Category Archives: Web

Creative generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs): What Choices do you Have?

A TLD (top-level domain) is simply another name for a domain extension. It is the string of characters that follow to dot at the very end of a site URL. For example, the TLD for 101domain.com is “.COM.” A gTLD, or generic top-level domain, is nothing but a TLD that can be used by anyone, anywhere in the world.

For a pretty long time, the old, standard gTLD’s (.COM, .NET, .ORG, .EDU, and .GOV) were considered sufficient for covering all the corners of the Internet. But of course, as the Internet – or at least its namespace – expanded, the domain space began to feel a bit more crowded with only these limited domain extension options. read more

5 Latest Trends For Building A Website With Visual Appeal

Building a website can be a lucrative endeavor. Whether you are building a personal portfolio or growing business website, the online competition for top websites is fierce which is why many businesses choose to hire professionals that can do design. With ever-changing web design trends, it can be difficult to stand out in a crowded field. This is why many businesses hire website developers and designers to help them create and manage the best website for their business needs. Digital developers need to stay current on the latest website design trends to design a website that garners lots of traffic and “wows” website visitors. To deliver a high quality experience to visitors, you should build a website that looks modern, professional and easy to understand. Find out the latest trends for building a website below. Then, incorporate them into your next website design strategy.

Symmetry Is Overrated

Asymmetrical webpage designs are one of the top trends in web development in 2019. Many of today’s top websites are utilizing asymmetrical webpage layouts to surprise and delight online users. These broken grid layouts help prove your website’s ability to innovate. Asymmetrical web layouts project a more laid-back, creative brand image for your online business. Moreover, it keeps visitors engaged because they don’t know what to expect while scrolling on the website. Utilizing broken grid web design strategies will prove your ability to stay current on all the latest trends for building a website. Take advantage of this tip to stand out in a competitive web design field.

Make Scrolling More Interesting

One of the hottest website design trends of the year is the use of non-traditional scrolling techniques. Today’s top website designs provide an innovative, exciting new user-experience by utilizing horizontal scroll features. Often, this is done to highlight a specific section of content on a webpage. This new scrolling design serves to showcase visitors of your digital business’s capacity to deliver exciting web content in unexpected ways. It broadcasts a modern, playful image for your online brand. Meanwhile, it gives you more space to display content that users can either scroll through. Be sure to keep this top web design strategy in mind when designing your own website.

Embrace Color

Bold, vibrant colors are a top design strategy for websites in 2019. Online users increasingly prefer bright, colorful websites to outdated, monochromatic or neutral color schemes. Using bright colored images and fonts in website designs draws visitors’ eyes into the most important parts of your page. If possible, reserve a specific color for taking action. Digital business owners like yourself can also use consistent color choices to further promote your business brand styling. This will only help to improve brand recognition for your website. Implement these top web design tricks to make your website more colorful and more effective. For businesses that are wanting a complete brand overhaul to improve their business growth, having a look into the different choices of Creative Branding Agency out there available for hire can do their brand potential wonders.

Balance With Whitespace

The best web developers also know to balance out colorful webpage designs with more whitespace. As recommended on Dreamhost.com, you should not fear blank space when designing a new website. In fact, the latest design trends have responded to the increased use of color by including more purposeful whitespace in their web layout. Website layouts with more whitespace help to prevent sensory overload for visitors. They create a more enjoyable, user-friendly website design that is easy to navigate and pleasing to the eye. The best websites of the year have balanced the presence of bold, bright colors by using additional whitespace in their webpage layouts. You should also make use of these top web design trends.

Make Websites More Inclusive

Inclusive web design is one of the biggest and most important digital trends of 2019. It is also a trend that is long overdue. Finally, web developers have started to make websites more accessible to individuals with disabilities. It would benefit your digital business to do the same. By creating an inclusive web design, you make your website more accessible to a diverse array visitors, increasing your website’s capacity for traffic. Inclusive web design strategies include adding alt text for images and being careful in your choice of font and webpage colors. For example, college letter fonts are big and bold which makes them much easier to read when compared to script fonts. This means they’re the more inclusive option. Use these trending web design tactics to make your website more accessible for all visitors.

