Spring Cleaning: 4 Ways to Freshen Up Your Website

When is the last time you gave your website a thorough review? Last week? Six months ago? Never? It can be time consuming to clean out the online cobwebs, but the health of your website is dependent on periodic maintenance. Here are four ways to ensure your website is up to date.

Mind Your Copyright
Scroll down to the footer of your website. If your copyright says 2015 or earlier, then it’s probably time for a deeper dive into your site content. Be sure to update your copyright to the current year. In fact, be sure to check for any instances where an older year may be showcased on your site. This could include catalogs, brochures, or other online sales collateral.

Update Your System
Just like your mobile phone's operating system needs to be continually updated, so too does your content management system. CMS providers are in a constant battle against hackers and malware, and they often release new updates with security patches. This isn't something you want to put off for a rainy day. Before you do this, be sure to back up your website first. If you're using any third party plugins on your site, then be sure to check them for pending updates as well.

Remove the 404s
It's important to periodically evaluate your on-site links. Depending on the size of your website, this could be a rather lengthy process, but it's worth it to identify any links that may be broken. Landing on a 404 page creates a poor user experience, which in turns is harmful to your SEO efforts.

Freshen Your Content
The more you update your website content, the more the search engines will index your page. Please note this doesn't automatically equate to higher ranking in the search results, but it does increase your opportunities to rank higher. The focus should be on providing site visitors with relevant, keyword-rich (not keyword-stuffed) content.

Do you need some assistance dusting off your website? Contact the team at CC Communications and learn how we can help! In case you don't follow CC Communications on Facebook or Twitter (hint, hint!), we invite you to connect with us. We're constantly publishing smart strategies to help you navigate the ever-changing online landscape and grow your business.

Have topics that you'd specifically like to learn about? Have tips you'd like to share? We welcome feedback on our posts, and are looking forward to engaging with you online!

CC Communications Pulls Back the Curtain on Its Newest Website Creation

CC Communications recently launched a redesigned website for Heritage Fabrics, a supplier of decorative fabrics for manufacturers, retailers, and the hospitality industry. The new website incorporates the latest in responsive design technology, making it scalable across any web-enabled device. To meet the need for a powerful, yet easy-to-use content management system, CC Communications utilized DotNetNuke (DNN), one of the foremost, web design tools available on the market.  The new Heritage Fabrics website was designed to support sales efforts by showing more of the facility, displaying samples of their beautiful product line, and improving navigation by directing buyers to the appropriate sales rep. CC Communications implemented a modern, wide-format layout and integrated Google Analytics for tracking site usage.

How to Streamline Your Google Analytics Experience

Simplifying and Customizing the Complexity of Google Analytics to Realize its True Power.

Google Analytics can be overwhelming. The best way to understand it fully is to organize the data in a meaningful manner. Luckily, the program has a number of built-in ways to easily achieve that. These features are designed to provide clarity to your metrics so you can ultimately make data driven decisions.

Setting up a Dashboard
A dashboard is a single page view where you can display information about your website. Widgets placed in your dashboard view display predetermined data. You can have up to 12 widgets in a dashboard, each one pulling in its own segment of information of your choice. A widget might provide an overview of your audience, your active visitors, their locations, the ratio between new and returning visitors, their traffic sources, and much more.

The Dashboards link in the menu on the left side of your Google Analytics offers two options: the Private link is a dropdown that gives you My Dashboard, your default dashboard. The +New Dashboard link lets you create one from scratch, and choosing the Starter Dashboard from the popup box, gives you something tangible to work with and refine.

Setting up Goals
Goals are things you can set up to track certain visitor behavior patterns. Suppose you have a new page set up with a special promotion, which you heavily promote from your home page. Your Goal could be to track which visitors successfully land on that page. For example, the Goal you set up might tell you that you've managed to convince 85% of your home page visitors, on average, to click over to the desired page.

Older versions of Google Analytics require you to click Actions on the top menu, then choose Edit, and in your profile settings you'll see a column marked Goals. There are four possible sets, and each can hold five goals. Select the set most applicable to you and edit accordingly. New versions of Google Analytics require you to select the "gear" button, top right of the page, then choose your account and website. This will take you to the correct section containing Goals.

Using Shortcuts
Shortcuts allow you to save your customized settings to a report so that the data is always viewed exactly as you wish. Shortcuts are easy to set up. Choose a regularly used Custom Report or Standard Report. Segment the report, filtering the data to appear as you wish, then simply click the Shortcut link above the report. Give your Shortcut a meaningful name and click OK to save it within the Home tab where you can access it later.

