especially for small businesses and individuals. However, website builders offer free plans or affordable pricing tiers, making it easy to create a website on a budget. Additionally, website builders often come with all the necessary functionality pre-configured, so there’s no need to set up similar configurations. However, it’s important to consider if the costs are upfront or spread out, if the cost of migrating content to other platforms is higher than the cost of more robust solutions, and if you’re paying for surplus features that you may not need.
3.2.4 - Scalability: Website solution properties
Scalability Properties of Website Build Solutions - Here we review how solutions can effect your operations.
Website builders may not be suitable for businesses that plan to scale quickly or have complex website requirements. As your website grows, you may encounter many limitations. Some solutions become obsolete or difficult to manage.
Many subjects are discussed in length within the Architecture section. However, other aspects of scalability impedance can be found in solutions where the architecture choice is handled by a provider. Many of these come in the form of violating some properties, either in the business section or this section.
Many web builders now offer complete scalability in many of there products, pricing depending. It is worth checking all of your services to make sure they can provide the utilities your business requires.
While service reliability is important, other scalability factors include handling your components in a manner which accounts for certin types of issues, or by a plan to address any fault in service reliability. Or when providing the right controls to allow a business with large sizes. The number services that can be provided is endless. Most things you could want in a webite or SaaS platform can be done at some cost, and so will exist.
Here we review how website build solutions are more time efficient that other solutions for particular usecases.
Another advantage of using a website builder is time efficiency. Website builders allow you to create a website quickly and efficiently, without the need for custom design work or coding. This is especially important for small businesses and individuals who need to get their websites up and running quickly. However, it’s important to consider if your requirements will hold up once running. If you’re willing to abandon the work and pivot to a solution meeting any new requirements. If you can produce an initial result on your own within the time frame, and if any re-designs or exploration will cause you to change your established brand identity.
3.2.6 - User Friendly: Website solution properties
Here we view how website build solutions may have different approaches to giving users an friendly experience for their use case .
Website builders are designed to be user-friendly, even for those without technical expertise. Most website builders offer drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-designed templates, making it easy to create a small professional-looking website with minimal effort. However, it’s important to consider if all the members of your team can use the parts of the application they need without concurrency issues, if the underlying formats are understandable by the users if the users can use the software interface effectively, and if once the software or designs are created, the users can utilize them at a greatly reduced cost.
Here we review how the support differ when looking at developers vs website builders.
Most website builders offer technical support to help users troubleshoot any issues they may encounter. This is especially important for those without technical expertise who may run into problems during the website-building process. However, it’s important to consider if expert developers can offer correct solutions and advise on the entire range of the digital landscape. Most website builders can offer great support within their systems only. Developers on the other hand require paying wages or hiring freelancers.
3.2.8 - Licences: Website solution properties
Review of licence properties - How your software licence choices effect development.
Open source
Open source software is a term used to describe software whose source code is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. Open source software has become increasingly popular over the years, and it has a number of unique properties that set it apart from proprietary software.
One of the most significant properties of open source software is that it is free. Anyone can download and use open source software without having to pay any fees or royalties. This means that individuals and organizations can save a considerable amount of money on software development and licensing costs.
Another property of open source software is that it is customisable. Because the source code is freely available, developers can modify the software to suit their specific needs. This means that organizations can create custom software solutions that are tailored to their specific requirements.
Open source software also tends to be more secure than proprietary software. Because the source code is available for inspection, it is easier for developers to identify and fix security vulnerabilities. This means that open source software is often more secure than proprietary software, which may contain hidden vulnerabilities that are only discovered after a security breach has occurred.
However, there are also some legal issues associated with open source software. For example, some open source licenses require that any derivative works be released under the same license. This means that organizations that use open source software may be required to release their modifications as open source software as well. This can be problematic for organizations that want to keep their software proprietary.
Another potential issue with open source software is that it may be less reliable than proprietary software. Because open source software is often developed by a community of volunteers, there may be fewer resources available for testing and quality assurance. This means that open source software may be more prone to bugs and errors.
Despite these potential drawbacks, open source software has a number of significant benefits. For organizations looking to save money on software development and licensing costs, open source software can be a great solution. And for developers looking to create custom software solutions, open source software provides a high degree of flexibility and customisation.
Open source code is the modern railway, necessary since many software systems communicate with other systems. Other systems build on top of client systems. therefore, the code used in such systems may be worked on my multiples collaborating entities concurrently. As systems must must exchange information with all other systems, it becomes beneficial for these core components to be release with very open licences. Open licenses encourage usage and promote the robustness property, since own code you use.
3.3 - Website Business Types
Review of business types that are available when thinking about the feasibility of build solutions.
When it comes to building a website, there are a variety of website builders available that cater to different types of businesses. In this section, we’ll explore how to choose the right website builder for your business, whether you’re a small business or a medium-sized enterprise.
Small Business
For small businesses, it’s important to choose a website builder that is user-friendly and affordable. Small business owners may not have the budget to outsource website development to an expert, so a DIY approach is often the best option. Look for a website builder that offers a range of templates and customisation options, as well as built-in SEO tools to help your website rank well in search engine results. Examples of website builders that are suitable for small businesses include Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly.
Small Business: A Hands-On Approach
If you’re a small business owner who is comfortable with experimentation, you can take a hands-on approach to website building. With a user-friendly website builder, you can experiment with different design elements, layouts, and content to find the approach that works best for your brand.
Small Business: Expert Outsourcing
If you’re a small business owner who prefers to outsource website development to an expert, look for a website builder that offers professional design services. Some website builders offer design services at an additional cost, while others partner with third-party agencies to provide design services.
Medium Business
For medium-sized businesses, it’s important to choose a website builder that offers more advanced features and customisation options. Medium-sized businesses may have a larger budget to work with, so outsourcing website development to an expert is also an option. Look for a website builder that offers e-commerce features, such as the ability to add a shopping cart, accept payments, and manage orders. Examples of website builders that are suitable for medium-sized businesses include Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento.
Medium Business: A Hands-on Approach
If you’re a medium-sized business owner who is comfortable with experimentation, you can take a hands-on approach to website building. Look for a website builder that offers more advanced customisation options, such as the ability to add custom code and integrations. With a more flexible website builder, you can experiment with different design elements, integrations, and features to find the approach that works best for your brand.
Medium Business - Expert Outsourcing
If you’re a medium-sized business owner who prefers to outsource website development to an expert, look for a website builder that offers professional design and development services. Some website builders offer design and development services at an additional cost, while others partner with third-party agencies to provide these services.
Conclusion
In conclusion, choosing the right website builder for your business depends on a variety of factors, including budget, technical expertise, and customisation needs. Whether you prefer a hands-on approach or prefer to outsource website development to an expert, there are website builders available that cater to businesses of all sizes and types. By considering your specific needs and requirements, you can choose a website builder that helps you create a professional-looking website that reflects your brand.
4 - Learn about website solution types
Review Abstract Types of Website Build Solutions - When choosing a builder the best option assists with expertise only where you benefit.
For those with domain expertise in other fields, the technical skills needed to create a website from scratch may be burdensome. This is where website builders come in handy. With website builders, anyone can modify a website without any coding knowledge.
There are different types of website builders available, including GUI to website, GUI to code, developer to website, and developer to code. In this section, we will explore the top website builder categories and help you choose the one that suits your needs.
Each website build solution can be categorized into one of the types we list in this section. All of which cater to different user bases. You are encouraged to sign up for the platforms and experiment. Many are free. A domain may have many subdomains, so multiple websites are encouraged if the features complement your primary location. You don’t want your users to be unable to find some information, and increased searches may even be a false positive within analytics data. Since users endlessly searching for a piece of information will serve only to frustrate, while also appearing to improve key analytics metrics. Statistics like page engagement, and page views may need to be complemented with other metrics to give a correct assessment of any improvements. Your website navigation should be consistent, and link to all your locations to ensure a user can always find their way back to a section.
Best pick by Business Types
Hands-on non-technical admin
When starting a website, if you are able to easily add or discard features, then asking the user what changes they want is a viable option. A great property to have when responding to demand is key to running a successful website. That’s why GUI apps are so popular nowadays, those without computing domain knowledge can make great websites that work just as well as professionals. GUI to website types offers user draw-like ability, while others offer a more static approach of allowing change via forms. It’s worth noting that most if not all GUI builders will offer code extension abilities.
Expert outsourcing
Professionals, on the other hand, anticipate change and integrate with solutions that are perfect for the requirements. With this approach, future content and feature changes must be accounted for in the design requirements to allow non-technical users to modify website content. When businesses require applications with a large and complex domain model, using a website builder that allows partial source code modification can often be successful. An approach that combines GUI to website with developer-to-code types. Type combinations give a complete set of pre-packaged features and allow custom developer magic.
Once armed with the knowledge of our common properties, users can make an informed decision about a particular website build solution.
4.1 - GUI to Website: Type
The Benefits of a GUI for Building a Functional Website - they offer a great way to build fantastic website and explore the options and your customers needs.
When it comes to building a website, having a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) can make all the difference. A GUI allows users to build a functional website without having to write code or navigate complex software. Here are some of the benefits of using a GUI to build a functional website:
User-Friendly Interface: Building a website can be a daunting task, especially for those without technical expertise. A GUI provides a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy to create and customize your website. With a GUI, users can drag and drop elements onto a canvas to create their website, making the process of building a website more accessible to a wider audience.
Faster Development Time: Building a website from scratch can be time-consuming, especially if you’re not familiar with coding. A GUI can help speed up the development process by providing pre-designed templates and elements that can be easily customized. With a GUI, users can quickly create a functional website in a fraction of the time it would take to build one from scratch.
Consistent Design: A GUI provides a consistent design across your website, ensuring that all elements are uniform and cohesive. This is important for creating a professional-looking website that reflects your brand and message. With a GUI, users can choose from a range of templates and elements that are designed to work together seamlessly, ensuring a consistent look and feel throughout the website.
Easy Customisation: While templates provide a great starting point, users will likely want to customize their website to make it unique. A GUI provides a range of customisation options, such as the ability to change colors, fonts, and layouts. With a GUI, users can easily customize their website without having to write any code.
WYSIWYG Editing: With a GUI, users can see what their website will look like in real-time as they make changes. This is known as WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing and allows users to make changes to their website without having to constantly switch back and forth between editing and preview modes.
In conclusion, a GUI provides a range of benefits when it comes to building a functional website. It provides a user-friendly interface, faster development time, consistent design, easy customisation, and WYSIWYG editing. By using a GUI to build your website, you can create a professional-looking website that reflects your brand and message without having to write any code.
Pros
Cost-effective
For experimental websites, or fits existing templates well
User-friendly
The easiest
Time-efficient
Very quick, locks you into a platform
Technical Support
available at cost
Cons
Limited Customisation
Some features aren’t available, don’t fit requirements
Template Limitations
Only what is supported
Limited SEO Capabilities
Supported but requires knowledge, normally also sold by the provider
Limited Scalability
Dependant on builder, most can offer very high scalability
4.2 - GUI to Code - Website type
The Benefits of a GUI for Building a Code Artefact - it allows for much faster development of user interfaces.
When it comes to building a website, there are two primary approaches: writing the code from scratch or using a graphical user interface (GUI) to build the website visually. While both methods have their advantages, there are some significant benefits to using a GUI to build a website code instead of building the website itself.
One of the most significant benefits of using a GUI to build a website code is that it allows for much greater flexibility and control over the final product. With a GUI, you can easily drag and drop different elements onto your website, move them around, and adjust their size and position. This level of control is simply not possible when writing the code by hand, as it requires a deep understanding of web development and coding languages.
Another benefit of using a GUI to build a website code is that it can save a significant amount of time and effort. Writing code from scratch can be a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, especially if you are not an experienced developer. With a GUI, you can quickly and easily create a professional-looking website without having to spend hours writing and debugging code.
Using a GUI to build a website code can also make it much easier to collaborate with others on a web development project. Because the GUI allows you to see the website visually, it is much easier to communicate ideas and make changes in real-time. This can be particularly helpful when working with a team of developers, designers, and other stakeholders.
Finally, using a GUI to build a website code can also make it much easier to maintain and update your website over time. Because the code is generated automatically by the GUI, you can easily make changes and updates without having to worry about breaking the website or introducing errors. This can be especially helpful for businesses and organizations that need to make frequent updates to their websites to reflect changing information or promotions.
Overall, there are many benefits to using a GUI to build a website code instead of building the website itself. Whether you are a seasoned developer or just starting out, a GUI can help you create a professional-looking website quickly, easily, and with greater control and flexibility than ever before.
Pros
Cost-effective
For websites with many custom flows
User-friendly
Requires expert developers
Time-efficient
Requires expert developers
Technical Support
Requires expert developers
Cons
Limited Customisation
Requires expert developers
Template Limitations
Requires expert developers
Limited SEO Capabilities
Requires expert developers
Limited Scalability
Requires expert developers
4.3 - Developer to Website - Website type
The Benefits of a Developer for Building and Hosting a Functional Website - they offer a great tailored solution, built to the customers exact requirements.
When it comes to building a website, there are many different approaches that developers can take. Some developers may choose to focus solely on building the front-end of the website, while others may focus on the back-end or database integration. However, there are significant benefits to building an end-to-end functional website that incorporates all of these elements together.
One of the most significant benefits of building an end-to-end functional website is that it ensures a seamless user experience. When all elements of the website are designed and developed together, it ensures that the website is cohesive and that all elements work together seamlessly. This results in a website that is easy to navigate, intuitive to use, and provides a positive user experience.
Another benefit of building an end-to-end functional website is that it can help to improve website performance. When all elements of the website are designed and developed together, it ensures that the website is optimized for speed and efficiency. This can result in faster load times, improved page performance, and a more responsive website overall.
Building an end-to-end functional website also ensures that the website is scalable and can grow with the needs of the business. By incorporating all elements of the website together, it ensures that the website can be easily updated and expanded as needed. This can be especially helpful for businesses that are looking to grow and expand their online presence over time.
Finally, building an end-to-end functional website can help to improve website security. When all elements of the website are designed and developed together, it ensures that the website is secure and protected from potential vulnerabilities. This can be especially important for businesses that handle sensitive customer data or financial information.
Overall, there are many benefits to building an end-to-end functional website. By incorporating all elements of the website together, it ensures that the website is cohesive, optimized for performance, scalable, and secure. This can result in a website that provides a positive user experience, drives business growth, and helps to protect sensitive information.
Pros
Cost-effective
For hands-off usage or custom designs
User-friendly
Website artifact not owned by the copyright holder
Time-efficient
For complex or short designs
Technical Support
Included by developer
Cons
Limited Scalability
Limited or non cost-effective solution may be included by developer
Platform Lock-in
Solution may lock the business into a platform or provider
Limited customisation
Configuration options included only as requirements
4.4 - Developer to Code - Website type
The Benefits of a Developer Building to Site Code - the website is built to the customers best needs, requirements and receives a complete artefact.
Producing a code artifact is an essential step in the website development process that offers various benefits to website developers. One of the most significant advantages of producing a code artifact is the ability to decouple the provider from the source of the artifact.
Code artifacts allow website developers to create a deployable package that contains all the necessary code and resources required to run the website. This package can then be deployed to different environments, such as staging, production, or development, without worrying about the dependencies or configurations of the hosting environment. This means that the website developer can focus on the code development process and not worry about the deployment process.
The benefits a business may gain from using code artifacts instead of applications which don’t produce an artifact is the ability to control it, along with the ability to select all the parts included. Methods of data exporting and importing can be achieved without having the code, but the implementaions of applications that support such features can be very cumbersome to implement and subcepitble having to support any alternate import/export targets whivh limits the ability to onboard and maintain any targets. To allow GUI content management systems to be abke to edit a code based artifacts, many content agnostic data models have been developed. Using the best and most popular format enables you to choose from a wider range of already alternate CMSs. With an approach of using a code artifact, when a ecosystm change impacts participation levels, one can simply replace the component. For example, a franework now supports all the features of a custom implementation you have, simply replace your old with newer code. This is in stark contrast to a using a GUI web app, which upon losing customers or building a new product, no loger support the application your using and it ceases to exist.
Another benefit of code artifacts is that they enable website developers to save time and effort by automating the build and deployment process. Once the code artifact is created, it can be easily integrated into a continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline, which automates the entire build and deployment process. This automation reduces the risk of human error and ensures that the website is always up-to-date and running smoothly.
Moreover, code artifacts also enable website developers to collaborate more efficiently. By creating a deployable package, developers can share their code with other team members or external stakeholders, such as clients or vendors. This sharing of code ensures that everyone is working with the same version of the code, reducing the likelihood of errors and inconsistencies.
In conclusion, producing a code artifact is an essential step in the website development process that offers numerous benefits to website developers. From enabling efficient collaboration to automating the build and deployment process, code artifacts are an indispensable tool for modern website development. By embracing code artifacts, website developers can streamline their development process and focus on what really matters - creating high-quality websites that meet the needs of their clients.
Pros
Cost-effective
For hassle free usage, custom designs, or maximum efficiency
User-friendly
Some features are possible, but many cost or lack a great GUI
Time-efficient
Yes, can be migrated to other providers
Technical Support
Requires expert developers
Cons
Limited Customisation
Templates can be reused. Requires expert developers for updates
Template Limitations
None. Requires expert developers
Limited SEO Capabilities
None. Requires expert developers
Limited Scalability
None. Requires expert developers. Many small business will not encounter issues
Property
Value
Reliability
-
Robust
-
Editors
-
Development
-
Business type
value
small
small hands on
small expert
5 - Content Management: Listing of website solution reviews
Each build solution has potential with specific properties. In this guide you can learn which builder is best for business categories.
Some of the solutions we discuss (developer to website and GUI to website) are complete. Complete solution handle the entire website lifecycle.
Other solutions may be partial, these solutions only handle a part of the website build lifecycle. Such solutions must therefore be combined with other solutions. For example a partial solution may use a Wordpress solution as a data source.
5.1 - Decap CMS: Our review
Decap CMS is a powerful CMS that is designed to provide the components needed for businesses to create their perfect website experiences.
Decap CMS is a powerful content management system that is designed to provide a seamless experience for website owners. It offers a range of components that make it an ideal choice for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. Business must use and customise the components which DecapCMS provides to create their rich experience.
One of the key benefits of Decap CMS is its ease of use. The platform is designed with a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to manage and update website content. This means that website owners can easily add new pages, update existing content, and manage their website without any technical knowledge.
While other website builders offer complete feature sets to create an entire business package, Decap CMS takes a different approach. Decap CMS provides only the essential components needed to assemble a complete website package and does not include any business-related features. It is solely an endpoint for the website’s data display. To add other features, such as e-commerce, newsletters, or forums, users can integrate upstream services through APIs or plugins. This approach allows website owners to have more control over their website’s features and ensures that they only pay for the features they need. While it may require some additional setup, Decap CMS’s flexibility and customisation options make it a great choice for businesses looking for a tailored online presence.
Another benefit of Decap CMS is its flexibility. The platform is highly customisable, which means that website owners can tailor it to their specific needs. This includes customizing the design, functionality, and layout of their website to create a unique online presence that reflects their brand.
Another key benefit of Decap CMS is that it is a headless CMS. This means that the editor consumes content in a content-agnostic way, allowing for usability by both the content manager, editorial staff, and developers. While the editor is basic in its components, those components can be used in many ways to provide any feature the developers can produce. The developers can consume this format in any theme or web-building framework, and the content remains intact.
In addition to its ease of use and flexibility, Decap CMS is also highly secure. The platform is designed with advanced security features that protect against hacking, data breaches, and other security threats. This ensures that website owners can rest easy knowing that their website is safe and secure.
