From 26 May 2012 the EU is introducing a new law that will affect websites that use non-essential cookies. The law states that these sites must inform their visitors publicly and get their agreement to allow cookies to be used before they can continue browsing. Non-essential cookies are considered to be cookies that aren’t needed to make the website function.

Not sure what cookies are? Find out here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie

Examples of Non-essential
Cookies that track visitor numbers and movements
Advertising cookies
Cookies that recognise a user to offer a tailored advert/message

Examples of essential cookies
Cookies that remember goods in a shopping basket
Cookies that improve a website’s loading speed
Cookies relating to security

Who does this effect

Most websites will use cookies, in fact a massive 92% of websites do. If you use Google Analytics this drops cookies in order to record a visitor’s movements, so if you use Google Analytics you’ll be effected. The law also applies to individuals as well as businesses so even if you run a small blog you need to consider this.

If you’re not sure if your site is using cookies this site can scan your webpage and gives a report of your cookie status – www.cookiecert.com

What do you need to do

The law isn’t very clear and many businesses are struggling to find a single solution as one size doesn’t fit all. Also restricting cookies can cause massive problems to how websites monitor and track sales across sites – if you use affiliate marketing you’re likely to see a reduction in sales if cookies are restricted. However there are a few add-ons available that implement a fairly unintrusive cookie message. It’s also worth adding a cookie privacy policy (or update your existing policy) so it’s clear to visitors what you’re recording and why.

Some add-ons that are available for free are;
cookieq.com
civicuk.com – also available as a WordPress plugin
eu cookie directive/ – WordPress plugin

If you want to find out more about this law please see the ICC’s UK Cookie Guide

Please see below list of our 65 one-click installation scripts and there current version – correct at April 2012

If there’s an install script you’d like to see added to your control panel please contact us.

1. Clear Navigation

Make sure that when a visitor lands on your website that the navigation is clearly identified and easy to use. Multiple drop down menus may look fancy but can sometimes distract and confuse visitors if not done correctly – if you have a fairly low amount of pages keep it simple.

2. Reduce page loading time

There a lots of things you can do to reduce your website’s loading time. We have listed some of the key things you can do to reduce loading times below.

• Remove third party scripts from pages that don’t use them – a common example is a site loading an AJAX script for a slideshow when the slideshow is only on the home page
• Make sure your images are optimised – if you have re-sized images via HTML it is a good idea to actually re-size them in an image editor tool to speed up the loading time.
• Again with images don’t use too many, it can distract from your message and will increase the loading time – get a happy medium while still maintaining the look you want.
• Gzip your website via the .htaccess file – if you don’t currently have a .htaccess file you can easily create one via a text editing tool
• Put your style sheet(s) at the top of your site and make an external css file

3. Make sure your title is relevant to the content

Your title is one of the 1st things a visitor will notice, make sure it clearly outlines what your page or article is about.

4. Get someone else to test your site

It can be tricky to find the areas of your site that are hard to use if you’re used to using it regularly. Get a friend or family member to use your site and see how they get on. Ask them what they found easy and what they found difficult to use.

5. Break the content down

Breaking the content down into chunks makes it easy for visitors to skim read a page and concentrate on a particular area. Some visitors will be put off by massive chunks of text.

6. No popups!

Adding a popup to your site might sound like a good idea to attract a visitor’s attention but it will most likely annoy them and they’ll leave instantly – instead make sure the page clearly outlines what you want them to see without shoving it in their face.

7. Be careful with ad placement

Similar to the above, if your website is over crowded with adverts your visitors may instantly be put off and leave the site – meaning your adverts won’t get clicked on. Also stay away from adverts with sound, they’re just annoying. Stick to a clean layout with clear advert placement, this will insure your visitors spend more time on your site and are then more likely to click on a ad when they’re ready.

The Hosting set-up

We give our customers complete control over their website and our advanced control panel provides individuals and businesses the freedom to create the website they want, from a small blog to a busy e-commerce site.

Key Benefits

Server Specification*

• Dual Quad Core Intel® Xeon® 3.16GHz with 2X6MB Cache
• 8 GB RAM
• Dual 136 GB SCSI Drive (for the operating system)
• RAID Mirroring (for the operating system)
• Dual Power Supplies
• Dual Gigabit Network Adapters

*correct at April 2012

Extra Security

In addition to the security that comes with every hosting package, we also offer StopTheHacker software as an add-on for only £9.99 per year. StopTheHacker is a new piece of software that scans your website daily to check for viruses and malware. StopTheHacker also checks your website’s reputation on search engines such as Google and Bing, and alerts you if there’s a problem. Please click here for more information on StopTheHacker.

Order StopTheHacker

StopTheHacker software automatically checks whether a site has been infected with Viruses and Malware as well as checking it’s reputation on search engines such as Google and Bing. In addition to anti-virus and firewalls, StopTheHacker software offers extra security for your site and helps maintain your reputation on the web.

The report is run every 24 hours and if there is a problem with the site an email will be sent to you informing you of the problem.

It’s easy to get going with StopTheHacker, once the software has been purchased it will be automatically added to your account and the 1st scan will take place within 24 hours.

The latest report can be viewed from your hosting control panel at any time.

StopTheHacker is great addition to your site’s existing security measures. Please click here for more details on StopTheHacker

Order StopTheHacker

How it works

1. Order Hosting using the “Use an existing Domain” option. This won’t affect your current site and will allow us to set-up your site on a temporary address.

