A better website does not mean a brand new website. It may be true in some cases, but a couple of tweaks here and there can make a huge difference. There are a range of things you could be doing. But, there is more than just checking your website for spelling errors.

Here are some ideas you can put into action right now:

1. Condense your menu

Do you have an extensive menu on your navigation bar? If so, you might want to shorten it up. When things are easier to find, your site’s visitors tend to stay because they won’t be frustrated trying to find what they need.

2. Have a call to action on every page

Get your user do something on every page and make it known to them. Whether it is a button or a hyperlink, do not make them to think much. Just make it easier for them to act.

3. Phone number on home page

It’s a big mistake to hide your contact number or any details for that sake in the far away corner of your website. We still don’t get it how people could get it there on the back bench something that 95% of a site’s visitors might be looking for.

4. Business hours

Sometimes, don’t you wish some websites mentioned their business hours? Well, this can occur to your website visitors too and it is always recommended to add the working hours so that nobody hesitates to give you a call when you are working.

5. Tell your story

Professional experience is awesome but let people know that they are working with human beings. Add real bios of your team and let people love to work with you.

6. Images talk a lot

Pictures speak louder than words? Beautiful professional clicks of your team, recent projects, local area, etc. can make your website engaging and at the same time convey the real spirit of your business.

7. Give directions widget

People may like to come and visit you. Prospective customers would like you to guide them to your location rather than going around asking directions and get lost in one of the streets.

9. Responsive is the new word

Make your website responsive – meaning make it compatible to smaller devices. It seems that the entire world is migrating to smartphones and half of them have already. You don’t want people go away frustrated from your website just because they could not view them on a smaller device properly.

10. Be consistent

We are talking about branding. Let your website be in sync with your overall branding collateral and let people recognize you from your competitors.

11. Do not distract your visitors

Sounds and unnecessary pop-ups can make it not only an annoying experience for distract them from your site visitors but they can be distracted from what they came for.

12. Get real life people speaking for you

Aim at tapping the greatest asset of your company – your current customers. Add testimonials and nothing can surpass the impression they can create on your prospective customers.

13. It matters who you hire

You need to hire a professional. Doing it in-house may not always help. Bring experience and expertise into the project for an assured outcome and carve out your special space in the virtual space.

There you go. You have all the details for a great website. If you are in the Middle East, give Adventz a call or better still, if you are in Oman pay us a visit. You can find our contact details at http://www.adventz.net/contact-us.php

You might have just got a brand new website done for your business and must be very proud to flaunt it to customers/friends. Being so, you do not want to see it hacked the very next day or receive threat messages from hackers. You might not be very tech-savvy; still you can stay alert with some very less but useful precautionary measures. The agency might have developed you a high-end chic website but it is always up to you to guard it against any possible attacks.

Most of the hacks fall within opportunistic attacks. This means that it is not any one individual that is trying to hack your website, but rather a coincidence. Something about your site was randomly caught by the trailing net as it crawled the web. It could have been something simple like having a plugin installed, or maybe the version of a platform. It can be any type of website, the only common factor being that it is connected to the web.

If the crawlers identify the website is running any exploitable software (i.e. software vulnerabilities or bugs in code), the site will be marked for the next phase of the attack, exploitation. The sequence of events can happen in a matter of minutes, days or months.

Websites are like pets and they demand a long-term commitment. They need constant care and attention. Dedicating boat-loads of resources to your website is no guarantee either. Even the security experts get hacked. It is always advisable to follow the best practices. I can enumerate a few for you below:

• Stay up to date:Even the simplest websites are created by people and they contain errors or bugs. You should know the components your website relies on, keep tabs on the known issues, follow the security lists and get the latest stable versions of the software.
• Limit access to resources: Lock down the access to only the resources that need access. Harden your site all three levels: the operating system, the web server, and the web application itself.
• Use strong passwords: This is something that we come across almost daily and needs no explanation. For extra website security it is a good idea to salt the passwords, using a new salt per password.
• Backup your site: The rule of thumb is that you should have routine backups of your site.

Most CMSes (back end content management systems) have a lot of inbuilt website security features, but it is a still a good idea to have knowledge so that you are covered. We hope your website information stays safe with the tips.

Everybody wants a responsive website for their business these days. If you ask any expert on web marketing, they will recommend you the same. Why? The answer lies very well within Google’s latest revelation on search engine optimization.