While Decap CMS is a powerful and reliable content management system, it’s important to note that some limitations do exist. While the website builder is capable of scaling it to users bases of any size, the admin uses storage providers to host the content. Each provider has its advantages and limitations. For instance, DecapCMS by default uses GIT providers, which means read authorisation on content pieces from team members must be manually assembled and can be hard to manage. Moreover, concurrent edits of documents aren’t handled and simply errors. However, if you’re okay with these limitations, Decap CMS can be an excellent option for creating a professional online presence.
Overall, Decap CMS is an excellent choice for businesses looking for a powerful and reliable content management system. With its ease of use, flexibility, and security features, it provides website owners with all the tools they need to create a professional and effective online presence.
Rate of change
Amount
Reliability
Low
Mid
Mid
5.2 - Wordpress: Our review
WordPress is a powerful CMS for businesses requiring hands-off support for the features of existing extensions.
When it comes to building a website, there are plenty of options available to choose from. One of the most popular platforms for building websites is WordPress, and it’s easy to see why. WordPress offers a plethora of customisation features that allow users to tailor their website to their exact specifications. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at some of the customisation. features that websites built with WordPress have.
How can WordPress be customised?
One of the biggest advantages of building a website with WordPress is that users can create a rich and dynamic experience without any technical knowledge. With the intuitive user interface and a vast range of plugins available, users can customize their website with just a few clicks. The WordPress administrator provides an easy-to-use dashboard that allows users to manage all aspects of their website, including adding or modifying content, changing themes, and installing plugins.
Themes
One of the most significant customisation features that WordPress offers is the ability to change the theme of your website. WordPress has thousands of themes available, both free and paid, that allow you to change the look and feel of your website with just a few clicks. With so many options to choose from, you’re sure to find a theme that fits your website’s style and purpose.
Plugins
Another customisation. feature that WordPress offers is the ability to add plugins to your website. Plugins are additional pieces of software that you can install on your website to add new functionality. For example, if you want to add a contact form to your website, you can install a plugin that will allow you to do so. WordPress has a vast library of plugins available, covering everything from SEO optimization to e-commerce functionality.
Widgets
Widgets are another customisation. feature that WordPress offers. These are small blocks of content that you can place in various locations on your website. For example, you could add a widget to display your latest blog post, or a widget to display your social media feeds. WordPress comes with several built-in widgets, and you can also install additional widgets through plugins.
Custom CSS
If you have some CSS knowledge, you can use custom CSS to further customize your WordPress website. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets, and it is a language used to describe the look and formatting of a document written in HTML. With custom CSS, you can change the color, font, size, and positioning of different elements on your website. This allows you to create a unique look and feel for your website that stands out from the rest.
What are the disadvantages of WordPress?
WordPress has a complicated infrastructure compared to static website builds, which means that the pricing for WordPress builds is typically higher. However, this higher cost is justified by the increased functionality and flexibility that WordPress provides. With WordPress, users can create a website that is tailored to their specific needs and requirements, with the ability to add features and functionality as their business grows.
What are the scaling issues with WordPress?
One issue that users may encounter when building a WordPress site is scaling. As the website grows and attracts more visitors, scaling can become a complicated issue. WordPress sites can become slow and unresponsive if not optimized correctly. However, this issue can be easily addressed by hiring a professional developer who can optimize the site’s infrastructure and ensure that it can handle increased traffic.
What are the disadvantages of the WordPress marketplace?
With an unfettered marketplace come all the standard issues. Many of the great plugins which are freely available become out-of-date. This happens because they are unable to be monetised or abandoned by the supporters in favour of another package. This makes finding correct packages a hard task, especially for non-expert developers. As who is the intended audience of the packages. Since any assessment of a package is prohibitively costly in many cases, many people can be susceptible to defaulting to trusted reputation.
Overall, building a website with WordPress offers users a powerful and flexible platform that can be easily customized and scaled to meet their needs. Despite the slightly higher price point and potential scaling issues, WordPress remains one of the most popular and effective platforms for building dynamic and engaging websites.
What Licence Does Wordpress have?
The license under which the WordPress software is released is the GPLv2 (or later) from the Free Software Foundation. A copy of the license is included with every copy of WordPress, but you can also read the text of the license here.
Part of this license outlines requirements for derivative works, such as plugins or themes. Derivatives of WordPress code inherit the GPL license.
If you modify or reuse the source code WordPress it is a derivative work. You then must distribute any such works under the same or equivalent terms.
Because changes are costly, many businesses find this licence type prohibitive. As it means that competitors are able to use your work free of charge. However, you may still create custom extensions with an arbitrary licence type, so most changes do not require any modifications to the original distribution.
Other businesses find the marketing benefits from being an active contribuitor as a positive that outweighs any negatives of helping competitors.
In conclusion, WordPress offers a wide range of customisation. features that allow you to create a website that is tailored to your needs. From themes to plugins and widgets, WordPress has something for everyone. Whether you’re building a personal blog or an e-commerce store, WordPress can help you create a website that looks and functions exactly the way you want it to.
5.3 - WooCommerce: Our review
WooCommerce is an incredibly popular e-commerce platform that offers a wide range of features to help businesses sell their products online.
WooCommerce is an incredibly popular e-commerce platform that offers a wide range of features to help businesses sell their products online. What many people don’t realize is that WooCommerce is built off of WordPress, one of the most widely used content management systems in the world.
Because WooCommerce is built off of WordPress, it has many of the same features and functionality that WordPress has, but with a focus on e-commerce. This means that businesses can take advantage of all of the great features of WordPress, like easy content management, powerful SEO tools, and a vast array of plugins and themes, while also having access to all of the e-commerce features that they need to run a successful online store.
One of the great things about WooCommerce is that it is incredibly customisable. There are thousands of different plugins and themes available that can be used to customize the look and feel of your online store, as well as to add new functionality and features. This makes it easy to create a unique and compelling online shopping experience for your customers.
Some of the key features of WooCommerce include robust inventory management tools, support for a wide range of payment gateways, customisable shipping options, and powerful tax management tools. Additionally, WooCommerce offers a wide range of reporting and analytics tools that can help businesses track their sales, monitor inventory levels, and gain insights into customer behavior. And as an extension of WordPress access to their marketplace.
What Licence Does WooCommerce have?
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses or copyleft that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general use and was originally written by Richard Stallman, the founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), for the GNU Project. The license grants the recipients of a computer program the rights of the Free Software Definition. These GPL series are all copyleft licenses, which means that any derivative work must be distributed under the same or equivalent license terms.
If you modify or reuse the source code WooCommeerce it is a derivative work. You then must distribute any such works under the same or equivalent terms.
Because changes are costly, many businesses find this licence type prohibitive. As it means that competitors are able to use your work free of charge. However, you may still create custom extensions with an arbitrary licence type, so most changes do not require any modifications to the original distribution.
Other businesses find the marketing benefits from being an active contribuitor as a positive that outweighs any negatives of helping competitors.
Conclusion
Overall, WooCommerce is a powerful and flexible e-commerce platform that offers a wide range of features and functionality available out-of-the-box. Whether you’re just starting with e-commerce or you’re looking to take your online store to the next level, WooCommerce is worth considering. And because it’s built off of WordPress, you can be sure that it’s a reliable and trustworthy platform that will help you achieve your online sales goals.
5.4 - Wix: Our review
Wix is a popular website builder that offers a range of customisation options to create websites. Aims at businesses preforming to produce professional content without any technical capabilities.
Wix is a popular website builder that offers a range of customisations options for users to create their websites. One of the key advantages of Wix is its intuitive drag-and-drop interface that allows users to easily customize their website without any coding skills.
Wix offers a complete, well-designed feature set that includes everything from templates to advanced design tools, making it a great choice for those who want to create a professional-looking website quickly and easily.
One of the standout features of Wix is its drag-and-drop UI customisations. This allows users to easily add and remove elements on their website, such as text, images, and videos, and move them around to create the perfect layout. This makes it easy to experiment with different designs and see how they look in real-time.
In addition to its drag-and-drop interface, Wix also offers a range of customisation options to allow users to tailor their website to their exact needs. This includes the ability to change colors, fonts, and backgrounds, as well as add custom widgets and apps to enhance the functionality of their website.
Wix is also great for collaboration and exploration, as it allows multiple users to work on the same website simultaneously. This can be particularly useful for teams who need to coordinate their efforts and make changes to the website in real-time.
Overall, Wix offers a powerful range of customisations options that make it a great choice for anyone looking to create a professional-looking website quickly and easily. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, collaborative features, and well-designed feature set make it a top choice for website builders of all skill levels.Customisation options of Wix.
5.5 - Shopify: Our review
If you’re a small business owner looking to set up an complete online store quickly. Shopify is a popular e-commerce solution that might be just what you need.
If you’re a small business owner looking to set up an online store, Shopify is a popular e-commerce solution that might be just what you need. With its user-friendly interface and a wide range of features, Shopify makes it easy for anyone to start selling online. However, to make the most of this platform, you need to understand its customisation options. In this article, we’ll explain how you can customise your Shopify store to suit your specific needs.
If you’re looking for all the features included in the package, Shopify’s basic plan is a good starting point. This plan includes everything you need to set up your online store, from product listings to payment processing. However, if you need more advanced features, you can upgrade to the Shopify Plus plan, which offers additional functionalities, such as API access and customisable checkout pages.
One of the most powerful tools in Shopify’s customisation arsenal is the online block editor. This tool allows you to customise your online store’s appearance and layout without any coding knowledge. You can use the drag-and-drop interface to rearrange your store’s pages, add new elements, and change the look and feel of your storefront. The online block editor is perfect for small business owners who want to make quick changes to their store’s appearance without hiring a developer.
If you need even more control over your store’s appearance and functionality, you can create a custom website theme. Shopify offers a range of free and paid themes that you can use as a starting point. However, if you have specific design requirements, you can create a completely custom theme from scratch. This requires a bit of coding knowledge, but it allows you to create a unique storefront that stands out from the competition.
Finally, if you need to integrate your Shopify store with other apps or services, you can use the API access that comes with the Shopify Plus plan. With this feature, you can connect your online store to other software solutions, such as accounting software, shipping services, and marketing platforms. This allows you to automate many of your business processes and streamline your operations.
In conclusion, Shopify offers a range of customisation options that can help you create an online store that meets your specific needs. Whether you’re looking for a simple storefront or a complex e-commerce solution, Shopify has the tools you need to succeed. With its user-friendly interface and powerful customisation options, Shopify is a great choice for small business owners who want to sell online.
6 - Website Applications: Complete Guide
Web pages can be used to serve web 2.0 code to users to provide services from spreadsheets to website builders.
6.1 - Application Types: Diffrent classes of websites for difference uses
Discover the different types of online tools and website functionalities, and learn about the advantages and disadvantages of web-to-server and web-to-local context applications. Find out how to choose the best application for your needs while prioritizing data privacy and security.
Many online tools offer features catering to a use case, and these applications may operate with different modes. It’s not immediately obvious which is which, and harder still to disambiguate them when attempting to search any results. Some common and long-standing ways have become common. To list a few:
n online - To find an online variant of a tool
n desktop application - to find a desktop application to download
n MacOs App
n Android app
…
However, these terms are becoming more dated as things evolve, with new technologies becoming available and more standardised ways of doing business are becoming evident.
Website Types
Important command types that are available to websites are as follows.
Online web-to-server
Online web-to-local context
Online web to local filesystem
Online web-to-tunnel
Each of these types offers different functionality and restrictions, and not all websites can offer all modes. The best type of application for a website is to offer all the available types. Since each type has its advantages and disadvantages, it can be good to let the user choose.
To illustrate the difference between a web-to-server and a web-to-local context type and show how it’s good to offer both types when possible. Let’s look at the process of compressing an image. It’s a task that I do just enough to care about and not enough to keep a full-fledged editor software on my computer. So I often find myself looking for an application to perform the conversion. While there are undoubtedly ways to perform such an operation using the features available on my operating system. I simply want a smaller image, so I Google for PNG compressor, I upload the file, and there you go, a smaller image. Hurrah, magic.
This method is great until you realise that you have just uploaded that picture to a server owned by a random developer. This can also be a problem when dealing with sensitive inventory or other legal requirements.
Web-to-server
With web-to-server the image is uploaded to a server, often just for the compressing of the image, but perhaps for other more malicious purposes. Instances of unwanted leaks have become commonplace in the world of generative AI prompts, with users uploading sensitive information without understanding that the terms of operating mean that any information may be used as training data. Which can cause the data to be repeated within the public domain. However, with web-to-server, it can also offer major improvements in all areas. For example, well-designed and operated websites offer service-level agreements that provide military-grade redundancy and much more.
Web-to-local context
With web-to-local context, the image compression is done in the browser sandbox. This means that the data (the image) is never transmitted to the origin domain(website). So there can be no leaks? Great, that sounds better. But it’s not all smooth sailing. Just like any website you are still using someone’s property, so it’s important to be aware of the terms of the service. In addition, using only the local context within a web browser can be much slower than using an industrial server, and runs on the electricity and computational limits of the machine executing it.
Web-to-local
Web-to-local application run on WASM and JavaScript engines within the browser to execute code, and utilise the Web Storage API to store data for next session locally.
The term local can mean multiple things:
Storing within the filesystem of the device, meaning it access the operating systems filesystem like an applicaiton (with added permissions and restrictions).
Storing within a context limited origin of the website, meaning only that website and its code can access the file storage objects.
Storing within only the current browsing session.
Conclusion
Since it can be hard to tell a type from looking at an applicaiton, you must check the applications documentation.
6.2 - Analytics: A guide from starter to hero
How businesses can effectively use analytics to provide a great base to start collecting the data needed to turn a website into an insight machine. Learn the tips for modern tools from industry experts.
What is analytics, and how does it work?
Analytics is an essential tool that every website owner should use to monitor their website’s performance. With analytics, website owners can measure the effectiveness of their online campaigns and understand how their audience interacts with their website. Analytics features provide an in-depth view of website traffic, user behavior, and demographics, which can help you make informed decisions about your website’s content and design.
One of the significant benefits of analytics, which monitors website interactions, is that it offers insights into how website traffic flows. With analytics, website owners can track the number of visitors to their website, where they come from, and how long they stay on the site. This information is critical in determining how well your website is performing and identifying areas where you can improve.
Analytics features can also help you identify your website’s most popular pages and the content that resonates best with your audience. This data can help you create more relevant and engaging content, which can attract more visitors to your website. In addition, analytics can show you which pages are not performing well, giving you an opportunity to make improvements and increase engagement.
Another significant benefit of analytics features is that they can help you understand your audience better. With analytics, you can track user behavior, such as which pages they visit most frequently, how long they stay on each page, and what actions they take on your website. This data can help you create a more personalized experience for your visitors, which can improve engagement and increase conversions.
Analytics features can also help you identify trends in user behavior, such as the devices and browsers your visitors use. This information can help you optimize your website for different devices and increase accessibility for all visitors.
Google Analytics vs. Custom Server or Code Tracking
Google Analytics is a web analytics service by Google, providing features to track and analyse website traffic. It offers pre-built reports and dashboards for insights without extensive customization. However, users can extend custom reports in various ways, subject to account limitations. On the other hand, custom server or code tracking allows for highly tailored data points. However, it’s important to note that using custom server code requires rewriting many components that established analytics software already includes. This makes it a costly implementation unless you have a critical need for highly specific and tailored data points. Google Analytics integrates with other Google services for seamless online marketing tracking. The choice between the two depends on specific needs and technical capabilities, each offering distinct advantages for tracking and analysing website activity.
How Businesses Can Effectively Use Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a powerful tool for businesses looking to improve their website’s performance and get a better understanding of their tra. In this article, we’ll discuss various ways businesses can use Google Analytics to monitor website trends, understand usability patterns, create better content, and more.
Monitoring website trends
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that businesses can use to track website traffic and gain insights into user behavior. By analysing this data, businesses can make informed decisions about their website’s design, content, and marketing strategies. Implementing Google Analytics is straightforward for many websites, often requiring only the addition of analytics scripts to begin gathering valuable information. While the default options are effective, businesses can also customise metrics and dimensions to capture specific data relevant to their goals. Some key metrics that businesses should monitor include:
Traffic sources: Google Analytics can show where visitors are coming from, such as search engines, social media, or referral sites. This information can help businesses determine which channels are driving the most traffic to their site.
Pageviews: Tracking pageviews can help businesses identify the most popular pages on their site, as well as pages that may need improvement.
Bounce rate: The bounce rate shows the percentage of visitors who leave a site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate that visitors are not finding what they are looking for on the site.
Time on site: Tracking the amount of time visitors spend on a site can help businesses determine how engaging their content is.
The crawl path: How do the users navigate your website, starting on a home page and moving to the context page? Are they skipping your calls to action or FAQs before calling you?
Number of users: Depending on how your analytics are configured, you may collect the session information of customers over long periods of time while within your website. However, more strict analytics configurations track a user’s session for only 24 hours before creating a new one. Having a low tracking period can cause your analytics data to seem less accurate because it tracks the same users multiple times if they return to the same website. But this is expected; in this case, the meaning of user now does not mean a person or device, but instead a unique device session for 24 hours.
What is NOT captured: Your website analytics do not collect all available data. For example, answer engine widgets may provide information to users without your website being able to collect any data. The impressions and engagements for the respective applets may be displayed within their own user interface. For example, with Google Business, simply Google your business while logged into your Google account to see an administration panel. To conduct a full analysis, it is best to accumulate data from many sources. For example, a user may see your business on a search engine and not perform a call to action like a phone call or website click. Even after being prompted with a rich result displaying your calls to action, this would be captured by a Google Business impression without an engagement. As your Google Business applet result displays only a summary of your information, a follow-up to an answer engine prompt by using a call to action would be a request for more information. It’s also worth noting that answer engines are becoming more capable of answering inquiries without any further call to action.
By monitoring these metrics, businesses can make data-driven decisions about their website’s design and content.
Recording Custom Data Events
Google Analytics allows businesses to track custom data events, such as button clicks, downloads, and form submissions. This information can help businesses better understand how users interact with their site. For example, tracking how many users click on a specific button can help businesses determine whether the button is effective in driving conversions.
To track custom data events, businesses can use Google Tag Manager, which allows them to add code snippets to their site without needing to modify the site’s source code. This makes it easy for businesses to track user behavior without needing to involve their development team.
You can find more information on Custom events within Google Analytics here. For example, when using custom events within Google Analytics reports, to register event parameters and display them within your dashboard, you must first register the event parameter as a custom report dimension (subject to account limits). You may find the following article helpful: [GA4] About custom dimensions and metrics, and then, to create a report, see [GA4] Overview of Google Analytics reports and [GA4] Create an overview report. Once your report has been created you must publish it to the users with access to your Google analytics property. First create a collection, which is a set of reports, see [GA4] Collection. Once saved you can mark the collection as published and it will be avaliable within as a report on the Google Analytics Website.
Understanding Usability Patterns
Google Analytics can help businesses identify usability issues on their website. For example, businesses can use the Site Search feature to see what users are searching for on their site. If users are frequently searching for a specific product or service, businesses can make sure that information is prominently featured on their site.
Another way Google Analytics can help businesses understand usability patterns is by tracking user flows. User flows show the path users take through a website, from the entry point to the exit point. By analyzing user flows, businesses can identify pages that are causing users to leave the site, as well as pages that are leading to conversions.
Improving Existing Content
Google Analytics can help businesses identify which pages on their site may need improvement. For example, businesses can use the Behavior Flow report to see which pages users are exiting from most frequently. If users frequently leave a page without completing an action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form, businesses may need to revise the page’s design or content. Integrate with methods of A-B testing to get concrete insights on the most valuable changes you are unsure of.
Additionally, analytics provides vital data for various other applications. Typically, the most important are search reports.
Creating better content
Google Analytics can also help businesses create better content. By analyzing which pages on their site are the most popular, businesses can identify topics that their audience is interested in. They can then create more content on those topics to attract additional traffic to their site.