Online business can be lucrative. But first, you need to design a website that keeps up with the stiff competition. The latest trends for building a website help developers like you create websites that generate traffic and impress page visitors. Create website designs that utilize asymmetry and non-traditional scrolling techniques. Use digital design strategies that employ tons of bold, bright colors balanced out with increased whitespace. And lastly, be sure to create an inclusive website design that responds to the diverse needs of all web users. As long as you follow these top website design trends of 2019, your digital development business is sure to take off.

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7 Steps to Migrating Your E-commerce Site

The owners of eCommerce sites put a lot of money into their business venture. So, it’s safe to say they are wanting to make this money back and do anything to ensure the success of their site. They may wish to see if they can tap into one of the best ecommerce niches within their existing products on offer so they can take advantage of the customers that can bring in. A lot of the time, this also means moving the actual site itself from one platform to another.

There are several reasons to move your e-commerce store. Many businesses like the built-in templates and plug and play nature of platforms like Shopify and BigEcommerce, but many more like the robust features, content management, and social media friendly perks of a WooCommerce site hosted within a WordPress website build.

WooCommerce is by far the most popular site for e-commerce storefronts, hosting nearly 30 percent of them worldwide. This is in part because it operates with the same user-friendly interface as WordPress, which means it is relatively easy to learn. There are some definite content management advantages as well, including integrated social sharing and tracking and analytics options.

Whether you are migrating to or from WordPress, here are seven essential steps for migrating your e-commerce site.

Set Up Your New Store

The first step is to set up your new store. This means you may have to set up new hosting. If you are going to change things up, you may need to choose a new domain name as well or migrate your old one.

You also need to choose a theme. This should closely resemble your current site unless you want to create a whole new look. Just know that the further the new theme is from your old site, the longer the new installation will take, as you will have to move things around more, which may increase the downtime of your store.

Don’t worry about colors or fonts on the theme: most can be customized pretty easily once you have done the installation and made sure everything works.

Also, understand that different themes come with different features and extensions. Depending on what your store needs, different ones make work better for you, so evaluate them based on more than just how they look and are structured.

Once you have set up your store, you need to test it and make sure it is accessible online. Once you have completed that step, you can start the migration.

If you want to make the most of your eCommerce business, you need to understand the best ways to get more sales. Delving into the best visual products merchandising strategies can help. Doing so simply means using store-like strategies to entice potential clients to buy products. While a regular store you can walk into may use shelves of goods arranged in a certain way, your website is a bit more limited. However, making the most of images, slogans and other visual elements can help you achieve the same end sales goal. To make the most of online visual merchandising options, you must use top-notch photographs to clearly show each product to your visitors. Incorporating organized navigational menus and designing visual elements in such a way as to lead your visitors from one product they might like to another can also help you improve sales.

Get a Cart Conversion Plug-In

Of course, one of the most vital parts of your website is your shopping cart. This can be one of the trickiest parts to migrate, but fortunately, there are a lot of cart conversion plug-ins to choose from that make the process simpler.

Cart2Cart is one of the better ones, but if you are migrating to WooCommerce, you can also use the WP All Import Plug-In. You need to decide which data you want/need to import. This can include:

Product information, including photos and product variations
Categories and category images.
Customer information including shipping and billing addresses.
Order History, Current Orders, and Order Statuses

Once you have installed a migration tool, you can move on to the next step.

Do a Demo Import

This is a critical step. Before you do the actual import, do a demo import to make sure everything is working properly, and that the data populates the way it should. Make sure that everything is working properly and that it is all there.

Once you have done a thorough check of your import, you can move forward. If it does not work, you might have to try another method or a different plug-in. To save yourself a ton of time and trouble, double-triple check yourself here. You don’t want to have to do the work of redoing things once the import is complete.

Notify Your Customers and Vendors

For a little bit, your store will be down while you do the final migration. You should, of course, do this at one of your slowest times to make sure you don’t lose too many orders. Let your customers on your email list and your vendors know when the migration is happening and how long you anticipate it will take.