Mobilegeddon, Google’s revised algorithm will prefer mobile-friendly websites from now on. This means it will not give preference to the sites not deemed “mobile-friendly” in its search results on smartphones—such as those that load slowly, or are hard to read on a small screen. Here is where you need a responsive website.

As more and more people are using internet over mobile devices, it is quite natural for businesses to opt for mobile-friendly responsive websites. As per studies, there is an estimated 30% rise in website traffic from mobile internet users all over the world, while this has declined a good 40% from desktop. All the more a reason to make your website responsive!

What is Responsive Web Design?

Responsive Websites have their lay-out and coding in such a way that the website provides an optimal viewing experience. Such websites are easy to read & navigate with the least resizing, panning, and scrolling. They are optimized across a wide range of devices, from desktop computer monitors to mobile phones.

The UI elements of the website such as navigation features, screen-layouts, text, images, audio/video players and the like are created in such a way such that they re-adjust themselves on a variety of devices. To cut it short, you need not have to spend anymore for a mobile site and desktop site separately.

Benefits of having a responsive website

Versatility – The content makes itself at home on all devices and screen resolutions. Its fluidity allows it to adapt itself to any allotted space and still retain its entity, the result being same appearance of the website on a desktop as well as a device. This is as helpful to a busy professional as to a college student. Anyone can access responsive website from any device without scrolling or resizing. Responsive website designs are about optimal user experience. A responsive layout allows display specific content, which means you can easily switch content on and off for each device.

Greater SEO results – Since Mobilegeddon, we can say for sure that anything other than mobile-friendly websites do not stand a chance in turning up at the top of Google’s famed search results. There is no doubt about the fact that Google is the most popular and effective search engine. It holds an envious position in the hearts of users in terms of usefulness and friendliness. If your site is slow, and if customers go away after a few clicks because of non-usability, Google demotes your site. In responsive designs, there is no need to build links and traffic to multiple sites as responsive web design lets all your SEO efforts converge on one website. This means than all links go to the same place without slowing down the site because of redirects. Since responsive sites have the same URL and HTML, regardless of device, it is easier for Google to crawl, index, and organize content.

Economic and easy to manage effectively:

The process of streamlining the websites is no longer required. As a single site with many layouts, when content is updated on a responsive site, it is automatically updated on other devices and offers better ROI. There is no more separate investment for a mobisite and website anymore. It prevents duplicity of content, one for mobile and one for desktop and there is no need to run separate campaigns for mobile SEO and website SEO.

Adventz and responsive web designing

Adventz have always caught up with the dynamics of the web world. We let our clients have the latest features in their websites. Our technical team is up-to-date with the ever-changing world of internet and incorporates the latest of technologies in their works. This is what has made us the leading web designing companies in the Sultanate of Oman.

You can view our latest website launches at http://www.adventz.net/portfolio-website.php

“The positive economic outlook, particularly for the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) markets which include Oman, continue to accentuate local business
potential and provide significant opportunities for ICT solutions vendors,”
says Paul Black, director of telecommunications and media for IDC Oman,
Muscat, Africa, and Turkey. “These trends are expected to continue in 2014,
backed by government programs to improve healthcare, education, and
governance infrastructure. Furthermore, the development of smart cities, as
well as the expansion of multinational companies in the Muscat, Oman, will
increase pressure on local businesses to become more mature in their use of
ICT applications. Most telcos are adopting a two-pronged approach to business
transformation; firstly, they are expanding their ICT portfolios and service
delivery capabilities by forging key partnerships, and are leveraging their
traditional strengths such as diverse sales channels and infrastructure assets.
Secondly, they are acquiring larger
up dedicated business units.”

Continue reading “Increasing Mobile Engagement” »

PHP or Hypertext Pre-processor is something which any person related to the IT industry would have come across. It is an open source server side programming language available at free of cost that can be easily obtained from the market. It has a coding style that is quiet and easy to understand and is usually very proficient on multi-platforms like Windows, Linux, and UNIX and other more.

In the present day, PHP is one of the most popular server side scripting languages working and is basically utilized for making dynamic web pages that correspond with the user offering customized information. Aside from being fast, stable, secure and easy to use, PHP offers other numerous advantages that had most developers using it. Continue reading “Learning about PHP” »