Additionally, businesses can use Google Analytics to monitor the success of their content marketing efforts. For example, by tracking how many leads or sales a piece of content generates, businesses can determine which types of content are most effective in driving conversions.
Understanding the Success of Advertising Campaigns
Google Analytics can help businesses monitor the success of their advertising campaigns. For example, businesses can use the Campaigns feature to track how many visitors are coming to their site from specific advertising channels, such as Google Ads or social media ads.
Additionally, businesses can use the Multi-Channel Funnels report to see how different advertising channels are contributing to conversions. This information can help businesses determine which channels are most effective in driving conversions and adjust their advertising strategies accordingly.
Monitoring advertising campaigns
In addition to monitoring the success of advertising campaigns, Google Analytics can also help businesses monitor their advertising spend. For example, businesses can use the cost analysis report to see how much they are spending on each advertising channel and determine whether their advertising budget is being used effectively.
Monitoring the social referral graph
Google Analytics can help businesses track how their content is being shared on social media. For example, businesses can use the referral report to see how many visitors are coming to their site from specific social media channels, such as Facebook or Twitter.
Understanding Users
Finally, Google Analytics can help businesses understand their audience better. For example, businesses can use the Demographics and Interests reports to see data on their audience’s age, gender, and interests. This information can help businesses create content that is tailored to their audience’s preferences.
Maximizing Marketing Impact with Data Analytics: Strategies and Insights
Data analytics is a critical tool for modern marketers to understand their audience and improve their marketing strategies. However, once you have set up your analytics solution, it’s essential to know how to get insights from it. In this article, we will discuss various strategies and insights to maximize your marketing impact.
Understanding the sources of your website
Understanding where your website traffic is coming from is critical to creating an effective marketing strategy. By analyzing your traffic sources, you can determine which channels are driving the most traffic to your website. You can then focus your efforts on these channels to maximize your marketing impact. You can use tools like Google Analytics to analyze your website traffic sources and get insights into how users are finding your site.
Targeting the correct sources
Once you have identified your website traffic sources, the next step is to target the correct sources. You can use data analytics to determine which channels are driving the most conversions and focus your efforts on these channels. For example, if you find that most of your conversions come from organic search, you can optimize your SEO strategy to improve your search rankings.
Understanding your users and their demographics
Knowing your audience’s demographic information is essential to creating an effective marketing strategy. By understanding your audience’s age, gender, location, and interests, you can create targeted campaigns that resonate with them. You can use tools like Google Analytics to get insights into your audience’s demographics and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
Understanding users’ behavior
Understanding how users behave on your website is critical to creating an effective marketing strategy. By analyzing user behavior, you can determine which pages are driving the most engagement and optimize them for conversions. You can use tools like heat maps and session replays to get insights into user behavior and improve your website’s user experience.
Optimizing your users’ flow through to the sale
Once users are on your website, it’s essential to optimize their flow through to the sale. By analyzing your website’s user flow, you can determine which pages are causing users to drop off and optimize them for conversions. You can use tools like A/B testing to experiment with different designs and messaging to improve your conversion rate.
Understanding what you can get from your analytics solution
It’s essential to understand what you can get from your analytics solution to maximize its potential. While graphs and tools provide valuable insights into your audience and marketing campaigns, they can only take you so far. You need to understand the limitations of your analytics solution and supplement it with custom tags and data points.
Adding custom tags and data points
Adding custom tags and data points to your analytics solution gives you the ability to write custom queries and get more insights into your audience and marketing campaigns. You can use languages like BigQuery to process large data sets and produce charts and other data points that can help you make informed marketing decisions.
Ensuring all your sources and campaigns are correctly attributable?
Attribution is critical to understanding the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. With the demise of third-party cookies, it’s essential to ensure that all your sources and campaigns are correctly attributable. You can use tools like Google Tag Manager to track user behavior and ensure that all your sources and campaigns are correctly attributed.
Define what information you want to collect, identify what conversions you expect from any given campaign, and determine which report type to collect. The final output is one or both of the two report types: event-level reports and summary reports.
Custom event templates
Page helpful event
By adding a simple button to your website, such as the one below, you can create a powerful tool for gathering feedback to improve your content. While there are other methods for collecting feedback, such as user surveys or AI chat agents, an unobtrusive button allows for unbiased feedback without requiring the user to exert any effort.
In addition to gathering simple feedback, a feedback button can also prompt users to provide additional information or participate in a supplementary survey. This added functionality allows you to gather more detailed insights and opinions from your users, enabling you to make more informed decisions and improvements to your website or content. By leveraging the feedback button for supplementary interactions, you can enhance the depth of feedback and engagement with your audience, leading to a better understanding of their needs and preferences.
Info:
How is this data useful?
When you have a lot of documentation, and not enough time to update it all, you can use the “was this page helpful?” feedback data to help you decide which pages to prioritize. In general, start with the pages with a lot of pageviews and low ratings. “Low ratings” in this context means the pages where users are clicking No — the page wasn’t helpful — more often than Yes — the page was helpful. You can also study your highly-rated pages to develop hypotheses around why your users find them helpful.
In general, you can develop more certainty around what patterns your users find helpful or unhelpful if you introduce isolated changes in your documentation whenever possible. For example, suppose that you find a tutorial that no longer matches the product. You update the instructions, check back in a month, and the score has improved. You now have a correlation between up-to-date instructions and higher ratings. Or, suppose you study your highly-rated pages and discover that they all start with code samples. You find 10 other pages with their code samples at the bottom, move the samples to the top, and discover that each page’s score has improved. Since this was the only change you introduced on each page, it’s more reasonable to believe that your users find code samples at the top of pages helpful. The scientific method, applied to technical writing, in other words!
As of 2024 G4A does use first party cookies. This means google can track users across your domain using an identifier which they control the expiry date of. Since 2019 the default setting has been to only use first party cookies.
Does Google Analytics 4 (GA4) support the Privacy Sandbox?
Yes, Google Analytics cookies are first-party cookies, which means they can operate after the implementation of the so-called cookie-less advertising technology. Check out their notice here.
Are Google Analytics server-side events better?
They can be. For example, to ensure event integrity, or with regards to the privacy sandbox, it allows operating without third-party cookies. However, this analytics solution hides the analytics scripts behind the first party to prevent sending PPI to third parties via user TCP requests. Since 2019, web browsers have defaulted to using first-party cookies. However, enabling server-side events does give you access to more data within the Google Analytics ecosystem. This may be a major benefit only for small use cases. The extra data that is captured are events that did not originate from a browser window. On top of the negatives, client-side events must be configured by a developer, and that comes with implementation and utility costs. Since the events coming from users using a browser window are the important ones, it often makes no sense to incur any cost for data about robots using your website. You already have server logs. It can also help reduce client-side loading times by simply not serving a whole analytics distribution. Another reason may be to track access to resources that don’t have a browser window to execute any analytics software.
What are Google Analytics server-side events?
It is tracking your users using a first-party proxy and sending only the required data to any third-party trackers. In this case, Google Analytics.
Who is Google Analytics Server Side Events For?
Large businesses that are already incurring many of the costs, or someone who wants reports on the robots browsing their website.
In conclusion, analytics features are a must-have for any website owner who wants to understand their audience better and improve their website’s performance. With analytics, you can gain insights into website traffic, user behavior, and demographics, which can help you make informed decisions about your website’s content and design. By leveraging the power of analytics, you can create a more engaging and personalized experience for your visitors, which can lead to increased engagement, conversions, and revenue.
By following these strategies and insights, you can maximize your marketing impact with data analytics. Understanding your audience, optimizing your website, and tracking your campaigns’ effectiveness are just a few of the many ways that data analytics can help you improve your marketing strategy.
6.3 - Applications: a guide on the many possibilities
Websites can be used to provide users with any type of application.
Custom applications are designed to meet your unique business requirements. This means that you can create applications that do exactly what you need them to do. For example, you can create an application that allows your customers to book appointments, purchase products, or submit support requests. By creating custom applications, you can streamline your business processes and improve the customer experience.
Custom applications can also provide you with valuable insights into your business. For example, you can track customer behavior and preferences, which can help you make informed decisions about your products and services. You can also track sales data, which can help you identify trends and opportunities for growth. By leveraging the insights provided by custom applications, you can optimize your business processes and improve your overall performance.
Creating custom applications may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. There are many tools and platforms available that make application development accessible to non-technical users. For example, low-code platforms allow you to create custom applications without writing any code. These platforms provide drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-built components, making it easy to create applications quickly and easily.
You don’t have to stand alone, many business provide services to support your application. Just how they would as a widget on a web page, a service can be invoked from any application.
The number of these services are far too numerous to list, just google whatever you desire. For example: printing cards API. Another option may be. Example: printing SaaS.
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6.4 - Attribution: A Comprehensive Guide
Get help on marketing campaigns, impressions, data-driven insights, and much more. Master website attribution with our comprehensive guide. Unlock your true potential with practical advice and become an expert in no time.
When another website refers a customer to your business, it’s important to know which website it was and which marketing campaign or traffic source they used. By using custom applications and configuring the flow of the information you want, you can track it and give proper attribution to the referring property.
Platform click-throughs
While a click from a third-party platform may use a campaign to identify the traffic source, you can also use the platform that referred them to learn about the traffic.
For example, you can use Google Search Central to see your impressions and the queries they were for.
This is especially useful for businesses that engage in affiliate marketing or partner with other websites to drive traffic and sales. By tracking the referrals and attributing them properly, you can ensure that your partners are receiving the credit they deserve for their efforts.
TLDR;
In short, it answers: When a user is referred from another website, you get a referrer event in your analytics, but when that user makes a conversion elsewhere inside your website, how do you know which referrer to give credit to? The referring session might not be the one that ultimately makes a sale, since a user may leave your site and come back another time. To help capture the required data, you may employ methods to capture attribution data and then associate any user conversions within your website with a referer campaign. On the old internet, the ad tech could make a mark on a user session that the signal was from x about product y. Google, for example, is now proposing the following to aid with ad tech attribution without third-party cookies:
How does attribution allow measurement?
But attribution goes beyond just giving credit. It also provides valuable insights into which marketing campaigns and traffic sources are driving the most sales conversions. By analysing this data, you can optimise your marketing efforts and focus on the channels that are most effective.
Custom applications can help you track and analyse this data in real-time, giving you a clear picture of which referrals are converting into sales. This can help you make informed decisions about your marketing campaigns, adjust your strategies, and ultimately improve your overall performance.
So, if you’re looking for ways to improve your marketing campaigns and sales conversions, consider using custom applications to track and attribute referrals. By doing so, you can gain valuable insights and optimise your efforts for maximum impact.
Digital marketing attribution software
Attribution software is handled by ad tech platforms.You may find more information regarding this topic at ourguide on analytics.
6.5 - Contact page: Exploring the best contact methods
A contact page is a crucial element of a website that allows visitors to get in touch with you.
A contact page is a crucial element of a website that allows visitors to get in touch with you. It is an essential feature of any website, regardless of its purpose. A contact page provides a simple and efficient way for visitors to communicate with you, ask questions, provide feedback, and more. In this article, we will discuss the use cases for a contact page on a website.
Providing all accessibility formats
Providing information to all your potential customers requires using many formats. Including the web, phone, sign, email etc. Other decisions also play a role, are you happy to leave an email or phone number available to the public? Are there multiple contact points used by different people? Contact applications also work with other aspects of the web, to learn more about pass your details to search engines, you canview a guide on structured data.
To add a form to give users the ability to contact you instantly.
One of the main use cases for a contact page is to provide a form or method that visitors can fill out to contact you instantly. This form typically includes fields for name, email, subject, and message. The form can also include other fields depending on the purpose of your website. For instance, if you are running an e-commerce website, you can add a field for order number.
When adding functionality it is important to consider if what you are adding is imposing any conditions upon potential consumers. Having a form instead of an email may impose a restriction on senders to use other means to store a duplicate message or an indicator of the message. Taking into account that existing functionality already has better accessibility than your Implementation.
For some communication, like having a form which upon receiving a message, sends a receipt to an email including the contents, is not perfect accessibility to someone without an email or a postage stamp. Since the receipt was not generated from their side of the communication.
QR Codes and vCards
Another common format that users expect arevCards; vCards are the best digital business card format when transferring data from one medium to a user’sContactapplication. Build avCard here.QR codescan also be used with vCards for seamless sharing.
What should be on a contact page?
In a perfect world, making every method available would be preferred.Allowing users to quickly choose their preferred method. The contact page should be the definitive place users can refer to for any up-to-date details. Be sure to include links to all the methods you support. Humans aren’t the only thing that can use your contact page to receive information, search engines and other applications (seestructured data) can access your information here.
Should social media links be included?
Another use case for a contact page is to provide a wide variety of details such as the phone number, physical address, and social media profiles. This information is essential for visitors who prefer to contact you using these methods. Providing multiple ways to contact you increases the chances of visitors getting in touch with you.
As more is better, consider methods to combine multiple profiles into one manageable one. However, it is advisable to be selective in your adoption of any platform.
Adding opening hours?
Your website should be the authoritative source of information on your business. Offering more info than other applications do and any further details. Other applications now offer information on your business but it’s effective for your website to be the source of any info. The aim of a good website is to create a rich authoritative document that utilizes exciting web features to provide functionality to customers. Providing enough utility to enable users to leverage value from web features is now more Important than ever.
Applications are getting smarter and more integrated every day. Still, no matter how smart AI applications and user feedback improvement become at determining and displaying information on your behalf, a source of truth must be called to provide the most up-to-date info. On the other hand, allowing customers to optimise functionality is imperative for competitiveness. Even those third party applications can’t work for the use cases where for example there’s been an unexpected closure. That is without making a call to a source of truth.Read more on structure.
The cost to make a network call is minuscule to the petrol cost of a wasted trip to the shopping mall.
A customer bookmarks your contact page, opening it to check if a shop is open just before having to enter the mall to get a coffee. If it’s closed, 5 mins could have been saved.
Take a customer traveling to a fast food restaurant, before engaging with any order there first needs to be a check on if its open. Else you risk frustrating a customer by wasting effort in creating a particular basket only to then force them to abandon it.
Or, to display a notice to potential visitors to redirect to an overflow car park.
Should A map be included on a website contact page?
If your business has a physical location, you can use your contact page to provide a map or directions to your location. This is particularly helpful for visitors who are not familiar with your area and need help finding your business.
To receive feedback from visitors.
Your contact page can also be used to receive feedback from visitors. This feedback can be about your products, services, website, or anything else related to your business. Feedback can be valuable in helping you improve your business and website.
To provide customer support.
If you offer customer support, your contact page can be used to provide this service. You can provide a phone number, email address, or live chat option for visitors to get in touch with your support team. This is particularly important for e-commerce websites, where visitors may have questions or issues with their orders.
In conclusion, a contact page is an essential component of any website. It provides a simple and efficient way for visitors to communicate with you, ask questions, provide feedback, and more. By including a contact page on your website, you can improve the user experience and increase the chances of visitors getting in touch with you.
6.6 - Messaging: Using Applications and Data Pipelines
Discover the Power of Messaging Applications and Data Pipelines for Enhanced Collaboration and Decision-Making. Also, learn how to correctly implement powerful real-time insight machines.
In today’s complex business environment, gathering information and reports from multiple services can be challenging. While many services can generate information, the ability to receive timely notifications and collaborate effectively with teams is crucial. One emerging method to address this challenge is the use of messaging applications like Slack. These applications have evolved to be more than just simple messaging tools and now offer the capability to create rich data pipelines, enabling users to gain insights from various tools and services.
Benefits of Using Messaging Applications and Data Pipelines
Messaging applications such as Slack provide several benefits when integrated with data pipelines:
Real-time Notifications: Users can receive immediate notifications when a service produces a report or when specific events occur, allowing for timely action and decision-making.
Seamless Collaboration: With the ability to enrich messaging with plugins, users can configure rich data pipelines to facilitate seamless collaboration and information sharing within teams.
Enhanced Insights: By integrating messaging applications with data pipelines, users can gain valuable insights from the generated reports and information, enabling informed decision-making.
The Forms of Messaging Applications
There are many types of messaging applications. The core technologies of the World Wide Web are messaging tech. As features are added to these core technologies, they become better suited to particular use cases. Some of the messaging forms that have remained in use are text messages, email, instant messaging, radio, morse code, etc, and web-based messengers.
Applications like Slack or Zoom represent the highest form of applications in terms of content possibilities. They include instant messaging capabilities and text message capabilities. Modern messaging applications include many more features and are more comparable to web browsers. While this type of messenger sounds great, the complexity comes at a cost. Each messenger limits your freedom to the features of that particular service. Standardization attempts are occurring but have been very slow. This makes any migration to other services a costly endeavour that often results in losing a considerable amount of information.
Key Considerations for Using Messaging Applications and Data Pipelines
When utilizing messaging applications and data pipelines, there are some key considerations to keep in mind:
Integration Capabilities: Ensure that the messaging application is capable of integrating with a wide range of tools and services to create comprehensive data pipelines. Modern applications like Slack provide built-in plugins that are supported by many leading services. These plugins allow the user to enable the services without any custom development. The user interface allows permission to be granted, which can then access the service APIs (usually via the OAuth2 protocol). Once an application has permissions it can start receiving messages.
Data Security: Implement robust security measures to protect sensitive information from being shared and accessed through messaging applications and data pipelines. When allowing access from one service to another, make sure the permissions are as restrictive as possible. Also, consider implementing multi-factor authentication and encryption to ensure comprehensive security for the shared and accessed information.
Scalability: Evaluate the scalability of the chosen messaging application and data pipeline infrastructure to accommodate the growing needs of the organization.
Best Practices for Implementing Messaging Applications and Data Pipelines
To maximize the effectiveness of messaging applications and data pipelines, consider the following best practices:
Customized Notifications: Tailored notifications can be configured to deliver specific and relevant information to the appropriate individuals or teams, ensuring that they receive the updates they need to stay informed and take necessary actions. Additionally, custom plugins can be written to work with custom services that provide anything that the messaging app supports. Messaging applications themselves support rich application widgets, further enhancing the user experience.
Automation: Utilize automation capabilities within the data pipelines to streamline the process of gathering and disseminating reports and information. For example, using Google Analytics to send insight reports while also utilising Google Cloud Platform Alerting. This ensures that you are in the loop and that if the notifications from one service have failed to reach you, another service may succeed.
Inclusivity: Enable diverse discourse around critical factors by allowing access to insights and conversations for everyone involved. This can foster a collaborative environment and ensure that various perspectives are considered.
Leveraging Service Capabilities: By understanding the capabilities of your services, you can create rich metrics that provide a stream of automated actionable intelligence. Each business can develop unique streams of information that leverage their key focus. For instance, you can connect an RSS feed of industry news to the “news” channel, while custom curated report summaries are sent in real time to the “sentiment” channel. Combining this with AI sentiment analysis and traditional data science services, often administered by business staff and applied to web page design, can result in a compelling and efficient system.
Messaging applications, when integrated with robust data pipelines, offer a powerful solution for gathering information and reports, as well as facilitating effective collaboration and insights within teams. By leveraging the capabilities of messaging applications like Slack and enriching them with data pipelines, organizations can optimize their operational efficiency and decision-making processes.
6.7 - Tools: A guide on handy website features
In today’s world, businesses are constantly looking for ways to add value to their customers. One way to do this is by creating tools or computations that can provide value to customers.
In today’s world, businesses are constantly looking for ways to add value to their customers. One way to do this is by creating tools or computations that can provide value to customers. These tools can help customers navigate complex situations and make better decisions. They can also improve trust between businesses and their customers.
Tools and computations can take many forms. They can be spreadsheets, calculators, data visualizations, or even simple web applications. Whatever form they take, the goal is always the same: to provide value to customers.