2. Contact us with FTP details to your current site and a copy of the database (or a zip of the site)

3. We will then put a copy of your site on our servers which will be viewable via the server IP (please allow up to 72 hours for this to be completed and be aware that any new content added during this time will not be moved)

4. Once you’re happy the site is working simply transfer your domain or point it towards our servers – click here for details.

5. Your site is now live on our servers! Please note if you have an email address associated with the site this will be affected – for full details on your options regarding email accounts please contact us.

This is a free service and is open to other sites as well as WordPress. If you have any questions, please contact us.

WordPress Hosting

All our packages allow WordPress to be hosted so you can get your WordPress site moved to a new home for just £10 per year. For a full comparison of our hosting packages please visit our hosting page.

Order Hosting

We’ve taken a quick look at the key advantages of having a website for your business.

Professional email address Having your own website allows you to create a professional email address – rather than yourbusiness@hotmail.co.uk you could have contact@yourbusiness.co.uk.

Easy for customers to contact you Having your contact details online enables your customers and potential customers to get in touch with you quickly.

Secure a domain name Owning the domain name of your business ensures no one else can take it. Secure your domain name now.

Platform for social media If you’re already using social media, such as facebook or twitter, a website can be great platform to grow and advertise these avenues.

Available 24/7 If manning a phone 24/7 is not an option a website is a great platform for giving your customers information when you’re not available.

Increase your sales Allowing your customers to buy products or order services online gives them another avenue to transact with you increasing sales.

News and updates Adding a blog or news section to your site is a great way to advertise new services or products and keeps your customers up-to-date on what you’re doing.

Appear on search engines With the majority of people opting to search for a solution online using search engines can you afford not to be appearing? Having a website can really help your credibility.

URL: www.bristolfoodie.co.uk
Topic: food and drink in Bristol, UK
Founded: 2009
Visitors: 12,000 per month

1. Passion

For many people and businesses blogging is a hobby or an addition to the day job so its important to be passionate about your subject matter – otherwise you will never motivate yourself to post.

2. Patience

We started blogging as a hobby and at first our page views were tiny. Two and a half years later we get twelve thousand visitors a month*. Some blogs take off overnight but if yours isn’t one of them (and most aren’t) just persevere, don’t expect too much too soon.

*stats correct as of February 2012

3. Quality

Readers soon bore of drivel spat out for the sake of it. Put thought behind your posts and think about what content your readers will find interesting. Also, typos, poor grammar and broken links make you look unprofessional – check and double check posts before they are published.

4. Data

Keep an eye on your stats. The information you get on visitor numbers, page views etc will tell you the best times and days to post and also what sort of topics or content works best for you. The Business hosting package with SGIS comes with free analytics which is a great help.

5. Innovation

The internet is a fast moving place – so keep up with current trends and innovate new ideas for content, be brave! Try it, if it doesn’t work then move on and try something else.

6. Company

Two heads are better than one. A co-blogger or even casual contributors really help when it comes to posting regular content. They are also great at proof reading – we never spot our own mistakes so having more than one blogger on hand to sanity check posts is invaluable.

7. Integrity

A blog is essentially an online diary. So you need to be honest – readers will soon cotton on to advertising or businesses paying for posts or links on your website. So don’t do it. If you do take payment or receive freebies in exchange for posts be upfront about it.

Something else is integrity over information and photographs.

• If you quote stats or an article from somewhere – reference them and include a link to the source.
• Don’t steal photos off other peoples websites – It’s illegal as you’re stealing from professional photographers who work hard and online stock libraries are getting really tough on copyright infringement, especially for smaller sites and blogs.
• Finally if you are ripping off whole posts or articles from other people’s sites then frankly, you shouldn’t be blogging.

8. Identity

Have your own identity. Know what makes your blog interesting and unique and be proud of it. Don’t get hung up on competition, even if they are similar, chances are they aren’t exactly the same. If they do something new – good for them. If you do something new – good for you. (if they are copying you just keep innovating new ideas and make sure you are top of your game!)

9. Consistency

If I click on to a blog and notice they haven’t posted in six months, I usually leave straight away. Post regularly and consistently. One to two posts per week is good – and manageable if you have limited resource. Definitely try to post more than once a month.

10. Interaction

Make it easy for readers to share your content with retweet and facebook like buttons etc. Get involved with social media and interact with your readers. Lastly, invite comments and publish the genuine ones (not spam) even if they are disagreeing with your own opinion. There are some really easy plug ins which will help you do this on WordPress so read their reviews and check them out.

SSL certificates

SSL certificates encrypt information sent to your site, so if it is intercepted by a third party the information will be useless. This is ideal if you’re running an e-commerce site or personal information is being sent to your site by visitors or customers. For full details on SSL certificates please visit sgis.co.uk/ecommerce-SSL.php

Domain Privacy

Some customers don’t wish their personal details to be stored on the WHOIS database for public viewing. If you’re an individual using a UK domain then you can opt out of this database, however if you have a global domain (.com etc) this is not available. To get round this we have introduced a domain privacy service for global domain names which hides your contact details. For more information please visit sgis.co.uk/domain-privacy.php

These Add-ons are optional and won’t be needed by every customer, if you need advice on any of these products please contact us.