Need assistance? Contact CC Communications online or call 1-704-761-4676 to learn how we can help organize your analytics account to provide actionable insights for your businesses.

Is Your Website Missing Something?

Your website is typically the first line of defense when a potential client takes the step to explore your product or service options. Does your website encompass key assets to allow your website visitors to becoming raving clients?

Take a glimpse at the following 5 points that may take your website engagement to the next level.

Who You Are
Visitors like to know about who they'll be engaging for services. Make sure to include information that makes your business unique. What's standard to you could be a selling point to a website visitor. Be sure to make it personal.

Testimonials or Portfolios 
Writing engaging copy is half of the battle; having the opportunity to show your visitors and clients the products and services you provide is priceless. Be mindful to straddle the line and not come across as boastful or 'showy'. Illuminate your strengths and allow your visitors examples of how you can serve their needs and be the prime choice in the selection process.

Social Media Icons 
How you present your self on social media is important from the perspective of potential clients and brand watchers. Allow your visitors to keep the engagement juices flowing by displaying linked icons to your utilized social media channels to encourage connection. If a particular social media channel is not properly maintained, opt to leave that platform off of your website. An unattended social media account could indicate to 'likers' and followers that your business is no longer or your customer value and service standards are not streamlined and consistent.

Call to Action 
We know that it's imperative to have a contact page for interested visitors to further contact you. Equally as important is a strong Call to Action, or an interactive way for a visitor to continue connecting with you. A Call to Action could be an incentive to join an eClub or make an online purchase.

A Great Benefit 
There's no better way to position yourself as an expert than to offer your visitors an added bonus for coming to your website. Said benefit can be entry to an exclusive email list or an informative white paper. This will help market your business ever more and offers your visitors an unexpected extra.

Interested in learning more tips and tricks from the CC Communications team? We’d love to speak further with you! Contact Us via www.CCCom.com or directly at 704.761.4676.

Why is Responsive Design Important?

If you've been following our blog, then most likely you have seen us use the term "responsive
design" a number of times - and for good reason. In 2016, it's a primary design strategy when creating or redesigning a website. If you’re unclear as to why responsive design is important, then here is a quick primer.

How Does it Work?

Responsive design, also known as a mobile-friendly website, ensures your website visitors experience a pleasant browsing experience, regardless of the web-enabled device they use to visit your website. Mobile phones, tablets, and desktops all come in different shapes and sizes, and a website with responsive design responds to the device you're using and automatically adjusts the site to best display in the device.

Why is Responsive Design so Important?

Do you have a smartphone? Do you use it often? I'm not a mind reader, but I'm willing to bet your answers to both questions are yes. We’ve all visited a website that was NOT Responsively Designed from our smartphone. There was a lot of scrolling, pinching, and resizing to view the entire website. Annoying, right?

The size of the smartphone market, which is estimated at 68% of Americans, makes it more crucial than ever to ensure you’re providing the best user experience. And as we’ve mentioned in prior posts, the better the user experience, the better your search engine optimization will be. This is one reason why Google gives search rank priority to any business with a mobile-friendly design.

How to Know if Your Site is Responsive?
There’s an online tool provided by Google, and you can use it to run a free test of your site. If your results come back with anything other than “Awesome! This page is mobile-friendly,” then you’ll want to take the necessary steps required to get your website in line with today’s technology. Our team at CC Communications specializes in designing functional, visually appealing responsive design websites and we'd love the opportunity to speak with you about how our team can transform your business' online presence.

Connect with our team at www.CCCom.com/ContactUs for a no obligation analysis of your current web design. Ensuring you have a responsively designed website will be an investment into your future, put your business ahead of your competitors, and most of all will provide your website visitors and customers a pleasurable experience on your website.

Native App vs Web App: Which is Better for Your Business?

Apps are now assimilated as an integral facet of our daily life - Whether that is fulfilling our quest to conquer the world in Clash of Clans, checking out the latest sports and news from around the world from the SportsCenter or USA Today app, or running our lives via Evernote.

In all reality, what would we do without smartphones and apps to help keep our lives organized and at the top of our game? Knowing the ease it brings to your daily life, it's only normal you may be considering the development of an app for your business to provide your customers the utmost in resources and access. But what type of app is best for your business?

Not all apps are the same. The two apps that you may be considering are a Native App or a Web App. A Native App is installed directly on your mobile device and is uniquely created to operate on your phone, whether you have an iPhone, Android, iPad, etc.