One advantage of these tools is that they can be created relatively easily. Many businesses already have spreadsheets or other computations that they use internally. These can often be repurposed and turned into more user-friendly applications for customers.
For example, a financial advisor might have a complex spreadsheet that they use to calculate retirement savings. This spreadsheet could be turned into a web application that allows customers to input their own data and get personalized retirement savings projections. This tool would provide value to customers by helping them make better retirement planning decisions.
Another advantage of these tools is that they can help build trust between businesses and their customers. When customers see that a business has created a tool that is designed to help them, they are more likely to trust that business. This can lead to increased loyalty and repeat business.
For example, a real estate agent might create a tool that allows customers to see historical property values in a particular area. This tool would provide value to customers by helping them make more informed decisions about property purchases. It would also help build trust between the agent and the customer by demonstrating the agent’s expertise and commitment to helping the customer.
In conclusion, any tool or computation that a business creates can provide value to customers. These tools can take many forms and can be repurposed from existing internal computations. They help customers navigate complex situations and make better decisions, while also building trust between businesses and their customers. By creating these tools, businesses can improve the customer experience and increase loyalty and repeat business.
6.8 - Structure: Methods of custom analysis
Creating unique and custom analysis has great benefits on the standards of the content produced and the value it gives.
The internet has become an integral part of our daily lives and the amount of information available online is increasing at an unprecedented rate. Websites are the primary medium for disseminating information online, and they must adhere to certain standards to ensure their content is accessible and valuable to all users. To achieve this, analysis of structured website documents is necessary to test against many different standards.
Structured website documents are created using specific markup languages like HTML, XML, and XHTML. These languages define how the content is presented on the web page. For instance, HTML tags are used to define the structure and layout of the web page, while XML tags define the data structure of the web page. XHTML is a combination of HTML and XML. By analyzing the structured website document, we can ensure that the content is structured correctly, and it adheres to the required standards.
Creating unique and custom analysis has great benefits on the standards of the content produced and the value it gives. Custom analysis allows developers to check the website against specific standards that are relevant to their project. For example, accessibility standards ensure that the website is accessible to users with disabilities. This is particularly important for websites that provide critical services, like government websites, news websites, and medical websites.
Custom analysis also allows developers to test against different versions of the same standard. For example, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have different versions, and each version has different requirements. By testing against different versions of the same standard, developers can ensure that their website is accessible to as many users as possible.
Moreover, custom analysis allows developers to test against multiple standards simultaneously. For example, accessibility standards and search engine optimization (SEO) standards can be tested simultaneously. This ensures that the website is not only accessible to users but also visible to search engines. This increases the website’s visibility and improves its ranking on search engines.
In conclusion, analysis of structured website documents is essential to ensure that the content is accessible and valuable to all users. Creating unique and custom analysis has great benefits on the standards of the content produced and the value it gives. It allows developers to test against specific standards, different versions of the same standard, and multiple standards simultaneously. This ensures that the website is accessible to as many users as possible and visible to search engines, thereby increasing its value.
6.9 - QR Codes: on the web
Enhance your marketing strategies with QR codes. These pixelated symbols are a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. Learn how to engage customers and streamline operations. Utilize multiple formats, templates, and methods.
In today’s digital world, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are constantly seeking innovative ways to engage their customers and streamline their operations. One such tool that has gained popularity in recent years is the QR (Quick Response) code. These pixelated, square-shaped symbols have become a ubiquitous part of modern marketing strategies and have proven to be an effective and versatile tool for businesses of all sizes, including SMEs.
QR codes are perfect for facilitating contactless actions without requiring extensive user input. By simply pointing a camera at the QR code and clicking, users can access information, make payments, or perform various other actions with ease. This contactless nature makes QR codes convenient for users and can enhance the overall customer experience.
Furthermore, QR codes offer a multitude of functions, such as providing access to websites, downloading apps, sharing Wi-Fi network details, making payments, adding calendar events, and much more. Their versatility makes them an ideal tool for businesses looking to provide quick and efficient ways for customers to interact with their products and services.
What are QR codes?
QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that can store a variety of information, such as website URLs, contact information, or product details. QR codes are designed to be scanned using a smartphone or a dedicated QR code scanner. Once scanned, the QR code can direct users to a website, display text, or trigger a specific action, making it a powerful and versatile tool for businesses.
Scan Me
Open the snowdon.dev vCard
Using your Camera
1. Click the link that appears around the QRCode.
2. Point your camera at the QR code
Using QR codes.
QR codes can be used in many formats and can invoke multiple application on many modern devices. On the go like devices (phones, tablets) and even VR (virtual reality) have the best support for QR codes. Many of the dollars of investment spent by the major players have went into VR technology, making the support QR codes almost ubiquitous.
There are many ways you can utilise this technology, and the best way will always be dependant on your business or your customers. From printing them out and displaying them in appropriate places. To using them within adverts and digital displays.
Warning: trust & security
When printing a QR code and displaying it on a medium (like a printout or sign), there is no mechanism to validate the origin of the QR code. Unlike when using web browsers, when using a printout, there is no asymmetric encryption to validate that a domain is owned by the current domain owner. Websites validate using certificates when making each request (during SSL secure socket layer) when the medium is viewed. If you want the viewer to trust what’s on the QR code, they need to trust what they scan the code from. Like an enclosed tablet or monitor display. Or from an email from a domain they trust. View ourguide on hyperlink securityto learn more about website security.
QR codes, when scanned, can be acted upon based on its encoded data. Some of the many ways are as follows:
Opening Apps
Opening files
Opening websites pages
Opening any URL
Opening raw text.
Opening SMS client with a pre-generated message
Opening a mail client with a pre-generated contents
Opening avCardcontact file in the default contacts app
QR codes have become an increasingly popular tool for bridging the physical and digital worlds. In many ways, QR codes serve as a practical bridge from physical images to digital content, similar to how hyperlinks function on the web. Just as hyperlinks can perform various functions, QR codes offer a range of capabilities. In fact, the range of functions they offer is almost identical. For instance, integrating QR codes and hyperlinks into emails or letters can save recipients time and effort by allowing them to quickly access links on their smartphones without the need for manual entry. This added convenience can greatly improve the overall user experience. It’s the difference between finding your glasses, typing out a large URL, correcting any mistakes, and doing so perhaps multiple times, versus simply looking in the direction and invoking an action. Including the ability to use multiple touchpoints provides added accessibility, which allows more users to engage with your product, and improves the options for people with disabilities.
Using QR codes on their websites?
QR codes can be displayed on a web page for consumption by a user. This gives the admin of the website the ability to easily change the QR code and the page it is placed on. This means that there is no need to reprint the pages or distribute the email marketing campaign again. This technique is sometimes called dynamic QR codes, because the QR code is generated by a server, it can change the qr code and its parameters to whatever is desired at the time. It can also use other server features to customise the particular qr code based on information that is available (time, demographics). Users in the UK get one coupon, other users can a difference coupon. This coupon is only displayed and valid until 10am.
Another way a QR code can be used is by providing a URL that, when the QR code is scanned, takes them to a page. This is done by providing a valid URL encoded within the QR code. When this is scanned by a compatible device, it can open the URL. This is a great way to enable users to open your website without having to type in a URL or to share your page with another user. Because any URL can be added to QR codes, they can link to any page on your website, depending on the QR code that is scanned.
Integrating QR codes into a website can offer SMEs several benefits, including:
Enhanced customer engagement: SMEs can use QR codes to provide additional information about their products or services. For example, a QR code on a product’s webpage can lead customers to a demonstration video, customer reviews, or related products, enhancing their overall experience.
Contactless transactions: With the ongoing emphasis on contactless interactions, SMEs can use QR codes to facilitate transactions. By embedding QR codes that link to payment portals or order forms on their website, SMEs can provide customers with a convenient and safe way to make purchases.
Promotional campaigns: QR codes can be integrated into promotional materials, such as flyers, posters, or social media posts, to drive traffic to a company’s website. SMEs can create QR codes that offer exclusive discounts, access to downloadable content, or entry into contests to incentivize customer engagement.
Gathering customer data: SMEs can use QR codes to collect valuable customer data. By linking QR codes to surveys or feedback forms on their website, SMEs can gain insights into customer preferences, satisfaction levels, and areas for improvement.
Word of mouth: By giving users and existing customers access to certain coupons, they are incentivized to share them with their friends. It serves as a great reason to share a link with someone. “Here, you can get 20 pounds off with this.”
Best practices for implementing QR codes on SME websites:
When incorporating QR codes into their websites, SMEs should consider the following best practices:
Ensure mobile optimisation: Since QR codes are primarily scanned using smartphones, it is crucial to optimise the linked website for mobile devices. The landing page should be responsive, user-friendly, and designed to provide a seamless experience for mobile users.
Provide valuable content: The content or action triggered by the QR code should add value to the user’s experience. Whether it’s exclusive discounts, additional product information, or engaging multimedia content, SMEs should ensure that the linked content is relevant and compelling.
Track and analyse performance: Using analytics tools, SMEs should track the performance of their QR code campaigns. By monitoring metrics such as scan rates, conversion rates, and user engagement, SMEs can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of their QR code strategies and make data-driven decisions for future initiatives.
There are multiple types of coupons: those designed to be shared and those that are tailored and restricted (for example, a coupon only valid for enterprise customers doing over $1 million in business). Ensure your coupons and backend systems are designed to handle the coupons finding their way into the hands of someone they aren’t intended for.
In conclusion, QR codes offer SMEs a simple yet powerful tool to enhance customer engagement, streamline transactions, and gather valuable insights. By strategically incorporating QR codes into their websites and marketing efforts, SMEs can harness the potential of this technology to drive growth and create meaningful interactions with their target audience.
6.10 - Leveraging Digital Business Cards (vCards) for Success
Discover the benefits of virtual business cards (vCards) for your business, including enhanced professionalism, improved networking efficiency, seamless integration with digital platforms, cost-effectiveness, customizability, and advanced features for better contact management and marketing strategies. Create vCards for free with online tools and distribute using various mechanisms to boost your business success.
In the digital age, the way businesses and professionals exchange contact information has evolved significantly. Virtual business cards, or vCards, have emerged as a sophisticated and efficient alternative to traditional paper cards. This article explores the benefits and practical applications of vCards in the modern business landscape. Additionally, it’s worth noting that the vCards format is constantly evolving, with current draft proposals to standardize newer features that contact applications have adopted.
What is a digital business card (vCard)?
A vCard is a simple format for exchanging information about contact details from one application to another. This means it’s represented as a data blob similar in format to.txtfiles. The standards have been developed independently by many different vendors, the lack of compatible feature support across devices has made it hard to create files on one device and expect that they will work everywhere they’re downloaded. However, this doesn’t mean the vCard isn’t relevant. They still have relevance when exchanging contact data between agents (devices), even if the agent only supports the old version 3 standard. vCards can even be used withQuick Response codes.
Working with vCards
Virtual business cards can contain metadata that enables them to be effectively used by machine agents. To fully leverage this, it’s essential to be aware of these properties. Each card is assigned a unique identifier (UID) and revision property (REV) to associate it with a specific identity and update sequence. When an application encounters a card with the same identifier, it can be assumed to relate to the same identity. This feature allows the application to support multiple functions, such as updating the information of a vCard when a new version becomes available or relating a vCard to another vCard. However, this also means that when changing any vCards, you must retain the UID. It’s necessary to load your existing vCard to avoid creating a separate vCard whenever someone imports your card.
Convenience and Accessibility
vCards offer great convenience for sharing contact information. They can be easily sent via email, SMS, websites, messenger, or social media, allowing recipients to save your contact details directly to their devices without having to type them in manually. This makes sure that your information is always easily accessible to your clients and colleagues, reducing the risk of losing or entering incorrect data. It’s more than just transferring data - with a contact application built into devices, this information can be used to enhance other experiences. For example, Maps can recognize that an address is linked to a specific person.
The possibilities are endless. You can add links to all your services and actions. Using templates, you can quickly create vCards that contain a similar set of links to your primary services and actions. This enables your customers to access everything they need at the touch of a button.
The interface to download a vCard differs between devices; it’s currently best supported on the iPhone. On desktops and other devices, it will fallback to downloading a file, which must be opened as usual to import the contact into a contact application.
The view of a iPhone after pressing download.
Enhanced Professionalism
Using vCards demonstrates that your business is tech-savvy and environmentally conscious. It signals to clients and partners that you embrace modern tools and are committed to sustainability by reducing paper waste. This can enhance your brand’s image and appeal, especially to eco-conscious customers.
vCards are compatible with various digital platforms and devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers. They can be integrated into email signatures, websites, applications, and social media profiles, providing multiple touchpoints for potential clients to access your information. This seamless integration ensures that your contact details are readily available across all digital channels. Additionally, vCards can be version managed and include links back to the virtual address of the contact, enhancing the accessibility and functionality of the contact information.
Customizable and Updateable
Unlike traditional business cards, vCards can be easily updated with new information. Whether you change your phone number, email address, or job title, a simple update ensures that all your contacts have the latest information. Customization options also allow you to include logos, images, URLs, and additional details such as social media links, enhancing the card’s utility and branding.
Efficient Networking
Networking becomes more efficient with vCards as they facilitate quick and easy exchange of information during events, conferences, or casual meetings. Scanning a QR code or tapping a NFC-enabled device can instantly share your vCard, making the process swift and contactless—a significant advantage in today’s health-conscious environment.
Cost-Effective
While there is an initial cost associated with creating a vCard, the long-term savings are significant. There is no need for continuous printing and reprinting of paper cards, which can be costly and environmentally taxing. The digital nature of vCards ensures that you can distribute an unlimited number of cards without additional costs.
Practical Applications of vCards
Sales and Marketing
Sales professionals can use vCards to ensure that potential clients have instant access to their contact information, portfolio, and social media profiles. This immediate access can enhance follow-up rates and facilitate smoother communication.
Human Resources and Recruitment
HR departments can use vCards to streamline the recruitment process. Including vCards in job postings or emails ensures that candidates have easy access to recruiter information, making the process more professional and efficient.
Event Management
For event organizers, vCards can be included in event apps or QR codes on badges, allowing attendees to quickly exchange information and network more effectively.
Customer Service
Customer service teams can use vCards to provide clients with direct contact information, ensuring swift and personal customer support.
Job Site Storage
Adding your timesheet links and support documents offers a modern way to store and send all the information relating to a job or event. Mixing with the tradditional features allows you to transfer all the details of an event, like a job address or the contact details. All in one handy place.
Newsletter and quick links
When sharing information with your clients, provide them not only with a link to your website homepage, but also include links to customer satisfaction surveys where they can provide feedback, and mailing list subscriptions so they can stay updated on the latest news and offers from your business. By including these additional links, you give your clients multiple avenues to engage with your business and provide valuable input while staying connected.
Implementing the distribution of a vCard
Create and download a compatible vCard
Using an online virtual business card builder likeSnowdon Dev vCard Generatoryou can create new vCard(s). Then, simply download the file and share it with your customers. We offer many custom templates and prebuilt functions, which makes our completely free vcard creator the best and easiest to use.
Share QR Codes for Efficient vCard Distribution
QR (Quick Response) codescan be effectively utilized to distribute vCards in a convenient and contactless manner. By incorporating a QR code that contains your vCard information on your business materials, such as business cards, brochures, in shop, or marketing materials, you can streamline the process of exchanging contact details. When individuals scan the QR code using their smartphones, they can instantly receive and save your vCard details without the need for manual entry.
QR codes can be displayed on web pages or printed off, making them versatile for various marketing and networking strategies. Whether incorporated into digital content or printed materials like posters and flyers, QR codes offer a flexible solution for distributing vCards across different platforms. This adaptability ensures that recipients can easily access your vCard information regardless of the medium, further enhancing the convenience and accessibility of exchanging contact details.
Additionally, at events or conferences, including a QR code on your name badge or on promotional materials enables swift and efficient sharing of your vCard with other attendees. This seamless process not only enhances networking opportunities but also reflects a modern and tech-savvy approach to exchanging contact information.
vCard QR Code from static data
To create aQR codethat opens a vCard, simply generate a QR code from the file contents of a vCard. Ensure that the file is loaded appropriately or use tools to validate and correct any encoding issues. This process guarantees that the QR code correctly prduces an identical vCard, allowing recipients to instantly access and save your contact details with ease.
When creating a vCard for your QRCodes, be sure to remove any large photos, as the file sizes quickly exceed the limit of data within common QRCode protocols. It is possible but requires your graphics assets to be very small, in formats like GIF. You can learn more on creating small imageshere.
Using the free online tool like theSnowdon Dev vCard Generatoryou can export your vCard directly to a QR Code. Simply open the dialog in the View menu after entering your vCard.
How to find the QRCode viewer within our vCard Generator.
By following this method, you can ensure seamless integration of vCard information with QR technology, optimizing the convenience and functionality of exchanging contact information.
vCard QR Code from URL
QR codes can also link to a URL, this means that you can utilise both methods, distributing a URL to a vCard via QR codes. By only encoding the URL in the QR code, this reduces the amount of data without reducing any functionality. It also allows you to update your vCard without changing the QR code printouts.
Digital file exchange
There are multiple ways to send vcards in the applications we use. Via, a link on a website or email.
Optons One: Send the file
Add the vcf file to an email. It can be opened as a file. However, this means that the file must be resent to each email. The file size is quite small, so that is acceptable.
Options Two: Making the file available as a download
By uploading a file to a publicly exposed web server, users can download the file from the link. This gives the owner the ability to capture any downloads as events to be used in some form of analytics. It also allows you to include only a link to the file, which will yield a short string of text that refers to a larger data blob that’s automatically downloaded by the device’s applications. This reduces the number of bytes sent per email.
Once the file has been uploaded to a web server, users can instantly download your file. You can optionally also specify some headers that tell the client application that what you are sending is a file of a particular format and its filename.
Then, simply link to the file using an anchor tag.
<ahref="https://mywebserver.com/vcf/mycontact.vcf">Download my contact file</a>
Or using your client (email application etc), add a hyperlink to the following URL:
https://mywebserver.com/vcf/mycontact.vcf
Conclusion
Virtual business cards are a powerful tool in the digital age, offering convenience, professionalism, and advanced features that traditional business cards cannot match. By integrating vCards into your business strategy, you can enhance your networking efforts, streamline operations, and project a modern, eco-friendly image. Embrace the future of business communication with vCards and watch your professional relationships and business opportunities flourish.
Frequently asked questions
How to open a vCard (.vcf, .vcard) file?
When you open a vCard file, you can click on it to open it in the default application, or select it in the file Explorer or another program. One common issue with vCard files is that computers may change newline characters, causing potential data corruption. To avoid this, it’s best not to edit the file’s text. Some applications not designed for vCard files may also cause encoding changes when loading and saving the file. Typically, opening a .vcf file will open it directly in the correct application, such as a contact or address book, without the need for text editing.
Why Some vCard Properties Like REV, UID, and Source May Not Work on Some Devices
The vCard properties like REV, UID, and Source are optimistic properties that enable applications to manage and identify virtual business cards. While it’s true that not all devices may fully support these properties, they play a crucial role in ensuring the accuracy and consistency of vCard information across different platforms. The REV property, for example, allows for version control, ensuring that old information is correctly reflected across devices when encountering a existing card. Similarly, the UID property helps in uniquely identifying and associating vCards to an idenity, enabling efficient management of contacts. While it’s unfortunate that not all devices fully support these properties, their presence is vital for interoperability and seamless management of virtual business cards.
7 - Website Frontends: Whats makes a webpage
In this article we will explore the many different types of frontends website may be built from.
Custom front-ends can certainly be designed from scratch, but starting with what’s already available can save a lot of time and effort. The following front-end options are just a few examples of great user interfaces that have been created by industry professionals and made available for free. This means that businesses like yours can immediately take advantage of the technologies involved in creating these layouts and have an interface with minimal effort. Thanks to their availability, templates of this type can be added to your website at a very low cost, allowing you to focus solely on making the necessary modifications to suit your content. Building layouts in this manner often results in templates that can be reused, repurposed, and automated.