Do the Final Import

Once you have informed everyone, move on to the final import. Since you have already done a thorough demo, this should go pretty smoothly. However, take your time, and be sure each step is complete before moving on to the next.

Once this has completed, be sure to check the functionality of your site. Do a thorough check of every page, every product listing, and every navigation link. You can use a link-checking plug-in on your browser to find and fix any broken links.

Once you have double checked this, you are up and running.

Branding and SEO

Once your site is functional, you are not completely done. You need to go through and set up your site branding and SEO. This should be done thoroughly for every page, product, and blog post.

If you have migrated from an old site, be sure to redirect the old URL permanently using a 301 redirect. This will make sure that any links that pointed to the old site will now point to the new one, and Google and other search engines will be able to find yours.

Also, this is when you can change color schemes, make sure your logo and branding is consistent, and finalize the visuals of your e-commerce site. If you feel like there’s more you can do with regards to the SEO of your website, you might want to check some digital marketing tips and look at areas you feel you can improve on the website.

Even after an effective migration, your e-commerce site will be a constant work in progress, but an effective migration can make sure there is a seamless experience for both your customers and vendors. Follow these seven steps to make sure it goes smoothly.

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Components of a Web Application Architecture

Having a well made architecture means having components react to each other in an efficient, stable and most importantly, secure manner.

Web Architecture is no different. What we choose those components to be will reflect in the Application itself. When Web Applications comes to mind, there are usually two concepts that pop to mind, front end & back end.

Front End deals with what the user sees, how the website is formed and what is displayed on the browser while the Back End deals with information being interpreted from user queries in the background, on the server side.

As mentioned previously, in order to have a well working Web Application, the components or the model in which they reside should be chosen carefully.

Models & Components

The first model we will be looking into is Website with a singular Database.

This is the most commonly used system when it comes to web development and it is perfectly suited for testing or staging since there is little effort that goes in to deploying everything, but that does not mean that it is fit to be run in a commercial environment due to the lack of redundancy. If the only Server available goes down, the entire Website goes down.

The second model we will be discussing is when engineers use two web servers and only one database.

Having your web servers away from the database ensures greater security overall, since the database server can be locked tight even further. Two websites are plenty redundant and if one of them goes down, the other one keeps spinning. Of course here the problem is with the Database itself, if the DB goes down, the entire operation goes down as well.

The third model requires two databases and two web servers.

Since there are multiple points of failure, this is regarded a lot safer than previous options. The databases for example, can share information identically which means that one of them is usually passive and will overtake if the other one fails or the data can be shared evenly between them in which case they will both need to be working.

We talked about some models, now let’s talk about the web application architecture types themselves.

The Legacy HTML web app architecture is one of the most basic ways of communication. An entire HTML page is requested from the client and sent/received afterwards. This means that each time, the client needs to refresh the entire page in order to get information, not very sophisticated but it works.

Since there is no real background logic going on and there are no database queries or scripts running, this types of sites are considered highly secure, although not very effective for the end user since there is nothing to do but gather information

The following image displays the flow of such an engagement between the user and the Server.

Image Source

Coming to the rescue for diversity are Web Widgets.

Widgets are basically small chunks of code which temporarily fetch HTML Information when the users requests it and silently loads it in a block of code without the need to refresh the entire page. This makes the website experience seamless for the users.

And finally, we have the most currently used architecture, the Single Page.

This means that everything loads only once in a Single Page type of layout with full integration of JavaScript for example which handles all request logic from the clients and sends it back to the server to gather whatever is needed and constantly update the client without any obvious interference.

Conclusion

There are plenty of Models & Architecture Types to choose from and some of them could definitely prove beneficial for your situation.

Hopefully this article has shed some light on what that choice should be and has prepared you in your next Web Undertaking.

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Ways to Hide Your Online Activity from an ISP

Search for the term ” hide internet activity from ISP“, and you’ll find a few methods to try. More and more people are doing just this… and there’s a very pressing reason why.

Would you be happy to tell a stranger in the street about your browsing and online shopping habits? Would you want to go into detail about what you’ve bought recently, your proclivities and your political views?