On the other end of the spectrum, a Web App is solely accessed through a device's web browser. There is no installation that needs to take place to access a Web App. Consider thinking of a Web App as a cross between a mobile-friendly website and a Native App.

So, we come back to the question, what's best for your business? The following pros and cons to each option will hopefully provide you clarity in your quest to make the right moves for your business.

The Pros of a Native App

• Faster processing time as compared to a Web App.
• Offers the ability to use an app offline.
• Integration with smartphone features, such as the camera, GPS, and push notifications.
• Prime placement in app stores and marketplaces, like iTunes and Google Play.
• Since apps need to be approved by an app store or marketplace, users enjoy peace of mind and security in their downloads.

The Cons of a Native App

• Native Apps are typically quite expensive to develop, as compared to a Web App.
• Developers need to create a Native App for each OS (operating system), such as for iPhone, Android, etc.
• Users have to manually update a Native App if automatic updates are not selected by the user.
• Native Apps need to be approved by an app store or marketplace before they can be downloaded or purchased

The Pros of a Web App

• Does not require users to install new software to their phone or gain approvals from an app store or marketplace.
• Updates are available immediately and do not require users to make updates to receive the benefits of an update.
• No internal space is required to use a Web App on your phone.
• Only one universal version needs to be developed for users, regardless of their phone's OS.
• Generally, Web App's is less costly to implement as compared to a Native App.

The Cons of a Web App

• No ability to search through app store or marketplace to find a Web App, though, there is some ability to do so in iTunes.
• There is difficulty to find a Web App, unless a user is deliberately searching.
• Web Apps are not able to be used offline.
• It can be costly to provide updates to a Web App to ensure that users of any mobile device can access a Web App as it's meant to be accessed.

Our opinion? Combine the two for maximum exposure. Many tools available to CC Communications will blend the best functions of both a Web App and Native App into one management system. Otherwise, if you have a strong current customer base and are looking to boost their engagement or offer enhanced features, a stand-alone Native App may be your best option to pursue.

If you're still in flux, please reach out to us! We'd be more than happy to help you help you conclude the  best option for your business. Once your decision is made, please remember that CC Communications can be the source to help you develop a Native App or Web App. To contact the CC Communications team, please visit www.CCCom.com/ContactUs or call 704.761.4676.

Domain Theft: A Cautionary Tale, Courtesy of the Trump Campaign

It's no secret that politics, especially during an election year, can get ugly. If a candidate isn't on top of their game a rival can quickly get the better of them, which was the case in a recent takeover of the domain, JebBush.com. Apparently Jeb's team forgot to renew his domain name, which was quickly snapped up by either the Trump campaign or a supporter. Suddenly all web traffic was redirected to donaldjtrump.com, the official website for his presidential bid. Oh snap!

Since Jeb has dropped out of the race, viewers are now pointed to a page of sponsored links, a form of cybersquatting that we'll discuss in a future post. Stay tuned!

Don't Let This Happen to You
Politicians are not the only ones susceptible to this type of hostile domain takeover. Businesses and brands also need to be aware of the same pitfalls when managing online assets. If someone takes ownership of your domain you could be facing a lengthy legal battle and/or a large expense to get it back.

Understand the Process
When your domain is coming up for renewal, you'll begin to receive email notifications. Typically you'll receive three warning emails over a ninety day period leading up to the termination date. If you miss them, then your domain becomes an open target for your competition. Here are some ways you can help prevent your domain registration from lapsing.

• Keep your domain registration date on file and set up a calendar reminder.
• Be sure you know which email address will receive the notifications. 
• Use an email address that won't become dormant. Your IT manager may some day leave the company meaning their inbox could go unchecked.
• Allow your web development agency to manage the process for you. Here at CC Communications, we provide this extra level of security as part of our ongoing web hosting services.
• Remember your registrar. Since your specific domain name renewal date and contact information are typically viewable by anyone online, you may receive fraudulent email messages from other parties claiming your domain name registration is about to expire and offering to renew the license on your behalf.  Before responding, make sure that the organization sending you the message is in fact your designated registrar or service agent.  Take care to avoid sending your domain name license registration login ID and password information to anyone via email. Your legitimate registrar or service agent should already have a record of this information. Also take care to avoid providing any credit card or other online payment authorization information to via email, which is not normally secure. Always make sure that the representative offering to assist with your renewal is in fact your actual registrar or service agent, and not someone who is attempting to steal your domain name license or credit card information.