Front-ends themselves are often composed of smaller, more granular components. When constructing a website, the build solution generally includes a set of common components that can be easily reused and combined to produce complex interfaces. For more information, refer to your solution documentation or consult with a developer.
Are there any downsides to using freely available frontends?
Absolutely not. Even though they are freely available, they can still be configured to match your brand identity and look unique. Most front-end components have numerous options for customisation that go beyond just changing colors. And when more customisation is needed, custom styling is simply added as it would be for any new styling. As websites as content things change, and your website must handle any changes without any negatives. By sticking to the structure provided by battle-tested templates you can benefit from years of understanding. Selecting the correct base for yourcontentwhich best enables the solution properties is the goal when developing for robustness.
Remember, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Using existing frontend frameworks and components can save time and resources.
Similarly, re-writing code which is already available is often a waste of time. In addition, custom code is more lightly to have bugs or be of poorer quality. The existing front-end libraries have been perfected over many years of development by lots of collaborators and with billions of users contributing to finding any defects. Not to mention any competitor may reuse what’s available and gain extra time. Poor quality, in the world of technologies, does not necessarily mean that a given component is bad at a task, but maybe that it can’t be reused when doing another similar task. When producing software the number of options that can be easily configured allows changes to happen in seconds, at the speed of writing text, instead of tens of years, first inventing the internet, the web browser…. until you have got to<my-custom-button>.
Why create custom components?
The cost of a complete re-design to account for some usecase outweighs any increased operational costs of maintaining the existing solution.
An example, is a website that is not using all the WordPress features is replaced with a static website. Since updates are rare and when they are needed they can be done by a more minimalist CMS. Costs are lowered year on year at a small cost now.
There are many others however, a business or developer may choose to create custom front-end components to have greater control over the licensing or the size/cost of distributing the final product. Even the most permissive licenses require the redistribution of the original license, which can be a concern for some businesses. Another reason may be to produce something intrinsically different from what is available. Additionally, creating custom components may also result in higher quality products in some rare cases.
When the value of a custom feature can’t be created with extensions to existing solutions. Consider the cost of assembling all the existing features of the desired solution and find any small problems that are already available, repeat to further decrease any burden taken.
Software done correctly is the ability to create a system that allows input and output within a domain. If you then want something outside of the domain you may have to spend on some custom pieces to make that work.
7.1 - Brochure: layout examples
A brochure web page provides users with informative information and structured content.
An example of a brochure on the right of the image. Brochures also have a digital form. Which adds features along with typical data display.
7.2 - Album: layout examples
Document to display a collection of social media style post elements including rich media contents.
An image of a typical album website layout. Seewebpage.
7.3 - Blog: layout examples
An example of a typical blog page.
An image of a typical blog website layout. Seeweb page.
7.4 - Checkout: layout examples
An example of a typical checkout page.
An image of a typical checkout website layout. Seeweb page.
7.5 - Cover: layout examples
An example of a typical cover or landing page.
An image of a typical cover website layout. Seeweb page.
7.6 - Dashboard: layout examples
An example of a typical dashboard page.
An image of a typical blog dashboard layout. Seeweb page.
7.7 - Jumbotron: layout examples
An example of a typical jumbotron page.
An image of a typical blog jumbotron layout. Seeweb page.
7.8 - Pricing: layout examples
An example of a typical pricing page.
An image of a typical pricing website layout. Seeweb page.
7.9 - Product: layout examples
An example of a typical product page.
An image of a typical product website layout. Seeweb page.
8 - Website Architecture: Understand different components
Delve into some advanced topics in the web development space. Learn how your tech can impact your business.
In this document, we will be delving into some advanced topics in the web development space. Whether you are a seasoned developer or are just starting out, we hope that you will find value in the information we cover here. We will be exploring cutting-edge techniques, best practices, and tips and tricks that will help you take your web development skills to the next level. So let’s dive in!
8.1 - Monolithic: All-in-one websites
Delving into some advanced topics in the web development space. Learn about common web applications
Standout properties
Robust
Monolithic type websites like Wordpress enable a complete feature set using trusted code and database technologies.
Editors
Monolithic websites enable the easy addition of features that allow your editors to have any functionality.
Development
By keeping the number of services down, developers can provide features quickly.
What is monolithic architecture?
When it comes to web development, there are many different approaches you can take. One of the most popular methods is to use a monolithic architecture, which involves using a single artefact of server code that handles many tasks.
The benefit of using a monolithic architecture is that it creates an artefact that is easy to modify for an expert developer. Since everything is contained in a single codebase, it’s easier to understand how the application works and make changes as needed. This can be especially useful for larger projects where multiple developers are working on the same codebase.
Another advantage of using a monolithic architecture is that most solutions have a marketplace that allows users to easily add plugins from third-party users to extend the functionality of the application without writing custom code. These plugins can range from simple features like social media integration to more complex functionality like payment processing.
The ability to easily extend the functionality of the application through third-party plugins also serves as a great way to integrate the application with other applications. For example, you could use a plugin to integrate your web application with a popular CRM system or marketing automation platform.
Overall, while there are certainly other approaches to web development, the monolithic architecture remains a popular choice for many developers. Its ease of modification, marketplace for third-party plugins, and ability to integrate with other applications make it a versatile and powerful approach to building web applications.
8.2 - Distributed Architecture: Composable systems
In today’s world, distributed server architecture is becoming increasingly popular among businesses of all kinds. This architecture is designed to be scalable, secure, and cost-effective.
In today’s world, distributed server architecture is becoming increasingly popular among businesses of all kinds. This architecture is designed to be scalable, secure, and cost-effective. It allows each service to be handled according to its own usage, thus being more efficient than the traditional monolithic architectures that run all the services within a single process.
All applications can use distributed server architecture, and even traditional WordPress applications that use extensions are actually calling out to a microservice. While approaches that have all application code contained within a single artefact enable easy development and marketplace distribution, those are not the only concerns present when developing any applications.
The traditional approach to adding extensions to a website would be to create an extension in a framework like WordPress. This sounds great, and you get an asset that you can use and resell. However, the extension you get is coupled to the framework it was designed for, making it challenging for other users to use it effectively.
A better way to use the agile process and create a better platform to resell any applications you produce is to create a microserver that handles your specific use case. This approach provides numerous benefits, including increased security and reusability.
In conclusion, distributed server architecture is an excellent choice for any business looking to create scalable, secure, and cost-effective applications. By using microservices, businesses can handle each service according to its own usage, making it more efficient and cost-effective. So, if you’re looking to develop applications that are scalable, secure, and cost-effective, then distributed server architecture is the way to go.
8.3 - Static: Simple file access
Using a Static Approach to Host your Website is Gaining Popularity Among Developers Wanting Fast or Cheap Websites.
Using a static approach to host your website is a great method that is gaining popularity among developers. It is the simplest of the bunch and can still pack a huge deal of functionality. In fact, using a static approach can even be used for users with a traditionalmonolithicapproach.
All websites utilise static files or cache, but a static approach builds from a template only on a change to the data. While it is an old approach that was abandoned due to the invention of PHP and its ease of use with dynamic data, as software has been developed, it is very easy to make websites without a CMS, assuming you can get setup. Some newer CMSs can even act on static files and then deploy them, giving them the ability to handle dynamic data.
Static websites are websites that are made up of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files that are pre-built and served from a content delivery network (CDN). This means that the website is already created, and the server doesn’t need to generate any pages dynamically. Because of that, static websites can be served much faster and are more secure than dynamic websites.
Most static websites will still refer to distributed applications and can be thought of as one part of a distributed application, specifically the frontend. This means that even though the website itself is static, it can still communicate with other services to provide additional functionality.
Using a static approach to hosting your website also has other benefits. It is cheaper to host because you don’t need to pay for a server that can handle dynamic content. You can also use a static website to host your blog or other content that doesn’t change often.
When does the static approach work best?
Static websites are perfect for websites with content that does not change frequently. For instance, if you have a website that showcases 100 products and only adds one new product every week or so, a static approach can work wonders. Even if you need to update the stock level of the products, you can still work with microservices and add dynamic data without having to re-render the front-end.
The advantage of using a static approach is that you don’t have to worry about the server-side code or databases, which can be a significant burden in terms of maintenance, security, and scalability. By keeping the website static, you can ensure that the website loads faster, is more secure, and is cheaper to host. Additionally, by using a headless CMS, you can manage your content easily without having to modify the code files.
Overall, if you have a website with content that does not change frequently, a static approach can be an excellent option to consider. It is simple, secure, and can help you save money on hosting fees while still providing the necessary functionality.
Since static content still sometimes needs to be modified, users may not want to edit the code files. The static architecture often fits in great with a headless CMS.
What is a headless CMS?
A headless CMS is a content management system that separates the back-end content management functionalities from the front-end presentation layer. In a headless CMS, the content is created and managed in the back-end, while the front-end layer can be built using any technology stack that meets the needs of the website or application.
This approach provides more flexibility and customisation options compared to traditional CMS solutions, which often have a fixed front-end presentation layer. With a headless CMS, you can use any front-end technology, such as React, Angular, or Vue, to build your website or application’s user interface.
The headless CMS is responsible for content creation, storage, and management. It provides a RESTful API that can be used to retrieve and manipulate content, which can then be integrated into the front-end using any technology stack. This approach enables a faster and more agile development process, as developers can work on the front-end and back-end independently.
Using a headless CMS has several benefits, including:
Easy content migration
Your frontend and content are also separated, just like your frontend and backend. This means that users of one headless CMS system may take their contents to another provider without changing any code. Its body just fits on another head.
Increased Flexibility
With a headless CMS, you have the freedom to choose any front-end technology stack that suits your needs. This enables you to create a unique and customised user experience that aligns with your brand’s identity.
Backend flexibility
When a CMS is decoupled from the front end, there is often no need for a traditional backend system. Instead, the storage of the front end system may be used by the decoupled CMS without any extra infrastructure. This approach allows for greater flexibility in managing content, as it separates the content management functionality from the presentation layer. Additionally, it enables developers to use their preferred front end frameworks without being tied to a specific CMS.
Improved Security
A headless CMS can provide improved security as the content is managed in a separate environment from the front-end. This reduces the risk of security vulnerabilities and makes it easier to maintain and update your website or application. Often, no CMS backend infrastructure is needed at all. Users of an headless CMS may bootstrap from their existing front end storage. By leveraging external providers, there are zero backend security concerns. All dynamic data and integrations with applications like checkout are handled by third party software-as-a Service platforms.
Better Performance
By separating the front-end from the back-end, a headless CMS can provide better performance and faster page load times. This is because the server only needs to handle content management, while the front-end can be optimised for speed and performance.
What is a headless CMS?
When it comes to headless CMS, version control plays an important role in the development process. Version control systems like Git are typically used to keep track of changes in code and content. This allows developers to collaborate on projects, track changes, and revert to earlier versions if necessary.
In a version control based headless CMS, content is stored in a repository, just like code. Changes to the content are tracked, and multiple versions of the content can be created. This makes it easy to see who made changes, when they were made, and what was changed.
Git is the most popular version control system, and it is commonly used with headless CMSs. Git allows multiple developers to work on the same project and merge their changes together. It also makes it easy to reverse changes if something goes wrong.
However, it’s important to note that any version control software can be used with a headless CMS, or none at all. Some headless CMS provide their own version control system, while others allow users to integrate with third-party systems.
In any case, version control is an important aspect of headless CMS, as it allows developers to work collaboratively and keep track of changes. By using version control, developers can make sure that content is accurate and up-to-date, while also keeping the development process streamlined and efficient.
How does the static approach create cheap websites?
By removing a component, the server, from the picture, and using only storage, costs are reduced, and the files are already created in a format ready for distribution to a content delivery network.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a headless CMS is a modern approach to content management that provides increased flexibility, improved security, and better performance. By separating the front-end from the back-end, a headless CMS enables developers to build unique and customised user experiences that align with their brand’s identity.
8.4 - Provided: Supported systems
Are you planning to create a website for your business or personal use but don’t have the technical know-how to host it yourself?
Standout properties
Reliability
Paying for a provider to provide your entire hosting package should yield high reliability, many such packages come with service level agreements.
Editors
Providers exist for every use case; choosing the one that has the best features for your editors allows you to maximise your content.
Development
By using the best provider for your use case and paying for support for their features, you may add features to your website at lightning speed.
Are you planning to create a website for your business or personal use but don’t have the technical know-how to host it yourself? Website builders have got you covered! They offer a one-stop solution to create and host your website, using their own providers and solutions.
Once you sign up with a website builder, you can start building your website by choosing from a variety of templates, customising the design, and adding your content. Website builders typically have an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy for anyone to create a professional-looking website without any coding knowledge.
The best part about using a website builder is that they take care of the hosting for you. You don’t need to worry about finding a hosting provider, paying for a domain, or configuring the server. The website builder will handle all of this for you, ensuring that your website is up and running smoothly.
Another advantage of using a website builder is that they offer a range of plans to suit your needs and budget. You can choose a basic plan if you’re just starting out or opt for a more advanced plan that includes additional features like e-commerce functionality, SEO tools, and more.
In conclusion, website builders are a great option for anyone who wants to create a website but doesn’t have the technical skills to host it themselves. With a website builder, you can focus on creating your website, paying the bills, and not worrying about anything else. So, go ahead and give it a try and see how easy it is to create your own website!
8.5 - Serverless Architecture: Everything You Need to Know
Discover the benefits and drawbacks of serverless architecture. Learn how it works, its key features, and how it can help you focus on building applications.
In recent years, there has been a relatively new approach to building and running applications that has become increasingly popular. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what serverless architecture is, how it works, and some of its key benefits and drawbacks.
Standout properties
Robustness
Separated components allow for greater flexibility, which can enable them to scale as traffic grows.
Development
By allowing each component to be developed separately, developers of each part can use only their preferred technology.
Reliability
By paying a provider to handle the hardware and configuration of servers, you benefit from using implementations trusted by millions of other organisations.
What is serverless architecture?
At its core, serverless architecture is an approach to building and running applications that doesn’t require you to manage the underlying servers or infrastructure. Instead, you simply write and deploy code, and the cloud provider takes care of the rest.
The term “serverless” is a bit of a misnomer, as there are still servers involved in the process. However, the key difference with serverless architecture is that you don’t need to provision or manage those servers yourself.
How Does Serverless Architecture Work?
In a serverless architecture, your code is broken up into small, self-contained services that are designed to respond to a specific event. These services are then deployed to a cloud provider, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure.
When a user makes a request to your application, the cloud provider automatically spins up the necessary servers and runs the appropriate functions to handle the request. Once the request is complete, the cloud provider shuts down the servers, so you only pay for the time your code is actually running.
Benefits of Serverless Architecture
One of the biggest benefits of serverless architecture is that it allows you to focus on writing code and building applications, rather than managing servers and infrastructure. This can save a significant amount of time and resources, as you don’t need to worry about scaling, security, or other server-related tasks. Serverless architectures are not required to be run by external providers, if your costs are high, you can still consider moving to self-hosted systems.
Another benefit of serverless architecture is that it can help reduce costs, as you only pay for the time your computing is actually running. This can be particularly beneficial for applications with unpredictable traffic patterns or very little traffic, as you don’t need to pay for idle servers.
What Are the Drawbacks of Serverless Architecture?
While serverless architecture has many benefits, it’s not without its drawbacks. One potential issue is that serverless functions can be slower to start up than traditional server-based applications. This can be a problem for applications that require very low latency or need to handle high volumes of requests.
Another potential drawback of serverless architecture is that it can be more difficult to debug and troubleshoot issues, as you don’t have direct access to the underlying servers. This can make it harder to identify and fix problems when they occur.
But since the cost is high as you are renting your services, you are paying a markup on the utilities, which can become burdensome. This extra cost can compound as your expensive server stays online for the same amount of time as a regular server.
Since many of the existing providers are monopolies and their services are so easy to use that you can deploy applications in minutes, many people make the mistake of writing services that are coupled to the provider. Planning and implementing solutions that mitigate the problems inherited from your provider can be hard and costly.
Conclusion
Serverless architecture is a powerful new approach to building and running applications that offers many benefits, including reduced costs and increased developer productivity. While it’s not the right choice for every application, it’s definitely worth considering for projects with high variability or where the focus is on quickly delivering new features and functionality.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I consider using a serverless architecture for my project?
Using a serverless architecture allows you to focus on building and deploying your application without the overhead of managing servers. This can lead to faster development cycles and lower operational costs.
How does a serverless architecture handle scalability?
Serverless architectures are designed to automatically scale based on demand. This means that your application can handle sudden spikes in traffic without any manual intervention.
Is security a concern with serverless architectures?
Serverless architectures can actually improve security by reducing the attack surface and eliminating the need to manage server security configurations. However, it is still important to follow best practices for securing your serverless applications.
Can I use serverless architecture for real-time applications?
Yes, serverless architectures are well-suited for real-time applications such as chat applications, IoT devices, and live streaming services. The scalability and event-driven nature of serverless architectures make them ideal for handling real-time data.
How does serverless architecture payment work?
Since serverless architecture is just a way to rent your infrastructure, payment works just as normal through a user interface that interacts with a serverless backend. The frontend can be served as static web pages or from a serverless server. Many methods exist to implement entire check layouts on your page without even doing any UI work. For example, checkout theStripe embedded checkout.
How does serverless architecture handle background tasks?
Serverless architectures can easily handle background tasks by using services like AWS Lambda or Google Cloud Functions. These services allow you to run code in response to events, such as file uploads or database changes.
What programming languages are supported in a serverless architecture?
Most serverless platforms support a wide range of programming languages, including JavaScript, Python, Java, and Go. This flexibility allows you to choose the language that best fits your project requirements.
Can I use serverless architecture for data processing tasks?
Yes, serverless architectures are great for data processing tasks, such as ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) jobs, data analysis, and machine learning. Services like AWS Glue and Google Cloud Dataflow make it easy to process large amounts of data in a serverless manner.
How do monitoring and logging work in a serverless architecture?
Serverless platforms typically provide built-in monitoring and logging tools that allow you to track the performance and health of your functions. You can also integrate third-party monitoring tools for more advanced monitoring capabilities.
Are there any limitations to using a serverless architecture?
While serverless architectures offer many benefits, there are some limitations to consider. For example, there may be cold start latency issues with certain functions, and you may need to carefully manage dependencies to avoid performance issues.
How can I get started with building a serverless architecture?
To get started with building a serverless architecture, you can follow the documentation provided by your chosen cloud provider. You can also experiment with serverless frameworks like Google Firebase.
Related Links
Serverless Software
Serverless computing is a cloud computing execution model in which the cloud provider allocates machine resources on demand, taking care of the servers on behalf of their customers.
Learn about the benefits of headless architecture for building web applications, including flexibility, scalability, and the ability to deliver content to multiple channels. Discover how this approach can help you build more agile and feature-rich web applications.
Headless architecture is the go-to solution for designing a robust system. In a headless architecture, the front-end and back-end of an application are separated, allowing them to function independently.
Standout properties
Robustness
Separated components allow for greater flexibility, which can enable them to scale as traffic grows.
Development
By allowing each component to be developed separately, developers of each part can use only their preferred technology.
Value
Having control over each component of an architecture means each can be implemented for a specific a specific purpose or licensed for a fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is headless architecture?
Headless architecture separates the frontend and backend of a website using an agnostic format. Using a headless architecture, you may manage your text, articles, products, videos, and other data via an interface that is used with other systems. Often used to populate a website template or post blogs to social channels by using content management systems.
The front-end is built using a separate technology stack such as React, Angular, or Vue, while the back-end is built using a framework like Node.js, Django, or Ruby on Rails.