If you answered no to both these questions, you might be horrified to learn that Internet service providers (ISPs) can now record your online activity. These huge corporations can access all of your personal data if you’re accessing the Internet from the U.S. – which is a terrifying thought for most people.

Why do these massive firms want to know what you do online? Well, the information about your consumer habits is valuable… they can sell it to the highest bidder. And they do. The information is used to deliver ads and marketing materials in the most cost-effective way.

Searched the Internet for washing machines lately? Don’t be surprised if you’re bombarded with ads for washing machines over the next few weeks – on all your devices.

This is your private data, and despite the fact that ISPs are allowed to harvest it, you don’t have to let them. There are actually a few ways to hide Internet activity from an ISP. Take a look at your options, and take the first step to protecting your personal information from multinational corporations.

Tor

While Tor isn’t 100% reliable, it’s often a good option for the casual Internet user. This browser client delivers an encrypted browsing service that allows you to hide you activity from ISPs. While this method works well with most major browsers, it doesn’t offer the same protection for mobile apps and other non-browser Internet activity. The Internet of Things is also beyond the scope of a Tor client. And the greedier ISPs are now banning this privacy tool altogether.

The way we interact with the Internet is changing dramatically, and Tor clients aren’t keeping pace.

HTTPS Extension

The HTTPS browser extension guarantees a private connection for each and every visitor to a website. This means that everything you browse, purchase or inquire about is kept private – ISPs can’t access it. This is a great option for casual shopping, but it has its flaws. For example, the ISP may still know that you’ve visited the site. They’d be able to deduce what you’re looking for, and deliver ads accordingly. Information about your personal preferences would still be fed to ISPs, and sold to the highest bidder.

Virtual Private Network

A virtual private network (VPN) is perhaps the best way to ensure that all of your Internet data remains private. Think of this as a maximum security prison for your personal online information. It can also be similar to a virtual browser, that is physically separated from the local system and runs entirely in the cloud. If you’re determined to keep all of your online activity a secret, this is the option for you.

A VPN is so effective because it provides two different types of privacy protection. Firstly, all of your data is encrypted, so even if it were to fall into the wrong hands, it would be useless. But a VPN is also an anonymous network that can’t be traced by ISPs. This means you can hide your browser activity from ISPs and protect yourself from hackers at the same time.

By subscribing to a VPN service, you’re effectively hiding all of your Internet-connected devices. As long as the device is connected to the VPN-enabled network, all of your information is protected. This is because the network itself (usually your home or office WiFi) is encrypted and completely anonymous. Everything that connects to the network is hidden from view.

A VPN also allows you to utilize anonymous IPs to mask your identity and geographical location. This can come in handy if you need to access foreign websites and online services that aren’t available where you are.

Proxy

A proxy is similar to a VPN in that it fools servers into thinking that you’re somewhere you aren’t. A secure server like ProxyEmpire (http://proxyempire.com) can act as the middleman between you and the servers you access. The proxy intercepts your traffic and replicates it remotely.

So, if you’re in the UK and you want to access your U.S. Netflix account, you can use a proxy to fool Netflix into thinking you’re at home in America. Your interactions are being picked up by the proxy and delivered to Netflix via a third-party server in the U.S.

But a word of warning about proxies: they don’t offer anywhere near the level of security and privacy a VPN does. In essence, all a proxy is doing is fooling other servers into believing you’re somewhere else. This is great for accessing geo-restricted content, but it falls a little short if you need unequivocal privacy while online.

A Final Word of Warning

These are the main options available to people at home who don’t have in-depth knowledge of Internet technology. Each of them are relatively easy to set up, and they all deliver a reasonable level of protection from snooping ISPs.

However, private data is hugely valuable, and unscrupulous ISPs will go to extraordinary lengths to evade privacy measures and capture your data anyway. By utilizing a VPN client, you’re effectively becoming invisible online. As long as the device you’re using is connecting to the Internet via the protected network, you’re good to go.

Don’t take chances with your personal data. Implement a VPN client today, and browse the Internet with complete confidence.

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