This decoupling allows the front-end and back-end to be developed independently of each other, allowing for greater flexibility and agility in the development process. It also makes it easier to add new features to the application, as changes can be made to the front-end or back-end without affecting the rest of the application.
Why is headless architecture important?
Headless architecture is an important strategy that offers multiple benefits. One of the key advantages of decoupling components is the ability to make independent updates and improvements without disrupting the entire system. This increases resilience and robustness, and allows for more efficient maintenance and development.
Another benefit of headless architecture is the ability to provide multiple channels of content from a single and reliable source of truth. This makes it easier to manage and distribute content across various platforms and channels, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
Headless architecture is suitable for a wide variety of business types, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large enterprises. It can also work seamlessly with other architecture types, like static website pages and distributed architecture, making it a versatile and efficient solution for modern businesses.
How does headless architecture improve website performance?
Headless code architecture has several advantages for both business and solution properties. Its codebase has an object structure that makes it easy to use multiple different renderers with faster loading times and better overall performance. This is usually achieved by prioritising rendering results before any content request. As a result, the user experience is more streamlined and efficient. One potential business benefit is the decoupling of migration and maintenance capabilities.
What are the drawbacks of headless architecture?
As headless architecture is a cutting-edge technology, its ecosystem is not yet as mature as other typical solutions. This immaturity, combined with constraints imposed on compatible systems, can cause a greater burden on some complex development features. Any features requiring a server now require individual services, which can be more complex to design, configure, develop, and price.
Can I still maintain a consistent brand identity with headless architecture?
Absolutely! With headless architecture, you have complete control over the design and content of your website. Headless systems often offer a limited feature set compared with targeted commercial products; this is due to the extra standards effort required in open source compatible systems. But any content produced by such systems can be tailored to your brand for any subscribing channel.
Is headless architecture suitable for e-commerce websites?
Yes, headless e-commerce is simply an e-commerce store created with headless software. It is ideal for e-commerce websites as it allows for seamless integration with various platforms and tools. You can easily manage product listings, inventory, and customer data without any limitations. While you can isolate parts of the software for better reuse and robustness,.
How does headless architecture support omnichannel marketing strategies?
Headless architecture enables you to deliver a consistent brand experience across multiple channels, including websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms. This flexibility allows the content to be published on any subscribing platform. Accomplished using web standards (RSS) or via more custom approaches like APIs.
Can I integrate third-party services and APIs with a headless architecture?
Yes, headless architecture makes it easy to integrate third-party services and APIs to enhance the functionality of your website. You can leverage a wide range of tools and services to optimise your website and provide a seamless user experience. As a headless system, you always have the option to change your frontend if your current platform does not support a feature.
How does headless architecture improve SEO performance?
Headless architecture allows for better SEO performance by enabling you to optimise your website for search engines. You can easily manage metadata, keywords, and other SEO elements to improve your website’s visibility and ranking in search results. Doing so from a single source of truth gives major results in terms of usability for administrators. Headless systems are often used with static webpage architecture, which results in faster loading times and improves SEO results. Moreover, having no coupling with the frontend allows for easier development of newer frontends using cutting edge HTML.
Is headless architecture secure and reliable?
Yes, headless architecture is secure and reliable as it separates the frontend and backend components of your website. This separation reduces the risk of security breaches and ensures that your website remains stable and functional at all times.
Can I easily scale my website with headless architecture?
Yes, headless architecture allows for easy scalability, as you can add new features and functionalities without affecting the overall performance of your website. You can easily expand each element of your system as it grows and evolves.
How can I get started with implementing headless architecture for my website?
To get started with headless architecture, you can consult with a professional web development team that can create your frontend and configure, or build, your server. They can help you assess your needs, create a customised solution, and implement the architecture seamlessly for your website. If your needs for your website are simple and you are creating a new website, try using a content management system like DecapCMS.
Headless Architecture vs. Serverless
Headless systems may be used within with aserverlessapproach; this would work for either more complex systems or simpler ones used with a static approach. With a complex solution, all the components would be included in the rented hardware. When using a simple static approach, static files may also be hosted by a provider.
Headless Architecture vs. Static Architecture
Headless architecture relates, in the context of the web, to creating software that can change without another part, like a content management system that can be used on many different websites. However,staticarchitecture means to render your webpage results as static files, which can be served in a very simple and efficient manner.
Headless Architecture vs. Monolithic Architecture
Headless architecture attempts to improve onmonolithicarchitecture in certain properties, foremost of which would be robustness, since solutions are more able to withstand some forms of change; however, since solutions are more complex, sometimes monolithic approaches can achieve quicker development speed when the components under development are closely related.
Headless Architecture vs. Distributed Architecture
The headless approach works great with adistributedapproach, using many components to augment your website. This can even work without a backend server to handle requests, using static architecture, allowing very cheap websites with lots of complex functions.
Related Links
Headless Software
Headless software (e.g. “headless Linux”) is software capable of working on a device without a graphical user interface.
In this document we discuss other topics that are of vital importance to the business.
There are many great tools to help business create awesome projects.
Github
Jira
Bitbucket
9.1 - Gaining Full Leverage Using All Features of the Web
Review of the how features and applications can be combined to leverage the full power of the world wide web.
How websites enable a thriving social graph
Another important aspect of having a website is creating a space where your users can refer back to and share with their peers. By providing valuablecontent/applicationsthat are easily accessible and shareable, you can establish yourself as a thought leader and build a community around your brand. This can lead to increased engagement, word-of-mouth marketing, and ultimately, more sales. Additionally, having a dedicated space where your users can interact with your brand can provide valuable insights into their needs and preferences. By analyzing user behavior and feedback, you can make informed decisions about how to improve your offerings and better serve your audience. Overall, creating a space that is both informative and engaging can help you establish a loyal following and set yourself apart from the competition.
Sharing your content automatically on all relevant social media platforms keeps your users continuously refreshed about your deals, products and services. All without making them check your website. Managing multiple channels sounds like a complicated proposition. Fortunately, many options exist for automating the process of sending your website content to all of your social feeds.
Taking full advantage of all website features
Connect to your socials, update it with regular information, express your contact details and holidays information with OSM. Share valuable information with your users. Use all the accessibility methods to
reach the entire population. Provide handy free tools to users or use the relevant applications to add interactive content. Enrich content with images and video. Combing all the features can create numerous ways for users to engage with your content. To learn more on the types of pages websites can serve to provide value to content. Read more in theapplications sectionandcontent section.
Example: RSS combined with a coupons page for updating users on special details available only today. A customer may subscribe to revive updates directly from yourself, making requests automatically as a background task everyday at 8AM, just when they getting a cup of coffee while passing your location on the way to their next engagement. Using a coupons page with structured content allows search engines to propagate your offers to users. Other users listen to your socials for updates. Automate the posts.
The features of website users
Often, it’s good to point to the useful features available on any content page published on a website. Users may not know their devices support something they may like to use, for example:
RSS, share, print, save, reader, save as bookmarks, quick note, add to Home Screen, creating an event. Use the link in a script, refer to your website from theirs (open graph), and add reviews on partner sites. There are many more, and each domain and industry has its own tools. So, paying attention to the market and keeping an eye out for anything your users may like to know about is important.
You may also use certain triggers to show users relevant information that they may have missed during their session visiting your website. For example, when the user goes to close the page, this point is often used to show users a coupon, discount, or a prompt to invoke some communication between the two parties. The communication could be live chat, a phone call, an appointment, or even just signing up for a newsletter. What works best would be specific to your business, customers, and website content. Plus, it’s always best to try them all, since no method is best for all customers.
Website builders make the process of building a website easier
Website builders have revolutionised the way people create websites, making it easier and more accessible than ever before. In the past, building a website required a significant amount of technical expertise and coding knowledge. However, with the advent of website builders, all that is needed is a basic understanding of how to use a computer and the internet.
Website builders provide users with a drag-and-drop interface that allows them to create a website without having to write a single line of code. This means that even those who have no knowledge of programming languages can create a professional-looking website with ease.
Website builders also come with a variety of pre-designed templates and themes that users can choose from. These templates are designed by professional designers and are optimised for different types of websites, such as blogs, e-commerce sites, and portfolios. This saves users a lot of time and effort that would have gone into designing a website from scratch.
Another advantage of website builders is that they come with built-in features that make it easy to add functionality to a website. For example, users can easily add contact forms, social media icons, and image galleries to their website with just a few clicks.
In conclusion, website builders have made the process of building a website easier by providing a user-friendly interface, pre-designed templates, and built-in features that make it easy to add functionality to a website. With website builders, anyone can create a professional-looking website without having to hire a web developer or learn how to code.
9.2 - Risk Management: A guide for businesses
Effective Risk Management Strategies for Your Business - Businesses must implement effective risk management strategies to protect their brand, digital assets, and customer data.
Effective Risk Management Strategies for Your Business
In today’s digital age, businesses must implement effective risk management strategies to protect their brand, digital assets, and customer data. Here are some essential risk management strategies you should consider:
Brand Awareness:
Your brand is one of your most valuable assets. Investing in brand awareness can help protect your brand’s reputation in case of any breaches or negative publicity. Ensure your employees understand the importance of brand awareness and how to maintain the brand’s reputation.
Proactive Management:
Proactive management involves identifying potential risks before they occur and taking appropriate measures to mitigate them. Conduct regular risk assessments and create mitigation plans to address any identified risks.
Digital Rights Management:
Protecting your digital assets is critical to the security of your business. Implement digital rights management policies that protect your intellectual property, such as copyrights, patents, and trade secrets.
Security and Recovery Procedures:
Implement robust security and recovery procedures to ensure that your business is protected from cyber threats. This includes having a disaster recovery plan, performing regular backups of critical data, and regularly updating your software and hardware.
Using Robust Cutting-Edge Technologies:
Using cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain can help you stay ahead of cyber threats. Implementing these advanced technologies can help you detect and prevent attacks before they cause damage to your business.
Staff Awareness and Knowledge:
Employees are often the weakest link in a company’s security. Ensure your employees understand the importance of security and the role they play in protecting the business. Provide regular training on cybersecurity best practices and conduct simulations of potential cyber-attacks.
Analysis and Reaction:
Regularly analyzing your security measures and reacting to potential threats is essential to mitigating risks. Implement monitoring tools that provide real-time insights into any potential threats, and have a team ready to respond quickly to any incidents.
Security Resilience:
No security measure is foolproof. Implementing security resilience measures, such as redundant systems, can help ensure your business can recover quickly in case of a security breach.
Stability through economic uncertainty:
In today’s dynamic business environment, businesses need to be highly efficient and cost-effective in their operations to remain competitive. One way to achieve this is by using software that has only the necessary properties to achieve your goals. This principle applies to both custom software development and off-the-shelf solutions.
Custom software development involves building software that is tailored to meet specific business needs. By using only the necessary properties, businesses can create products that are efficient and cost-effective. This approach eliminates unnecessary features and functionalities that would not add value to the business. Instead, it focuses on the core functionalities that the business requires to achieve its goals.
Off-the-shelf solutions, on the other hand, are ready-made software products that businesses can purchase and use. These solutions often come with a wide range of features and functionalities, but not all of them may be relevant to the business. By carefully selecting the right solution, businesses can choose a product that has only the necessary properties to meet their needs. This approach can help businesses save costs by avoiding unnecessary licensing fees, maintenance costs, and training costs.
Another important consideration when choosing software is scalability. Scalability refers to the ability of software to handle an increasing workload without impacting performance. When choosing software, businesses should consider solutions that scale according to their plan or have zero scalability impedance. This means that the software can grow with the business without requiring significant changes to the underlying architecture.
Scalability is particularly important for businesses that are experiencing rapid growth or expect to grow in the future. By choosing software that scales according to their plan, businesses can avoid the need to replace the software as they grow. This can help save costs and avoid disruptions to the business.
By using software that has only the necessary properties to achieve their goals and selecting solutions that scale according to their plan, businesses can create products that are efficient and cost-effective. This approach eliminates unnecessary costs and ensures that businesses have the right software to meet their needs. When choosing software, businesses should carefully evaluate their options and choose solutions that align with their goals and objectives.
In conclusion, implementing these risk management strategies can help protect your business from cyber threats and ensure a secure future for your brand. Remember, the best defence is a good offense, so be proactive in identifying and mitigating potential risks.
9.3 - Logo Tips: Guide for businesses
Creating the Perfect Logo for Your Business - There are several key factors to keep in mind to ensure that your logo is effective and memorable.
When it comes to creating a logo for your business, there are several key factors to keep in mind to ensure that your logo is effective and memorable. In this article, we will explore the essential components of a successful logo, including versatility, uniqueness, scalability, visual appeal, simplicity, and color.
Versatility
One of the most important things to consider when creating a logo is versatility. Your logo should be designed to work well across a variety of media, from business cards to billboards. It should also be adaptable for use on different platforms and TLDs (top-level domains). To achieve this, it’s essential to have an SVG or vector source image that can be easily scaled without losing quality.
Uniqueness
Your logo should be distinct and easily recognizable. It should set your business apart from the competition and be memorable to potential customers. This can be achieved by creating something unique that reflects your brand’s personality and values. It’s also essential to ensure that your logo is not too similar to other logos in your industry to avoid confusion.
Scalability
Your logo must be scalable to different sizes and formats without losing its visual appeal. This can be achieved by having the right software to transform your images to the different size variations that you need. It’s important to test your logo in different sizes to ensure that it remains legible and visually appealing.
Visual Appeal
Your logo should be easy on the eye and visually appealing. This can be achieved by using the right color schemes and creating a design that is aesthetically pleasing. It’s important to choose colors that complement each other and reflect your brand’s personality and values.
Simplicity
When it comes to logos, simplicity is key. The best logos are often the simplest, as they are easier to remember and recognize. A simple design also makes it easier to scale your logo to different sizes and formats without losing visual appeal.
Thoughtful Design
A thoughtful design is essential for creating a successful logo. Your logo should be unique, relevant, and right for the particular product or service you offer. It’s important to consider the message that you want to convey and the audience that you want to reach when designing your logo.
Color
Finally, color is an essential component of any logo. The right color scheme can make your logo stand out and reflect your brand’s personality and values. It’s important to choose colors that complement each other and that are appropriate for your industry.
Conclusion
It’s important to keep in mind that your logo will be used in many different images, such as product showcases, social media profiles, and other marketing materials. Additionally, your logo will be one of the most displayed parts of your website. This means that it’s also one of the most important. Your logo needs to be able to adapt to different scenarios and environments, while still maintaining its visual appeal and relevance to your brand. By creating a versatile logo that can be used in different contexts, you can ensure that your brand is consistently represented across all platforms and media.
In conclusion, creating a successful logo requires careful consideration of several key factors. By focusing on versatility, uniqueness, scalability, visual appeal, simplicity, thoughtful design, and color, you can create a logo that stands out and reflects your brand’s personality and values.
Links to useful software
AiLogoMarker.io- Generate logos in web friendly formats from a simple text description.
9.4 - Domain Name: A guide on domain names for business
In this article we learn how a domain name is essentially the address of your website, and it plays a vital role in building your online identity.
The importance of a domain name cannot be overlooked in today’s digital age. A domain name is essentially the address of your website, and it plays a vital role in building your online identity and brand. Here are some reasons why having a good domain name is critical:
A domain name is your online identity: Your domain name is the first thing people see when they visit your website. It reflects your brand and tells your visitors what your website is all about. It is the first step in building trust and credibility with your audience, so it is essential to choose a domain name that is easy to remember, easy to spell, and easy to pronounce.
A domain name impacts your search engine ranking: When people search for something online, search engines like Google use a complex algorithm to determine the most relevant results. One of the factors that search engines consider is the domain name. If your domain name contains keywords related to your business or industry, it will help improve your search engine ranking and make it easier for people to find your website.
A domain name is a valuable asset: A good domain name can be a valuable asset for your business. It is similar to a piece of real estate in the digital world. A memorable domain name can increase the value of your online business and make it more attractive to potential buyers if you ever decide to sell it.
A domain name can help protect your brand: Registering a domain name that matches your brand name or trademark can help protect your brand from competitors and cyber squatters. It can prevent others from using your brand name or trademark for their own benefit and ensure that your customers find you easily online.
A domain name is how browsers resolve your URL to your website. As links are enriched by native applications, users can easily share links to your domain name. They also serve as a reference point users may save to revisit information later. Well formatted urls can even allow access to content without having to navigate your website’s user interface.
Domain names are the addresses of your business for a myriad of applications. Including email, websites, FTP, and many others.
Domain names provide an interface between how users access your content and where your content is actually served and hosted. They enable you to change providers without affecting your users.
In conclusion, a domain name is a vital part of your online presence and brand identity. It impacts your search engine ranking, helps build trust with your audience, and can be a valuable asset for your business. So, take the time to choose a good domain name that reflects your brand, is easy to remember, and supports your online goals.
9.5 - Cost: A guide on website business costs.
Business Cost Of Website Hosting - Understanding the Cost of Building and Hosting a Website for One Year
Building a website and hosting it for one year can be an affordable process, but the costs can vary depending on several factors. In this article, we’ll explore the different expenses that come with building and hosting a website for one year.
Firstly, you’ll need adomain namefor your website, which is the address people will use to access your site. This can cost anywhere from £10 to £50 per year, depending on the domain name registrar you choose and the popularity of the name you want.
Next, you’ll need a hosting provider to store your website’s files and make them accessible to visitors. Hosting costs can range from £15 to £500 per year, depending on the level of performance and support you need. Shared hosting plans are the most affordable, but they come with limited resources and may not be suitable for complex websites. Virtual Private Servers (VPS) and dedicated servers offer better performance and more control, but they are more expensive.
If you’re not familiar with website design and development, you may need to hire a professional to create your website. Freelancers and agencies charge different rates, but the average cost of a custom website design is around £60 to £1,500. If you prefer a more DIY approach, you can use website builders like Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress.com.
Typically cost is commensurate with how much content needs to be created, the amount transformed to web content, and the number of distinct content types. See ourcontent guidefor more information on the actual content. Understanding how to lower the utility factors of cost is the subject of this guide, keep reading to learn more.
Picking the solution which handles a specific use case in the most effective manner is a complex. Always remember that using a solution which works for you is fine. However. keep reading more articles in this guide if you would like to be thoroughly informed on the process of choosing the best build solution.
Once your website is up and running, you’ll often need to maintain it and update its content regularly. This can be done by yourself or by hiring a webmaster or content manager, which can cost anywhere from £50 to £5,000 per year.
Finally, you may want to invest in additional features and tools to improve your website’s functionality and user experience. These can include e-commerce platforms, email marketing software, SEO tools, and more. The cost of these tools varies, but they can add up to a few hundred pounds per year.
In conclusion, the cost of building and hosting a website for one year can range from a few hundred pounds to several thousand pounds, depending on your needs and preferences. By understanding the different expenses involved, you can plan your budget and choose the right services and tools that suit your goals and resources.
10 - Website Content: A Review of the Web Facilities
How To Supercharge Experience With Various Rich Content And Media Types. Tips and tricks for marketing and business; Learn more about all the content type possibilities.
Writing your own content may seem like something better left to experts. However, you can achieve massive results using online resources, modern applications and artificial intelligence. Consider for a moment that most of the content used to train artificial intelligence models is from published content, books, websites or even more specific domain content. Combing these tools with your domain knowledge can easily create valuable content that turns spare knowledge into massive profit.
In this section, we cover the important aspects for creating great content and discuss techniques businesses can use within their website build solution. If you prefer a in depth technical guide of all things Google search, may I refer you to theGoogle Search Documentation.
10.1 - Getting Started: web content types
Learn why investing in website content is a good approach. Get started understanding the options and how to focus your investment to maximise results.
What is a web document?
Typically web pages are displayed in a web browser and rendered via HTML, its very easy to miss or forget about the numerous other features that websites, browsers, and applications provide. In this section we discuss those content types you can use on your website. Web browsers over recent years have become capable operating systems (the market share of Chromebook by Google continues to rise) and with trillions of pounds support from investments in compatible cloud software there is little expectation that this will falter. On-top of that, website don’t just show a page, but instead can be complete APIs (application programmable interfaces) which can be used to do almost anything. From display a web page to users, to moving a space rover on Mars.
What should my investment in content focus on?
Picking the best features to support for your particular business and audience is a great way to foster valuable engagement. A very common one may be to create an authoritative source of information about a subject. In many cases this is a business, service, guide or documentation.
Why support RSS for websites in 2024?
With subscriptions (RSS) to website sections users get access to tailored content from their favorite websites in a data feed. The typical user may only have 100 applications installed on their phone, and many get very little usage. Competition for user screen time is high and for good reason. Time is important. When your site may provide value to users, it only occurs if they happen on your page to receive it. Getting the user to directly search to receive any value from your content is not feasible because you are not the only one they need to check. That’s where data feeds have taken dominance, pushing relevant information in aggregate to the user.
What is RSS?
RSS (RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication)[2] is a web feed[3] that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many different websites in a single news aggregator, which constantly monitor sites for new content, removing the need for the user to manually check them. News aggregators (or “RSS readers”) can be built into a browser, installed on a desktop computer, or installed on a mobile device.
Webpages can be shared and many pieces of content are created to spread. Sharing content isn't just about people sharing it with others, being able to store and retrieve any previously accessed information is also vial. Often customers react on impulse, don't react immediately or don't know they will need your product. Hyperlinks act as a great way to quickly store documents and are a great way to spread content via sharing on other platforms. They are also build in to most features and platforms, allowing users a standard approach for acessing such information.
Shareable content isn't just about creating content that the user will save, it's allowing third party applets to to access information and serve rich results when users are searching for your product indirectly.
Many browsers now have the ability to generate shareable links or qr codes directly from their share interface. Producing content to leverage these mechanics can help promote and let people discover your product. Moreover, social media runs on the sharing of links.
By controling your website you can produce content how you like and never be affected by platforms going in a direction you don't like. This benefits in many aspects of user experience and allows you to tailor the user interface around your particular content. By using a website as your platform to engage your users you can provide rich tools that offer real value to them. Creating content around your plan and website is a great way to give users the most from your website. Keep reading to learn more.
Creating content for marketing is one of the primary focuses of websites, giving users the option to browse your products, find what they need, then refer back to them and share the information.
When producing content for your website you can tailor it to provide insights from within your domain. Doing this correctly will enable both your business and your customer to benefit by providing solutions to problems they have. Often can be accomplished by interacting with your customers or creating blog posts.
Using your website as a single source of truth, you may make posts to all the social media platforms to improve workflow efficiency. While always linking back to your primary platform. Many tools work directly with your websites features (RSS). And many new actions are enabled every day.
dlvrit.com- Send your content to various platforms.
Blog submission sites and feed aggregators.
AI services like chatgpt plugins
Automate with low code and low code templates on web standards -ifttt.com.
Show your appointments or calendar. And take appointment requests
Take form submissions for any data you need
Link to other websites or related info
Create user authenticated pages or authorise users based on some category
10.2 - Images: a complete guide
Review of how images can supercharge the overall experience of you web pages. Learn about all the required assets of web pages and how to best create utilise your resources when preparing them.
How images are supercharged on the web
Images are first-class citizens of every website.
Images are one of the main types of elements builtin into web browsers. There are only a few ways to display web pages. You can use the HTML standard to create a canvas, which allows the developer complete control over all the pixels of the entire window. Another method is to use the traditional HTML standard to create your web pages. The HTML standard offers elements that mark up a website in a declarative manner. Additionally, HTML offers many common elements that have builtin interfaces across all browsers. That means it’s often best to use the HTML standard to build web pages, as re-creating builtin elements with bespoke replacements is practically impossible.
This means that images can be treated as first class citizens of the web browser, like hyperlinks, text, or the web page itself.
How do images offer something exciting and visual to see?
Images are important to the user. We abandoned using text interfaces in the early 1990s. Humans often respond to visual inputs, and this makes images a vital part of marketing. When someone looks at your pages, within one second, they are impressed. Images don’t need to be impressive to look professional; you can create a very nice-looking web page using only simple imagery.
Images are more than decorations. Along with some people preferring to learn visually, images can convey meaning that is much more impactful than a long description.
How do I add images to my site?
When adding an image to your site, each build solution has its own way. It is best to stick to the solution facilities when adding your images. However, when the images are displayed on the page, it is normal to use a simple<img(HTMLImageElement). This means that no matter the method, what the user sees on the page is often the same (if you don’t take into account compression).
How do the search engines see my images?
When search engines are crawling a website, they will often follow all the links they can find on the website. They often even ignore instructions tonot followthe link. This is because the no follow option of HTMLImageElement(s) is not indented to stop a crawler from discovering them. While a crawler may discover links that are not intended to be on the website, that does not mean it will index them in their search results. There are many facilities available to instruct Google that a given link is intended to be consumed as part of the main body of a website. Some of the tools are as follows:Structured Content,Meta Information, Sitemap, and Image Sitemap.
An important one for images is the image sitemap. This is a file that describes all of the images within a section of a website. The typical format to serve a file in isxml. Each build solution has its own method of producing the XML file. However, it’s often just a simple list of images with some meta data describing them. Another important method is structured content. This, too, can add images to the search engine results. In recent years, there has been a push to provide more information about each image, and give search engines more information about the context of any image. One of the main bits of information is the copyright license. That is why structured data has become the go-to for getting your images into search results.
Are image listings required?
Many of the images displayed on the web are not the primary images. There are many variants of the image, one for each device. Sometimes there are different size images for better connections, and many other options are available. This means that if a search engine collects all the images, it will have many different versions of the same image. On top of that, lots of the images on the web use hashes as a means tobust cache. This means the number of variants of a single image will explode. Showing all of those to the user would be a bad experience. That is where structured content has become popular. It gives you a method to link all the associated images and data for any search engines while allowing you to keep the technical benefits of many different images.
The definitive web page image checklist
Auto-magic Image Generation
Leverage the power of cutting-edge generative AI software to effortlessly and expeditiously craft impeccable images that perfectly complement your digital assets. By harnessing the capabilities of AI technology, you can efficiently produce stunning visuals that align with your brand’s unique vision and resonate with your target audience. This innovative approach not only saves time and resources, but also ensures that your digital content stands out in today’s competitive landscape.
One complicated part of making website comes in the form of there being no right answer. When designing an asset, the end results can look completly different. The only way to approach this problem is to add what you can view and test. This allows you to tailor the content for the domain context and the applications you are expecting them to be viewed on.
When consuming a text only article it can be hard to stay engaged. By simply providing topical images it will help to anchor readers into a subject. And to split the content into logical sections. Images also provide a snapshot of a subject that can have both direct and indirect value. So images are worth adding throught your website, wherever they provide something to the reader.
Each page is better with some of the following assets:
Featured cover image
Structured content image set
Open graph image (or video)
Additional assets can also offer visual flair:
Images
360 Images
Timelapse
Infographics
Diagrams
Before/After
Coupons
Leaflets
Promotional material
Image creation software
A free open source desktop image editor is needed:GIMP
Photoshopin the creative suite - expensive industry standard subscription based software, embroiled inlegal controversy. That might be slightly too harsh, idc.
Affinity- The photo editing software you’ve been dreaming of
Abobe Illustrator- With powerful new features in Illustrator, you can create graphics that match your style, explore dozens of options and finish designs faster.
10.3 - Text: website cornerstone
Maximize Your Website’s Potential with Engaging Text Content. Learn how to create impactful text that resonates with your audience. Harness the power of AI and domain knowledge to generate content that drives traffic, boosts brand identity, and capitalizes on trending topics.
Learn about web text properties
How do you create great text content for your website?
Writing your own content may seem like something better left to experts. However, you can achieve a great experience with a little help, online resources, modern applications, and artificial intelligence. Consider for a moment that most of the content used to train artificial intelligence models is from published content, books, websites, or even more specific domain content. Combining these tools with your domain knowledge can easily produce content that turns spare time into massive profit.
Why produce text content for your website?
Brand and Identity
Capturing your own language requirements, benefits, advantages, writing style, communication style, etc. can be hard to implement and even harder to communicate with a web developer within your budget. The rapid and agile nature of the market can significantly reduce its effectiveness.
Trending topics
Take, for example, the rapid nature of domain vocabulary; it changes very quickly nowadays in the age of Facebook and Instagram. Ensuring you capitalise on it instead of suffering can be more than advantageous. Allowing AI to train on your content will ensure that it will be repeated. By leveraging domain vocabulary, one may still funnel engagement from any propagation of their content. After all, telling someone about a new way to google (check out DuckDuckGo by the way) gives engagement to Google. While it may not be beneficial for search engine rankings to create new words entirely or invent something, creating new compound wording allows you to leverage both domain vocabulary and search engine optimisation.
An example may be a food shop. They noticed many of their customers were buying similar groups of items. It’s noted that these customers may be single (not married), so they created alonely week care package. This comes with many items, including one onion, four loads worth of salad, and some tins of tuna. Finally, I no longer eat out-of-date salad and waste an onion.
No results where found for "lonely week care package".
Suggestions:
Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
Try different keywords.
Try more general keywords.
Try fewer keywords.
It may seem daunting to get someone searching for a new term, but all it takes is an existing customer sharing that they bought your product with a friend. Without the specific compound words, how do you search for a similar product?
As the legal area surrounding web scrapping and content theft is still a very legal grey area, embracing the idea may be the best approach. Now when ChatGPT regurgitates yourlonely week care packageout of the context of your web page, there is still a chance you may foster some engagement. A google for this term should produce your web page with a high ranking. Google and many other search engines can do a rather good job of attributing your page as the original creator of the text content. After all, your web page may be the first time that particular textural artefact was seen.
Powerful web communication
To be effective, your content needs to provide great information in all accessibility formats, inform search engines of valuable business information, and synchronise data across your providers, all automatically.
Taking advantage of all the features of a user’s browser and all the accessibility benefits is a great way to produce content that is much more enriched than the printed page. Many people can’t read text; they need braille or audio. Web pages can do many things, from interactive content, document display, audio reading, transforming to braille, translating to multiple languages, custom colour schemes, printing, and downloading for offline consumption. Meeting these standards in a non-digital manner must be cumbersome.
Remember, it is estimated that over 30% of users surfing the web do so with some disability. To me, that seems low; I don’t always have my glasses.
By tailoring your own content, you can not only take advantage of an agile methodology but also improve people’s ways of finding information. Has Google benefited from the term “Google it”? I use DuckDuckGo, but it’s still a Google search. It may not seem relevant, but a search for “premium website builder” yields millions of results; however, a search for a particular brand of website builder, “decap cms website builder” yields way fewer results. I know, duh, right? Can this apply to your business? Can your users benefit from more particular terminology?
Broad exposure
Not everyone searches for your content the same way you do, an industry professional. By having web pages targeting those terms that aren’t in your own primary terminology, you ensure traffic on those terms is directed to your website and notify search engines of your website’s relevance to those keywords.
Giving enough information
After reading your website or a document, would a user go away knowing all the relevant information pertaining to your services, or at the very least the majority of the key information? Can they refer back to it? Share it with someone without calling them?
Google and the like know this too, and they punish websites that they infer are of low value.
By writing custom content that’s engaging for users, search engines can better infer your value as a result. This is done by many metrics, and it’s altered seasonally. A good standard to go for is adding many pages of content. Even your boring customer safety document has value to Google. Your customers, too.
Others can be worse. Take DuckDuckGo, for example; they use a less data-intrusive model, which heavily favours back-linking.
How to write great text content?
Writing enough content
It is important for SEO to ensure that web pages have enough words because search engines use the content of a page to determine its relevance and quality. Pages with very little content may be seen as low-quality or thin content by search engines, which can negatively impact the site’s SEO performance.
Having enough words on a page allows search engines to better understand the topic and purpose of the page and match them with relevant search queries. This can result in higher search engine rankings, increased traffic, and improved visibility for the site.
However, it is not just the quantity of words that matters, but also the quality of the content. Pages with high-quality, relevant, and well-written content are more likely to perform well in search engine results. Webmasters should aim to create pages with enough words to provide value to users and to effectively communicate the topic and purpose of the page.
Article structure
When targeting a keyword, for example, “Bonsai trowel", it is good practice to include it in multiple locations on its corresponding page.
In your page title.
In the first block of text on your page
In the page description
It’s also good practice, for the same reasons, to include your keywords in your image file names.
Correct word size and word wrapping
Your template can enable many ways of handling word wrapping, so if you don’t like something or want another behaviour, this is normally possible. Sometimes in the real world, you have words that are longer than the screen width of the device that is viewing them. In these cases, it can cause the layout to shift. Keep in mind that when adding something like a URL, it will be displayed as a single word since it has zero whitespace (space) characters.
It is often good to provide a text description, which can be rendered with the document word wrapping settings. Various website interfaces have methods of adding text to links. In markdown, wrap the text in square brackets, followed by the URL in curly brackets.
Agile approach
Using an agile approach with your website content is more appropriate. Moreover, the rapid nature of search engine changes makes any planning difficult. Coupled with your own customers having varied and changing needs, an agile approach fits great. This Wikipedia document here - view agile software development, is a little heavy reading but makes a great starting point. Give the agile methodology a Google.
How do search engines see text content?
Since any image processing produces text that may not be correct. The words and phrases you explicitly provide with the text on your website are still important.
Each textual artefact has an implicit relationship with other artefacts within its section.
Analytics and search data is crucial data for your business, after publishing some document on a website it is advisable to monitor your website property often. Learn more with ourguide to analytics.
What are some good applications for working with text
Unlock the potential of explicit metadata to communicate vital details to external systems. Explore the significance of meta information in improving your website’s performance and user experience.
What is meta info?
Meta information is a set of data which is provided to applications consuming a web page. The meta information is not by definition displayed on a web page directly for users to see. It is used by other applications, like the browser bar or Facebook. The information is then displayed on the users device.
What is Open Graph?
It is the information that Facebook, LinkedIn and other social network use when creating a card to display a hyperlink.
While open graph may seem similar to other protocols, that’s because it is, many protocols have attempted to do similar things and have been superseded by other protocols. Open graph now seems to be used only for social cards.
Open graph elements on each page
Title
The title is a crucial aspect of any web page or website. It is the first thing that a user sees when they open the webpage, and it appears on the browser title bar, in search engine listings, and other places. The title should be brief, descriptive, and relevant to the content of the page. Most devices only display titles that are less than 60 characters long.
Root Page Title
The main title is displayed on the index page or site root. It is the title of the website and should be chosen carefully to represent what the website is about. A good page title should be short, memorable, and descriptive.
Each Page Title
Each page on a website can have a unique descriptive title. This helps search engines and users to understand what the page is about. A page title should be relevant to the content on the page and should accurately describe the page’s content.
Description
Each page and the root page can have a unique description. The description is a brief summary of what the page is about and should be between 50-160 characters long. A well-written description can entice users to click on the page and can also improve the page’s search engine ranking.
Social Images
Each page can have associated images that can be displayed in cards with applications like social media and messengers. These images can help users to identify the page when it is shared on social media or messaging apps. Social images should be of high quality and relevant to the content on the page. View theopen graph protocol website
Many different platforms use other items but Facebook for example, using open graph a image should be 1200×630 pixels and no more than 8MB.
Other meta data systems
You can find information on the complete mdn standardshereand the complete list of defined meta namehere.
Format detection
When browsers read the text content of any element within a web page, it can determine any text content with a format that it understands, and then it can be enriched as a hyperlink. Each web page has the ability to declare if any format detection takes place within the window.
The client window parsing the text content remains in control if any format detection takes place. For example, text content within a button may not be altered by format detection, or any other element with right-click-enabled interfaces.
Structured content is a vast and evolving topic on its own. It refers to the use of structured data to make information on a website more accessible and organized. Structured data helps search engines and other third-party systems to understand the content on a webpage better. For more information on structured content, refer to the guide on thestructured contentpage.
Favicons
Faviconsare small images that are used in the small card form of browsers, like the URL bar. They help users to identify the website and make it easier to recognize when it is bookmarked or added to the home screen of a device. Favicons should be clear, simple, and relevant to the website. Favicons can easily be generated from a single image, this makes adding the multiple sizes for different devices quite simple.
Application Manifest
This definition of data enables devices like Android to support the Progressive web app features. A Progressive Web App (PWA) is a website that can be installed on a device like an application. This includes being able to save a web page as a home screen application. The application manifest includes the icon, name, and description of the PWA.
It requires some specific images to enable features like a splash screen. A splash screen is the screen that appears when the PWA is opened before the content is loaded. View theMDN docs
Color
Many devices and situations require an explicit definition of color to act appropriately. Explicitly defining a color can help ensure that the website looks consistent across different devices and platforms. It can also help users with color blindness to understand the content on the website better.
Automation
Websites require images for every page to be most effective. You might be thinking wait that’s a lot of images. And your right, it is, worse still there’re multiple different companies with different formats to support. Being able to automate this process has never been easier. You can use a combination of AI and generative AI to produce amazing content. However, by adding content only to the center of images and having simple designs you can often produce only a single image.
Many people like myself are not full time graphic designers, and we still want to create graphic design images of the highest quality without paying any money. Many application will limit the ways you can use the application to encourage you to buy the paid package. By using the free service of multiple tools you can create great images with zero cost.
For example, creating logos and featured images (1:1 aspect ratio) with Canva or GIMP, exporting them, and then using it as a as an asset when generating open graph images. A great tool for doing this with zero cost is pika.style.
You can upload the assets yourself or automate with an API, sending snippets to pika.style as the title and except and choosing a random stock image.
You may also either, add branding from a template in an editor like Canva or overlay branding to auto picked images.
Image creation
Recommended: image to favicon formats generator with good coverage -cthedot.de icongen
Favicon generator with text to icon capabilities -favicon
A static image generator if you have limited resources -liyasthomas banner
A free open source image editor for when extra effort is needed:GIMP
If you want to spend some more for top noch software -Adobe Illustrator
First create a logo like image, with a 1:1 aspect ratio. The image should be large and over 500px wide. Second, generate your image from using a web app or via a API/data-pipeline.
Results testing
As the meta information of each of your pages are designed to be displayed within a certain third party interfaces, not within the display of your webpages window. It is advisable to test the results. Each platform consuming your pages has their own method, but many also conform to open standards. Its also best to test on the platforms you are targeting as the differences can be subtle.
The following are some online services which display the results of the common standards.
Unlock the power of video integration on your website. Learn from industry experts and create compelling video content that captivates your audience. Boost engagement and maximize your online impact.
Producing great video content for a business website can be a daunting task, but it is a worthwhile investment that can help you connect with your audience in a powerful way. Video is a highly engaging medium that can help you communicate your message effectively and increase your website’s overall engagement. Here are some tips on how to produce great video content for your business website.
In recent years, creating good videos have become a powerful marketing vertical. One that extends beyond giving your customers a good visual experience while on your website. Search engines and their displays like YouTube and LinkedIn, are the perfect medium to push content to users passively. Since their algorithm is always trying to show content to users based on their recent activity. The activity trends can present good opportunities to create valuable content that will be organically shown to users. One of the major benefits of YouTube, when it comes to producing YouTube content, is the gap in expected quality. A simple example is just your work, a video of yourself building a website can make a great background music.
While your YouTube profile is a good place to host your video, it also pays to constantly promote your own website. By creating videos around your website structure, both can align to provide better value to users.
Define your goals
Before you start planning your video, it’s important to define your goals. What do you want to achieve with this video? Are you trying to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive conversions? Understanding your goals will help you determine the type of video you need to create, the target audience, and the message you want to convey.
Plan your video
Once you have defined your goals, it’s time to plan your video. This involves developing a script, creating a storyboard, and selecting the appropriate visuals. Your script should be concise, clear, and engaging. Your storyboard should provide a visual representation of your script, including the shots, angles, and transitions. And your visuals should be high-quality and relevant to your message. Checkout apps like Canva to see already created professional templates, this will help to inform you of other successful projects and inspire you to fill in the templates with your own ideas.
Choose the right equipment
The equipment you use can make or break your video. Using templates and software can also produce great results if you don’t have anything in the real world you want to promote. Simply a high-quality camera, microphone, and lighting will help you produce a professional-looking video that will engage your audience. You don’t need to spend a fortune on equipment, but you should invest in good quality tools that will help you achieve your goals. Even a video saying hello to your potential consumers helps to build credibility. In today’s world, anyone can create great videos with their modern smart phones, so you have no excuse.
Shoot your video
When shooting your video, it’s important to pay attention to the details. This includes the lighting, sound, and composition. Make sure your subject is well-lit, the sound is clear and crisp, and the composition is visually appealing. Take your time and shoot multiple takes to ensure you have enough footage to work with during editing.
Edit and post-produce your video
Editing is where your video comes to life. This is where you add music, titles, and transitions to create a polished final product. Editing can be time-consuming, but it’s essential to produce a professional-looking video. Once you have finished editing, it’s time to post-produce your video. This involves optimizing your video for your website, adding captions, and ensuring it’s accessible to all users.
Promote your video
Finally, it’s time to promote your video. Share it on your website, social media channels, and email marketing campaigns. Encourage your followers to share it with their networks and engage with your content. This will help you increase your reach and drive more traffic to your website.
App recommendations
Canva- Canva is a powerful tool to create great videos from templates and without any expertise.
Conclusion
In conclusion, producing great video content for a business website requires careful planning, attention to detail, and a focus on your goals. By following these tips, you can create a powerful video that will engage your audience, increase your website’s overall engagement, and help you achieve your business objectives.
10.6 - Structured Content: The Ultimate Guide
Maximising Your SEO Potential: A Guide to Utilising Structured Content for Improved Third-Party Applet Support. Learn about the rich results answer engines can provide about anything from organisations to merchant product listings.
Bing, Google, and many more have full support. Plus, it’s now a well-defined standard that is becoming increasingly relevant due to the advent of a new class of applications. Applications of many types (not just search engines) can utilise explicit data about relevant topics to build knowledge and contribute to performing functions.
As with all website features that are consumed by search or answer engines, it may take some time for any changes to be reflected in the engine’s results. First, a change must be found and then processed, and then the information must be chosen to be used. You can request individual engines to update their data. But it’s not always known how many applications are using your data.
Structured data, in particular, is a larger entity to create. Combining sources from multiple pages into a representation of a single entity. This increase in the number of sources causes some delay, and having few sources will not cause processing to go any faster. But it allows many websites to present data points about a particular entity and have them aggregated. For example, the reviews can be taken from many third-party websites and a first party website to create a total picture.
Structured data provides better exposure of your website contents to users who don’t click through to your website directly. It helps search engines and third parties improve their results by providing explicit information on topics that are defined by a standard. Information on the topics that engines are interested in can serve as a concise showcase of a particular page or section of a website. It can also help the engine understand content on the page that is not included within the structured content by relating it to some topic that it does understand. Structure data is designed to relay information about the URLs, which then provide further information or actions associated with a particular topic. It can be thought of as a database with a direct association to a web page and may link to other important pages.
Rich Applets
Search engines and applications can reach out to your structured content for up-to-date information.
Improve SEO
Provide search engines with up-to-date information to help them display better results.
Custom
Provide custom structure to your applications or analysis.
Case studies and examples
Adding structured data can enable search results that are more engaging to users and might encourage them to interact more with your website, which is called rich results. Here are some case studies of websites that have implemented structured data for their site:
Rotten Tomatoes added structured data to 100,000 unique pages and measured a 25% higher click-through rate for pages enhanced with structured data, compared to pages without structured data.
The Food Network has converted 80% of their pages to enable search features, and has seen a 35% increase in visits.
Rakuten has found that users spend 1.5x more time on pages that implemented structured data than on non-structured data pages, and have a 3.6x higher interaction rate on AMP pages with search features vs non-feature AMP pages.
Nestlé has measured pages that show as rich results in search have an 82% higher click-through rate than non-rich result pages.
Image of an organisations structured data in Google Maps listings.
For example, the Google Business listing you see on the map when you search, and in any Google search results, will use the structured data from related websites. Instead of the data from an account or data that Google has guessed.
Image of an organisation’s structured data in Google Search results.
Given that the website provides organisation data, it can also provide other data like opening hours information, product listings, galleries, and many more.
Common structured data features
The following is a selection of relevant third-party applet definitions for most businesses:
The standard allows you to submit lots of data, that engines can call to when processing information on a business or subject. And they encourage you to enter as much relevant data as possible. By enriching your existing content that users can view with information that a machine can understand. not all current points available in the standard are used by all the vendors consuming structure data, so keep your ear to the ground so to speak, as new, creative and novel approaches to displaying information are becoming more and more common.
A good example of a piece of data that is actively used by many applications is opening hours. Instead of inputting this data directly into all of the applications, your website can provide this information, and any third parties will find the information on your website. If a third-party application is serving data to a customer, they can reach out to your website to get the latest information before displaying it.
One useful piece of data that many third parties support is the ability to specify links to offers or products. As an offer is about a product, engines are able to infer a great deal of information about the offer itself, the intention of the content, and the actions users may want to take.
What is structured data in the context of a website?
A graph is a term used to describe the relationships between people, places, and products. It is a way of visualising how different entities are connected. In the world of technology, a graph is often used to represent data in a way that is easy to understand and analyze. In the world of SEO, it’s how crawlers may derive information on a particular topic from a website to use in their applications.
One example of how graphs can be used is in the context of local businesses. When you search for a local business address, the results can show you not only the address itself but also the agents who work at that address. This is possible because of the way that the graph represents the relationships between different entities.
Overall, the graph is an important tool for understanding complex data sets. By visualising the relationships between different entities, it becomes easier to make sense of large amounts of information.
Source of Truth
A source of truth is a term used to describe a data set that is considered authoritative and reliable. In the context of technology, this often means that the data is centrally managed and controlled. This is important because it allows third-party applications to use the data without having to worry about inconsistencies or inaccuracies.
One example of a source of truth is a database that contains information about a particular set of products. This database might be managed by a single company or organisation, but it can be used by a wide range of third-party applications to provide users with up-to-date information.
Overall, having a reliable source of truth is essential for ensuring that data is accurate and consistent across different applications and platforms.
Formats
As applications get smarter, less time will be spent searching for content, and more impressions will happen in many third-party user interfaces. While your page may have a clear call-to-action, any third-party applications require an explicit place to retrieve such information that is relevant to a particular page. The increasing number of features and platforms and the wide range of current standards are making stores of explicit data like this more important. Web pages are simple files and make a great place to store this information in an easily accessible format. This allows engines to all consume a single source of truth.
Using all available formats, like Open Graph, Twitter Cards, and Schema, is critical.
Open Graph, Twitter Cards, and Schema are all formats that are used to represent data in a way that is compatible with different platforms and applications. These formats are important because they allow developers to create applications that work seamlessly with different systems and services.
For example, Open Graph is a format that is used to represent data on Facebook. Twitter cards, on the other hand, are used to represent data on Twitter. By using these formats, developers can ensure that their applications work well on both platforms.
Robustness is a term used to describe the ability of a system to handle a wide range of inputs and outputs. In the context of technology, this means that a system should be able to handle different kinds of data and perform a wide range of tasks.
One example of robustness is a search engine that can handle queries in different languages and return results that are relevant and accurate. Another example may be a multitude of third-party applications using data from your source of truth. Popular applications like ChatGPT or other artificial intelligence may call out to get structured data from your website to answer a query. What events has hosting.snowdon.dev hosting recently? Does hosting.snowdon.dev have any coupons? Does Apple have a website? Give me the telephone number for the support team at hosting.snowdon.dev.
All of this is done should be done from a single source of truth, and as new applications are created, your data continues to be automatically integrated with them. This does not prevent data from being aggregated, but data must have authoritative source.
Overall, robustness is an important characteristic of any technological system. By being able to handle a wide range of inputs and outputs, a system can be more useful and effective for users.
Adding structured data to a website
To do this simply add a JSON-lt payload in the schema format within the head of a HTML document. Or instead, markup your HTML DOM elements.
How is structured content different from a website?
A website and structured data serve different purposes, despite both being related to the online world. A website is a collection of pages, images, videos, and other forms of multimedia that are hosted on a server and accessed through a web browser. It is a platform for publishing content, interacting with users, and showcasing products or services. On the other hand, structured data is a way of organising and presenting information in a standardised format that can be easily understood by machines.
Although a website can contain structured data, the two concepts are not interchangeable. A website is designed for human consumption, while structured data is designed for machine consumption. Structured data is a form of metadata that describes the content of a website in a way that can be easily understood by search engines, social media platforms, and other web applications.
Structured data is often used to enhance the visibility and effectiveness of a website by providing more information about its content. This information can be used to create rich snippets, knowledge graphs, and other types of search results that provide users with a better understanding of the content on the website.
In contrast, a website is designed to be visually appealing and engaging to human users. It can feature a variety of multimedia elements, such as images, videos, and animations, that are designed to capture the attention of visitors and keep them engaged with the content.
Overall, a website and structured data serve different purposes, but they can work together to create a more effective and engaging online presence. By incorporating structured data into a website, businesses can improve their visibility and attract more visitors while providing a better user experience.
The Importance of Structured and Unstructured Data in Website Development
In the world of website development, data is a crucial component that helps developers create effective and efficient websites. When it comes to data, there are two types: structured and unstructured. While structured data is well-organised and easy to manage, unstructured data is more complex and requires a more nuanced approach.
Structured data refers to data that is organised in a specific format, such as a specification. It is easy to manage and analyse, and it is typically used for specific purposes, such as tracking sales or customer data. Structured data is also easier to search for and retrieve, which makes it a valuable asset in website development. Structured data comes in the form of a predefined format or semantic HTML that enriches any webpage with generic structure.
On the other hand, unstructured data refers to data that is not organised in a specific format, such as text files, images, or video files. Unstructured data is more complex and requires a more nuanced approach to processing and analyzing it. However, unstructured data can also provide valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences, which can be used to create more effective websites.
When it comes to website development, structured data is essential for creating effective applications. For example, structured data can be used to create a database of product information that can be used to power an online store. This data can be easily managed and analysed, which makes it easier to create effective product pages and search tools.
Unstructured data, on the other hand, can be used to create more personalised experiences for website visitors. For example, blog post content and comments can provide valuable insights into customer preferences, which can be used to create more effective marketing campaigns. Since search engines may only infer structure from HTML, they can gain little structured information other than the basic layout elements and the unstructured text contents. Many efforts are made to associate a piece of unstructured data with some content. For example, the alt attribute of an anchor element may add information to a hyperlink, but any association of that link to the particular product listing must be inferred. Its association is not structured. Many types of unstructured data may benefit from defining explicit structure.
In conclusion, structured and unstructured data are both important components of website development. While structured data is essential for creating effective applications, unstructured data can provide valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences. By taking a nuanced approach to data management, website developers can create more effective and efficient websites that deliver a superior user experience.
Tips for Using Structured Data with Common Content Types
Structured Data Product and Merchant Listings
One of the most relevant pieces of data that websites offer are products listings. To get better rich results for these within answer engines, structured data can be added for the products. Once the structure data is captured in the answer engine listings, it can refer back to a particular webpage on your site. When a user interacts with a product listing, they may click through the rich result for a product and go directly to its own page. The website can then use its own checkout procedure to capture any conversion.
With AI applications empowering answer engines, many new ways of acquiring information about entities are becoming popular. Answer engines like Google have become more common and advanced. Newer engines powered by and designed specifically with integration with modern generative AI (for example, SearchGPT) allow your website listing on a search engine to be much more customised and provide more tailored information along with a predefined context within the generative AI prompt. The context given to a search for an organisation with structured data allows the engine to instantly understand additional requests without having to append those annoying phrases intended to disambiguate the correct content like “in the northeast” or “site:snowdon.dev”.
As these engines are building databases for their users to query, having structured content that targets these platforms can improve your impressions. An example of this might be looking for the opening hours sequence instead of a contact page containing your opening hours. And displaying the user’s opening hours within their own interfaces. Typical search engines already include answer engines (they provide data to the widgets), but many new types and interfaces are becoming available. Paying attention to your business’s domain and looking for any interesting ways users are searching for your product may pay dividends.
As businesses and search engines start rolling out new interfaces to display information for queries that can be disambiguated, many components of structured data can take prominence in the results of the answer engine. This should provide a richer experience to the user within the answer engine and help to navigate the web pages for the user.
Using the structure of entities related to a query, the answer engine can display information relevant not only to a particular section of a website but to multiple related websites as one cohesive piece. By understanding the links that are displayed and directing the user to different related parts of the web, links can be to a distinct website about a department of an internal web hosting organisation or to external pages providing information about a part of the organization. And many more, with new interfaces being added regularly.
Reviews
Using services likereviews.ioyou can manage your website’s reviews from within its interface. Review services offer many ways to easily integrate their features with your website. Or simply use it to gather reviews. Many other services also allow review submissions, and any website can push reviews to an entity’s structured content. Common providers include Yell and Google Business.
Any reviews will be linked to your entity through structured content and will be aggregated from all sources when displayed within an answer engine interface.
After finding your profile, look for a link to leave reviews. This simplehyperlinkcan be shown to users and provides a simple call-to-action to a leave-a-review process. However, the Google review process isn’t great. You may also consider implementing a more complete user flow. For example, to provide users with a coupon after submitting a review,.
FAQ
There are a number of free tools that may take a webpage and generate some questions from its content:
What is marketeer.snowdon.dev?
How can marketeer.snowdon.dev help improve my marketing strategies?
Is marketeer.snowdon.dev suitable for small businesses or only for larger companies?
Are there any specific industries that marketeer.snowdon.dev caters to?
Can marketeer.snowdon.dev integrate with other marketing tools and platforms?
The following is a list of third-party software offering free content generation:
Using the results produced by a generator, create definitions of each question and the answer to declare structured data for the relevant topic. Once indexed by search engines, FAQ structured data allows answer engines to easily enrich their applets with up-to-date information of major importance. This allows Google to pick exactly the correct data from a web page and states that it explicitly relates to an answer or question. Search engines often display the content of websites with enriched data higher than sites without.
Providing explicit data is a powerful tool to provide valuable information to users who receive an impression on any search engine but who don’t visit the website directly. Your existing content will often already include questions and answers to those questions. But it always helps to consult domain knowledge from various experts in the business industry, web development, artificial intelligence, and SEO. They can all offer insights. If you are contracting a freelancer, it would be best to have an expert in all those fields, including the domain of the questions. If you are doing all aspects yourself, paying attention to all the experts is currently a necessity since standards and technologies are changing.
To get the most benefit from the structured data about the website page, be sure to create an informative page that displays more related and useful information that a user can click through to. Within the questions and answers, try to provide any information that you think the user would like on a very first impression. By using the tools that provide recommendations based on existing content, you can find reliable and trusted questions and answers that users are actively searching for. If your competitors are not providing some critical information that users are seeking, then having an answer or question that addresses it would yield results.
Q: “What is the cost of n”, A: “We offer a free service, with optional paid extra (we allow x for free)”
Q: “Where can we delivery”, A: “We can delivery through the north east of n”
10.7 - Links: The Importance of Internal Linking
Dive into the world of internal links and understand how they offer rich information to search engines by mapping out the relationships between various sections on your website. Enhance your site’s visibility and user engagement with effective linking strategies.
How do internal links provide rich information to search engines?
Each link on your website provides valuable information about how a section relates to other sections. Search engines produce such directed graphs to infer insights about the structure of your website. No longer do site maps provide all the information necessary for Google’s complicated algorithms. A clear hierarchical structure is also formed by the mapping from directories to URLs. This information forms a directed graph with the condition that any child item may have only one parent. The directed graph of your website defines associations between the sections.
Links are enriched by the user’s devices. Links can be a call to action for many native functions of the users’ devices. Some external links to your page do not hold any page ranking weight. This can include many in places on common websites like facebook.com etc.
PageRank flows around a website via internal links (links from one page on the site to another).
For example, some of this article’s PageRank flows to the other pages on our site via hyperlinks. In general, higher PageRank equates to higher rankings. Gary Illyses confirmed this last year.
DYK that after 18 years we're still using PageRank (and 100s of other signals) in ranking?
In addition to the search engine optimization benefits, links play an important role in user experience. Well-placed links can help users navigate complex topics and find the information they need quickly and easily. By providing clear and relevant links between pages, users can move seamlessly between different sections of your website, making their overall experience more enjoyable and efficient. Therefore, it is important to ensure that links are placed strategically and labeled appropriately to enhance user experience and engagement.
How do external links add value?
Links to third-party websites and links from third-party websites are essential for building a graph of related and validated content associations. By linking to high-quality external resources, you can provide additional context and value to your users. Additionally, linking to well-established and reputable sources can help establish your website as a trusted authority in your niche.
Moreover, when other websites link to your content, it signals to search engines that your website is a credible and authoritative source of information. This can improve your website’s search engine rankings and increase your visibility to potential users.
However, it is important to ensure that the external links you include on your website are relevant, trustworthy, and add value to your users. Similarly, it is crucial to build high-quality content that other websites would want to link to. By doing so, you can create a network of interlinked content that improves user experience, builds your brand reputation, and positively impacts your search engine optimization efforts. In is also important to keep your links working. There any many standard tools available to automate this process, but is is worth noting..
Tips when creating internal links
Permanent links: preserving features.
Links often behave directly like filesystems. While their content may change or new entries can be added, it is hard to make changes to large collections of links by changing the name of a parent directory without effecting its children.
Keeping links permanent allows your emails and other documents to stay rich by preserving the link’s ability to resolve to the indented content.
Creating permanent links to each of your pages allows you to create links that are not the primary link. Which can allow you some flexibility when changing any links. Imagine./Docs/oneand/Docs/two, if/Docschanges, so does each of its children. For example,/Docschanges to/Guide, now its two children are/Guide/oneand\Guide/two.
A change like this would break any existing links to the old path; instead, it’s best to use permanent links to pages that are crucial. Take our example of/Docs/one, instead of linking to this page as/Docs/one, create a separate link for this page, a permanent one. Like/one-permanent. Now you can change the parent of one freely.
Other methods exist, if needed, however using server redirects can get complicated.
Link target errors
Absolute vs relative URLs
When creating links on a website, it’s important to ensure that the target of the link is correct. This is especially important when specifying links to internal pages on the same website.
One common mistake is to reference the relative path of the internal link without including the/prefix. When this happens, web crawlers may append the path to the link source path, leading to issues with crawling and indexing.
This can result in crawlers repeatedly requesting pages in a loop, which can significantly impact the website’s performance and the crawling process. This loop only ends when a certain threshold is reached, causing major issues with the website’s visibility and accessibility in search engine results.
To avoid this issue, it’s essential to carefully specify the correct target of internal links and ensure that the links are properly formatted with the correct prefixes to prevent crawling issues. Using the absolute URL is always the preferred option where it can be used.
While using a correctly formed relative URL is often the preferred or best practice people turn to. Often because it enables the links to navigate to a new page or resource without making the website content data be bound to an explicit origin. This enables the website owner to develop on the website, or use the website to be used with other origins very easily. However, this approach is not the best possible approach. Instead, prefer to interpolate your website baseURL in places where it’s required.
